Although Guam has several restaurants offering Italian cuisine, there is something about the food being served up at Vitale’s Italian Ristorante. Located on the second floor of The Plaza in the heart of Tumon, Vitale’s has been feeding the masses authentic Italian favorites since 1996. You are instantly transported to Italy when you walk through the doors of Vitale’s- with the signature flag colors- red, green, and white and wall panels with handpainted sites of Italy.

Vitale’s is an ideal place for the whole family. My boys love the pizza but this time around, it was just my husband and I. Naturally, we went with our usual— the Supreme. Large. This pie has the right combo of sweet and salty and the textures are always on point. The sweet comes from the fresh marinara sauce, the saltiness comes from the black & green olives, which I love! As for the texture, you get the creaminess from the mozzarella, the crispy bite from the green peppers, and the chew from the crust. The Italian sausage brings it all together with the light flavor of fennel seed.

We also order the fettuccine. My husband’s a favori

And we completed our order with a new dish added to the menu– Spaghetti Carbonara. Move over Supreme pizza….I have a new favorite! Wow, this was a sexy dish! Al dente noodles swimming in a white cream sauce with pieces of crispy bacon floating atop of the the sauce. Then in the middle, like a delicious flotation device—a cracked egg. There is something luxurious about taking a fork and running the yolk all over the dish before mixing it all together. It was as if it was in slow motion…..all that was missing was some tune from Barry White playing the background. One bite…. and you get the smokiness and crispiness of the bacon, the cream sauce- which isn’t heavy or overpowering at all was subtle, possibly toned down by the yolky goodness. Ugh…pure carbonara bliss.

It’s food cooked with a special ingredient: l-o-v-e and you taste it in every bite of pizza, cannoloni, manicotti and more. Owner Joe Vitale is committed to using fresh ingredients and keeping it as authentic and traditional as possible. A meal at Vitale’s is like a meal at mama’s….in Italy. It’s as good as it gets. But don’t take my word for it…try it for yourself!

Vitale’s Italian Restaurant is located in The Plaza in Tumon, Guam and is open Monday-Sunday 10am-10pm. For more information, you can call #(671) 646-7692 or check out their webpage at: http://www.vitalesguam.com. You can also ‘like’ their page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitalesguam/info/?section=hours&tab=page_info