Vivace 4811 E. Grant Rd. A true trattoria serves simple, usually traditional, homemade food for low prices and with little pomp and circumstance. At Vivace, I feel like a stranger at the table to be sure, not even an honored guest.
Servers here are usually in a hurry and somewhat prickly about answering questions.
Still, I try to take the restaurant on its own terms. The ambiance is somewhat urbane for Tucson, and that would be a definite plus if not for the clouds of smoke that build in the restaurant's dining room shortly after business picks up in the kitchen. Leaving a fairly expensive dinner with burning eyes and smelly clothes does not an elegant evening make. I am, above all, interested in the food. But of the six pasta dishes Vivace offers on the dinner menu, only the farfalle has ever arrived al dente.