Guiseppes Ristorante Italiano

Much like his father, Joe Scordato has always taken the road less traveled. The patriarch of the Scordato clan, James Sr. left the security of the restaurant he co-owned with his brothers in Hawthorne, New Jersey and followed his own manifest destiny of sorts by moving the family to a high desert ranch on the Arizona /New Mexico border. Through various incarnations as a Rancher, County Sheriff and Snack Truck Impresario, he ultimately moved to Tucson and made the Scordato name synonymous with quality, value and accessibility on the local restaurant scene; and so it is with his son Joe who has come full circle to return to his family’s restaurant roots that have served the Tucson area so well for the past 38 years. After purchasing the original Scordato’s from their father, in 1983, Joe and brothers Jim Jr., and Daniel (of Vivace fame) ran Scordato’s on Speedway until 1985 when they decided to go their own separate ways. Joe wound up at Scordato’s on Broadway which opened on Cinco de Mayo back in ’85 and was eventually sold to Lute Olson (yes that Lute Olson) in 1990. A marriage, 3 children and a career change or two later, ten years had passed before the wildly successful Trattoria Guiseppe opened on Tucson’s eastside in April 2000. Already well established when he sold it in 2003, it was there that Joe developed the model he has replicated at his current location, Guiseppe’s, located in Casa Blanca Plaza on the northeast corner of Rudasill and Oracle Road, two blocks south of Orange Grove. Once again customers are King and quality, value and accessibility are the focus because Joe is bringing back his version of Blue Collar Italian to Tucson diners.