Hey there, food lovers and wanderers. If you’re looking for real Italian food in Sedona, you can stop looking. Imagine stepping into a small restaurant in the back streets of Rome — the espresso machine going, someone shouting an order, bread that smells like it took time. That’s what we built here, on 89A in West Sedona.
Family Operated Since Our First Kitchen in 1996
We’re not one of the many restaurants around here. We’re family operated, we serve with humility and pride, and we cook the food we actually grew up on — Sicilian from Palermo, Piemontese from Torino, Roman by training. Whether you’re craving pizza, a memorable dining experience, or a pinsa romana after a long hike, Vespa is your go-to destination. No doubt.
Food Is Our Love Language
What Actually Makes Us Different
Seventy-Two Hours of Patience
Our pinsa dough is four ingredients — flour, water, yeast, sea salt — and it rests cold at 4–6°C for three full days before anyone touches it. That is what makes it light and crisp at the edge. We did the waiting so you don’t have to think about it afterward. How the dough works →
Flour From the Man Who Invented Pinsa
Pinsa romana was created in 2001 by Corrado Di Marco. We buy our flour from Di Marco — the original three-flour blend, not an American approximation. Milled outside Rome, certified non-GMO, screened for pesticide residue under European standards. Our pasta is made fresh in Italy and imported; we don’t pretend to do it better than people who have done it for generations.
Two Grandmothers
Nonna Pina taught this family the kitchen. Nonna Maria taught the coffee bar. That is why we are a café and not only a restaurant — the espresso here is its own discipline, handed down by its own teacher. Meet the family →
Easy on the Body
Long fermentation, clean sourcing, four ingredients, and a bread that sits lighter than standard pizza. Food that doesn’t sit on you for the rest of the afternoon — which matters more than usual when you’ve got a trail to get back to.
Perfect Location
1350 W State Route 89A, Suite 22 — West Sedona, not Uptown. Easier parking, and we’re open from 11am every day without closing between lunch and dinner.
A Culinary Journey Through Italy
Sicilian aubergine, Ligurian pesto, Roman flatbread, and the desserts that close an Italian meal properly. Our menu is a map of where this family comes from. See the full menu →
72-HOUR FERMENTED | FOUR INGREDIENTS | ROMAN FLATBREAD
NOT GLUTEN FREE: UNIQUELY BETTER.
Our menu is a trip through Italy — Roman flatbread, Sicilian aubergine, Ligurian pesto, and the desserts that end every Italian meal properly.
Some dishes live beyond the main list. Ask us what is available or explore our secret menu.
LA PINSA ROMANA
Roman Style Pizza
Ten varieties on a 72-hour, 85%-hydration dough. Oval, not round. Airy inside, shattering at the edge. Start with the Margherita if it’s your first time, or the Rucola e Prosciutto if it isn’t.
ANTIPASTI & INSALATE
Appetizers & Salads
Bruschetta Capri, Burrata Caprese, organic leaves with apple and toasted pistachio. Italian starters wake your appetite rather than blunting it.
SORRISI FARCITI
Sandwiches
Built on the same three-day dough, filled and folded. Lunch that doesn’t slow you down.
People come to Sedona and search for pizza. Then they find us and see the word pinsa, and reasonably wonder whether they’re about to be talked out of what they wanted.
You’re not. Pinsa romana is pizza — it’s the Roman version, and it’s older than the Neapolitan one everybody pictures. Round versus oval. One flour versus three. A few hours of rising versus seventy-two.
What that means when it arrives: a base that’s crisp underneath and open inside, with a bit of chew and no grease. It doesn’t fold like New York pizza and it isn’t soupy in the middle like Neapolitan. It’s its own thing, and once people have had it they tend to stop comparing.
We bake it on stone over gas at around 608°F. Not a wood oven — Neapolitan pizza wants ferocious heat for ninety seconds, and this dough doesn’t. It wants steady heat, held exactly, from the first order at 11am to the last one at night. So if you searched for the best pizza in Sedona and ended up here: you’re in the right place. It just took us three days to get ready for you.
Nonna Maria taught this family the coffee bar, so the espresso here is not an afterthought. Italian beans, pulled the way it is drunk in Rome — standing at the counter, quickly, no ceremony.
The wine list is short and chosen to sit alongside this food rather than to impress anyone. We keep a proper range of amari, the herbal digestivi that close a meal in Italy — a little sweet, a little bitter, and kind to a full stomach.
Espresso That Wakes You Up: We use the best Italian coffee beans to make espresso that’s rich, strong, and totally authentic.
Wines for Every Taste: Red, white, rosé – we’ve got a wine to match your mood and your meal. Let us help you pick the perfect one!
Cool Cocktails and More: From Italian NA sodas, classic aperitivos staples like Aperol Spritz and Campari soda, to Locally sourced Mocktails, and Classic Martinis and Craft Cocktails, we’ve got plenty of ways to quench your thirst.
Amaros (Trust Us): These herbal liqueurs are a classic Italian way to end a meal. They’re a little sweet, a little bitter, and totally unique.
Planning Your Visit
WALK-INS WELCOME | DOGS WELCOME OUTSIDE | OPEN 11AM DAILY
No reservations, and that’s on purpose
We don’t take bookings. Walk in and we’ll find you a table. The quiet window is 11am to 12:30pm — hikers come off the trails around 1pm and every kitchen in Sedona gets slammed at once. Come before noon and you’ll barely wait.
Bring the dog — here’s how it works
Dogs are welcome at our outdoor tables. It runs a little differently from inside: order at the counter, we pack it up for you, and you carry it out. There’s no table service outside, and Arizona liquor law keeps wine and cocktails indoors. But after a morning on the trail together, you and the dog get to sit down in the Sedona air instead of eating in the car — and that’s worth knowing before you drive over.
Order ahead or take it with you
Order online through Toast and collect, or call and we’ll have it ready. Everything on the menu travels — the pinsa in particular holds up far better than pizza does.
Open straight through
11am to 9pm Sunday through Thursday, 11am to 10pm Friday and Saturday. We don’t close between lunch and dinner, which in this town is rarer than it should be.
Finding us
West Sedona, on 89A — not Uptown. 1350 W State Route 89A, Suite 22. Free parking in the plaza lot, though it fills up around the middle of the day like everything else in this town. Another reason to come before noon. Directions and landmarks →
CUSTOMIZED MENUS TO SUIT YOUR EVENT | OFF & ON-SITE EXPERIENCE
We cater weddings, private parties, corporate events and retreats across the Sedona area — the same kitchen and the same 72-hour dough, wherever you are celebrating.
Every event is fully custom. Tell us what you are planning and someone will reach out within 10 minutes. Guaranteed. That is the thing our clients mention most.
CAREER GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT | EMBRACE THE VESPA SPIRIT
Join our team at Vespa. We value excellence, creativity and a real commitment to hospitality — the Italian kind, where looking after people is the job rather than a policy.
The Zacchino family came from Piazza Sant’Onofrio in Palermo, by way of Sanremo on the Ligurian coast, and opened its first American restaurant in Phoenix in 1996 — Tutti Santi by Nina, still going today. Vespa came later, and further north.
Leonardo is the patriarch. Matteo runs this kitchen. Over the years we have become the local’s favourite and a visiting must, and the reason is not complicated: we cook the way our grandmothers taught us, and we treat people like they have come to the house. More about the family →
Great food, interesting healthy menu! Owner was friendly and welcoming.
Only thing I would care to change is the lack of table service, I wanted to be waited on, however that is not their vibe!
We were tourists in Sedona.
Randy Miller
13 January 2026
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Excellent food, great wine, warm & cozy atmosphere, and fantastic serving specialists. We really enjoyed dinner here, and will be back. Wonderful dining!
Emma Liles
18 April 2022
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All the ingredients seemed of high quality and very fresh - we loved the crispiness of the flatbread
Dusty Weaver
14 April 2022
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Well ,I'm back again! Looks like Vespa is serious about the service and food.
My fav is the # 10 & # 16.
Anurag T.
2 January 2024
Verified
+5
This place is awesome. The negative reviews are wrong or overly critical.
Food (A++++)
Awesome. Like awesome. It's really good. We ordered five different menu items and they were all excellent. My wife got the no.10 vegetarian sandwich - she substituted the balsamic vinegar for garlic aioli and said it was the best sandwich she has ever eaten. She is usually very critical of food. The table next to us decided to order also. I tried a bite and it was awesome. So good that she may fly out to eat here.
I got the no13 Argula and prosciutto pizza. It was really good one of the best ones ever. The rest of the table ordered the Sicilian no18, the Genoana no15 and the chicken parmigiana no20. All were excellent dishes the no15 was my favorite.
I don't know how they do it but they combine simple ingredients into an awesome taste experience. This is the right way to eat. We are all full and content but not stuffed or bloated like eating at other restaurants.
We liked this place so much we came back for dessert after exploring Sedona for the afternooon. And those desserts were just as good if not better. I don't have the names of all of them but the dessert with chocolate and strawberries on a piece of bread was awesome. The tiramisu was some of the best ever and the lemon pie/cake was awesome also.
The food is beyond excellent that you can randomly pick items and you will be impressed.
Service (A-)
The owner is super nice and accommodating as our the individuals who make the food. The servers/waitress could use a bit more training but I think it's also a bit of a small
market to find great talent. The food for us came out pretty quickly, but I could see some folks getting frustrated with how long it takes to get a waitresses attention. I might be being overly critical.
Value (B)
Not going to sugar coat it - it's expensive. I think got five of us to eat and have dessert with tip and tax it was around $175. The food is awesome and they have a good number of customers so they can get away with the pricing but it's not cheap - expect to spend around $25-$35 per person.
Note - we really really like this place. I think if we lived in Phoenix we would come once a week. I wanna try everything. If you don't mind spend a few extra $$$s on super high quality food - then check this place out.
Message for the owner - sorry for not getting this review out sooner. We were the table of 5 who came in twice is one day a few days before the New Year.
Once for lunch and the second time to try your desserts. You were kind enough to allow my puppy in. (Yorkie)
We were in Sedona celebrating my wife's birthday and your kindness and excellent food made for a memorable day.
My wife loves visiting Sedona and we will come and visit your Cafe Everytime we are visiting.
Ryan Curtin
27 April 2026
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
Matteo made us feel welcome from the start as he introduced himself and got us seated. The food and wine were amazing, and the service throughout was top notch. I was really impressed with the entire experience. Thanks again!
George Galachiuk
1 April 2024
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The owner is right there in the restaurant. The fresh food is not a lie. It does take a little bit longer, but it is well worth the wait Italian food at its best. Not big with tiramisu but this was delicious. Also, the espresso was great
matias verrone
18 March 2024
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Some of the best pizza I have ever had, the house made bread was amazing and the burrata was so good.
Kent Petersen
18 January 2024
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I had a pizza that had basil and my one of my friends had a pizza with pesto and onion as well and my other friend had a lasagna.
The pizza I had was delicious, the crust crispy and soft after biting in. The ingredients tasted fresh.
Sampling what my friends had was delicious as well
We sat outside and had the view of Sedona mountains
Server was attentive and friendly
DJ E.
18 September 2025
Verified
We were actually so surprised by this place. When we walked in it looked like a MOD Pizza restaurant, but the food was so good and the service was great. Huge Caesar salad to start, we also had the Bruschetta which was solid and the pizzas were so good with a wood fired char. The atmosphere felt almost fast food but we would definitely go back. They need a better wine list if single glasses of wine as what they have isn't great. Only complaint.
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