The Sicilian Butcher [February 2021]

Let me start off by saying that until now I have mostly only written about wine bars, wineries, and vineyards. However, there are so many great places that could fall into one of these categories, but just do not. The Sicilian Butcher is one of these places, it is an awesome Italian restaurant [that has turned into a chain restaurant] founded in Arizona in 2017. It may not be a wine bar "per se" but you would never know it by the wine selection, or the way the charcuterie boards look!! [see the photo below]  

My Facebook caption for this post read “The Butcher is IN!! Happy National Drink Wine Day!! (thanks for the heads up Sharon Thomas!!)” The first time I stopped by was to meet up with a girlfriend I worked with at Banner Thunderbird, Stephanie Gallegos. [seen with me in the photo below] I believe she is actually the one who told me about The Sicilian Butcher in the first place. She mentioned the wine and charcuterie, but we found out that what they are most known for is their craft meatballs. You can order them individually, or by the bucket!! Haha!!

Joey Maggiore is the original Sicilian Butcher. He grew up playing with knives in the kitchen; he was literally born into the Italian way of cooking. Joey idolized his father, Tamaso Maggiore and dedicated The Sicilian Butcher restaurants to his father's memory. You see, Tamaso left Sicily when he was only 20 years old. He came to America to pursue his dream of opening and owning his own restaurant. When he died, at the age of 73 he had opened more than 50 restaurants, so I’d say… mission accomplished!! Joey learned a lot from his father, and his father passed to Joey the passion for the restaurant business, cooking, and Sicily.

I have returned to meet up with another friend I worked with at Banner Thunderbird, Barbie Corcetti and we were joined by my work daughter, Hayley!! [pictured above] This time I did get a small bucket of meatballs!! LOL The process is pretty cool, you have to first pick the type of meat [or plant] you want your "ball" to be made of, then you pick the sauce you want it to be served with!! The most recent time I was at The Sicilian Butcher, it was to meet up with my some of my favorite [ex-now don't get upset LOL] swing shift girls from [surprise, surprise...] Banner Thunderbird!!

Next week Wine with Wixy will be back to the more traditional wine venues. Ok, wait... there was actually nothing traditional about the Kazimierz Wine Bar!! Haha!! You will just have to come back next week to see what I am talking about!!

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!