Posto Sano Foods is a new north side restaurant offering a menu of thoughtfully designed Italian dishes, inspired through lenses of quality and creativity.

The best part: the high-quality menu options are created with the speed and convenience of a fast-paced eatery.

The concept of “gourmet take-out” originated in Italy and is new to Tucson. Who better than restaurateur and owner Daniel Scordato to foster this concept in the desert. Scordato said, “People want quality fast food and that’s the whole thing I have going on here.”

Scordato is no stranger to serving customers excellent food—he is also the owner of the well-loved Tucson restaurant, Vivace, located roughly 500 yards north of Posto Sano. Now, the new restaurant has been open since early February and acts as the perfect vessel to grant people access to quality food, fast.

Here’s how it works:

First, customers order and pay at the touchscreen kiosks.

From there, the order is electronically sent to the kitchen where the food is made to order and conveniently packaged to go.

“Having the kiosks creates less room for human error. With orders entered entirely by the customer, we cut out the server middleman and, instead, only have food runners to bring the orders out as they are completed,” said Scordato. “Some people don’t like this—it fits a niche for a certain crowd—but I want everyone to see past the plastic wear and biodegradable containers to the true quality of the food.”

Customers can also select different menu selections at the kiosk to filter their search for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free food options without having to frantically scan a printout menu for suitable dishes.

Vegetarian highlights:

• Divino Salad – house greens, red grapes, Gorgonzola, spiced pecans, and citrus vinaigrette
• Nido Salad – roasted baby golden beets, baby arugula, chèvre goat cheese, candied walnuts, and balsamic-walnut vinaigrette
• Melanzana Pizza – tomato sauce, grilled eggplant, roasted bell pepper, goat cheese, and pesto

Vegan highlights:

• Tuscan Slaw – black kale, Brussels sprouts, and vegan slaw dressing
• Grilled Eggplant – topped with mint and a basil white balsamic dressing
• Greco Salad – sano greens, white quinoa, cucumber, diced tomatoes, niçoise olives, vegan feta cheese, white balsamic vinaigrette

Gluten-free highlights:

• Grilled Chicken Breast – rubbed with rosemary and garlic oil
• Seared Branzino – rubbed with olive oil and gremolata
• Hamachi Crudo Salad – thin sliced, raw, premium Japanese Hamachi baby arugula, shaved fennel, and crispy shallots

The more notable menu items are the Roman-style pizzas.

What makes Roman pizza different is how it is cooked. The dough is lighter than standard pizza dough — more like a flatbread — and it is baked in an electric deck oven on thin cast-iron sheet pans. This process gives the dough tender, aerated pockets that are crispy on the outside.

This final product is more of a personal-sized pie.

“The dough is light, fluffy and crisp. They [Roman pizzas] are the perfect size for one or for groups to order a few and share,” said Scordato.

Roman Pizza Highlights:

• Fresca – fresh mozzarella, marinated tomatoes, fresh garlic, basil, and dressed arugula
• Funghi – fontina & mozzarella cheese, maitake mushroom, truffle aioli, and Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Salame – tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fontina calabrese salami (imported from Italy), and roasted fennel

In the past, the building previously housed Goodness Fresh Food & Juice.

“It’s a take on what was previously there. We kept a lot of the original woodwork and marble countertops and added different flooring, lighting and wall tiles,” said Scordato. “A lot of our renovation budget went toward getting rid of the bar. We now use that space to make our salads and desserts.”

The 1800 square-foot restaurant has interior seating for 22 and exterior patio seating for 20. There isn’t a full bar, but there are beer and wine options for customers to enjoy in the restaurant or take home unopened.

When you walk into Posto Sano, leave any predisposed perception of a “fast food joint” on the doormat and wipe your feet on it.

What you need to know is that on the other side of the Posto Sano threshold — with just a few button pushes away — you will find food forged in the fires of creativity and a determination to get it to the customer rapidly.

Posto Sano Foods, located at 6370 N. Campbell Ave., Suite 160, is open Monday – Saturday from 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

For more information, visit postosano.com.