Is there such a thing as affordable Italian?

Other than Olive Garden or Fazoli's, which I wouldn't call "Italian" and barely call edible, I can't think of one one inexpensive Italian restaurant. Am I missing someplace? If I'm not and every decent Italian restaurant is somewhat expensive, is it because of the price of ingredients or what? It just seems odd to me that I can have just about any other ethnic cuisine in this city and have a great meal on my tiny budget.

you said inexpensive, so here are my picks.
comeback inn
angio's italian restaurant
pesto's italian
fraschelli's
tuscany italian restaurant
bravo cugina
martini's italian restaurant
le gallo rosso, not sure if it's inexpensive
then the old standbys -macaroni grill, carabba's bucca dibeppo. spaghetti factory
pricier-volare, blu italian grill, vincenzo's
sure do miss mellilo's, and rubino's

I second - Come Back Inn, Tuscany Italian, Le Gallo Rosso

Add to the list Amici in Old L'ville, Rocky's in Jeffersonville & Federal Hill Cafe in New Albany. Not been to the latter in a while, hopefully it is still in operation. All are worth trying to seeing if they are to your liking without breaking the bank.

I'd like to add to A.M.'s "missed" list - Primo

Might have to check out Come Back Inn. I wouldn't call Le Gallo Rosso inexpensive, but then again I'm broke.

For inexpensive I'll second Amici. Very nice people and good food.

I'd say Come Back Inn or Tuscany. Both have never disappointted us, and are affordable to us.

We drove past Federal Hill before Thanksgiving and it looked closed, time being a Friday evening.

Come Back Inn - superb!

I'd like to add to A.M.'s "missed" list - Primo

Primo has been closed for quite some time. It would be awesome if someone could find another concept for that location because that wood burning oven is just sitting there collecting dust. I think the lease and the "nut"(% of sales attached to lease) are pretty high though.

Another vote for Come Back Inn.

And I soooo miss Mellilo's.

I am also missing Mellilo's. Sure would like a rice ball for lunch today! A group of friends and I are going to head to Come Back Inn in a couple of weeks. I haven't been for years, but after all the comments here, I'm looking forward to it.

Antipasto Wontons from Come Back Inn....yummy!

[Robin Garr]

I second - Come Back Inn, Tuscany Italian, Le Gallo Rosso

Agreed. I think Annemarie was trying to be exhaustive rather than critical, but her list does need parsing to be really useful.

[Robin Garr]

Primo has been closed for quite some time. I

Also, as much as I loved it, it really wasn't all that cheap.

Mellilo's - i miss it daily.

No more about Melillo's, I can't take it anymore... now all I can think about is eggplant parm, with their kicky marinara. I'm so picky about marinara, and theirs was rare in not being too sweet for me. And their lovely, lovely, staff... and creamy fettucine with prosciutto and peas... Have to stop now.

I think Come Back Inn is a best bet for what you're looking for.

I love Le Gallo Rosso as well - the way to make it affordable is either to split a dish with someone, or count it as getting two meals for the price of one, since you'll be eating another full portion for lunch or dinner the next day. Their portions are truly massive.