Why was old style Italian food..

Don't know. My only guess is they were trying adapt their own recipes to the American palate. My family comes from Sicily, so I was brought up on some damn good food. My dad makes a pretty good sauce, but it still doesn't compare to my grandparents. Every year they used to give us a crate of mason jars filled with homemade sauce made from the roma tomatoes they grew in their backyard garden. Damn, I'd do anything for one of those.

I am sure many traditional Italian recipes were mutilated to appeal to American tastes as well as trying to create something unique so a restaurant could stand out.

Then you have food chains trying to replicate something in a mass production kind of way as well as food manufacturers producing frozen lasagna and bottled sauce etc

Nothing beats home made and Italian is simple cooking.

I've noticed this in many restaurants. As has been stated in this thread, the % of timid tongued patrons steer the chefs toward less spice. When we go to Indian restaurants, we always ask for "super spicy." It makes them happy. They think you must have tastes similar to theirs if you want it super spicy and then they make the whole dish with more authentic flair. Sadly that sometimes means it is a little more spicy than we wanted but ultimately worth it.

Is there a similar tactic that works when ordering Italian? I feel most Italian joints are bland as well.