Since moving to Tucson 4 years ago this restaurant is a favorite place to go for any occasion. The patio seating is relaxing when weather permits, inside very nice or if going solo the bar is fun.
Since moving to Tucson 4 years ago this restaurant is a favorite place to go for any occasion. The patio seating is relaxing when weather permits, inside very nice or if going solo the bar is fun.
My wife and I were celebrating our anniversary. We had been in Caffé Torino on Tanque Verde Road and loved it. Unfortunately for us, that restaurant is closed so we drove across town to check out the other one. It was just as great if...not better than we remembered. The service was excellent with a friendly and helpful server. We each had the “Special of the day”, fresh Mediterranean Sea Bass. It can’t be beat! Try it.More
We arrived, 90 minutes later they served our food and mentioned a cook didn’t show for work. Food was average, and over priced.
If this place is going to survive, they really need to step up their game. Our entrees were just uneatable. Mine was cold. It looked and tasted like it was 3 days old. The sauce tasted like Prego that had been microwaved. My partners was...not appealing. It was uninspired and boring. Tasted like cardboard. Honestly, I’ve had better Stouffers frozen entrees. Our dinners sat under the food warmer for 15 minutes before being brought to our table. Even under the food warmer our entrees arrived cold. The highlight was the salad and bread. Our server was pleasant. I could see both kitchen areas and it looked very chaotic for a slow night. Not going back. Much better Italian elsewhere!More
This local Italian restaurant is a gem. I visit Tucson once a year and this restaurant is always on my list. Ambiance and food are always great. Happy hour as well.
When I first arrived in tucson I looked for a nice relaxing restaurant with great food. I found Cafe Torino in 2019 & was so impressed with their food, relaxed friendly staff plus formal or non-formal atmosphere it has become a must go to anytime...I am close by. Sometimes I even drive 2 hours to just enjoy their food and hospitality by myself or with friends. The outdoor patio seating is my favorite seating area. This authentic Italian food.More
We go to Caffe Torino in Oro Valley often because it is our favorite Italian restaurant. It has a warm inviting atmosphere. My only complaint is that the service can be slow probably due to staffing shortages. The servers are friendly, experienced and knowledgeable. The...menu is varied with a number of unique dishes. My favorite is Pollo Tallegio. We have never been to the Foothills location where they have live music. We live in Oracle so that's a bit two far. The owner's daughters work at both locations and they are both very friendly and charming.More
Out of town visit…we were looking forward to a lovely Italian meal. Been here for close to two hours and are leaving. We received our bottle of wine (after begging) an hour in. Asked if they had started our meal, and they hadn’t…so we’re paying...for the wine and leaving!!! VERY DISAPPOINTING! Very short on staff. Head chef is supposedly in back and the two front staff are helping as line cooks!! This would be ok IF we were told they were short staffed when we walked in. Clincher: at least two (walk in) take out orders received their orders even tho they came in after us!More
I would give this restaurant zero stars if I could. The food was served rotten, cold, and the service was terrible. When we confronted the owner she was unapologetic and rude. The owner said we just didn’t understand the food which is funny since we’re...full blooded Italians. Here’s a step by step: we arrive with a reservation at 1pm and they don’t seat until 1:20. We can hear the chef swearing in the kitchen behind us. The service was slow. We had two diabetics in our party and asked for Diet Coke and they brought us regular coke (very dangerous). Half the menu wasn’t available. No silver wear until after the food was served. The food was half the portions than usual for the same price. All of the dishes that were supposed to be hot were cold. Service was atrocious. One of the salads was served with rotten lettuce. Little to no dressing on all of the salads. Only one of the terrible dishes was taken off the ticket where I would argue they all should have been. I don’t write reviews, but this was too bad not to write about. My family is Italian and used to love this restaurant as we have been going here for years, but regrettably this was our last time. Kitchen nightmares would have been very apt for this restaurant. #GordonRamsayComeHelpMore
We had a party of 16 and the service, atmosphere and Food was outstanding. Our appreciation to our waiter who was outstanding was John Brody. It was a perfect evening and once again John made it perfect.
nice staff, good portions but blase' pasta and bread. has outdoor patio. Harvest restaurant across parking lot much busier
Had reservations for 7:00 pm. My wife and I to celebrate our anniversary. We live two mikes from the restaurant. We were seated inside in the back. Waited for service for about ten minutes. A young man came and gave us water and apologized for...the delay and left. Ten minutes later another young man came and asked if we were ready to order. We told him we had not even ordered our cocktails and wine. He then took our cocktail order and left. We could see the lady making drinks and we waited another ten minutes. Finally the wine and cocktails arrived with an apology. “ We just got slammed and can’t keep up”. We ordered our meals. Salads ok but swimming in dressing. Mains could, Rissotto was hard like it had been cooked the day before. We did not finish our meals. By then it was 9:00pm and the place was almost empty except for a couple of tables outside. This restaurant used to be good. Not on open table anymore and not a place I will go to again. The Harvest next door is much better with excellent food and service.More
My husband and I, along with 2 other couples, went to Caffe Torino in Oro Valley last night. I made the reservation and asked to be seated outside. They said they could do that. My husband and I got there very early and my husband...asked about the outdoor seating. He was told that they don’t guarantee outdoor seating; it is noted as a preference. However, we did not see any outdoor tables that would accommodate 6 people. We sat indoors at the time of our reservation (6:30) and placed our orders fairly quickly. We were not served until 8 PM. A wait of 1 ½ hours is totally unacceptable. We spoke to the waitress several times and we were told that they were working on it. Someone from the bus staff asked if they could clear the table, assuming that we had finished eating. We said that we hadn’t even started eating. We asked for an accommodation and were told that we would be given 25% off our food. Again, not acceptable. No manager came to the table; we could have been given antipasto. The food was not particularly good. I had ordered veal, one of the more expensive dishes. My portion was overly salty. The pasta came out wrong. I had asked for penne and got spaghetti. Some of the pasta the other people had was hot and some was cold. Needless to say, we will not be returning there. One of the other couples said that this restaurant had been one of their favorites – not any more. I fully understand that due to the Corona Virus pandemic, restaurants are working under difficult conditions. At the very least, the manager should have made a point of coming to our table to apologize for the delay and offer a complementary appetizer while we were waiting for our meal. As an alternative, perhaps they should have limited the seating in order to properly serve everyone in a timely manner.More
I have enjoyed eating at Caffe Torino for more than 10 years, but no more. Last night our party of 7 arrived. No one seated us, but we saw a table reserved for 7 and assumed it was ours. Then we began our wait. We...quickly received water, but no one took a drink order for 40 minutes. Finally, we placed an order for 3 glasses of wine and two beers. Quickly, one glass of wine was delivered—but it was for the table next to us, which was clear much later when that table inquired where their glass of wine was. Another 30 minutes went by, when one member of our table chased down the waitress for our drinks and food orders. Then we waited another half hour plus for food, which was cold when it arrived. When I asked to speak to the manager, the waitress said “there is no manager tonight.” When I asked who was in charge, she admitted that it was her and was not just defensive, but argumentative. I was asking for some relief to the bill due to our long wait, and she offered free dessert, which by that time we were uninterested in. She finally took off one drink/each of the 5 who had alcohol and gave one dessert to the couple who did not have alcohol. We left exactly 2 hours and 20 minutes after arrival. I might add that there were empty tables when we arrived and no line when we left. Worst service ever. Not returning.More
Dinner with g friends. Service was friendly but slow. Pasta came out dry on top and was barely above room temp. Place was busy. They do have a good selection of draft beer.