I have been to the Cafe Tuscano twice now. Â Once for dinner and once for the Sunday Brunch. Â The atmosphere is really great, though the seating is a bit cramped. Â The food is hit or miss, with some items topping the charts and others something that comes frozen, from a can, or bag and not as fresh tasting as I would like. (Canned Chicken, doughy waffles, over cooked potatoes, and wilted lettuce. The Sunday buffet was very nice, and the egg/omelet/waffle chef was great. Dinner was very nice, but the ravioli that I had appeared to come from Costco, and the sauce was very salty. Â My dinner companion had another dish that had canned chicken, and a very sweet sauce. Â However, we had a clam appetizer that was nice. Â
When our bill came I was very disappointing.  We could have gone to Costco, bought and made the same thing meal and spent more than half of what our bill was.  The  place looks classy and the Wait staff look the part, but can't carry it off.  They are clumsy with themselves and their duties.  It should look flawless.  At a buffet all your job consists of is getting drinks, and clearing plates.  Do that and don't stand behind the bar talking to each other. When bringing someone a drink, don't lean over another customer to give another a drink.  It's rude.  If there isn't enough room between tables for you to serve correctly then you need to address that with the management. And believe me there isn't room.  The only professional person I saw today at the Sunday Brunch was the Egg chef, and even he was a bit clumsy, although very personable.  Beware that you will be paying $20.00 per person for a breakfast buffet. Â
I wish I could say that the food is fresh and exciting here. Â I really want it to be. I hope that this review is taken in the context that it is meant and that measures are taken to train the staff a bit better, maintain constant food freshness and flavor, and keep the wonderful decor and atmosphere.
Almost went here for brunch, but it was $20 per person ($25 with booze); which is more expensive than their dinners! It looked good, but since I don't usually stuff my face (or drink when the sun is up), I doubt it would have been worth it.
Don't let the gas station exterior area fool you. It's pretty nice inside!
As for their dinners, I think for the price they are really excellent. In fact, I think this is one of the best quality (not quantity) vs. price places in pocatello. I've had the Cobb Panini, Pulled Pork sandwich and the Chicken Bacon Ranch Flat bread pizza for dinner on three occasions. All were great, especially for the price. The Pulled Pork this time was my least favorite of the three, but it was certainly more food than the flat bread pizza.
Their selection of beer is really lacking. I guess I'd be happier about that if I drank wine...but I do not.
We will certainly be coming back.
Cafe Tuscano is a nice little business situated adjacent to some other family businesses, mainly a gas station and detailing shop.
Their menu is good and the service is top notch.
We did not enjoy their interpretation of Tiramisu as it seemed like a cup of cream without the fingers.
But, with that minor complaint Tuscano is a good place with potential.
Adding outdoor dining area(s) would improve this location 100%!.
They have the space they simply need to utilize it better.
I would eat there again if I were in Pocatello.
YUM!!! Â I don't really frame this as "Italian" in my mind, since my favorite item is the *delicious* French Dip Panini. Soooooo goooooood. We also tried the Greek salad, a grilled cheese, and a delicious mushroom pasta. Everything tasted fresh and like it was high quality. Our server was friendly and helpful. The sandwiches and salad were good portions, but the pasta was pretty small (which we considered unfortunate since it was so tasty). All in all, one of the *few* good places to eat in Pocatello!
Review Source:So the best thing about Cafe Tuscano is the ambiance and the wait staff. Â
Going in for dinner on a Friday night, my wife and I would expect nothing short of excellence. Â However this was sadly not the case. Â We have never patronized Tuscano before and were surprised with a fairly boring menu. Â
I started with the crawfish bisque, which actually was tasty despite no actual pieces of crawfish. Â My wife had a dinner salad which was from a bag. Â The lettuce was brown on some pieces and some were wilted. Â Not impressed.
A mere 2 minutes after our soup and salad arrived, our entrees showed up. Â A little soon, don't you think? Â Professional restaurants practice their timing between starters and entrees. Â I ordered the "Fettuccine Tuscano" which was described as 'Spinach and egg fettuccine, Italian sausage, bacon, in a creamy alfredo sauce.' Â The Italian sausage was clearly not house made. Â In fact, it was pre-packaged pizza topping. Â The sauce was extremely salty and was overseasoned with sage.
My wife ordered the Penne ala Vodka.  It was described as 'Penne pasta, tossed in a tomato Alfredo finished with vodka sautéed shrimp.'  The sauce contained bacon, bell pepper, and lots of onion.  Last I checked, vodka sauce contains none of those items.  She sent it back and instead ordered the Chicken Scampi.  It too was inedible due to the saltiness.
Needless to say we will not be returning to cafe tuscano. Â How disappointing.
I had dinner with my sister, mom and nephew. Â Great little hideaway! Â Great service, Great food! Â My nephew ordered the child's Mac & Cheese...more like gourmet...I liked his dish more than my "adult" dish. Â Not sure if my nephew will ever eat Kraft Mac & Cheese again! Â
Going back today for Valentines...
Absolutely HORRIBLE! We had heard some good things about this place so we tried it on our anniversy. Jack in the Box would have been better.
1st ordered the Crawfish Bisque, decent soup, really heavy but not bad. But lacked any crawfish.
Ordered chicken ravioli dish. SERVED WITH CANNED CHICKEN from Costco, are you serious!! The server said come back in a week---we get our grills in!.
The Ravioli was FROZEN, they dont make it Costco does. We sent it back and opted for a lettuce wraps, Bland. served with standard crunchy chips. Nothing cooked really, greasy pork, no fresh vegatables.
Husband had the "tender slicked sirlion sandwhich" Are you serious, it was standard ROAST beef that you would get at any deli. Served with au jus and a tablesspoon of dried rosemary in it. You cook the rosemary ding dongs and then take it out. But no a tablespoon of  dried rosemary in 3oz of juice. Seved with kettle chips from a bag.
We had two dishes that were INEDIBLE. People next to us sent back their prime rib, which we had heard good things about.
Overall terrible bland pre cooked food. There used to be a chef there, now it is two college culinary kids just warming up food in a microwave. Â The food came out to us in like 4 min! Obviously they dont cook food just warm it up.
And by the way, the business owner has all of his bills and paperwork scattered around the bar.. the ladders and paint cans are laying in the corner. Looks like your office at home.
What a joke, will definatly not eat there again.
Strange experience! Food was pretty good though. But still walking through the Shell convenience store is off putting! The service was good and once inside you feel you walked into another world. Â Then when you leave you are kind of hit with the fact that this is at a service station.
I like the independent little place making a go of it. I will go here again when I am visiting Pocatello. Nice to step out of "the chain" world.
I have to say they did a bang up job with the atmosphere even if it wasn't attached to a service station!! Like my son said, it was like a portal to a tuscan dimension!
Good job guys, and good luck!
It was a l-o-n-g drive and we wanted to eat at something other than a chain...we "found" this delightful place across from our hotel and was blown away by the atmosphere, friendly staff and GREAT selection on the menu's. Â The pizza I had on flat bread was outstanding as was the pasta dish that hubz ordered. Â I would definately recommend this as a terrific alternative to the chains!! :)
Review Source:Pocatello Wins with Cafe Tuscano...
That's how the headlines should read...
We paid a visit to this great new cafe on Saturday evening around 7pm...we walked in and sat right down. It has a nice warm atmosphere, small but new and comfortable. There is a restairant setup and then a pub/bar area as well.
Since it was St Patrick's Day we sampled some special faire:
Bangers n Mash--i give it 5 stars for the potatoes and 3 stars for the Banger sausage
Greek Salad--5 stars for taste, size and the perfect quantity of kalamata olives, onions, goat cheese and mixed greens.
Cheese Melange--God i wanted to take a bath and die in this stuff...its a delicious blend of cheeses served fondue style with a hearty sourdough. This gets my special 1,000,000 stars rating.
Strawberry torte--tasty but nothing to write your mom about...3 stars
Cabernet and Green Stella--limited selection of wines but the Cab was serviceable...3 stars.
The best part part about the attitude here is that we used our <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FRestaurant.com&s=0aab4cbd731f3d3b0d1453050d3abc56a8c80bd214e25469c7555b750dca8a51" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Restaurant.com</a> coupon. Our waitress was very helpful and was actually excited that we had used it. They were having great local success already and had done no other advertising than to engage this service so it was good to know that as appreciated.
Highly recommended...the proprietor has had great success in Pocatello in the past with The Bistro so you can bet it will always be superb.
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