Primo Tuscan Grille

Not sure how this place is still around. I too went on a Saturday night and there was no one else in the restaurant. My friends had gift certificates which is why I ended up here. The food is generic Italian, nothing special, the type of food you find in a tourist style restaurant in Little Italy.
The table ordered calamari to start. Smallest calamari I have ever seen in my life. I joked with my friends that they must be organic.
I had the stuffed chicken entrée. The chicken was super bland and the sundried tomato filling looked like a paste from a can. It didn’t taste good either.
I did order a bottle of red wine (super Tuscan) that was pretty decent.
It was slightly over $ 200 for 4 people… For a good dinner I don’t mind spending $ 50 but was definitely not worth it at this place. There must be better Italian in Charlotte.

This place is way overrated. Should have known when it was dead at 7pm on a Saturday. They squeezed us at a small table which our bread and appetizer barely fit. The waiter was ok but rarely checked back. The eggplant parm app was ok, sauce was good but the eggplant was super soggy. Was disappointed they didn’t have any moscato which is a popular Italian wine. I got the rigatoni and it was ok, def not worth the price tag. The sauce had so much meat and was heavy sausage tasting. Overall no one was impressed with the food. Below average and over priced. Won’t return.

What can I say other than this place just plain stinks. I usually do not give 1 star ratings but this place had it coming. We went there with friends for dinner and there were several issues. First of all the waitstaff were very snooty and unfriendly. I got the vibe this place was big for the local Myers Park crowd and the whole atmosphere smelled of rich arrogance, so I was a little put off from the start. Secondly, they need to learn how to cook Filet, Both myself and my buddy ordered the Filet, I ordered it medium rare and he ordered it well. The steaks came out cooked identical, both were cooked well done. For a place that seems so arrogant they need to work on their skills in the kitchen to back up the attitude. The third and final insult came with the french waiter there dropped a knife not only once but three times on my wife, all without apologizing. I was beginning to think they were trying to tell us to leave. Save your money, you can get a better steak at Longhorn without paying a premium.

We were looking forward to going to this new restaurant. But the experience was less than ideal. I ordered the stuffed chicken which sounded delectable and really flavorful. But what I got was overcooked, dry chicken and very bland stuffing. My friend got the salmon, and she really enjoyed her meal. So she probably would give a different rating for this restaurant. But I won’t be going back.

Primo… Hmmmm the word means «Male Cousin».odd name for a restaurant. It is hidden away off Providence Rd. behind Boston Market… Upstairs. in a crooked floored second story. The restaurant was empty, we were pretty early at 5:30 PM but we were sat on a cold porch, in the very back of the room at a tiny — tiny two top table. The bus boy brought us water and a basket with unimpressive cold bread and butter. Never had heard much about Primo and it was Queens Feast so my daughter and I thought we would give it a try. We ordered a bottle of wine from Lodi, it was good, called Brazin a Zinfandel. My daughter and I decided to each try a different appetizer. She had the Shrimp St Thomas, it was 4 small shrimp on a plate with a very plain white mustard sauce. I ordered the Portebello Mushroom that had mozzarella and truffle oil. Mine was better than my daughters but still nothing impressive. We both ordered the Chopped Salad… not bad till I had to pull the long hair attached to a piece of blue cheese out of my mouth… done with the salad… We both ordered the Ribeye, odd choice for an Italian place but not too much Italian except Lobster Ravioli. The plate arrived and the meat looked attractive, the ICE CREAM SCOOP of Mashed Potatoes was not, however. My daughter took her first bite and pulled out a piece of metal wire. about ½ inch long. We told the waitress and she took it back to show the manager. The steak’s flavor was good but the meat was not prime. mine was tough, and it was done rare plus so it should have been more tender. We did not eat any more of the mashed potatoes and they were not fresh, either frozen or boxed, and we were scared of finding more metal. The waitress brought our check, I asked her if the manager was going to come and talk with us about the metal and she said the manager was the owner and the chef all rolled into one. and he was very busy. Hmmmm too busy for a customer who got metal in their mashed potatoes??? Maybe he should have sent the «Male Cousin» over ! Glad this was just a 30.00 check for each of us. Not worth the 30… even.

I know it is restaurant week and a Wednesday on top of that, but we decided to head out and give this place a try since there were two good reviews. SKIP this place and head uptown or Piedmont Row. I am not sure who our server was but he had zero interest in making the evening pleasant. He went through the motions and in one case tossed our steak knives on the plates and walked away. The food was better than average and the Super Tuscan wine was very good. We decided to order desserts after dinner and they came straight from the fridge to our table. I was hoping to find a gem in this place.

Grazie, grazie! A hidden gem — and I describe it as hidden because it’s tucked away just a bit down a side street off Providence in Myers Park. A friend selected this spot for Saturday night girlie chat and I’m glad she did.
Cutting to the chase — the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The Good (great, actually):
The décor of Primo is lovely. Cozy, comfortable, white linen, elegantly dressed tables, little tucked away areas in addition to the more open main dining room. Excellent service from start to finish — attentive but never overbearing — and great recommendations from our server.
With so many inviting appetizers from which to select, we were reluctantly forced to settle for just a couple. Selections included Shrimp St. Thomas and Scallops wrapped in Smoked Salmon. Both were delicious. Of note, the mustard honey cream sauce served with the shrimp, and the surprising (to me anyway) tasty paring of smoked salmon atop the scallops. Yes, I’ll be trying this at home and hoping for a result that is even mildly close.
Entrees included Veal Osso Bucco (tender, oh so tender!) served with rosemary risotto and Rack of Lamb. Osso Bucco is always a treat and not every restaurant prepares it well. But Primo exceeded all expectation. Tender, flavorful and braised to perfection. For the first time, I dared try the marrow (as our server recommended we do so) and found the flavor interesting and quite different. The lamb was perfect. Clearly we left no room for dessert but were crazy enough to at least hear the selections and berate ourselves for overindulging and thus left unable to partake. There’s always next time! I should mention there is a great wine list and the pour is generous to say the least.
The Bad and the Ugly:
That was just a tease, there is no bad or ugly here. Primo is wonderful and we will return soon. Grazie indeed!

We stopped at the bar for a drink after going to Boston Market & were pleasantly surprised to find it a beautiful Italian restaurant!
We made reservations for dinner on another night through Open Table. We stopped in at the bar before our table was ready & Christine was very helpful & charming to talk to.
The restaurant itself is traditionally decorated with big, softly colored murals & appropriately dim lighting. Every seat seems to be a good one. Although there are some tables along the front window, you don’t get to take in the beautiful restaurant (& people)
This is definitely a dress-​up restaurant! Sedate & beautiful dresses on the ladies (no slacks!) & sports coats on the gents.
A soft bread & large, tasty crackers came first. We started dinner with a bottle of the Caposaldo Prosecco, which we enjoyed while waiting for our appetizers of the Onion Soup & Escargot. They were both delicious.
Sweetie got the Angel Hair Pasta with shrimp, basil & garlic Aglio Olio. It was yummy. I got the crab cakes & they were mostly lump crabmeat with barely anything holding it together which is the way I like them. A good aioli came with it and a small side of fresh veggies. They were the best crabcakes I’ve had in Charlotte so far.
Our waiter was mostly efficient, & we didn’t have to wait for anything & he kept checking on us. I think his name was Noor.
The menu itself has a good selection of traditional Italian items & we would go again! Mangia, Charlotte!

Will never go again. Went based off a review about this restaurant that really hyped out this place. What a let down due to the food. You can tell that this is a OLD restaurant with a very OLD clientele who are use to the OLD way of doing things. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong believer of ‘if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ But I could totally see this place featured on FOX Kitchen Nightmares. Lets focus on the good: Great service, speedy food service and great wine list.
The bad: Old furniture, plates, glasses, décor and horrible paint job. Made me not want to eat, I was worried that I might catch something. Lastly, the driest chicken, and steak me and my date ever had.

Wow, I was so unimpressed. We chose Primo for our Anniversary and to experience their Restaurant Week menu. We arrived for our reservation, were greeted and promptly seated. We then waited, waited, and after about 5 minutes (sorry timed it) we were greeted by the server. The restaurant was not full and I feel there was no excuse for the delay. Once greeted we ordered a cocktail and were briefed on the menu. Little did we know my mother-​in-​law visited the restaurant personally that day and purchased us a glass of champagne to celebrate our anniversary. NEVER RECEIVED THE CHAMPAGNE. The food arrived and was just OK. The appetizers were nothing special, the salad was just ok, and the entrée while the veal and steak were good the risotto with the veal was not a good compliment. Restaurant Week is designed to showcase your restaurant so others will want to return. I can’t trust the food or service will be any better when they are not showcasing than when they are.

Yea, I got to travel to North Carolina and take out my eldest for dinner!
Rosa María M. (aka Bobes, Ro, Bobo, etc.)is my eldest daughter and is at school in the Charlotte metro area and we hardly see her.
I have a new gig in Greensboro so, OF COURSE, I drove down to pick her up and take her to dinner.
She’s beautiful and awesome and I love her a lot; I took her to a nice place.
She deferred to my selection so I was going to take her to a place that we usually went to when we lived in Charlotte 10 years ago (Bistro 100) but decided I’d rather not deal with the hassle of parking Uptown. So, driving down Provident Road, I saw this place (that is on the top floor of a building).
It was a nice, upscale northern Italian restaurant.
We split an awesome goat cheese salad (BTW, I think it’s redundant to put chevre AND goat cheese on a menu, but maybe that’s being picky) and then I ordered her a nice filet (she needs to eat good food every now and then) and I got the duck a la orange.
It was a great meal; the ambiance was relaxed, yet attentive.
And I got to see my Bobes.