Tuscan Blu

Had a lovely meal with Calamari, the special sea bass and tirimisu and wine. Service was decent but not stellar. Never asked if I wanted an additional glass of wine. The calamari was tasty but I prefer just the strips than little whole squid. But still well done. The sea bass was fantastic, just a small serving. Plate was over half full with the vegetable. The standout was the dessert. Easily the best I have ever had. I will go back even if I just get dessert. My friends lemoncello dessert was very good too. But her bruschetta was only 3 pieces, although tasty.

This is easily my favorite restaurant in town! The food is absolutely incredible and the atmosphere is just as great. I eat here every time I visit and I have yet to eat something not amazing. Any pasta you get is delicious and they have a great wine selection. A must visit in Raleigh!

I’m not sure how I feel about this place. First of all the female busser that spoke broken english to us was probably the best customer service that we received. They limit your Parmesan cheese. The poor gal brought over a bowl of the stuff and told me I couldn’t scoop it myself. I could only have her sit there shoveling it on my pasta for so long. They do have a parking lot, even though the parking attendant seemed sour at be world. It’s good enough I guess l, Raleigh just doesn’t have a killer Italian place downtown that’s reasonably priced. This one even is a little high.

Delicious food. For the main course I had Paillard Di Pollo. It didn’t look like much food at first, but quite enough.
Chicken was perfectly cooked. Comes with house fries, that stood out too. Along with spinach, again very nice.
I happened to take some Parmesan on the side, it tasted amazing with chicken.
If you are looking for massive quantities, order the Linguine Allo Scoglio.

Went here with my Mother trying to have a nice Friday night and they wouldn’t take a coupon that I had and tried to make it sound like it was my fault for not checking their website to see if they would take it! The food was ok, but the service was terrible! Not to mention that our server did not bring us bread and acted like she didn’t really know much about the food on the menu! I suppose the manager of this place believes that by saving $ 20 he’s doing good businesses but by losing customers and hundreds of dollars he’s running a bad business. If your looking for better food and better service go to Vic’s not this place!

Ate there last night. The food was awesome. I had the Bronzino. It was done to perfection. The sauce used was light and very tasty. The server was outstanding. He was very knowledgable and answered all my questions. Also was extremely friendly. I would say that I will definitely be coming back

I was so excited to try this restaurant! As I twirled my first fork full of linguine Cinque Terre, I thought I saw a hair — 2^nd twirl, surely it must be cheese — NOPE A LONG HAIR! I sent it back, was NOT offered a substitute, just left me with a piece of bread. Since it was price fixed menu, I was given the thinnest sliver of cake for dessert The bill came, the meal was charged in full. When questioned, the waiter got the owner who said no one in the kitchen has white hair but since I did maybe it was mine. Holy Hannah is this guy kidding??? I am writing this from the restaurant, and he continues to attack — just insulted an entire race. I said it was unfortunate, he shouted back that he was not spanish but italian — WHAT!!! Took $ 10 off — NEVER GO HERE UNLESS YOU WANT AN EXTRA HELPING OF HAIR AND ATTITUDE!

I came in at a pretty busy time on a Saturday night during restaurant week, and even though the place was absolutely packed, the wait staff and management were still super atentive and made me feel super comfortable in what seemed like a pretty chaotic time for the restaurant due to the amount of people. Not only that, but the food was absolutely fantastic; better than some food I had in actual Italy! I Definitely reccommend this place to anyone looking for an amazing italian experience in downtown Raleigh.

Went for restaurant week! Awesome food, service and ambiance ! Perfect for date night, will definitely return !

We ate at Tuscan Blu to celebrate a friend’s birthday. The atmosphere of the restaurant was intimate and charming; I thought it was a great space. The service left much to be desired. Although well intentioned and friendly, our server was inattentive, forgetful, and at times almost seemed a bit confused. One member of our party was served the rigatoni alla norma despite having ordered rigatoni alla bolognese. My gnocchi was excellent; the dumplings were tender and not a bit doughy. Portion sizes were appropriate for a single serving and in general offered a reasonable value, with many dishes being in the $ 13 – 16 range. We had a very positive experience, but Tuscan Blu certainly didn’t distinguish itself enough for a return visit.

Third visit last night with a large group of friends. Service was spot on, very organized in taking care of all of us, all 15 of our dishes came out at same time hot and delicious. Food was so good, no one was disappointed. Thank you, Tuscan Blu and staff!

Deliscious! Ingredients including herbs were very fresh. The tomatoes used to make the sauce tasted as if they had just been plucked from a garden. They tasted like tomatoes are supposed to taste. Prices were quite moderate (menu is available on their website). The only disappointment was that their crab supplier was late so I couldn’t order the crab dish that was highly recommended. Instead I ordered a shrimp based dish and was so happy I didn’t feel like I missed anything.
We had a party of 8 at the table and everyone was extremely happy with their meal. Part of the party goes there regularly and the rest will certainly be back.

Made a reservation for a night out to celebrate my birthday with my husband. When we arrived, they acted like they were doing us a favor by seating us, telling us we were lucky to get a small table in the back.
Food came out quickly, my pasta was undercooked and cold. The gnocchi my husband got was good, but a small serving. I really wanted to like it, but it wasn’t a great experience by any means. We won’t be back.

Atmosphere was good, the service was friendly, however, I was unimpressed. Here’s why.
I am unfortunately allergic to wheat. The menu states «ask us about our gluten free options» while also saying (gluten free) next to only two items. It sort of implies there are multiple options and not just those two. Unfortunately there were only two options. A gnocchi dish, and a ravioli.
I opted for the gnocchi while me wife requested a Parmesan chicken and pasta dish. The gnocchi dish while good, was a small portion for the money, and didn’t include any veggies or any kind of meat or side. My wife’s chicken tasted fine, but unfortunately, the pasta came to the table slightly cold and a tad undercooked.
All in all we were both unimpressed by the food and won’t likely be back. There really should be more gluten free options, because as the menu stands there are literally two choices, and no opportunity for either an appetizer or a dessert.

Went came here last night with a group of friends and the food was horrible. I ordered Bruschetta and ended up with a dish that looked like little bagel pizzas. Everybody in our party was disappointed with their food. So sad because the atmosphere is very nice. Will not be back.

Had a lovely meal of salad and fish. The servings were plentiful and the staff very friendly and accommodating.

I literally stumbled into this restaurant. I had gone into the Tex-​Mex restaurant nearby, and was neither impressed with their menu, nor, after one sip, with their beer. So I sauntered down a few yards and found Tuscan Blu. I was not disappointed. I had a very good Caesar salad with an absolutely delightful piece of grilled salmon. Honestly, I do not recall ever having had a piece of salmon so fresh and so good. As others have said, the hosts are from Italy and do all they can to help you out with the menu. The prices are very reasonable. My server was quite new… this must have been her first or second night… but she was quite friendly. I definitely would recommend this place if staying/​visiting downtown Raleigh.

While traveling through Raleigh, we looked on Unilocal for an Italian Restaurant recommendation. We were not disappointed. The owners are «hands on» in every way. Greeting us as if we were family, recommending outstanding pasta dishes, and created the food from complete scratch. Fresh ingredients, tasty sauces, and great service. Love that they are from Italy and have opened this fantastic restaurant. Highly recommend.

Went by this place for dinner a while ago and we were promptly seated but that was about the best part of the service to speak of for the whole dinner. They seemed to have 4 servers of which only one seemed to be moving at a pace faster than a snail. Each of the servers at some point came by our table and either took part of our order or tried to accommodate us but even working as a team the half hearted efforts kinda synced to still leave us waiting for our food orders, water and even a missed appetizer. The best part was when one of our party asked for pepper and the waitress brought over the pepper mill and, I’m not making this up, didn’t know how to operate said pepper mill. Rated on service alone this place was horrible. However, the food was actually quite good when it finally arrived. I had the pasta bolognese and was able to try some of the lasagna and chicken with orange pasta sauce. All of those three main dishes were great and especially the lasagna which was some of the best I’ve had. As good as the mains were the real super star was the fresh mozzarella balls stuffed with soft cheese (la burrata) Since it was a cheese stuffed with cheese I had to order them on principle alone. Anywho, they were light and refreshing and the one item I would say is a ‘must get’ if you go by there.
Bottom line, service sucked food was great. Hopefully they can get the service component fixed up and this place will be overall a awesome Italian restaurant.

Stopped in for lunch before going to be my hair done. They had a lunch special. It stated house salad, entrée, pasta, and tea for $ 10. However, it was explained to us that you pick one. The portion size for the salad was small and it was soaked with OVOO. I was not impressed.

Excellent food and excellent service ! Our first visit to this Restaurant and won’t be our last. Authentic Italian, Highly recommend :)

We made reservations during Triangle Restaurant Week and were looking forward to trying Tuscan Blu. It’s always disappointing when a restaurant claims to be authentic Italian and turns out to be anything but. The food was very mediocre. Our Crostini was comprised of stale bread with supermarket shelf mozzarella and jarred red peppers, certainly Not mozzarella di bufala as the menu states. The salad course failed to arrive altogether. The fish was just OK, and such a small portion, it was completely overshadowed by the under cooked broccoli served by it’s side. We passed on dessert altogether.

Disappointing on every level. There with a group of 9 tonight. Lobster Bisque was unrecognizable as such. Could not even eat it and sent it back. My chicken parm came 10 minutes after the other entrees and was cold. WTF?
Service was poor despite being only half full.
Skip it. I know I will next time.

Well, it was Saturday night, so we called in the afternoon to make a reservation. We should have realized when we walked in that the empty appearance wasn’t just a coincidence.
I had been craving lasagna, but my lady wanted a non-​pasta dish, so we looked around for alternatives to our usual spot. In all, we had a mediocre experience.
I could go on about the canned nature of the bolognese, or the fact that my caesar wasn’t delivered until after my lasagna had touched down; but ultimately our experience was a sum of less than ideal instances that made up a most mediocre date night.
I’m sure they meant well, but the entire atmosphere had an air of something that just wasn’t on the right track. We really need to start turning around when there isn’t a wait at 7:00.

Had reservations here for the night before the Rock ‘n’ Roll Raleigh Marathon/​Half Marathon 2015. Giving it a solid 4 stars. Laid back and casual, must be «mom & pop» place since we were warmly greeted by a gentleman at the door and seated very promptly.
Our server Lucas was super nice and we just proceeded to have a nice evening meal. Oil and bread was brought to the table — the bread nice and hot. Couple of different roll variety since I noticed some of the bread had a flaky crust while others were softer. The oil had a small kick (red pepper flakes in it) in a good way.
I ordered the Rigatoni alla Norma. Japanese eggplant sauteed in fresh tomato sauce and topped with goat cheese. Perfecto. I also had a Cesar salad — nice way to balance all the heaviness. It was nicely dressed and had an ample number of croutons. The one snag in our meal was that someone ordered calamari for the table, but it never came. Later our waiter came by and realized he had forgotten to put it on the order, but luckily there was plenty of food, we were probably better off without it. We did order a tiramisu to share for dessert. Creamy and sweet (but not overly) it was a nice way to end the meal.
Parking is a little tricky in this shopping center, but the parking lot is quite unique. Old cobblestones make the drive, but it doesn’t look the parking lot can accommodate all the neighboring restaurants and shops. Luckily there is an abundance of street parking.

I’ve eaten at Tuscan Blu several times in the past six months. The wine list is excellent, and service was very good too. The food, well, it depends. The Fiocchi I had in a pear and crème sauce were AMAZING. The salads were average. My friends’ pastas also average (not all that much better than zitti I can make at home). My husband’s fish special was just okay.
The place is fun and trendy, and it’s close enough to some of the entertainment venues that you can walk in good weather. Parking can be a bit of a challenge if you arrive at prime dinnertime on a weekend, although there is a small pay parking lot out front.
All in all, hit or miss. I’d go back for the Fiocchi in a heartbeat. Getting my husband to go back might be a bit more of a challenge.

Amazing service and food to die for. Definitely enjoyed the night out with the family and finishing it with Tuscan Blu was extraordinary.
If you have a taste for Italian cuisine than you should come check out Tuscan Blu!