Calistro California Bistro

Great food! Cool bar. Menu did not highlight the homemade pasta that was great. Steak was also really nice. Service was attentive and accommodating.

I’m very sad this restaurant has closed. It was a nice little business with some great people behind it. I think that the location was just hard to see and they were too far from the street.

Doesn’t seem like they get many customers. I attended with a group on girls on a random Thursday. The location of calistro is in a strip mall neat Lincoln dr and Scottsdale rd.
We were in time for happy hour and I asked which of the red wines ($ 7 a glass for hh) were sweeter. The waiter did not know how to respond. He finally did recommend one, which turns out they only had 1 glass left which one if the other girls got so he recommended another red wine. Two minutes later he comes back saying they are out of that one too! At this point in saying «just give me red»!
When our food came our, the waiter couldn’t remember who had what… Rookie mistake!
I had the pasta bolognese which was ok, the bread they serve with it is lightly grilled which was yummy.
The manager gave our group free dessert because of the wine mishap which was nice. We tried the chocolate pastry, rice pudding and apple crisp. All were just ok.
Will not be returning.

4.5 stars
Calistro has a great vibe. that, coupled with the fact that there are Gluten-​free and Paleo options. keeps me coming back !
I love organic farm to table freshness and you get that here.
My first time eating here wasn’t stellar, but, i figured they needed some time to find their groove.(service issue)
low-​lights;
Small menu /​wine list (yet solid for what they offer)
High-​lights ;
Salads are very good, I like the Jicama salad and the Beet salad .
The herb chicken is a great GF dinner choice as it is tasty, prepared and presented well .
This establishment also donates to fight Autism (certain wines) which also deserves mention.

Going back to Cali… to Cali… to; well you get the idea! I went to the Calistro California Bistro when it was in the OTHER location. I gotta tell you that impressed I was not! Brown, wilted looking avocado slices served and when we let them know we were not impressed we were greeted with a less than caring; oops, so sorry attitude.
Well, we decided to try it once again at it’s newest incarnation on Scottsdale Road and talk about a 180! Woo haa! I am so glad we went back for round two! The manager Jerry chatted us up and was genuinely interested in our opinions on what was working now vs. what faux paus we witnessed then. They had my friend try a new drink they were thinking of putting on the menu and she loved it! (Way too HOT for my liking as it had a hot pepper in it…) but the food was really good, they accommodated my gluten free diet and the food was fresh and tasty!
We started with the Baked Goat Cheese appetizer, with veggies instead of crostini and it was divine! They use Crow’s Dairy cheese, which is as good as it gets! This stuff was so good I could eat a bowl full for my lunch! Nom nom.
Then I had the Fire Roasted Shrimp. Spicy and delish. Like major Delish. It had Harissa flavored shrimp with feta, olives and more. We had drinks that were very generous pours!
I’ll be back again and again and again! Round two was the bomb!

Wow! Deeeeelicious food that is obviously made with love.
Amazing happy hour prices.
And, have the bartender make you one of his fancy-​ass cocktails. Amazing.

I’m letting the word out on one of Scottsdale’s best kept secrets. Calistro California Bistro is a quiet Scottsdale neighborhood restaurant that should be making a lot more noise on the valley’s food scene. Calistro offers an inviting ambiance, a friendly and hardworking staff, and most importantly delicious fare.
The menu is small but it is still difficult to decide. Everything sounds good. The food tastes fresh and prepared in-​house from scratch. I had the duck confit tagliatelle. The duck leg was cooked perfectly and the meat easily fell off the bone. It was so flavorful that I felt like it was challenging me to chew on the bone like a dog so I could taste more. The hand-​cut pasta was also magnificent and the madiera cream sauce is a perfect compliment. The meal is also served with an amazing piece of focaccia. Baked with some delectable herds, the bread would have been fine on its own, but once I dipped it in the madiera, I was in heaven. My fiancé had the filet. She asked for vegetables instead of the mashed potatoes which they had no issues accommodating. I took a bite of the beef, which was cooked to a perfect medium
Like most of the best places in the valley, Calistro is an unassuming little space in a strip mall. When you pull into the parking lot of the Hilton Village there is little that distinguishes the restaurant at first glance. But don’t let this put you off, once you walk onto the patio you will know you’re in a great spot. The bar is a perfect little spot to have a drink and keep an eye on a game or whatever else the TV is playing. It’s divided from the dining room by a beautiful wine rack. Unique art lines the walls.
Calistro is not expensive, but good food is going to cost you good money. However; there’s a great $ 50 for $ 25 deal on local dines (
) which will get you a great meal and make things easier on the wallet.
Give Calistro a try, you won’t regret it.

This place is a true gem. The food is always fresh and LOCAL. The service is top-​notch. I usually sit at the bar and watch a game, and the bartender Brian is great to chat with about the game, or recommend a wine to go with my meal. Highly recommend!

Definitely a must try if you’re in the area. Had the asian duck wraps and they were delicious. The duck was tasty and moist and the accompanying vegetables and sauce were wonderful complements. The other diners in my party had the salmon and both were very pleased with their meals as well. This will be a restaurant we will be returning to in the near future to try the other menu items. The cappuccino left much to be desired, but lacking a bit on the after lunch coffee wouldn’t prompt me to remove a star from the amazing meal I had. The décor is subtle and the layout is strange inside, and there is absolutely no décor outside but don’t let the unassuming touches fool you. The food is worth it.

This place has class! What a gem, I’m glad I found it. Jerry was incredibly welcoming. All the artwork inside is original and done by his son. The drink menu caught my eye as it has all my favorite cocktails; sazerac, manhattan and old fashions. I could easily see this place making my weekly rotation. Well done Jerry!

The food was great and service was fast. Greeted very promptly and happily as soon as I walked in. Jerry, the managing partner, and my waitress, Kerri, were awesome. I always seek out locally owned places while traveling and this place is a gem. Highly recommend making this a stop while in the Phoenix/​Scottsdale area.
The salmon is a must try. Kudos to Chef Brandon.

What a cute unassuming restaurant for Scottsdale!
I was immediately impressed by the friendliness of the staff and owner! You don’t often see a restaurant owner helping his wait staff with refills, expediting etc, but here you will.
At first glance the menu may seem small but that allows each item to be perfected and as good as the next. Pet peeve 2376 is when a menu has 4 or 5 pages of food but they only make one or two good things. What is the point?!
Our table ordered 2 lamb meatloaf sandwiches and the duck wraps. The meatloaf was delicious and moist and had a rich cream sauce/​gravy layered on top. It was wonderful and I would definitely get it again.
I can’t rate the duck wraps as a whole, but I did sneak a piece of the duck meat from my friends plate and it had me wanting more. I guess there is always next time…
Keep up the good work Calistro, I am impressed!

Not recommended. As a guy who has opened and ran many high profile restaurants in Scottsdale, I can be honest. They have ONE pasta on the menu, tagliatelle, which they make in house. My wife ordered it with their Bolognese. Who the hell puts CUMIN in a Bolognese sauce? It tasted more like chili! I ordered what sounded very good on the menu, open faced lamb meatloaf with gravy. Well, the waitress knew I am lactose intolerant because she is too… the meatloaf came out not drenched in gravy, but in a thick cream sauce. Can’t eat it, sent it back. My wife asked for bread and out came what these guys call focaccia… well, it was far from it. And, they have the balls to charge $ 4 for basket of this dry nasty «bread». WTF? WHO EVEN CHARGES FOR BREAD? Manager was nice, but not good at reading people. I didnt want anuthing else but to get the hell out of there, I explained I was not inclined to the type of foods they chose to put on the menu, but he kept recommending dish after dish persistently. I finally looked at him, made the slashing motion across my neck while staring into his eyes and said firmly, «I am done». He finally got it.

Walking through the door you immediately appreciate the vibrant décor. The restaurant has a great flow and very welcoming feeling. We ate in the booth and had nothing but great service. For appetizers we tried the flatbread pizza which was awesome. We also had the humus and meatballs and thought the meatballs stole the show. For our entrée we tried the bolognese pasta and and the meatloaf both cooked and prepared with quality and farm fresh ingredients. The bartender also did a good job sending me an assortment of different style cocktails which were eloquent and thoughtful along with a cab that was fairly priced and great tasting.
We had a great time and would recommend this restaurant for a relaxing evening to enjoy food from a creative chef and great drinks from an up and coming bartender.

We checked this place out last night for the early bird special and we were the only ones there. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the view of Camelback Mountain while the sun was setting. The service was pretty good and the food was decent. We were able to enjoy happy hour drinks on the patio… bonus — $ 3 draft beer and $ 5 cosmopolitan! We took advantage of the $ 20 3-​course dinner — greek salad, pork loin with sweet potatoes and peanut butter chip ice cream for me and caesar salad, chicken and vanilla goat’s milk gelato for the hubby. Overall, pretty good, but the food is better at other nearby places. Note: if you check-​in on Unilocal,you will also save 15% off your bill!
I hope this place makes it, but they need to advertise more and step up the quality of the food!

Great location! Walking distance from the hotel. Great service and most especially GREAT FOOD. Coming from NYC, it was a place to eat away from home! Take advantage of their early sitting. Friendly, cozy. I’ll be back.
John

My husband and I visited Calistro’s for our anniversary a couple of weeks ago. We heard it was a paleo-​friendly place to eat so we definitely wanted to check it out. We are pretty picky with our food which can be embarrassing sometimes we don’t eat out a lot.
The place wasn’t super busy but there were a number of tables full when we arrived. They came to the table right away and the server was very informative in helping me choose my meal. It was a new menu (put in place a week prior he said) yet he was very knowledgable about each dish. I chose the Lamb meatloaf and my husband had the pork chops.
Both of us really enjoyed our food. It wasn’t boring but the flavors compliments each other very well. The server was attentive, the atmosphere great, and the manager came over as well. He talked to us for a little while and wasn’t just friendly but seemed genuinely sincere with making sure we had a good experience.
We’ve told our friends about Calistro’s since and we’ll definitely be back.

Closed clams have been dead for an unknown period of time and are unsafe to consume and that is what they gave us in one of the dinners. I didn’t even complain about the missing eggplant in the eggplant caponata that should have been included with the sunfish dinner but I note EGGPLANT WAS MISSING. The sunfish dinner was cooked nice and had the taste of eggplant caponata without the eggplant. We ordered focaccia so we could get some bread and we got four two inch by two inch (approximate) thin pieces for four dollars that was tasty.
We did alert our server about the closed clam and someone came out and apologized and presented us with a dish of cooked clams. A closed clam can infect the whole dish and has the potential to make someone sick.
If we didn’t have the clam problem I would have given three stars because it was just OK.
I don’t want to go to anyplace that would serve someone a dead clam on top of their dinner I will not be back and am thinking I should have given one star.

We decided to try Calistro California Bistro late one Saturday night. Thank goodness it was open, all nearby restaurants were closing and we were starving. It’s tucked away in the center behind Houston’s.
I was pleasantly surprised! The décor has a modern, clean vibe – stylish but not excessive. The food is exceptionally fresh and I loved the staff – they were incredibly helpful and engaging and kept us in good company at the bar.
We scored such an incredible deal: Greek salad, Mediterranean flatbread (best flatbread I’ve ever had!), a generous bowl of hummus, and a beer for under 25 bucks. I’m eager to try some of the main entrées; the chicken looked awesome, as did some of the other salads.
I’m definitely coming back! It’s a perfect place to take my mom and grandma when they come to town; they’ll love the food and we can sit on the climate controlled patio without sweating our butts off when summer rolls around.

One of my favorite happy hour places in the Scottsdale area. The staff is always prompt and friendly without being over bearing and their menu is very solid.
Make sure you give any of their oven cooked flat breads a try as they are all fantastic

First, I want to tell you I love the Calistro California Bistro at DC Ranch, so we thought we would give the new location a try. I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I was with the experience. Our service was slow with the exception that someone did come by three times to ask us if anyone had been to our table to take care of us.
When someone finally did come, they provided us with two menus. Both of them were different and had different prices printed on them. Mine had the Greek Salad for $ 6.00 and my wife’s had a price of $ 9.00. They did give us matching menus, so we ordered.
I ordered the Greek Salad and it was the worse salad I have ever had. Feta cheese was almost invisible and all you could taste was olives. The pulled chicken was stringy, at best.
I understand the place is new, but they really need to get it together if they want to stay in business.