Cuttlefish

Good skewers and shrimp wedge salad. Not crazy about the fish tacos or crab cakes. The are NOT the Maryland crab cakes by any means. Good happy hour prices. Waiter very attentive.

I met a friend here for lunch one day and loved it! First, you see the bar once you walk in and instead of bar stools you see Vespas lined up for the seating — genius! We were seated at a table and ordered the salmon kebabs and they were fresh and delicious. The restaurant is beautiful, the service was great and the food was delicious!

Beware! Four of us went for Happy Hour. Three of us had the oysters. Three of us VERY sick!
We hadn’t been here for a long time. IT’s gone down hill… big time! Drinks are still expensive and few people to serve. I think it won’t be long before they are a bad memory.

A nice treat. Not fancy, not casual, just comfortable. Food was excellent.
The appetizer was crab cakes and seafood skewers. Nice! We had caesar prepared chopped and mixed in the dressing. Lobster Ravioli was jammed with lobster, covered in black pasta and cream sauce. The sole was wonderful, served with greens and garlic mashed.
Service was average, nothing special. When we are in the mood and in the area, we will be back. We just won’t drive across town.
So…
Good seafood, casual atmosphere, average service.

Had date night here and was slightly disappointed. We arrived early for dinner and decided to sit at the bar since we made it before happy hour ended. The oysters on the happy hour menu were more than the actual dinner menu? Turns out that they charged us for dinner menu price, so there really wasn’t any happy hour? This annoyed me because if I would have known, I would have sat at the table vs the bar. The presentation of the food was great, but almost everything had 1 good thing about it. Oysters are great! Ahi Tuna was forgettable. There was just not enough taste to it. Seafood risotto… Risotto itself, tasted great, the mahi mahi was too bland, and they had ½ crabs on top, which was ok. Scallops was a great touch. Next, we had the veal. I think this is the only dish besides the oysters that I liked. Sauce and mushroom on the veal was good.

Thank you Unilocal for directing me to Cuttlefish!
1) Sunday bar pricing 50% off from 3 – 7 pm
2) location perfect in a shopping mall; lots of parking
3) HUGE restaurant; cute décor (moped seats at the fresh seafood bar)
4) nice wine selection and craft cocktails to perfection
5) friendly waiters, waitresses, bartenders
6) family owned, not part of any chain (but owner has at least 3 other restaurants in the Phoenix/​Scottsdale vicinity)
7) great food
We had to stop at appetizers!
Oysters on a half shell (3 from CA and 3 from NY– forgot the names) were FRESH FRESH FRESH served with horseradish, cocktail sauce and some sweet chili sauce. I kept it simple with the horseradish…
Salmon Board– smoked in house to a nice medium perfection; a dill marscapone spread for layering and pickled red onion to top it DELICIOUS
Blackened Shrimp Bruschetta sitting on some sort of chickpea spread… DELICIOUS
Blackened Shrimp Wedge Salad with a aioli dressing DELICIOUS
Now– up to this point with the 4 appetizers, our bill was $ 27 UNBELIEVABLE
Craft cocktail on happy hour $ 6
Bottle of Meiomi Pinot Noir $ 49 (I thought it was a bit pricey as I know what I can buy it for BUT worth every dollar) as this wine complimented our appetizers with PERFECTION
I will return to this restaurant; I want to try their cioppino which I understand is GREAT. See you next time Cuttlefish!

Stopped by for dinner and in the mood for seafood so came here… first off I would recommend to sit on the bar side soley for the service of Erno, the bartender. He is here from Culver City by LA just to make the best drinks in town and provide excellent service here! Extremely friendly staff! We started with the bread with garlic/​chive butter… not a big bread person but the crispy warm bread is hard to beat to start off a meal! Then the cuttlefish appetizer was very tender with light crisp… then the date with bacon appetizer is excellent! Sweet and good flavor! Main course of lemon shrimp (good sized) and lobster ravioli (well done but not too much lobster taste), lump crab salad dinner (very sweet flavorful lump crab) and clams with pasta (perfect!!! Not too heavy… light and clams extremely flavorful with perfectly made pasta). Boo room for desert! Will come back again!

Food is great and the ambiance is exceptional. Thank you Joey and Cristina for such an amazing dinning experience!

Cuttlefish does three things perfectly:
1) Food — just outstanding. We sat in the bar area and just picked things off of the happy hour menu. The Fish Tacos? Perfect. Big pieces of fish (but appropriate for the tortilla size), crisp, fresh cabbage, perfect seasoning… mmm. We tried the three types of oysters they had, and they ended up being so fresh and delicious that I wasn’t adding horseradish to them — just fresh delicious oysters. We had the smoked fish board, which was equally incredible, with this rich creamy mascarpone that just made every other soft cheese I’ve ever eaten feel unnecessary. And the surf and turf skewers. Just awesome. I recommend every bit of it.
2) Atmosphere — Cuttlefish is the sister restaurant of Notorious Burgers/​Kitchen next door, and both of these places are just super classy, with really interesting, engaging (but not distracting) décor, that makes the entire experience just fun. The oyster bar is surrounded by chopped-​off bikes, which I will absolutely be back to sit on and consume unreasonable amounts of oysters. The divider between the private dining area and the rest of the restaurant is inspired, the booths are comfortable, large (I’m a skinny dude but I like a lot of space), and feel luxurious — not cheap. And the music really sets the mood. This would be a great place for a date (ask and make sure he/​she likes seafood first, of course).
3) Customer Service — I stopped here yesterday after spending all day traveling. Just looking at the place from the outside, you know it’s a classy joint, and after spending 6 hours cooped up in a plane, I’m still wearing jeans and a t-​shirt, I kind of expect to walk in here and be treated like a second-​class citizen. Totally NOT the case. I might be a common man, but I had nothing but smiles, service, and help from the moment I stepped through the door. I’ve been to their sister restaurant many times, so I don’t think this is the result of good management and smart hiring — not a one-​off experience. The people who work here are helpful, respectful, friendly, and generally just pretty damn cool. Everybody seems to be happy, and that makes all the difference.
Anyway, if that was too long to read: It’s a freakin’ awesome place. Go there. Preferably with someone you want to impress.

Got a social media deal so had to try this place. Started with half a dozen oysters. They were so good! The horseradish had good kick and it came with a sauce that was just so tasty. I hadn’t had oysters for so long I indulged in another half dozen. Mmmm. The waiter said the owner takes particular care in ensuring the oysters are fresh shipping them in temperature controlled containers.
Daughter got the crispy calamari and contrary to what I thought, the calamari is tender and served hot. No hard chewy calamari here. The sauce is refreshing also, light and lemony. I ate too much.
Moving on to the salad. The caesar is served with a Parmesan cracker. Good but nothing to write home about. Wife had the wedge salad, she said the dressing was a tad too watery.
Main dish was a bit disappointing. My daughter had the clams and pasta dish. Clams were really salty… voodoo clams. The pasta was better. I had the Spaghetti and Halibut. That dish was rather plain. The wife had lobster ravioli. She enjoyed it so that was the best dish of the three. Gnocchi side was good, slightly mushy but tasty.
Dessert was crème brûlée and chocolate lava type cake. Both were very good. The deal included a lemonchello. Man that lemonchello was strong. Yowzaa!
So next time I’m coming here and just eating oysters, calamari and dessert!

Loved everything about this place. The waiter was very friendly and made great suggestions. It was a nice day so I sat outside in the patio area, though the inside of the restaurant was very cute! I loved the motorcycle seats at the raw bar.
Ordered half a dozen oysters for $ 16. Got 3 differ by kinds (2 of each). All were very tasty. The horseradish was super pungent. Awesome! Weird thing is that half a dozen oysters was $ 16, while a full dozen would have been $ 34…is it just me or does the math not add up?
Even though it was 94 degrees outside, the waiter told me the clam chowder pot pie is just too good to pass up so I had to get it. And I’m so glad I did! The pie crust was the perfect amount of flakiness. The chowder was not as thick as most I’ve had but still very tasty. So many clams! And the bits of bacon just really added to the flavor.
The prices were decent. A little bit pricy but very reasonable for a seafood restaurant. I was hesitant at first since the restaurant was so empty but very glad I took a chance on it.
Only weird thing was while I was sitting in the patio area a homeless (?) man came by trying to sell me a CD of his rapping. Totally random and unexpected. Maybe I was just surprised since this seemed like such an uppity area. A little off putting at first but that really has nothing to do with the restaurant itself.

I hate to be so stingy with stars, but we came here for my birthday dinner because I really was craving seafood. I will admit we ordered poorly. We should have stuck to classic pasta and seafood combo’s on the menu, but they had a special that really caught our eye. It was a softshell crab and crabcake, and it was really not good. My softshell crab was totally muddy, the crab cake tasted frozen and full of filler, and I walked away wishing we could have a do over.

Warm and inviting restaurant. Love the décor.
It’s restaurant week here for $ 44.00/person you can get ½ dozen raw oysters on the half shell or the pork underbelly. It was so GOOD.
Entrée: spaghetti Nero with shrimp and scallops.
Dessert was to die for: I had the tiramisu…
My husband had the Italian pudding OMG! It was so the first and best Italian pudding I’ve ever had.
Needless to say our waiter who was the bartender gave us great service.
If you’re in Scottsdale don’t pass up this restaurant.

What a fabulous restaurant! I can’t believe we did not come here sooner. We were greeted when we walked in by a smiling hostess who was very pleasant. We sat in one of the cute little booths that was next to the Vespa oyster bar. What a great idea for an oyster bar! Gino, our server was very charming as well as knowledgeable about the food and wine. His recommendations were right on. I had the incredible Filet of sole Puttanesca and my friend had the Pappardele pasta with some rapini sautéed with fresh garlic and extra virgin olive oil. We shared a bottle Gino recommended of a delicious chianti riserva. It paired perfectly with both dishes. Dessert was an incredible molten salted caramel torte, double espressos with some sambuca that again was suggested by our server. What a finish to a fabulous meal!
Food– 5
Ambiance– 4
Service-​5
Overall — 5

Irene V’s brother was visiting, so she threw an hh (happy hour) UYE yesterday afternoon. I arrived earlier straight after my massage session in Tempe and was starving, so I decided I’d eat early so that I would be free to perhaps enjoy a cocktail and enjoy everyone’s company at the UYE. It was my first time visiting, as I was not able to join the OYE (official Unilocal event) held here last year.
I sat at the bar and was tended to by manager Chris, who had worked at neighbor and sister restaurant Notorious Burgers. I ordered the Unilocal check-​in free appetizer of Crispy cuttlefish, which normally cost $ 12, as well as the Pappardelle and smoked chicken (I’m sensitive to most seafood and almost all of the standard shellfish offerings). I would’ve tried one of the four desserts (three here at Cuttlefish, and one from NB) that intrigued me, but all contained a corn ingredient, or two, so I was spared the calories and expense– thanks, Cuttlefish! :)
Crispy cuttlefish, originally $ 12, free on Unilocal check-​in: Your basic battered strips of calamari, coupled with an uninspired dip of what resembled tartar sauce. Glad it was free, because I only ate a strip, or two. Quite disappointing, as I had expected a dish that incorporated the restaurant’s name in its moniker would have to be very special. Despite its name, the strips weren’t crispy at all; the textures of both batter and the squid pieces were unexciting; not much flavor to the batter coating; the whole dish had a strong «fishy» scent that was off-​putting; and the lemon twists I’d requested to spice things up a bit had not improved matters. I say skip it.
Pappardelle and smoked chicken, $ 12 on happy hour menu, yet was charged $ 9**: Oh, my! This was a winner! The Alfredo sauce was seasoned just perfectly– rich, creamy, and buttery; the wide pappardelle ribbons cooked al dente; and the smoked chicken was indeed smoky in flavor and added a great texture to the entire dish. The portion was a little smaller than what a lunch portion would be, yet I ate about two-​thirds of this dish, whereas if this was lunch, I’d have eaten around half at the restaurant and taken the rest home. I suppose my lack of enthusiasm for the free app caused me to overindulge with the pasta, but I’m not complaining! I’d order it again. Oh, and I’d eat this dish even if the smoked chicken was not included– so delightful!
I paired both dishes with a glass of the Arizona offering of white wine. Not something I’d enjoy sipping on its own, but I thought was good with the pasta and cream sauce.
Make sure to check your receipt to ensure that you aren’t billed for the free app with Unilocal check-​in. Kudos to the staff that watched over our UYE group! Oh, and thanks to Chris for walking over to Notorious Burgers to grab a sample of Woodchuck Blueberry ale– it was delicious! Chris said I could order it to enjoy in Cuttlefish should I want it.
**I believe everyone who attended the UYE party had $ 3 subtracted from their food orders off of the HH menu!

I’m really torn on Cuttlefish because I thought most of the food was actually very good! However, the portion sizes were very small for the price. For my $ 34 Lemon Prawns and Lobster Ravioli dish, I literally got 3 – 4 prawns (albeit, large prawns) and 3 ravioli, and that’s it. The sides were also very small (and extra $). This is unfortunate because, again, the food was actually pretty tasty. (I’d avoid the crab mac and cheese — it wasn’t that great.) I recommend going on Thursday night when they have a «Date Night» menu and two people can eat for $ 49. That’s a much better value than the money we paid on a Friday night.
The restaurant itself has a great, open décor. I love that they have Vespa scooters at the bar to serve as bar stools. Very cute! Service was also good.

Dear Cuttlefish,
I am sorry we got off on the wrong foot… I was all wrong about you! I am so happy that I decided to give you a second chance, and you beyond redeemed yourself! If you read my first review I didn’t have such a stellar experience, It wasn’t bad per say but it wasn’t what I was expecting! So, I was hoping that the second time around would be better and it was!
This time around we went and ordered another bottle of my now favorite wine Sexual Chocolate, it’s a Syrah — Zinfandel blend and it’s frankly to die for. The bottle runs around $ 65.00 and they offer it by the glass as well at I believe $ 16.00. This go around we decided to order an assortment of their appetizers, and I was frankly blown away by nearly all of them. The only one I wouldn’t order again would be the Spicy Tuna Pops. The tuna itself was amazing, super fresh and really flavorful. The waffle cone that it arrived in didn’t exactly compliment the fish.
Other items that we ordered and LOVED were the dozen oysters, we got an assortment of the oysters they had that particular day and they were fresh and this time around there wasn’t a trace of shell in any of the oysters! WOOHOO!
The Crispy Cuttlefish was one of my fav items that evening — The only way to describe it is that it is very similar to calamari but frankly it’s better than calamari. It doesn’t have that rubbery texture to it and it was fried to perfection and the lemon aioli was the perfect compliment to it.
Cuttlefish’s take on a wedge salad is what dreams are made of! I love wedge salads but I usually am not a huge fan of the iceberg lettuce since it really has zero taste or nutritional value to it. The bibb lettuce was a welcome change of pace and the crispy pancetta, and avocado was a nice addition.
The pork belly, the Carlsbad Mussels, Shrimp and grits I could just go on and on! Had the opportunity to meet Joey one of the owners who was very friendly, and I was really impressed when I learned that he actually cooks in the kitchen there. I love that he is a hands on owner and it shows that he has a real investment in the establishment!
Def worth checking out if your in the mood for some fabulous seafood, and if you love oysters and champagne Wednesday’s are ½ priced oysters and champagne nights and they had some great live music!

WOW! 5-​star food, service and atmosphere! Every single thing we ate was exceptional. This haven for seafood-​loving foodies is our new favorite place to treat ourselves.
We were lucky to discover Cuttlefish during a Unilocal event, and after tasting a few items (like the delectable melts in your-​mouth gnocchi — it), we couldn’t wait to go back for a full meal. We definitely weren’t disappointed!
SERVICE: From the hostess to the exit, everyone was really nice. Get a reservation — it gets busy on Friday and Saturday nights, but the service doesn’t suffer a bit. Our server was both pleasant and professional — great jokes but also extremely knowledgeable about the menu (great suggestions, no trips back to the kitchen to verify anything). Our entire meal was perfectly timed, and every single item was the perfect temperature.
FOOD/​DRINKS: We chose a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Grigio from the wine list and they were lovely. We started with the delicious albacore appetizer that was free as a thank you for attending a Unilocal event (no, thank You!) — firm, fresh and so nicely prepared!
Next came the fresh, piping hot rolls with whipped herb butter — pumpernickel and multigrain (I think?). We tried to eat only a small amount and failed.
Our favorite item, among wonderful things, was the shrimp and grits — three enormous shrimp with dry-​rub, grilled to perfection over creamy polenta and marscapone with a touch of pesto. Order this! It’s amazing.
For the main meal, they split the Branzino Putanesca onto two plates for us, and it was some of the most beautifully cooked fish I’ve had — perfection with lovely Italian flavors in the red sauce.
We also ordered the Dungeness Crab mac n cheese — absolutely delicious, with such excellent crab flavor coming through the gourmet cheeses.
ATMOSPHERE: The décor is pleasant and upscale, but with touches of flair — their wall accent color is turquoise (to go with the martime theme), and the beautiful oyster bar has vespas for seats! The booths are comfy, and so are the chairs. They have Happy Hour (until 8pm!) at their beautiful bar and on the patio. The servers and bussers are well turned out in white.
OVERALL: Eat here! I’m definitely a stickler for value, and the prices here aren’t low, but the standard of excellence exceeds them. Already dreaming of going back…

Went for a special event and the food was great! Can’t wait to go back for a regular meal!!!
Can sit on a Vespa at the Oyster bar… good beers too…

Cuttlefish is in the Shops at Gainey Village. A hop, skip and a jump away from my one of the places I work. Alas, I waited for the busiest nights to test the newest seafood joint. (A band was playing outside.) I was surprised then when our party was greeted like part of their extended Italian family.
«Hmm. Better return for my *own* experience.» Turns out Cuttlefish offers a familial experience to everyone. (Smooches, hugs by Vincinza and Gino!) I later asked my friends how many times they had visited to warrant such fanfare. (Once.) I returned the next day for some more love. The food was that unbelievable.
Then I learned about their killer HH. (2pm-​8pm!) Details at the end. Dangerous information.
FOOD
So the food. Hoh. My. Goodness. If I could cook it would be like this. But since I can’t (shh) I would eat here all the time. After careful deliberation (too many mouth watering choices) I devoured the sea scallops. They’re served on a delightful bed of risotto. The scallops were gingerly cooked to perfection, topped with bacon and a jam of sorts. My Instagram title for the photo is «Orgasmic». Yep. Paired with a simple salad of mixed greens (which was generously sized) I was stuffed.
…and yet… Our table shared a dessert called Cassata. Sweet goat cheese was whipped into a surprising treat. I say «our table» but really that means I ate most of it :) Gino, who waited on us like a cousin, suggested an excellent bottle of Italian pinot noir by Candoni.
DESIGN
The exterior of the restaurant offers wonderful, refined table dining. The interior of the restaurant is designed with Italy in mind. The oyster bar is surrounded with Vespas. Yes, Vespas! Cutest thing ever. (Seriously, have a peek at my photos.) The main dining area offers plenty of seating options. Four top tables with chairs sprinkle the center area. Booths line the walls. The booths are for 1 – 2 adults. The bar area also offers high top seating. This is a place to impress!
CUTTLEFISH?
Oh, you have to try it. Calamari lovers will rejoice. This is better! I needed some schooling so I asked my waiter Matt for the 411. A Cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda. (Props to Matt for being able to spell that for me.) These buggers are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head and a set of tentacles. Sometimes cuttlefish are called inkfish, referring to their common ability to squirt ink. Boom.
Cuttlefish, the restaurant, flies their speciality in *all* the way from Sicily. They weigh, on average, 23 lbs.
MUY IMPORTANT
HH is 2−8pm! (Woooot!) $ 3 off the bar menu. $ 3 off glasses of wine. $ 3 off specialty drinks. Bottles of wine are 30% off.
This is a new staple in my eating rotation. Come and be merry here!
p. s. Try the Date Lollipops to share. The smoked bacon is like nothing else. The mixture of dates, bacon, blue cheese and agave is mm-​mm-​mm!