Vincenzo Trattoria — Restaurant in Idaho

Looking for the most authentic Italian cuisine and service around? Then look no further than Vincenzo Trattoria (Vincenzo).

Vincenzo Trattoria offers the ultimate opportunity to experience authentic Italian food and culture without having to leave the country. Each dish is prepared with an abundance of passion and love, and nearly all the ingredients are imported straight from Italy, so you can truly taste the difference in quality. Having visited Italy, grown up in an Italian household, and experienced my Italian Nonna's cooking, this trattoria is the closest to home I have felt in years.

If you have yet to have the pleasure of meeting Vincenzo, believe me when I say he is the real deal. Vincenzo was born near the Amalfi Coast in 1947. He spent much of his childhood at his grandfather's restaurant, learning the art of preparing traditional Italian fare. After moving to LA in 1969, he made it his life's mission to share traditional Italian dishes with those who had yet to experience them.

For those who have never savored traditional Italian fare, please note that it is absolutely nothing like what is served at American-Italian eateries (like Olive Garden) — it is so much better. So naturally, it can often be surprising for first-timers at an authentic Italian restaurant, as the food they believe to know is almost always completely different from what they are familiar with. So if you are thinking about trying Vincenzo Trattoria and haven't had real Italian cuisine before, please keep an open heart and mind to fully embrace all that is offered.

Below I have composed a quick guide for dining at real Italian restaurants like Vincenzo Trattoria, as well as in Italy.

Don't ask for substitutions, customizations, or alterations unless you have specific dietary restrictions or allergies. While this is standard in the US, it is not a generally accepted practice in Italy. If you have already scrolled through the reviews, one of the most common things you may have read is that any requested changes to a dish are often denied, which guests sometimes consider unaccommodating, poor customer service, or just plain rude. However, in Italy, it is quite the opposite. Almost all Italian chefs, including Vincenzo, prepare food exactly how they believe it should be eaten and will likely take offense if you think it needs something extra (like grated parmesan).

This brings us to my second point, if cheese isn't explicitly offered, don't ask for it. Many dishes served in Italy and at Vincenzo Trattoria aren't meant to be topped with cheese.

If butter, olive oil, vinegar, and/or parmesan didn't come with your bread, don't ask for it. In Italy, as at Vincenzo Trattoria, bread is typically served by itself. Instead, try enjoying your bread as Italians do, and wait for your main course so you can use the bread to mop up the leftover sauce on your plate. However, if you are like me and have a hard time waiting, feel free to use the olive oil provided at each table at Vincenzo Trattoria instead.

If you want the bill, you most likely have to ask for it. In Italy, it is considered extremely rude to bring the check to a table unprompted, as it can make guests feel like they are being rushed out the door. This also applies when dining at Vincenzo Trattoria, as guests are welcome to linger at their tables, finish their wine, and even order an espresso.

It's best to make a reservation before going to Vincenzo Trattoria. Since meals are intended to be long affairs, not reserving a table beforehand might have you waiting for a lengthy amount of time. And don't be offended if you are turned away from an empty restaurant. They will have bookings for later in the evening, and those who have reserved a table are welcome to have it for the whole night.

Lastly, as a basic rule of thumb, make sure you remove your hat upon entering. Removing your hat indoors is a long-time sign of respect, especially outside the US. So if you forget, don't be surprised if Vincenzo himself or the staff kindly reminds you, just as my...

I'm not going to leave a one star review because I didn't get to try the food (even though I was really excited to try it because I've heard nothing but great things) but the service we got in the first 15 minutes was so off-putting that I really don't care to come back. My girlfriend made reservations weeks ago for Valentine's day and received an email shortly after, confirming the reservation and provided a link to an online version of their menu. We're vegetarian so we made sure to look over the menu prior to our reservation to make sure there was something there for us to eat that didn't have meat. Sure enough, there were plenty of vegetarian dishes that sounded great. Well, on Valentine's day we go in and a lady with purple hair (who I assume is the owner's wife) seats us and hands us Valentine's day menus. This came as a surprise to us because we had no idea there was a different menu for Valentine's day. We look it over and there is not one dish without meat in it besides an appetizer salad and the dessert. The wife comes back to our table and we begin to explain to her that we're vegetarian which she interjects by saying "you can't eat here". She then picks up our menus and tells us she'll bring us a check for the sparkling water she had just poured for us. She comes back 8 minutes later with no check and just tells us to pay $7.42 in cash. She very awkwardly stood there waiting for me to get the change out of my purse even though I told her it was going to be a minute because I wasn't entirely sure I had change. She proceeded to scold us for not looking at the Valentine's day menu before coming in because they "always do a different menu for New Years and Valentine's day" and that we "didn't look at the menu that was in the email". We tried to explain to her that the confirmation email we received didn't have the Valentine's day menu in it and that we had no idea there was a different menu at all. Had we known beforehand that there were no vegetarian options, we wouldn't have made the reservation, obviously. The whole experience was poor and just super uncomfortable. I was surprised the owner's wife of all people didn't suggest to us that we get a dish and request them to just not put meat in it (which we would've been completely fine with, even if they still made us pay full price). Alternatively, she could've just politely told us that they wouldn't be able to accommodate us that night which we would've understood and come back a different time. First, if you are going to do an abbreviated version of your menu for a holiday, make sure that you have something on your menu for everyone or at least be willing to simply remove something like meat from a dish. Second, I work in a restaurant, I get it. Sometimes you have bad days and you're not going to be warm and fuzzy to every customer but looking at the reviews, it appears that this is not the first time someone has had a negative experience with this particular person. I wanted to leave a review because, from the looks of it, you have a really awesome Italian restaurant that is being dragged down by something that can easily be changed. It seems as though you would have a better overall rating if you fixed the service aspect of your business or just kept the people who are not good at customer service, to the...

I want to give honest feedback because I personally feel there’s still room in Boise for a really authentic & great-tasting Italian restaurant (the family & I have tried many in the several months since we moved here). My suspicion is others who have lived in different parts of the country would agree with that.

Before even getting into the food aspect, it can’t be ignored that the atmosphere has a very strange vibe. The best way to describe it is the owner & his wife seemed a little disgruntled & maybe even worn out. Kind of like they used to enjoy this more, but in 2024 it has gone from feeling like a job to actually being work for them to run this restaurant. I wouldn’t say either of them gave off a vibe that they sincerely enjoy operating this restaurant as of August 2024 when I went at least. Can’t speak to before Aug 2024 when we went, but that impression was nearly suffocating throughout the experience there. Look through other reviews here, and you’ll see the atmosphere mentioned repeatedly saying similar things. That needs to be fixed because people won’t care about the food if the atmosphere is so prohibitively awkward that they don’t want to dine there. There was a young man & young woman who also came by the table periodically, and they were both awesome. The owner & his wife specifically are why I give 1/5 for atmosphere. Two examples of a strange atmosphere are the owner asking if we had a reservation when the restaurant was 2/3 empty upon arrival, and those tables didn’t fill up either in the hour we were there. Felt like he asked just to brag about how exclusive the restaurant is in his mind or something. Same with “the chef doesn’t recommend that” for adding additional Parmesan to your food & scoffs if you dare ask for it. Kind of an arrogant, condescending vibe. The food is not good enough to justify acting like that. And, the A+ Italian restaurants I’ve been to elsewhere in the US or in Italy in my life who serve food that would be good enough to act like that don’t act like that. So, make of that what you will.

For the food, it almost feels like a footnote because the atmosphere aspect was so overwhelming. The fresh pasta was good. The fresh bread was good. Better than a typical Boise-area Italian restaurant but also not super amazing either if I compare to the best Italian restaurants I’ve been to in my life. I’m sure the atmosphere probably tainted my view of the food to some degree, too. Hard to separate completely.

It’s a shame because this restaurant is conveniently located for us & also seems to have a potential. But, I don’t feel they’ll realize it due to the atmosphere, which seems to come from the top-down & is unlikely to be remedied in...