Cocozza American Italian — Restaurant in Memphis

Cocozza – Harbor Town, Memphis, TN.

We made reservations but showed up 45 minutes early. We asked to sit at the bar, but they graciously offered us our table so we could relax while waiting for our guests. That set the tone—welcoming and easygoing.

The atmosphere here is great: light chatter, traditional Italian music playing in the background, and a warm, comfortable setting.

Milan took care of us tonight—friendly, attentive, but not overbearing. Perfect service.

I started with their olive oil martini (gin, of course—lol). My wife went with a mimosa.

The olive oil martini is a light, dry gin-based martini. You can sub vodka if that's your thing. It has a subtle olive oil flavor, just enough salt, and is garnished with rosemary and an olive. Not my usual drink, but very nice—and even my wife said, “Not bad,” which is huge coming from someone who doesn’t like martinis.

Her mimosa had a good ratio of champagne to orange juice—not too sweet, not too dry.

For starters, we kept it simple with baked garlic bread—good herb and garlic flavor and a great presentation. We also ordered a Caesar salad to share—fresh and well-balanced.

For the main course, I had the Veal Piccata—sautéed with lemon, capers, and white wine. The veal was tender, cut like butter, and the sauce was creamy, lemony, and delicious.

My wife went with the Salmon Oreganata. The salmon was flaky and buttery, and the breadcrumb topping paired perfectly with the light sauce.

For dessert, we shared the tiramisu and the lemon cheesecake. While I’m not a fan of tiramisu, my wife said it was excellent. The cheesecake was very good—rich and smooth. I didn’t really catch the lemon, but that may just be my palate. Apologies, forgot pictures of the dessert.

Overall: Cocozza is a charming American-Italian restaurant with a finely curated menu, great atmosphere, and excellent service. Take the time to make a reservation and enjoy your evening—you...

We visited Cocoza with my grandparents, who had just arrived in the city, hoping for a pleasant dinner. The initial 25-minute wait for a table wasn’t an issue, as we used the time to walk around the neighborhood.

When we were seated, our server, Olyvia, took our drink orders. My grandfather asked for a beer, which was accidentally spilled on him when she brought it. I understand mistakes happen, but what concerned us was the response: she handed us a few napkins, muttered a weak “I’m sorry,” and walked away without offering any real help or showing concern for what had happened.

Later, our food was brought out by a different server who didn’t know who had ordered what. She had to call Olyvia, who up to that point seemed to be avoiding our table. Without addressing the previous incident, she simply asked if we wanted another beer. We said yes, and she brought it without a word.

As for the food, it was highly inconsistent. Some dishes were drenched in sauce—almost like soup—while others were noticeably dry. Most of the meals were pasta-based, which made the contrast even more apparent. The “lemon cheesecake” had no lemon flavor at all.

To end the evening, a 20% gratuity was automatically added to the bill. On top of that, when the card reader was handed over, it prompted an additional tip of no less than 18%, which felt uncomfortable considering the overall service.

I appreciate the efforts of restaurant staff in general, but our experience at Cocoza was disappointing. The service lacked attentiveness, the food was inconsistent, and the forced tipping policy left a negative impression. I truly hope these areas are improved, as the place has potential—but the...

The food here is always incredible, but the customer service is 10/10 and after my experience last night I had to write a review. I made a reservation a few weeks back. When I arrived they had a little bit of an overflow of guests. The general manager, Kyler, offered that they could sit us right away outside or at the bar. Normally either would be fine with me, but I explained it was my birthday and I was hoping to sit at an inside table and didn’t mind at all if we had a wait a bit. No biggie-stuff happens. He was immediately understanding and said they would sit us asap. I think we ended up waiting all of 5 minutes? But he insisted on us ordering an app on them. Totally unnecessary, but so kind. Hunter was our waitress and she took great care of us. Kyler checked in on us a few times to make sure we were having a great experience and I was surprised with birthday cannolis. I’m not a bit cannoli person, but these were insane I will be ordering again. I know the service industry is a beast and restaurants deal with a lot of difficult and also some not-so-understanding people. But when customer service is above and beyond like it was last night, it will make a loyal customer out of me every time. Shoutout again to...