Baci Italian Bistro — Restaurant in Mesa

Baci Italian Bistro is far from authentic Italian cuisine and left us waning much more.

My wife and I have lived in the Mesa/Queen Creek area for almost 2 decades now. We have seen this restaurant in passing many times but have never tried it out until tonight after reading some pretty stellar reviews about this place, giving it a 4.6 overall on Google. Sadly, I don’t think we will be back and I don’t think this restaurant deserves a 4.6 star rating.

First the positive. This place definitely wants to have charm. You can see it bleeding through with the layout, design and how it is decorated. This place wants to be a beautiful, charming Italian restaurant, with the working fountain in the dining room. The hostess was friendly but busy. She got us on the walk up list and told us it would be about 25-30 minute wait. She was very accurate as we waited about 35 minutes for our table. Our server was nice/polite and took care of us and our table was clean. This is where the positives end and the negatives begin.

The ambiance of this place is killed with flat screen TVs playing sports on them. The menu books are worn and tattered with dated menu inserts that even Olive Garden would be ashamed of. Our drinks were brought out in plastic red “diner” cups that belong in a Pizza Hut from 1980. We didn’t get to see the kitchen area but we suspect that some of the equipment, like the dish machine, is very worn and not serviced regularly as there was a noticeable mildew taste in both of our drinks.

We ordered the Bruschetta for an appetizer. It was ok. They literally put the topping of Roma tomato, mozzarella and onion on top of the house garlic bread and called that bruschetta. Nothing authentically Italian about this but it was edible.

I ordered the Veal Scallopini for my main dish. It came with a salad or soup. I chose a Caesar Salad. The salad was decent. Definitely needed more croutons but it might have been the best dish of the night.

The Veal Scallopini was…different. As stated on the menu it came with a very non traditional pomodoro sauce. I could get over that if the dish was good. Unfortunately, the veal was almost paper thin with no breading . The sauce was not seasoned at all and very watery. The fettuccine was from a bag/box…not house made and it was overcooked. The plating was very strange as the fettuccine came in a completely separate bowl and the veal was on its own plate drowning in a pool of the pomodoro sauce.

My wife got the Seafood Basil pomodoro with a Caesar salad. Again, the salad was the highlight. She has the same unseasoned Pomodoro sauce and overcooked fettuccine as my dish had. The saving grace for her dish was the seafood, as she did enjoy that.

I really wanted this place to be good but it definitely let us down. Hopefully the owners see these comments and breath some fresh life into this dying...

As a resident of San Tan Valley/ Queen Creek for 20 years, my wife and I finally went to Baci on August 13th 2022 for our 19th wedding anniversary. It was a Saturday night and there was a 30 minute wait for a table. We found out that we could take a table in the bar area and avoid the wait time. Our server "Ro" was fantastic. She made us so welcome and appreciated. Our food was fantastic. I ordered the Seafood Basil Pomodoro, it was loaded with shrimp, scallops, mussels, and clams in a seafood red sauce - muy fantastico! My wife loved her food as well, and the portion size was incredible. We connected and laughed with "Ro" throughout the the whole meal and at the end she brought us two mini cannoli with a "Happy Anniversary" message written on the plate with icing. It was a wonderful surprise! We have an upcoming birthday event, so we went again tonight with my wife's sister and husband so they could experience the same same thing we did. As expected, everything was fantastic. Our server tonight was Esmerelda- she was attentive, accommodating, and had a great sense of humor. Everyone felt the food, portion size, service, and atmosphere was top notch. Gary, the owner, stopped by the table to check on our experience and we had a very nice conversation. One of the things they do - which you do not see any more- is that they pack up the to-go boxes for you, we think that is a really nice touch.

Here is the oddest thing: my wife asked the bus girl, while she was boxing up our leftovers, "doesn't this feel like family here?' She said "no and, I do not like working here and and do not eat here" She said it was the only job she could get at 15 years of age and now, a year later, she is still there working Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. She said there there were things going on in the kitchen that she does not agree with - not really sure what that meant. I will report that everyone at our table was aghast at her announcement.

None of us felt like there was any reason for concern regarding the quality of the food, the service, and when we left at 6:30 PM on a Monday night the lobby was full and there were people waiting outside for their chance to get their table and enjoy some fantastic hand-crafted...

I want to be able to give more stars… We were at a local bar and were discussing the lack of italian food in Arizona that was really … GOOD. The couple we were chatting with said they generally cook it themselves at home, but to try this place as it was the better establishment they have found . We immediately made it date night for Saturday .

Some positives !!!

The place was packed, but the vibe was cool. Felt like a mom and pop italian restaurant back home in the northeast. Lots of families piled into booths, loud crowd, bustling servers, great aroma … i liked it !

The bartender was absolutely awesome! His personality needs to be put to greater use at this place. He is genuinely hilarious AND can make fantastic drinks! He sings praise for the restaurant and I love that he LOVES it.

The soups were delicious! Tortellini soup was great! Lentil was good!

Outdoor patio was cozy and nice to wait on for being called for your table

Negatives are solely on taste of food. The lasagna needs more cheese man…. it’s LASAGNA … looks great coming out on the plate, but some salt and pepper and some cheese would go a long way …

My chicken and pea concoction was a yellow, gravy, lumpy mess. I was expecting a light white wine sauce with a few peas and onion… I got thick sauce with like a bag of frozen peas …

We got the sausage bruschetta app and it was like a whole piece of sausage on top of an italian roll cut into 1/4s.

Desert was great. Chocolate cake and lemon marscarpone! Delicious

Listen, I love that locals like it! I love that when you think Arizona you don’t think quality italian and this place fits the bills here, but if you are used to real italian food that makes your mouth water .. this isn’t it.

Either way, we are going to be in this state for a good year and may venture back to see the bartender and grab a pizza and...