Toscanos Italian Grill — Restaurant in Puyallup

First of all, I will disclaim that this is my personal opinion, and I always recommend that you 'see for yourself'. I am a huge supporter of local restaurants, however our experience was certainly subpar and becomes a slippery slope for patrons when issues happen right out of the gate.

First, I used their online reservation system (Open Table) to book a table in advance and specifically noted I wanted a patio seat and that we were celebrating our son's birthday. I specifically selected a place in our community that I could support a restaurant in the community and where we could enjoy the outdoors. We've eaten here numerous times, but it was a first time experience for our adult son who we intended to celebrate his birthday with.

When we arrived, the hostess verified our reservation name, and went to seat us; it wasn't overly busy, we were taken to a table indoors. I reminded and asked the hostess that we requested an outdoor table, only to notice that a wedding party had the entire outdoor patio. Strike 1 as someone could've easily contacted us in advance about not having an available seat outdoors, but they didn't. The hostess could've told us on the way in, but didn't. She came back shortly after being seated and offered to put us in a backroom elsewhere, but that wasn't where we wanted to be. The hostess knew the notes that had been put in during my reservation and chose not to mention anything prior to actually seating us (more to that later).

We sat down and took a seat inside. As patrons to a restaurant celebrating something special, we try to order drinks, appetizers, an entree, and dessert, and that we did. For drinks we ordered a Pinot Grigio, Old Fashioned (under their name), and a Manhattan (again under their own cocktail name). The Manhattan showed up and the coloring was off significantly. Was not visually appealing in any way. Looked like something served out of a swamp; perhaps bad or outdated mix. Strike 2. The other drinks were fine, and we ordered a total of 2 each of those for a total of 5 (we did NOT reorder a Manhattan however).

We ordered focaccia bread and crab cakes for appetizers. The crab cakes were on special. They were ultra fishy (smell). It also looked like another couple nearby may also have noticed that same thing. Strike 3. The focaccia bread was great and their butter is awesome. A little salt would've been a nice offering however.

For entrees, we each ordered something a little different. A pasta dish, chicken dish and seafood dish. Found it odd that we weren't offered cheese on the pasta (Strike 4), as had been done it the past, but maybe that changed. None of these dishes were anything special and not as good as I remembered.

For dessert we had Creme Brule and a strawberry shortcake and a port. These were probably the best part on the meal, if there was one, but muted from the rest of our experience. There was nothing special in the way the dessert was served.

After everything was done, the original hostess came to clean the table and asked if we were celebrating my sons 21st birthday. He was older than that and I never stated as such. The only way she would've known anything related to a birthday was our reservation notes that we used to booked the reservation (Strike 5). That means she knew the notes all the while, but didn't choose to acknowledge our dispositioned seats upon check in. Had someone communicated this from the original reservation either prior to or even the day of check in, our night might gone different as I could've found another place to celebrate outside in. Communication is key.

We spent nearly $300 (nearly $100 per person) for what we feel was a subpar experience. Standing out or improving the experience isn't difficult when things go awry. We'll likely take a break from Toscano's and definitely won't openly...

Overall = A, Location = B, Menu = A, Atmosphere = B, Service = A, Parking = C, Wine Selection = A, Dessert = A, Price/Value = A

Parking = C: I called and made reservations just one day in advance for an early dinner at 5pm on a Saturday. We arrived on time and parking was easy and plentiful for us. Tuscano's shares a building with a couple other businesses and then the parking lot is shared with other Office buildings. I would expect parking to be more challenging during the week for Lunch but fine AFTER traditional office hours and on weekend evenings.

Location = B: Immediately off Main Street, Puyallup, almost to Sumner near the Puyallup River. It's on the ground floor of a two story office building. It's a modest sized restaurant, narrow inside. Tables are lined along the windows facing the parking lot and patio. The patio was closed and chairs stacked for oncoming winter. So, there's no view and in fact, it's a parking lot view.

Atmosphere = B: Immediately inside the restaurant there are tables at the right and one booth at left. A Host podium is directly ahead for check-in. We were sat directly along the windows. There is a fireplace with a table for two near the beginning of the restaurant. Being narrow, there is just a row of tables along the window, an aisle and then a railing separating the bar itself with some sit-up bar tables inside the rail. Dark woods, marble counters, white table clothes, pendant lighting, open beam ceiling darkly painted. All quite nicely done.

However, While we sat at the windows, cars come and go. It was still daylight, the mesh blinds were drawn, and you can still see out and it felt private but, they came and raised the blinds revealing all the cars. Then people who parked and walk up to the sidewalk and long the window make it no longer private. At night, car headlights will shine in directly on those tables. So, not a great positioning of the restaurant in that respect which also affects the atmosphere.

Service = A: We were greeted, welcomed and sat immediately. Ice water glasses filled and menus delivered quickly. John was our server and he was friendly, informative and attentive. Other staff cleared dishes and filled glasses attentively also.

Menu = A: My wife is a vegetarian (not vegan) and there were salad and seafood options for her. I'll eat almost anything but like to try new things and there were enough options to make me interested. It's not a vast menu but offers a little of each: beef, fish, foul, pasta. We started with Calamari, it's spicy, not breaded which we were told. Mostly just rings but there is also lots of the little legs. Flavor was fine as were the rings but the little legs were less appealing visually and texture in the mouth. My wife had the blackberry salad and I had the artichoke stuffed chicken, both liked our meals. Bread was served with the meal. We had white wine with the meal from the happy hour menu.

Wine menu = A: There is a very sufficient wine menu that should satisfy anyone. There were at least six Whites that we would order. I ordered the happy hour white and my wife went off the list for hers. Both were good.

Dessert = A: We had the Pumpkin Cheesecake, very good and a very large portion that we shared. We also like Creme Brulee that we've had before and it's excellent. There are another for options that are pretty traditional and so I think something for everyone.

Value = A: Main entree dishes range mid teens to mind 20's mainly. A couple higher for select beef dishes. I might think appetizer selections were a bit high but they do have a happy hour menu for some discounts.

Overall = A: This is a quaint restaurant, excellent flavors, solid selection options, good service and decent value. You can't go...

We stopped on a whim. It was our first time at Toscano's.

The hostess seated us quickly and shortly after Phillip arrived to share the specials and take our drink orders.

He was lickety split quick in returning and asked if we had decided... I decided to order the baked meatballs appetizer. He patiently let us ponder the menu and specials as he retrieved us a half loaf of lightly toasted Italian bread... when it arrived there were 2 sauces... and not like other Italian restaurants, what looked like Marinara was actually a red pepper and tomato puree, and what appeared as herbed olive oil was actually an Italian verde dressing with just the right amount of vinegar.

When Philip returned with the bread we each ordered one of the specials and hubby ordered a Ceasar Salad.

When that salad arrived with a freshly sliced lemon piece we should have gotten a hint for what we were for in next... as that salad was perfectly dressed in dressing with a sinful amount of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese... Shortly after the salad arrived, out comes the baked meatballs. They were about the size of a small baseball! Covered in Bolognese sauce with traditional carrots 🥕 The sauce tasted so similar to my OWN Sunday Ragu that I fill with vegetables and 3 varieties of meat that I simmer for 6 or more hours. This sauce was that same dark red near mahogany color that says that all the natural sugars have come out of the tomatoes... if you've never had long cooked vegetable and meat red sauce, you gotta try it at Toscana's and your opinion of a sweet tomato sauce will change! My hubby's short rib Tortollina came with roasted mushrooms and a horseradish hinted side of Marscapone cheese (soft white Italian cheese similar to cream cheese). After the first taste it sounded like he was purring like a kitten because he was so pleased, he eventually started to dip his meat filled pasta into the Marscapone that he had ordered on the side due to a previous bad horseradish experience. He reported that the creaminess just enhanced the mouth feel and taste. When I sampled it with the huge roasted mushroom chunks it vaguely reminded me of an Italian style beef stroganoff! Very yummy in my opinion.

When my plate of gnocchi in a cream sauce with peas, roasted mushrooms and HUGE pieces of lobster 🦞 claws was presented, I thought that I had died and went to heaven! The gnocchi were so very soft and pillowy and surprise filled with cheese. OMGOSH where has this luscious dish of rich cream with a hint of spice/heat been all my life?!?! The lobster pieces literally melted in my mouth and tasted fresh, not water logged at all! The cream sauce left a nice and comforting sensation while the mushrooms were roasted perfectly and were meaty.

I could not eat my whole dish and when Phillip returned to ask us if we wanted dessert I could not resist when he said lemon/citrus Ricotta Cheesecake with mountain berries. (Ricotta is an Italian version of the US's cottage cheese but way smaller curds.) Whenever I hear Ricotta Cheesecake I jump on it, cuz the texture is heartier than cream cheese and they are typically less sweet.

I could not get over how clean everything was! And their decor is typical of an Italian Cafe'.

The prices were reasonable for the quality of the food but they were not cheap. I would consider our overall experience as delightful.

Don't worry Toscano's...