Campo Italian Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Scottsdale

We were so excited to try this place. We drove out of our way and planned a date night. We first heard about it from IG and we had added this to our ‘places to try’ the atmosphere is welcoming and the staff were very friendly to patrons. If you decide to give it a try reservations would be recommended. We made ours through Open Table.

Our visit was during restaurant week, and we opted for the main menu and try some of the dishes we’d read about. We started with the lavender gin cocktail and the taste was refreshing. We ordered the Feta and focaccia appetizer. For dinner we had the chicken parm and caico ae pepe.

The team was friendly and welcoming to us. However this was just a really poor experience for our date night and my partners birthday. The food was bland the feta had little to no flavor and the veggies served alongside of it were reminiscent of a Costco platter that had been forgotten in a fridge the week before. The focaccia was the best part of the app (realistically the whole meal).

The chicken parm was fresh from a heater lamp and buried in two layers of cheese the first from initial prep and second, presumably, from where it lingered under the heat lamp. My partners pasta was comparable to the Trader Joe’s variation and disappointing.

Given the service it may have just been an off experience and we are patient and understanding. The reason for the poor review was the hygiene and cleanliness coupled with the staff and how the team treated each other. Where the manager was working diligently to run food and our server Elliot was attentive and friendly- our high top table positioned our view with the kitchen along with the bar and we watched the food coming out, drinks being made, and both drinks and food being whisked away to tables.

Upon sitting we had friendly smiles and service however it was apparent and audible that this was a busy and frustrating night for most of the staff as we heard bickering and rude remarks to one another as people missed orders, didn’t realize tables were sat, drinks spilled, etc … the team was clearly anything but a team and challenged. This shouldn’t be a problem for me and my date… however the banter was so audible and visible we continued to watch and started to see the bar tender and the kitchen staff behind the swinging door.

The bar tender was stressed but working diligently… what made this gross was watching as she wiped her nose and would make a drink without washing her hands. She would pick fruit and grip the glasses inside the rim. Followed by handling a credit card and closing out a tab, then wiping down the counter with a rag and going right back to making drinks, using the base of the shaker - which was sitting on her rag she just cleaned the bar with — to sift the mixed beverages. We watched as she sneezed into her shoulders.

We started to notice the kitchen crews lack of hygiene handling food and facial hair touching both in the same run. Clearly warm in the kitchen with notable sweat. We are typically are not germ a phobes, however the extensive and gratuitous amount of poor food handling and drinks being made — mixed with the disappointingly bland and mediocre food — left us unable to want to finish our food.

We shared the observations with the manager who was more than receptive and polite. We paid the $80 for our meal and left. There are few times we wouldn’t give a spot a second chance and this was one of them. The amount of mishandled drinks and cleaning products along with her touching her face, wiping her nose, smelling the glasses, sneezing were all a little too gross...

We had dinner here and could not have been more disappointed. The ambiance and menu looked great. We had terrible service. I’m not sure we saw our waiter other than to order and receive a check. We ordered the following: balsamic onion dip, arugula salad; cacio e Pepe, rigatoni bolognese, and the citrus olive oil cake.

Food: Onion dip - the fries were cold. The dip was It was basically a cold grocery store dip with a drizzle of balsamic on the top. Salad - delicious combo but it was so drenched in dressing the arugula was wilting. Cacio e Pepe - the homemade spaghetti was solid but the sauce was a cream sauce. I could taste the cream, and when I asked the waiter if it had cream (this was at the very end when we were paying) he said he didn’t think so, I asked if he could check, he came back and confirmed it’s a cream sauce. The menu does not indicate cream sauce, and generally cacio e pepe is just that - pepper and cheese in either butter or oil, but no cream. There was no offer to take it off the check or apologies. Rigatoni bolognese - this was okay at best, it was watery and the tomato sauce was sour rather than mild or sweet. Olive oil cake - we asked for this to go and as we waited, it came to the table. Not a big deal at all but when we told the person who brought it out that we wanted it to go, we waited another 10 - 15 minutes for it to appear in a to go container. The pistachio ice cream that comes with this dish was melted before we even left the restaurant. The olive oil cake itself is unbalanced and way too tart.

Overall it was just a let down of food and experience. The ambiance is great. The decor is beautiful and the lighting is great. Unfortunately the service and food fall flat. This is the only non 5 star review I’ve ever written if that tells you how disappointing...

We made reservation for 2, then sent restaurant a message couple of days before that we needed it for 4 (through Open Table). Also called them twice and left message that we needed it for 4 instead of 2 and if they could not do that, to let us know as we had visitors in from out of town. They do not answer their phones. They never responded to either the Open Table message or 2 phone voice messages so we assumed we were okay. Once arrived, the hostess said we only had reservation for 2 and she could not seat all 4 of us. The owner, Blake, came up and I was shocked that he said, "we don't answer our phones and we do not respond to Open Table, we are just too busy and cannot do that". Huh? YOU'RE A RESTAURANT! When I said, "fine, we can go somewhere else but I will mention your comments on my review" they suddenly found us a small hightop table and seated us. I was shocked at the arrogant attitude and lack of customer service that their "business model" engages. Will not go back, instead, next door is a new restaurant, Rockefeller, that is much nicer inside and menu looks great so will try that next time in the area. Our server, Frankie, and busboy, Lucas, were fantastic. Food very, very average, pizza okay, kind of like NYPD Pizza. My bet? Although popular right now, if they keep up this arrogant attitude towards their patrons they will be out of business within a year. Too many good restaurants that appreciate their customers out there for this place to survive. The got a boost from a good review in AZ Republic, which may tell you something about the...