Dahl & Di Luca Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Sedona

11/29/2024 What an amazing anniversary dinner with our friends Julie and Roc this evening at Dahl and DiLuca. Our wonderful server extraordinare was Ricardo and what a blessing he was. A true professional in every aspect. We started with drinks as my wife had a skinny Margarita and I had Lisa's Luscious margarita with a glass of Don Julio 1942 on a large rock chilled. Our friends also ordered drinks as well. We also ordered two of the foccacia bread orders. We also had the zuppa which flavorful and phenomenal. My wife ordered the halibut entree and I had the filetto di manzo entree. Our friends both had the salmon entree. The dishes were prepared and presented to perfection. We also ordered dessert and had the butter pecan torte with cappuccino. Everything was simply scrumptious and the service was stellar. The ambiance was romantic, classic with a wonderful piano and bass duet performing soothing and pleasant background and musical ensemble. Highly recommended 👍

11/26/2023 Perfection! What a perfect anniversary dinner at Dahl & DiLuca Ristorante in Sedona. Once seated, Derek, our server extraordinare, introduced himself and spoke of the menus that were given to us detailing the specific offerings and corresponding pages. We started with our favorite tequilla drinks as my wife had Don Julio Blanco with club soda, three limes muddled and mint. I had the Don Julio 1942 neat, chilled with a large ice cube. The drinks were fantastic. We also ordered the Meli Eggplant Parm appetizer, which was very good. Eggplant is a true test for authentic Italian cuisine, and the chef hit a home run on presentation and taste. Derek was very attentive and personable during the entire evening, and the staff we engaged with all wished us a happy anniversary. We had such a wonderful time. For our entrees, my wife had the Steelhead Trout (Salmon) with sautéed spinach and asparagus. I had the filet mignon and added the lobster tail with sautéed spinach and Italian roasted potatoes. Both dishes were heavenly. We topped the evening with a lovely anniversary dessert from Dahl & DiLuca, which was a carmel infused gelato with an anniversary chocolate.

11/2022 I certainly learned this evening that the best Italian food requires a drive to Sedona and dining at Dahl & Di Luca Ristorante Italiano. Manuel R. led us to a wonderful table which was quite cozy and intimate. Manuel was gracious, professional and extremely knowledgeable about the wines and all menu items as well as the specials. We started off this amazing evening with two glasses of red wine, a Barollo which was magnificent and clearly a 97 point choice as well as a tasteful Zinfandel possibly a 92 point choice. Both wines were very tasty and tempting to the pallette. We also ordered the cauliflower bisque soup and the starter platter consisting of grilled brioche, artichoke hearts, white mushrooms, a creamy mozzarella cheese, prosciutto and dressed with arugula. What an amazing start. We then ordered the main course with my wife ordering the halibut entree with shrimp which she claims was heavenly. I had to try the eggplant as well as the veal served with Cappelli Pomodoro. I certainly appreciate the fact that Manuel was gracious allowing me to modify the menu item. I must say the eggplant was served layered with thin slices just like grandma used to make and was the best eggplant I have had in my 62 years. The veal was also cooked perfectly and my appreciation to the chef for truly creating authentic Italian dishes that cannot be found at many restaurants. Of course another glass of wine just kept us smiling. After dinner Manuel brought us a chocolate covered spumoni dish with Happy Anniversary in chocolate which was so kind and deeply appreciated. We also ordered a piece of Tiramisu to share with a cappuccino and both were amazing. We did ask Manuel for a box as we only took two bites of the Tiramisu and had to take the remainder home. Highly...

Overall an underwhelming and overpriced lackluster experience. We felt uneasy, less than welcome, and to be frank, kind of swindled and lied to. BLUF: Don't dine here, save your time and money; And if you have to dine against your will, order off the main menu and hope you get something good.

Making the reservation I had high hopes with the detailed questions they asked and even room to upload a photo so they could greet us at the door. Our welcome felt impersonal and our request for a table was unheard and we were sat at the bar.

The uncomfortable chairs that got caught on the rug we had to kind of squeeze into our seats. The windowless building and it's atmosphere was dark and dim, a stark contrast from the beauty and life which fills the town. The bartender greeted us professionally and was serviceable/average overall.

For drinks, nothing special to note. For our meal we started with the Arancini. This dish was the best dish of the night with a tangy pomadoro sauce, lightly fried, delicate on the inside. We both ordered Caesar salads which were $15 with basic dressing, half a bag's equivalent of romaine lettuce and 5 croutons that were hard and hazardous to the soft palate. For our main dishes we ordered each of the specials, a seafood pasta and a veal tomahawk, which were pitched to us well but, without the price.

It being a high-class Italian restaurant I made a reservation with the hopes of enjoying a homemade/house made/handmade pasta dish and I asked to confirm this for my special. He said the linguini was not made in house but they make the angel hair in house and it would be an easy swap, no problem. So I agreed.

The seafood pasta special had 2 mussles, 4 tiny clams, two medium tail-on shrimp, a small lobster claw and 2 medium scallops. The sauce was robust and flavorful. The 'made in-house' pasta was squeaky and bland with no bite/ chew, and it was unlike any handmade pasta I've ever had, but quite like the box of Barilla angel hair I cook for my family at home. I felt like I was baited and did not trust what I was eating nor the staff.

My partner got the veal 'tomahawk' which he simply didn't finish, the texture and color reminding him of bubblegum. The potatoes were well cooked and asparagus was flavorful.

For dessert we had tiramisu and the chocolate torte. The tiramisu was slightly below average with overly damp lady fingers and too-thin layers of marscapone (which was soft and elegant and made me sad there wasn't more to balance the sogginess of the lady fingers).

The torte was unremarkable.

Our bill came out to well over $250 (our main courses were $60 each). For the steak I get it but the barilla-style pasta seafood dish I described? I couldn't believe it. Not to mention the $30 for the equivalent of a dole salad kid.

I felt scammed, lied to and taken advantage of. I rarely wish I could forget an experience or wish I could get my money back but...

Like many here in Sedona I'm sure, we have traveled the world and have had many fabulous dinners from Paris to Rome, Singapore, Bogota, Auckland and beyond. We had high expectations for dinner here the other night. This is surly a well run business and every one was on point and professional. Special thanks to Chuck our driver who picked us up and took us back to our hotel. Now here is where they lost me. As a fine dining establishment I was surprised at the level of nickel and dime on price and the smallness of the portions. To start our server took our drink order. I ordered a martini and as usual asked for olives. When the check arrived at the end of our meal, I saw they had charged an extra $1.50 for olives.then we ordered an appetizer, Arancini which were very good. The server offered us bread for table with a couple options. We chose crossing with some olive oil for dipping. What showed up were two little pieces of bread and oil. Very tasty again, but that small treat added $5.00 to the bill. This on top of the 3% business operations surcharge they were clear about and added $9.00 to our bill.. My dish, veal and eggplant was good. The pasta side dish was delicious and fortunately enough to fill me up. I had to use a magnifying lens to spy the veal on my plate. $44.00. My wife had the tortellini which was very good and plentiful $28.00. One last insult was the $3.00 charge for what was supposed to be white anchovies added to my ceaser salad. What showed up were canned and oiled. Not fresh meaty white, trust me I know the difference. Of the wine prices were heavily over priced. So our dinner of $220.00 had $18.50 of up charges, almost 10%. Lastly they do a great job of masking availability. We had trouble getting a reservation and they squeezed us in at 6:45 on a Thursday. We actually were seated at 6:30 and at no time during our 2 hour dinner was the restaurant more...