Trattoria Toscana Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Temecula

My husband made reservations for our anniversary about 1.5 weeks prior to our night out. Our reservation was at 7. We got there a little early and had planned on maybe having a glass of wine at the bar first, but the bar was full so we waited for our table, no problem.. However, as we waited several other groups began to arrive.... one by one they were all seated before us. Then the hostess said they were just getting a table ready on the patio... no one asked if we wanted to sit outside, but ok, what ever, from what we could see at the time the patio looked nice.... So, more time went by, more people were being seated, and again the hostess said they were making a table for us on the patio.. Finally, I was curious what was taking them so long to get the table ready so I went out to the patio to just take a look at what was taking so long, The manager was having the table made in the far back side of the patio used for storage of tables and propane gas tanks. I have over 20 years in the hospitality industry managing restaurants and I was really shocked that she thought for a single moment it would be OK. Seriously, for a restaurant of this caliber when you are dropping minimum $200 for two people you do not expect to be seated on the storage patio..... After I told her the table wouldn't be OK, she got really rude and obviously annoyed. Eventually, we were seated inside and our server was friendly. We ordered an app and some wine. After that I asked a busser if she was a manager and he said she was. I told him she was rude... so then, and this is the best part..... she has the audacity to come to the table and says... "Do you have something to say to me?" Well, my mouth dropped and I said, "Yes, you are rude af".

Another review said the owner comes to each table... no he doesn't he does go around and talk to people, which I think is great, but he did not come to ours. If he had, I would have told him what had happened and perhaps he would have handled it better.

We ended up paying for our wine and apps and leaving without ordering our main dishes. Bill was over $80 (4 glasses of wine, a Caesar salad, and the meatball app..... we would have ordered at least 2 or 3 more glasses of wine and two main courses if we had decided to stay..

The food we had was good and they had a nice bar and music... if that manager had not been so rude, and inconsiderate we would have spent more than twice the money, All that woman had to do, was apologize and front us a glass of wine.... and we would have been completely happy. Instead, she acted put out, annoyed, not once did she come off as friendly, or hospitable. I can 100% say, she ruined our anniversary dinner and is the reason for this 1...

Avoid this place - there are many better alternatives in Temecula. My wife and I were going to Temecula for a weekend and wanted to get a nice dinner while we were there. The reviews on this place sounded spectacular, so we decided to try it. I called a couple of days in advance to make reservations, and was informed they do not take reservations for groups of 2-4 because they recently expanded their restaurant and have plenty of seating.

We showed up Saturday night around 6:15 - we walked in and looked around for a hostess stand and didn't see one. There was also no 'seat yourself' or 'please wait here to be seated' sign, so we thought we might have came in the wrong entrance and there was literally no place to wait so it felt like we were just hovering over the tables around us. The place was busy but there were some open tables. I did observe that it seemed like no one actually had food at their tables, and they seemed very understaffed. Some tables had already been seated but didn't even have menus yet. Others were completely ready to order but still didn't even have drinks. We waited for about 5 minutes and during this time no one had greeted us or really even acknowledged us. We grabbed a waiter and asked him how to get a table, he seemed very frazzled and just told us to wait there. A few more minutes go by and my wife decides to go check the other door to see if there was a hostess there - there wasn't. Ironically, that other entrance was locked but it would make a far better 'main entrance' than the door they currently use - there is a proper entryway and a place for people to wait. In the meantime, another couple enters and is now standing in line behind us. A few more minutes go by and that couple, seeing that no one is even acknowledging us, decides to leave. My wife and I start discussing if we should leave too, and just as we're about to leave an employee approaches us to see if we need a table (I think it was maybe the manager or the owner). I told him we had been waiting 10-15 minutes already without even being acknowledged and were just going to leave - he said we should just have a seat and they have a table for us right now. However, after observing all of these other tables without food and receiving terrible service, we declined. If the front of the house was that bad I can only imagine what a disaster the kitchen must have been. We ended up going not far down the street to another highly rated Italian restaurant and having a delicious authentic Italian meal with...

I first tried this place about 18 months ago and I have since been back maybe 40 times or so, not kidding at all. I have had almost everything on the menu, my wife on the other hand, sticks to her favorite every time....the filet mignon filled tortellini. It’s ridiculous and she rarely shares.....as in she never does. Everything is Italian so expect nothing less. It’s all hand made pasta that is never frozen. You won’t know what that is unless you make it yourself and consider yourself a pro, been to Italy, or truly understand authentic Italian food. All the wine is Italian and their selection is awesome. I’ve never encountered a waiter who has not come to the table full of knowledge of every dish and a pairing of wine. I have read other reviews and I just make mention of a few things. They are on Italian time, they expect you to sit, relax, and enjoy your meal. You don’t need dinner and a movie....do as we do, go to Trattoria Toscana and spend 2-3 hours there just taking it all in. There really is no rush. I’m pretty sure we have exceeded 4 hours and have closed the place down a few times as well. They are passionate about their food because they hold themselves to the highest Italian standards. Expect the best and say something to them if you are not blown away. Don’t eat, leave, then suggest/complain how it can be better. I love this place. It’s the only Italian food I will eat here in town unless I’m cooking in my own kitchen. They just catered our wedding in April and every single person said the food was amazing. They had one complaint.....it was in Temecula and our wedding was in Rancho Santa Fe and it was a far drive for them. Anytime our friends come from San Diego, they always ask the same thing, are we going to Trattoria Toscana? The answer is...