Di Campli’s Italian Ristorante — Restaurant in Waco

UPDATE 7/23/2022: What a pleasant surprise! Now 5 stars!

Thanks to Di Campli’s for making our 48th wedding anniversary celebration a special event. Everything about the experience was top notch.

Richard was our waiter and he did a wonderful job, from his cordial greeting and description of the featured entree, to his assistance with menu questions, to his perfectly timed followup visits to our table, to his above and beyond efforts to make our special day as memorable as possible.

We started off with an appetizer, the Bruschetta Duo. It was interesting and delicious although the crostini was very hard, but with what was to come, this was a minor issue.

My wife ordered the halibut and I had the veal chop special. Both were prepared perfectly with correct doneness and were absolutely delicious.

Near the end of our evening, Richard came through with a surprise customized celebration dessert that was sweet and tasty, accompanied with Limoncello liqueur served in flutes.

We’ll never forget this wonderful evening. Thanks to Di Campli’s and the entire staff. We look forward to our next visit.

2020 visit: We were really looking forward to trying out Di Campli’s Italian Ristorante. Ordered to go. Cioppino for me; Pollo Al Marsala for my wife.

First, the to go order packaging needs work. Only the Cioppino, which is Italian seafood soup, was packaged in a metal pan. However the lid was just cardboard, which leaked the soup all around the top by the time I got home, which was only a 15 minute slow, easy drive. Could have been a real mess in my car if my trip had been any longer. It needs to be sealed better than this. The Pollo Al Marsala was packaged in an all-cardboard container, which was beginning to leak. It would have been better in a metal container.

Now to the food quality. The Ciopinno had clams, but no mussels. The other menu-listed seafood ingredients were all there and of mostly good quality, although some of the calamari was too tough, so much so that that I couldn’t eat it. The prawns were large, tender and flavorful. The only fish used was salmon. My main critique of this dish was that it lacked proper seasoning. The soup was bland with no taste of fennel or bay leaf and no spiciness. Was hoping for a much more interesting dish.

The Pollo Al Marsala also was bland, lacking of any interesting seasoning. The chicken breast was a generous size and was very tender but again lacked seasoning. The side of mascarpone mashed potatoes were good, but fell short of delicious. Could not detect the mascarpone cream cheese flavor at all. The asparagus was tender, fresh and delicious.

In the spirit of fairness, this restaurant has only been open for about a month, is family owned and is not a chain. I want it to be a huge success as I live in the same community.

We both have a true appreciation for great Italian cuisine. I know chef Mossimo Di Campli and staff are working very hard to make Di Campli’s Italian Ristorante a success and we look forward to trying it again. Hopefully, most of the wrinkles will be ironed out before...

We recently dined at Di Campli’s in Waco for our final evening in town, a meal carefully chosen by our boss who had been to Italy and wanted to treat us to something special. She had made the reservation months in advance, expecting an upscale experience. Unfortunately, the night fell short in every way and left us all disappointed.

From the start, the service felt rushed and impersonal. Rather than greeting us or asking if we’d been there before (like we experienced at Magnolia Table, where the staff went out of their way to help us navigate the menu), our waitress simply assumed we’d all be drinking water. It felt odd especially in a new environment where hospitality and attentiveness go a long way.

Before we even had a chance to glance at the menu, she returned to ask if we were ready to order. No recommendations. No questions. Just a rushed attempt to take an order for a table full of people who were still trying to settle in.

As someone studying culinary arts, I was genuinely looking forward to experiencing the flavors and attention to detail that Italian cuisine is known for. Sadly, even that fell short. We watched a bruschetta appetizer sit on the counter for 20–30 minutes before it was finally served not to us, thankfully but still shocking to witness in what’s supposed to be a fine dining setting.

The atmosphere was more chaotic than refined, and despite the beautiful décor, the service and food did not reflect the “high-end” reputation. Our boss, who had hand-picked this spot for our celebration, apologized profusely and even offered to take us somewhere else after the meal. She was genuinely saddened she chose Di Campli’s for our last dinner in Waco.

Luckily, we were with a lively group of people from all over Texas folks who’ve dined at incredible restaurants in Houston and Dallas, and some who even joked that they’d take Olive Garden over this experience. That says a lot.

We tried to make the best of the night, but it’s hard to ignore poor service and lack of care especially when expectations were so high. I hope this feedback helps the restaurant improve in the future, but unfortunately, we won’t...

First time in Waco and we decided to give this Italian restaurant a try bc their ratings on Yelp are rlly high. However, as a person that has visited over 100 Italian restaurants across the globe (mainly in NYC) I was a little disappointed by the quality of the food they delivered - never been served a raw duck!!

We arrived on a Saturday night and the restaurant was quite busy. There were no tables available for the next hour so we took the bar seats (still full menu). The interior designs and settings of the restaurant was pretty hip and nice. I would assume it’s a popular date night restaurant for people who live in and around the small town.

For entrees, we ordered a duck (it looked quite good in pics) and two pastas (both half sized). I think it's great that they offer half-sized pasta option so you could order more flavors and share with the table. Pastas was really basic : the pesto was ok but the Alfredo sauce was not as good.

I was really excited about the duck that’s the reason I wanted to visit this restaurant. However, when it first came it was super raw and I even had difficult time cutting it. (Side not: the server did not ask for my preference when placing the order and went straight to offer the medium rare, and it actually looked “almost” rare) I asked our server to see if they could reheat it and make into a medium. At first, they told me that’s how it should be, but honestly, if Gordon Ramsay tried this dish, he would have said “this duck is so raw!!! It’s still crossing the road!!!”.

Anyways, they reheated my duck and it tasted better after being cooked to almost medium. I would still say this was definitely not one of the best ducks I’ve had and considering the cost of living here, it’s a bit overpriced.

Service-wise, I would expect better communication between the server and customers. They forgot to add shrimps to our pasta and did not check how we wanted the duck cooked. The manager did come out to check if the reheated duck tasted better but...