The best Italian food I've had in the triangle! I try something different each time and it never disappoints. The staff are extremely friendly and welcoming, and the restaurant has beautiful lighting in the evening. I'm definitely bringing the entire family next time they're in town. read more

Outstanding food and ambiance. The owner Mauritzio really makes the experience though as he clearly loves what he does! Highly recommend.

Me and my boyfriend had went to another restaurant but couldn't get in because we didn't have a reservation, so we found this place and asked did we have to have a reservation. The owner said yes, but we can come and he'll see what he could do. Fortunately he was able to seat us and the food was great ! He asked did we enjoy it; I told him yes and I was the one he spoked to on the phone. He said he knew. Thank you so much for accommodating us!! read more

Tuscan Blu - Italian Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

My husband is full blooded Italian and comes from the Italian food scene in NY and South Florida. We've tried the popular Italian spots in the area and decided to give this a try. 1) Everything was fresh, we had great service and great wine. Not a large selection but it did the trick. Note: You can get the wine by the half bottle or bottle. 2) My Italian husband is not impressed by Gravy. The people that tell me Gravy is their favorite are ones that prefer the Americanized version of Italian (not knocking Gravy, I just had to clear that up!) Tuscan Blu is a far better representation of Italian food. Try their piccata sauce, trust us! The viscosity and freshness of the sauce is hard to find at Italian restaurants here in NC. 3) Dishes we had (all were wonderful): Calamari, Veal piccata, antipasto. Tiramisu. Have been told by several Italian friends the pink sauce is fantastic. Have not had it myself! 4) Give this spot a visit for authentic Italian. It's ok to like Americanized NC Italian places like Gravy... just know you are not comparing apples to apples when evaluating both. I'd keep that in mind when deciphering which reviews in here hold more weight ;) read more

Everyone was super kind! Food was delicious and we loved the area it was in! Would come back for another special occasion!

I have never given a review, but we were very disappointed. This was our first and last time trying this place!! The food was terrible! Nothing was seasoned properly ,and the calamari was like rubber. For the price I was expecting a much better quality!! WOW !! YOU CAN'T BLAME THAT ON THE PANDEMIC!! IT'S THE CHEF!!! read more

Great experience. Coming from NY, this was my families first time in Raleigh, NC. Great food, great service, and the location is nice as well. I would recommend to my friends and family. read more

I can start off by, waiter was not wearing a mask. We wanted to order wine they didn't sell it by the glass only by half bottle which I did not understand, did not ask why. Bread for the table was a stale hard roll cut into 4 pieces . There where 4 of us, we ordered drinks what was so weird the bartender / waiter put the gin on the side of the mixed drink that you pour yourself, that was strange. Let's get the food, the WORST Italian food I ever had, the red sauce tasted like it came from a old jar of the worst supermarket sauce. Calamari was so chewy I didn't eat it. Never again! read more

Well, where to begin. Our group went for a graduation celebration and I had reasonable hopes. We brought in a favorite $45 bottle of Rhombauer Chardonnay and the waiter tried to convince us to purchase an alternative. He became rather insistent and we had to become quite firm - never had such an experience before. They had no beer on tap and the cocktails were terrible, absolutely terrible. Appetizers were pitiful - looked like they'd been assembled by a child. Bread was good. Salads and main courses were good, which is the only reason I gave them 2 stars instead of 1. The wait staff was rude, condescending and without any redeeming service qualities. They actually acted as if they were doing us a favor - not sure if it was because our party of 15 guaranteed a certain gratuity, but I would NOT recommend this restaurant to anyone. BTW - the extremely unfriendly owner sitting at the entrance is enough to keep anyone away or at the very least, to never return. read more

I'm a cook by trade, and I don't easily - KAREN- . I know how it feels on the other side to not be appreciated no matter how well you try to please a guest. I digress.... This place was horrible. The food, was as far away from authentic Tuscan cuisine as Olive Garden. In fact several members of my party jokingly suggested we could have attend there and gotten a better experience. My wife and I were celebrating our 5th anniversary, and took a blind swing and choose this place based off of the menu, and the "feel" of their website. Upon arrive the owner I presume greeted us. ( I make the assumption he was the owner because he's was sitting at the door on a stool wearing thong toed sandals, a white linen suit, clearly inebriated, drinking wine and speaking obnoxiously loud to everyone) I told him I made a mistake with our party of 6 and needed to add two more. He immediately screamed at me in his thick Italian accent and said "we aren't gonna serve you, you can leave you said a party of 6 not 8" ! Then proceeded to arrange for us to be served as a party of 8. The owner the rest of the night continued to be rude in various ways. Yelling at other customers, drinking several glasses of wine, stumbling around and greeting people as they where trying to eat. Yelling at his staff and complaining openly about our party inconveniences. I want to note his restaurant was nearly empty the entire time we where there. Which adds further to the horrible experience. The food took so long to come out. Our bread service was literally ciabatta burger buns you would buy at Costco cut into triangles... cold... untoasted and stale. The butter was cold and had been pulled out of a fridge minutes before we received it. The lamb meat balls where frozen processed trash. Probably Tyson. All of the sauces tasted the same, and could easily be identified as packaged products. I promise you I'm not being dramatic or over critical. There where huge text book mistakes, made over and over again. Things a season Somalia as the owner claimed to be in his bio on the menus, wouldn't make. At the end of the night a bill of 4 was around 230$. Note none of our plates ran over 20$ and we ordered 2 apps and 2 glasses of 10$ wine. The meal was a disaster, and the bill had all of these crazy charges. Gratuity was normal. But it had things like a "credit charge" three different times, and a " convenience charge" and a "service charge". This all lead to questions asked directly to the owner and unprofessional answers shrouded in name calling (by the owner- "stupid") accusing us of trying to steal from him etc etc. The only redeeming event that took place was our waiter dealing patiently with his boss and apologizing for his rash behavior. Apparently that behavior happened all the time, and that he previously was sued for years of unpaid credit card dues. Hence his apprehension when we asked why he was charging our credit card with all of these undisclosed "fraudulent" charges. Horrible horrible horrible!!! read more

We visited during restaurant week for dinner. Both dishes were subpar. I would say they met the minimum required effort to describe the dish on the menu. And very little taste very little presentation. Most both pasta dishes were swimming in sauce. The desert lies barely appetizing. the staff tried their best to do a good job, but seemed very inexperienced in the way of taking orders and serving wine. Bruschetta minimally acceptable. Tomatoes were barely rip. She's had a sprinkling of basil flakes. Not tasty at all. read more

The food was delicious and the staff and ambiance were great. Our party of 9 was for a working dinner, and everyone loved it. The online menu is outdated, so 1 of our attendees had trouble finding an alternative (needed hand-held food). Also, the parking lot was pay-to-patk, but the signs were easy to overlook... both cars got tickets. Would recommend the staff mention this to guests. read more

Northern Italian style Everything is good the food, the service, the ambiance Its a nice place read more

Was a little worried when I showed up around 7 on a Sunday and we were the only people in the restaurant. Food ended up being very good and the service was good. Was a nice day so we were able to sit outside which is an added plus! Would recommend. We had the gnocchi and the Fiocchi which were both pretty tasty. read more

Mi esposo y yo estábamos buscando un lugar donde comer comida italiana y conseguimos este. Desde que llegamos la atención fue muy buena, la comida salió rápido y estaba deliciosa. Pedí Penne ala vodka y mi esposo pidió fettuccine Alfredo y estaban buenísimas. Nos gusto mucho este lugar y nos gusto mucho ver que los dueños estaban ahí revisando que todo estuviera perfecto. Fui al baño y estaba limpio y tenían crema para las manos, cosa que aprecio. Muy lindo todo y acogedor y definitivamente volveré. read more

Great atmosphere and the waiter was awesome! We enjoyed our time together here- parking validated if parking d through app.

Literally fantastic.... RSVP'd on a whim for date night & exceeded our expectations. Booked a table before the rush on a Thursday @ 5:30 and had the whole restaurant to ourselves, it couldn't have been more romantic! Actual candlelit tables, authentic Italian music & cuisine, not to mention the lovely Italian owners (who will keep an eye out for the parking officers for you if you can't figure out how to operate the pay-to-park app)--- pair all of this together & it has become my boyfriend and I's favorite restaurant. We've been back three times already, making sure to bring along more family and friends each time to introduce them to the best Italian restaurant in Raleigh! p.s. I recommend the gnocchi (it's to die for) read more

We popped in for dinner last night. We were the only people there until another couple showed up 10 minutes after us. The food was amazing - the sauce was robust, linguine perfectly cooked, and the flavor profile was top notch. I knocked off a few stars because of the service. It was slow yet the two servers were standing at the bar staring at their phones. At one point, one of their cell phones started ringing and it was just as loud as the restaurant's music and interrupted the mood. I'll definitely eat food from here again...but takeout only. read more

The food, service, and ambience of this restaurant was nothing short of amazing. The staff was incredible friendly and the owner/manager was so so lovely! I highly recommend for anyone looking for great food and great service. read more

Real Italian Food- this is the best Italian restaurant that I've ever been to and I have travelled all over the country for comic conventions. I love this place and the owner was delightful on the phone and in person. Try something with their red sauce and have the lemoncello cake it- they were both the best I've ever had. Tuscan Blu is my new favorite local restaurant! read more

I booked a reservation for two for my friend's birthday and it just happened to be the two of us in there, but oh my gosh the place was so pretty. I love the lighting it made it feel really intimate and fancy as we sat. The owners, chef, and employees were all very sweet. THE FOOD. I ordered the Alfredo Carbonara and the sauce was so creamy and flavorful. We also ordered Shirley temples from the bar and they were absolutely perfect, it reminded me of my Italian grandmother's Shirley temples I used to drink as a kid. We also had dessert and that was delicious as well. All and all for the price, it was super good. Super worth it!! I will definitely be coming back again read more

Tuscan Blu - Italian Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Nice atmosphere and friendly service at this Tuscan delight! They also take their wine seriously here so be sure to check out the list!

Incredible food, great atmosphere. Easy to get a seat, I'm guessing because of Covid or whatever. But this place definitely seems like a hidden gem. Great staff. They were on top of everything we wanted but without hovering over us. Edit: I just realized that I got a parking ticket and so did the person that I met there. They were hefty, too, and placed under our windshield wipers. The signage isn't great. I actually looked for signs about parking and where to pay. It seemed that parking in the restaurant parking spot was safe. Guess not. read more

Let's start with making reservations. I called to make reservations and the person didn't even ask for my name or phone number. I offered it. I requested an outside table and when we got to the restaurant the table was set up inside. Our waiter had no mask on at all. Neither did the owners wife. We were told that wine wasn't served by the glass. Only half bottles and full bottles. We were a table of four and one hard roll cut in four squares was brought to the table. How embarrassing for an Italian restaurant. The calamari was dry and not so soft. The sauce it came with was horrible. I had grilled shrimp over supposed lettuce. The shrimp were not grilled at all. They were plain and lightly cooked. The puttanesca pasta sauce was horrible. It tasted like a jar sauce. A few olives and capers. We were very disappointed in our dining experience here. Especially during a pandemic having the server wearing no mask. I will not be returning to this establishment ever again! Before they call themselves, "authentic ", they need to start with good training and excellent food. read more

Among all the restaurants I have visited in my entire life being a traveller, Tuscan Blu was the worst experience ever. We were a group of 12 friends went to celebrate birthday. The owner was rude, racist and made sure we don't return to his restaurant. Someone please send him to study basic etiquettes, how to run a service industry, customer service and world geography. Please visit this restaurant at your own risk unless you know the owner personally. read more

I was here during restaurant week for a friend's dinner and ordered off their restaurant week menu. Service: The staff was very nice about accommodating our group which grew from 3 to 6 with some late-comers. The food came out relatively fast except for the dessert which was understandable as it was after the chaos of having to expand the table. Atmosphere: Dark lighting and the place is on the small side. Food: Ordered off the $25 restaurant week menu. Got the Portobello ravioli and found the mushroom filling a bit odd, the portion small and the presentation drab, but the Alfredo sauce was amazing! Word of caution, this place is in downtown Raleigh and though they have a shared parking lot with some of the other restaurants, I still had to park on a side street past the railroad tracks. read more

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So good! Just went tonight for the first time, I got the vodka pasta and it was delicious. Our server was so helpful with recommendations and the restaurant has a great atmosphere! Definitely recommend if you're looking for good Italian in the area. read more

We went to Tuscan Blue during triangle restaurant week. Made an early dinner reservation for 5 people. When I arrived, the place was completely empty but the host still seemed worried when he couldn't find my reservation. The place remained pretty empty for most of our meal, filling up towards 6:30 which makes sense. The restaurant week menu had the words "full menu also available" at the bottom but our waiter seemed confused and very concerned when I asked for it. He told me they were only doing the restaurant week menu. I pointed out what it said and he reluctantly brought me the full menu. I had looked at the online menu prior to making the reservation. It said they had gluten free ravioli, something I knew my friends would be so excited about. But when we asked we were told they didn't have any. Alright I ordered the strip steak. It was pretty bad. Very over cooked. I ordered it medium rare and it was very medium. Very very medium. The first glass of wine I tasted had turned sour, and when I told the waiter, he shrugged me off. Food wise, almost everyone was pleased that ordered pasta. Service wise, we all felt like a burden throughout the entire meal. Nice staff, just not very attentive. read more

The food was absolutely delicious!!! Our only complaint was that everything came out very quickly - we were hoping to enjoy our apps and then the salads were out, quickly followed by entrees. It felt very rushed, and it wasn't overly busy. The staff was very nice and the owner stopped by our table as well - so it would have been a great experience had we been able to enjoy each course. read more

The calamari was soggy, and I don't know about the lasagna but it's tasteless. I feel like I'm eating a funeral because I think that both of those dishes are heated up in a microwave which that is disgusting. If Gordon Ramsay is here, then the owner know fir sure he's in denial. read more

Tuscan Blu - Lasagna Della Nonna, it looks like it came from an oven. But if it's from a microwave, it's also dreadful. - Italian Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Nothing was fresh. Our party went there right after they opened at 4 on Sunday. To start with House Salad. Looked like it was left out in room temperature for a long time: edges of lettuce leaves curled up and wilted. Portion was VERY small as well. Veal marsala that came out within 10 min. of ordering, must have been the left over from previous night because the cutlet was not hot but lukewarm just like it was microwaved to warm up and not crispy at all, and pasta was overcooked like it was soaked into a hot water twice. Linguine Cinque Terre was not linguine, it was spaghetti which was also overcooked and too soft. Both dishes were flavorless and bland. Pasta itself did not have any taste/flavor. I want to know what all those people, who were saying their dishes were fresh and tasty, ate. As many other raters mentioned, the owner was not nice. Service was not good, either. No employees wore masks. read more

The food and service were good. However, the owner, who sits at the door like a dictator was extremely nasty and rude. I'm not sure how he keeps any staff. read more

Food was great. The calamari was delicious and the penne was fantastic. Service was good, not great but the atmosphere of the restaurant was awesome! I have been here several times and I don't see myself stopping! read more

Overall just a terrible experience. The waiter / bartender was rude and condescending. The turkey meatballs were awful. What true Italian restaurant serves turkey meatballs? One order was totally wrong yet they didn't remove from bill. In addition, 20% tip was automatically added for sub par food & service for a party of 5. Do not eat here !! read more

Tuscan Blu never disappoints. Excellent service, food, and wine list. Incomparable quality for the price. Many items I can't find at other so-called authentic restaurants. Try them out!! read more

Had reservation , pushed us in a table for 4 for 5 people. A larger table was available but was told it was for 6 people only!!!! Then the main chef and owner proceeded to seat a table for 5 at the table I had requested 30 minutes prior. Obviously we were not a distinguished guest. My money is not as welcome as others. Apps were good. Then the veal was extremely tough and takes rubbery. Will not come back. read more

I found out last night the reason I had never heard of this restaurant. Was invited by a friend for a birthday dinner. Food was mediocre, service was questionable (my guess is not because of our server but the owner/manager who was sitting at a table in the dining room drinking wine just watching everyone). Do not recommend. One and done. read more

I have sampled a few entrees from the Tuscan Blu menu and have found them to be flavorful and substantial. So, as a bit of a disclaimer, I am of Sicilian parentage and grew up in the kitchen of my grandfather's Chicago restaurant. I am more than a little fussy when it comes to taste and preparation of Italian-themed food. The insalate at Tuscan Blu are enjoyable. The meatball in marinara is tasty. I have enjoyed the salmon. However, where did they get the recipe for veal piccata? When I ordered it the first time I thought someone made a mistake and added sugar when they intended salt. I just ordered it again and can only conclude that the recipe from which they are working is wrong. The dish is prepared so the final preparation has a sweet-taste that overwhelms everything, including the pasta. Were this a veal marsala I could almost forgive it but this is a piccata and it is just wrong. I have personally prepared this dish many times and used my the recipe of my nonni as well as other variations and never experienced this result. My advice is to stay away from the piccata and the other entrees will please. read more

Will not be back to this establishment. Owner was extremely rude. We had subpar service, which is why I'm not giving one star. The owner's reaction to when our server lost a friend's debit card really threw up red flags. Seeing all of the other 1 and 2-star reviews makes sense now. I would not recommend dining in this establishment. There are plenty of other restaurants in the area that have great customer service. This is absolutely not one of them. read more

I learned the hard way to read reviews before getting food here! I ordered take out staff seemed nice but very disappointed in food! Almost 10.00 for lobster bisque that didn't even have a piece of lobster in it! My husbands lasagna looked like a child size potion covered with sauce! We don't want anything for free we just won't be back or recommend to anyone! I asked my hair dresser if she had tried this restaurant and she said no I just texted her if anyone else asks to tell them not recommended! read more