Caffe Boa Ahwatukee

They close at 11pm we show up after a show at 1020 and they have people inside but have closed… stuff in front of the door and all. Alright, all we wanted was a night cap! Just go to The Wine Cellar, y’all.

Ok… I wanted to go someplace different. We were in a restaurant rut, so I used Unilocal to just browse some places in the area. When I saw café boa, I realized that I hadn’t been there in about 13 years… time to check out the menu. So I checked out the menu online and I was hooked… couldn’t wait to get there. We walked in and the ambiance was very nice… romantic, but not overly dark. When we sat down, my husband looked at the menu and said «what can you eat here?»…referring to my wheat allergy, but I had seen the menu online so i said.“oh, just look” and grabbed the menu.
My heart sank when I saw something completely different than I had seen online. Where was the Sicilian street corn? Where was the rakija bar? And the farro risotto? And the meat and cheese board? Well, apparently I had seen the menu fit the Mill Ave location and they were drastically different.
We were here and already seated, so I had to make the best of it. not much in the gluten free arena, but I settled on the Roma salad with chicken. My daughter had the gnocchi and my husband had the voodoo penne.
WOW…the Roma salad was absolutely delicious. The tomatoes were perfect… not gooey… really firm. Large slices of buffalo mozzarella, the chicken was moist, not the standard salad chicken you usually see, and the basil was fresh, all topped with balsamic and some fresh ground pepper… truly wonderful.
My daughter enjoyed the gnocchi. The sauce want overpowering, and the gnocchi themselves were quite tender instead of the standard thick globs of dough you often get at restaurants.
None of us finished our meals because the portions were generous.
An evening that started out tenuously ended well.
Although there admittedly isn’t much on the menu that I can eat, I’ll be back because what is there is exceptionally well done.
P. S. maybe we’ll hit the Mill Ave location next week for my birthday to check out what looked like an amazing menu.

Used to love this place and frequented it often, but I just sat at the bar for near 10 minutes on a slow night (only one couple sitting at the bar) and was not acknowledged or drink order taken. To take it a step further when the bartender did finally come around she walked up to the couple because he wanted a taste of a wine, not even ordering a glass… standing directly in front of me still did not acknowledge or comment that she’d be right back with water, drink order, etc.
Will not be returning.

I have been coming to Caffe Boa for the past 8 years. I came in for dinner last night and left feeling very disappointed. I want to preface with the service… The service was great and almost always is. We sat at the bar and the guy that served us was great and attentive. My problem was with the beloved bread. The bread and dip that comes with the meal is usually one of my favorite parts of eating there and I feel like it is a staple of dining at an Italian restaurant. Last night when the bread arrived, it was noticeably different. It was dry and stale and definitely not like the bread they usually serve. I asked our server (bartender), if they got new bread and he said «yes». It tasted like store-​bought bread and was not good at all. I really hope that this is not the beginning of a downward spiral but they really need to do something about it or I guarantee they will begin to lose loyal customers. There are other ways to cut costs but I don’t think changing to dry, I assume store-​bought bread is the answer. I want to continue loving this place… Please bring your old bread back!

This was the worst. I was put at a table in the middle of everything and was bumped a million times. I used to love this place. I won’t be back. Only go if you want to eat 5 ravioli on a plate swimming in sauce.

Excellent service and the food was top notch. We had the steak medallions, very very tender and the Salmon. Both were high quality.

Best. Dessert. Ever. The butter cake is beyond good. Sometimes we go just for that! The staff is always very friendly and accommodating. I had gnocchi as an entrée and it was very good. Tasted just like my great grandmas. The drinks are also very good, with unique flavor combinations. The patio is beautiful.

I took my family here on a Sunday night for a nice dinner out. Personally, I had the bolognese and found it satisfactory. We split a dinner size caesar salad among the three of us and it was still rather large.
We all had pastas. In my opinion, they were over-​sauced. But, I’m the type of person who likes very little sauce on pasta.
Service was good as well. I recommend.

Loved the atmosphere and the wines! You don’t have to drive to Scottsdale to find a great place to dine when it’s right across from your house!

I love this place. I stop whenever I leave Phoenix to drive to Tucson. It is easy to park, close to freeway and always yummy. My favorite is the salmon which is served with beautiful fresh vegetables and a risotto. I like the salmon blacked — such great flavor.

Three of us that ordered the seasonal sunfish special all agreed it was excellent! Husband and I split the small Sanora? salad (had figs, apples) and the sunfish and it was a perfect amount. Our group ordered 4 different desserts (brownie, crème brûlée, cannoli, and tiramisu) and the tiramisu was our favorite– one of the best I’ve ever had! Did not really care for the cannoli.

Over the top ratings but quality of food is nothing spectacular! Run of the mill super XL portions suave is loaded with cheese and a cream based sauce and veggies but not much flavor! And this was their most popular pasta ! Calamari with marinara sauce was ok. Just another Italian restaurant. Not worth going back !

Very disappointed in this Phoenix restaurant. I am visiting and my friend suggested we eat there. While the menu is nicely priced, sandwiches make up half of the first page. In small print it states they are not available after 3 or 4. Why take up over a fourth of the menu with something that’s not available for dinner? We were there at 6:30, so no sandwich for me.
The «specials» which are actually the dinner entrees are listed on a small blackboard on the wall with no prices. I asked about the salmon, and our waiter said «$ 23». OK… that’s more than I want to spend, but there really is NOTHING else that looks appealing to me. (About ½ of the menu is pasta, and I don’t eat pasta.). So I order the salmon – sauce on the side.
The salmon comes – HUGE piece – enough for three meals probably. It is swimming in the sauce. I asked the waiter for another plate and said «I meant ‘on the side’ for the sauce… not on the plate with salmon on top of it.» So he brings me another plate. I eat part of the salmon (which was cooked perfectly, I will add). Then the bill comes – salmon is $ 24.95. I said to waiter Travis «you told me $ 23». His response was «I was wrong… I’ll fix it on your bill.» I said «forget it.» When he brought the change, waiter Travis said «next time I’ll get it right.» I said «there won’t be a next time… I don’t live here… and I won’t be back.»
Not a good experience as I don’t pay $ 25 for a meal ever – it was way out of my budget.

First time @ Boa. My dinner took a long time to come out. I had the beef medallion special. Asked for medium, but was more well done. Some bites even had a burnt taste. The sauce was tasty (Marsala style). I would rate the food quality less than The Olive Garden. The waiter was nice but very busy. Doesn’t appear they were expecting the crowd they had. Would I try Boa again? Probably not. Cute place though.

We went here this past weekend while we were in town for spring training. This is the second time we’ve gone. I would have preferred to try something new but another family member had made the reservations. The last time we came, the reservations were messed up by an hour so we had to wait for a table. It was really crowded and our whole party couldn’t fit at the bar.
This time we had no problems with our reservations. It was fairly quiet for a Saturday night. I don’t think the place was even half full. Much different than our last visit.
We had bruschetta as an appetizer and it was okay. Nothing too exciting.
Wine selection was good. Beer selection was okay. Luckily they had Four Peaks Kilt Lifter so I had that. Someone in our party had the sangria which I tried and it was really good.
I had the salmon which was good. I thought it would be spicier since it had a jalapeño sauce but there really wasn’t much heat at all which was a little disappointing. Did like the rice and veggies with it so the meal was not too heavy. I’m not sure how well everyone else liked their meals but no one was raving or complaining so I’d say it was good overall.
Service was good and the waiter was attentive.
Overall, very good meal. However, we’ve been here twice now on our spring training trips. I don’t think this place was so amazing that I would make a point to come back again. I would much rather try some new places next time.

My husband and I came here Thursday night. We were promptly greeted at the hostess stand and seated outside on their charming patio. From this moment on, we did a lot of waiting around. From what I could tell, there were three servers, two of which seemed to be extremely attentive, and then there was our server.
Once he finally came to the table we asked him about two different Alexander wines which appeared to be the same but had different prices and descriptions. He said they were indeed the same thing and it was a menu typo; he However didn’t mention which description was the correct one. We ordered a half bottle and when he came back with it, we commented that since it was indeed on the smaller side that we would take another one. He either thought we were kidding or ignored us because the second bottle never came.
There were quite a few specials that night And our server was pretty knowledgeable about those. We ended up ordering the bolognese pasta and a procuitto wrapped chicken breast with pasta. Shortly after ordering, we finished our wine and wanted to have a second glass. Our server took the wine list away and after waiting quite a while for him to return, I went to the bar myself and asked for a menu.
The food finally arrived and I was underwhelmed. The chicken seemed really thin for some reason and the rest of the plate seemed lacking. My husband seemed to like his bolognese pasta, but when I took a bite all I could taste was a really strong spice. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I’d say it was either cinnamon or nutmeg. It would have been inedible for me.
For dessert we ordered the brownie with ice cream, which we should have known better not to get when the server stated «it’s a brownie that the cook heats up». Against better judgement we wanted chocolate and ordered it anyway. The brownie was way too rich and the ice cream was clearly store bought; sadly the best part of the dessert for me was the strawberry on top.
After dessert, we again found ourselves waiting for our server and check. It seemed as though he had vanished into thin air.
We won’t be back to café boa. A dinner that should have taken us an hour, lasted over two because the service was bad. The food was simply mediocre for me as well.

This place is located on the corner of a strip mall. From the outside the 25 yr old strip mall doesn’t seem inviting, but the inside and outside areas of the restaurant are actually quite nice.
We came here with a party of six on a recommendation from me because I had eaten here twice before and it was very good, although it has been at least a year since I was here.
The problems began right away. We had a reservation for the outside patio. When seating we were seated in the far corner of the patio with no lights. Could not read the menu. In addition, it was 60 degrees outside and we asked the waiter to light the rollable heaters. He said only 1 of the 5 they had sitting there had gas in it so most of us were quite cold during the whole meal which makes it hard to enjoy (the one heater just didn’t pump much heat). I understand if one of your tanks runs out but 4 of 5 out means you just don’t care about it. This place claims an award winning patio but they sit us in the dark without adequate heat and don’t offer to move us or tell us before? Unacceptable.
The initial ordering went fine and our appetizers came out pretty quickly. The bruschetta, calamari, and table bread were all good. However, it took 40 minutes for our main dish to come after we finished the appetizers. For me this much time between starting to eat and get the main dish ruins the meal. The place was not crowded. After about 20 mins I went into the restaurant/​bar area and found the waiter watching basketball on the tv entranced. This always bothers me especially when things are late and our drinks aren’t getting refilled, which was the case. Even if he wasn’t busy at the time he should be walking around checking on things not watching tv. God, I sound like my father.
So, main dishes were mixed reviews. I heard the salmon was great. I had the scallops. They were rubbery and not seared well. I realize that scallops are hard but for a $ 20 plate I expect better. They were smothered in an Alfredo sauce with pasta. Way too much sauce and too rich for my tastes. I expected a better tasting sauce with more refinement. In taking a poll it was hit or miss whether people liked their meals. Some did, some didn’t.
Bottom line: one of my pet peeves is expensive restaurants that don’t get the basics right or treat you well. This place is at least $ 30 – 35 per person and I’d expect them to have the basics figured out. They didn’t.

We were actually going to eat next door at Sanaka (sp?) but the wait was too long so we decided to pop in to look at their menu. From the outside Caffe Boa looks like a dingy maybe mom and pop type restaurant, but the inside was a different story. Very cute and romantic place. We opt to sit inside since it was a little cold outside. They had live music with a gentleman playing acoustics outside too. It was loud so if you want to talk, ask to sit inside.
Next, the food — we ordered two of their specials — the clams with linguini and blacken salmon, the bow tie pasta, and their lasagna. They gave very large portions and I like that they use expensive ingredients. For example, the bow tie pasta I asked for shrimp instead of chicken and they were colossal shrimps. They were very generous with the clams too. My favorite was the blacken salmon. The jalapeño sauce was to die for! I also really liked their mix veggies with the salmon. It was hearty — they had carrots, brussels sprouts, green beans, onions, asparagus, bell peppers, and broccoli. YUM! The basmati rice that came with it was also delicious and tastes really good with the jalapeño sauce.
Only bad thing was our server, who also was the bartender forgot our bread and silverware and we needed to ask another server (this Asian girl), who was SUPER nice. Almost wished she was our server because our server seemed a bit overwhelmed even though he didn’t have many tables and one couple at the bar. Overall, good team work because where our server lacked the other people made up for. Even the busser towards the end was very attentive and cleared our plates promptly multiple times. Will be back whenever when we come back into town.

Had a great dining experience here while on a short trip to Phoenix this past weekend. The patio is pretty with overhead lighting and flowers, even a fountain; a romantic spot for date nights.
The food was amazing as was our friendly and knowledgeable server, Allie. She made great recommendations about the menu items at this elegant Italian eatery.
I ordered the special blackened salmon with Genovese sauce, like a beurre blanc with capers, lemon and artichoke. Yummy! My husband had the diver scallops over linguine with a cream sauce. Both entrees were prepared well. We had white wine by the glass, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio with our meal.
Did I forget to mention the house sun-​dried tomato aioli that comes with bread to start? That was delicious as well. The portions were ample and we were so full we did not have room to sample the highly recommended butter cake. Next time we are in Phoenix we will have to come back and bring some of our friends who live in the area.

I don’t eat here enough! Every time I come to Boa, I have an excellent meal and a great experience. The chef knows what he is doing and it shows in quality and presentation of the food. The butter pie reminds me of buttermilk pie I used to get back in Austin, TX. Definitely worth a try if you are in the area and like Italian food.
Also, good ambiance and nice patio with lots of live plants and a water fountain.