Trattoria Da Vinci

Omg, thought it would be a bust but was wonderful. Best spaghetti and meatballs. As good as what I’ve had in little Italy in Boston.

One of the best meals I had while in St Paul. TONS of food! The Pasta bar is awesome. Great service, great atmosphere, and an all around good time. Went with a group of people and we all loved it. We also all had leftovers because the amount of food was very generous and we all looked forward to the leftovers the next day (who does that?) but the food was that good. Highly recommend them and would definitely go back if I’m ever in the area again.

Love this place. Menu changes a few times a year and items are very good, but you have to have the pasta bar. Create your own dish and then it is brought to your table. My wife and I both love the food and the service. One time they were out of the wine we wanted and we were not sure about what the waiter recommended. He brought us a sample glass and he was right on the money with his description. It was actually better than what we originally ordered. Great for a formal wear night or for on the run in jeans and a tshirt.

Been here 3 x now and always leave totally satisfied. Consistently good food. Assuming they expect people to order from the pasta bar so not a big selection for other choices on the menu. Love the house musician.

We ate here for dinner on a Saturday night. I wanted very badly to like it (LOVE the idea of a pasta bar), but I felt very underwhelmed.
The check-​in process for our reservation was painful. A hostess found our name on her list, then said nothing while she looked across the room and waited for her manager (?) to come over and look at the list, too. He finally came over, looked at the list, scanned the room, and then said to us, «there is still a party seated at your table» (there were empty tables, by the way … but apparently our reservation for 4 was assigned to a very specific table). He didn’t give any further direction. So I asked, «Should we wait here? Outside in the lobby? Will you call our name?» And then said yes, wait in the lobby, we will call your name.
I have to add, our last name is Italian. And no one ever pronounces it right except for people who know Italian — they always get it right on the first try. And neither the hostess nor the manager said our last name correctly. No big deal, but just made me laugh since it was an «Italian» restaurant.
We were seated. My husband and kids did the pasta bar. They seemed satisfied. I ordered off the menu. Our food was all supposed to come at the same time (the waiter said they have it coordinated so that the pasta bar guy pages him when all of the dishes are ready), but mine came a good 6 or 7 minutes after theirs. Not a big deal, except for the fact that the waiter made a deal out of the fact that the food would come together.
Our waiter was very nice. Very attentive and very kind to our children (who are middle school aged). The bus boy who was supposed to refill our water and «bring more bread» was not nearly as attentive as the waiter. I chewed on some ice cubes for a while.
The atmosphere was nice. It was a little crowded with one of the tables pushed up into the walkway area in front of the pasta bar. But the atmosphere was nice and there was someone there playing guitar. What he was playing wasn’t my particular bag (cover tunes to a synthesizer backbeat), but I appreciate the effort of bringing live music into a restaurant. You don’t see it very often and it’s a great addition. So I give a big thumbs up for that.
The price was okay. Not great, not horrible. We had enough leftovers that it made it feel okay.
I don’t think I’d go again. Or if I did, I might go for lunch when the pasta bar is only $ 11 and things might be a little more fast-​moving as far as getting seated, having waters re-​filled, etc.
If you leave in St. Paul, you could check it out. For us, who live in the western suburbs, it was too far of a drive to be worth going again.

Loved this place. Took a group of «foodies» here and it didn’t disappoint. Everyone loved their meals and the pasta bar is awesome. The Cherry Mojitos are awesome!

The mixed pasta sauce is wonderful, just the right amount of heat. I always get the pasta bar, there is a great variety of ingredients to put in your dish. The portion is huge, I always have leftovers for lunch the next day! I love the ambiance here, the wood floors, exposed brick and the guitar player on the weekends make for a great night.

I eat here once in a while… and then I abstain for a few months because its so filling. If you haven’t ever been here, then its a place you don’t want to miss.

My wife and I wanted to try a new place tonight. We tend to eat a bit late since she works west coast hours. Seeing that they claim to be open until 10pm we figured we would give them a try.
We arrived at about 9:30, and were left waiting as the hostess went to «check if the kitchen is still open.»
I’m sorry, you are open until 10, your kitchen should be open until then. No questions about it. They might have the most amazing food on the planet, but I guess I will never know. Strike out Trattoria Da Vinci, your namesake would likely spin in his grave.

I have been to the vast majority of Italian restaurants in the Twin Cities and this is as good as it gets. When I want a good meal at an affordable price, this is the place I go. The waitstaff is very friendly and courteous. Sometimes the wait time has been a little long, but I would rather wait a few extra minutes and get good food then get low-​quality food fast.
The food at this restaurant is top-​notch. Anyone who says otherwise needs a taste-​bud transplant.
Décor and atmosphere is outstanding. I have had business meetings as well as romantic dinners here — everyone has always been very impressed.
This is the place to go for Italian in the Twin Cities.

Let me preface this by saying I used to work in the service industry and when I receive good service, I reward it with an appropriate tip — usually 20%, less if the service was lacking, more if it was exceptional.
I called here to place an order for pickup as my sister has a newborn and didn’t want to take her out. The order included 3 pastas, 3 entrées and a salad. After ordering everything the gentleman (I assume he was either the bartender or the manager) said that on orders this large an automatic 18% gratuity is included. Indeed, on the menu it says for parties of six or more it would be included; and I get why: when you have a big table with everyone paying separate checks, more often than not the tip ends up coming out smaller than when you have a 2 or a 4-​top. I personally never enforced this at the wine bar I used to work at, and instead relied on the judgement of the diner, but I get it.
I inquired as to what purpose the automatic gratuity served and he said it goes to the bartender (which I assume was him). I then hung up and contemplated the situation.
On principle I disagree with paying an automatic 18% gratuity to some schmuck who is just tapping a few buttons on a POS screen. I would have left a gratuity on my own but I find it incredibly forward to assume the «service» you are providing by hitting some buttons on a computer to be worthy of an 18% tip.
Needless to say, I called back a minute later to cancel the order and take my business elsewhere. Cossetta’s is less than a mile away and your experience will be far superior.

Trattoria… a place where classy décor goes to die.
Okay, that sounds a lot more harsh than I’m intending but I’m probably not too far off.
Have you ever watch Robert Irvine have a shit fit over pieces of décor that just don’t belong with the «theme». Well he’d crap his pants here.
I mean, it’s cool. Random mantels tacked to the wall highlighting prints of Mona Lisa and busts of, I dunno, Da Vinci I assume. The columns are gorgeous from afar, but up close they are tackily painted with streaks of gold and green. The faux wall with faux brick is gastly against the actual brick wall that gives you a sense of authenticity.
Let’s not forget the signed guitar hanging on the wall by the, what looks like anyway, Minnesota Wild Memorabilia? I didn’t get close enough to say for sure. What boggles my mind is that they have so much to work with in the building and this is the direction they went with it.
It’s goofy to say the least, but I am not taking points off because of décor. The subtraction of those two valuable stars is strictly due to the food. I lean toward 3.5 stars but I have no way of showing that without going against my better judgment and giving them 4. Enough rambling, though… Here’s my reasoning.
The artichoke dip– Really good the first time I had it, although I thought the toast was too burnt and it left a bitter aftertaste. The second time seemed to be a different flavor in the dip than I remembered and I didn’t really enjoy it. The artichoke was cut too small to get enough of it’s tart flavor to break apart the rich creamy notes of the cheese. The dish began to feel like a chore to eat. I was genuinely sad because I had just talked up a storm about how much I liked it the first time.
The parppadelle bolognese — If this was my dish I would have sent it back the second I received it. The sauce was loose and sweet and the only thing I could think of was the sauce in a can of Chef Boyardee. There was no depth, no spice, no real flavor and it was absolutely ruining the parppadelle noodles that deserved so much better. What a disappointment.
The Ravioli… blah blah a-​tini. Okay, I don’t remember what it was called. It was crab stuffed Ravioli with a pesto cream sauce with shrimp and scallops. The ravioli were stuffed to the point of exploding open with crab goodness. I was shocked at the amount of crab actually stuffed into those babies. The scallops were melt in your mouth perfect and the shrimp was. shrimp.
The pesto sauce, on the other hand, was so thick it was almost glue like. The texture made it hard for me to enjoy. The amount of sauce covering those bad boy ravioli was ridiculous and unnecessary. Pesto is unbelievably flavorful so I would think hitting it on the thinner, less abundant side would have made for a more balanced dish. It was a half miss, really. If you make good pasta, there’s no need to disguise it with gallons of sauce. Highlight those ravioli, dammit. If you don’t make good pasta, then why are you serving pasta?
I ordered a cocktail, as is usual for me, and succumbing to all that shiny summery feel I’ve been walking around with, I ordered a Black Cherry Mojito. Or what was supposed to be a mojito. It was an overly sweet syrupy minty mess. Not what I was thinking I was going to get.
The service here does seem to be relaxed but still attentive. Our waiter was diligent and our glasses never had a chance to be empty. He added a splash of soda to my mojito when he noticed I wasn’t drinking it. In normal Jenny fashion, I would have been on my second cocktail by this point, but I was happy that he’d even noticed it was barely touched.
The prices are reasonable here and we had a good time despite the food woes. I don’t know if I will be back, but if I am it won’t be because someone had to drag me here.
3.5 stars for an A-​ok experience, but not my idea of Authentic Italian (Like I would even know).

Parentals were in town to visit so we decided to venture downtown. Saturday night reservation for 4 at 6PM. Earlier than usual for us to accommodate having parents who like to eat earlier.
The restaurant has a nice interior. Exposed brick walls, high ceilings, multi-​tiered seating inside, guitar player picking classical tunes as you eat. The place was almost empty when we arrived. By the end of the night, we figured out why. PROM! lots of tables of high schoolers all over the restaurant.
We started by splitting a large house salad. For a small share portion (enough to fill about a bread plate for 4 ppl) — a large is fine, if you’re wanting more than that — you may need about a large per 2 – 3 ppl.
Two at our table had orders of the seafood pasta (Linguine alla Scoglio). Spicy red sauce with fresh seafood galore. I tasted my husband’s — it was awesome! Perfectly cooked calamari as well as shrimp, clams, mussels. YUM.
I ordered the tagliatelle bolognese — it was good, but definitely on the salty and saucy side. I’m usually a sauce lover, but the saltiness was a bit much for me. Might just be personal preference –I still liked it.
My mom tried the pasta bar. Trattoria Da Vinci has an option to have chefs cook to order any combination of pasta that you choose — all different proteins, sauces, veggies. The portions are already pretty normal to large for pasta dishes, but people that order at the make to order pasta bar probably get a little bit more!
Desserts were good but not great. We tried the turtle cheesecake and the tiramisu. Turtle cheesecake was a plain cheesecake with chocolate sauce and caramel poured over the top and raw pecans on top. Tiramisu came out in a small bowl — not very well ‘set” — more soupy/​puddingy than some. Taste was still yummy.
Overall, we had a fun night. Parking was easy in the small lot right next to the entrance of the restaurant — $ 5 and super convenient.

Love this place for a number of reasons.
The atmosphere. Beautiful space. You can wear a suit or denim & a nice shirt and be good. Some nights they have live music but it’s strictly atmospheric, not a screaming band.
Nobody seems to know about this place — so it’s nice exposing people to this little secret in downtown St. Paul.
Service has always been excellent.
Pasta bar for lunch is great. Get what you want and experiment.
The menu is great. I’ve had a few different plates and really enjoyed everything I had. I usually end up with substantial leftovers. The last thing I had there was the Linguini Alla Fiorentina. Real spice, flavor and richness.
They have a bar. Great to meet someone before dinner or to move to after dinner.
Pricing is fair. Parking is street but it’s St. Paul which is usually easy.
Bonus. Sometimes you can hang with a Wild player for a pregame meal.

I ate here as part of a reserved group dinner party, so my experience is probably a bit unique. The only dinner item available was the oft-​reviewed pasta bar which had myriad options. I had the penne and a mix of the spicy and mild red sauces along with a terrific assortment of veggies. I definitely got carried away with spice and probably overdid the crushed red pepper and pepperochinis, but that wasn’t the big miss here. For some reason my dish had far too much sauce and not nearly enough pasta, so my dish looked more like soup midway through. I seemed to be in the minority, though as most others were either finishing their bowls or taking the rest home.
Nice ambiance and setting. I’d certainly like to return to either try some other menu options or rectify my first pasta bar experience.

Wonderful service and food! Got there and were seated right away, orders taken promptly, and food came out extremely quickly. It was delicious! ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend for a nice «fancy» date night.

Great Italian food at decent prices! I love the décor and the coziness of it. I had the pasta experience which was really good and ridiculously huge, seriously it was 3 meals! Great service as well. I will be back!

Recently ventured over to Saint Paul for a mother-​daughter dinner date. My mom had a gift card, but I would definitely go back to Trattoria da Vinci even without the draw of a free meal.
The atmosphere is wonderful; very cozy, decorative touches, live music. Our waitress was also very helpful and friendly. We started with the caprese — my word was the mozzarella good! For entrees, my mom ordered the Penne al Gorgonzola (and I luckily got to take home her leftovers — delicious) and I ordered the Salmone al Limone. My salmon was fantastic and paired well with the potatoes and asparagus. Of course, an Italian meal is not complete without a bottle of wine.
Another great find the other Twin City!

I come here for the atmosphere. PHENOMENAL.
The food is pretty good too. It’s Italian, probably in the American sense of the word. The portions of pasta are large, the sauce is put on thick.
The sea food is the most delicate, unless you get the Frittura Mista– fried shrimp/​scallops/​calamari. (Which is very delicious, but makes you too full for dinner!)
Several people I’ve gone with like the pasta bar, but when I go out, I like to relax and wait for the deliciousness to come to me, not go stand in line and make small talk with other diners at the pasta bar.
I adore their gnocchi, and this is one of the few places in town that gives you enough to satisfy an adult appetite. In fact, they usually give me just a little too much, and I end up almost too full for dessert. (I said ALMOST. I really do have to be pretty sick to pass up dessert.) My favorite sauce with the gnocchi is the creamy Gorgonzola sauce which comes with chopped walnuts and is great with some Riesling. My second favorite is the butter and sage sauce which comes with tiny little chopped tomatoes which just MAKES the sauce and is also very good with Riesling.
The Man gets Capellini Alla Checca which is one of the more lightly sauced dishes. He adds Italian Sausage.
For dessert– the Lemon Sorbetto is creamy and satisfying if you are just looking for a few sweet bites to round out the meal. Or the Crème Brulee is also lovely, and large enough to share.
Now– the atmosphere. Large, open ceilings, exposed brick, very old hardwood floors, open main dining floor. Yet somehow manages to be one of the coziest, most intimate feeling restaurants in St. Paul. There is «Da Vinci» artwork/​sketches/​machinery hanging all around, which is interesting to look at. On weekends, they have live music (instrumental, no singing) which is just loud enough to be enjoyable, but not so loud you cannot converse.
Wait service has been impeccable. Friendly, not intrusive. Helpful, not condescending. Waters, wine and bread refilled in a timely manner.
Great for dates, family nights, birthdays, after work get-​togethers, or just a random night out for dinner. Nice jeans/​tops are acceptable, as would a casual dress or khaki’s, although you see a lot of more formal dress as well.

Trattoria Da Vinci has been on my list of restaurants to try for over a year now. My mom and dad raved about their pasta bar, and I love the location by Mear’s Park. I finally got around to trying the place this weekend and I wasn’t disappointed.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere, it’s casual, but not too casual and I love the exposed brick walls. I was going to order the pasta bar, but decided to try their homemade gnocchi with tomato basil sauce instead. I was not disappointed. This gnocchi was excellent and I really loved the sauce. The gnocchi were soft and tender and the sauce was the perfect combination of tomato, basil and a sprinkling of parmesan (and I think a touch of cream). I woudl definitely order this dish again.
My husband had the pasta bar and really enjoyed his meal, as well. He raved about the pasta and had enough for leftovers the next day.
For dessert, we ordered the chocolate torte and it was another winning dish. It was kind of a mix between a flourless chocolate cake and a molten chocolate cake, in cupcake form with whipped cream frosting. When it came out, I was a bit skeptical but the first bite definitely changed my mind. The cake was rich and moist with just a bit of gooey fudge from the molten chocolate layer. The whipped cream helped to balance out the richness of the dessert and I also really liked the rasberry sauce that was drizzled on the plate.