My favorite family restaurant. tonight they were slammed with less employees then they would like. Jesse was our server and he bartender, he informed us service could be slow. Everything was wonderful, food bar , atmosphere. if it wasn't for Jesse the night would have been less enjoyable. he was funny, honest and a pure gem read more

I enjoyed Cafe Boa Awatukee. I came here with a client for lunch and it was a great atmosphere for conversation and food. The servings are pretty large which I think is great b/c who doesn't like left overs? (well some people don't but I don't know you and I bet we wouldn't get along if I did) The atmosphere is really simple, airy and enjoyable. It is in a strip mall with a Gold's gym so it might seem odd that such a great place is hidden in here but it is refreshing. I had a fabulous caprese salad. read more

I really had no idea what Caffe Boa was. I just had had a feeling it was good, and I wanted to eat there. Call it "gut instinct." But the name and logo had me thinking it was a New American or Fusion cuisine cafe. No, that wasn't it at all. Caffe Boa is Italian. And about as Italian as you can get. I mean, made-from-scratch, obsessive, "we know what we're doing so don't ask too many questions" Italian. Capisci? Oh, and the food...DELICIOUS. They do know what they're doing. I've tried a bunch of dishes, and can't really say a bad thing about any of them. The salads are perfectly-dressed (not a dry leaf, but not sitting in a pool of dressing either). The soups are homemade and amazing (try the Lentil if they have it that day). The Lasagna will have the pleasure center of your brain firing neurons it didn't even know it had. Also, the Voodoo pasta & chicken dish is like...it's just like "wow." The quality of food really can't be beat. You can tell they take an exceptional amount of pride in every dish they serve. The menu isn't extensive. So, if you don't feel like pasta, fish, salad, or soup, then you're not going to find much else on the menu -- there are other offerings, just not many of them. But anything you do order is going to be very tasty. Has been for me anyway. The ambiance is sort of upscale...but I felt at ease in my hoodie and jeans too. But it is nice inside. And it's VERY dark in the evening. They play Smooth Jazz and have a big wine selection. Not a bad place to take a date I guess (although I usually go with family). The service is...? Service is good...I might even say "very good" actually. But I wouldn't really say it's "friendly." More urbane than amicable. Think "east coast friendly." But even without a lot of smiles, they get the job done. Also, I like when places pay attention to details. For instance, Caffe Boa serves Stella in the Stella glass and Guinness in a Guinness pint glass (both of which they have on tap). It's a small detail, but it shows that they're aware of what they're doing. So, props for that. Overall, this place is very good. It's my go-to spot for Italian in Ahwatukee now....and there are a lot of Italian places in Ahwatukee. But I think Caffe Boa's food beats them all so far. read more

A lovely little spot for a glass of wine, a nosh or a relazing dinner. This little Ahwatukee spot has a great chef, with a dazzling palate. The specials are always very nice. The staff is knowledgable about the wine they serve, the food and preparation methods used by the chef, which is nice to hear when making and selection. And though I'm not always a big fan of asking a multitude of questons before making a selection, it is nice to know the knowledge is there if I asked. I've always been treated well by the staff and get the impression they know their restaurant well. The wine selection is lovely but I would like to see a few more wines by the glass and more in the range of $7-8 rather than $9-10 on a more consistent basis. They do usually have a nice price for a bottle though and the entrees servings are very generous. A delightful spot to while away some time and relax with a great wine.Overall, it reminds me a bit of a european bistro, a nice neighborhood restaurant where the staff knows its' patrons well and creates lovely meals. read more

Never a bad time... I love Boa. I have been going there for several years now. There is nothing on the menu I haven't tried and I love it all. Now is the time of year to go, the outdoor patio rocks; there is a huge tree and fountain, plenty of shade and has a "back yard garden" feel. If the Patio isn't your style, you need to sit at the bar. The regular bartender is Jorge who is excellent at keeping your drink full and cracking jokes. When i go, usually get a martini (which even at $10 is a bargain base on the quality and volume). If you love wine, Boa wont disappoint, they usually have a good malbec on their specials board. As far as what to eat - Since i normally go during happy hour (most appatizers are 50% off) I get the bruschetta and then the Valentino salad and add salmon. This is a great way to go. The salmon is always fresh and always cooked perfectly. Take a friend, sit at the bar or on the Patio. read more

OK, now I am seriously impressed. The Owner recognized me on my second visit, and bothered to thank me for visiting again. How awesome is that!? Not as awesome as the Tiramisu, which was better than I expected! And huge! For a girl like me, that would be what I would change actually: I need smaller portions. Other than that, I still love this place, and my server was absolutely charming! read more

Wow it takes special skills to make pasta barely eatable. That place serves bad food and is not cheap. Ordered the tortellini it came with some weird "creamy" white sauce it was not made with cream I actually don't want to know what was in it.the smell turned my stomach the taste confirmed this should not be eaten. Salad had a vinaigrette that did not see oil or vinegar. Garlic bread was cheap and growth. Service was pleasant atmosphere is nice. Just bad expensive food. read more

This is the perfect place to enjoy a glass of wine (or a bottle) on the patio. I can't think of another place I would rather be in Ahwatukee on a nice night. The atmosphere is so relaxing. The food is wonderful. I highly recommend the specials of the day. All of the fish is flown in daily and cooked to perfection! The wine list is very extensive and fairly priced. The butter cake dessert will change your life. If you are in the area, you must stop by! read more

My boyfriend took me to Caffe Boa for my birthday last night. We'd been meaning to go for a while, and I'm glad we finally went. We showed up around 7-7:30 on a Tuesday night, and the indoor dining room is a bit small so we had to wait for a few minutes. The patio outside looks much larger, with pretty lights and foliage, and some heaters for the chilly weather. Our server brought out some french bread with a tasty dip/spread that I later found out to be aioli, which was topped with cracked black pepper and parmesan cheese. Soooo tasty! A unique alternative to so many places that serve their bread with oil/vinegar. We each started with the House Dinner Salad which was maybe the best simple salad I've ever had. Fresh greens, grape tomatoes, thin spears of cucumber and celery, shaved ribbons of carrot, and some other veggies I can't quite recall. The vinaigrette dressing was amazing as well. I ordered the Tortellini Brigantino. Very fresh tasting, wonderfully prepared broccoli which was not overcooked in the slightest. Fresh green peas and a very rich cream sauce, with fresh pepper and cheese as well. My boyfriend got the Kobe Burger special. It was very tender with great flavor, though a little greasy, he felt. Also maybe a bit heavy handed with the blue cheese. It was served with thin, crispy fries. We wanted to share their butter cake for dessert but I was told that the adjoining table had gotten the last piece! Oh, sad day :( We settled on the homemade cannoli, which was still very good. I don't know if the cannoli shells are made in-house, but they were sweeter and more cinnamon-y than most I've had elsewhere. I would like to come back so I can try the butter cake, as well as some of the other tasty-sounding menu items. read more

My husband and I went to Caffe Boa for the second time yesterday. The first time, we were waiting for our to-go sushi order from Sakana next door; so we thought we'd grab an appetizer and a glass of wine while we waited. Thought it was great and the atmosphere was great and figured we'd be coming back often. Last night was different. The first words that we were greeted with were "Where do you want to sit?". Well, hello to you too! When we got to our table we were brought water, but it took about 20 min for someone to come greet us and get our drink order. From this point, the experience was fine. We had a bottle of wine and the Crostini Boa (which the bread should be toasted). We ordered off of the specials for the night. I ordered the beef medallions and my husband had the filet. He ordered it rare, with specific instructions on how it should look. Our order was brought out and our server went back inside. My husband cut into his filet and it was overcooked; medium actually, and when you order it rare, that's REALLY overcooked. My meal was fine. We waited for the server to come back out to ask us how our meal was... and waited... and waited. After 20 min, he finally came back out and asked how everything was. My husband is in the restaurant business and is well aware of how this next part should have gone. My husband told the server his steak was overdone (he only had a bite of it) and the server looked at the steak and said "Yup, that does look overdone. Would you like me to box it up for you?" What?! He should have said, "Yes, that does look overdone. I'm sorry about that, let me get you a new one." When you're paying $40 for a filet entree, and spending almost $200 on a meal and experience, I expect them to get it right, or make it right. We had him box our leftovers and ordered another glass of wine and asked for the check. It was one of very few times that I tipped less than 20%. We won't be going back. read more

A girl friend and I headed here before our trip to shop for a wedding dress - I needed the half bottle of wine we ordered! Was there a happy hour menu? Happy hour prices? We didn't ask, but didn't see anything advertised either. We shared the plate of cheeses, bread, fruit, etc., and it was pretty tasty. Loved the dried figs. We also each ordered the greek (Uro? Oro?) salad, and agreed on the deliciousness of it. I would definitely order that again. Service was a little on the slow side, but we were chatting so much that it was no biggie. I would love to return and try a few more menu items! read more

You will be surprised by the quality of food at Cafe Boa. Set in a little strip mall, you may not expect such a classy bar and restaurant. The service is terrific and the servers will remember you when you come back. They like to make you happy there with the service, but the real happiness comes from the food and wine selections. It is right off of the freeway. It will be worth a stop in. read more

I honestly can't remember a worse experience I've had at a restaurant than I did tonight. We were given a gift card by a family member for Christmas. My wife and I decided to use it tonight for dinner. Dinner was average, nothing spectacular about it, but nothing horrible. I have no complaints about the food or the service at the time of the meal. It was when we went to pay the bill we had a problem. After giving the server the gift card, she comes back and said there is zero balance on it. Well, that can't be. We were just given the card for Christmas 3 days ago. So in the middle of dinner, we were calling the family member to see if they had a copy of the receipt. The server said if we got the credit card receipt (or copy of) they could figure it out. I found it odd that the server was relaying this and not the manager, but may they empower them to make the decisions. Our family member lives out of state, but we figured maybe we call to see if they could find it. The family member started looking for it, but it was taking quite a while for her to find it. We didn't feel the need to monopolize the table while this was being sorted out, so I said, maybe we just pay the bill and it can get worked out after the fact. They took the contact information for our family member for them to call to figure out where the mistake happened. I was mad about the situation as it is embarrassing for something like this to happen, but I get mistakes happen. As we were driving away, our family member texted us a copy of their credit card receipt as well as a screen shot of their credit card bill showing the charge. It showed they purchased the gift card the day before Christmas. I figured I would rather deal with it now, rather than later or have my family member have to deal with it. I went back in to speak with the manager. As I am telling the manager, he is looking at me like he has no clue what I'm talking about. He proceeds to tell me this is the first he is hearing of it. So either the server lied to me and said she was telling a manager when she wasn't, or he was lying to me about not knowing the situation. He then tells me he does not have the authority to do anything and it would have to be handled by the general manager. He never once apologized for the issue. He also said he was the one that handled the gift card transactions and said he was unsure how there could be an issue, which to me, implied I was lying about the whole situation. I have never been to a place that has management that had literally no power to make any sort of customer service decisions. I am telling my family member to refute the charges on her credit card because I have zero desire to go back to a place and spend money that has such horrible service. read more

I had heard good things about this restaurant from other people.Im not a fan of huge chain restaurants. I wanted something in Ahwatukee and with a specialized feel. Decided that it was a perfect location for an executive dinner for work. 25 people and they didn't stress about it. Talked to Scott who was so accommodating. He offered to let us use the full menu and not a special "large party" menu. We started with 25 and by the end of the night we were 30!!! The wait staff took care of us like we were the only people in the restaurant. The food was amazing! Everyone raved about it the next day! Caffe BoA Ahwatukee made me look great!! I will definitely be back for more events! THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT EXPERIENCE! read more

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 1/2 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. read more

I went here a few nights ago for a work Christmas dinner. It was my first time and most likely my last. Everything was just OK. Our waiter was an older man who acted like he had better things to do all night. Each time he came to the table I always said thank you and he never acknowledged me saying it to him once. The place was PACKED FULL. Like so full that they came to our table and asked if they could take our extra chair (that we had all our purses and presents piled onto). It was also extremely loud in there, you have to lean in to hear what your fellow dining companions are saying to you. The food was alright. I ordered the Voodoo pasta. It sounded like it might have a kick to it. It was very bland and lack luster. Afterward we got dessert. I ordered a brownie. It did not taste like it was fresh baked or even made there. The ice cream they paired it with tasted store bought as well. It was a pretty average place, and not worth the prices they charge there. read more

Had my 30th birthday celebration here, and was completely embarrassed by my choice. My family was completely unimpressed as the service was totally subpar, and they implied having been overcharged, as the turnout was not as expected. Did that expedite service for the ones who did show up? No. I'm so sad to say, I won't be returning. I've been going there for a number of years now, but that was the last straw. I can understand you never getting my burger right, and your varying friendliness and hospitality, but not on a milestone birthday and not to my family who traveled from out of town to celebrate with me. Unacceptable, and my loyal patronage will now be taken elsewhere. read more

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. read more

We love this place, and eat here every time we're in town. The prices are reasonable, even on their wine menu. It's nice to have a bottle of Justin, out on the patio. And while the apps are a great addition, I seldom have the room. The meals are delicious, and I love that they're more original than I've found at other places. The wait staff has always been knowledgable and friendly. I, personally, haven't had any service problems here. It's likely more appropriate for an adult crowd. I would recommend this restaurant. read more

Caffe Boa - Italian Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Have been coming here for years and the food and patio atmosphere are great. Good prices for the quality and quantity; definitely a fabulous place to entertain guests! The cheese plate is by far the best deal you'll find in the Valley. Hidden gem. read more

Great little local Mediterranean/Italian restaurant. Good selection, good atmosphere, good service. Gets busy even on weeknights. Best to go early and enjoy dinning in a relaxed atmosphere. Servers are very knowledgeable of the menus and specials. Had a very enjoyable evening! read more

This update is for the main reason I came here: BUTTER CAKE I've always loved butter cake because it combines a few of my favorite things besides girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes. Let's start with the presentation: a slab of sexy butter cake, topped with a strawberry, with chocolate and raspberry sauce drizzled all over the plate, and two blackberries and two raspberries to cover the four corners/directions of the plate. Splendid! And then the taste. Lord almighty - the cake part was as delicate and rich as cheesecake, except...BETTER...and more buttery. The crust was thick yet smooth, kind of like bread pudding. Really, it's tough to describe this as nothing can really do this fantastic dessert justice...except by eating it. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Grade: Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Butter cake while watching Lord of the Rings These are a few of my favorite things read more

Had a girls' lunch here the other day and was pretty impressed with the food and atmosphere. I had the Voodoo Penne and it was amazing!! The bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar dipping sauce was just okay. I actually think Carrabba's has the best bread and dipping sauce around. But anyway, we split of bottle of wine that was delicious. And for dessert, we split the creme brulee and tiramisu. Wasn't crazy about the creme brulee, but then that's not my type of dessert. The tiramisu was incredible! I will definitely return to this restaurant with my hubby for a date night. Hopefully it will be cool enough to sit on the patio as it looked delightful and romantic. read more

So, I walked in for a last minute happy hour celebration and was impressed by the decor. As soon as I walked in I could smell the deliciousness of the food luring me closer to the kitchen. The bartender chats me up, hands me their happy hour menu and begins to make me one of the most delectable and strong Cosmos outside of NYC. The meatballs and brushetta were out-of-this world. I must go back!! read more

Awesome Ambiance. I had a late supper here with a good friend of mine last Friday and the food and the service gets two thumbs up. The live music was stellar. This is a great place to go unwind or on a date. read more

The staff seemed to be fixated on each other, then attending to their customers. They were even on their phones texting out in the open. Be a little subtle please. The food was alright. The Agnolotti Boa raviolis were overcooked; too chewy. I might give it another try the food again in the future, but not anytime soon. read more

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. read more

Ate here two nights with friends and really enjoyed the meals. Had the Sonoma salad which was great with figs and delicious. The voodoo pasta was also really good but a little rich for my tummy. Loved the berry sorbet and my friends raved about the salmon and. Tiramisu dessert. Enjoyed my Chardonnay with dinner. First night, the waitress forgot to bring the bread which was provided on the second night and delicious. The bruschetta was good but would get the asstd one next time. Overall...definitely glad we tried this restaurant. Added plus for dog lovers was that there is an outside eating area which can accommodate your bff. read more

I think my Husband and I came at a bad time for our first visit...We went on a Friday night, when it was packed and there was some big dinner party out on the patio. Being that it was packed on the inside we were kind of left sitting in the corner of the patio with the dinner party. So it was a little a distracting. I think the restaurant, what little I saw of it, is nice. It's a nice little romantic place, with low lights, and live music. I did see kids there, though, so it can be a good for families, too. The wait staff was very friendly. Our waitress was very knowledgeable of the menu, which was helpful as it was our first time there. The food, then, was really excellent. I had the tortellini brigantino which was very tasty. There was also a nice helping of it so there was plenty to take home and I felt I was getting my money's worth. In general, it's not a bad place and I certainly can see why people enjoy it, but it just might be awhile before we visit again. read more

Still sitting on the fence on this place, BUT the owner sent me a Yelp message and encouraged me to stop by and then do an update on my original review. Kudos to him for reading Yelp reviews and listening to customers...we'll see what happens on my next visit. But I give him credit for being involved and listening to yelpers. read more

Good! Very good! Met a friend here for happy hour with my hubby. Got some wine, beer, and the antipasto plate. Was a LOT of food... and very tasty! They allowed us to have the password for their wifi, which was also very nice. I'll be back! read more

This place is close to my employer and I have been there numerous times. The food is pretty good but I have not had much luck with the service (under staffed in the kitchen and not enough wait staff). I was going to be taking several out of town business guests to dinner. I made reservations and even e-mailed my contact to let them know I expected better service than in the past since I had out of town visitors. Well, we went in for dinner and the service was awful again. I really don't understand why the service is consistently bad. The food is good enough that the owner could get 5 star reviews every time if they spent a little more effort on the service experience. I guess I'll give them a try some time in the future to see if things have changed. If so, I will update the review. read more

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

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. read more

I just don't get this place. I know some people like it.....and I've given it more than 1 try.....but it's pretty simple -- the food is not that good. Specifically, the pasta is cooked with a LOT of butter.....and cream sauces, which makes the meal fatty and filling. In addition, the service is just not good. We waited.....and waited. We split a meal and they charged us to do it. I don't recommend this place....and I won't be going back. read more

Went to Caffe Boa last night for dessert with some friends. This was our first time at this restaurant and the 1st impression was great. Very quaint little Italian cafe with nice ambiance. The service was less than impressive. When we said we were just having drink & dessert to our waiter, he gave us an annoyed look & a very drawn out 'ohhhkay'. It was 5 min until we got water then another 5 before we got the drinks we ordered. Our order was taken shortly after the drinks arrived, which was fine. About 15 min later, our waiter comes back to tell us he forgot what we ordered & wanted to make sure he had it right. We re-ordered and 20 min later we had our desserts. The quality of the food we had was very good. The creme brulee was very well prepared. The cannoli was large and in charge, stuffed with yummy filling. The wild berry sorbet was superb & refreshing. The dark choclate brownie w/ ice cream was SUPER rich & more resembled dark chocolate fudge. A+ for the food & atmosphere, but a solid D for the service. read more

Apparently having a party that took up all the restaurant. No signage. Hostess just said there is no room and could be hours to sit. Bad attitude! Never been here before...never will! Just walked out. Not even an apology. read more

I'm giving two stars because the food was good, the service, however, was not. I get a better greeting at McDonald's. When we entered I felt like I was bothering the hostess. She also was our server. I tried to be friendly and asked what she would recommend... very cold. She spent most of her time talking to her friends at the bar and never came back to see how things were going. I would expect more from a local family owned restaurant. We've been here a few times over the years and I've noticed their yelp ratings have dropped. We won't be back. read more

The only thing keeping this 5 stars is the price point and service. The service should be better and more attentive. It took the staff did not welcome me, so I just walked to the bar and sat down. Still it took a while to get service The food is great, but about 20-30% overpriced. read more

Food is good. Reasonable prices. Unfortunately staff is not very knowledgeable and are rushing you trough your meal. Plus they allow people to smoke cigars which is incredibly annoying and grosses you out. read more