D’Amico & Sons

really great food — pastas and pizzas that taste like authentic Italian, and deserts that make your mouth water (the cookies are DELICIOUS and kids get one free with their meal). also splendid interior, with tiles floors and walls displaying wines and more.
but the service is very slow. while dining in it isn’t as noticeable, if you’re caught up in conversation and enjoying the atmosphere. but if you’re getting food to go it is miserable. I once ordered a basic pizza to go and it took almost an hour. not pleasant.

I signed up for the D’Amico reward program and thought I would just get a free dessert. Instead I got a free entrée/​pasta/​salad/​pizza. So, I got my wife to sign up as well to have a nice dinner out last weekend. Well, I got the PAN-​ROASTED NORWEGIAN SALMON
with Cauliflower, Cherry Tomatoes, Onion, Barley, Cucumber Yogurt Sauce. My wife got the CAPELLINI WITH BASIL-​PISTACHIO PESTO with wild-​caught shrimp. My favorite between the 2 would be the salmon since there was a nice balance with vegetables. Although I would have to say that my wife’s dish was very tasty, I never had angel hair quite as good as this one. Well, this made our decision easy to get a gift card to share with friends. If you spend $ 100 in gift card, then you get $ 20 bonus gift card. Also, D’Amico app has another added bonus as well with spending your first $ 100, save $ 5. Also, every $ 100 spent will give you back $ 10 to spend at D’Amico. The nice thing about this gift card is that it can be used at other family restaurants such as Campiello (see my review during Restaurant week), Parma 8200, and Café Lucrat. I will be looking forward to try the other restaurants in the Twin Cities area.

Atmosphere was great for a date or meal with friends. A bit noisy due to hard floors and open cooking area. Plenty of nooks and crannies to be «alone in a crowded room» though. A lovely array of fresh meal combinations (both cold and hot) although only a few as-​is vegetarian options. (They were very friendly and willing to accommodate if needed.) Dessert was good but small and overpriced for something they probably thaw and serve versus make fresh on site. A lively place that’s perfect for a special week night or average weekend meal out.

This is a cute little place, dishing up overly upbeat customer service and a heck of a lot of bland ass food.
Our hunt for a calzone landed us here. They don’t actually have calzones but we gave up looking once it became apparent that I was about two seconds away from ripping Sam W’s face apart and stomping his eyelids into the pavement. (Love you, Sam)
The petite lady at the counter was very upbeat, overly excited to take our order, obnoxiously loud about the basil lemonade and probably falling to pieces on the inside because no one is really –that– happy. She was a little flighty, I had to repeat my order and then remind her that I needed to choose my salads from the case after she shooed us to our table. She was absolutely the tastiest thing here because everything we ordered was so bland I could actually taste my tongue through every bite.
My sampler plate of seemingly tasty salads ended up being confusing and a struggle to make worth the nearly $ 10 that Sam dished out for it just to make me happy. The unappetizing wad of tuna salad that I couldn’t eat because upon inspection had egg all over inside of it [It was really my fault for not seeing the egg. It was their fault for believing that adding an entire garden to some tuna made it a salad. Black olives, radishes, green beans, tomatoes and again some egg.] It made no sense flavor-​wise and in the end it just tasted like under seasoned tuna with a raw vegetable medley (because that’s exactly what it was). Totally bland. I ate a few bites around the giant wads of egg and decided it wasn’t worth the effort. I left the $ 3 and some change sitting on the edge of my plate.
The chicken and cherry pasta salad turned out to be a watered down sloppy noodle bath that had absolutely no richness for something that was supposed to be a creamy dressing. The worst part of this pale plop of unimaginative waste of noodles is the whole almonds scattered throughout. I have nothing against almonds in a salad, but having them whole made it a job to eat them and a shock when you weren’t expecting to be.
The chicken with gorgonzola pasta salad was the best thing on my plate, but even with that I ended up dashing it with salt and in the end I doused it with balsamic to give it some flavor because I couldn’t really detect any gorgonzola. Was the addition of balsamic a good idea? No. It was fucking awful but I ate it anyway because no matter how bad it was I still wasn’t eating that «tuna salad».
And if you were curious, since it always sounds so delicious, the basil lemonade tasted like pickle juice.
The two stars are for the clean restaurant and the ray of sunshine behind the counter. I think I love her. Fake it ’til you make it, baby!

This is still a very good place to eat some really good tasting ‘Italian’ dishes. Always worth a visit. Their little desserts are yummy!

The staff here is just amazing. They make sure you get what you want and in a timely manner. I love the monthly specials, you can always know that there is something new to try on the menu. I can never have enough of the parma pizza either. Keep up the delicious work!

Second time we went there– first time we just had the cookies which were awesome.
This time, we went for dinner. It was awful. Confusing set up and the salad sampler was a mixture of dishes that were overdone with sauces.
My daughter had the chicken & wild rice soup — which was way too spicy.
Finally, has the braised beef flatbread. Again, a confusing blend of sauces.
Recommend just going there for cookies.

D’Amico is a charming restaurant with outstanding service, but after trying a couple of their pastas and desserts, it’s hard for me to rate this biz higher than a three.
Chicken Penne: With tomato, roasted peppers, arugula, crema, and balsamic — there’s a lot going on in this dish. I think if they took out the balsamic, the chicken penne would be a bit more appetizing. I found it hard for me to finish. ($ 13.59)
Oven Roasted Shrimp: It was OK. Even though I particularly appreciated their generous serving of shrimp, I wish it had a bit more flavor. ($ 13.99)
Chocolate Mascarpone Torta: Great fluffy texture, but I wouldn’t get it again. ($ 4.59)
Coconut Cake: Not bad! Not too sweet, soft, I think I would consider getting this again. ($ 4.59)
Service: Outstanding. From the cashier that took our order to the server that cleared our table, it was friendly and fast.
Prices: I think that for the quantity and quality of food, it’s a bit overpriced. Although not as casual, there are several Italian eateries in the Twin Cities that offer better quality food at similar prices.
Bottomless Wine: I forget how much you’ll have to pay, but if you want to drink yourself silly on wine, you can do so here.
As much as I want to love D’Amico’s, due to their proximity, I’m going to have to pass. If you have an Italian food craving, it MIGHT satisfy it.

Purely for convenience sake and the bottomless glass of wine, I returned. Seemed we were going to be short in our stay, however, since it was 8:10pm, and they closed at 8:30.
I thought I’d get something «quick», like a bowl of soup. They had two choices: Tuscan Chicken or a split yellow pea with escarole. When I asked about ingredients in the Tuscan Chicken, «cream» was mentioned. I’m cool with cream, but did not want to eat soup with cream in it that particular evening. So I asked whether there was cream in the split yellow pea — yes, there was cream in that, too. I chucked the idea of getting a bowl of soup. Why would a restaurant do that? offer two soups, both of which have cream as an ingredient? Seeing, now, my previous review of this place, I am very glad that I did not order «any» soup.
I settled on a tuna salad grilled panini with potato chips and a bottomless glass of red wine. My companion got one of the pre-​made sandwiches from their counter selection and a bottomless glass of red wine.
We chose our table and planted our number to beckon my grilled sandwich when it was ready. My sandwich was alright; nothing special. My companion seemed happy with his sandwich selection.
Not until shortly before we were told we had to leave soon did someone come by to refill our wine glasses. As we ate our sandwiches, we each took a turn and brought our empty glasses to the front counter to ask for more.
I gotta remember to just stay away from this place in the future.

Our first time ever having dinner in this food chain restaurant and I was pleased we stopped in, I would still prefer Buca over this restaurant but with the décor and set up it was a good time, the food was average nothing spectacular.

I usually get the Caesar salad which is very good. I like anchovies and when you ask for them you get as many as you want =) very good service and food.

Normally a place like this gets three stars. Quick, consistent, decently tasty, reasonably priced, and close to home. But D’Amico gets an extra star for a few things:
*Frequent discounts through the email club 25−50% off. One perk of heat-​wave days is that there usually is a 25% off deal. No way am I turning on the stove when it’s +90 out. Also, holiday bonus gift card deals.
* Mini pitcher of basil lemonade during the summer, bottomless table wine
* Healthy choices: salad samplers, whole wheat pasta
* I’ve always had efficient, friendly customer service. No problems with substitutions or requests. If there’s a tiny mistake with your order, you get both the remade dish and the oopsie.

I think I could hit my hundred just on updates of this place. What blows my mind is that on Jan.31 the menu was great, at least the monthly special was. Since day 1 they have had numerous versions of penne sausage. They’ve had it with razor thin sliced garlic all the way through. Tonight it was reduced to sausage that even though I have a cold and post nasal drip, it was too hot. No garlic, nothing. Plus I was in so much pain from the after effects, you could hear me all the way in the living room. They were just about out of desserts by 7:30, so bad planning there too. It was one of those nights that I would have been better off not eating anything. Like linguine with mushrooms or lasagne bolognese is supposed to turn me on. We were told that we can get our old standby gulf shrimp spaghetti off the menu anytime, and lent is coming up. I swear there’s some relative on the payroll who has nothing better to do then screw around with the menu. Why don’t they just bring back the original one, no one will know the difference. Even though I’m pissed this month, I might have good luck in the spring.

Stopped in for dessert the other day after having a late lunch somewhere else. We arrived around 6:30 and they were already out of the wonderful lemon bars which is what I normally order. After actually having to look at the case, I opted for a piece of chocolate, marscapone torta — rich and delish — while my friend had the s’more cupcake. (Helpful hint for the cupcake — the chocolate is in the center, so cut it in half to get the best balance of cake, chocolate, and frosting)
Ordering is cafeteria style; however the staff did a great job of taking dishes as people were done with their plates.
Salads and pastas looked great and we will be looking forward to returning to try them soon. (I haven’t had a full meal at D’Amico & Sons for a number of years)

We haven’t eaten here in forever, just get their cesaer dressing.
IT ROCKS!

I adore the Saint Paul location. Maybe it’s because the atmosphere is more relaxed than the Minneapolis location, but I find that the one on one service is amazing. While I was waiting to have my order re-​done, they offered me a complimentary salad without me mentioning the wait. Plus, the food is delicious and you can’t beat the view of Grand Ave!

Overpriced
Overrated
Overcrowded
staff was better than me-​I get it!
Chef Boy-​ar-​Dee would be proud.

Stopped in for some pizza and slipped in just before the lunch rush. As the crowds teemed around the salad display, my waiter brought out two-​thirds of a pizza on a plate.
«Honestly,» he said; «this has never happened before. Some of the pizza slipped off onto the floor. We decided to bring you this so you wouldn’t have to wait too long. We’re making you another one.»
«All right; who’s hungry back there?» I joked.
Oh, but waiter was honestly so distressed, he wasn’t up for joking. He said if it bothered me, he could take this one away, but he’d wanted me to have the option. I said to leave it, but to bring the new pizza in a to-​go box.
Then I faced down two-​thirds of a pizza. Now, that was weird – deciding to dig into what looked like leftovers. But I believed and trusted him. The pizza was great – most especially the crust. I only had two pieces, so I wound up with one full free pie, plus the leftovers from the first. Nice.
Nicer still: D’Amico’s solving a problem before it became a problem. Kudos to them!

I think there has been a marked improvement in service in recent months. They staff seems expanded and positively nicer and more cheerful. I’ve been going considerably more often.
Oh, and the Chicken Spaghetti Carbonara is very tasty.

Really enjoy the food here. The service is decent. And they offer refillable wine throughout your meal for a little over six dollars. I typically eat-​in but had a craptastic day today and stopped in for takeout to go along with the bottle of wine that needed to be consumed. Waited no longer than ten minutes, got my food and was on my way home.
They have a small parking lot to the right of the building but I don’t find street parking in that area to be that big of an issue.