Cafe Forte

I have been to Café Forte many times and I really love the food– especially the lunch menu. I’ve tried about 6 or 7 of their lunch offerings and they were all very good meals. The daily quiche special is my favorite thing to get, but truly you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. Its an excellent place to grab lunch if you’re out and about in Old Town.

Great service and great food! We were here a bit after close and they still made us feel welcome. They didn’t rush us out of the door and even still brought dessert menus. Food was yummy and not too expensive considering the area. Will return. :)

Great family owned café on Main Street. Sid and Pat are super nice and always remember me when I call in my orders. Some truly great food I have had at Café Forte include the baked Brie in pastry, their baked chicken dinner, egg salad sandwich, chicken salad sandwich, the village salad, and an assortment of amazing soups! This is a great place but it’s especially great because it is a unique business, locally owned, and you can feel the love in their food.

Café Forte is a gem not only in Old Town Scottsdale, but in the American Southwest. Everything is right about it – the food, the service, and the «feel» of the place.
My wife and I finished highly satisfying meals, concluded with Rosie’s Mini Apple Pie with ice cream. It’s the absolute best!

Relaxing, delicious lunch! Sangria is refreshing the service is outstanding and our meal was delicious and definitely crafted with fresh ingredients. You must experience the cozy atmosphere of Café Forte. I will!

Sangria was refreshing. Zin by the glass pretty good for the price. Nice place to stop by on a sunny afternoon. Patio seating was very nice.

I took my partner here for her birthday on Friday September 25^th. Our waiter was very nice and attentive. Food however was horrible. We started out with sangria and a glass of wine both of which were great but it was downhill from there. Appetizer of potstickers that were from a freezer bag that you can get at Costco, 10 bucks for 4 and they were disgusting. My main course was pecan crusted chicken and the chicken was very dry the vegetables that came with it were mushy and there was not nearly enough sauce. My partner got the sweet potato enchilada and it was not good at all. On their website they advertise little mini apple pies that are supposed to be to die for, mine tasted like it was baked about a week ago it was very dry and bland, to be honest with you I would have rather eaten a hostess apple pie and we all know how gross those are. We also got a bread pudding which I would give a 7 out of 10 so it was pretty decent but that was compared to everything else that we had tried. I really can’t say how disappointed we where and we will never be going back. This seems to be the trend and when your meal is over $ 100 for two people, it should be at least satisfy. You shouldn’t be leaving the place you had dinner pissed off and feeling resentful that you spent so much money on a very disappointing meal. Makes it hard to support non chain establishments when you consistently get food like this.

We stopped in here with only 20 mins to spare before going to Escape the Room across the street. We thought there was no way they’d be able to accomodate a quick snack (appetizers) and drink but we were completely wrong.
Service was prompt and the hostess let our waiter, Neil, know immediately that we were in a rush. He took our orders for appetizers — confirming that the caprese salad, potstickers and sangria would be ready quickly and within our time constraints.
The restaurant delivered! The food was incredibly good and fast. Neil cashed us out quickly too. We were so grateful to get some good food in en expedient manner!

I’ve enjoyed lunch here twice since moving here from the Boston area. The service is great and the food is wonderful. The spinach salad had fresh greens and perfectly cooked bacon. I also enjoyed the turkey salad with the cranberry dressing on a previous visit. The meats are hormone and anti-​biotic free and they try to serve organic veggies. Café Forte has a pleasant atmosphere tucked in between art galleries on Main St in Old Town Scottsdale. Definitely worth a visit!

We ate at Café Forte with two other couples on a Wednesday night. Hardly anyone in the restaurant at 7 pm should have been our first clue. The serve was ok. The caprese salad was very salty. The Special, mushroom ravioli was served warm not hot and really had no taste. No one else at the table said they enjoyed the meal. There are better restaurants in old town Scottsdale, go there.

Café Forte is usually closed on Sundays, but I was able to go for their special Mother’s Day menu. My mom chose the restaurant based on a strong recommendation from a friend and I was very pleased. The location is convenient in old town Scottsdale, and the restaurant is very cute. Reminds me of a Tuscan theme with faux finished wall, etc.
We started our meal with the baked brie and apples based solely on Unilocal reviews. It was delicious and had a subtle, yet rich flavor. I opted for the house meatloaf, my stepdad chose the lamb burger, and my mother picked the pecan crusted chicken breast.
House Meatloaf — The meatloaf was rich and tender with the right amount of sauce (sometimes it’s too thick or heavy). I also liked the mashed potatoes that came with the meal, but found the mixed veggies to be lackluster. They’re the same mixed veggies you can get in a frozen bag, so that was the weakest portion of the meal. If they swapped out the veggies this would be solid! I thought the price point was too high for the meal for the veggies to be such a low quality.
Lamb Burger — My stepdad found the lamb burger (medium) to be delicious and opted to get the potato salad that comes with it. He thought both were great and strongly recommended ordering this.
Pecan Crusted Chicken Breast — I had a bite of this and it was SO GOOD. I’m not the biggest fan of chicken breast at restaurants, but this was delicious. The pecan crust was substantial and evenly coated over the entire chicken breast. This is the perfect choice for someone who has a sweet tooth. It’s also worth noting how JUICY the chicken breast was. Very good. The only downside, again, were the wimpy veggies. I seriously can’t believe they opted to plate this delectable meal with bagged veggies you can get in the freezer aisle. That was a shock and disappointing.
For desert we ordered the Raspberry Basil Pie (which was on special) and the mini apple pie. Both were served with ice cream. I was hesitant to try the raspberry basil pie, but it was DELICIOUS!!! Seriously, you should give it a try. The mini apply pie was good, but the rich flavor of the raspberry basil pie was the winner for me. The restaurant also accepts pie orders, but with 24 hour notice. I would definitely return here to order a pie for special occasions.
The service was warm, patient and attentive. My mother received quite a few «happy mother’s day» compliments from the staff and owners and she had a treat. The only downside for me were the choice of veggies on the plate. If they improved on the quality and portion size of the veggies this would easily be 5 stars. Right now the price point for the entrees don’t make the quality of the sides included with the main meal.
With that said, I would highly recommend trying this restaurant.

We had a wonderful experience here at Café Forte. Even though it was a little busy for Valentine’s Day, the staff was wonderful and accommodating and the food delicious and flavorful. I had the Pecan crusted chicken and my date had the Bloody Mary penne pasta. We both loved our dishes and enjoyed the view from our patio seating. This is a great little romantic spot off of Main St in Scottsdale that is nestled between all the art galleries. I highly recommend.

Me and my wife went here for valentines day with our two daughters, let’s start off with our server «Amanda». In the beginning she was very friendly, well spoken thought she was very nice young lady. After she taken our order is like she forgotten we were there. She never came back to check on us, WORSE !! Server ever took a long time for everything. My word of advice is to avoid her, Food was good just can’t believe I paid 30 bucks for a tiny steak and 3 small portions of side. The owner needs to really focus more on new first time customers than cheat chating drinking her ass off.

Five-​stars hands down. This place has been at this same location for nineteen years! Wow! I didn’t know! What a hidden gem! They served me the best meatloaf plate since I left the south. The staff were mainly family or adopted into the family. One of the owners stood at our table and answered all of our questions regarding the restaurant’s menu, hours, history, future, etc. They really made us feel welcomed! We will definitely show our patronage again and again!

There are few places I’ll rate 5 stars and even fewer I will travel across state lines to eat but Café Forte is one of them.
First the food: quite literally the best meal I’ve ever eaten out. I has the meatloaf and it was out of this world. Like… I doubt I’ll ever eat meatloaf anywhere else; sorry grams. My girl had the Horseradish Salmon so I got a bite or five and it was excellent; I don’t even like salmon. Dessert was A perfect ending. Had pumpkin pie which was tasty but pretty standard. The chocolate tart blew my brains out; I almost cried when it was all gone.
The service: Neal was the man. Ask for him of you come through, you won’t be disappointed. He was quick, knowledgeable, funny and engaging without being overwhelming. Pacing of dinner was excellent. I was never rushed and never waiting.
Perfect location right in the middle of the art district for a lovely date. The four owners Syd, Grace, Rosemary and Pat are great hosts and make the place that much more love able.
By and far one of my favorite places to eat in Arizona. Don’t miss out.

Lovely friendly restaurant — great lunchtime sandwiches and excellent evening menu. Pecan crusted chicken was moist and flavorsome as was the salmon. Deserts scrumptious!

Went here on the advice of a friend and glad I did. Cute little restaurant in the heart of old town Scottsdale. Excellent waiter who gave us the skinny on what to order. I had the soup and half sandwich combo with homemade egg salad and onion parmesan soup and it was awesome! I will be back soon! My friend enjoyed the peach Sangria which was homemade also. The frozen chocolate truffle dessert is to die for!

Peg and I found out about this place years ago… during an art walk… and loved it. As things sometime happen, patterns change and we hadn’t been back in much too long a time… until last night. OMG! This is still one of the best independently-​owned restaurants in the Valley. Wonderfully vibrant gazpacho, pot stickers, horseradish encrusted salmon, a VERY juicy and not oh-​my-​gawd-​meatloaf-​again? meatloaf with mashed Yukon golds and corn. The chocolate truffle tart was amazing and just right for sharing. Rose was outstanding and guided us through the journey. This place is definitely going to be revisited sooner than later… and I would highly recommend it. Dr. B

Short Story
Bland
Bland
Unappetizing
Painfully Slow
Not being checked on
Loud Old Music Blaring
Longer Story
I received a watery funky unknown flavor of iced tea and I knew things would decline. The dining room was very loud with music but it was mostly but not all sounds of the forty’s I suspect. The restaurant didn’t seem busy as it only had a few tables seated but it might have taken about a half hour to prepare a salad and the sandwich we ordered and another half hour for the server to return.
I receive my salad and the greens were fresh and good and I will go on to say the blue cheese tasted like a good blue cheese. The turkey however was very dry chalky white meat that lacked flavor and the house made concoction of cranberry relish was something I didn’t relish. It was lumpy thick and creamy and was hard to identify a taste because it was not good to me. I could not eat it. So I ate very dry flavorless turkey on wet plain greens and the only flavoring I got was from the blue cheese. Our server was walking around like in slow motion and never made it over to check on us.
My husband tasted my dish and just like last week he said, «WOW that’s Bad! Then he tried his dish. He also had a plain green salad without dressing. He said the ciabatta bread was good but his sandwich was tasteless. I tried a tiny bite of the chicken. It was cooked nice but was oddly tasteless. I wouldn’t say his plate was awful it just wasn’t tasty.
We finished and waited for a LONG TIME for our server to give us the check.
My review is based on just one lunch visit.
2.5 stars

Met the owners, chatted and sat down. Beautiful ambience, great menu, not too many items.
Excellent smoked salmon plate, great quiche and egg salad to die for.
Give this bistro a try, talk with the ladies that own it– they care about what they do and it shows.