Party of 6 with inconsistent food quality. Delicious: Squash soup, capellini pomodoro, linguini with pancetta and cream So-so: Fettuccine with chicken, ribeye (balsamic glaze seemed burned) Horrible: Bolognese sauce was almost inedible - wine wasn't cooked out and lacked seasoning. Smoked chicken pizza had no chicken or jalapeños as stated on the menu. No bread until requested. Flavored olive oils had no special flavor. Pros: Ability to order half orders of pasta with a $4 side salad. Half orders are plenty of food. But we were charged incorrectly for a full order on one of our orders. Italian lessons in the restroom was pretty neat. Service was mostly adequate.
(3)
Jet O.
Atmosphere: quiet, romantic, lovely. The music isn't too loud, the resturant is clean and well lit. For starters the bread and oil selections are amazing. Out server was happy to tell us about each oil and about blending them. Our artichoke apitizer was wonderful, a large amount of flavor. The main course was a pizza which was amazing. Thin crust cooked just right! Our server was awesome and very informative. There is a neat tradition of regulars getting their own name plate and it getting posted in the resturant which is kind of cool.
(4)
John N.
Four of us dined here late last night. Service was cheerful but not super responsive. Very good selection to order. Friend had pig-and-fig pizza. See photo below. I had chicken cacciatore. It was crispy and delicious, as were the polenta bed underneath and all the veggie trimmings. My wife had spaghetti that was good but not remarkable. Nice crusty bread served during the long wait for our main course. Great location. Very bustling ambience. Easy parking across the street. Sorry about the dark photo of my entree.
(4)
Jane Z.
Food and waitress were good but the management was rude. NO separate checks and refused to do so after promising when reservation was made. It took 35 minutes for everyone to figure out their own bill. Not a nice way to end an evening.
(1)
Anthony S.
Wow- This place has really gone down hill. The owners need to really think about the characters that they have working here. Sad ...as for years this place has been amazing and one of our regular spots. Won't be back.
(1)
Patrick H.
The food wasn't bad but wasn't great either; definitely over priced. The feeling I got was they were portraying a five star restaurant but can't quite get there. Looked for flexibility and value but didn't get it. I would suggest Andiamos.
(1)
Will And Sam K.
Excellent food Absolutely on of my favorites in Santa Fe ! The appetizer with the shrimp, callamari, and scallops is to die for . Then we had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich on ciabotta bread another great sandwich ! Nice atmosphere nice people !
(5)
Ryan B.
They can't split checks or give you an itemized receipt... What a joke. They really need to get their POS system updated.
(1)
Cheryl W.
The only reason this is getting a 3 is because of Adrian my waiter. He took reasonably good care of a solo diner. The food was awful. I had the Vongole, tasteless clams which were scant in comparison with other restaurants where the food is better and the price less. Equally tasteless, clumpy pasta and sauce. Was there a sauce? I wanted to like this place but cannot.
(3)
Lori G.
We stopped at Pranzo during our time in Santa Fe because we had previously purchased a Groupon deal. Here were some of the high/lowlights: + Insalata Caprese was fresh and plentiful + Complimentary bread to start was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside + Insalata Caesar w/Salmon was flavorful, but the portion of salmon was quite small for the upcharge + Lasagna sauce was overly sweet with unappetizing strips of basil as a garnish If we had to do it over again, we would have skipped Pranzo and tried authentic New Mexican cuisine instead of mediocre Italian.
(3)
Stacey M.
the best polenta mushrooms gorgonzola cream drooling as i type
(5)
Anthony R.
Sat in the bar area to write my book on my latop for a few hours. Great place to be, good atmosphere but the temperature is a little high for the weather (I am there right now!) Drawing points are the atmosphere (at the bar), bartenders (Gregory and Jena), food, and especially half price bottles of wine on Sundays. Take a look at the wine list on their website and find something you like. I got the Three Saints 2010 Syrah, which was $20 at half price. It started off a bit strong (it is 14.1% abv) but opens up nicely as you get used to it. Staff is well-dressed and professional. Among the best in Santa Fe. Even now I observe the bartenders talking with people at the bar. People skills are a must in a job like this, a lot of the time talking with people makes the difference not matter what else happens. Gregory was very attentive offering water refills and getting the food out promptly. I had the Insalata Verde which has local greens. It was fantastic and worked well for me (I was feeling like having good wine and eating something light). The olive oils are interesting, I really like the red chile olive oil with the bread that was offered to me. Pranzo has really improved over the last few years. I know it has been through a number of owners and reviews, but it really deserves a chance at this point as it is offering quality food and service at competitive prices. I am more impressed than I expected to be, thank you for the great experience. I should also mention that it was great of my server, Gregory, to let me use two bar tables for only one person and a laptop even if it wasn't as busy as it could have been. There are 14/24 people here, which isn't that slow for a Sunday night.
(5)
Christiana C.
Nothing bad to say! Price for early bird dinner and happy hour are reasonable, especially in Santa Fe! Staff is wonderful, punctual and polite!
(5)
Matthew H.
I've been going to Pranzo's for the past 2 years. 2 years ago it was wonderful, attentive and helpful staff, great food and decent prices. 1 year ago the staff started leaving and their replacements were not as good. The menu started to get changed to lower quality steaks. smaller portions, and higher prices. I just went for my final time one week ago. They had AGAIN changed their menu to stop serving a filet mignon and instead a rib-eye (same price though). It was a Saturday night, however the dining room was only at about 75% occupancy and we were a party of 6 all adults. We ordered 2 beers and 4 glasses of wine. The water took around 10 minuets to get to the table and the wine approximately 20. The white wine I ordered was warm as though it had sat on the bar counter. We had our orders taken after approximately 35 minuets as it seemed the waitress never had more enough time to drop off drinks and run away even when we tried to get her attention. When we finally did have our order taken, it took another 10 minuets to recieve bread and almost another hour to recieve the food. We ordered 2 pasta dishes (one meatballs, 1 chicken) 2 rib-eye steaks (one blue rare and the other medium rare) 1 gnocchi and my mother-in-law split my father-in-law's steak. When the food came out the steaks were thin and 75% fat. Now rib-eyes have much more fat in the cut than filets however these looked worse than what I can put up at wal-mart. They were thin and curled, burnt on the outside and BOTH steaks were blue rare. If your not familiar with steak temperatures it goes blue rare rare medium rare medium medium well well They had mis-cooked my wife's steak two temperatures different. Instead of a cold pink center it was a bloody completely red all the way through mess. In addition to this my spaghetti and meatballs had about 30% spaghetti and 70% sauce with a scarce piece of beef in between. The top hat on this meal of horrors was a tomato sauce that had been tossed on both steaks. This "sauce," which consisted of something akin to V-8 thrown on a plate and warmed, was NOT on the menu, neither was the basil, which was so much in abundance, that it made the plate look like some kind of salad with meat under it. We promptly returned both the steaks and 20 minuets later, when most of us had less than 50% of our food left, the steak returned. Neither steak had the forest of basil or V-8 based sauce, but my wife's was AGAIN blue rare. We sent the steak back yet again. The third time was finally right but at that time the rest of the food had been at the table for over an hour (30 minuets for the other steak). and EVERYONE was done eating. My wife is on a blood sugar controlling diet and need to eat at very specific times. Suffice it to say she had had to subsist on mashed potatoes and by the time the steak arrived she ate about two bites before packing it up to go. I tried one bite of the steak, and it was not even seasoned with salt or pepper. Now this would have been bad enough, the food was HORRIBLE, but no this experience continues down towards a hellish experience when we asked to speak to the manager about the bad experience. A middle aged woman came over and asked what was the matter. We explained and here is the answer we got, "Well if you didn't like it you should have ordered something else." In a tone that said, I don't care what you think, My kitchen is right no matter what the food tastes or looks like. Everyone at the table was taken aback. Typically a manager comes over to a table to smooth out a bad experience, this one had decided to blame the customer for the incorrect order and bland food. So we get the bill, both steaks are still on it, they have 3 salads and 4 beers when we had ordered 2 beers and 2 salads. Also, there was a 20% AUTO gratuity put on the bill. Maybe this is why the server and manager didn't care for us or what we thought, they already had a 20% tip. SO we pay and leave, pocketing the owner's card to call later. On the way out the manager looks at me and my mother-in-law adn says, " Eat somewhere else next time." . . . eat somewhere else next time? NO PROBLEM! Calling the owner help none, he neither apologized nor said he would do anything about it, just that, "That doesn't sound like my manager." He said they had "only" one complaint out of every 200 customers. 0.5% of all people have experiences SO BAD they call the owner, and somehow they think this is ok. I now know where the staff has picked up it's attitude towards customer's, if the owner doesn't care, neither does the manager and neither does the staff. I will never EVER go back to this place and have already disputed the meal charge from my credit card. All I can say is thank GOD it wasn't a special occasion like someone's birthday or anniversary.
(1)
Patron X.
The restaurant should change it's name as it is no longer the same owner or the same menu as many of the poor reviews. This place is turning a corner and has some really great dishes and a great wine list. Do yourself a favor and ignore all of the reviews from a year or more ago and enjoy this place before it's rediscovered and packed.
(4)
Gerald B.
Great dinner again. I had the grouper! The O salad not my fav....Beware of the olive pits!
(4)
Nick S.
This is better than 3 stars, if not for anything, for a real Italian home made feel sauce. I like it here for simplicity. The meatballs here are home made feeling in texture and taste, and there is a lot of subtle flavor in the red sauce. Decent wine list made better by Sunday specials at half off service is good and friendly. C'mon, it's a basic nice Italian restaurant
(4)
Marqui R.
This place is nestled in the San Busco Market area. I love that although its near downtown they usually have ample parking space so finding parking here is not a problem. The food is hit or miss here. I came on a date here last summer and tried the risotto based on the great reviews on yelp, it was very bland and i was so disappointed. I've tried other dishes such as the SPAGHETTI CON GAMBERONI and their pizzas which are delicious. This is a good venue to have a larger party as you can reserve the top area for a private party. I had my rehearsal dinner here for a party of 30 and the upstairs was very nice. They let us pick from 4 price point menus and have 3 dinner selections to make the service go smoother. The dinner went off smoothly and everyone enjoyed the food here. It is quite difficult to find a restaurant that will accomodate parties of 20 or more in Santa Fe on a friday evening so I was glad that this place had a private room. Overall great dining experience here and good food depending on what you get.
(4)
Marla B.
Took some friends to Pranzos for dinner, had raved about from a great experience there. Of course, we had a very different experience, I was so embarrassed because we had a bad experience this past Sunday evening. It started with the server which was not friendly or helpful. Ordered a mixed green salad---I'm sorry but from my experience that means lettuce maybe some carrots, cucumber tomatoe etc. you opened a bag of lettuce that I buy at trader joes for 1.99 through it on a plate with a very bad tasting dressing and charged me 7 or 8 $ for that! That's just not right, the rest of our meals were just mediocre. Will not be back!
(1)
Leahi M.
Great place to go! The staff is amazing, the GM of the place is super on top of things and the bartender is kick ass!
(5)
Christopher R.
I came across Pranzo through OT. We had an early reservation and the place was quiet; by the time we left, it was almost full and very energetic. Our server was great, sharing that she had worked under Chef Lemon back in the early 90s. On her recommendation I ordered the red snapper which was cooked to perfection, a bit crisp on the surface but moist inside. The sauce was fantastic. My wife had the half order of linguine carbonara; quite good if a tad over-sauced for her tastes. Dessert was wonderful (grilled lemon sorbet and tiramisu). The restaurant shows its age (a tear in the booth seat cover, color schemes, etc.), but the food is the real draw, of course. It will be exciting to see what Chef Lemon does in the future.
(4)
Drew R.
The food is really great, the sauce is tasty, the service is on the slow side, and you have to keep asking for drink refills. The food is very fine dining and upscale, but for a native Santa Fean I felt out of place and uncomfortable with the wealthy tourists.
(4)
Shane L.
Not good. I've had better pasta at the Olive Garden! We came here because my wife had nostalgic memories of this place when she used to come to Santa Fe as a child. Boy, things must have been different back then! The apps were better than the entrees. Live piano music was a nice touch. Service so, so. Food is the main reason for the 2 stars. I mean it's fine Italian food if we are comparing it with chains like OG, but if that's what I wanted I would go there, and pay much less. Quality is lacking for sure, pasta over cooked, meatballs tiny and hard on the outside, sauce was bland. Wow. Sorry guys, but you gotta make some changes if you're going to get my business again.
(2)
Kate H.
I met a friend for drinks and an appetizer last night. I was disappointed in the quality of food that we received. A 17$ salad contained spinach, 7 piñon nuts, and boiled shrimp that tasted like it had been sitting out for a week. I've had 5$ salads from Trader Joes that are exceedingly more flavorful and exciting. This used to be a go to place to take out of town guests and enjoy a glass a wine. The antipasto dish we received was scant and unenjoyable. With an abundance of more reasonable and delicious restaurants in Santa Fe, I won't be going back.
(2)
Cocos B.
I have been here before and it just keeps getting better! This certain night was on a weekend. We had no reservations, the place was kind of packed, and the downstairs was too full. The upstairs is reserved to listen to music and whomever is performing that night, so they don't really like you to talk alot up there. Nevertheless we decided to sit up there. The hostess waived our piano fee since it was not our first choice so it made it worthwhile! They had half off of their wine selection so we had fun ordering a couple of dulcettos and trying them out. At one point my glass tipped over, wine spilled all over, and the waiters rushed to clean it all up. They work pretty fast but you don't feel rushed with your meal. The food was marvelous as usual! I tried dessert this time...the amaretto bread pudding...heaven! I try to make a point of visiting here every time I come to Santa Fe.
(4)
Clare M.
Food is overpriced and mediocre but good happy hour wine specials.
(3)
Jimena A.
absolutely love the desserts!.perfect atmosphere and amazing service..this is real Italian food..I should also point out the the place is super clean..make sure you make a reservation!.
(5)
D T.
Delicious !!!! We stumbled upon this place just out walking and we were in for a nice surprise. We had a most excellent meal, sat out on the patio and chatted with some friendly semi- locals ( well they were from Taos) The waitstaff was very attentive and our meal was great. Wine list is amazing and I did have a very decent choice by the glass, since my companion was not having wine. Great find.
(4)
Rennie C.
So incredibly bad I don't have the words. Menu unimaginative, service consistently bad/slow/mouth-breathers, food nearly inedible. I've given them several chances, but as a Santa Fean, I know there are tons of better choices for Italian in town Stay away from this Olive Garden wannabe.
(1)
Michael D.
I am really unclear as to whether this is a 3 or 2 star but I would rather give it 3 stars until I have the chance to give it a really fair review. My issue was not with the restaurant but rather my companions at dinner. It was a stiff and "cheap" dinner, i.e., I didn't get to explore the pretty extensive wine list nor get an entre that was twice what my companions were spending. I will say the hostess and the servers were fantastic. My pasta was so so. I ordered the LINGUINE CON SALSICCIA. It tasted very good but instead of the sauce lying on top of the linguine it was mixed together pretty heavily. The pasta was definitely not al dente either. I ordered the Caesar salad as an accompaniment. While it wasn't made table side it was a superlative salad. Nice crisp greens nice dressing and those lovely whole anchovies buried inside. I will give this place another try and re-review later. I also enjoyed the bread but there should have been more.
(3)
J P.
Santa Fe has numerous fine dining options, but Pranzo falls squarely in the middle of the pack - aspiring to be a fine Italian restaurant but falling short in several areas. Now don't get me wrong - Pranzo is perfectly fine if you were comparing it to the typical suburban Italian franchise. But this is Santa Fe and the bar for most restaurants is set quite high. Pranzo is located in the Sanbusco Center - an historic building converted to retail center. (Sanbusco lost its anchor tenant when Border's Books went out of business, so the mall is a bit quieter than before.) It is located near the burgeoning railyards arts district, near the Railrunner train station, REI, and SITE. We've been to Pranzo on several occasions previously, and the experience has varied from average to quite nice. But on our most recent visit, it was decidedly a disappointment. The first indication was when we entered the restaurant to hear several departing patrons complaining to the hostess about their poor experience. Not a good sign, but we hoped it might be an isolated incident. Even though we had reservations, the hostess said she couldn't seat us for another 15 minutes after the reservation time. This also happens occasionally, so we didn't give it much thought. When we were seated, we noticed it did take somewhat longer than usual to get a waitress to take our drink and meal order. Then we noticed that only one waitress was working the entire half of the lower dining area. Maybe Pranzo was short-handed that night, or someone quit at the last minute? If not, then management may have been trying to save money through understaffing - always a bad idea in a service business. It was a cold night, so we ordered a bowl of soup (Minestrone alla Pranzo) to share. After roughly 30 minutes, our entrees were served (by another staffer, not the waitress), but we never did get the soup we ordered. And our waitress was nowhere to be found to correct the error. Okay, no biggie. Maybe we'll save room for dessert. For entrees, we ordered a Spinach Salad (Insalata Spinaci) and a Chicken Pesto Pizza (Pizza con Pollo e Pesto), both to be shared. The salad was okay, but nothing to brag about. The spinach was sort of overwhelmed by the Balsamic vinaigrette. But the roasted pears and roasted red peppers were limp and tasteless. The pizza is about 10-inches in diameter with 6 slices - big enough to share for two, but small enough as an individual portion. Unfortunately, the chicken was incredibly dry, so much so that we had to remove the chicken slices to be able to eat the pizza. The pesto tasted as if it came from a jar, and there was way too much on the pizza (it doesn't need to be used like marinara sauce and cover every square inch). There was also way too much mozzarella - maybe it was used to hold all the ingredients together? The crust was light and tasty however, so it wasn't a total disaster. Why didn't we complain about our food to the waitress? We would have, had we seen her, or been able to catch her eye. Finally, almost 90 minutes in, she comes by to present the check and (finally) asked how everything was. We told her we didn't get what we ordered (soup) and said the entrees weren't very good. She didn't look like this meant much to her and said "I'll remove the soup from the bill". There was no offer to discount the poor entrees. There are way too many excellent dining options in Santa Fe for Pranzo to continue in this way. There are several reviews noting poor service and we certainly experienced that. I can forgive some lackluster service if the food is really good, but in this case the meal was below average. Pranzo needs to address issues of inconsistent service and poor food quality. And they need to address them now.
(1)
Don't Ask Don't Tell U.
First off, it's a nice place and a well run restaurant with MUCH better than average staff for SF. You'll probably have a nice time. Now, Italian food in this city/town, even in the simple format, leaves a lot to be desired. They try to be more than simple. The main problem(s) are 1) Inconsistency. And unfortunately, in recent months that is more consistently bad than good. 2) - And this is basically unforgiveable - most all the red sauces are prepared with that most italian of spices -- CHILE! Yup...they put red chile flakes in most everything! Give me a break. Mexican pasta. The excuse: "we're in Santa Fe and thats what people want". BS. More likely, your using cooks who have not one blessed idea of italian and just don't know how to prepare anything without chile. If Spicey is desired...its' called Fridiavlo...get a recipe for it. Italian uses a good deal of red pepper (agreeably maybe a relative of the mexican chile spice being used), but entirely different. Wake up...good italian in SF is not going to be done with mexican spices...it just doesn't fit. Bad weirs tasting dishes aren't what people anywhere want.
(2)
Michael R.
My wife & I tried Pranzo Italian Grill 2 days ago. Our entrees (cioppino & a salmon dish) were excellent, as were the salads, wine & service. We recommend eating there.
(5)
andie c.
Unremarkable Italian that is too expensive for the lack of flavor. Very bad service as well - waitress forgot two orders and kept forgetting to come back when our drinks were empty. Nice atmosphere and convenient though.
(2)
David D.
it's pranzo. it's good italian food that has been around forever. nice lighting, good food, and order the pranzo fizz (an excellent fruity drink). if you are a tourist then you probably want to go somewhere else (it is santa fe after all), but otherwise a great meal.
(4)
Joe MArtelaro M.
When you walk into Pranzo, you think you may have arrived at a decent Italian eatery. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. The interior design is not bad but that's where the positives end. The calamari appetizer was hard and the accompanying sauces were mediocre. Everything we ordered including the meatballs seemed soggy and not quite cooked properly. Sauces tasted like they came out of a jar. You'd be better off at a Macaronni Grill or an Olive Garden. This is a simple case of folks without the skills getting into the wrong business. As someone with Italian in my blood, I was hoping for more. The bus help was nice but the waitress was cold and detached. The wine although described as "a nosegay of floral aroma" tasted like two-buck Chuck but that summed up the experience for us. The superficial things at Pranzo were okay - the interior design, the menu descriptions - but the food, drink and service were the pits. Save your money!
(1)
Mark D.
MY FAMILY AND I FOUND THEIR "LIGHT LUNCH" OPTIONS TO BE EXCELLENT. I ordered from the normal lunch menu and had a GREAT Blackened Salmon salad with a pomagranite dressing. Along with cheesy fresh bread, this was the best meal of our 4 days eating well in santa Fe. The next closest winner was the "Chocolate Maven" but that was bruch, so....................check this place out - really good and piano bar upstairs at night should be fun
(4)
Stephanie P.
#155 Totally upscale and packed with the middle-agers. So, the boyfriend and I felt right at home. Ha. Because we didn't have a reservation and the dining area was pretty packed, we opted for seating at the bar. Bad move. The bartender was a total drag and a half and treated us as if we were children (granted, we were probably half the age of everybody there). After we got our High Desert and Provenzale, we decided to ask a waiter to help us move over to one of the smaller tables in the lounge. The bartender acted surprised that we were relocating but, really? You didn't realize you were being incredibly rude to us? Once we got to our table though, the entire experience went uphill. First of all, there was a couple sitting right next to us that was clearly doing something naughty. All throughout dinner, we eavesdropped on their conversation (just because they were being so loud and flamboyant) and turns out .... they were both cheating on their respective spouses!!! Tsk tsk tsk. The guy was incredibly desperate to get her back to his hotel room, but eventually she opted out and left him alone at the table. Boo-hoo. As for the food, excellent, really. I ordered the lobster gnocchi and the lobster was cooked to absolute perfection. The gnocchi, to my surprise, didn't taste overwhelmingly like potatoes, which is always something a chef can't easily avoid. The sauce was also creamy and full of flavor. The boyfriend's swordfish was also delightful. The highlight of the night though was the High Desert that I had ordered at the bar earlier. THE best spicy cocktail I've had then and since. The brim was coated with chili powder and, instead of the typical olive or lemon slice, it was topped with a jalapeno. It was a feat just finishing it but I did it! Really, I would have liked to have given this place a 5, but just because of the rude bartender at the beginning of the night, it has dropped down to a 4.
(4)
Melissa S.
"Received Terrible service and food- manger told me "never come back" This used to be a fabulous restaurant. I've been dining at Pranzo for many years and its sad to see what it has become. I ordered a pasta plate that was drenched in oil and my partner ordered the duck plate that came with half cooked beans. The waitress came around once and asked how the food was when we took our first bite. Another server had to bring us bread as the first one never came back around. We waited what felt like forever for the server to check on us so we could ask for the check, which at that point I tried to explain how drenched the bottom half of my pasta was and she said "I gave you the opportunity to tell me how the food was when I asked" ...yea, when I barely took my first bite! WOW, what great customer service. Who trains these people? Then she told my partner that the beans on his plate are supposed to come half cooked. After another long wait we were finally able to speak with the manager who could care less and after she noticed I did not leave a tip, she literally yelled at me "You're not going to leave Rosalind anything!" (I got steamed and the F Bomb came out) "F No!" and her dramatic response "I'm going to ask you to never come in here again!" Since when do managers of restaurants demand you to leave a tip for horrible food and service???
(1)
Christine P.
Calamari appetizer was very good, the sauce they brought was yummy! The lobster pasta was good, the oso bucco was GREAT! Great service, great wine selection. Nice cozy restaurant. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is my espresso was burnt.
(4)
Raven C.
They deserve zero stars. They couldn't even get spaghetti and meatballs right. What a waste. Then tasted eggshells in meatballs which manager denied being the case. When I asked what else would have made them crunchy he did not know. I asked him about the portion size since I ordered full size. I got four small meatballs that came with very little pasta which was overcooked. The manager then responded with, "when you get old you don't need as much to eat". Needless to say I am 34 yo. So age wouldnt apply to my appetite unless he's talking about himself. I only went here because the other italian restaurant was closed.
(1)
Susan P.
Walked into bar - only people at the bar. Bartender promptly walks away to talk to other employees. Then leaves bar altogether. Finally comes back (other employees milling about do not even look at us) lays napkins down on dirty (replete with food droppings from previous customers) bar. I ask him to clean it. He does a half *ssed job - spreading crumbs on me rather than collecting them toward him. We order a tasting flight. 1 of the 3 wines is different than what's on the menu - and they all tasted like airline wine. Enter single mother with 1 year old. (This is 8:45PM.) Sits at end of bar at a table and proceeds to have LOUD conversation with 1 year old about the colors of the candy she is feeding him. We pick up our wine and move to other end of bar. (Still only people at bar.) Guess what? Bar is filthy with food debris from previous customers. Bartender is talking to single mother with kid, so I reach over and get a rag to clean the bar. Meanwhile, apparent manager on duty is talking loudly to hostess about her camping trips - completely oblivious to customers.... After another 20 minutes of extra loud Mommy talk (so we all know what a great mom she is....), we leave. Won't be back. If you want a grown up dinner experience go to Galisteo Bistro. If you want a grown up glass of wine at the bar in the Railyard, go to Ristra.
(1)
Zoya D.
Mmmm YUM! Hop of the train from the Rail Runner and take a stroll through the beautiful Santa Fe railyards to Pranzo. Sit down, have some wine. Scrumptious seared salmon salad. Old-style service with white tablecloths: I feel like I'm back at my hometown, old-school Chicago eateries (Gene & Georgetti's, etc.) Creme brulee made my smile all the way back home to ABQ. A nice change from the rote options available in Duke City. This was a nice trip away from home. I'm surprised by the 2- and 3-star ratings here; granted my rating is derived from ordering salad, but certainly the experience can go a long way.
(4)
Scott S.
It was Sunday and after finding a few restaurants closed, our group of six stopped here for a pleasant mid-afternoon supper. Half price on the wine coaxed us into having a couple of bottles, which we enjoyed. The seating and atmosphere felt warm, and comfy. Our food was promptly served and tasty but nothing spectacular. We ordered lamb topped pizza mushroom pizza, capellini pomodoro, and salads. I liked the brightness in the pomodor sauce and their garlic olive oil. The best part of the meal was the quick and attentive service.
(3)
Ian T.
This place is very yuppie. They have wine connoisseur clothing and classical/jazz music for sale in a glass display as you walk in. They also have a legitimate coat cubby. This kind of style does not turn me off of a place unless the staff act with the disrespect they are expected to put up with. (as a side note 95% of the other customers were white seniors 65+ in age I felt a little out of place as a 25 year old.) On a Friday night my family and I walked in to a 30 minute wait. It was our fault for not making reservations, so we waited. Out of curiosity, we asked the hostess if there were any other restaurants in the area. She said "I don't know" and looked back down at her podium... As if a local mid 20s year old woman doesn't know of ANY other places to eat. Clearly blew us off. The bar was nearly full, but my brother and I found two seats. We were asked for our IDs and gave them to him. He accepted my Arizona license after a long look. However, as soon as he saw my brothers vertical Texas license, even though he is 23 years old, he denied him service saying "its company policy and all of the near by places do it too" and gave an explanation of police stings. We were kind of annoyed being that we are on vacation and just had a long hard day of skiing. I am pretty sure denying a legal form of identification is breaking some laws, but I'm not a lawyer. The company clearly does not care for their potential customers. They were as uninviting as i could of imagined a restaurant being. We told the rest of my family and we decided to leave. We went to the Mediterranean place across the street who gladly accepted my brothers license and had excellent food AND wine. If the staff had been nicer i still would not have gone to this place based on their discrimination of vertical IDs. Two thumbs down.
(1)
Sandy K.
I really wish I could give this place a better review, but the eggplant Parmesan made it go from a 4 to a 2 star. We placed an order to go and waited a good 20-25 minutes for it to be ready. We ordered a house salad, a margherita pizza and eggplant Parmesan. The first two items were pretty good, but the eggplant was horrible. It was WAY under-cooked and rubbery...we could barely get a sharp knife to cut it. We threw the whole thing away. With all the good dining options in Santa Fe, this place really has to do better.
(2)
Matt O.
LOVE this place. Great Italian and a truly outstanding wine list. A relaxed upscale atmosphere. Our waiter was extremely knowledgable, friendly and attentive. I had the lasagna and it was excellent. Also sampled the pizza and it did not disappoint. We had a Russian River pinot that was just brilliant. They have some great Malbecs too. If you're into wine, this is the spot! Seemed very reasonably priced. Will definitely go back on my next visit to Santa Fe!
(5)
Morton S.
I had a special salad with blackened salmon. All the ingredients were fresh and it was delicious. Creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert was the best.
(4)
Frank D.
For a $75 meal the service was poor, the food mediocre. Got a dessert to go, when we got it home the portion was a joke. The menu is not what it once was, not what I consider to be true Italian cuisine. Never going back.
(1)
Kevin C.
After 4 days and nights in Santa Fe, the wife and I needed a break from the eternal question "red or green", and we thoguth Italian would be great for our last dinner in the town of southwestern chile sauce. We stopped by Pranzo while out browsing at the Borders store, and were intrigued by the "Terrace" level on the 2nd level, where a cabaret/pianist was billed to be the evening's entertainment, so we made a reservation. The first pelasant surprise afterbeing seated was that because it was a sunday, all bottles of wine were 1/2 price. We started with a bottle of Gruet blanc-de-noir sparking wine with an order of bruschetta. This was some interesting Bruschetta - toasted baguette slices, with 4 different spreads on the side for bui8ding your own. Garlic puree, artchichoke, marscopone, and pesto. This was an awesome appetizer, and I reccommend it. For dinner, the wife had Lasagana - a hearty meat-filled version that i would rate good to very good; I had the bow-tie pasta with chicken & bell peppers in a gralic cream sause - also very good. Ordered a nice bottle of Dolcetto to go with the entrees. The real fun was the pianist - David Geist. He had a whole retinue oif Gershwin tunes, plus he would take requests. Another gentlemen (not sure if he was with the restaurant or just a friend) accompanied him on a few tunes (from "South Pacific") - very entertaining. So, I rate this 4 starts because of the fun entertainment, the great bruschetta, the good food, and the awesome deal on bottles of wine on sundays.
(4)
HighStandard S.
The octopus salad and house chianti are superb. Servers are indulgent. Civilized, comfortable, festive atmosphere.
(4)
Elyse K.
We chose Pranzo due to the Yelp rating of 4 stars but were led astray. I realize Santa Fe yelp is not very reliable as the reviews are so minimal, but this was the first time we had a completely off experience to the rating. First off, our service was good, but creepy. The waiter would refer to the women at the table as "the lady" and the men as "gentlemen". Now, i know that is proper, but don't refer to me as "the lady" is in, "and for the lady?". Now, i know this is not a big deal, but if we were at a super high end restaurant, then maybe the proper-ness would make sense, but this is a mediocre Italian restaurant. Another strange thing was while the table received their salads, Tobin received his pasta and then followed with the salad. Is that normal? Our entrees arrived and they were all goopy messes with some pasta hidden underneath. I ordered a goat cheese Mezzaluna with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and duck con fit. There was just a big mess of duck, sauce and tomatoes and i could barely fish out a piece of pasta. Tobin had what could have been a DiGorno mushroom pizza. This place prides itself on authentic Italian, yet they don't even have a wood burning pizza oven? The bottom of the pizza was soggy and undercooked. For a $20 pasta entree and $15 pizza, i would expect something MUCH better. We've eaten at other Italian places in Santa Fe and they kick this place's butt. Although the others have less reviews, i would go anywhere other than here.
(1)
Kori S.
Apparently we can not eat Italian in New Mexico. The good: I had the polenta with sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola The hostess gave us the option of waiting a century for a table or sitting upstairs and listening to a pianist and a singer belt out the best of broadway($2.00 cover charge). Both of those were good things. The bad: My entree of melanzana parmigiana(eggplant parmigiana) could have come from The Olive Garden, it was mushy and the sauce tasted bottle fresh. The expediter brought our food up and it sat on a tray in the middle of the room for five minutes before it was served. Our server was inattentive and lousy. She ignored our basic needs. It even took fifteen minutes to get our check and that was only when we flagged someone else down to request it. I left a ten percent tip, I felt horrible, but she was awful.
(1)
Andrew T.
I think the 3.5 stars is a perfect rating. If you are searching for a great Santa Fe experience, search a little more.
(3)
Sam A.
Went to Pranzo's tonight for a birthday dinner and ordered the one dish that I've never had any complaints about, and have very vocally told friends and visiting tourists about, the lasagna. Unfortunately I was extremely underwhelmed and I am wondering what happened here... I remember the old portions being just a little larger than the cold deli ones that you can get at whole foods, but not anymore I guess. And frankly, the recipe must have changed or something. For $18 (full portion because half portions are not offered), I got a lasagna portion about the size of a McDonalds cheeseburger, served in a bowl, and HEAVILY covered with their red pasta sauce, which totally overwhelmed the tastes of the cheeses and the pasta. Now I was willing to give Pranzo's the benefit of the doubt here, but I also ordered another portion of the lasagna for my friend, who is a professional chef, to go. I bought it to him and he ate his portion, was dismayed by the price and said, "Well there's not enough actual lasagna, they skimped on the meats, and the sauce, albiet great, totally ovewhelmes the tastes of the rest of the meal." Frankly, I could make four much better tasting lasagnas than the one I ate at Pranzo's tonight if I was charging $18 for that sized portion and made pans of the stuff. Otherwise, the servers, while dreadfully slow, were very pleasant...
(2)
Tom G.
We ate there twice in two days...excellent roasted pepper and white bean soup, prime rib pannini was a hit and a pasta with sausage was excellent. Nice wines especially the baby Super Tuscan. Second day we had pizzas -- I went for normal pepperoni but the three others had lamb and which "was to die for," my wife insists. I tasted it and agreed. Lovely decor and quiet. Did I mention quiet? A fair number of people but it was a refuge from the busyness on the streets at holiday time.
(4)
Bella B.
Sounds like this place has had some bad reviews, but caught the train from ABQ to Santa Fe and was recommended to go there. We were greeted by super friendly staff, who assumed we were important and gave us the whole top of the restaurant and had staff at our beck and call. I felt like a "a Superstar", Really on a serious note, we were given the top of the restauraunt overlooking the city and thought the food was amazing and made with fresh ingredients, and we have eaten at many of the best restaurants. So maybe things have gotten better for this place, I think it deserves a second chance.
(5)
James C.
Stopped here on the suggestion of a co-worker. After braving the snowy drive down from Los Alamos, we were greeted with a cheerful hostess who wanted to know if we wanted to sit upstairs for the live piano music. Definitely unexpected. Once seated, it seemed like it took forever before we were even greeted by the waitress. She was nice, but definitely seemed a little spacey. Probably one to many tokes from the Peyote pipe. However, we were all entertained by the live music. From Broadway show tunes to "The Entertainer." He was definitely good on the piano, but his singing left a little to be desired. For dinner, I had the Osso Buco. The lamb was flavorful and not at all gamey. The meat fell right off the bone as you would expect, but it was definitely a bit dry as if it had been sitting for awhile. Thankfully, the red wine reduction helped to moisten it. The polenta was cheesy and went well with the lamb and white beans. Overall, it was 3 stars. However, maybe a little overpriced given the quality. Desserts looked plentiful for the restaurant; from a lemon zabaglione to an Italian bread pudding. And of course, what Italian place wouldn't have Tiramisu. My co-worker's one line review of it, "It was decent, but I've had better." And that maybe the best way to describe Pranzo.
(3)
Sarah P.
I really want to like this place because of its convenient location, but every time I have gone (we're talking at least 5 times in the last year) the food has been mediocre at best. They sometimes run out of basics like eggplant parm, and the waiters consistently recommend the most expensive bottle of wine in the category you select -- and the wine is not very good. It's still a fun place for happy hour, but I'm going to skip it for dinner for a while.
(2)
Carmen M.
I've been to this restaurant several times. I really enjoy the salads and the gluten-free pasta entrees. It's very pricey so going there is a treat. Here are my issues: 1. To-go order was a huge rip off as the portion I got was tiny. 2. When dining in, the waitress was rude and inattentive. I don't know if that's because I wasn't ordering wine, but she barely waited on the table. I don't know if given all that this place is worth the price. Clientele are snooty looking and there's hardly anyone under 50.
(2)
Karen S.
Rather overpriced for the quality of food. In a town with so many great restaurant choices, they would do well to reconsider the quality and freshness of the food as well as remaining competitively priced. A little more flavor wouldn't hurt........
(2)
Genevieve T.
Correction...this place USED to be great. I went here with my family recently, and my Dad and I got VERY sick afterwards. I don't think I'll be back.
(1)
Sofia K.
The bad news.....the mussels were spoiled and reeked. The good news...they were overcooked and rubbery, so I'm sure all bacteria was killed. Our entrees were so boring as to not merit mentioning. (Our server was very nice though.)
(1)
Brian P.
I love good Italian- Grandma's Italian, mafia Italian, high end Italian - this turned out disappointingly to be mediocre New Mexican Italian. I make my own pasta, meatballs, ravioli- you name it. I cook much better. Yet I spent $121 on 3 glasses of wine, spaghetti and meatballs and ravioli covered in heavy flavorless cream!!!!! I realize service is impossible to come by in a town that chooses things like living wages as opposed to actually earning your money- but I've worked in restaurants from London to NYC to NOLA and service is were it begins and the very least of expectations when the food is ho hum. 4 simple examples of why this place blew my mind. The other waiter in our area (when asked by another table for a Cabernet recomendation) asked the patron "what price range". What was the patron expected to say $10-20 or $100+ - simple question - rude answer reflecting the blatant desire to "sell big" that was reflected in every other waiter comment I heard- another glass to maybe some calamari? Second- Table behind me pays the bill and places large cash on the check. The waitress asks "do you want change?". You never ask such a question to the patron- if told to keep it fine- if told nothing you return the change and hope for a nice tip. Waitress 101- just plain rude. third- they are selling on special a mediocre glass of Italian wine for $19.95 / glass- my wife hears the name- knows the wine and says she'd like one before seeing the outrageous price for this wine store bottle at $25. (restaurant mark-ups aside -that was outrageous!) My then wife accidentally spills the near full glass and the waitress ignores it- while the busers attend to it very well. The waitress then continues to ignore us and fails to bring a replacement until I ask her to 15 mins. later. I'm sorry about the accident but even a chimpanzee knows that the waiter is there to serve the customer and that an accidental spill should be replaced immediately and the customer made to feel ok about the accident. 4th- we had our very well behaved 11mo. old son with us and the waitress did not even acknowledge his existence once all night. No one is asking for goo goo ga ga just a hello - is there anything I can get him? Try Il Piato, L'osteria or even Andiamo - but avoid this place like the plague until they decide to train a wait staff- unless you like paying NOT to be waited on. I spoke with the manager after the dinner and she listened for 3 mins. and then became disinterested and said she had better go check on things.
(1)
Jaime Patricio M.
I believe Pranzo -- had a sister restaurant in Albuquerque--Scalo's. Pranzo is a wonderful N. Italian restaurant west of Downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is so near and dear to me. My family's roots are here and although i never lived here i spent a lot of time -- every summer in Santa Fe. i actually spent alot of time near Pranzo--so for me Pranzo is special on many levels. Rare to have such a high qualilty N. Italian restaurant in Santa Fe -- maybe the only one. I love the environs and ambiance! Buen Provecho!
(4)
Courtney S.
OMG, what a find in Santa Fe!! Our hotel manager recommended this place as a possibility, and needing a bit of a break from chilis, we went to Pranzo Italian Grill. Well who knew that Tuesday night was Buena Sera night, and that ALL of their mains were $15.95 (including fish!) except their steaks! The fish of the day came with some of the tastiest orzo/veggie mixture I've ever had! My husband's risotto with pesto was also delicious! I got a good cocktail, the husband an excellent wine flight of Italian reds. Service was spectacular. When an olive fell out of my salad upon delivery, our server brought us a little bowl of olives to make up for the loss of just the one. The ambiance was really elegant without being stuffy... we were additionally intrigued by the LED candle on the table. Our final bill was really reasonable for the food we got, mainly because of the Tuesday Buena Sera specials. I highly recommend this place especially for their weekly specials, delicious food, and nice ambiance.
(5)
Dorothy F.
Pranzo is essentially The Olive Garden dressed up in knockoff couture. The wine list was bleak, as was the wine I chose. The food tasted commercial, although the bread and multiple olive oil dip options did appease me slightly. There were only two beers on tap, which I know, it's an Italian restaurant, but who doesn't love multiple beers on tap?! I will say that the staff was attentive and kind, perhaps because they felt sorry for my boyfriend and I for having spent close to $150 on shwag.
(2)
John O.
Love Pranzo! Great pizza, great range of Italian entrees from fancy to total comfort. The woodfired oven when you come in is terrfic; my son loves to watch them slide the pizzas in. Outstanding service too. Big place, easy to get a table. Great wine list and specials. Excellent ice cream and desserts too; you can buy the ice cream to take home. A great neighborhood place, and a step up from all of the boring chains.
(5)
Lotus G.
We ended up going to the bar and had a great bottle of Prosecco. Great sevice and very cozy. The bartender was awesome!!! Thanks!
(4)
Frank O.
I'd heard some bad things about Pranzo - poor food, mediocre service - lately, so I thought I'd try it out. All not the case any more. The owner, Michael O'Reilly, who owns the O'Keeffe Cafe also, is very hands on and has obviously sorted out their problems. We had a great meal, taking advantage of the specials they have almost every day. Excellent high-end pizza and other Italian grub. Great steaks and ossobucco. Service was professional and attentive. And the bill was ok, too.
(4)
Thighmaster M.
Low cost ingredients with a high price tag. Four of us sampled a broad array of their menu and left disappointed by small portions and Italian cuisine that looks fancy (read expensive) but clearly cut back on quality of ingredients. Lousy Manhattan from the bar, also charged us for a glass of wine we didn't order. Staff/servers were above average that night - incredibly accomodating.
(2)
Debbie N.
Party of 6 with inconsistent food quality. Delicious: Squash soup, capellini pomodoro, linguini with pancetta and cream So-so: Fettuccine with chicken, ribeye (balsamic glaze seemed burned) Horrible: Bolognese sauce was almost inedible - wine wasn't cooked out and lacked seasoning. Smoked chicken pizza had no chicken or jalapeños as stated on the menu. No bread until requested. Flavored olive oils had no special flavor. Pros: Ability to order half orders of pasta with a $4 side salad. Half orders are plenty of food. But we were charged incorrectly for a full order on one of our orders. Italian lessons in the restroom was pretty neat. Service was mostly adequate.
(3)
John N.
Four of us dined here late last night. Service was cheerful but not super responsive. Very good selection to order. Friend had pig-and-fig pizza. See photo below. I had chicken cacciatore. It was crispy and delicious, as were the polenta bed underneath and all the veggie trimmings. My wife had spaghetti that was good but not remarkable. Nice crusty bread served during the long wait for our main course. Great location. Very bustling ambience. Easy parking across the street. Sorry about the dark photo of my entree.
(4)
Kate H.
I met a friend for drinks and an appetizer last night. I was disappointed in the quality of food that we received. A 17$ salad contained spinach, 7 piñon nuts, and boiled shrimp that tasted like it had been sitting out for a week. I've had 5$ salads from Trader Joes that are exceedingly more flavorful and exciting. This used to be a go to place to take out of town guests and enjoy a glass a wine. The antipasto dish we received was scant and unenjoyable. With an abundance of more reasonable and delicious restaurants in Santa Fe, I won't be going back.
(2)
Cocos B.
I have been here before and it just keeps getting better! This certain night was on a weekend. We had no reservations, the place was kind of packed, and the downstairs was too full. The upstairs is reserved to listen to music and whomever is performing that night, so they don't really like you to talk alot up there. Nevertheless we decided to sit up there. The hostess waived our piano fee since it was not our first choice so it made it worthwhile! They had half off of their wine selection so we had fun ordering a couple of dulcettos and trying them out. At one point my glass tipped over, wine spilled all over, and the waiters rushed to clean it all up. They work pretty fast but you don't feel rushed with your meal. The food was marvelous as usual! I tried dessert this time...the amaretto bread pudding...heaven! I try to make a point of visiting here every time I come to Santa Fe.
(4)
Clare M.
Food is overpriced and mediocre but good happy hour wine specials.
(3)
Jimena A.
absolutely love the desserts!.perfect atmosphere and amazing service..this is real Italian food..I should also point out the the place is super clean..make sure you make a reservation!.
(5)
Michael D.
I am really unclear as to whether this is a 3 or 2 star but I would rather give it 3 stars until I have the chance to give it a really fair review. My issue was not with the restaurant but rather my companions at dinner. It was a stiff and "cheap" dinner, i.e., I didn't get to explore the pretty extensive wine list nor get an entre that was twice what my companions were spending. I will say the hostess and the servers were fantastic. My pasta was so so. I ordered the LINGUINE CON SALSICCIA. It tasted very good but instead of the sauce lying on top of the linguine it was mixed together pretty heavily. The pasta was definitely not al dente either. I ordered the Caesar salad as an accompaniment. While it wasn't made table side it was a superlative salad. Nice crisp greens nice dressing and those lovely whole anchovies buried inside. I will give this place another try and re-review later. I also enjoyed the bread but there should have been more.
(3)
Matthew H.
I've been going to Pranzo's for the past 2 years. 2 years ago it was wonderful, attentive and helpful staff, great food and decent prices. 1 year ago the staff started leaving and their replacements were not as good. The menu started to get changed to lower quality steaks. smaller portions, and higher prices. I just went for my final time one week ago. They had AGAIN changed their menu to stop serving a filet mignon and instead a rib-eye (same price though). It was a Saturday night, however the dining room was only at about 75% occupancy and we were a party of 6 all adults. We ordered 2 beers and 4 glasses of wine. The water took around 10 minuets to get to the table and the wine approximately 20. The white wine I ordered was warm as though it had sat on the bar counter. We had our orders taken after approximately 35 minuets as it seemed the waitress never had more enough time to drop off drinks and run away even when we tried to get her attention. When we finally did have our order taken, it took another 10 minuets to recieve bread and almost another hour to recieve the food. We ordered 2 pasta dishes (one meatballs, 1 chicken) 2 rib-eye steaks (one blue rare and the other medium rare) 1 gnocchi and my mother-in-law split my father-in-law's steak. When the food came out the steaks were thin and 75% fat. Now rib-eyes have much more fat in the cut than filets however these looked worse than what I can put up at wal-mart. They were thin and curled, burnt on the outside and BOTH steaks were blue rare. If your not familiar with steak temperatures it goes blue rare rare medium rare medium medium well well They had mis-cooked my wife's steak two temperatures different. Instead of a cold pink center it was a bloody completely red all the way through mess. In addition to this my spaghetti and meatballs had about 30% spaghetti and 70% sauce with a scarce piece of beef in between. The top hat on this meal of horrors was a tomato sauce that had been tossed on both steaks. This "sauce," which consisted of something akin to V-8 thrown on a plate and warmed, was NOT on the menu, neither was the basil, which was so much in abundance, that it made the plate look like some kind of salad with meat under it. We promptly returned both the steaks and 20 minuets later, when most of us had less than 50% of our food left, the steak returned. Neither steak had the forest of basil or V-8 based sauce, but my wife's was AGAIN blue rare. We sent the steak back yet again. The third time was finally right but at that time the rest of the food had been at the table for over an hour (30 minuets for the other steak). and EVERYONE was done eating. My wife is on a blood sugar controlling diet and need to eat at very specific times. Suffice it to say she had had to subsist on mashed potatoes and by the time the steak arrived she ate about two bites before packing it up to go. I tried one bite of the steak, and it was not even seasoned with salt or pepper. Now this would have been bad enough, the food was HORRIBLE, but no this experience continues down towards a hellish experience when we asked to speak to the manager about the bad experience. A middle aged woman came over and asked what was the matter. We explained and here is the answer we got, "Well if you didn't like it you should have ordered something else." In a tone that said, I don't care what you think, My kitchen is right no matter what the food tastes or looks like. Everyone at the table was taken aback. Typically a manager comes over to a table to smooth out a bad experience, this one had decided to blame the customer for the incorrect order and bland food. So we get the bill, both steaks are still on it, they have 3 salads and 4 beers when we had ordered 2 beers and 2 salads. Also, there was a 20% AUTO gratuity put on the bill. Maybe this is why the server and manager didn't care for us or what we thought, they already had a 20% tip. SO we pay and leave, pocketing the owner's card to call later. On the way out the manager looks at me and my mother-in-law adn says, " Eat somewhere else next time." . . . eat somewhere else next time? NO PROBLEM! Calling the owner help none, he neither apologized nor said he would do anything about it, just that, "That doesn't sound like my manager." He said they had "only" one complaint out of every 200 customers. 0.5% of all people have experiences SO BAD they call the owner, and somehow they think this is ok. I now know where the staff has picked up it's attitude towards customer's, if the owner doesn't care, neither does the manager and neither does the staff. I will never EVER go back to this place and have already disputed the meal charge from my credit card. All I can say is thank GOD it wasn't a special occasion like someone's birthday or anniversary.
(1)
Don't Ask Don't Tell U.
First off, it's a nice place and a well run restaurant with MUCH better than average staff for SF. You'll probably have a nice time. Now, Italian food in this city/town, even in the simple format, leaves a lot to be desired. They try to be more than simple. The main problem(s) are 1) Inconsistency. And unfortunately, in recent months that is more consistently bad than good. 2) - And this is basically unforgiveable - most all the red sauces are prepared with that most italian of spices -- CHILE! Yup...they put red chile flakes in most everything! Give me a break. Mexican pasta. The excuse: "we're in Santa Fe and thats what people want". BS. More likely, your using cooks who have not one blessed idea of italian and just don't know how to prepare anything without chile. If Spicey is desired...its' called Fridiavlo...get a recipe for it. Italian uses a good deal of red pepper (agreeably maybe a relative of the mexican chile spice being used), but entirely different. Wake up...good italian in SF is not going to be done with mexican spices...it just doesn't fit. Bad weirs tasting dishes aren't what people anywhere want.
(2)
Michael R.
My wife & I tried Pranzo Italian Grill 2 days ago. Our entrees (cioppino & a salmon dish) were excellent, as were the salads, wine & service. We recommend eating there.
(5)
andie c.
Unremarkable Italian that is too expensive for the lack of flavor. Very bad service as well - waitress forgot two orders and kept forgetting to come back when our drinks were empty. Nice atmosphere and convenient though.
(2)
David D.
it's pranzo. it's good italian food that has been around forever. nice lighting, good food, and order the pranzo fizz (an excellent fruity drink). if you are a tourist then you probably want to go somewhere else (it is santa fe after all), but otherwise a great meal.
(4)
Jet O.
Atmosphere: quiet, romantic, lovely. The music isn't too loud, the resturant is clean and well lit. For starters the bread and oil selections are amazing. Out server was happy to tell us about each oil and about blending them. Our artichoke apitizer was wonderful, a large amount of flavor. The main course was a pizza which was amazing. Thin crust cooked just right! Our server was awesome and very informative. There is a neat tradition of regulars getting their own name plate and it getting posted in the resturant which is kind of cool.
(4)
Jane Z.
Food and waitress were good but the management was rude. NO separate checks and refused to do so after promising when reservation was made. It took 35 minutes for everyone to figure out their own bill. Not a nice way to end an evening.
(1)
Anthony S.
Wow- This place has really gone down hill. The owners need to really think about the characters that they have working here. Sad ...as for years this place has been amazing and one of our regular spots. Won't be back.
(1)
Patrick H.
The food wasn't bad but wasn't great either; definitely over priced. The feeling I got was they were portraying a five star restaurant but can't quite get there. Looked for flexibility and value but didn't get it. I would suggest Andiamos.
(1)
Will And Sam K.
Excellent food Absolutely on of my favorites in Santa Fe ! The appetizer with the shrimp, callamari, and scallops is to die for . Then we had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich on ciabotta bread another great sandwich ! Nice atmosphere nice people !
(5)
Ryan B.
They can't split checks or give you an itemized receipt... What a joke. They really need to get their POS system updated.
(1)
Cheryl W.
The only reason this is getting a 3 is because of Adrian my waiter. He took reasonably good care of a solo diner. The food was awful. I had the Vongole, tasteless clams which were scant in comparison with other restaurants where the food is better and the price less. Equally tasteless, clumpy pasta and sauce. Was there a sauce? I wanted to like this place but cannot.
(3)
Lori G.
We stopped at Pranzo during our time in Santa Fe because we had previously purchased a Groupon deal. Here were some of the high/lowlights: + Insalata Caprese was fresh and plentiful + Complimentary bread to start was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside + Insalata Caesar w/Salmon was flavorful, but the portion of salmon was quite small for the upcharge + Lasagna sauce was overly sweet with unappetizing strips of basil as a garnish If we had to do it over again, we would have skipped Pranzo and tried authentic New Mexican cuisine instead of mediocre Italian.
(3)
Kevin C.
After 4 days and nights in Santa Fe, the wife and I needed a break from the eternal question "red or green", and we thoguth Italian would be great for our last dinner in the town of southwestern chile sauce. We stopped by Pranzo while out browsing at the Borders store, and were intrigued by the "Terrace" level on the 2nd level, where a cabaret/pianist was billed to be the evening's entertainment, so we made a reservation. The first pelasant surprise afterbeing seated was that because it was a sunday, all bottles of wine were 1/2 price. We started with a bottle of Gruet blanc-de-noir sparking wine with an order of bruschetta. This was some interesting Bruschetta - toasted baguette slices, with 4 different spreads on the side for bui8ding your own. Garlic puree, artchichoke, marscopone, and pesto. This was an awesome appetizer, and I reccommend it. For dinner, the wife had Lasagana - a hearty meat-filled version that i would rate good to very good; I had the bow-tie pasta with chicken & bell peppers in a gralic cream sause - also very good. Ordered a nice bottle of Dolcetto to go with the entrees. The real fun was the pianist - David Geist. He had a whole retinue oif Gershwin tunes, plus he would take requests. Another gentlemen (not sure if he was with the restaurant or just a friend) accompanied him on a few tunes (from "South Pacific") - very entertaining. So, I rate this 4 starts because of the fun entertainment, the great bruschetta, the good food, and the awesome deal on bottles of wine on sundays.
(4)
HighStandard S.
The octopus salad and house chianti are superb. Servers are indulgent. Civilized, comfortable, festive atmosphere.
(4)
Elyse K.
We chose Pranzo due to the Yelp rating of 4 stars but were led astray. I realize Santa Fe yelp is not very reliable as the reviews are so minimal, but this was the first time we had a completely off experience to the rating. First off, our service was good, but creepy. The waiter would refer to the women at the table as "the lady" and the men as "gentlemen". Now, i know that is proper, but don't refer to me as "the lady" is in, "and for the lady?". Now, i know this is not a big deal, but if we were at a super high end restaurant, then maybe the proper-ness would make sense, but this is a mediocre Italian restaurant. Another strange thing was while the table received their salads, Tobin received his pasta and then followed with the salad. Is that normal? Our entrees arrived and they were all goopy messes with some pasta hidden underneath. I ordered a goat cheese Mezzaluna with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and duck con fit. There was just a big mess of duck, sauce and tomatoes and i could barely fish out a piece of pasta. Tobin had what could have been a DiGorno mushroom pizza. This place prides itself on authentic Italian, yet they don't even have a wood burning pizza oven? The bottom of the pizza was soggy and undercooked. For a $20 pasta entree and $15 pizza, i would expect something MUCH better. We've eaten at other Italian places in Santa Fe and they kick this place's butt. Although the others have less reviews, i would go anywhere other than here.
(1)
Kori S.
Apparently we can not eat Italian in New Mexico. The good: I had the polenta with sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola The hostess gave us the option of waiting a century for a table or sitting upstairs and listening to a pianist and a singer belt out the best of broadway($2.00 cover charge). Both of those were good things. The bad: My entree of melanzana parmigiana(eggplant parmigiana) could have come from The Olive Garden, it was mushy and the sauce tasted bottle fresh. The expediter brought our food up and it sat on a tray in the middle of the room for five minutes before it was served. Our server was inattentive and lousy. She ignored our basic needs. It even took fifteen minutes to get our check and that was only when we flagged someone else down to request it. I left a ten percent tip, I felt horrible, but she was awful.
(1)
Andrew T.
I think the 3.5 stars is a perfect rating. If you are searching for a great Santa Fe experience, search a little more.
(3)
Sam A.
Went to Pranzo's tonight for a birthday dinner and ordered the one dish that I've never had any complaints about, and have very vocally told friends and visiting tourists about, the lasagna. Unfortunately I was extremely underwhelmed and I am wondering what happened here... I remember the old portions being just a little larger than the cold deli ones that you can get at whole foods, but not anymore I guess. And frankly, the recipe must have changed or something. For $18 (full portion because half portions are not offered), I got a lasagna portion about the size of a McDonalds cheeseburger, served in a bowl, and HEAVILY covered with their red pasta sauce, which totally overwhelmed the tastes of the cheeses and the pasta. Now I was willing to give Pranzo's the benefit of the doubt here, but I also ordered another portion of the lasagna for my friend, who is a professional chef, to go. I bought it to him and he ate his portion, was dismayed by the price and said, "Well there's not enough actual lasagna, they skimped on the meats, and the sauce, albiet great, totally ovewhelmes the tastes of the rest of the meal." Frankly, I could make four much better tasting lasagnas than the one I ate at Pranzo's tonight if I was charging $18 for that sized portion and made pans of the stuff. Otherwise, the servers, while dreadfully slow, were very pleasant...
(2)
Tom G.
We ate there twice in two days...excellent roasted pepper and white bean soup, prime rib pannini was a hit and a pasta with sausage was excellent. Nice wines especially the baby Super Tuscan. Second day we had pizzas -- I went for normal pepperoni but the three others had lamb and which "was to die for," my wife insists. I tasted it and agreed. Lovely decor and quiet. Did I mention quiet? A fair number of people but it was a refuge from the busyness on the streets at holiday time.
(4)
Bella B.
Sounds like this place has had some bad reviews, but caught the train from ABQ to Santa Fe and was recommended to go there. We were greeted by super friendly staff, who assumed we were important and gave us the whole top of the restaurant and had staff at our beck and call. I felt like a "a Superstar", Really on a serious note, we were given the top of the restauraunt overlooking the city and thought the food was amazing and made with fresh ingredients, and we have eaten at many of the best restaurants. So maybe things have gotten better for this place, I think it deserves a second chance.
(5)
James C.
Stopped here on the suggestion of a co-worker. After braving the snowy drive down from Los Alamos, we were greeted with a cheerful hostess who wanted to know if we wanted to sit upstairs for the live piano music. Definitely unexpected. Once seated, it seemed like it took forever before we were even greeted by the waitress. She was nice, but definitely seemed a little spacey. Probably one to many tokes from the Peyote pipe. However, we were all entertained by the live music. From Broadway show tunes to "The Entertainer." He was definitely good on the piano, but his singing left a little to be desired. For dinner, I had the Osso Buco. The lamb was flavorful and not at all gamey. The meat fell right off the bone as you would expect, but it was definitely a bit dry as if it had been sitting for awhile. Thankfully, the red wine reduction helped to moisten it. The polenta was cheesy and went well with the lamb and white beans. Overall, it was 3 stars. However, maybe a little overpriced given the quality. Desserts looked plentiful for the restaurant; from a lemon zabaglione to an Italian bread pudding. And of course, what Italian place wouldn't have Tiramisu. My co-worker's one line review of it, "It was decent, but I've had better." And that maybe the best way to describe Pranzo.
(3)
Sarah P.
I really want to like this place because of its convenient location, but every time I have gone (we're talking at least 5 times in the last year) the food has been mediocre at best. They sometimes run out of basics like eggplant parm, and the waiters consistently recommend the most expensive bottle of wine in the category you select -- and the wine is not very good. It's still a fun place for happy hour, but I'm going to skip it for dinner for a while.
(2)
Carmen M.
I've been to this restaurant several times. I really enjoy the salads and the gluten-free pasta entrees. It's very pricey so going there is a treat. Here are my issues: 1. To-go order was a huge rip off as the portion I got was tiny. 2. When dining in, the waitress was rude and inattentive. I don't know if that's because I wasn't ordering wine, but she barely waited on the table. I don't know if given all that this place is worth the price. Clientele are snooty looking and there's hardly anyone under 50.
(2)
Brian P.
I love good Italian- Grandma's Italian, mafia Italian, high end Italian - this turned out disappointingly to be mediocre New Mexican Italian. I make my own pasta, meatballs, ravioli- you name it. I cook much better. Yet I spent $121 on 3 glasses of wine, spaghetti and meatballs and ravioli covered in heavy flavorless cream!!!!! I realize service is impossible to come by in a town that chooses things like living wages as opposed to actually earning your money- but I've worked in restaurants from London to NYC to NOLA and service is were it begins and the very least of expectations when the food is ho hum. 4 simple examples of why this place blew my mind. The other waiter in our area (when asked by another table for a Cabernet recomendation) asked the patron "what price range". What was the patron expected to say $10-20 or $100+ - simple question - rude answer reflecting the blatant desire to "sell big" that was reflected in every other waiter comment I heard- another glass to maybe some calamari? Second- Table behind me pays the bill and places large cash on the check. The waitress asks "do you want change?". You never ask such a question to the patron- if told to keep it fine- if told nothing you return the change and hope for a nice tip. Waitress 101- just plain rude. third- they are selling on special a mediocre glass of Italian wine for $19.95 / glass- my wife hears the name- knows the wine and says she'd like one before seeing the outrageous price for this wine store bottle at $25. (restaurant mark-ups aside -that was outrageous!) My then wife accidentally spills the near full glass and the waitress ignores it- while the busers attend to it very well. The waitress then continues to ignore us and fails to bring a replacement until I ask her to 15 mins. later. I'm sorry about the accident but even a chimpanzee knows that the waiter is there to serve the customer and that an accidental spill should be replaced immediately and the customer made to feel ok about the accident. 4th- we had our very well behaved 11mo. old son with us and the waitress did not even acknowledge his existence once all night. No one is asking for goo goo ga ga just a hello - is there anything I can get him? Try Il Piato, L'osteria or even Andiamo - but avoid this place like the plague until they decide to train a wait staff- unless you like paying NOT to be waited on. I spoke with the manager after the dinner and she listened for 3 mins. and then became disinterested and said she had better go check on things.
(1)
Jaime Patricio M.
I believe Pranzo -- had a sister restaurant in Albuquerque--Scalo's. Pranzo is a wonderful N. Italian restaurant west of Downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is so near and dear to me. My family's roots are here and although i never lived here i spent a lot of time -- every summer in Santa Fe. i actually spent alot of time near Pranzo--so for me Pranzo is special on many levels. Rare to have such a high qualilty N. Italian restaurant in Santa Fe -- maybe the only one. I love the environs and ambiance! Buen Provecho!
(4)
Courtney S.
OMG, what a find in Santa Fe!! Our hotel manager recommended this place as a possibility, and needing a bit of a break from chilis, we went to Pranzo Italian Grill. Well who knew that Tuesday night was Buena Sera night, and that ALL of their mains were $15.95 (including fish!) except their steaks! The fish of the day came with some of the tastiest orzo/veggie mixture I've ever had! My husband's risotto with pesto was also delicious! I got a good cocktail, the husband an excellent wine flight of Italian reds. Service was spectacular. When an olive fell out of my salad upon delivery, our server brought us a little bowl of olives to make up for the loss of just the one. The ambiance was really elegant without being stuffy... we were additionally intrigued by the LED candle on the table. Our final bill was really reasonable for the food we got, mainly because of the Tuesday Buena Sera specials. I highly recommend this place especially for their weekly specials, delicious food, and nice ambiance.
(5)
Dorothy F.
Pranzo is essentially The Olive Garden dressed up in knockoff couture. The wine list was bleak, as was the wine I chose. The food tasted commercial, although the bread and multiple olive oil dip options did appease me slightly. There were only two beers on tap, which I know, it's an Italian restaurant, but who doesn't love multiple beers on tap?! I will say that the staff was attentive and kind, perhaps because they felt sorry for my boyfriend and I for having spent close to $150 on shwag.
(2)
John O.
Love Pranzo! Great pizza, great range of Italian entrees from fancy to total comfort. The woodfired oven when you come in is terrfic; my son loves to watch them slide the pizzas in. Outstanding service too. Big place, easy to get a table. Great wine list and specials. Excellent ice cream and desserts too; you can buy the ice cream to take home. A great neighborhood place, and a step up from all of the boring chains.
(5)
Lotus G.
We ended up going to the bar and had a great bottle of Prosecco. Great sevice and very cozy. The bartender was awesome!!! Thanks!
(4)
Frank O.
I'd heard some bad things about Pranzo - poor food, mediocre service - lately, so I thought I'd try it out. All not the case any more. The owner, Michael O'Reilly, who owns the O'Keeffe Cafe also, is very hands on and has obviously sorted out their problems. We had a great meal, taking advantage of the specials they have almost every day. Excellent high-end pizza and other Italian grub. Great steaks and ossobucco. Service was professional and attentive. And the bill was ok, too.
(4)
Thighmaster M.
Low cost ingredients with a high price tag. Four of us sampled a broad array of their menu and left disappointed by small portions and Italian cuisine that looks fancy (read expensive) but clearly cut back on quality of ingredients. Lousy Manhattan from the bar, also charged us for a glass of wine we didn't order. Staff/servers were above average that night - incredibly accomodating.
(2)
Stacey M.
the best polenta mushrooms gorgonzola cream drooling as i type
(5)
Shane L.
Not good. I've had better pasta at the Olive Garden! We came here because my wife had nostalgic memories of this place when she used to come to Santa Fe as a child. Boy, things must have been different back then! The apps were better than the entrees. Live piano music was a nice touch. Service so, so. Food is the main reason for the 2 stars. I mean it's fine Italian food if we are comparing it with chains like OG, but if that's what I wanted I would go there, and pay much less. Quality is lacking for sure, pasta over cooked, meatballs tiny and hard on the outside, sauce was bland. Wow. Sorry guys, but you gotta make some changes if you're going to get my business again.
(2)
Mark D.
MY FAMILY AND I FOUND THEIR "LIGHT LUNCH" OPTIONS TO BE EXCELLENT. I ordered from the normal lunch menu and had a GREAT Blackened Salmon salad with a pomagranite dressing. Along with cheesy fresh bread, this was the best meal of our 4 days eating well in santa Fe. The next closest winner was the "Chocolate Maven" but that was bruch, so....................check this place out - really good and piano bar upstairs at night should be fun
(4)
Anthony R.
Sat in the bar area to write my book on my latop for a few hours. Great place to be, good atmosphere but the temperature is a little high for the weather (I am there right now!) Drawing points are the atmosphere (at the bar), bartenders (Gregory and Jena), food, and especially half price bottles of wine on Sundays. Take a look at the wine list on their website and find something you like. I got the Three Saints 2010 Syrah, which was $20 at half price. It started off a bit strong (it is 14.1% abv) but opens up nicely as you get used to it. Staff is well-dressed and professional. Among the best in Santa Fe. Even now I observe the bartenders talking with people at the bar. People skills are a must in a job like this, a lot of the time talking with people makes the difference not matter what else happens. Gregory was very attentive offering water refills and getting the food out promptly. I had the Insalata Verde which has local greens. It was fantastic and worked well for me (I was feeling like having good wine and eating something light). The olive oils are interesting, I really like the red chile olive oil with the bread that was offered to me. Pranzo has really improved over the last few years. I know it has been through a number of owners and reviews, but it really deserves a chance at this point as it is offering quality food and service at competitive prices. I am more impressed than I expected to be, thank you for the great experience. I should also mention that it was great of my server, Gregory, to let me use two bar tables for only one person and a laptop even if it wasn't as busy as it could have been. There are 14/24 people here, which isn't that slow for a Sunday night.
(5)
Christiana C.
Nothing bad to say! Price for early bird dinner and happy hour are reasonable, especially in Santa Fe! Staff is wonderful, punctual and polite!
(5)
Patron X.
The restaurant should change it's name as it is no longer the same owner or the same menu as many of the poor reviews. This place is turning a corner and has some really great dishes and a great wine list. Do yourself a favor and ignore all of the reviews from a year or more ago and enjoy this place before it's rediscovered and packed.
(4)
Gerald B.
Great dinner again. I had the grouper! The O salad not my fav....Beware of the olive pits!
(4)
Nick S.
This is better than 3 stars, if not for anything, for a real Italian home made feel sauce. I like it here for simplicity. The meatballs here are home made feeling in texture and taste, and there is a lot of subtle flavor in the red sauce. Decent wine list made better by Sunday specials at half off service is good and friendly. C'mon, it's a basic nice Italian restaurant
(4)
Marqui R.
This place is nestled in the San Busco Market area. I love that although its near downtown they usually have ample parking space so finding parking here is not a problem. The food is hit or miss here. I came on a date here last summer and tried the risotto based on the great reviews on yelp, it was very bland and i was so disappointed. I've tried other dishes such as the SPAGHETTI CON GAMBERONI and their pizzas which are delicious. This is a good venue to have a larger party as you can reserve the top area for a private party. I had my rehearsal dinner here for a party of 30 and the upstairs was very nice. They let us pick from 4 price point menus and have 3 dinner selections to make the service go smoother. The dinner went off smoothly and everyone enjoyed the food here. It is quite difficult to find a restaurant that will accomodate parties of 20 or more in Santa Fe on a friday evening so I was glad that this place had a private room. Overall great dining experience here and good food depending on what you get.
(4)
Marla B.
Took some friends to Pranzos for dinner, had raved about from a great experience there. Of course, we had a very different experience, I was so embarrassed because we had a bad experience this past Sunday evening. It started with the server which was not friendly or helpful. Ordered a mixed green salad---I'm sorry but from my experience that means lettuce maybe some carrots, cucumber tomatoe etc. you opened a bag of lettuce that I buy at trader joes for 1.99 through it on a plate with a very bad tasting dressing and charged me 7 or 8 $ for that! That's just not right, the rest of our meals were just mediocre. Will not be back!
(1)
Leahi M.
Great place to go! The staff is amazing, the GM of the place is super on top of things and the bartender is kick ass!
(5)
Christopher R.
I came across Pranzo through OT. We had an early reservation and the place was quiet; by the time we left, it was almost full and very energetic. Our server was great, sharing that she had worked under Chef Lemon back in the early 90s. On her recommendation I ordered the red snapper which was cooked to perfection, a bit crisp on the surface but moist inside. The sauce was fantastic. My wife had the half order of linguine carbonara; quite good if a tad over-sauced for her tastes. Dessert was wonderful (grilled lemon sorbet and tiramisu). The restaurant shows its age (a tear in the booth seat cover, color schemes, etc.), but the food is the real draw, of course. It will be exciting to see what Chef Lemon does in the future.
(4)
Drew R.
The food is really great, the sauce is tasty, the service is on the slow side, and you have to keep asking for drink refills. The food is very fine dining and upscale, but for a native Santa Fean I felt out of place and uncomfortable with the wealthy tourists.
(4)
J P.
Santa Fe has numerous fine dining options, but Pranzo falls squarely in the middle of the pack - aspiring to be a fine Italian restaurant but falling short in several areas. Now don't get me wrong - Pranzo is perfectly fine if you were comparing it to the typical suburban Italian franchise. But this is Santa Fe and the bar for most restaurants is set quite high. Pranzo is located in the Sanbusco Center - an historic building converted to retail center. (Sanbusco lost its anchor tenant when Border's Books went out of business, so the mall is a bit quieter than before.) It is located near the burgeoning railyards arts district, near the Railrunner train station, REI, and SITE. We've been to Pranzo on several occasions previously, and the experience has varied from average to quite nice. But on our most recent visit, it was decidedly a disappointment. The first indication was when we entered the restaurant to hear several departing patrons complaining to the hostess about their poor experience. Not a good sign, but we hoped it might be an isolated incident. Even though we had reservations, the hostess said she couldn't seat us for another 15 minutes after the reservation time. This also happens occasionally, so we didn't give it much thought. When we were seated, we noticed it did take somewhat longer than usual to get a waitress to take our drink and meal order. Then we noticed that only one waitress was working the entire half of the lower dining area. Maybe Pranzo was short-handed that night, or someone quit at the last minute? If not, then management may have been trying to save money through understaffing - always a bad idea in a service business. It was a cold night, so we ordered a bowl of soup (Minestrone alla Pranzo) to share. After roughly 30 minutes, our entrees were served (by another staffer, not the waitress), but we never did get the soup we ordered. And our waitress was nowhere to be found to correct the error. Okay, no biggie. Maybe we'll save room for dessert. For entrees, we ordered a Spinach Salad (Insalata Spinaci) and a Chicken Pesto Pizza (Pizza con Pollo e Pesto), both to be shared. The salad was okay, but nothing to brag about. The spinach was sort of overwhelmed by the Balsamic vinaigrette. But the roasted pears and roasted red peppers were limp and tasteless. The pizza is about 10-inches in diameter with 6 slices - big enough to share for two, but small enough as an individual portion. Unfortunately, the chicken was incredibly dry, so much so that we had to remove the chicken slices to be able to eat the pizza. The pesto tasted as if it came from a jar, and there was way too much on the pizza (it doesn't need to be used like marinara sauce and cover every square inch). There was also way too much mozzarella - maybe it was used to hold all the ingredients together? The crust was light and tasty however, so it wasn't a total disaster. Why didn't we complain about our food to the waitress? We would have, had we seen her, or been able to catch her eye. Finally, almost 90 minutes in, she comes by to present the check and (finally) asked how everything was. We told her we didn't get what we ordered (soup) and said the entrees weren't very good. She didn't look like this meant much to her and said "I'll remove the soup from the bill". There was no offer to discount the poor entrees. There are way too many excellent dining options in Santa Fe for Pranzo to continue in this way. There are several reviews noting poor service and we certainly experienced that. I can forgive some lackluster service if the food is really good, but in this case the meal was below average. Pranzo needs to address issues of inconsistent service and poor food quality. And they need to address them now.
(1)
Melissa S.
"Received Terrible service and food- manger told me "never come back" This used to be a fabulous restaurant. I've been dining at Pranzo for many years and its sad to see what it has become. I ordered a pasta plate that was drenched in oil and my partner ordered the duck plate that came with half cooked beans. The waitress came around once and asked how the food was when we took our first bite. Another server had to bring us bread as the first one never came back around. We waited what felt like forever for the server to check on us so we could ask for the check, which at that point I tried to explain how drenched the bottom half of my pasta was and she said "I gave you the opportunity to tell me how the food was when I asked" ...yea, when I barely took my first bite! WOW, what great customer service. Who trains these people? Then she told my partner that the beans on his plate are supposed to come half cooked. After another long wait we were finally able to speak with the manager who could care less and after she noticed I did not leave a tip, she literally yelled at me "You're not going to leave Rosalind anything!" (I got steamed and the F Bomb came out) "F No!" and her dramatic response "I'm going to ask you to never come in here again!" Since when do managers of restaurants demand you to leave a tip for horrible food and service???
(1)
Joe MArtelaro M.
When you walk into Pranzo, you think you may have arrived at a decent Italian eatery. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. The interior design is not bad but that's where the positives end. The calamari appetizer was hard and the accompanying sauces were mediocre. Everything we ordered including the meatballs seemed soggy and not quite cooked properly. Sauces tasted like they came out of a jar. You'd be better off at a Macaronni Grill or an Olive Garden. This is a simple case of folks without the skills getting into the wrong business. As someone with Italian in my blood, I was hoping for more. The bus help was nice but the waitress was cold and detached. The wine although described as "a nosegay of floral aroma" tasted like two-buck Chuck but that summed up the experience for us. The superficial things at Pranzo were okay - the interior design, the menu descriptions - but the food, drink and service were the pits. Save your money!
(1)
D T.
Delicious !!!! We stumbled upon this place just out walking and we were in for a nice surprise. We had a most excellent meal, sat out on the patio and chatted with some friendly semi- locals ( well they were from Taos) The waitstaff was very attentive and our meal was great. Wine list is amazing and I did have a very decent choice by the glass, since my companion was not having wine. Great find.
(4)
Rennie C.
So incredibly bad I don't have the words. Menu unimaginative, service consistently bad/slow/mouth-breathers, food nearly inedible. I've given them several chances, but as a Santa Fean, I know there are tons of better choices for Italian in town Stay away from this Olive Garden wannabe.
(1)
Stephanie P.
#155 Totally upscale and packed with the middle-agers. So, the boyfriend and I felt right at home. Ha. Because we didn't have a reservation and the dining area was pretty packed, we opted for seating at the bar. Bad move. The bartender was a total drag and a half and treated us as if we were children (granted, we were probably half the age of everybody there). After we got our High Desert and Provenzale, we decided to ask a waiter to help us move over to one of the smaller tables in the lounge. The bartender acted surprised that we were relocating but, really? You didn't realize you were being incredibly rude to us? Once we got to our table though, the entire experience went uphill. First of all, there was a couple sitting right next to us that was clearly doing something naughty. All throughout dinner, we eavesdropped on their conversation (just because they were being so loud and flamboyant) and turns out .... they were both cheating on their respective spouses!!! Tsk tsk tsk. The guy was incredibly desperate to get her back to his hotel room, but eventually she opted out and left him alone at the table. Boo-hoo. As for the food, excellent, really. I ordered the lobster gnocchi and the lobster was cooked to absolute perfection. The gnocchi, to my surprise, didn't taste overwhelmingly like potatoes, which is always something a chef can't easily avoid. The sauce was also creamy and full of flavor. The boyfriend's swordfish was also delightful. The highlight of the night though was the High Desert that I had ordered at the bar earlier. THE best spicy cocktail I've had then and since. The brim was coated with chili powder and, instead of the typical olive or lemon slice, it was topped with a jalapeno. It was a feat just finishing it but I did it! Really, I would have liked to have given this place a 5, but just because of the rude bartender at the beginning of the night, it has dropped down to a 4.
(4)
Christine P.
Calamari appetizer was very good, the sauce they brought was yummy! The lobster pasta was good, the oso bucco was GREAT! Great service, great wine selection. Nice cozy restaurant. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is my espresso was burnt.
(4)
Raven C.
They deserve zero stars. They couldn't even get spaghetti and meatballs right. What a waste. Then tasted eggshells in meatballs which manager denied being the case. When I asked what else would have made them crunchy he did not know. I asked him about the portion size since I ordered full size. I got four small meatballs that came with very little pasta which was overcooked. The manager then responded with, "when you get old you don't need as much to eat". Needless to say I am 34 yo. So age wouldnt apply to my appetite unless he's talking about himself. I only went here because the other italian restaurant was closed.
(1)
Susan P.
Walked into bar - only people at the bar. Bartender promptly walks away to talk to other employees. Then leaves bar altogether. Finally comes back (other employees milling about do not even look at us) lays napkins down on dirty (replete with food droppings from previous customers) bar. I ask him to clean it. He does a half *ssed job - spreading crumbs on me rather than collecting them toward him. We order a tasting flight. 1 of the 3 wines is different than what's on the menu - and they all tasted like airline wine. Enter single mother with 1 year old. (This is 8:45PM.) Sits at end of bar at a table and proceeds to have LOUD conversation with 1 year old about the colors of the candy she is feeding him. We pick up our wine and move to other end of bar. (Still only people at bar.) Guess what? Bar is filthy with food debris from previous customers. Bartender is talking to single mother with kid, so I reach over and get a rag to clean the bar. Meanwhile, apparent manager on duty is talking loudly to hostess about her camping trips - completely oblivious to customers.... After another 20 minutes of extra loud Mommy talk (so we all know what a great mom she is....), we leave. Won't be back. If you want a grown up dinner experience go to Galisteo Bistro. If you want a grown up glass of wine at the bar in the Railyard, go to Ristra.
(1)
Zoya D.
Mmmm YUM! Hop of the train from the Rail Runner and take a stroll through the beautiful Santa Fe railyards to Pranzo. Sit down, have some wine. Scrumptious seared salmon salad. Old-style service with white tablecloths: I feel like I'm back at my hometown, old-school Chicago eateries (Gene & Georgetti's, etc.) Creme brulee made my smile all the way back home to ABQ. A nice change from the rote options available in Duke City. This was a nice trip away from home. I'm surprised by the 2- and 3-star ratings here; granted my rating is derived from ordering salad, but certainly the experience can go a long way.
(4)
Scott S.
It was Sunday and after finding a few restaurants closed, our group of six stopped here for a pleasant mid-afternoon supper. Half price on the wine coaxed us into having a couple of bottles, which we enjoyed. The seating and atmosphere felt warm, and comfy. Our food was promptly served and tasty but nothing spectacular. We ordered lamb topped pizza mushroom pizza, capellini pomodoro, and salads. I liked the brightness in the pomodor sauce and their garlic olive oil. The best part of the meal was the quick and attentive service.
(3)
Karen S.
Rather overpriced for the quality of food. In a town with so many great restaurant choices, they would do well to reconsider the quality and freshness of the food as well as remaining competitively priced. A little more flavor wouldn't hurt........
(2)
Genevieve T.
Correction...this place USED to be great. I went here with my family recently, and my Dad and I got VERY sick afterwards. I don't think I'll be back.
(1)
Sofia K.
The bad news.....the mussels were spoiled and reeked. The good news...they were overcooked and rubbery, so I'm sure all bacteria was killed. Our entrees were so boring as to not merit mentioning. (Our server was very nice though.)
(1)
Ian T.
This place is very yuppie. They have wine connoisseur clothing and classical/jazz music for sale in a glass display as you walk in. They also have a legitimate coat cubby. This kind of style does not turn me off of a place unless the staff act with the disrespect they are expected to put up with. (as a side note 95% of the other customers were white seniors 65+ in age I felt a little out of place as a 25 year old.) On a Friday night my family and I walked in to a 30 minute wait. It was our fault for not making reservations, so we waited. Out of curiosity, we asked the hostess if there were any other restaurants in the area. She said "I don't know" and looked back down at her podium... As if a local mid 20s year old woman doesn't know of ANY other places to eat. Clearly blew us off. The bar was nearly full, but my brother and I found two seats. We were asked for our IDs and gave them to him. He accepted my Arizona license after a long look. However, as soon as he saw my brothers vertical Texas license, even though he is 23 years old, he denied him service saying "its company policy and all of the near by places do it too" and gave an explanation of police stings. We were kind of annoyed being that we are on vacation and just had a long hard day of skiing. I am pretty sure denying a legal form of identification is breaking some laws, but I'm not a lawyer. The company clearly does not care for their potential customers. They were as uninviting as i could of imagined a restaurant being. We told the rest of my family and we decided to leave. We went to the Mediterranean place across the street who gladly accepted my brothers license and had excellent food AND wine. If the staff had been nicer i still would not have gone to this place based on their discrimination of vertical IDs. Two thumbs down.
(1)
Sandy K.
I really wish I could give this place a better review, but the eggplant Parmesan made it go from a 4 to a 2 star. We placed an order to go and waited a good 20-25 minutes for it to be ready. We ordered a house salad, a margherita pizza and eggplant Parmesan. The first two items were pretty good, but the eggplant was horrible. It was WAY under-cooked and rubbery...we could barely get a sharp knife to cut it. We threw the whole thing away. With all the good dining options in Santa Fe, this place really has to do better.
(2)
Matt O.
LOVE this place. Great Italian and a truly outstanding wine list. A relaxed upscale atmosphere. Our waiter was extremely knowledgable, friendly and attentive. I had the lasagna and it was excellent. Also sampled the pizza and it did not disappoint. We had a Russian River pinot that was just brilliant. They have some great Malbecs too. If you're into wine, this is the spot! Seemed very reasonably priced. Will definitely go back on my next visit to Santa Fe!
(5)
Morton S.
I had a special salad with blackened salmon. All the ingredients were fresh and it was delicious. Creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert was the best.
(4)
Frank D.
For a $75 meal the service was poor, the food mediocre. Got a dessert to go, when we got it home the portion was a joke. The menu is not what it once was, not what I consider to be true Italian cuisine. Never going back.
(1)
Jane Z.
Food and waitress were good but the management was rude. NO separate checks and refused to do so after promising when reservation was made. It took 35 minutes for everyone to figure out their own bill. Not a nice way to end an evening.
(1)
Anthony S.
Wow- This place has really gone down hill. The owners need to really think about the characters that they have working here. Sad ...as for years this place has been amazing and one of our regular spots. Won't be back.
(1)
Patrick H.
The food wasn't bad but wasn't great either; definitely over priced. The feeling I got was they were portraying a five star restaurant but can't quite get there. Looked for flexibility and value but didn't get it. I would suggest Andiamos.
(1)
Will And Sam K.
Excellent food Absolutely on of my favorites in Santa Fe ! The appetizer with the shrimp, callamari, and scallops is to die for . Then we had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich on ciabotta bread another great sandwich ! Nice atmosphere nice people !
(5)
Ryan B.
They can't split checks or give you an itemized receipt... What a joke. They really need to get their POS system updated.
(1)
Cheryl W.
The only reason this is getting a 3 is because of Adrian my waiter. He took reasonably good care of a solo diner. The food was awful. I had the Vongole, tasteless clams which were scant in comparison with other restaurants where the food is better and the price less. Equally tasteless, clumpy pasta and sauce. Was there a sauce? I wanted to like this place but cannot.
(3)
Lori G.
We stopped at Pranzo during our time in Santa Fe because we had previously purchased a Groupon deal. Here were some of the high/lowlights: + Insalata Caprese was fresh and plentiful + Complimentary bread to start was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside + Insalata Caesar w/Salmon was flavorful, but the portion of salmon was quite small for the upcharge + Lasagna sauce was overly sweet with unappetizing strips of basil as a garnish If we had to do it over again, we would have skipped Pranzo and tried authentic New Mexican cuisine instead of mediocre Italian.
(3)
Shane L.
Not good. I've had better pasta at the Olive Garden! We came here because my wife had nostalgic memories of this place when she used to come to Santa Fe as a child. Boy, things must have been different back then! The apps were better than the entrees. Live piano music was a nice touch. Service so, so. Food is the main reason for the 2 stars. I mean it's fine Italian food if we are comparing it with chains like OG, but if that's what I wanted I would go there, and pay much less. Quality is lacking for sure, pasta over cooked, meatballs tiny and hard on the outside, sauce was bland. Wow. Sorry guys, but you gotta make some changes if you're going to get my business again.
(2)
Anthony R.
Sat in the bar area to write my book on my latop for a few hours. Great place to be, good atmosphere but the temperature is a little high for the weather (I am there right now!) Drawing points are the atmosphere (at the bar), bartenders (Gregory and Jena), food, and especially half price bottles of wine on Sundays. Take a look at the wine list on their website and find something you like. I got the Three Saints 2010 Syrah, which was $20 at half price. It started off a bit strong (it is 14.1% abv) but opens up nicely as you get used to it. Staff is well-dressed and professional. Among the best in Santa Fe. Even now I observe the bartenders talking with people at the bar. People skills are a must in a job like this, a lot of the time talking with people makes the difference not matter what else happens. Gregory was very attentive offering water refills and getting the food out promptly. I had the Insalata Verde which has local greens. It was fantastic and worked well for me (I was feeling like having good wine and eating something light). The olive oils are interesting, I really like the red chile olive oil with the bread that was offered to me. Pranzo has really improved over the last few years. I know it has been through a number of owners and reviews, but it really deserves a chance at this point as it is offering quality food and service at competitive prices. I am more impressed than I expected to be, thank you for the great experience. I should also mention that it was great of my server, Gregory, to let me use two bar tables for only one person and a laptop even if it wasn't as busy as it could have been. There are 14/24 people here, which isn't that slow for a Sunday night.
(5)
Christiana C.
Nothing bad to say! Price for early bird dinner and happy hour are reasonable, especially in Santa Fe! Staff is wonderful, punctual and polite!
(5)
Patron X.
The restaurant should change it's name as it is no longer the same owner or the same menu as many of the poor reviews. This place is turning a corner and has some really great dishes and a great wine list. Do yourself a favor and ignore all of the reviews from a year or more ago and enjoy this place before it's rediscovered and packed.
(4)
Gerald B.
Great dinner again. I had the grouper! The O salad not my fav....Beware of the olive pits!
(4)
Nick S.
This is better than 3 stars, if not for anything, for a real Italian home made feel sauce. I like it here for simplicity. The meatballs here are home made feeling in texture and taste, and there is a lot of subtle flavor in the red sauce. Decent wine list made better by Sunday specials at half off service is good and friendly. C'mon, it's a basic nice Italian restaurant
(4)
Marqui R.
This place is nestled in the San Busco Market area. I love that although its near downtown they usually have ample parking space so finding parking here is not a problem. The food is hit or miss here. I came on a date here last summer and tried the risotto based on the great reviews on yelp, it was very bland and i was so disappointed. I've tried other dishes such as the SPAGHETTI CON GAMBERONI and their pizzas which are delicious. This is a good venue to have a larger party as you can reserve the top area for a private party. I had my rehearsal dinner here for a party of 30 and the upstairs was very nice. They let us pick from 4 price point menus and have 3 dinner selections to make the service go smoother. The dinner went off smoothly and everyone enjoyed the food here. It is quite difficult to find a restaurant that will accomodate parties of 20 or more in Santa Fe on a friday evening so I was glad that this place had a private room. Overall great dining experience here and good food depending on what you get.
(4)
Marla B.
Took some friends to Pranzos for dinner, had raved about from a great experience there. Of course, we had a very different experience, I was so embarrassed because we had a bad experience this past Sunday evening. It started with the server which was not friendly or helpful. Ordered a mixed green salad---I'm sorry but from my experience that means lettuce maybe some carrots, cucumber tomatoe etc. you opened a bag of lettuce that I buy at trader joes for 1.99 through it on a plate with a very bad tasting dressing and charged me 7 or 8 $ for that! That's just not right, the rest of our meals were just mediocre. Will not be back!
(1)
Leahi M.
Great place to go! The staff is amazing, the GM of the place is super on top of things and the bartender is kick ass!
(5)
Christopher R.
I came across Pranzo through OT. We had an early reservation and the place was quiet; by the time we left, it was almost full and very energetic. Our server was great, sharing that she had worked under Chef Lemon back in the early 90s. On her recommendation I ordered the red snapper which was cooked to perfection, a bit crisp on the surface but moist inside. The sauce was fantastic. My wife had the half order of linguine carbonara; quite good if a tad over-sauced for her tastes. Dessert was wonderful (grilled lemon sorbet and tiramisu). The restaurant shows its age (a tear in the booth seat cover, color schemes, etc.), but the food is the real draw, of course. It will be exciting to see what Chef Lemon does in the future.
(4)
Drew R.
The food is really great, the sauce is tasty, the service is on the slow side, and you have to keep asking for drink refills. The food is very fine dining and upscale, but for a native Santa Fean I felt out of place and uncomfortable with the wealthy tourists.
(4)
Debbie N.
Party of 6 with inconsistent food quality. Delicious: Squash soup, capellini pomodoro, linguini with pancetta and cream So-so: Fettuccine with chicken, ribeye (balsamic glaze seemed burned) Horrible: Bolognese sauce was almost inedible - wine wasn't cooked out and lacked seasoning. Smoked chicken pizza had no chicken or jalapeños as stated on the menu. No bread until requested. Flavored olive oils had no special flavor. Pros: Ability to order half orders of pasta with a $4 side salad. Half orders are plenty of food. But we were charged incorrectly for a full order on one of our orders. Italian lessons in the restroom was pretty neat. Service was mostly adequate.
(3)
Kate H.
I met a friend for drinks and an appetizer last night. I was disappointed in the quality of food that we received. A 17$ salad contained spinach, 7 piñon nuts, and boiled shrimp that tasted like it had been sitting out for a week. I've had 5$ salads from Trader Joes that are exceedingly more flavorful and exciting. This used to be a go to place to take out of town guests and enjoy a glass a wine. The antipasto dish we received was scant and unenjoyable. With an abundance of more reasonable and delicious restaurants in Santa Fe, I won't be going back.
(2)
Cocos B.
I have been here before and it just keeps getting better! This certain night was on a weekend. We had no reservations, the place was kind of packed, and the downstairs was too full. The upstairs is reserved to listen to music and whomever is performing that night, so they don't really like you to talk alot up there. Nevertheless we decided to sit up there. The hostess waived our piano fee since it was not our first choice so it made it worthwhile! They had half off of their wine selection so we had fun ordering a couple of dulcettos and trying them out. At one point my glass tipped over, wine spilled all over, and the waiters rushed to clean it all up. They work pretty fast but you don't feel rushed with your meal. The food was marvelous as usual! I tried dessert this time...the amaretto bread pudding...heaven! I try to make a point of visiting here every time I come to Santa Fe.
(4)
Clare M.
Food is overpriced and mediocre but good happy hour wine specials.
(3)
Jimena A.
absolutely love the desserts!.perfect atmosphere and amazing service..this is real Italian food..I should also point out the the place is super clean..make sure you make a reservation!.
(5)
Michael D.
I am really unclear as to whether this is a 3 or 2 star but I would rather give it 3 stars until I have the chance to give it a really fair review. My issue was not with the restaurant but rather my companions at dinner. It was a stiff and "cheap" dinner, i.e., I didn't get to explore the pretty extensive wine list nor get an entre that was twice what my companions were spending. I will say the hostess and the servers were fantastic. My pasta was so so. I ordered the LINGUINE CON SALSICCIA. It tasted very good but instead of the sauce lying on top of the linguine it was mixed together pretty heavily. The pasta was definitely not al dente either. I ordered the Caesar salad as an accompaniment. While it wasn't made table side it was a superlative salad. Nice crisp greens nice dressing and those lovely whole anchovies buried inside. I will give this place another try and re-review later. I also enjoyed the bread but there should have been more.
(3)
Matthew H.
I've been going to Pranzo's for the past 2 years. 2 years ago it was wonderful, attentive and helpful staff, great food and decent prices. 1 year ago the staff started leaving and their replacements were not as good. The menu started to get changed to lower quality steaks. smaller portions, and higher prices. I just went for my final time one week ago. They had AGAIN changed their menu to stop serving a filet mignon and instead a rib-eye (same price though). It was a Saturday night, however the dining room was only at about 75% occupancy and we were a party of 6 all adults. We ordered 2 beers and 4 glasses of wine. The water took around 10 minuets to get to the table and the wine approximately 20. The white wine I ordered was warm as though it had sat on the bar counter. We had our orders taken after approximately 35 minuets as it seemed the waitress never had more enough time to drop off drinks and run away even when we tried to get her attention. When we finally did have our order taken, it took another 10 minuets to recieve bread and almost another hour to recieve the food. We ordered 2 pasta dishes (one meatballs, 1 chicken) 2 rib-eye steaks (one blue rare and the other medium rare) 1 gnocchi and my mother-in-law split my father-in-law's steak. When the food came out the steaks were thin and 75% fat. Now rib-eyes have much more fat in the cut than filets however these looked worse than what I can put up at wal-mart. They were thin and curled, burnt on the outside and BOTH steaks were blue rare. If your not familiar with steak temperatures it goes blue rare rare medium rare medium medium well well They had mis-cooked my wife's steak two temperatures different. Instead of a cold pink center it was a bloody completely red all the way through mess. In addition to this my spaghetti and meatballs had about 30% spaghetti and 70% sauce with a scarce piece of beef in between. The top hat on this meal of horrors was a tomato sauce that had been tossed on both steaks. This "sauce," which consisted of something akin to V-8 thrown on a plate and warmed, was NOT on the menu, neither was the basil, which was so much in abundance, that it made the plate look like some kind of salad with meat under it. We promptly returned both the steaks and 20 minuets later, when most of us had less than 50% of our food left, the steak returned. Neither steak had the forest of basil or V-8 based sauce, but my wife's was AGAIN blue rare. We sent the steak back yet again. The third time was finally right but at that time the rest of the food had been at the table for over an hour (30 minuets for the other steak). and EVERYONE was done eating. My wife is on a blood sugar controlling diet and need to eat at very specific times. Suffice it to say she had had to subsist on mashed potatoes and by the time the steak arrived she ate about two bites before packing it up to go. I tried one bite of the steak, and it was not even seasoned with salt or pepper. Now this would have been bad enough, the food was HORRIBLE, but no this experience continues down towards a hellish experience when we asked to speak to the manager about the bad experience. A middle aged woman came over and asked what was the matter. We explained and here is the answer we got, "Well if you didn't like it you should have ordered something else." In a tone that said, I don't care what you think, My kitchen is right no matter what the food tastes or looks like. Everyone at the table was taken aback. Typically a manager comes over to a table to smooth out a bad experience, this one had decided to blame the customer for the incorrect order and bland food. So we get the bill, both steaks are still on it, they have 3 salads and 4 beers when we had ordered 2 beers and 2 salads. Also, there was a 20% AUTO gratuity put on the bill. Maybe this is why the server and manager didn't care for us or what we thought, they already had a 20% tip. SO we pay and leave, pocketing the owner's card to call later. On the way out the manager looks at me and my mother-in-law adn says, " Eat somewhere else next time." . . . eat somewhere else next time? NO PROBLEM! Calling the owner help none, he neither apologized nor said he would do anything about it, just that, "That doesn't sound like my manager." He said they had "only" one complaint out of every 200 customers. 0.5% of all people have experiences SO BAD they call the owner, and somehow they think this is ok. I now know where the staff has picked up it's attitude towards customer's, if the owner doesn't care, neither does the manager and neither does the staff. I will never EVER go back to this place and have already disputed the meal charge from my credit card. All I can say is thank GOD it wasn't a special occasion like someone's birthday or anniversary.
(1)
Brian P.
I love good Italian- Grandma's Italian, mafia Italian, high end Italian - this turned out disappointingly to be mediocre New Mexican Italian. I make my own pasta, meatballs, ravioli- you name it. I cook much better. Yet I spent $121 on 3 glasses of wine, spaghetti and meatballs and ravioli covered in heavy flavorless cream!!!!! I realize service is impossible to come by in a town that chooses things like living wages as opposed to actually earning your money- but I've worked in restaurants from London to NYC to NOLA and service is were it begins and the very least of expectations when the food is ho hum. 4 simple examples of why this place blew my mind. The other waiter in our area (when asked by another table for a Cabernet recomendation) asked the patron "what price range". What was the patron expected to say $10-20 or $100+ - simple question - rude answer reflecting the blatant desire to "sell big" that was reflected in every other waiter comment I heard- another glass to maybe some calamari? Second- Table behind me pays the bill and places large cash on the check. The waitress asks "do you want change?". You never ask such a question to the patron- if told to keep it fine- if told nothing you return the change and hope for a nice tip. Waitress 101- just plain rude. third- they are selling on special a mediocre glass of Italian wine for $19.95 / glass- my wife hears the name- knows the wine and says she'd like one before seeing the outrageous price for this wine store bottle at $25. (restaurant mark-ups aside -that was outrageous!) My then wife accidentally spills the near full glass and the waitress ignores it- while the busers attend to it very well. The waitress then continues to ignore us and fails to bring a replacement until I ask her to 15 mins. later. I'm sorry about the accident but even a chimpanzee knows that the waiter is there to serve the customer and that an accidental spill should be replaced immediately and the customer made to feel ok about the accident. 4th- we had our very well behaved 11mo. old son with us and the waitress did not even acknowledge his existence once all night. No one is asking for goo goo ga ga just a hello - is there anything I can get him? Try Il Piato, L'osteria or even Andiamo - but avoid this place like the plague until they decide to train a wait staff- unless you like paying NOT to be waited on. I spoke with the manager after the dinner and she listened for 3 mins. and then became disinterested and said she had better go check on things.
(1)
Courtney S.
OMG, what a find in Santa Fe!! Our hotel manager recommended this place as a possibility, and needing a bit of a break from chilis, we went to Pranzo Italian Grill. Well who knew that Tuesday night was Buena Sera night, and that ALL of their mains were $15.95 (including fish!) except their steaks! The fish of the day came with some of the tastiest orzo/veggie mixture I've ever had! My husband's risotto with pesto was also delicious! I got a good cocktail, the husband an excellent wine flight of Italian reds. Service was spectacular. When an olive fell out of my salad upon delivery, our server brought us a little bowl of olives to make up for the loss of just the one. The ambiance was really elegant without being stuffy... we were additionally intrigued by the LED candle on the table. Our final bill was really reasonable for the food we got, mainly because of the Tuesday Buena Sera specials. I highly recommend this place especially for their weekly specials, delicious food, and nice ambiance.
(5)
Dorothy F.
Pranzo is essentially The Olive Garden dressed up in knockoff couture. The wine list was bleak, as was the wine I chose. The food tasted commercial, although the bread and multiple olive oil dip options did appease me slightly. There were only two beers on tap, which I know, it's an Italian restaurant, but who doesn't love multiple beers on tap?! I will say that the staff was attentive and kind, perhaps because they felt sorry for my boyfriend and I for having spent close to $150 on shwag.
(2)
John O.
Love Pranzo! Great pizza, great range of Italian entrees from fancy to total comfort. The woodfired oven when you come in is terrfic; my son loves to watch them slide the pizzas in. Outstanding service too. Big place, easy to get a table. Great wine list and specials. Excellent ice cream and desserts too; you can buy the ice cream to take home. A great neighborhood place, and a step up from all of the boring chains.
(5)
Lotus G.
We ended up going to the bar and had a great bottle of Prosecco. Great sevice and very cozy. The bartender was awesome!!! Thanks!
(4)
Mark D.
MY FAMILY AND I FOUND THEIR "LIGHT LUNCH" OPTIONS TO BE EXCELLENT. I ordered from the normal lunch menu and had a GREAT Blackened Salmon salad with a pomagranite dressing. Along with cheesy fresh bread, this was the best meal of our 4 days eating well in santa Fe. The next closest winner was the "Chocolate Maven" but that was bruch, so....................check this place out - really good and piano bar upstairs at night should be fun
(4)
J P.
Santa Fe has numerous fine dining options, but Pranzo falls squarely in the middle of the pack - aspiring to be a fine Italian restaurant but falling short in several areas. Now don't get me wrong - Pranzo is perfectly fine if you were comparing it to the typical suburban Italian franchise. But this is Santa Fe and the bar for most restaurants is set quite high. Pranzo is located in the Sanbusco Center - an historic building converted to retail center. (Sanbusco lost its anchor tenant when Border's Books went out of business, so the mall is a bit quieter than before.) It is located near the burgeoning railyards arts district, near the Railrunner train station, REI, and SITE. We've been to Pranzo on several occasions previously, and the experience has varied from average to quite nice. But on our most recent visit, it was decidedly a disappointment. The first indication was when we entered the restaurant to hear several departing patrons complaining to the hostess about their poor experience. Not a good sign, but we hoped it might be an isolated incident. Even though we had reservations, the hostess said she couldn't seat us for another 15 minutes after the reservation time. This also happens occasionally, so we didn't give it much thought. When we were seated, we noticed it did take somewhat longer than usual to get a waitress to take our drink and meal order. Then we noticed that only one waitress was working the entire half of the lower dining area. Maybe Pranzo was short-handed that night, or someone quit at the last minute? If not, then management may have been trying to save money through understaffing - always a bad idea in a service business. It was a cold night, so we ordered a bowl of soup (Minestrone alla Pranzo) to share. After roughly 30 minutes, our entrees were served (by another staffer, not the waitress), but we never did get the soup we ordered. And our waitress was nowhere to be found to correct the error. Okay, no biggie. Maybe we'll save room for dessert. For entrees, we ordered a Spinach Salad (Insalata Spinaci) and a Chicken Pesto Pizza (Pizza con Pollo e Pesto), both to be shared. The salad was okay, but nothing to brag about. The spinach was sort of overwhelmed by the Balsamic vinaigrette. But the roasted pears and roasted red peppers were limp and tasteless. The pizza is about 10-inches in diameter with 6 slices - big enough to share for two, but small enough as an individual portion. Unfortunately, the chicken was incredibly dry, so much so that we had to remove the chicken slices to be able to eat the pizza. The pesto tasted as if it came from a jar, and there was way too much on the pizza (it doesn't need to be used like marinara sauce and cover every square inch). There was also way too much mozzarella - maybe it was used to hold all the ingredients together? The crust was light and tasty however, so it wasn't a total disaster. Why didn't we complain about our food to the waitress? We would have, had we seen her, or been able to catch her eye. Finally, almost 90 minutes in, she comes by to present the check and (finally) asked how everything was. We told her we didn't get what we ordered (soup) and said the entrees weren't very good. She didn't look like this meant much to her and said "I'll remove the soup from the bill". There was no offer to discount the poor entrees. There are way too many excellent dining options in Santa Fe for Pranzo to continue in this way. There are several reviews noting poor service and we certainly experienced that. I can forgive some lackluster service if the food is really good, but in this case the meal was below average. Pranzo needs to address issues of inconsistent service and poor food quality. And they need to address them now.
(1)
Melissa S.
"Received Terrible service and food- manger told me "never come back" This used to be a fabulous restaurant. I've been dining at Pranzo for many years and its sad to see what it has become. I ordered a pasta plate that was drenched in oil and my partner ordered the duck plate that came with half cooked beans. The waitress came around once and asked how the food was when we took our first bite. Another server had to bring us bread as the first one never came back around. We waited what felt like forever for the server to check on us so we could ask for the check, which at that point I tried to explain how drenched the bottom half of my pasta was and she said "I gave you the opportunity to tell me how the food was when I asked" ...yea, when I barely took my first bite! WOW, what great customer service. Who trains these people? Then she told my partner that the beans on his plate are supposed to come half cooked. After another long wait we were finally able to speak with the manager who could care less and after she noticed I did not leave a tip, she literally yelled at me "You're not going to leave Rosalind anything!" (I got steamed and the F Bomb came out) "F No!" and her dramatic response "I'm going to ask you to never come in here again!" Since when do managers of restaurants demand you to leave a tip for horrible food and service???
(1)
Joe MArtelaro M.
When you walk into Pranzo, you think you may have arrived at a decent Italian eatery. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. The interior design is not bad but that's where the positives end. The calamari appetizer was hard and the accompanying sauces were mediocre. Everything we ordered including the meatballs seemed soggy and not quite cooked properly. Sauces tasted like they came out of a jar. You'd be better off at a Macaronni Grill or an Olive Garden. This is a simple case of folks without the skills getting into the wrong business. As someone with Italian in my blood, I was hoping for more. The bus help was nice but the waitress was cold and detached. The wine although described as "a nosegay of floral aroma" tasted like two-buck Chuck but that summed up the experience for us. The superficial things at Pranzo were okay - the interior design, the menu descriptions - but the food, drink and service were the pits. Save your money!
(1)
D T.
Delicious !!!! We stumbled upon this place just out walking and we were in for a nice surprise. We had a most excellent meal, sat out on the patio and chatted with some friendly semi- locals ( well they were from Taos) The waitstaff was very attentive and our meal was great. Wine list is amazing and I did have a very decent choice by the glass, since my companion was not having wine. Great find.
(4)
Rennie C.
So incredibly bad I don't have the words. Menu unimaginative, service consistently bad/slow/mouth-breathers, food nearly inedible. I've given them several chances, but as a Santa Fean, I know there are tons of better choices for Italian in town Stay away from this Olive Garden wannabe.
(1)
Stephanie P.
#155 Totally upscale and packed with the middle-agers. So, the boyfriend and I felt right at home. Ha. Because we didn't have a reservation and the dining area was pretty packed, we opted for seating at the bar. Bad move. The bartender was a total drag and a half and treated us as if we were children (granted, we were probably half the age of everybody there). After we got our High Desert and Provenzale, we decided to ask a waiter to help us move over to one of the smaller tables in the lounge. The bartender acted surprised that we were relocating but, really? You didn't realize you were being incredibly rude to us? Once we got to our table though, the entire experience went uphill. First of all, there was a couple sitting right next to us that was clearly doing something naughty. All throughout dinner, we eavesdropped on their conversation (just because they were being so loud and flamboyant) and turns out .... they were both cheating on their respective spouses!!! Tsk tsk tsk. The guy was incredibly desperate to get her back to his hotel room, but eventually she opted out and left him alone at the table. Boo-hoo. As for the food, excellent, really. I ordered the lobster gnocchi and the lobster was cooked to absolute perfection. The gnocchi, to my surprise, didn't taste overwhelmingly like potatoes, which is always something a chef can't easily avoid. The sauce was also creamy and full of flavor. The boyfriend's swordfish was also delightful. The highlight of the night though was the High Desert that I had ordered at the bar earlier. THE best spicy cocktail I've had then and since. The brim was coated with chili powder and, instead of the typical olive or lemon slice, it was topped with a jalapeno. It was a feat just finishing it but I did it! Really, I would have liked to have given this place a 5, but just because of the rude bartender at the beginning of the night, it has dropped down to a 4.
(4)
Christine P.
Calamari appetizer was very good, the sauce they brought was yummy! The lobster pasta was good, the oso bucco was GREAT! Great service, great wine selection. Nice cozy restaurant. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is my espresso was burnt.
(4)
Raven C.
They deserve zero stars. They couldn't even get spaghetti and meatballs right. What a waste. Then tasted eggshells in meatballs which manager denied being the case. When I asked what else would have made them crunchy he did not know. I asked him about the portion size since I ordered full size. I got four small meatballs that came with very little pasta which was overcooked. The manager then responded with, "when you get old you don't need as much to eat". Needless to say I am 34 yo. So age wouldnt apply to my appetite unless he's talking about himself. I only went here because the other italian restaurant was closed.
(1)
Susan P.
Walked into bar - only people at the bar. Bartender promptly walks away to talk to other employees. Then leaves bar altogether. Finally comes back (other employees milling about do not even look at us) lays napkins down on dirty (replete with food droppings from previous customers) bar. I ask him to clean it. He does a half *ssed job - spreading crumbs on me rather than collecting them toward him. We order a tasting flight. 1 of the 3 wines is different than what's on the menu - and they all tasted like airline wine. Enter single mother with 1 year old. (This is 8:45PM.) Sits at end of bar at a table and proceeds to have LOUD conversation with 1 year old about the colors of the candy she is feeding him. We pick up our wine and move to other end of bar. (Still only people at bar.) Guess what? Bar is filthy with food debris from previous customers. Bartender is talking to single mother with kid, so I reach over and get a rag to clean the bar. Meanwhile, apparent manager on duty is talking loudly to hostess about her camping trips - completely oblivious to customers.... After another 20 minutes of extra loud Mommy talk (so we all know what a great mom she is....), we leave. Won't be back. If you want a grown up dinner experience go to Galisteo Bistro. If you want a grown up glass of wine at the bar in the Railyard, go to Ristra.
(1)
Zoya D.
Mmmm YUM! Hop of the train from the Rail Runner and take a stroll through the beautiful Santa Fe railyards to Pranzo. Sit down, have some wine. Scrumptious seared salmon salad. Old-style service with white tablecloths: I feel like I'm back at my hometown, old-school Chicago eateries (Gene & Georgetti's, etc.) Creme brulee made my smile all the way back home to ABQ. A nice change from the rote options available in Duke City. This was a nice trip away from home. I'm surprised by the 2- and 3-star ratings here; granted my rating is derived from ordering salad, but certainly the experience can go a long way.
(4)
Scott S.
It was Sunday and after finding a few restaurants closed, our group of six stopped here for a pleasant mid-afternoon supper. Half price on the wine coaxed us into having a couple of bottles, which we enjoyed. The seating and atmosphere felt warm, and comfy. Our food was promptly served and tasty but nothing spectacular. We ordered lamb topped pizza mushroom pizza, capellini pomodoro, and salads. I liked the brightness in the pomodor sauce and their garlic olive oil. The best part of the meal was the quick and attentive service.
(3)
Stacey M.
the best polenta mushrooms gorgonzola cream drooling as i type
(5)
Karen S.
Rather overpriced for the quality of food. In a town with so many great restaurant choices, they would do well to reconsider the quality and freshness of the food as well as remaining competitively priced. A little more flavor wouldn't hurt........
(2)
Genevieve T.
Correction...this place USED to be great. I went here with my family recently, and my Dad and I got VERY sick afterwards. I don't think I'll be back.
(1)
Ian T.
This place is very yuppie. They have wine connoisseur clothing and classical/jazz music for sale in a glass display as you walk in. They also have a legitimate coat cubby. This kind of style does not turn me off of a place unless the staff act with the disrespect they are expected to put up with. (as a side note 95% of the other customers were white seniors 65+ in age I felt a little out of place as a 25 year old.) On a Friday night my family and I walked in to a 30 minute wait. It was our fault for not making reservations, so we waited. Out of curiosity, we asked the hostess if there were any other restaurants in the area. She said "I don't know" and looked back down at her podium... As if a local mid 20s year old woman doesn't know of ANY other places to eat. Clearly blew us off. The bar was nearly full, but my brother and I found two seats. We were asked for our IDs and gave them to him. He accepted my Arizona license after a long look. However, as soon as he saw my brothers vertical Texas license, even though he is 23 years old, he denied him service saying "its company policy and all of the near by places do it too" and gave an explanation of police stings. We were kind of annoyed being that we are on vacation and just had a long hard day of skiing. I am pretty sure denying a legal form of identification is breaking some laws, but I'm not a lawyer. The company clearly does not care for their potential customers. They were as uninviting as i could of imagined a restaurant being. We told the rest of my family and we decided to leave. We went to the Mediterranean place across the street who gladly accepted my brothers license and had excellent food AND wine. If the staff had been nicer i still would not have gone to this place based on their discrimination of vertical IDs. Two thumbs down.
(1)
Sandy K.
I really wish I could give this place a better review, but the eggplant Parmesan made it go from a 4 to a 2 star. We placed an order to go and waited a good 20-25 minutes for it to be ready. We ordered a house salad, a margherita pizza and eggplant Parmesan. The first two items were pretty good, but the eggplant was horrible. It was WAY under-cooked and rubbery...we could barely get a sharp knife to cut it. We threw the whole thing away. With all the good dining options in Santa Fe, this place really has to do better.
(2)
Matt O.
LOVE this place. Great Italian and a truly outstanding wine list. A relaxed upscale atmosphere. Our waiter was extremely knowledgable, friendly and attentive. I had the lasagna and it was excellent. Also sampled the pizza and it did not disappoint. We had a Russian River pinot that was just brilliant. They have some great Malbecs too. If you're into wine, this is the spot! Seemed very reasonably priced. Will definitely go back on my next visit to Santa Fe!
(5)
Morton S.
I had a special salad with blackened salmon. All the ingredients were fresh and it was delicious. Creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert was the best.
(4)
Frank D.
For a $75 meal the service was poor, the food mediocre. Got a dessert to go, when we got it home the portion was a joke. The menu is not what it once was, not what I consider to be true Italian cuisine. Never going back.
(1)
Kevin C.
After 4 days and nights in Santa Fe, the wife and I needed a break from the eternal question "red or green", and we thoguth Italian would be great for our last dinner in the town of southwestern chile sauce. We stopped by Pranzo while out browsing at the Borders store, and were intrigued by the "Terrace" level on the 2nd level, where a cabaret/pianist was billed to be the evening's entertainment, so we made a reservation. The first pelasant surprise afterbeing seated was that because it was a sunday, all bottles of wine were 1/2 price. We started with a bottle of Gruet blanc-de-noir sparking wine with an order of bruschetta. This was some interesting Bruschetta - toasted baguette slices, with 4 different spreads on the side for bui8ding your own. Garlic puree, artchichoke, marscopone, and pesto. This was an awesome appetizer, and I reccommend it. For dinner, the wife had Lasagana - a hearty meat-filled version that i would rate good to very good; I had the bow-tie pasta with chicken & bell peppers in a gralic cream sause - also very good. Ordered a nice bottle of Dolcetto to go with the entrees. The real fun was the pianist - David Geist. He had a whole retinue oif Gershwin tunes, plus he would take requests. Another gentlemen (not sure if he was with the restaurant or just a friend) accompanied him on a few tunes (from "South Pacific") - very entertaining. So, I rate this 4 starts because of the fun entertainment, the great bruschetta, the good food, and the awesome deal on bottles of wine on sundays.
(4)
HighStandard S.
The octopus salad and house chianti are superb. Servers are indulgent. Civilized, comfortable, festive atmosphere.
(4)
Elyse K.
We chose Pranzo due to the Yelp rating of 4 stars but were led astray. I realize Santa Fe yelp is not very reliable as the reviews are so minimal, but this was the first time we had a completely off experience to the rating. First off, our service was good, but creepy. The waiter would refer to the women at the table as "the lady" and the men as "gentlemen". Now, i know that is proper, but don't refer to me as "the lady" is in, "and for the lady?". Now, i know this is not a big deal, but if we were at a super high end restaurant, then maybe the proper-ness would make sense, but this is a mediocre Italian restaurant. Another strange thing was while the table received their salads, Tobin received his pasta and then followed with the salad. Is that normal? Our entrees arrived and they were all goopy messes with some pasta hidden underneath. I ordered a goat cheese Mezzaluna with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and duck con fit. There was just a big mess of duck, sauce and tomatoes and i could barely fish out a piece of pasta. Tobin had what could have been a DiGorno mushroom pizza. This place prides itself on authentic Italian, yet they don't even have a wood burning pizza oven? The bottom of the pizza was soggy and undercooked. For a $20 pasta entree and $15 pizza, i would expect something MUCH better. We've eaten at other Italian places in Santa Fe and they kick this place's butt. Although the others have less reviews, i would go anywhere other than here.
(1)
Kori S.
Apparently we can not eat Italian in New Mexico. The good: I had the polenta with sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola The hostess gave us the option of waiting a century for a table or sitting upstairs and listening to a pianist and a singer belt out the best of broadway($2.00 cover charge). Both of those were good things. The bad: My entree of melanzana parmigiana(eggplant parmigiana) could have come from The Olive Garden, it was mushy and the sauce tasted bottle fresh. The expediter brought our food up and it sat on a tray in the middle of the room for five minutes before it was served. Our server was inattentive and lousy. She ignored our basic needs. It even took fifteen minutes to get our check and that was only when we flagged someone else down to request it. I left a ten percent tip, I felt horrible, but she was awful.
(1)
Andrew T.
I think the 3.5 stars is a perfect rating. If you are searching for a great Santa Fe experience, search a little more.
(3)
Sam A.
Went to Pranzo's tonight for a birthday dinner and ordered the one dish that I've never had any complaints about, and have very vocally told friends and visiting tourists about, the lasagna. Unfortunately I was extremely underwhelmed and I am wondering what happened here... I remember the old portions being just a little larger than the cold deli ones that you can get at whole foods, but not anymore I guess. And frankly, the recipe must have changed or something. For $18 (full portion because half portions are not offered), I got a lasagna portion about the size of a McDonalds cheeseburger, served in a bowl, and HEAVILY covered with their red pasta sauce, which totally overwhelmed the tastes of the cheeses and the pasta. Now I was willing to give Pranzo's the benefit of the doubt here, but I also ordered another portion of the lasagna for my friend, who is a professional chef, to go. I bought it to him and he ate his portion, was dismayed by the price and said, "Well there's not enough actual lasagna, they skimped on the meats, and the sauce, albiet great, totally ovewhelmes the tastes of the rest of the meal." Frankly, I could make four much better tasting lasagnas than the one I ate at Pranzo's tonight if I was charging $18 for that sized portion and made pans of the stuff. Otherwise, the servers, while dreadfully slow, were very pleasant...
(2)
Tom G.
We ate there twice in two days...excellent roasted pepper and white bean soup, prime rib pannini was a hit and a pasta with sausage was excellent. Nice wines especially the baby Super Tuscan. Second day we had pizzas -- I went for normal pepperoni but the three others had lamb and which "was to die for," my wife insists. I tasted it and agreed. Lovely decor and quiet. Did I mention quiet? A fair number of people but it was a refuge from the busyness on the streets at holiday time.
(4)
Bella B.
Sounds like this place has had some bad reviews, but caught the train from ABQ to Santa Fe and was recommended to go there. We were greeted by super friendly staff, who assumed we were important and gave us the whole top of the restaurant and had staff at our beck and call. I felt like a "a Superstar", Really on a serious note, we were given the top of the restauraunt overlooking the city and thought the food was amazing and made with fresh ingredients, and we have eaten at many of the best restaurants. So maybe things have gotten better for this place, I think it deserves a second chance.
(5)
James C.
Stopped here on the suggestion of a co-worker. After braving the snowy drive down from Los Alamos, we were greeted with a cheerful hostess who wanted to know if we wanted to sit upstairs for the live piano music. Definitely unexpected. Once seated, it seemed like it took forever before we were even greeted by the waitress. She was nice, but definitely seemed a little spacey. Probably one to many tokes from the Peyote pipe. However, we were all entertained by the live music. From Broadway show tunes to "The Entertainer." He was definitely good on the piano, but his singing left a little to be desired. For dinner, I had the Osso Buco. The lamb was flavorful and not at all gamey. The meat fell right off the bone as you would expect, but it was definitely a bit dry as if it had been sitting for awhile. Thankfully, the red wine reduction helped to moisten it. The polenta was cheesy and went well with the lamb and white beans. Overall, it was 3 stars. However, maybe a little overpriced given the quality. Desserts looked plentiful for the restaurant; from a lemon zabaglione to an Italian bread pudding. And of course, what Italian place wouldn't have Tiramisu. My co-worker's one line review of it, "It was decent, but I've had better." And that maybe the best way to describe Pranzo.
(3)
Sarah P.
I really want to like this place because of its convenient location, but every time I have gone (we're talking at least 5 times in the last year) the food has been mediocre at best. They sometimes run out of basics like eggplant parm, and the waiters consistently recommend the most expensive bottle of wine in the category you select -- and the wine is not very good. It's still a fun place for happy hour, but I'm going to skip it for dinner for a while.
(2)
Carmen M.
I've been to this restaurant several times. I really enjoy the salads and the gluten-free pasta entrees. It's very pricey so going there is a treat. Here are my issues: 1. To-go order was a huge rip off as the portion I got was tiny. 2. When dining in, the waitress was rude and inattentive. I don't know if that's because I wasn't ordering wine, but she barely waited on the table. I don't know if given all that this place is worth the price. Clientele are snooty looking and there's hardly anyone under 50.
(2)
Sofia K.
The bad news.....the mussels were spoiled and reeked. The good news...they were overcooked and rubbery, so I'm sure all bacteria was killed. Our entrees were so boring as to not merit mentioning. (Our server was very nice though.)
(1)
Jaime Patricio M.
I believe Pranzo -- had a sister restaurant in Albuquerque--Scalo's. Pranzo is a wonderful N. Italian restaurant west of Downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is so near and dear to me. My family's roots are here and although i never lived here i spent a lot of time -- every summer in Santa Fe. i actually spent alot of time near Pranzo--so for me Pranzo is special on many levels. Rare to have such a high qualilty N. Italian restaurant in Santa Fe -- maybe the only one. I love the environs and ambiance! Buen Provecho!
(4)
Frank O.
I'd heard some bad things about Pranzo - poor food, mediocre service - lately, so I thought I'd try it out. All not the case any more. The owner, Michael O'Reilly, who owns the O'Keeffe Cafe also, is very hands on and has obviously sorted out their problems. We had a great meal, taking advantage of the specials they have almost every day. Excellent high-end pizza and other Italian grub. Great steaks and ossobucco. Service was professional and attentive. And the bill was ok, too.
(4)
Thighmaster M.
Low cost ingredients with a high price tag. Four of us sampled a broad array of their menu and left disappointed by small portions and Italian cuisine that looks fancy (read expensive) but clearly cut back on quality of ingredients. Lousy Manhattan from the bar, also charged us for a glass of wine we didn't order. Staff/servers were above average that night - incredibly accomodating.
(2)
Don't Ask Don't Tell U.
First off, it's a nice place and a well run restaurant with MUCH better than average staff for SF. You'll probably have a nice time. Now, Italian food in this city/town, even in the simple format, leaves a lot to be desired. They try to be more than simple. The main problem(s) are 1) Inconsistency. And unfortunately, in recent months that is more consistently bad than good. 2) - And this is basically unforgiveable - most all the red sauces are prepared with that most italian of spices -- CHILE! Yup...they put red chile flakes in most everything! Give me a break. Mexican pasta. The excuse: "we're in Santa Fe and thats what people want". BS. More likely, your using cooks who have not one blessed idea of italian and just don't know how to prepare anything without chile. If Spicey is desired...its' called Fridiavlo...get a recipe for it. Italian uses a good deal of red pepper (agreeably maybe a relative of the mexican chile spice being used), but entirely different. Wake up...good italian in SF is not going to be done with mexican spices...it just doesn't fit. Bad weirs tasting dishes aren't what people anywhere want.
(2)
Michael R.
My wife & I tried Pranzo Italian Grill 2 days ago. Our entrees (cioppino & a salmon dish) were excellent, as were the salads, wine & service. We recommend eating there.
(5)
andie c.
Unremarkable Italian that is too expensive for the lack of flavor. Very bad service as well - waitress forgot two orders and kept forgetting to come back when our drinks were empty. Nice atmosphere and convenient though.
(2)
David D.
it's pranzo. it's good italian food that has been around forever. nice lighting, good food, and order the pranzo fizz (an excellent fruity drink). if you are a tourist then you probably want to go somewhere else (it is santa fe after all), but otherwise a great meal.
(4)
Jet O.
Atmosphere: quiet, romantic, lovely. The music isn't too loud, the resturant is clean and well lit. For starters the bread and oil selections are amazing. Out server was happy to tell us about each oil and about blending them. Our artichoke apitizer was wonderful, a large amount of flavor. The main course was a pizza which was amazing. Thin crust cooked just right! Our server was awesome and very informative. There is a neat tradition of regulars getting their own name plate and it getting posted in the resturant which is kind of cool.
(4)
John N.
Four of us dined here late last night. Service was cheerful but not super responsive. Very good selection to order. Friend had pig-and-fig pizza. See photo below. I had chicken cacciatore. It was crispy and delicious, as were the polenta bed underneath and all the veggie trimmings. My wife had spaghetti that was good but not remarkable. Nice crusty bread served during the long wait for our main course. Great location. Very bustling ambience. Easy parking across the street. Sorry about the dark photo of my entree.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Street, Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Classy Noise Level : Quiet Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Debbie N.
Party of 6 with inconsistent food quality. Delicious: Squash soup, capellini pomodoro, linguini with pancetta and cream So-so: Fettuccine with chicken, ribeye (balsamic glaze seemed burned) Horrible: Bolognese sauce was almost inedible - wine wasn't cooked out and lacked seasoning. Smoked chicken pizza had no chicken or jalapeños as stated on the menu. No bread until requested. Flavored olive oils had no special flavor. Pros: Ability to order half orders of pasta with a $4 side salad. Half orders are plenty of food. But we were charged incorrectly for a full order on one of our orders. Italian lessons in the restroom was pretty neat. Service was mostly adequate.
(3)Jet O.
Atmosphere: quiet, romantic, lovely. The music isn't too loud, the resturant is clean and well lit. For starters the bread and oil selections are amazing. Out server was happy to tell us about each oil and about blending them. Our artichoke apitizer was wonderful, a large amount of flavor. The main course was a pizza which was amazing. Thin crust cooked just right! Our server was awesome and very informative. There is a neat tradition of regulars getting their own name plate and it getting posted in the resturant which is kind of cool.
(4)John N.
Four of us dined here late last night. Service was cheerful but not super responsive. Very good selection to order. Friend had pig-and-fig pizza. See photo below. I had chicken cacciatore. It was crispy and delicious, as were the polenta bed underneath and all the veggie trimmings. My wife had spaghetti that was good but not remarkable. Nice crusty bread served during the long wait for our main course. Great location. Very bustling ambience. Easy parking across the street. Sorry about the dark photo of my entree.
(4)Jane Z.
Food and waitress were good but the management was rude. NO separate checks and refused to do so after promising when reservation was made. It took 35 minutes for everyone to figure out their own bill. Not a nice way to end an evening.
(1)Anthony S.
Wow- This place has really gone down hill. The owners need to really think about the characters that they have working here. Sad ...as for years this place has been amazing and one of our regular spots. Won't be back.
(1)Patrick H.
The food wasn't bad but wasn't great either; definitely over priced. The feeling I got was they were portraying a five star restaurant but can't quite get there. Looked for flexibility and value but didn't get it. I would suggest Andiamos.
(1)Will And Sam K.
Excellent food Absolutely on of my favorites in Santa Fe ! The appetizer with the shrimp, callamari, and scallops is to die for . Then we had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich on ciabotta bread another great sandwich ! Nice atmosphere nice people !
(5)Ryan B.
They can't split checks or give you an itemized receipt... What a joke. They really need to get their POS system updated.
(1)Cheryl W.
The only reason this is getting a 3 is because of Adrian my waiter. He took reasonably good care of a solo diner. The food was awful. I had the Vongole, tasteless clams which were scant in comparison with other restaurants where the food is better and the price less. Equally tasteless, clumpy pasta and sauce. Was there a sauce? I wanted to like this place but cannot.
(3)Lori G.
We stopped at Pranzo during our time in Santa Fe because we had previously purchased a Groupon deal. Here were some of the high/lowlights: + Insalata Caprese was fresh and plentiful + Complimentary bread to start was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside + Insalata Caesar w/Salmon was flavorful, but the portion of salmon was quite small for the upcharge + Lasagna sauce was overly sweet with unappetizing strips of basil as a garnish If we had to do it over again, we would have skipped Pranzo and tried authentic New Mexican cuisine instead of mediocre Italian.
(3)Stacey M.
the best polenta mushrooms gorgonzola cream drooling as i type
(5)Anthony R.
Sat in the bar area to write my book on my latop for a few hours. Great place to be, good atmosphere but the temperature is a little high for the weather (I am there right now!) Drawing points are the atmosphere (at the bar), bartenders (Gregory and Jena), food, and especially half price bottles of wine on Sundays. Take a look at the wine list on their website and find something you like. I got the Three Saints 2010 Syrah, which was $20 at half price. It started off a bit strong (it is 14.1% abv) but opens up nicely as you get used to it. Staff is well-dressed and professional. Among the best in Santa Fe. Even now I observe the bartenders talking with people at the bar. People skills are a must in a job like this, a lot of the time talking with people makes the difference not matter what else happens. Gregory was very attentive offering water refills and getting the food out promptly. I had the Insalata Verde which has local greens. It was fantastic and worked well for me (I was feeling like having good wine and eating something light). The olive oils are interesting, I really like the red chile olive oil with the bread that was offered to me. Pranzo has really improved over the last few years. I know it has been through a number of owners and reviews, but it really deserves a chance at this point as it is offering quality food and service at competitive prices. I am more impressed than I expected to be, thank you for the great experience. I should also mention that it was great of my server, Gregory, to let me use two bar tables for only one person and a laptop even if it wasn't as busy as it could have been. There are 14/24 people here, which isn't that slow for a Sunday night.
(5)Christiana C.
Nothing bad to say! Price for early bird dinner and happy hour are reasonable, especially in Santa Fe! Staff is wonderful, punctual and polite!
(5)Matthew H.
I've been going to Pranzo's for the past 2 years. 2 years ago it was wonderful, attentive and helpful staff, great food and decent prices. 1 year ago the staff started leaving and their replacements were not as good. The menu started to get changed to lower quality steaks. smaller portions, and higher prices. I just went for my final time one week ago. They had AGAIN changed their menu to stop serving a filet mignon and instead a rib-eye (same price though). It was a Saturday night, however the dining room was only at about 75% occupancy and we were a party of 6 all adults. We ordered 2 beers and 4 glasses of wine. The water took around 10 minuets to get to the table and the wine approximately 20. The white wine I ordered was warm as though it had sat on the bar counter. We had our orders taken after approximately 35 minuets as it seemed the waitress never had more enough time to drop off drinks and run away even when we tried to get her attention. When we finally did have our order taken, it took another 10 minuets to recieve bread and almost another hour to recieve the food. We ordered 2 pasta dishes (one meatballs, 1 chicken) 2 rib-eye steaks (one blue rare and the other medium rare) 1 gnocchi and my mother-in-law split my father-in-law's steak. When the food came out the steaks were thin and 75% fat. Now rib-eyes have much more fat in the cut than filets however these looked worse than what I can put up at wal-mart. They were thin and curled, burnt on the outside and BOTH steaks were blue rare. If your not familiar with steak temperatures it goes blue rare rare medium rare medium medium well well They had mis-cooked my wife's steak two temperatures different. Instead of a cold pink center it was a bloody completely red all the way through mess. In addition to this my spaghetti and meatballs had about 30% spaghetti and 70% sauce with a scarce piece of beef in between. The top hat on this meal of horrors was a tomato sauce that had been tossed on both steaks. This "sauce," which consisted of something akin to V-8 thrown on a plate and warmed, was NOT on the menu, neither was the basil, which was so much in abundance, that it made the plate look like some kind of salad with meat under it. We promptly returned both the steaks and 20 minuets later, when most of us had less than 50% of our food left, the steak returned. Neither steak had the forest of basil or V-8 based sauce, but my wife's was AGAIN blue rare. We sent the steak back yet again. The third time was finally right but at that time the rest of the food had been at the table for over an hour (30 minuets for the other steak). and EVERYONE was done eating. My wife is on a blood sugar controlling diet and need to eat at very specific times. Suffice it to say she had had to subsist on mashed potatoes and by the time the steak arrived she ate about two bites before packing it up to go. I tried one bite of the steak, and it was not even seasoned with salt or pepper. Now this would have been bad enough, the food was HORRIBLE, but no this experience continues down towards a hellish experience when we asked to speak to the manager about the bad experience. A middle aged woman came over and asked what was the matter. We explained and here is the answer we got, "Well if you didn't like it you should have ordered something else." In a tone that said, I don't care what you think, My kitchen is right no matter what the food tastes or looks like. Everyone at the table was taken aback. Typically a manager comes over to a table to smooth out a bad experience, this one had decided to blame the customer for the incorrect order and bland food. So we get the bill, both steaks are still on it, they have 3 salads and 4 beers when we had ordered 2 beers and 2 salads. Also, there was a 20% AUTO gratuity put on the bill. Maybe this is why the server and manager didn't care for us or what we thought, they already had a 20% tip. SO we pay and leave, pocketing the owner's card to call later. On the way out the manager looks at me and my mother-in-law adn says, " Eat somewhere else next time." . . . eat somewhere else next time? NO PROBLEM! Calling the owner help none, he neither apologized nor said he would do anything about it, just that, "That doesn't sound like my manager." He said they had "only" one complaint out of every 200 customers. 0.5% of all people have experiences SO BAD they call the owner, and somehow they think this is ok. I now know where the staff has picked up it's attitude towards customer's, if the owner doesn't care, neither does the manager and neither does the staff. I will never EVER go back to this place and have already disputed the meal charge from my credit card. All I can say is thank GOD it wasn't a special occasion like someone's birthday or anniversary.
(1)Patron X.
The restaurant should change it's name as it is no longer the same owner or the same menu as many of the poor reviews. This place is turning a corner and has some really great dishes and a great wine list. Do yourself a favor and ignore all of the reviews from a year or more ago and enjoy this place before it's rediscovered and packed.
(4)Gerald B.
Great dinner again. I had the grouper! The O salad not my fav....Beware of the olive pits!
(4)Nick S.
This is better than 3 stars, if not for anything, for a real Italian home made feel sauce. I like it here for simplicity. The meatballs here are home made feeling in texture and taste, and there is a lot of subtle flavor in the red sauce. Decent wine list made better by Sunday specials at half off service is good and friendly. C'mon, it's a basic nice Italian restaurant
(4)Marqui R.
This place is nestled in the San Busco Market area. I love that although its near downtown they usually have ample parking space so finding parking here is not a problem. The food is hit or miss here. I came on a date here last summer and tried the risotto based on the great reviews on yelp, it was very bland and i was so disappointed. I've tried other dishes such as the SPAGHETTI CON GAMBERONI and their pizzas which are delicious. This is a good venue to have a larger party as you can reserve the top area for a private party. I had my rehearsal dinner here for a party of 30 and the upstairs was very nice. They let us pick from 4 price point menus and have 3 dinner selections to make the service go smoother. The dinner went off smoothly and everyone enjoyed the food here. It is quite difficult to find a restaurant that will accomodate parties of 20 or more in Santa Fe on a friday evening so I was glad that this place had a private room. Overall great dining experience here and good food depending on what you get.
(4)Marla B.
Took some friends to Pranzos for dinner, had raved about from a great experience there. Of course, we had a very different experience, I was so embarrassed because we had a bad experience this past Sunday evening. It started with the server which was not friendly or helpful. Ordered a mixed green salad---I'm sorry but from my experience that means lettuce maybe some carrots, cucumber tomatoe etc. you opened a bag of lettuce that I buy at trader joes for 1.99 through it on a plate with a very bad tasting dressing and charged me 7 or 8 $ for that! That's just not right, the rest of our meals were just mediocre. Will not be back!
(1)Leahi M.
Great place to go! The staff is amazing, the GM of the place is super on top of things and the bartender is kick ass!
(5)Christopher R.
I came across Pranzo through OT. We had an early reservation and the place was quiet; by the time we left, it was almost full and very energetic. Our server was great, sharing that she had worked under Chef Lemon back in the early 90s. On her recommendation I ordered the red snapper which was cooked to perfection, a bit crisp on the surface but moist inside. The sauce was fantastic. My wife had the half order of linguine carbonara; quite good if a tad over-sauced for her tastes. Dessert was wonderful (grilled lemon sorbet and tiramisu). The restaurant shows its age (a tear in the booth seat cover, color schemes, etc.), but the food is the real draw, of course. It will be exciting to see what Chef Lemon does in the future.
(4)Drew R.
The food is really great, the sauce is tasty, the service is on the slow side, and you have to keep asking for drink refills. The food is very fine dining and upscale, but for a native Santa Fean I felt out of place and uncomfortable with the wealthy tourists.
(4)Shane L.
Not good. I've had better pasta at the Olive Garden! We came here because my wife had nostalgic memories of this place when she used to come to Santa Fe as a child. Boy, things must have been different back then! The apps were better than the entrees. Live piano music was a nice touch. Service so, so. Food is the main reason for the 2 stars. I mean it's fine Italian food if we are comparing it with chains like OG, but if that's what I wanted I would go there, and pay much less. Quality is lacking for sure, pasta over cooked, meatballs tiny and hard on the outside, sauce was bland. Wow. Sorry guys, but you gotta make some changes if you're going to get my business again.
(2)Kate H.
I met a friend for drinks and an appetizer last night. I was disappointed in the quality of food that we received. A 17$ salad contained spinach, 7 piñon nuts, and boiled shrimp that tasted like it had been sitting out for a week. I've had 5$ salads from Trader Joes that are exceedingly more flavorful and exciting. This used to be a go to place to take out of town guests and enjoy a glass a wine. The antipasto dish we received was scant and unenjoyable. With an abundance of more reasonable and delicious restaurants in Santa Fe, I won't be going back.
(2)Cocos B.
I have been here before and it just keeps getting better! This certain night was on a weekend. We had no reservations, the place was kind of packed, and the downstairs was too full. The upstairs is reserved to listen to music and whomever is performing that night, so they don't really like you to talk alot up there. Nevertheless we decided to sit up there. The hostess waived our piano fee since it was not our first choice so it made it worthwhile! They had half off of their wine selection so we had fun ordering a couple of dulcettos and trying them out. At one point my glass tipped over, wine spilled all over, and the waiters rushed to clean it all up. They work pretty fast but you don't feel rushed with your meal. The food was marvelous as usual! I tried dessert this time...the amaretto bread pudding...heaven! I try to make a point of visiting here every time I come to Santa Fe.
(4)Clare M.
Food is overpriced and mediocre but good happy hour wine specials.
(3)Jimena A.
absolutely love the desserts!.perfect atmosphere and amazing service..this is real Italian food..I should also point out the the place is super clean..make sure you make a reservation!.
(5)D T.
Delicious !!!! We stumbled upon this place just out walking and we were in for a nice surprise. We had a most excellent meal, sat out on the patio and chatted with some friendly semi- locals ( well they were from Taos) The waitstaff was very attentive and our meal was great. Wine list is amazing and I did have a very decent choice by the glass, since my companion was not having wine. Great find.
(4)Rennie C.
So incredibly bad I don't have the words. Menu unimaginative, service consistently bad/slow/mouth-breathers, food nearly inedible. I've given them several chances, but as a Santa Fean, I know there are tons of better choices for Italian in town Stay away from this Olive Garden wannabe.
(1)Michael D.
I am really unclear as to whether this is a 3 or 2 star but I would rather give it 3 stars until I have the chance to give it a really fair review. My issue was not with the restaurant but rather my companions at dinner. It was a stiff and "cheap" dinner, i.e., I didn't get to explore the pretty extensive wine list nor get an entre that was twice what my companions were spending. I will say the hostess and the servers were fantastic. My pasta was so so. I ordered the LINGUINE CON SALSICCIA. It tasted very good but instead of the sauce lying on top of the linguine it was mixed together pretty heavily. The pasta was definitely not al dente either. I ordered the Caesar salad as an accompaniment. While it wasn't made table side it was a superlative salad. Nice crisp greens nice dressing and those lovely whole anchovies buried inside. I will give this place another try and re-review later. I also enjoyed the bread but there should have been more.
(3)J P.
Santa Fe has numerous fine dining options, but Pranzo falls squarely in the middle of the pack - aspiring to be a fine Italian restaurant but falling short in several areas. Now don't get me wrong - Pranzo is perfectly fine if you were comparing it to the typical suburban Italian franchise. But this is Santa Fe and the bar for most restaurants is set quite high. Pranzo is located in the Sanbusco Center - an historic building converted to retail center. (Sanbusco lost its anchor tenant when Border's Books went out of business, so the mall is a bit quieter than before.) It is located near the burgeoning railyards arts district, near the Railrunner train station, REI, and SITE. We've been to Pranzo on several occasions previously, and the experience has varied from average to quite nice. But on our most recent visit, it was decidedly a disappointment. The first indication was when we entered the restaurant to hear several departing patrons complaining to the hostess about their poor experience. Not a good sign, but we hoped it might be an isolated incident. Even though we had reservations, the hostess said she couldn't seat us for another 15 minutes after the reservation time. This also happens occasionally, so we didn't give it much thought. When we were seated, we noticed it did take somewhat longer than usual to get a waitress to take our drink and meal order. Then we noticed that only one waitress was working the entire half of the lower dining area. Maybe Pranzo was short-handed that night, or someone quit at the last minute? If not, then management may have been trying to save money through understaffing - always a bad idea in a service business. It was a cold night, so we ordered a bowl of soup (Minestrone alla Pranzo) to share. After roughly 30 minutes, our entrees were served (by another staffer, not the waitress), but we never did get the soup we ordered. And our waitress was nowhere to be found to correct the error. Okay, no biggie. Maybe we'll save room for dessert. For entrees, we ordered a Spinach Salad (Insalata Spinaci) and a Chicken Pesto Pizza (Pizza con Pollo e Pesto), both to be shared. The salad was okay, but nothing to brag about. The spinach was sort of overwhelmed by the Balsamic vinaigrette. But the roasted pears and roasted red peppers were limp and tasteless. The pizza is about 10-inches in diameter with 6 slices - big enough to share for two, but small enough as an individual portion. Unfortunately, the chicken was incredibly dry, so much so that we had to remove the chicken slices to be able to eat the pizza. The pesto tasted as if it came from a jar, and there was way too much on the pizza (it doesn't need to be used like marinara sauce and cover every square inch). There was also way too much mozzarella - maybe it was used to hold all the ingredients together? The crust was light and tasty however, so it wasn't a total disaster. Why didn't we complain about our food to the waitress? We would have, had we seen her, or been able to catch her eye. Finally, almost 90 minutes in, she comes by to present the check and (finally) asked how everything was. We told her we didn't get what we ordered (soup) and said the entrees weren't very good. She didn't look like this meant much to her and said "I'll remove the soup from the bill". There was no offer to discount the poor entrees. There are way too many excellent dining options in Santa Fe for Pranzo to continue in this way. There are several reviews noting poor service and we certainly experienced that. I can forgive some lackluster service if the food is really good, but in this case the meal was below average. Pranzo needs to address issues of inconsistent service and poor food quality. And they need to address them now.
(1)Don't Ask Don't Tell U.
First off, it's a nice place and a well run restaurant with MUCH better than average staff for SF. You'll probably have a nice time. Now, Italian food in this city/town, even in the simple format, leaves a lot to be desired. They try to be more than simple. The main problem(s) are 1) Inconsistency. And unfortunately, in recent months that is more consistently bad than good. 2) - And this is basically unforgiveable - most all the red sauces are prepared with that most italian of spices -- CHILE! Yup...they put red chile flakes in most everything! Give me a break. Mexican pasta. The excuse: "we're in Santa Fe and thats what people want". BS. More likely, your using cooks who have not one blessed idea of italian and just don't know how to prepare anything without chile. If Spicey is desired...its' called Fridiavlo...get a recipe for it. Italian uses a good deal of red pepper (agreeably maybe a relative of the mexican chile spice being used), but entirely different. Wake up...good italian in SF is not going to be done with mexican spices...it just doesn't fit. Bad weirs tasting dishes aren't what people anywhere want.
(2)Michael R.
My wife & I tried Pranzo Italian Grill 2 days ago. Our entrees (cioppino & a salmon dish) were excellent, as were the salads, wine & service. We recommend eating there.
(5)andie c.
Unremarkable Italian that is too expensive for the lack of flavor. Very bad service as well - waitress forgot two orders and kept forgetting to come back when our drinks were empty. Nice atmosphere and convenient though.
(2)David D.
it's pranzo. it's good italian food that has been around forever. nice lighting, good food, and order the pranzo fizz (an excellent fruity drink). if you are a tourist then you probably want to go somewhere else (it is santa fe after all), but otherwise a great meal.
(4)Joe MArtelaro M.
When you walk into Pranzo, you think you may have arrived at a decent Italian eatery. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. The interior design is not bad but that's where the positives end. The calamari appetizer was hard and the accompanying sauces were mediocre. Everything we ordered including the meatballs seemed soggy and not quite cooked properly. Sauces tasted like they came out of a jar. You'd be better off at a Macaronni Grill or an Olive Garden. This is a simple case of folks without the skills getting into the wrong business. As someone with Italian in my blood, I was hoping for more. The bus help was nice but the waitress was cold and detached. The wine although described as "a nosegay of floral aroma" tasted like two-buck Chuck but that summed up the experience for us. The superficial things at Pranzo were okay - the interior design, the menu descriptions - but the food, drink and service were the pits. Save your money!
(1)Mark D.
MY FAMILY AND I FOUND THEIR "LIGHT LUNCH" OPTIONS TO BE EXCELLENT. I ordered from the normal lunch menu and had a GREAT Blackened Salmon salad with a pomagranite dressing. Along with cheesy fresh bread, this was the best meal of our 4 days eating well in santa Fe. The next closest winner was the "Chocolate Maven" but that was bruch, so....................check this place out - really good and piano bar upstairs at night should be fun
(4)Stephanie P.
#155 Totally upscale and packed with the middle-agers. So, the boyfriend and I felt right at home. Ha. Because we didn't have a reservation and the dining area was pretty packed, we opted for seating at the bar. Bad move. The bartender was a total drag and a half and treated us as if we were children (granted, we were probably half the age of everybody there). After we got our High Desert and Provenzale, we decided to ask a waiter to help us move over to one of the smaller tables in the lounge. The bartender acted surprised that we were relocating but, really? You didn't realize you were being incredibly rude to us? Once we got to our table though, the entire experience went uphill. First of all, there was a couple sitting right next to us that was clearly doing something naughty. All throughout dinner, we eavesdropped on their conversation (just because they were being so loud and flamboyant) and turns out .... they were both cheating on their respective spouses!!! Tsk tsk tsk. The guy was incredibly desperate to get her back to his hotel room, but eventually she opted out and left him alone at the table. Boo-hoo. As for the food, excellent, really. I ordered the lobster gnocchi and the lobster was cooked to absolute perfection. The gnocchi, to my surprise, didn't taste overwhelmingly like potatoes, which is always something a chef can't easily avoid. The sauce was also creamy and full of flavor. The boyfriend's swordfish was also delightful. The highlight of the night though was the High Desert that I had ordered at the bar earlier. THE best spicy cocktail I've had then and since. The brim was coated with chili powder and, instead of the typical olive or lemon slice, it was topped with a jalapeno. It was a feat just finishing it but I did it! Really, I would have liked to have given this place a 5, but just because of the rude bartender at the beginning of the night, it has dropped down to a 4.
(4)Melissa S.
"Received Terrible service and food- manger told me "never come back" This used to be a fabulous restaurant. I've been dining at Pranzo for many years and its sad to see what it has become. I ordered a pasta plate that was drenched in oil and my partner ordered the duck plate that came with half cooked beans. The waitress came around once and asked how the food was when we took our first bite. Another server had to bring us bread as the first one never came back around. We waited what felt like forever for the server to check on us so we could ask for the check, which at that point I tried to explain how drenched the bottom half of my pasta was and she said "I gave you the opportunity to tell me how the food was when I asked" ...yea, when I barely took my first bite! WOW, what great customer service. Who trains these people? Then she told my partner that the beans on his plate are supposed to come half cooked. After another long wait we were finally able to speak with the manager who could care less and after she noticed I did not leave a tip, she literally yelled at me "You're not going to leave Rosalind anything!" (I got steamed and the F Bomb came out) "F No!" and her dramatic response "I'm going to ask you to never come in here again!" Since when do managers of restaurants demand you to leave a tip for horrible food and service???
(1)Christine P.
Calamari appetizer was very good, the sauce they brought was yummy! The lobster pasta was good, the oso bucco was GREAT! Great service, great wine selection. Nice cozy restaurant. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is my espresso was burnt.
(4)Raven C.
They deserve zero stars. They couldn't even get spaghetti and meatballs right. What a waste. Then tasted eggshells in meatballs which manager denied being the case. When I asked what else would have made them crunchy he did not know. I asked him about the portion size since I ordered full size. I got four small meatballs that came with very little pasta which was overcooked. The manager then responded with, "when you get old you don't need as much to eat". Needless to say I am 34 yo. So age wouldnt apply to my appetite unless he's talking about himself. I only went here because the other italian restaurant was closed.
(1)Susan P.
Walked into bar - only people at the bar. Bartender promptly walks away to talk to other employees. Then leaves bar altogether. Finally comes back (other employees milling about do not even look at us) lays napkins down on dirty (replete with food droppings from previous customers) bar. I ask him to clean it. He does a half *ssed job - spreading crumbs on me rather than collecting them toward him. We order a tasting flight. 1 of the 3 wines is different than what's on the menu - and they all tasted like airline wine. Enter single mother with 1 year old. (This is 8:45PM.) Sits at end of bar at a table and proceeds to have LOUD conversation with 1 year old about the colors of the candy she is feeding him. We pick up our wine and move to other end of bar. (Still only people at bar.) Guess what? Bar is filthy with food debris from previous customers. Bartender is talking to single mother with kid, so I reach over and get a rag to clean the bar. Meanwhile, apparent manager on duty is talking loudly to hostess about her camping trips - completely oblivious to customers.... After another 20 minutes of extra loud Mommy talk (so we all know what a great mom she is....), we leave. Won't be back. If you want a grown up dinner experience go to Galisteo Bistro. If you want a grown up glass of wine at the bar in the Railyard, go to Ristra.
(1)Zoya D.
Mmmm YUM! Hop of the train from the Rail Runner and take a stroll through the beautiful Santa Fe railyards to Pranzo. Sit down, have some wine. Scrumptious seared salmon salad. Old-style service with white tablecloths: I feel like I'm back at my hometown, old-school Chicago eateries (Gene & Georgetti's, etc.) Creme brulee made my smile all the way back home to ABQ. A nice change from the rote options available in Duke City. This was a nice trip away from home. I'm surprised by the 2- and 3-star ratings here; granted my rating is derived from ordering salad, but certainly the experience can go a long way.
(4)Scott S.
It was Sunday and after finding a few restaurants closed, our group of six stopped here for a pleasant mid-afternoon supper. Half price on the wine coaxed us into having a couple of bottles, which we enjoyed. The seating and atmosphere felt warm, and comfy. Our food was promptly served and tasty but nothing spectacular. We ordered lamb topped pizza mushroom pizza, capellini pomodoro, and salads. I liked the brightness in the pomodor sauce and their garlic olive oil. The best part of the meal was the quick and attentive service.
(3)Ian T.
This place is very yuppie. They have wine connoisseur clothing and classical/jazz music for sale in a glass display as you walk in. They also have a legitimate coat cubby. This kind of style does not turn me off of a place unless the staff act with the disrespect they are expected to put up with. (as a side note 95% of the other customers were white seniors 65+ in age I felt a little out of place as a 25 year old.) On a Friday night my family and I walked in to a 30 minute wait. It was our fault for not making reservations, so we waited. Out of curiosity, we asked the hostess if there were any other restaurants in the area. She said "I don't know" and looked back down at her podium... As if a local mid 20s year old woman doesn't know of ANY other places to eat. Clearly blew us off. The bar was nearly full, but my brother and I found two seats. We were asked for our IDs and gave them to him. He accepted my Arizona license after a long look. However, as soon as he saw my brothers vertical Texas license, even though he is 23 years old, he denied him service saying "its company policy and all of the near by places do it too" and gave an explanation of police stings. We were kind of annoyed being that we are on vacation and just had a long hard day of skiing. I am pretty sure denying a legal form of identification is breaking some laws, but I'm not a lawyer. The company clearly does not care for their potential customers. They were as uninviting as i could of imagined a restaurant being. We told the rest of my family and we decided to leave. We went to the Mediterranean place across the street who gladly accepted my brothers license and had excellent food AND wine. If the staff had been nicer i still would not have gone to this place based on their discrimination of vertical IDs. Two thumbs down.
(1)Sandy K.
I really wish I could give this place a better review, but the eggplant Parmesan made it go from a 4 to a 2 star. We placed an order to go and waited a good 20-25 minutes for it to be ready. We ordered a house salad, a margherita pizza and eggplant Parmesan. The first two items were pretty good, but the eggplant was horrible. It was WAY under-cooked and rubbery...we could barely get a sharp knife to cut it. We threw the whole thing away. With all the good dining options in Santa Fe, this place really has to do better.
(2)Matt O.
LOVE this place. Great Italian and a truly outstanding wine list. A relaxed upscale atmosphere. Our waiter was extremely knowledgable, friendly and attentive. I had the lasagna and it was excellent. Also sampled the pizza and it did not disappoint. We had a Russian River pinot that was just brilliant. They have some great Malbecs too. If you're into wine, this is the spot! Seemed very reasonably priced. Will definitely go back on my next visit to Santa Fe!
(5)Morton S.
I had a special salad with blackened salmon. All the ingredients were fresh and it was delicious. Creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert was the best.
(4)Frank D.
For a $75 meal the service was poor, the food mediocre. Got a dessert to go, when we got it home the portion was a joke. The menu is not what it once was, not what I consider to be true Italian cuisine. Never going back.
(1)Kevin C.
After 4 days and nights in Santa Fe, the wife and I needed a break from the eternal question "red or green", and we thoguth Italian would be great for our last dinner in the town of southwestern chile sauce. We stopped by Pranzo while out browsing at the Borders store, and were intrigued by the "Terrace" level on the 2nd level, where a cabaret/pianist was billed to be the evening's entertainment, so we made a reservation. The first pelasant surprise afterbeing seated was that because it was a sunday, all bottles of wine were 1/2 price. We started with a bottle of Gruet blanc-de-noir sparking wine with an order of bruschetta. This was some interesting Bruschetta - toasted baguette slices, with 4 different spreads on the side for bui8ding your own. Garlic puree, artchichoke, marscopone, and pesto. This was an awesome appetizer, and I reccommend it. For dinner, the wife had Lasagana - a hearty meat-filled version that i would rate good to very good; I had the bow-tie pasta with chicken & bell peppers in a gralic cream sause - also very good. Ordered a nice bottle of Dolcetto to go with the entrees. The real fun was the pianist - David Geist. He had a whole retinue oif Gershwin tunes, plus he would take requests. Another gentlemen (not sure if he was with the restaurant or just a friend) accompanied him on a few tunes (from "South Pacific") - very entertaining. So, I rate this 4 starts because of the fun entertainment, the great bruschetta, the good food, and the awesome deal on bottles of wine on sundays.
(4)HighStandard S.
The octopus salad and house chianti are superb. Servers are indulgent. Civilized, comfortable, festive atmosphere.
(4)Elyse K.
We chose Pranzo due to the Yelp rating of 4 stars but were led astray. I realize Santa Fe yelp is not very reliable as the reviews are so minimal, but this was the first time we had a completely off experience to the rating. First off, our service was good, but creepy. The waiter would refer to the women at the table as "the lady" and the men as "gentlemen". Now, i know that is proper, but don't refer to me as "the lady" is in, "and for the lady?". Now, i know this is not a big deal, but if we were at a super high end restaurant, then maybe the proper-ness would make sense, but this is a mediocre Italian restaurant. Another strange thing was while the table received their salads, Tobin received his pasta and then followed with the salad. Is that normal? Our entrees arrived and they were all goopy messes with some pasta hidden underneath. I ordered a goat cheese Mezzaluna with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and duck con fit. There was just a big mess of duck, sauce and tomatoes and i could barely fish out a piece of pasta. Tobin had what could have been a DiGorno mushroom pizza. This place prides itself on authentic Italian, yet they don't even have a wood burning pizza oven? The bottom of the pizza was soggy and undercooked. For a $20 pasta entree and $15 pizza, i would expect something MUCH better. We've eaten at other Italian places in Santa Fe and they kick this place's butt. Although the others have less reviews, i would go anywhere other than here.
(1)Kori S.
Apparently we can not eat Italian in New Mexico. The good: I had the polenta with sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola The hostess gave us the option of waiting a century for a table or sitting upstairs and listening to a pianist and a singer belt out the best of broadway($2.00 cover charge). Both of those were good things. The bad: My entree of melanzana parmigiana(eggplant parmigiana) could have come from The Olive Garden, it was mushy and the sauce tasted bottle fresh. The expediter brought our food up and it sat on a tray in the middle of the room for five minutes before it was served. Our server was inattentive and lousy. She ignored our basic needs. It even took fifteen minutes to get our check and that was only when we flagged someone else down to request it. I left a ten percent tip, I felt horrible, but she was awful.
(1)Andrew T.
I think the 3.5 stars is a perfect rating. If you are searching for a great Santa Fe experience, search a little more.
(3)Sam A.
Went to Pranzo's tonight for a birthday dinner and ordered the one dish that I've never had any complaints about, and have very vocally told friends and visiting tourists about, the lasagna. Unfortunately I was extremely underwhelmed and I am wondering what happened here... I remember the old portions being just a little larger than the cold deli ones that you can get at whole foods, but not anymore I guess. And frankly, the recipe must have changed or something. For $18 (full portion because half portions are not offered), I got a lasagna portion about the size of a McDonalds cheeseburger, served in a bowl, and HEAVILY covered with their red pasta sauce, which totally overwhelmed the tastes of the cheeses and the pasta. Now I was willing to give Pranzo's the benefit of the doubt here, but I also ordered another portion of the lasagna for my friend, who is a professional chef, to go. I bought it to him and he ate his portion, was dismayed by the price and said, "Well there's not enough actual lasagna, they skimped on the meats, and the sauce, albiet great, totally ovewhelmes the tastes of the rest of the meal." Frankly, I could make four much better tasting lasagnas than the one I ate at Pranzo's tonight if I was charging $18 for that sized portion and made pans of the stuff. Otherwise, the servers, while dreadfully slow, were very pleasant...
(2)Tom G.
We ate there twice in two days...excellent roasted pepper and white bean soup, prime rib pannini was a hit and a pasta with sausage was excellent. Nice wines especially the baby Super Tuscan. Second day we had pizzas -- I went for normal pepperoni but the three others had lamb and which "was to die for," my wife insists. I tasted it and agreed. Lovely decor and quiet. Did I mention quiet? A fair number of people but it was a refuge from the busyness on the streets at holiday time.
(4)Bella B.
Sounds like this place has had some bad reviews, but caught the train from ABQ to Santa Fe and was recommended to go there. We were greeted by super friendly staff, who assumed we were important and gave us the whole top of the restaurant and had staff at our beck and call. I felt like a "a Superstar", Really on a serious note, we were given the top of the restauraunt overlooking the city and thought the food was amazing and made with fresh ingredients, and we have eaten at many of the best restaurants. So maybe things have gotten better for this place, I think it deserves a second chance.
(5)James C.
Stopped here on the suggestion of a co-worker. After braving the snowy drive down from Los Alamos, we were greeted with a cheerful hostess who wanted to know if we wanted to sit upstairs for the live piano music. Definitely unexpected. Once seated, it seemed like it took forever before we were even greeted by the waitress. She was nice, but definitely seemed a little spacey. Probably one to many tokes from the Peyote pipe. However, we were all entertained by the live music. From Broadway show tunes to "The Entertainer." He was definitely good on the piano, but his singing left a little to be desired. For dinner, I had the Osso Buco. The lamb was flavorful and not at all gamey. The meat fell right off the bone as you would expect, but it was definitely a bit dry as if it had been sitting for awhile. Thankfully, the red wine reduction helped to moisten it. The polenta was cheesy and went well with the lamb and white beans. Overall, it was 3 stars. However, maybe a little overpriced given the quality. Desserts looked plentiful for the restaurant; from a lemon zabaglione to an Italian bread pudding. And of course, what Italian place wouldn't have Tiramisu. My co-worker's one line review of it, "It was decent, but I've had better." And that maybe the best way to describe Pranzo.
(3)Sarah P.
I really want to like this place because of its convenient location, but every time I have gone (we're talking at least 5 times in the last year) the food has been mediocre at best. They sometimes run out of basics like eggplant parm, and the waiters consistently recommend the most expensive bottle of wine in the category you select -- and the wine is not very good. It's still a fun place for happy hour, but I'm going to skip it for dinner for a while.
(2)Carmen M.
I've been to this restaurant several times. I really enjoy the salads and the gluten-free pasta entrees. It's very pricey so going there is a treat. Here are my issues: 1. To-go order was a huge rip off as the portion I got was tiny. 2. When dining in, the waitress was rude and inattentive. I don't know if that's because I wasn't ordering wine, but she barely waited on the table. I don't know if given all that this place is worth the price. Clientele are snooty looking and there's hardly anyone under 50.
(2)Karen S.
Rather overpriced for the quality of food. In a town with so many great restaurant choices, they would do well to reconsider the quality and freshness of the food as well as remaining competitively priced. A little more flavor wouldn't hurt........
(2)Genevieve T.
Correction...this place USED to be great. I went here with my family recently, and my Dad and I got VERY sick afterwards. I don't think I'll be back.
(1)Sofia K.
The bad news.....the mussels were spoiled and reeked. The good news...they were overcooked and rubbery, so I'm sure all bacteria was killed. Our entrees were so boring as to not merit mentioning. (Our server was very nice though.)
(1)Brian P.
I love good Italian- Grandma's Italian, mafia Italian, high end Italian - this turned out disappointingly to be mediocre New Mexican Italian. I make my own pasta, meatballs, ravioli- you name it. I cook much better. Yet I spent $121 on 3 glasses of wine, spaghetti and meatballs and ravioli covered in heavy flavorless cream!!!!! I realize service is impossible to come by in a town that chooses things like living wages as opposed to actually earning your money- but I've worked in restaurants from London to NYC to NOLA and service is were it begins and the very least of expectations when the food is ho hum. 4 simple examples of why this place blew my mind. The other waiter in our area (when asked by another table for a Cabernet recomendation) asked the patron "what price range". What was the patron expected to say $10-20 or $100+ - simple question - rude answer reflecting the blatant desire to "sell big" that was reflected in every other waiter comment I heard- another glass to maybe some calamari? Second- Table behind me pays the bill and places large cash on the check. The waitress asks "do you want change?". You never ask such a question to the patron- if told to keep it fine- if told nothing you return the change and hope for a nice tip. Waitress 101- just plain rude. third- they are selling on special a mediocre glass of Italian wine for $19.95 / glass- my wife hears the name- knows the wine and says she'd like one before seeing the outrageous price for this wine store bottle at $25. (restaurant mark-ups aside -that was outrageous!) My then wife accidentally spills the near full glass and the waitress ignores it- while the busers attend to it very well. The waitress then continues to ignore us and fails to bring a replacement until I ask her to 15 mins. later. I'm sorry about the accident but even a chimpanzee knows that the waiter is there to serve the customer and that an accidental spill should be replaced immediately and the customer made to feel ok about the accident. 4th- we had our very well behaved 11mo. old son with us and the waitress did not even acknowledge his existence once all night. No one is asking for goo goo ga ga just a hello - is there anything I can get him? Try Il Piato, L'osteria or even Andiamo - but avoid this place like the plague until they decide to train a wait staff- unless you like paying NOT to be waited on. I spoke with the manager after the dinner and she listened for 3 mins. and then became disinterested and said she had better go check on things.
(1)Jaime Patricio M.
I believe Pranzo -- had a sister restaurant in Albuquerque--Scalo's. Pranzo is a wonderful N. Italian restaurant west of Downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is so near and dear to me. My family's roots are here and although i never lived here i spent a lot of time -- every summer in Santa Fe. i actually spent alot of time near Pranzo--so for me Pranzo is special on many levels. Rare to have such a high qualilty N. Italian restaurant in Santa Fe -- maybe the only one. I love the environs and ambiance! Buen Provecho!
(4)Courtney S.
OMG, what a find in Santa Fe!! Our hotel manager recommended this place as a possibility, and needing a bit of a break from chilis, we went to Pranzo Italian Grill. Well who knew that Tuesday night was Buena Sera night, and that ALL of their mains were $15.95 (including fish!) except their steaks! The fish of the day came with some of the tastiest orzo/veggie mixture I've ever had! My husband's risotto with pesto was also delicious! I got a good cocktail, the husband an excellent wine flight of Italian reds. Service was spectacular. When an olive fell out of my salad upon delivery, our server brought us a little bowl of olives to make up for the loss of just the one. The ambiance was really elegant without being stuffy... we were additionally intrigued by the LED candle on the table. Our final bill was really reasonable for the food we got, mainly because of the Tuesday Buena Sera specials. I highly recommend this place especially for their weekly specials, delicious food, and nice ambiance.
(5)Dorothy F.
Pranzo is essentially The Olive Garden dressed up in knockoff couture. The wine list was bleak, as was the wine I chose. The food tasted commercial, although the bread and multiple olive oil dip options did appease me slightly. There were only two beers on tap, which I know, it's an Italian restaurant, but who doesn't love multiple beers on tap?! I will say that the staff was attentive and kind, perhaps because they felt sorry for my boyfriend and I for having spent close to $150 on shwag.
(2)John O.
Love Pranzo! Great pizza, great range of Italian entrees from fancy to total comfort. The woodfired oven when you come in is terrfic; my son loves to watch them slide the pizzas in. Outstanding service too. Big place, easy to get a table. Great wine list and specials. Excellent ice cream and desserts too; you can buy the ice cream to take home. A great neighborhood place, and a step up from all of the boring chains.
(5)Lotus G.
We ended up going to the bar and had a great bottle of Prosecco. Great sevice and very cozy. The bartender was awesome!!! Thanks!
(4)Frank O.
I'd heard some bad things about Pranzo - poor food, mediocre service - lately, so I thought I'd try it out. All not the case any more. The owner, Michael O'Reilly, who owns the O'Keeffe Cafe also, is very hands on and has obviously sorted out their problems. We had a great meal, taking advantage of the specials they have almost every day. Excellent high-end pizza and other Italian grub. Great steaks and ossobucco. Service was professional and attentive. And the bill was ok, too.
(4)Thighmaster M.
Low cost ingredients with a high price tag. Four of us sampled a broad array of their menu and left disappointed by small portions and Italian cuisine that looks fancy (read expensive) but clearly cut back on quality of ingredients. Lousy Manhattan from the bar, also charged us for a glass of wine we didn't order. Staff/servers were above average that night - incredibly accomodating.
(2)Debbie N.
Party of 6 with inconsistent food quality. Delicious: Squash soup, capellini pomodoro, linguini with pancetta and cream So-so: Fettuccine with chicken, ribeye (balsamic glaze seemed burned) Horrible: Bolognese sauce was almost inedible - wine wasn't cooked out and lacked seasoning. Smoked chicken pizza had no chicken or jalapeños as stated on the menu. No bread until requested. Flavored olive oils had no special flavor. Pros: Ability to order half orders of pasta with a $4 side salad. Half orders are plenty of food. But we were charged incorrectly for a full order on one of our orders. Italian lessons in the restroom was pretty neat. Service was mostly adequate.
(3)John N.
Four of us dined here late last night. Service was cheerful but not super responsive. Very good selection to order. Friend had pig-and-fig pizza. See photo below. I had chicken cacciatore. It was crispy and delicious, as were the polenta bed underneath and all the veggie trimmings. My wife had spaghetti that was good but not remarkable. Nice crusty bread served during the long wait for our main course. Great location. Very bustling ambience. Easy parking across the street. Sorry about the dark photo of my entree.
(4)Kate H.
I met a friend for drinks and an appetizer last night. I was disappointed in the quality of food that we received. A 17$ salad contained spinach, 7 piñon nuts, and boiled shrimp that tasted like it had been sitting out for a week. I've had 5$ salads from Trader Joes that are exceedingly more flavorful and exciting. This used to be a go to place to take out of town guests and enjoy a glass a wine. The antipasto dish we received was scant and unenjoyable. With an abundance of more reasonable and delicious restaurants in Santa Fe, I won't be going back.
(2)Cocos B.
I have been here before and it just keeps getting better! This certain night was on a weekend. We had no reservations, the place was kind of packed, and the downstairs was too full. The upstairs is reserved to listen to music and whomever is performing that night, so they don't really like you to talk alot up there. Nevertheless we decided to sit up there. The hostess waived our piano fee since it was not our first choice so it made it worthwhile! They had half off of their wine selection so we had fun ordering a couple of dulcettos and trying them out. At one point my glass tipped over, wine spilled all over, and the waiters rushed to clean it all up. They work pretty fast but you don't feel rushed with your meal. The food was marvelous as usual! I tried dessert this time...the amaretto bread pudding...heaven! I try to make a point of visiting here every time I come to Santa Fe.
(4)Clare M.
Food is overpriced and mediocre but good happy hour wine specials.
(3)Jimena A.
absolutely love the desserts!.perfect atmosphere and amazing service..this is real Italian food..I should also point out the the place is super clean..make sure you make a reservation!.
(5)Michael D.
I am really unclear as to whether this is a 3 or 2 star but I would rather give it 3 stars until I have the chance to give it a really fair review. My issue was not with the restaurant but rather my companions at dinner. It was a stiff and "cheap" dinner, i.e., I didn't get to explore the pretty extensive wine list nor get an entre that was twice what my companions were spending. I will say the hostess and the servers were fantastic. My pasta was so so. I ordered the LINGUINE CON SALSICCIA. It tasted very good but instead of the sauce lying on top of the linguine it was mixed together pretty heavily. The pasta was definitely not al dente either. I ordered the Caesar salad as an accompaniment. While it wasn't made table side it was a superlative salad. Nice crisp greens nice dressing and those lovely whole anchovies buried inside. I will give this place another try and re-review later. I also enjoyed the bread but there should have been more.
(3)Matthew H.
I've been going to Pranzo's for the past 2 years. 2 years ago it was wonderful, attentive and helpful staff, great food and decent prices. 1 year ago the staff started leaving and their replacements were not as good. The menu started to get changed to lower quality steaks. smaller portions, and higher prices. I just went for my final time one week ago. They had AGAIN changed their menu to stop serving a filet mignon and instead a rib-eye (same price though). It was a Saturday night, however the dining room was only at about 75% occupancy and we were a party of 6 all adults. We ordered 2 beers and 4 glasses of wine. The water took around 10 minuets to get to the table and the wine approximately 20. The white wine I ordered was warm as though it had sat on the bar counter. We had our orders taken after approximately 35 minuets as it seemed the waitress never had more enough time to drop off drinks and run away even when we tried to get her attention. When we finally did have our order taken, it took another 10 minuets to recieve bread and almost another hour to recieve the food. We ordered 2 pasta dishes (one meatballs, 1 chicken) 2 rib-eye steaks (one blue rare and the other medium rare) 1 gnocchi and my mother-in-law split my father-in-law's steak. When the food came out the steaks were thin and 75% fat. Now rib-eyes have much more fat in the cut than filets however these looked worse than what I can put up at wal-mart. They were thin and curled, burnt on the outside and BOTH steaks were blue rare. If your not familiar with steak temperatures it goes blue rare rare medium rare medium medium well well They had mis-cooked my wife's steak two temperatures different. Instead of a cold pink center it was a bloody completely red all the way through mess. In addition to this my spaghetti and meatballs had about 30% spaghetti and 70% sauce with a scarce piece of beef in between. The top hat on this meal of horrors was a tomato sauce that had been tossed on both steaks. This "sauce," which consisted of something akin to V-8 thrown on a plate and warmed, was NOT on the menu, neither was the basil, which was so much in abundance, that it made the plate look like some kind of salad with meat under it. We promptly returned both the steaks and 20 minuets later, when most of us had less than 50% of our food left, the steak returned. Neither steak had the forest of basil or V-8 based sauce, but my wife's was AGAIN blue rare. We sent the steak back yet again. The third time was finally right but at that time the rest of the food had been at the table for over an hour (30 minuets for the other steak). and EVERYONE was done eating. My wife is on a blood sugar controlling diet and need to eat at very specific times. Suffice it to say she had had to subsist on mashed potatoes and by the time the steak arrived she ate about two bites before packing it up to go. I tried one bite of the steak, and it was not even seasoned with salt or pepper. Now this would have been bad enough, the food was HORRIBLE, but no this experience continues down towards a hellish experience when we asked to speak to the manager about the bad experience. A middle aged woman came over and asked what was the matter. We explained and here is the answer we got, "Well if you didn't like it you should have ordered something else." In a tone that said, I don't care what you think, My kitchen is right no matter what the food tastes or looks like. Everyone at the table was taken aback. Typically a manager comes over to a table to smooth out a bad experience, this one had decided to blame the customer for the incorrect order and bland food. So we get the bill, both steaks are still on it, they have 3 salads and 4 beers when we had ordered 2 beers and 2 salads. Also, there was a 20% AUTO gratuity put on the bill. Maybe this is why the server and manager didn't care for us or what we thought, they already had a 20% tip. SO we pay and leave, pocketing the owner's card to call later. On the way out the manager looks at me and my mother-in-law adn says, " Eat somewhere else next time." . . . eat somewhere else next time? NO PROBLEM! Calling the owner help none, he neither apologized nor said he would do anything about it, just that, "That doesn't sound like my manager." He said they had "only" one complaint out of every 200 customers. 0.5% of all people have experiences SO BAD they call the owner, and somehow they think this is ok. I now know where the staff has picked up it's attitude towards customer's, if the owner doesn't care, neither does the manager and neither does the staff. I will never EVER go back to this place and have already disputed the meal charge from my credit card. All I can say is thank GOD it wasn't a special occasion like someone's birthday or anniversary.
(1)Don't Ask Don't Tell U.
First off, it's a nice place and a well run restaurant with MUCH better than average staff for SF. You'll probably have a nice time. Now, Italian food in this city/town, even in the simple format, leaves a lot to be desired. They try to be more than simple. The main problem(s) are 1) Inconsistency. And unfortunately, in recent months that is more consistently bad than good. 2) - And this is basically unforgiveable - most all the red sauces are prepared with that most italian of spices -- CHILE! Yup...they put red chile flakes in most everything! Give me a break. Mexican pasta. The excuse: "we're in Santa Fe and thats what people want". BS. More likely, your using cooks who have not one blessed idea of italian and just don't know how to prepare anything without chile. If Spicey is desired...its' called Fridiavlo...get a recipe for it. Italian uses a good deal of red pepper (agreeably maybe a relative of the mexican chile spice being used), but entirely different. Wake up...good italian in SF is not going to be done with mexican spices...it just doesn't fit. Bad weirs tasting dishes aren't what people anywhere want.
(2)Michael R.
My wife & I tried Pranzo Italian Grill 2 days ago. Our entrees (cioppino & a salmon dish) were excellent, as were the salads, wine & service. We recommend eating there.
(5)andie c.
Unremarkable Italian that is too expensive for the lack of flavor. Very bad service as well - waitress forgot two orders and kept forgetting to come back when our drinks were empty. Nice atmosphere and convenient though.
(2)David D.
it's pranzo. it's good italian food that has been around forever. nice lighting, good food, and order the pranzo fizz (an excellent fruity drink). if you are a tourist then you probably want to go somewhere else (it is santa fe after all), but otherwise a great meal.
(4)Jet O.
Atmosphere: quiet, romantic, lovely. The music isn't too loud, the resturant is clean and well lit. For starters the bread and oil selections are amazing. Out server was happy to tell us about each oil and about blending them. Our artichoke apitizer was wonderful, a large amount of flavor. The main course was a pizza which was amazing. Thin crust cooked just right! Our server was awesome and very informative. There is a neat tradition of regulars getting their own name plate and it getting posted in the resturant which is kind of cool.
(4)Jane Z.
Food and waitress were good but the management was rude. NO separate checks and refused to do so after promising when reservation was made. It took 35 minutes for everyone to figure out their own bill. Not a nice way to end an evening.
(1)Anthony S.
Wow- This place has really gone down hill. The owners need to really think about the characters that they have working here. Sad ...as for years this place has been amazing and one of our regular spots. Won't be back.
(1)Patrick H.
The food wasn't bad but wasn't great either; definitely over priced. The feeling I got was they were portraying a five star restaurant but can't quite get there. Looked for flexibility and value but didn't get it. I would suggest Andiamos.
(1)Will And Sam K.
Excellent food Absolutely on of my favorites in Santa Fe ! The appetizer with the shrimp, callamari, and scallops is to die for . Then we had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich on ciabotta bread another great sandwich ! Nice atmosphere nice people !
(5)Ryan B.
They can't split checks or give you an itemized receipt... What a joke. They really need to get their POS system updated.
(1)Cheryl W.
The only reason this is getting a 3 is because of Adrian my waiter. He took reasonably good care of a solo diner. The food was awful. I had the Vongole, tasteless clams which were scant in comparison with other restaurants where the food is better and the price less. Equally tasteless, clumpy pasta and sauce. Was there a sauce? I wanted to like this place but cannot.
(3)Lori G.
We stopped at Pranzo during our time in Santa Fe because we had previously purchased a Groupon deal. Here were some of the high/lowlights: + Insalata Caprese was fresh and plentiful + Complimentary bread to start was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside + Insalata Caesar w/Salmon was flavorful, but the portion of salmon was quite small for the upcharge + Lasagna sauce was overly sweet with unappetizing strips of basil as a garnish If we had to do it over again, we would have skipped Pranzo and tried authentic New Mexican cuisine instead of mediocre Italian.
(3)Kevin C.
After 4 days and nights in Santa Fe, the wife and I needed a break from the eternal question "red or green", and we thoguth Italian would be great for our last dinner in the town of southwestern chile sauce. We stopped by Pranzo while out browsing at the Borders store, and were intrigued by the "Terrace" level on the 2nd level, where a cabaret/pianist was billed to be the evening's entertainment, so we made a reservation. The first pelasant surprise afterbeing seated was that because it was a sunday, all bottles of wine were 1/2 price. We started with a bottle of Gruet blanc-de-noir sparking wine with an order of bruschetta. This was some interesting Bruschetta - toasted baguette slices, with 4 different spreads on the side for bui8ding your own. Garlic puree, artchichoke, marscopone, and pesto. This was an awesome appetizer, and I reccommend it. For dinner, the wife had Lasagana - a hearty meat-filled version that i would rate good to very good; I had the bow-tie pasta with chicken & bell peppers in a gralic cream sause - also very good. Ordered a nice bottle of Dolcetto to go with the entrees. The real fun was the pianist - David Geist. He had a whole retinue oif Gershwin tunes, plus he would take requests. Another gentlemen (not sure if he was with the restaurant or just a friend) accompanied him on a few tunes (from "South Pacific") - very entertaining. So, I rate this 4 starts because of the fun entertainment, the great bruschetta, the good food, and the awesome deal on bottles of wine on sundays.
(4)HighStandard S.
The octopus salad and house chianti are superb. Servers are indulgent. Civilized, comfortable, festive atmosphere.
(4)Elyse K.
We chose Pranzo due to the Yelp rating of 4 stars but were led astray. I realize Santa Fe yelp is not very reliable as the reviews are so minimal, but this was the first time we had a completely off experience to the rating. First off, our service was good, but creepy. The waiter would refer to the women at the table as "the lady" and the men as "gentlemen". Now, i know that is proper, but don't refer to me as "the lady" is in, "and for the lady?". Now, i know this is not a big deal, but if we were at a super high end restaurant, then maybe the proper-ness would make sense, but this is a mediocre Italian restaurant. Another strange thing was while the table received their salads, Tobin received his pasta and then followed with the salad. Is that normal? Our entrees arrived and they were all goopy messes with some pasta hidden underneath. I ordered a goat cheese Mezzaluna with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and duck con fit. There was just a big mess of duck, sauce and tomatoes and i could barely fish out a piece of pasta. Tobin had what could have been a DiGorno mushroom pizza. This place prides itself on authentic Italian, yet they don't even have a wood burning pizza oven? The bottom of the pizza was soggy and undercooked. For a $20 pasta entree and $15 pizza, i would expect something MUCH better. We've eaten at other Italian places in Santa Fe and they kick this place's butt. Although the others have less reviews, i would go anywhere other than here.
(1)Kori S.
Apparently we can not eat Italian in New Mexico. The good: I had the polenta with sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola The hostess gave us the option of waiting a century for a table or sitting upstairs and listening to a pianist and a singer belt out the best of broadway($2.00 cover charge). Both of those were good things. The bad: My entree of melanzana parmigiana(eggplant parmigiana) could have come from The Olive Garden, it was mushy and the sauce tasted bottle fresh. The expediter brought our food up and it sat on a tray in the middle of the room for five minutes before it was served. Our server was inattentive and lousy. She ignored our basic needs. It even took fifteen minutes to get our check and that was only when we flagged someone else down to request it. I left a ten percent tip, I felt horrible, but she was awful.
(1)Andrew T.
I think the 3.5 stars is a perfect rating. If you are searching for a great Santa Fe experience, search a little more.
(3)Sam A.
Went to Pranzo's tonight for a birthday dinner and ordered the one dish that I've never had any complaints about, and have very vocally told friends and visiting tourists about, the lasagna. Unfortunately I was extremely underwhelmed and I am wondering what happened here... I remember the old portions being just a little larger than the cold deli ones that you can get at whole foods, but not anymore I guess. And frankly, the recipe must have changed or something. For $18 (full portion because half portions are not offered), I got a lasagna portion about the size of a McDonalds cheeseburger, served in a bowl, and HEAVILY covered with their red pasta sauce, which totally overwhelmed the tastes of the cheeses and the pasta. Now I was willing to give Pranzo's the benefit of the doubt here, but I also ordered another portion of the lasagna for my friend, who is a professional chef, to go. I bought it to him and he ate his portion, was dismayed by the price and said, "Well there's not enough actual lasagna, they skimped on the meats, and the sauce, albiet great, totally ovewhelmes the tastes of the rest of the meal." Frankly, I could make four much better tasting lasagnas than the one I ate at Pranzo's tonight if I was charging $18 for that sized portion and made pans of the stuff. Otherwise, the servers, while dreadfully slow, were very pleasant...
(2)Tom G.
We ate there twice in two days...excellent roasted pepper and white bean soup, prime rib pannini was a hit and a pasta with sausage was excellent. Nice wines especially the baby Super Tuscan. Second day we had pizzas -- I went for normal pepperoni but the three others had lamb and which "was to die for," my wife insists. I tasted it and agreed. Lovely decor and quiet. Did I mention quiet? A fair number of people but it was a refuge from the busyness on the streets at holiday time.
(4)Bella B.
Sounds like this place has had some bad reviews, but caught the train from ABQ to Santa Fe and was recommended to go there. We were greeted by super friendly staff, who assumed we were important and gave us the whole top of the restaurant and had staff at our beck and call. I felt like a "a Superstar", Really on a serious note, we were given the top of the restauraunt overlooking the city and thought the food was amazing and made with fresh ingredients, and we have eaten at many of the best restaurants. So maybe things have gotten better for this place, I think it deserves a second chance.
(5)James C.
Stopped here on the suggestion of a co-worker. After braving the snowy drive down from Los Alamos, we were greeted with a cheerful hostess who wanted to know if we wanted to sit upstairs for the live piano music. Definitely unexpected. Once seated, it seemed like it took forever before we were even greeted by the waitress. She was nice, but definitely seemed a little spacey. Probably one to many tokes from the Peyote pipe. However, we were all entertained by the live music. From Broadway show tunes to "The Entertainer." He was definitely good on the piano, but his singing left a little to be desired. For dinner, I had the Osso Buco. The lamb was flavorful and not at all gamey. The meat fell right off the bone as you would expect, but it was definitely a bit dry as if it had been sitting for awhile. Thankfully, the red wine reduction helped to moisten it. The polenta was cheesy and went well with the lamb and white beans. Overall, it was 3 stars. However, maybe a little overpriced given the quality. Desserts looked plentiful for the restaurant; from a lemon zabaglione to an Italian bread pudding. And of course, what Italian place wouldn't have Tiramisu. My co-worker's one line review of it, "It was decent, but I've had better." And that maybe the best way to describe Pranzo.
(3)Sarah P.
I really want to like this place because of its convenient location, but every time I have gone (we're talking at least 5 times in the last year) the food has been mediocre at best. They sometimes run out of basics like eggplant parm, and the waiters consistently recommend the most expensive bottle of wine in the category you select -- and the wine is not very good. It's still a fun place for happy hour, but I'm going to skip it for dinner for a while.
(2)Carmen M.
I've been to this restaurant several times. I really enjoy the salads and the gluten-free pasta entrees. It's very pricey so going there is a treat. Here are my issues: 1. To-go order was a huge rip off as the portion I got was tiny. 2. When dining in, the waitress was rude and inattentive. I don't know if that's because I wasn't ordering wine, but she barely waited on the table. I don't know if given all that this place is worth the price. Clientele are snooty looking and there's hardly anyone under 50.
(2)Brian P.
I love good Italian- Grandma's Italian, mafia Italian, high end Italian - this turned out disappointingly to be mediocre New Mexican Italian. I make my own pasta, meatballs, ravioli- you name it. I cook much better. Yet I spent $121 on 3 glasses of wine, spaghetti and meatballs and ravioli covered in heavy flavorless cream!!!!! I realize service is impossible to come by in a town that chooses things like living wages as opposed to actually earning your money- but I've worked in restaurants from London to NYC to NOLA and service is were it begins and the very least of expectations when the food is ho hum. 4 simple examples of why this place blew my mind. The other waiter in our area (when asked by another table for a Cabernet recomendation) asked the patron "what price range". What was the patron expected to say $10-20 or $100+ - simple question - rude answer reflecting the blatant desire to "sell big" that was reflected in every other waiter comment I heard- another glass to maybe some calamari? Second- Table behind me pays the bill and places large cash on the check. The waitress asks "do you want change?". You never ask such a question to the patron- if told to keep it fine- if told nothing you return the change and hope for a nice tip. Waitress 101- just plain rude. third- they are selling on special a mediocre glass of Italian wine for $19.95 / glass- my wife hears the name- knows the wine and says she'd like one before seeing the outrageous price for this wine store bottle at $25. (restaurant mark-ups aside -that was outrageous!) My then wife accidentally spills the near full glass and the waitress ignores it- while the busers attend to it very well. The waitress then continues to ignore us and fails to bring a replacement until I ask her to 15 mins. later. I'm sorry about the accident but even a chimpanzee knows that the waiter is there to serve the customer and that an accidental spill should be replaced immediately and the customer made to feel ok about the accident. 4th- we had our very well behaved 11mo. old son with us and the waitress did not even acknowledge his existence once all night. No one is asking for goo goo ga ga just a hello - is there anything I can get him? Try Il Piato, L'osteria or even Andiamo - but avoid this place like the plague until they decide to train a wait staff- unless you like paying NOT to be waited on. I spoke with the manager after the dinner and she listened for 3 mins. and then became disinterested and said she had better go check on things.
(1)Jaime Patricio M.
I believe Pranzo -- had a sister restaurant in Albuquerque--Scalo's. Pranzo is a wonderful N. Italian restaurant west of Downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is so near and dear to me. My family's roots are here and although i never lived here i spent a lot of time -- every summer in Santa Fe. i actually spent alot of time near Pranzo--so for me Pranzo is special on many levels. Rare to have such a high qualilty N. Italian restaurant in Santa Fe -- maybe the only one. I love the environs and ambiance! Buen Provecho!
(4)Courtney S.
OMG, what a find in Santa Fe!! Our hotel manager recommended this place as a possibility, and needing a bit of a break from chilis, we went to Pranzo Italian Grill. Well who knew that Tuesday night was Buena Sera night, and that ALL of their mains were $15.95 (including fish!) except their steaks! The fish of the day came with some of the tastiest orzo/veggie mixture I've ever had! My husband's risotto with pesto was also delicious! I got a good cocktail, the husband an excellent wine flight of Italian reds. Service was spectacular. When an olive fell out of my salad upon delivery, our server brought us a little bowl of olives to make up for the loss of just the one. The ambiance was really elegant without being stuffy... we were additionally intrigued by the LED candle on the table. Our final bill was really reasonable for the food we got, mainly because of the Tuesday Buena Sera specials. I highly recommend this place especially for their weekly specials, delicious food, and nice ambiance.
(5)Dorothy F.
Pranzo is essentially The Olive Garden dressed up in knockoff couture. The wine list was bleak, as was the wine I chose. The food tasted commercial, although the bread and multiple olive oil dip options did appease me slightly. There were only two beers on tap, which I know, it's an Italian restaurant, but who doesn't love multiple beers on tap?! I will say that the staff was attentive and kind, perhaps because they felt sorry for my boyfriend and I for having spent close to $150 on shwag.
(2)John O.
Love Pranzo! Great pizza, great range of Italian entrees from fancy to total comfort. The woodfired oven when you come in is terrfic; my son loves to watch them slide the pizzas in. Outstanding service too. Big place, easy to get a table. Great wine list and specials. Excellent ice cream and desserts too; you can buy the ice cream to take home. A great neighborhood place, and a step up from all of the boring chains.
(5)Lotus G.
We ended up going to the bar and had a great bottle of Prosecco. Great sevice and very cozy. The bartender was awesome!!! Thanks!
(4)Frank O.
I'd heard some bad things about Pranzo - poor food, mediocre service - lately, so I thought I'd try it out. All not the case any more. The owner, Michael O'Reilly, who owns the O'Keeffe Cafe also, is very hands on and has obviously sorted out their problems. We had a great meal, taking advantage of the specials they have almost every day. Excellent high-end pizza and other Italian grub. Great steaks and ossobucco. Service was professional and attentive. And the bill was ok, too.
(4)Thighmaster M.
Low cost ingredients with a high price tag. Four of us sampled a broad array of their menu and left disappointed by small portions and Italian cuisine that looks fancy (read expensive) but clearly cut back on quality of ingredients. Lousy Manhattan from the bar, also charged us for a glass of wine we didn't order. Staff/servers were above average that night - incredibly accomodating.
(2)Stacey M.
the best polenta mushrooms gorgonzola cream drooling as i type
(5)Shane L.
Not good. I've had better pasta at the Olive Garden! We came here because my wife had nostalgic memories of this place when she used to come to Santa Fe as a child. Boy, things must have been different back then! The apps were better than the entrees. Live piano music was a nice touch. Service so, so. Food is the main reason for the 2 stars. I mean it's fine Italian food if we are comparing it with chains like OG, but if that's what I wanted I would go there, and pay much less. Quality is lacking for sure, pasta over cooked, meatballs tiny and hard on the outside, sauce was bland. Wow. Sorry guys, but you gotta make some changes if you're going to get my business again.
(2)Mark D.
MY FAMILY AND I FOUND THEIR "LIGHT LUNCH" OPTIONS TO BE EXCELLENT. I ordered from the normal lunch menu and had a GREAT Blackened Salmon salad with a pomagranite dressing. Along with cheesy fresh bread, this was the best meal of our 4 days eating well in santa Fe. The next closest winner was the "Chocolate Maven" but that was bruch, so....................check this place out - really good and piano bar upstairs at night should be fun
(4)Anthony R.
Sat in the bar area to write my book on my latop for a few hours. Great place to be, good atmosphere but the temperature is a little high for the weather (I am there right now!) Drawing points are the atmosphere (at the bar), bartenders (Gregory and Jena), food, and especially half price bottles of wine on Sundays. Take a look at the wine list on their website and find something you like. I got the Three Saints 2010 Syrah, which was $20 at half price. It started off a bit strong (it is 14.1% abv) but opens up nicely as you get used to it. Staff is well-dressed and professional. Among the best in Santa Fe. Even now I observe the bartenders talking with people at the bar. People skills are a must in a job like this, a lot of the time talking with people makes the difference not matter what else happens. Gregory was very attentive offering water refills and getting the food out promptly. I had the Insalata Verde which has local greens. It was fantastic and worked well for me (I was feeling like having good wine and eating something light). The olive oils are interesting, I really like the red chile olive oil with the bread that was offered to me. Pranzo has really improved over the last few years. I know it has been through a number of owners and reviews, but it really deserves a chance at this point as it is offering quality food and service at competitive prices. I am more impressed than I expected to be, thank you for the great experience. I should also mention that it was great of my server, Gregory, to let me use two bar tables for only one person and a laptop even if it wasn't as busy as it could have been. There are 14/24 people here, which isn't that slow for a Sunday night.
(5)Christiana C.
Nothing bad to say! Price for early bird dinner and happy hour are reasonable, especially in Santa Fe! Staff is wonderful, punctual and polite!
(5)Patron X.
The restaurant should change it's name as it is no longer the same owner or the same menu as many of the poor reviews. This place is turning a corner and has some really great dishes and a great wine list. Do yourself a favor and ignore all of the reviews from a year or more ago and enjoy this place before it's rediscovered and packed.
(4)Gerald B.
Great dinner again. I had the grouper! The O salad not my fav....Beware of the olive pits!
(4)Nick S.
This is better than 3 stars, if not for anything, for a real Italian home made feel sauce. I like it here for simplicity. The meatballs here are home made feeling in texture and taste, and there is a lot of subtle flavor in the red sauce. Decent wine list made better by Sunday specials at half off service is good and friendly. C'mon, it's a basic nice Italian restaurant
(4)Marqui R.
This place is nestled in the San Busco Market area. I love that although its near downtown they usually have ample parking space so finding parking here is not a problem. The food is hit or miss here. I came on a date here last summer and tried the risotto based on the great reviews on yelp, it was very bland and i was so disappointed. I've tried other dishes such as the SPAGHETTI CON GAMBERONI and their pizzas which are delicious. This is a good venue to have a larger party as you can reserve the top area for a private party. I had my rehearsal dinner here for a party of 30 and the upstairs was very nice. They let us pick from 4 price point menus and have 3 dinner selections to make the service go smoother. The dinner went off smoothly and everyone enjoyed the food here. It is quite difficult to find a restaurant that will accomodate parties of 20 or more in Santa Fe on a friday evening so I was glad that this place had a private room. Overall great dining experience here and good food depending on what you get.
(4)Marla B.
Took some friends to Pranzos for dinner, had raved about from a great experience there. Of course, we had a very different experience, I was so embarrassed because we had a bad experience this past Sunday evening. It started with the server which was not friendly or helpful. Ordered a mixed green salad---I'm sorry but from my experience that means lettuce maybe some carrots, cucumber tomatoe etc. you opened a bag of lettuce that I buy at trader joes for 1.99 through it on a plate with a very bad tasting dressing and charged me 7 or 8 $ for that! That's just not right, the rest of our meals were just mediocre. Will not be back!
(1)Leahi M.
Great place to go! The staff is amazing, the GM of the place is super on top of things and the bartender is kick ass!
(5)Christopher R.
I came across Pranzo through OT. We had an early reservation and the place was quiet; by the time we left, it was almost full and very energetic. Our server was great, sharing that she had worked under Chef Lemon back in the early 90s. On her recommendation I ordered the red snapper which was cooked to perfection, a bit crisp on the surface but moist inside. The sauce was fantastic. My wife had the half order of linguine carbonara; quite good if a tad over-sauced for her tastes. Dessert was wonderful (grilled lemon sorbet and tiramisu). The restaurant shows its age (a tear in the booth seat cover, color schemes, etc.), but the food is the real draw, of course. It will be exciting to see what Chef Lemon does in the future.
(4)Drew R.
The food is really great, the sauce is tasty, the service is on the slow side, and you have to keep asking for drink refills. The food is very fine dining and upscale, but for a native Santa Fean I felt out of place and uncomfortable with the wealthy tourists.
(4)J P.
Santa Fe has numerous fine dining options, but Pranzo falls squarely in the middle of the pack - aspiring to be a fine Italian restaurant but falling short in several areas. Now don't get me wrong - Pranzo is perfectly fine if you were comparing it to the typical suburban Italian franchise. But this is Santa Fe and the bar for most restaurants is set quite high. Pranzo is located in the Sanbusco Center - an historic building converted to retail center. (Sanbusco lost its anchor tenant when Border's Books went out of business, so the mall is a bit quieter than before.) It is located near the burgeoning railyards arts district, near the Railrunner train station, REI, and SITE. We've been to Pranzo on several occasions previously, and the experience has varied from average to quite nice. But on our most recent visit, it was decidedly a disappointment. The first indication was when we entered the restaurant to hear several departing patrons complaining to the hostess about their poor experience. Not a good sign, but we hoped it might be an isolated incident. Even though we had reservations, the hostess said she couldn't seat us for another 15 minutes after the reservation time. This also happens occasionally, so we didn't give it much thought. When we were seated, we noticed it did take somewhat longer than usual to get a waitress to take our drink and meal order. Then we noticed that only one waitress was working the entire half of the lower dining area. Maybe Pranzo was short-handed that night, or someone quit at the last minute? If not, then management may have been trying to save money through understaffing - always a bad idea in a service business. It was a cold night, so we ordered a bowl of soup (Minestrone alla Pranzo) to share. After roughly 30 minutes, our entrees were served (by another staffer, not the waitress), but we never did get the soup we ordered. And our waitress was nowhere to be found to correct the error. Okay, no biggie. Maybe we'll save room for dessert. For entrees, we ordered a Spinach Salad (Insalata Spinaci) and a Chicken Pesto Pizza (Pizza con Pollo e Pesto), both to be shared. The salad was okay, but nothing to brag about. The spinach was sort of overwhelmed by the Balsamic vinaigrette. But the roasted pears and roasted red peppers were limp and tasteless. The pizza is about 10-inches in diameter with 6 slices - big enough to share for two, but small enough as an individual portion. Unfortunately, the chicken was incredibly dry, so much so that we had to remove the chicken slices to be able to eat the pizza. The pesto tasted as if it came from a jar, and there was way too much on the pizza (it doesn't need to be used like marinara sauce and cover every square inch). There was also way too much mozzarella - maybe it was used to hold all the ingredients together? The crust was light and tasty however, so it wasn't a total disaster. Why didn't we complain about our food to the waitress? We would have, had we seen her, or been able to catch her eye. Finally, almost 90 minutes in, she comes by to present the check and (finally) asked how everything was. We told her we didn't get what we ordered (soup) and said the entrees weren't very good. She didn't look like this meant much to her and said "I'll remove the soup from the bill". There was no offer to discount the poor entrees. There are way too many excellent dining options in Santa Fe for Pranzo to continue in this way. There are several reviews noting poor service and we certainly experienced that. I can forgive some lackluster service if the food is really good, but in this case the meal was below average. Pranzo needs to address issues of inconsistent service and poor food quality. And they need to address them now.
(1)Melissa S.
"Received Terrible service and food- manger told me "never come back" This used to be a fabulous restaurant. I've been dining at Pranzo for many years and its sad to see what it has become. I ordered a pasta plate that was drenched in oil and my partner ordered the duck plate that came with half cooked beans. The waitress came around once and asked how the food was when we took our first bite. Another server had to bring us bread as the first one never came back around. We waited what felt like forever for the server to check on us so we could ask for the check, which at that point I tried to explain how drenched the bottom half of my pasta was and she said "I gave you the opportunity to tell me how the food was when I asked" ...yea, when I barely took my first bite! WOW, what great customer service. Who trains these people? Then she told my partner that the beans on his plate are supposed to come half cooked. After another long wait we were finally able to speak with the manager who could care less and after she noticed I did not leave a tip, she literally yelled at me "You're not going to leave Rosalind anything!" (I got steamed and the F Bomb came out) "F No!" and her dramatic response "I'm going to ask you to never come in here again!" Since when do managers of restaurants demand you to leave a tip for horrible food and service???
(1)Joe MArtelaro M.
When you walk into Pranzo, you think you may have arrived at a decent Italian eatery. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. The interior design is not bad but that's where the positives end. The calamari appetizer was hard and the accompanying sauces were mediocre. Everything we ordered including the meatballs seemed soggy and not quite cooked properly. Sauces tasted like they came out of a jar. You'd be better off at a Macaronni Grill or an Olive Garden. This is a simple case of folks without the skills getting into the wrong business. As someone with Italian in my blood, I was hoping for more. The bus help was nice but the waitress was cold and detached. The wine although described as "a nosegay of floral aroma" tasted like two-buck Chuck but that summed up the experience for us. The superficial things at Pranzo were okay - the interior design, the menu descriptions - but the food, drink and service were the pits. Save your money!
(1)D T.
Delicious !!!! We stumbled upon this place just out walking and we were in for a nice surprise. We had a most excellent meal, sat out on the patio and chatted with some friendly semi- locals ( well they were from Taos) The waitstaff was very attentive and our meal was great. Wine list is amazing and I did have a very decent choice by the glass, since my companion was not having wine. Great find.
(4)Rennie C.
So incredibly bad I don't have the words. Menu unimaginative, service consistently bad/slow/mouth-breathers, food nearly inedible. I've given them several chances, but as a Santa Fean, I know there are tons of better choices for Italian in town Stay away from this Olive Garden wannabe.
(1)Stephanie P.
#155 Totally upscale and packed with the middle-agers. So, the boyfriend and I felt right at home. Ha. Because we didn't have a reservation and the dining area was pretty packed, we opted for seating at the bar. Bad move. The bartender was a total drag and a half and treated us as if we were children (granted, we were probably half the age of everybody there). After we got our High Desert and Provenzale, we decided to ask a waiter to help us move over to one of the smaller tables in the lounge. The bartender acted surprised that we were relocating but, really? You didn't realize you were being incredibly rude to us? Once we got to our table though, the entire experience went uphill. First of all, there was a couple sitting right next to us that was clearly doing something naughty. All throughout dinner, we eavesdropped on their conversation (just because they were being so loud and flamboyant) and turns out .... they were both cheating on their respective spouses!!! Tsk tsk tsk. The guy was incredibly desperate to get her back to his hotel room, but eventually she opted out and left him alone at the table. Boo-hoo. As for the food, excellent, really. I ordered the lobster gnocchi and the lobster was cooked to absolute perfection. The gnocchi, to my surprise, didn't taste overwhelmingly like potatoes, which is always something a chef can't easily avoid. The sauce was also creamy and full of flavor. The boyfriend's swordfish was also delightful. The highlight of the night though was the High Desert that I had ordered at the bar earlier. THE best spicy cocktail I've had then and since. The brim was coated with chili powder and, instead of the typical olive or lemon slice, it was topped with a jalapeno. It was a feat just finishing it but I did it! Really, I would have liked to have given this place a 5, but just because of the rude bartender at the beginning of the night, it has dropped down to a 4.
(4)Christine P.
Calamari appetizer was very good, the sauce they brought was yummy! The lobster pasta was good, the oso bucco was GREAT! Great service, great wine selection. Nice cozy restaurant. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is my espresso was burnt.
(4)Raven C.
They deserve zero stars. They couldn't even get spaghetti and meatballs right. What a waste. Then tasted eggshells in meatballs which manager denied being the case. When I asked what else would have made them crunchy he did not know. I asked him about the portion size since I ordered full size. I got four small meatballs that came with very little pasta which was overcooked. The manager then responded with, "when you get old you don't need as much to eat". Needless to say I am 34 yo. So age wouldnt apply to my appetite unless he's talking about himself. I only went here because the other italian restaurant was closed.
(1)Susan P.
Walked into bar - only people at the bar. Bartender promptly walks away to talk to other employees. Then leaves bar altogether. Finally comes back (other employees milling about do not even look at us) lays napkins down on dirty (replete with food droppings from previous customers) bar. I ask him to clean it. He does a half *ssed job - spreading crumbs on me rather than collecting them toward him. We order a tasting flight. 1 of the 3 wines is different than what's on the menu - and they all tasted like airline wine. Enter single mother with 1 year old. (This is 8:45PM.) Sits at end of bar at a table and proceeds to have LOUD conversation with 1 year old about the colors of the candy she is feeding him. We pick up our wine and move to other end of bar. (Still only people at bar.) Guess what? Bar is filthy with food debris from previous customers. Bartender is talking to single mother with kid, so I reach over and get a rag to clean the bar. Meanwhile, apparent manager on duty is talking loudly to hostess about her camping trips - completely oblivious to customers.... After another 20 minutes of extra loud Mommy talk (so we all know what a great mom she is....), we leave. Won't be back. If you want a grown up dinner experience go to Galisteo Bistro. If you want a grown up glass of wine at the bar in the Railyard, go to Ristra.
(1)Zoya D.
Mmmm YUM! Hop of the train from the Rail Runner and take a stroll through the beautiful Santa Fe railyards to Pranzo. Sit down, have some wine. Scrumptious seared salmon salad. Old-style service with white tablecloths: I feel like I'm back at my hometown, old-school Chicago eateries (Gene & Georgetti's, etc.) Creme brulee made my smile all the way back home to ABQ. A nice change from the rote options available in Duke City. This was a nice trip away from home. I'm surprised by the 2- and 3-star ratings here; granted my rating is derived from ordering salad, but certainly the experience can go a long way.
(4)Scott S.
It was Sunday and after finding a few restaurants closed, our group of six stopped here for a pleasant mid-afternoon supper. Half price on the wine coaxed us into having a couple of bottles, which we enjoyed. The seating and atmosphere felt warm, and comfy. Our food was promptly served and tasty but nothing spectacular. We ordered lamb topped pizza mushroom pizza, capellini pomodoro, and salads. I liked the brightness in the pomodor sauce and their garlic olive oil. The best part of the meal was the quick and attentive service.
(3)Karen S.
Rather overpriced for the quality of food. In a town with so many great restaurant choices, they would do well to reconsider the quality and freshness of the food as well as remaining competitively priced. A little more flavor wouldn't hurt........
(2)Genevieve T.
Correction...this place USED to be great. I went here with my family recently, and my Dad and I got VERY sick afterwards. I don't think I'll be back.
(1)Sofia K.
The bad news.....the mussels were spoiled and reeked. The good news...they were overcooked and rubbery, so I'm sure all bacteria was killed. Our entrees were so boring as to not merit mentioning. (Our server was very nice though.)
(1)Ian T.
This place is very yuppie. They have wine connoisseur clothing and classical/jazz music for sale in a glass display as you walk in. They also have a legitimate coat cubby. This kind of style does not turn me off of a place unless the staff act with the disrespect they are expected to put up with. (as a side note 95% of the other customers were white seniors 65+ in age I felt a little out of place as a 25 year old.) On a Friday night my family and I walked in to a 30 minute wait. It was our fault for not making reservations, so we waited. Out of curiosity, we asked the hostess if there were any other restaurants in the area. She said "I don't know" and looked back down at her podium... As if a local mid 20s year old woman doesn't know of ANY other places to eat. Clearly blew us off. The bar was nearly full, but my brother and I found two seats. We were asked for our IDs and gave them to him. He accepted my Arizona license after a long look. However, as soon as he saw my brothers vertical Texas license, even though he is 23 years old, he denied him service saying "its company policy and all of the near by places do it too" and gave an explanation of police stings. We were kind of annoyed being that we are on vacation and just had a long hard day of skiing. I am pretty sure denying a legal form of identification is breaking some laws, but I'm not a lawyer. The company clearly does not care for their potential customers. They were as uninviting as i could of imagined a restaurant being. We told the rest of my family and we decided to leave. We went to the Mediterranean place across the street who gladly accepted my brothers license and had excellent food AND wine. If the staff had been nicer i still would not have gone to this place based on their discrimination of vertical IDs. Two thumbs down.
(1)Sandy K.
I really wish I could give this place a better review, but the eggplant Parmesan made it go from a 4 to a 2 star. We placed an order to go and waited a good 20-25 minutes for it to be ready. We ordered a house salad, a margherita pizza and eggplant Parmesan. The first two items were pretty good, but the eggplant was horrible. It was WAY under-cooked and rubbery...we could barely get a sharp knife to cut it. We threw the whole thing away. With all the good dining options in Santa Fe, this place really has to do better.
(2)Matt O.
LOVE this place. Great Italian and a truly outstanding wine list. A relaxed upscale atmosphere. Our waiter was extremely knowledgable, friendly and attentive. I had the lasagna and it was excellent. Also sampled the pizza and it did not disappoint. We had a Russian River pinot that was just brilliant. They have some great Malbecs too. If you're into wine, this is the spot! Seemed very reasonably priced. Will definitely go back on my next visit to Santa Fe!
(5)Morton S.
I had a special salad with blackened salmon. All the ingredients were fresh and it was delicious. Creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert was the best.
(4)Frank D.
For a $75 meal the service was poor, the food mediocre. Got a dessert to go, when we got it home the portion was a joke. The menu is not what it once was, not what I consider to be true Italian cuisine. Never going back.
(1)Jane Z.
Food and waitress were good but the management was rude. NO separate checks and refused to do so after promising when reservation was made. It took 35 minutes for everyone to figure out their own bill. Not a nice way to end an evening.
(1)Anthony S.
Wow- This place has really gone down hill. The owners need to really think about the characters that they have working here. Sad ...as for years this place has been amazing and one of our regular spots. Won't be back.
(1)Patrick H.
The food wasn't bad but wasn't great either; definitely over priced. The feeling I got was they were portraying a five star restaurant but can't quite get there. Looked for flexibility and value but didn't get it. I would suggest Andiamos.
(1)Will And Sam K.
Excellent food Absolutely on of my favorites in Santa Fe ! The appetizer with the shrimp, callamari, and scallops is to die for . Then we had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich on ciabotta bread another great sandwich ! Nice atmosphere nice people !
(5)Ryan B.
They can't split checks or give you an itemized receipt... What a joke. They really need to get their POS system updated.
(1)Cheryl W.
The only reason this is getting a 3 is because of Adrian my waiter. He took reasonably good care of a solo diner. The food was awful. I had the Vongole, tasteless clams which were scant in comparison with other restaurants where the food is better and the price less. Equally tasteless, clumpy pasta and sauce. Was there a sauce? I wanted to like this place but cannot.
(3)Lori G.
We stopped at Pranzo during our time in Santa Fe because we had previously purchased a Groupon deal. Here were some of the high/lowlights: + Insalata Caprese was fresh and plentiful + Complimentary bread to start was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside + Insalata Caesar w/Salmon was flavorful, but the portion of salmon was quite small for the upcharge + Lasagna sauce was overly sweet with unappetizing strips of basil as a garnish If we had to do it over again, we would have skipped Pranzo and tried authentic New Mexican cuisine instead of mediocre Italian.
(3)Shane L.
Not good. I've had better pasta at the Olive Garden! We came here because my wife had nostalgic memories of this place when she used to come to Santa Fe as a child. Boy, things must have been different back then! The apps were better than the entrees. Live piano music was a nice touch. Service so, so. Food is the main reason for the 2 stars. I mean it's fine Italian food if we are comparing it with chains like OG, but if that's what I wanted I would go there, and pay much less. Quality is lacking for sure, pasta over cooked, meatballs tiny and hard on the outside, sauce was bland. Wow. Sorry guys, but you gotta make some changes if you're going to get my business again.
(2)Anthony R.
Sat in the bar area to write my book on my latop for a few hours. Great place to be, good atmosphere but the temperature is a little high for the weather (I am there right now!) Drawing points are the atmosphere (at the bar), bartenders (Gregory and Jena), food, and especially half price bottles of wine on Sundays. Take a look at the wine list on their website and find something you like. I got the Three Saints 2010 Syrah, which was $20 at half price. It started off a bit strong (it is 14.1% abv) but opens up nicely as you get used to it. Staff is well-dressed and professional. Among the best in Santa Fe. Even now I observe the bartenders talking with people at the bar. People skills are a must in a job like this, a lot of the time talking with people makes the difference not matter what else happens. Gregory was very attentive offering water refills and getting the food out promptly. I had the Insalata Verde which has local greens. It was fantastic and worked well for me (I was feeling like having good wine and eating something light). The olive oils are interesting, I really like the red chile olive oil with the bread that was offered to me. Pranzo has really improved over the last few years. I know it has been through a number of owners and reviews, but it really deserves a chance at this point as it is offering quality food and service at competitive prices. I am more impressed than I expected to be, thank you for the great experience. I should also mention that it was great of my server, Gregory, to let me use two bar tables for only one person and a laptop even if it wasn't as busy as it could have been. There are 14/24 people here, which isn't that slow for a Sunday night.
(5)Christiana C.
Nothing bad to say! Price for early bird dinner and happy hour are reasonable, especially in Santa Fe! Staff is wonderful, punctual and polite!
(5)Patron X.
The restaurant should change it's name as it is no longer the same owner or the same menu as many of the poor reviews. This place is turning a corner and has some really great dishes and a great wine list. Do yourself a favor and ignore all of the reviews from a year or more ago and enjoy this place before it's rediscovered and packed.
(4)Gerald B.
Great dinner again. I had the grouper! The O salad not my fav....Beware of the olive pits!
(4)Nick S.
This is better than 3 stars, if not for anything, for a real Italian home made feel sauce. I like it here for simplicity. The meatballs here are home made feeling in texture and taste, and there is a lot of subtle flavor in the red sauce. Decent wine list made better by Sunday specials at half off service is good and friendly. C'mon, it's a basic nice Italian restaurant
(4)Marqui R.
This place is nestled in the San Busco Market area. I love that although its near downtown they usually have ample parking space so finding parking here is not a problem. The food is hit or miss here. I came on a date here last summer and tried the risotto based on the great reviews on yelp, it was very bland and i was so disappointed. I've tried other dishes such as the SPAGHETTI CON GAMBERONI and their pizzas which are delicious. This is a good venue to have a larger party as you can reserve the top area for a private party. I had my rehearsal dinner here for a party of 30 and the upstairs was very nice. They let us pick from 4 price point menus and have 3 dinner selections to make the service go smoother. The dinner went off smoothly and everyone enjoyed the food here. It is quite difficult to find a restaurant that will accomodate parties of 20 or more in Santa Fe on a friday evening so I was glad that this place had a private room. Overall great dining experience here and good food depending on what you get.
(4)Marla B.
Took some friends to Pranzos for dinner, had raved about from a great experience there. Of course, we had a very different experience, I was so embarrassed because we had a bad experience this past Sunday evening. It started with the server which was not friendly or helpful. Ordered a mixed green salad---I'm sorry but from my experience that means lettuce maybe some carrots, cucumber tomatoe etc. you opened a bag of lettuce that I buy at trader joes for 1.99 through it on a plate with a very bad tasting dressing and charged me 7 or 8 $ for that! That's just not right, the rest of our meals were just mediocre. Will not be back!
(1)Leahi M.
Great place to go! The staff is amazing, the GM of the place is super on top of things and the bartender is kick ass!
(5)Christopher R.
I came across Pranzo through OT. We had an early reservation and the place was quiet; by the time we left, it was almost full and very energetic. Our server was great, sharing that she had worked under Chef Lemon back in the early 90s. On her recommendation I ordered the red snapper which was cooked to perfection, a bit crisp on the surface but moist inside. The sauce was fantastic. My wife had the half order of linguine carbonara; quite good if a tad over-sauced for her tastes. Dessert was wonderful (grilled lemon sorbet and tiramisu). The restaurant shows its age (a tear in the booth seat cover, color schemes, etc.), but the food is the real draw, of course. It will be exciting to see what Chef Lemon does in the future.
(4)Drew R.
The food is really great, the sauce is tasty, the service is on the slow side, and you have to keep asking for drink refills. The food is very fine dining and upscale, but for a native Santa Fean I felt out of place and uncomfortable with the wealthy tourists.
(4)Debbie N.
Party of 6 with inconsistent food quality. Delicious: Squash soup, capellini pomodoro, linguini with pancetta and cream So-so: Fettuccine with chicken, ribeye (balsamic glaze seemed burned) Horrible: Bolognese sauce was almost inedible - wine wasn't cooked out and lacked seasoning. Smoked chicken pizza had no chicken or jalapeños as stated on the menu. No bread until requested. Flavored olive oils had no special flavor. Pros: Ability to order half orders of pasta with a $4 side salad. Half orders are plenty of food. But we were charged incorrectly for a full order on one of our orders. Italian lessons in the restroom was pretty neat. Service was mostly adequate.
(3)Kate H.
I met a friend for drinks and an appetizer last night. I was disappointed in the quality of food that we received. A 17$ salad contained spinach, 7 piñon nuts, and boiled shrimp that tasted like it had been sitting out for a week. I've had 5$ salads from Trader Joes that are exceedingly more flavorful and exciting. This used to be a go to place to take out of town guests and enjoy a glass a wine. The antipasto dish we received was scant and unenjoyable. With an abundance of more reasonable and delicious restaurants in Santa Fe, I won't be going back.
(2)Cocos B.
I have been here before and it just keeps getting better! This certain night was on a weekend. We had no reservations, the place was kind of packed, and the downstairs was too full. The upstairs is reserved to listen to music and whomever is performing that night, so they don't really like you to talk alot up there. Nevertheless we decided to sit up there. The hostess waived our piano fee since it was not our first choice so it made it worthwhile! They had half off of their wine selection so we had fun ordering a couple of dulcettos and trying them out. At one point my glass tipped over, wine spilled all over, and the waiters rushed to clean it all up. They work pretty fast but you don't feel rushed with your meal. The food was marvelous as usual! I tried dessert this time...the amaretto bread pudding...heaven! I try to make a point of visiting here every time I come to Santa Fe.
(4)Clare M.
Food is overpriced and mediocre but good happy hour wine specials.
(3)Jimena A.
absolutely love the desserts!.perfect atmosphere and amazing service..this is real Italian food..I should also point out the the place is super clean..make sure you make a reservation!.
(5)Michael D.
I am really unclear as to whether this is a 3 or 2 star but I would rather give it 3 stars until I have the chance to give it a really fair review. My issue was not with the restaurant but rather my companions at dinner. It was a stiff and "cheap" dinner, i.e., I didn't get to explore the pretty extensive wine list nor get an entre that was twice what my companions were spending. I will say the hostess and the servers were fantastic. My pasta was so so. I ordered the LINGUINE CON SALSICCIA. It tasted very good but instead of the sauce lying on top of the linguine it was mixed together pretty heavily. The pasta was definitely not al dente either. I ordered the Caesar salad as an accompaniment. While it wasn't made table side it was a superlative salad. Nice crisp greens nice dressing and those lovely whole anchovies buried inside. I will give this place another try and re-review later. I also enjoyed the bread but there should have been more.
(3)Matthew H.
I've been going to Pranzo's for the past 2 years. 2 years ago it was wonderful, attentive and helpful staff, great food and decent prices. 1 year ago the staff started leaving and their replacements were not as good. The menu started to get changed to lower quality steaks. smaller portions, and higher prices. I just went for my final time one week ago. They had AGAIN changed their menu to stop serving a filet mignon and instead a rib-eye (same price though). It was a Saturday night, however the dining room was only at about 75% occupancy and we were a party of 6 all adults. We ordered 2 beers and 4 glasses of wine. The water took around 10 minuets to get to the table and the wine approximately 20. The white wine I ordered was warm as though it had sat on the bar counter. We had our orders taken after approximately 35 minuets as it seemed the waitress never had more enough time to drop off drinks and run away even when we tried to get her attention. When we finally did have our order taken, it took another 10 minuets to recieve bread and almost another hour to recieve the food. We ordered 2 pasta dishes (one meatballs, 1 chicken) 2 rib-eye steaks (one blue rare and the other medium rare) 1 gnocchi and my mother-in-law split my father-in-law's steak. When the food came out the steaks were thin and 75% fat. Now rib-eyes have much more fat in the cut than filets however these looked worse than what I can put up at wal-mart. They were thin and curled, burnt on the outside and BOTH steaks were blue rare. If your not familiar with steak temperatures it goes blue rare rare medium rare medium medium well well They had mis-cooked my wife's steak two temperatures different. Instead of a cold pink center it was a bloody completely red all the way through mess. In addition to this my spaghetti and meatballs had about 30% spaghetti and 70% sauce with a scarce piece of beef in between. The top hat on this meal of horrors was a tomato sauce that had been tossed on both steaks. This "sauce," which consisted of something akin to V-8 thrown on a plate and warmed, was NOT on the menu, neither was the basil, which was so much in abundance, that it made the plate look like some kind of salad with meat under it. We promptly returned both the steaks and 20 minuets later, when most of us had less than 50% of our food left, the steak returned. Neither steak had the forest of basil or V-8 based sauce, but my wife's was AGAIN blue rare. We sent the steak back yet again. The third time was finally right but at that time the rest of the food had been at the table for over an hour (30 minuets for the other steak). and EVERYONE was done eating. My wife is on a blood sugar controlling diet and need to eat at very specific times. Suffice it to say she had had to subsist on mashed potatoes and by the time the steak arrived she ate about two bites before packing it up to go. I tried one bite of the steak, and it was not even seasoned with salt or pepper. Now this would have been bad enough, the food was HORRIBLE, but no this experience continues down towards a hellish experience when we asked to speak to the manager about the bad experience. A middle aged woman came over and asked what was the matter. We explained and here is the answer we got, "Well if you didn't like it you should have ordered something else." In a tone that said, I don't care what you think, My kitchen is right no matter what the food tastes or looks like. Everyone at the table was taken aback. Typically a manager comes over to a table to smooth out a bad experience, this one had decided to blame the customer for the incorrect order and bland food. So we get the bill, both steaks are still on it, they have 3 salads and 4 beers when we had ordered 2 beers and 2 salads. Also, there was a 20% AUTO gratuity put on the bill. Maybe this is why the server and manager didn't care for us or what we thought, they already had a 20% tip. SO we pay and leave, pocketing the owner's card to call later. On the way out the manager looks at me and my mother-in-law adn says, " Eat somewhere else next time." . . . eat somewhere else next time? NO PROBLEM! Calling the owner help none, he neither apologized nor said he would do anything about it, just that, "That doesn't sound like my manager." He said they had "only" one complaint out of every 200 customers. 0.5% of all people have experiences SO BAD they call the owner, and somehow they think this is ok. I now know where the staff has picked up it's attitude towards customer's, if the owner doesn't care, neither does the manager and neither does the staff. I will never EVER go back to this place and have already disputed the meal charge from my credit card. All I can say is thank GOD it wasn't a special occasion like someone's birthday or anniversary.
(1)Brian P.
I love good Italian- Grandma's Italian, mafia Italian, high end Italian - this turned out disappointingly to be mediocre New Mexican Italian. I make my own pasta, meatballs, ravioli- you name it. I cook much better. Yet I spent $121 on 3 glasses of wine, spaghetti and meatballs and ravioli covered in heavy flavorless cream!!!!! I realize service is impossible to come by in a town that chooses things like living wages as opposed to actually earning your money- but I've worked in restaurants from London to NYC to NOLA and service is were it begins and the very least of expectations when the food is ho hum. 4 simple examples of why this place blew my mind. The other waiter in our area (when asked by another table for a Cabernet recomendation) asked the patron "what price range". What was the patron expected to say $10-20 or $100+ - simple question - rude answer reflecting the blatant desire to "sell big" that was reflected in every other waiter comment I heard- another glass to maybe some calamari? Second- Table behind me pays the bill and places large cash on the check. The waitress asks "do you want change?". You never ask such a question to the patron- if told to keep it fine- if told nothing you return the change and hope for a nice tip. Waitress 101- just plain rude. third- they are selling on special a mediocre glass of Italian wine for $19.95 / glass- my wife hears the name- knows the wine and says she'd like one before seeing the outrageous price for this wine store bottle at $25. (restaurant mark-ups aside -that was outrageous!) My then wife accidentally spills the near full glass and the waitress ignores it- while the busers attend to it very well. The waitress then continues to ignore us and fails to bring a replacement until I ask her to 15 mins. later. I'm sorry about the accident but even a chimpanzee knows that the waiter is there to serve the customer and that an accidental spill should be replaced immediately and the customer made to feel ok about the accident. 4th- we had our very well behaved 11mo. old son with us and the waitress did not even acknowledge his existence once all night. No one is asking for goo goo ga ga just a hello - is there anything I can get him? Try Il Piato, L'osteria or even Andiamo - but avoid this place like the plague until they decide to train a wait staff- unless you like paying NOT to be waited on. I spoke with the manager after the dinner and she listened for 3 mins. and then became disinterested and said she had better go check on things.
(1)Courtney S.
OMG, what a find in Santa Fe!! Our hotel manager recommended this place as a possibility, and needing a bit of a break from chilis, we went to Pranzo Italian Grill. Well who knew that Tuesday night was Buena Sera night, and that ALL of their mains were $15.95 (including fish!) except their steaks! The fish of the day came with some of the tastiest orzo/veggie mixture I've ever had! My husband's risotto with pesto was also delicious! I got a good cocktail, the husband an excellent wine flight of Italian reds. Service was spectacular. When an olive fell out of my salad upon delivery, our server brought us a little bowl of olives to make up for the loss of just the one. The ambiance was really elegant without being stuffy... we were additionally intrigued by the LED candle on the table. Our final bill was really reasonable for the food we got, mainly because of the Tuesday Buena Sera specials. I highly recommend this place especially for their weekly specials, delicious food, and nice ambiance.
(5)Dorothy F.
Pranzo is essentially The Olive Garden dressed up in knockoff couture. The wine list was bleak, as was the wine I chose. The food tasted commercial, although the bread and multiple olive oil dip options did appease me slightly. There were only two beers on tap, which I know, it's an Italian restaurant, but who doesn't love multiple beers on tap?! I will say that the staff was attentive and kind, perhaps because they felt sorry for my boyfriend and I for having spent close to $150 on shwag.
(2)John O.
Love Pranzo! Great pizza, great range of Italian entrees from fancy to total comfort. The woodfired oven when you come in is terrfic; my son loves to watch them slide the pizzas in. Outstanding service too. Big place, easy to get a table. Great wine list and specials. Excellent ice cream and desserts too; you can buy the ice cream to take home. A great neighborhood place, and a step up from all of the boring chains.
(5)Lotus G.
We ended up going to the bar and had a great bottle of Prosecco. Great sevice and very cozy. The bartender was awesome!!! Thanks!
(4)Mark D.
MY FAMILY AND I FOUND THEIR "LIGHT LUNCH" OPTIONS TO BE EXCELLENT. I ordered from the normal lunch menu and had a GREAT Blackened Salmon salad with a pomagranite dressing. Along with cheesy fresh bread, this was the best meal of our 4 days eating well in santa Fe. The next closest winner was the "Chocolate Maven" but that was bruch, so....................check this place out - really good and piano bar upstairs at night should be fun
(4)J P.
Santa Fe has numerous fine dining options, but Pranzo falls squarely in the middle of the pack - aspiring to be a fine Italian restaurant but falling short in several areas. Now don't get me wrong - Pranzo is perfectly fine if you were comparing it to the typical suburban Italian franchise. But this is Santa Fe and the bar for most restaurants is set quite high. Pranzo is located in the Sanbusco Center - an historic building converted to retail center. (Sanbusco lost its anchor tenant when Border's Books went out of business, so the mall is a bit quieter than before.) It is located near the burgeoning railyards arts district, near the Railrunner train station, REI, and SITE. We've been to Pranzo on several occasions previously, and the experience has varied from average to quite nice. But on our most recent visit, it was decidedly a disappointment. The first indication was when we entered the restaurant to hear several departing patrons complaining to the hostess about their poor experience. Not a good sign, but we hoped it might be an isolated incident. Even though we had reservations, the hostess said she couldn't seat us for another 15 minutes after the reservation time. This also happens occasionally, so we didn't give it much thought. When we were seated, we noticed it did take somewhat longer than usual to get a waitress to take our drink and meal order. Then we noticed that only one waitress was working the entire half of the lower dining area. Maybe Pranzo was short-handed that night, or someone quit at the last minute? If not, then management may have been trying to save money through understaffing - always a bad idea in a service business. It was a cold night, so we ordered a bowl of soup (Minestrone alla Pranzo) to share. After roughly 30 minutes, our entrees were served (by another staffer, not the waitress), but we never did get the soup we ordered. And our waitress was nowhere to be found to correct the error. Okay, no biggie. Maybe we'll save room for dessert. For entrees, we ordered a Spinach Salad (Insalata Spinaci) and a Chicken Pesto Pizza (Pizza con Pollo e Pesto), both to be shared. The salad was okay, but nothing to brag about. The spinach was sort of overwhelmed by the Balsamic vinaigrette. But the roasted pears and roasted red peppers were limp and tasteless. The pizza is about 10-inches in diameter with 6 slices - big enough to share for two, but small enough as an individual portion. Unfortunately, the chicken was incredibly dry, so much so that we had to remove the chicken slices to be able to eat the pizza. The pesto tasted as if it came from a jar, and there was way too much on the pizza (it doesn't need to be used like marinara sauce and cover every square inch). There was also way too much mozzarella - maybe it was used to hold all the ingredients together? The crust was light and tasty however, so it wasn't a total disaster. Why didn't we complain about our food to the waitress? We would have, had we seen her, or been able to catch her eye. Finally, almost 90 minutes in, she comes by to present the check and (finally) asked how everything was. We told her we didn't get what we ordered (soup) and said the entrees weren't very good. She didn't look like this meant much to her and said "I'll remove the soup from the bill". There was no offer to discount the poor entrees. There are way too many excellent dining options in Santa Fe for Pranzo to continue in this way. There are several reviews noting poor service and we certainly experienced that. I can forgive some lackluster service if the food is really good, but in this case the meal was below average. Pranzo needs to address issues of inconsistent service and poor food quality. And they need to address them now.
(1)Melissa S.
"Received Terrible service and food- manger told me "never come back" This used to be a fabulous restaurant. I've been dining at Pranzo for many years and its sad to see what it has become. I ordered a pasta plate that was drenched in oil and my partner ordered the duck plate that came with half cooked beans. The waitress came around once and asked how the food was when we took our first bite. Another server had to bring us bread as the first one never came back around. We waited what felt like forever for the server to check on us so we could ask for the check, which at that point I tried to explain how drenched the bottom half of my pasta was and she said "I gave you the opportunity to tell me how the food was when I asked" ...yea, when I barely took my first bite! WOW, what great customer service. Who trains these people? Then she told my partner that the beans on his plate are supposed to come half cooked. After another long wait we were finally able to speak with the manager who could care less and after she noticed I did not leave a tip, she literally yelled at me "You're not going to leave Rosalind anything!" (I got steamed and the F Bomb came out) "F No!" and her dramatic response "I'm going to ask you to never come in here again!" Since when do managers of restaurants demand you to leave a tip for horrible food and service???
(1)Joe MArtelaro M.
When you walk into Pranzo, you think you may have arrived at a decent Italian eatery. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. The interior design is not bad but that's where the positives end. The calamari appetizer was hard and the accompanying sauces were mediocre. Everything we ordered including the meatballs seemed soggy and not quite cooked properly. Sauces tasted like they came out of a jar. You'd be better off at a Macaronni Grill or an Olive Garden. This is a simple case of folks without the skills getting into the wrong business. As someone with Italian in my blood, I was hoping for more. The bus help was nice but the waitress was cold and detached. The wine although described as "a nosegay of floral aroma" tasted like two-buck Chuck but that summed up the experience for us. The superficial things at Pranzo were okay - the interior design, the menu descriptions - but the food, drink and service were the pits. Save your money!
(1)D T.
Delicious !!!! We stumbled upon this place just out walking and we were in for a nice surprise. We had a most excellent meal, sat out on the patio and chatted with some friendly semi- locals ( well they were from Taos) The waitstaff was very attentive and our meal was great. Wine list is amazing and I did have a very decent choice by the glass, since my companion was not having wine. Great find.
(4)Rennie C.
So incredibly bad I don't have the words. Menu unimaginative, service consistently bad/slow/mouth-breathers, food nearly inedible. I've given them several chances, but as a Santa Fean, I know there are tons of better choices for Italian in town Stay away from this Olive Garden wannabe.
(1)Stephanie P.
#155 Totally upscale and packed with the middle-agers. So, the boyfriend and I felt right at home. Ha. Because we didn't have a reservation and the dining area was pretty packed, we opted for seating at the bar. Bad move. The bartender was a total drag and a half and treated us as if we were children (granted, we were probably half the age of everybody there). After we got our High Desert and Provenzale, we decided to ask a waiter to help us move over to one of the smaller tables in the lounge. The bartender acted surprised that we were relocating but, really? You didn't realize you were being incredibly rude to us? Once we got to our table though, the entire experience went uphill. First of all, there was a couple sitting right next to us that was clearly doing something naughty. All throughout dinner, we eavesdropped on their conversation (just because they were being so loud and flamboyant) and turns out .... they were both cheating on their respective spouses!!! Tsk tsk tsk. The guy was incredibly desperate to get her back to his hotel room, but eventually she opted out and left him alone at the table. Boo-hoo. As for the food, excellent, really. I ordered the lobster gnocchi and the lobster was cooked to absolute perfection. The gnocchi, to my surprise, didn't taste overwhelmingly like potatoes, which is always something a chef can't easily avoid. The sauce was also creamy and full of flavor. The boyfriend's swordfish was also delightful. The highlight of the night though was the High Desert that I had ordered at the bar earlier. THE best spicy cocktail I've had then and since. The brim was coated with chili powder and, instead of the typical olive or lemon slice, it was topped with a jalapeno. It was a feat just finishing it but I did it! Really, I would have liked to have given this place a 5, but just because of the rude bartender at the beginning of the night, it has dropped down to a 4.
(4)Christine P.
Calamari appetizer was very good, the sauce they brought was yummy! The lobster pasta was good, the oso bucco was GREAT! Great service, great wine selection. Nice cozy restaurant. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is my espresso was burnt.
(4)Raven C.
They deserve zero stars. They couldn't even get spaghetti and meatballs right. What a waste. Then tasted eggshells in meatballs which manager denied being the case. When I asked what else would have made them crunchy he did not know. I asked him about the portion size since I ordered full size. I got four small meatballs that came with very little pasta which was overcooked. The manager then responded with, "when you get old you don't need as much to eat". Needless to say I am 34 yo. So age wouldnt apply to my appetite unless he's talking about himself. I only went here because the other italian restaurant was closed.
(1)Susan P.
Walked into bar - only people at the bar. Bartender promptly walks away to talk to other employees. Then leaves bar altogether. Finally comes back (other employees milling about do not even look at us) lays napkins down on dirty (replete with food droppings from previous customers) bar. I ask him to clean it. He does a half *ssed job - spreading crumbs on me rather than collecting them toward him. We order a tasting flight. 1 of the 3 wines is different than what's on the menu - and they all tasted like airline wine. Enter single mother with 1 year old. (This is 8:45PM.) Sits at end of bar at a table and proceeds to have LOUD conversation with 1 year old about the colors of the candy she is feeding him. We pick up our wine and move to other end of bar. (Still only people at bar.) Guess what? Bar is filthy with food debris from previous customers. Bartender is talking to single mother with kid, so I reach over and get a rag to clean the bar. Meanwhile, apparent manager on duty is talking loudly to hostess about her camping trips - completely oblivious to customers.... After another 20 minutes of extra loud Mommy talk (so we all know what a great mom she is....), we leave. Won't be back. If you want a grown up dinner experience go to Galisteo Bistro. If you want a grown up glass of wine at the bar in the Railyard, go to Ristra.
(1)Zoya D.
Mmmm YUM! Hop of the train from the Rail Runner and take a stroll through the beautiful Santa Fe railyards to Pranzo. Sit down, have some wine. Scrumptious seared salmon salad. Old-style service with white tablecloths: I feel like I'm back at my hometown, old-school Chicago eateries (Gene & Georgetti's, etc.) Creme brulee made my smile all the way back home to ABQ. A nice change from the rote options available in Duke City. This was a nice trip away from home. I'm surprised by the 2- and 3-star ratings here; granted my rating is derived from ordering salad, but certainly the experience can go a long way.
(4)Scott S.
It was Sunday and after finding a few restaurants closed, our group of six stopped here for a pleasant mid-afternoon supper. Half price on the wine coaxed us into having a couple of bottles, which we enjoyed. The seating and atmosphere felt warm, and comfy. Our food was promptly served and tasty but nothing spectacular. We ordered lamb topped pizza mushroom pizza, capellini pomodoro, and salads. I liked the brightness in the pomodor sauce and their garlic olive oil. The best part of the meal was the quick and attentive service.
(3)Stacey M.
the best polenta mushrooms gorgonzola cream drooling as i type
(5)Karen S.
Rather overpriced for the quality of food. In a town with so many great restaurant choices, they would do well to reconsider the quality and freshness of the food as well as remaining competitively priced. A little more flavor wouldn't hurt........
(2)Genevieve T.
Correction...this place USED to be great. I went here with my family recently, and my Dad and I got VERY sick afterwards. I don't think I'll be back.
(1)Ian T.
This place is very yuppie. They have wine connoisseur clothing and classical/jazz music for sale in a glass display as you walk in. They also have a legitimate coat cubby. This kind of style does not turn me off of a place unless the staff act with the disrespect they are expected to put up with. (as a side note 95% of the other customers were white seniors 65+ in age I felt a little out of place as a 25 year old.) On a Friday night my family and I walked in to a 30 minute wait. It was our fault for not making reservations, so we waited. Out of curiosity, we asked the hostess if there were any other restaurants in the area. She said "I don't know" and looked back down at her podium... As if a local mid 20s year old woman doesn't know of ANY other places to eat. Clearly blew us off. The bar was nearly full, but my brother and I found two seats. We were asked for our IDs and gave them to him. He accepted my Arizona license after a long look. However, as soon as he saw my brothers vertical Texas license, even though he is 23 years old, he denied him service saying "its company policy and all of the near by places do it too" and gave an explanation of police stings. We were kind of annoyed being that we are on vacation and just had a long hard day of skiing. I am pretty sure denying a legal form of identification is breaking some laws, but I'm not a lawyer. The company clearly does not care for their potential customers. They were as uninviting as i could of imagined a restaurant being. We told the rest of my family and we decided to leave. We went to the Mediterranean place across the street who gladly accepted my brothers license and had excellent food AND wine. If the staff had been nicer i still would not have gone to this place based on their discrimination of vertical IDs. Two thumbs down.
(1)Sandy K.
I really wish I could give this place a better review, but the eggplant Parmesan made it go from a 4 to a 2 star. We placed an order to go and waited a good 20-25 minutes for it to be ready. We ordered a house salad, a margherita pizza and eggplant Parmesan. The first two items were pretty good, but the eggplant was horrible. It was WAY under-cooked and rubbery...we could barely get a sharp knife to cut it. We threw the whole thing away. With all the good dining options in Santa Fe, this place really has to do better.
(2)Matt O.
LOVE this place. Great Italian and a truly outstanding wine list. A relaxed upscale atmosphere. Our waiter was extremely knowledgable, friendly and attentive. I had the lasagna and it was excellent. Also sampled the pizza and it did not disappoint. We had a Russian River pinot that was just brilliant. They have some great Malbecs too. If you're into wine, this is the spot! Seemed very reasonably priced. Will definitely go back on my next visit to Santa Fe!
(5)Morton S.
I had a special salad with blackened salmon. All the ingredients were fresh and it was delicious. Creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert was the best.
(4)Frank D.
For a $75 meal the service was poor, the food mediocre. Got a dessert to go, when we got it home the portion was a joke. The menu is not what it once was, not what I consider to be true Italian cuisine. Never going back.
(1)Kevin C.
After 4 days and nights in Santa Fe, the wife and I needed a break from the eternal question "red or green", and we thoguth Italian would be great for our last dinner in the town of southwestern chile sauce. We stopped by Pranzo while out browsing at the Borders store, and were intrigued by the "Terrace" level on the 2nd level, where a cabaret/pianist was billed to be the evening's entertainment, so we made a reservation. The first pelasant surprise afterbeing seated was that because it was a sunday, all bottles of wine were 1/2 price. We started with a bottle of Gruet blanc-de-noir sparking wine with an order of bruschetta. This was some interesting Bruschetta - toasted baguette slices, with 4 different spreads on the side for bui8ding your own. Garlic puree, artchichoke, marscopone, and pesto. This was an awesome appetizer, and I reccommend it. For dinner, the wife had Lasagana - a hearty meat-filled version that i would rate good to very good; I had the bow-tie pasta with chicken & bell peppers in a gralic cream sause - also very good. Ordered a nice bottle of Dolcetto to go with the entrees. The real fun was the pianist - David Geist. He had a whole retinue oif Gershwin tunes, plus he would take requests. Another gentlemen (not sure if he was with the restaurant or just a friend) accompanied him on a few tunes (from "South Pacific") - very entertaining. So, I rate this 4 starts because of the fun entertainment, the great bruschetta, the good food, and the awesome deal on bottles of wine on sundays.
(4)HighStandard S.
The octopus salad and house chianti are superb. Servers are indulgent. Civilized, comfortable, festive atmosphere.
(4)Elyse K.
We chose Pranzo due to the Yelp rating of 4 stars but were led astray. I realize Santa Fe yelp is not very reliable as the reviews are so minimal, but this was the first time we had a completely off experience to the rating. First off, our service was good, but creepy. The waiter would refer to the women at the table as "the lady" and the men as "gentlemen". Now, i know that is proper, but don't refer to me as "the lady" is in, "and for the lady?". Now, i know this is not a big deal, but if we were at a super high end restaurant, then maybe the proper-ness would make sense, but this is a mediocre Italian restaurant. Another strange thing was while the table received their salads, Tobin received his pasta and then followed with the salad. Is that normal? Our entrees arrived and they were all goopy messes with some pasta hidden underneath. I ordered a goat cheese Mezzaluna with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and duck con fit. There was just a big mess of duck, sauce and tomatoes and i could barely fish out a piece of pasta. Tobin had what could have been a DiGorno mushroom pizza. This place prides itself on authentic Italian, yet they don't even have a wood burning pizza oven? The bottom of the pizza was soggy and undercooked. For a $20 pasta entree and $15 pizza, i would expect something MUCH better. We've eaten at other Italian places in Santa Fe and they kick this place's butt. Although the others have less reviews, i would go anywhere other than here.
(1)Kori S.
Apparently we can not eat Italian in New Mexico. The good: I had the polenta with sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola The hostess gave us the option of waiting a century for a table or sitting upstairs and listening to a pianist and a singer belt out the best of broadway($2.00 cover charge). Both of those were good things. The bad: My entree of melanzana parmigiana(eggplant parmigiana) could have come from The Olive Garden, it was mushy and the sauce tasted bottle fresh. The expediter brought our food up and it sat on a tray in the middle of the room for five minutes before it was served. Our server was inattentive and lousy. She ignored our basic needs. It even took fifteen minutes to get our check and that was only when we flagged someone else down to request it. I left a ten percent tip, I felt horrible, but she was awful.
(1)Andrew T.
I think the 3.5 stars is a perfect rating. If you are searching for a great Santa Fe experience, search a little more.
(3)Sam A.
Went to Pranzo's tonight for a birthday dinner and ordered the one dish that I've never had any complaints about, and have very vocally told friends and visiting tourists about, the lasagna. Unfortunately I was extremely underwhelmed and I am wondering what happened here... I remember the old portions being just a little larger than the cold deli ones that you can get at whole foods, but not anymore I guess. And frankly, the recipe must have changed or something. For $18 (full portion because half portions are not offered), I got a lasagna portion about the size of a McDonalds cheeseburger, served in a bowl, and HEAVILY covered with their red pasta sauce, which totally overwhelmed the tastes of the cheeses and the pasta. Now I was willing to give Pranzo's the benefit of the doubt here, but I also ordered another portion of the lasagna for my friend, who is a professional chef, to go. I bought it to him and he ate his portion, was dismayed by the price and said, "Well there's not enough actual lasagna, they skimped on the meats, and the sauce, albiet great, totally ovewhelmes the tastes of the rest of the meal." Frankly, I could make four much better tasting lasagnas than the one I ate at Pranzo's tonight if I was charging $18 for that sized portion and made pans of the stuff. Otherwise, the servers, while dreadfully slow, were very pleasant...
(2)Tom G.
We ate there twice in two days...excellent roasted pepper and white bean soup, prime rib pannini was a hit and a pasta with sausage was excellent. Nice wines especially the baby Super Tuscan. Second day we had pizzas -- I went for normal pepperoni but the three others had lamb and which "was to die for," my wife insists. I tasted it and agreed. Lovely decor and quiet. Did I mention quiet? A fair number of people but it was a refuge from the busyness on the streets at holiday time.
(4)Bella B.
Sounds like this place has had some bad reviews, but caught the train from ABQ to Santa Fe and was recommended to go there. We were greeted by super friendly staff, who assumed we were important and gave us the whole top of the restaurant and had staff at our beck and call. I felt like a "a Superstar", Really on a serious note, we were given the top of the restauraunt overlooking the city and thought the food was amazing and made with fresh ingredients, and we have eaten at many of the best restaurants. So maybe things have gotten better for this place, I think it deserves a second chance.
(5)James C.
Stopped here on the suggestion of a co-worker. After braving the snowy drive down from Los Alamos, we were greeted with a cheerful hostess who wanted to know if we wanted to sit upstairs for the live piano music. Definitely unexpected. Once seated, it seemed like it took forever before we were even greeted by the waitress. She was nice, but definitely seemed a little spacey. Probably one to many tokes from the Peyote pipe. However, we were all entertained by the live music. From Broadway show tunes to "The Entertainer." He was definitely good on the piano, but his singing left a little to be desired. For dinner, I had the Osso Buco. The lamb was flavorful and not at all gamey. The meat fell right off the bone as you would expect, but it was definitely a bit dry as if it had been sitting for awhile. Thankfully, the red wine reduction helped to moisten it. The polenta was cheesy and went well with the lamb and white beans. Overall, it was 3 stars. However, maybe a little overpriced given the quality. Desserts looked plentiful for the restaurant; from a lemon zabaglione to an Italian bread pudding. And of course, what Italian place wouldn't have Tiramisu. My co-worker's one line review of it, "It was decent, but I've had better." And that maybe the best way to describe Pranzo.
(3)Sarah P.
I really want to like this place because of its convenient location, but every time I have gone (we're talking at least 5 times in the last year) the food has been mediocre at best. They sometimes run out of basics like eggplant parm, and the waiters consistently recommend the most expensive bottle of wine in the category you select -- and the wine is not very good. It's still a fun place for happy hour, but I'm going to skip it for dinner for a while.
(2)Carmen M.
I've been to this restaurant several times. I really enjoy the salads and the gluten-free pasta entrees. It's very pricey so going there is a treat. Here are my issues: 1. To-go order was a huge rip off as the portion I got was tiny. 2. When dining in, the waitress was rude and inattentive. I don't know if that's because I wasn't ordering wine, but she barely waited on the table. I don't know if given all that this place is worth the price. Clientele are snooty looking and there's hardly anyone under 50.
(2)Sofia K.
The bad news.....the mussels were spoiled and reeked. The good news...they were overcooked and rubbery, so I'm sure all bacteria was killed. Our entrees were so boring as to not merit mentioning. (Our server was very nice though.)
(1)Jaime Patricio M.
I believe Pranzo -- had a sister restaurant in Albuquerque--Scalo's. Pranzo is a wonderful N. Italian restaurant west of Downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is so near and dear to me. My family's roots are here and although i never lived here i spent a lot of time -- every summer in Santa Fe. i actually spent alot of time near Pranzo--so for me Pranzo is special on many levels. Rare to have such a high qualilty N. Italian restaurant in Santa Fe -- maybe the only one. I love the environs and ambiance! Buen Provecho!
(4)Frank O.
I'd heard some bad things about Pranzo - poor food, mediocre service - lately, so I thought I'd try it out. All not the case any more. The owner, Michael O'Reilly, who owns the O'Keeffe Cafe also, is very hands on and has obviously sorted out their problems. We had a great meal, taking advantage of the specials they have almost every day. Excellent high-end pizza and other Italian grub. Great steaks and ossobucco. Service was professional and attentive. And the bill was ok, too.
(4)Thighmaster M.
Low cost ingredients with a high price tag. Four of us sampled a broad array of their menu and left disappointed by small portions and Italian cuisine that looks fancy (read expensive) but clearly cut back on quality of ingredients. Lousy Manhattan from the bar, also charged us for a glass of wine we didn't order. Staff/servers were above average that night - incredibly accomodating.
(2)Don't Ask Don't Tell U.
First off, it's a nice place and a well run restaurant with MUCH better than average staff for SF. You'll probably have a nice time. Now, Italian food in this city/town, even in the simple format, leaves a lot to be desired. They try to be more than simple. The main problem(s) are 1) Inconsistency. And unfortunately, in recent months that is more consistently bad than good. 2) - And this is basically unforgiveable - most all the red sauces are prepared with that most italian of spices -- CHILE! Yup...they put red chile flakes in most everything! Give me a break. Mexican pasta. The excuse: "we're in Santa Fe and thats what people want". BS. More likely, your using cooks who have not one blessed idea of italian and just don't know how to prepare anything without chile. If Spicey is desired...its' called Fridiavlo...get a recipe for it. Italian uses a good deal of red pepper (agreeably maybe a relative of the mexican chile spice being used), but entirely different. Wake up...good italian in SF is not going to be done with mexican spices...it just doesn't fit. Bad weirs tasting dishes aren't what people anywhere want.
(2)Michael R.
My wife & I tried Pranzo Italian Grill 2 days ago. Our entrees (cioppino & a salmon dish) were excellent, as were the salads, wine & service. We recommend eating there.
(5)andie c.
Unremarkable Italian that is too expensive for the lack of flavor. Very bad service as well - waitress forgot two orders and kept forgetting to come back when our drinks were empty. Nice atmosphere and convenient though.
(2)David D.
it's pranzo. it's good italian food that has been around forever. nice lighting, good food, and order the pranzo fizz (an excellent fruity drink). if you are a tourist then you probably want to go somewhere else (it is santa fe after all), but otherwise a great meal.
(4)Jet O.
Atmosphere: quiet, romantic, lovely. The music isn't too loud, the resturant is clean and well lit. For starters the bread and oil selections are amazing. Out server was happy to tell us about each oil and about blending them. Our artichoke apitizer was wonderful, a large amount of flavor. The main course was a pizza which was amazing. Thin crust cooked just right! Our server was awesome and very informative. There is a neat tradition of regulars getting their own name plate and it getting posted in the resturant which is kind of cool.
(4)John N.
Four of us dined here late last night. Service was cheerful but not super responsive. Very good selection to order. Friend had pig-and-fig pizza. See photo below. I had chicken cacciatore. It was crispy and delicious, as were the polenta bed underneath and all the veggie trimmings. My wife had spaghetti that was good but not remarkable. Nice crusty bread served during the long wait for our main course. Great location. Very bustling ambience. Easy parking across the street. Sorry about the dark photo of my entree.
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