Palio

Okay first a little disclaimer: I had my first date with my now wife at this restaurant, so this place is very special to me.
With that out of the way, we love this place! We go here whenever we visit Ann Arbor (Go Blue!) We have been here a lot, so there are a lot of dishes that we have tried, and to be honest we are rarely disappointed.
1) The spaghetti with tomato sauce is delicious. It is simple, very cheap, and some how just reminds me of home (however I am not Italian, so this makes absolutely no sense). My parents however did grow tomatoes, and so I guess that may be why??? The sauce is very chunky, but for those with acid reflux BEWARE this is a very acidic dish so take some precaution, I am usually prepared with some tums.
2) The pesto pasta (which my wife loves, and I have never tried) is something Sam (my wife) raves about all the time. I can’t speak from personal experience, but she hates pesto and loves this dish so that is saying something.
3) The white fish with pistachio crust used to be amazing. I used to love this dish, like LOVE! But man have I been disappointed the last few times I got it. It was terrible when they switched to trout, but even when they went back to white fish it was still bad. Would not get it again.
4) The sea food pasta … good proportion of various sea food items. Good. Not great. A little salty last time I got it.
5) The free bread with olive oil is a nice touch. The oil is great (I am critical about olive oil because most restaurants use very bad tasting olive oil). They refill the bread for you (very generously!).
6) Dessert… GET THE CARROT CAKE! that is all.
Now the service, all I can say is out of the dozen or so times I have gone there I had never had a bad experience.
Pricing is very reasonable compared to other Ann Arbor Main Street restaurants.
OH! Almost forgot, rooftop seating in the warm months is beautiful. Actually really nice, I can’t say enough about how much we love sitting on the roof. If it is available when you visit, go up there!

service was abominable! will not return.

We had reservations at 7:30, and did not get seated until 8:15. Also, we then waited until 9:45 to get any food. Very disappointed in the service

I really enjoy coming to Palio. The first time I went was for my birthday in 2014. The appetizer, I think it was like a melted cheese dish that you dip bread into, was so yummy. I think I had some type of pasta dish with white sauce. That was delish. The bread that you get during the meal is so good I can’t even! They have a wonderful rooftop deck, and I love that if you sit on the front part you can look over downtown. We had a pitcher of sangria which was delicious. I have loved my experiences at Palio, can’t wait to return.

My husband and I came here for our anniversary and I can honestly say I’ve had a lot better. I’ve been here for sangria and sat up on the roof during summer months and loved it, so I thought dining inside might be good as well. For the price we paid, I could’ve gotten the same meal at a chain restaurant which is not saying much. As a true Italian, my standards are held highest when it comes to Italian food. The bruschetta was the star point of the meal and that was at the beginning. I had the beef medallions on polenta and the polenta was over salted and had too much liquid. The beef was just ok. The pasta that we shared together was a basic sauce that seemed like it was trying a bit too hard. I give points to our waiter who was well versed in the menu and friendly. I honestly wish I had liked our dinner more.

Fantastic meals, service, atmosphere. Whether you are inside, outside, or rooftop, the experience is wonderful as are the classy staff. I enjoy it every time.

The chef here has a very, VERY heavy hand. Every thing we tried had too much of something.
Bruschetta was swimming in balsamic, too much olive oil in the asiago cheese, and Caesar salad was covered in garlic. The pesto was a weird consistency and had a sweet flavor to it — very strange. Out water was refilled probably every 10 minutes, to the point where we noticed how awkwardly often our table was approached. There’s such a thing as too much attention, I think. The dessert was good.
Overall barely average, there’s too many great places on campus to come back.

Went there for a dinner date. The restaurant was too busy, waiter took too long to get to us and we waited for service forever.
We ordered soup which never came cus the waiter forgot.
We used the «make your own pasta» choice and after forever, got the pasta. They forgot to add peppers and we had to hunt for the mushrooms in there. I asked for more mushrooms and received a plate full of mushrooms which appeared to have been boiled or somehow oddly fried with a lot of salt.
Awful — not going there again!

While I have not had the chance to explore the menu of this restaurant as much as I would like, the few times I have visited I have found myself searching and searching for a menu item that sounds good to me, to then decide (frustrated at this point) to buy their Tagliata salad. It is a mixed chopped salad with cannellini beans, artichokes, grilled chicken, and a number of other items. While i was pleasantly surprised by how filling this salad was (and tasty), I was hoping to find another dish that would bring me back to this restaurant, excited and wanting more. I have yet to find that dish, but until that time, I will say that if you are looking for a great salad– the Tagliata will not disappoint.
I have also had their tiramisu– which was okay. It was filled/​soaked with a bit too much espresso for my taste. However, for those of you strong coffee fans– you may like this more than I did.

We came here for my mothers birthday. The décor was great, and the service was good throughout our meal. I was impressed by their kids menu, a lot of high end places do not even bother. My son really enjoyed his rigatoni with sausage. My wife ordered a beef fillet served on grilled polenta, I tasted some and it was really good. I ordered a shrimp scallop dish served with mashed polenta, I absolutely enjoyed everything about this dish. The shrimp and scallops were served over a sauce that was savory and a little spicy, very good. My mother ordered the ravioli, I tried a piece and you could immediately tell the ravioli is made fresh, the filling was great.
The only things, I thought could have been better were the desserts a little more selection would be nice, the cannoli was ok. The portion sizes are a little smaller than what, I would like, but it was adequate.

This place is definitely enticing when you walk by it. From the outside, it has a rooftop, a fancy old Italian style décor, and outdoor seating. But don’t fall victim to walking in for a meal, it’s just not worth the cost.
I have been here 6 times in the last 5 years, not of my choosing, and have been consistently disappointed with the food here. The service has almost been flawless otherwise.
The rooftop is nice, and gives a nice view of Ann Arbor, but the menu outside is different than inside. Definitely more limited, but still just as overpriced, so be careful.
The most recent time I went here I got a bruschetta appetizer and a salmon dish with a bed of fettuccine and white wine sauce. The bruschetta had fresh ingredients, but the bread was as hard as a rock. You could not eat it without scratching the roof of your mouth. The main dish salmon was cooked well, but the fettuccine was overdone with a minimal amount of white wine sauce. Just bland overall. This isn’t the first time this has occurred.
Then comes the price. A basic Italian dish like Chicken Parmesan. It is not worth $ 20.95. I don’t care what kind of ingredients you are using. It’s pasta. Come on.
Overall: overpriced, bland Italian food. Much better options in Ann Arbor to go to for Italian.

The service has been pretty bad. The waiter was very disrespectful.
We had to wait for the food forever that turned out to be nothing special.
This restaurant will not see me again, there are way better places to go in A2

We are repeat locals who have been coming to Palio since it opened. The food never fails to be spot on over the years. This visit the Red Basil Pomodoro was not quite the same, missing the fresh, snappy taste (a former chef told me a splash of chicken broth was a secret). Anyway, will now stick with the meat sauce. The 4 cheese pizza appetizer was amazing! I do want more creaminess on the Rigatoni with spicy sausage… My go to dish! Please bring back the 95 cent salad of days gone by instead of the outrageous 4.95 side salad, and that would offset the high price of pasta dishes! And the Mushroom Appetizer too!!!
David, our waiter was wonderful and attentive. Harley was very kind backup. Oh and the restaurant was very HOT a d the manager was so accommodating with the AC, thank goodness. I love dining in Ann Arbor during weekdays with no crowds! We’ll be back again and again!

One word… NO.
From service, to the bugs flying not around, to the food. NO!
The lasagna was so hard it had to be sent back, the other pasta dishes we ordered are so bland.
We sat with empty drinks for 20 – 25 mins, then a cheese grater was dropped on my back, no sorry was uttered. The cheese grater was then picked up off the ground and the waiter offered us freshly grated cheese with that grater he just picked up off the ground!!! NO!

They have a expansive rooftop and it’s helped them survive on Main Street throughout the years. But what more can I say? This place is basic and needs a breath of fresh air, both in ambiance and cuisine.
Happy Hour is from 4 – 7 at the bar and is quite the deal. Sadly, I wouldn’t want to return for it. The charcuterie offering ended up being their cheapest meats and cheese thrown together with no pizzazz. The tapenades were OK.
If you want decent Italian food, head across the street to Gratzi. If you consider Olive Garden fancy or have young kids, well, this might be a good choice for you. Palio is more about quantity… not quality.

My family came to Ann Arbor from Lansing to celebrate my birthday. We chose Palio based on the menu and since we were going on a Friday we wanted a place that took reservations. We had a wonderful experience. Our server was awesome! He was very friendly and knowledgeable. I ordered both types of bruschetta for our table of six and they were equally delicious. For my main course I chose pasta with basil pomodoro sauce. It was very tasty. The best part of the meal was at the end. I ordered rum cake with buttercream frosting. It was amazing!
I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting to try out new flavor combinations or like me, stick with delicious old favorites.

OHMYGOD I hate it here so much. So. Much. Here’s the thing: Italian food is awesome. It takes effort to make it poorly. And yet, somehow, Palio manages to do so. After several visits, I’d describe it as about equivalent to Olive Garden in terms of quality. But without the salty, cheesed up salad and breadsticks. So overall, I’d rather be at an Olive Garden. And that’s saying something.
My pasta with the «housemade Pomodoro sauce» was in nothing more than canned diced tomatoes and olive oil. Not even kidding. And the pasta has been overcooked on the multiple occasions I’ve been dragged here by friends. Ugh.
PS: I’ve written this while waiting for the check. It’s been over 25 minutes. So… yeah.

My advice: try the lasagna! This is not your typical brick of cheese and grease. This lasagna is fresh and light and just a bit creamy, with delicious sausage and veggies in between tasty noodles. I ate all of it, which is a rarity for me. They also offer a vegetarian lasagna.
They have a decent selection of wines and desserts. I tried a chianti with my meal, and for dessert I split the panna cotta. Both were delicious.
I can’t wait to come back in the summer so I can sit on their roof top!

Not a fan.
My work has been having a summer dinner at Palio for 5 – 6 years now and while I was never that impressed by it this summer was the absolute worst.
8:30 we arrive as a group of about 20 and are seated in our own private room, the room is like 20×30 and yet all the tables are stacked in a corner such that each person is given roughly 6 square inches of space to sit. The two tables are so close together that servers can’t even get to the back table and are forced to pass thimble sized water cups back through the rows of guests.
9:15– My coke arrives. Its in an approx 6 ounce glass filled to the rim with ice. I finish it before the waitress has handed it to me and will not see another.
9:20 food begins to arrive. We had a pre ordered family style menu so no orders needed to be taken
9:30 The asiago cheese thing is pretty good I will admit. The Pizza, salad, and anti pasta are not.
9:40 The past dishes arrive and it is fairly obvious from the get go that they had seriously not prepared close to enough food for the size of the group. A hunger games style battle for positioning of tortellini begins.
9:45 People begin requesting more food and are told it can’t happen, it can happen but will cost more, it can happen and will not cost more but will take 45 minutes.
9:50 The chicken and salmon entrees arrive, both have been overcooked to the point that they are indistinguishable and unchewable.
10:15 Dessert arrives — is gross.
Maybe their regular restaurant service is better, maybe the other menu items are better than what we got. These are questions for philosophers to answer as I won’t ever be going back.

I love Palio, it’s one of my favorite restaurants in Ann Arbor. I spent awhile in Siena in college, and the food takes me back there. I love it. Don’t get me wrong it’s not quite as good as actual Sinese food, but it’s pretty darn good.
Without fail every time I go I get the linguine bolognese. There bolognese is amazing. I always get extra, I could eat it like soup, it’s so good.
Their bread is delicious, I wish they would give you olive oil with something more in it to dip it in, but even with just the regular olive oil, salt, and pepper, it’s pretty good.
I love the décor, it’s very clean, and the wait staff is great.
They are only losing a star because they are a little pricey!