Scusi

The only restaurant I’ve found so far in Saint Paul to truly deserve the 5 stars. Considering I’ve been here only once, I plan to return very soon. I hope it lives up to its first impressions. Lovely prices, WONDERFUL authentic pizza, and a fantastic atmosphere. Go for a booth if at all possible! The wine selection is a course top notch and not overpriced either. A highly recommended place in all aspects!

Love going here for late night happy hour! Pizza on the HH menu is thick and cheesy like Pizza Hut used to do in the 90s. Everything is great! Scusi is always yummy!

The hostess was welcoming, the waitress had great timing when checking on us and made great food suggestions. The pesto pasta I had was delicious. Great night, thank you Scusi!

Very good food but also a bit too salty. Nice atmosphere and delicious bread and spread. Would recommend requesting that salads come before the meal, we got everything all together, a pet peeve.

I went here for my birthday dinner with a group of 8, and the whole staff was so wonderful from beginning to end! They made everyone feel like the most important guest in the house, suggested delicious food, and best of all… brought out enough complimentary birthday desserts for our entire table to share.
The portions are generous, atmosphere is cozy and classy, and the wine selection is wonderful.
Thank you for making me feel special on my birthday!

Scusi deserves the update/I’ve been there about 7 times after my previous review and the bread is no longer an issue! the waitstaff is very accommodating and friendly.

Very disappointed with our visit. We have had great luck with restaurants in the Blueplate group, but not this one. We had a party of 5 and each ordered something different, so I think we had a good sample size to form an opinion. Of the 2 appetizers (Burata and the Calamari), one was fair, the other not very good respectively. Specifically, the Calamari was cold and lacked flavor (note, for those who are used to fried calamari, it is not here). On the entrees, the chicken pasta got high marks as did the pizza, the bolognaise and eggplant parmesan were good, but not great and the gnocchi (rated by someone who gets gnocchi almost every time we go to an Italian restaurant) was not good at all. The service was friendly and efficient, but the food was just not worth the money or the visit when there are other good places in town. We won’t go back.
P. S. The atmosphere and décor are nice, but I had a hard time to see how other found it cozy as others have when looking out the main windows at people filling their cars up at a brightly lit Super America. Again, there are better places.

I LOVED it here! Scusi has some really fun dining options and a really cozy atmosphere. The food is very flavorful and hearty. Some of the appetizer and dessert options and dangerously good (the cheese plate and the donut balls with chocolate dipping sauce especially!) Went once for Valentine’s day too and they had so many thoughtful touches, roses for each table to take home, complimentary drink for the couples. Not too expensive and the attention you get from the staff is great!

We had a deal offer for Scusi and went for our anniversary. They have wonderful food and service. We ordered the cheese board and the calamari as appetizers. The calamari are not breaded and have the tentacles so my husband passed. I thought they were very good. The cheese board was accompanied by nuts and jam with a good selection.
The house made gnocchi was good but I wouldn’t order that again. My husband’s fettuccine with chicken was excellent. I would order that with shrimp next time or the carbonara.
Desserts were excellent with mascarpone cheesecake and chocolate banana bread pudding. We asked them to omit the extra bananas in the bread pudding but it still tasted of bananas. Both were flavorful.
Our server, Alli, was excellent and made good recommendations. We will be back.

Cozy and somewhat simple in ambiance Scusi concentrates on service and food preparation. As soon as we were seated at our reserved table water and menus were placed followed immediately by drink orders. 100% for service throughout the evening.
There is a small selection of beers including Freehouse from their own Brew Pub as part of the company’s chain of local eateries.
The Veal Bolognese Pasta w/​Goat Cheese was tender and just the right amount flavoring to tangle but not overwhelm the senses. There were no complaints or concerns from our group about their entrees and there was enough pizza to bring home for at least a quick start breakfast.
The two smaller screen TVs attached to the walls do not seem to fit into the character as this is not a sports bar but a more intimate talk to each other enjoy dining restaurant.

Great little neighborhood spot with delightful food. The Sicilian pizza is to die for as are the pastas (chicken fettuccine and veal bolognese in particular). Service could be polished up a little bit. Details like not having plates and silverware when delivering food were noticeable in my last dining experience, but it wouldn’t hinder me from returning. Great spot for date night, girl’s night, or large groups.

Let me start off with the fact that 2 out of the 4 Blue Plate restaurants we have tried have been amazing! Shout out to Highland Grill & 3 Squares! This however, was a miss.
We made a reservation for 6pm and ended up being terribly late. I called ahead and let them know, and they were super accommodating and awesome! Wtg front of house on that! When we finally arrived we were immediately seated and told our waiter would be right with us.
Atmosphere is cute and cozy-​ish like the other Blue Plate restaurants, but when it gets busy, there is still enough room for everyone which is great.
Waiter was quite handsome, always nice to have someone cute serve you. Water was brought out with little glasses. my 9 year old was peeved at this. He said we all were served in children’s glasses… he needed his refilled immediately and we were out of water.
It took flagging down another waitress in this tiny place for water and bread we were promised. As soon as she went to get the water, out waiter was back with the bread. It is such a small place that I don’t understand why it was so rough getting our needs met.
Son ordered the shrimp ravioli, husband ordered the salmon with risotto and I ordered the gnocchi. We started with a beet salad which was fantastic!
Bread and butter? Omg! I wanted to just make a meal out of that! So why three stars? My gnocchi wasn’t very good, it had an off texture to it which was sad, because it could have been great.
Husbands salmon and risotto left much to be desired, no flavor and risotto wasn’t done properly.
Sons shrimp ravioli! Awesome… of course the 9 year old who would eat cardboard always gets the best item.
We would most try a different Italian place next time. Menu was short and sweet, just didn’t really appeal to us for the price point.

I live in the neighborhood, and Scusi used to be one of my favorite restaurants in the area. They changed their menu about a year ago and sadly they took all of our favorites off the menu! What happened to the risottos, the spazzatura and quatro stagione pizzas? So disappointed with the change, now it’s just your run-​of-​the mill Italian place with a tiny menu! Please bring back the good stuff that made your restaurant great!

Ignore the Unilocal «explore the menu» it’s out of date. It’s good food, pull up the site or show up for their happy hour. Personally I love their sausage pizza but they changed a few things around so I’ll delve a little deeper.

Great place. I would not consider it being totally authentic italian food but EVERYTHING is delicious. The pizza however, is one of the more authentic ones in the Twin Cities and pretty good. I come here frequently, never had to pay for extra bread or any issues with the waiters as others mentioned. Instead, always got my extras. Location is nice, too, no matter if you prefer the tables in the main room which I usually choose when with more than two people or the more cosy atmosphere at the wine bar. Happy Hour offers good deals on foods & drinks.

I love their wine selection and their arancini are delicious! The happy hour is the time to come – their quartinos of wine are $ 2 off and they have some pretty good appetizer deals. I also recommend their pasta dishes with seafood.

3 stars for Scusi is quite generous based on the experience we had last night and the atmosphere/​space, but the food is simply too good to put this place in the 2 star category.
I had «The Saint» pizza and added mushrooms to it. I found it incredibly tasty, especially the crust, which was on the thin side but still hearty enough to support a healthy portion of toppings (red sauce, cheese, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms). It’s the crust that does it — thin but not too thin, soft and flaky (but not too much so), the right balance between tough and chewy. The gf also thoroughly enjoyed her gluten free version, once she finally got it (more on that later). The Cesar salad I had before the pizza also won me over; whatever dressing they use (or make) tasted fantastic and was applied in just the right amount. The fresh parmesan also hit the spot.
Scusi has one of the more puzzling restaurant /​bar layouts I’ve seen. Upon entering, it’s not clear what one is supposed to do. I could tell the restaurant was to the left (down a narrow entrance way) and the bar to the right, and there was a computer where a host would be, but no host, and no real waiting area to speak of. Ok then, I guess we’ll just wait awkwardly here and hope we are in the right spot. The tables are really, really packed in, which leads to an incredibly noisy atmosphere when combined with the open kitchen (the open kitchen is probably the only feature I liked about the place). There are two one-​person unisex bathrooms in the entire place, one in the restaurant and one in the bar by the entrance. This is beyond ridiculous for a place that holds as many people as Scusi does, and I have to imagine it barely meets code (if it does meet code).
It was blatantly obvious from the beginning that our server was new. One of the main reasons we wanted to try Scusi was for the availablity of gluten free items, yet our server had almost zero knowledge not only of the gluten free availablity but of the menu in general. I did feel a bit bad for the guy because he was not only new but had far too many tables (a server called in sick at the last minute, we were told). However, the way he handled the situation was less than ideal. He was not apologetic, disappeared for long periods of time, and gave attitude when we inquired about the painfully long waits.
Initially the gf ordered Gnocchi, which is a dumpling-​like sort of dish. She was excited because were were told all of the pasta dishes can be made gluten free. Her dish came out not as Gnocchi but made with regular gluten free pasta and the ingredients that would otherwise come in the Gnocchi dish (so, basically, gluten free spaghetti, i.e., not what she ordered). Our server did not take the time to explain that they only had one type of gluten free pasta, so in essence only a few of the pasta dishes could be made gluten free.
We waited at least 30 minutes between the time we had finished eating and the time we left the restaurant. Our server was also helping a table of 8 – 10 next to us, all of whom wanted separate checks and happened to be finishing at about the same time as we were. He simply failed at being able to handle both tables at once. We had to flag the manager down multiple times, and she finally took care of it when we got up from our table and walked over to the register where they were trying to sort out our bill and method of payment. Before I left, our server made one last rude remark and mannerism. I don’t know what we do to get stuck with such awful service, but here it was again. And as we walked out and were commenting on it, several people nearby echoed our sentiments.
Scusi has the potential to be excellent, and it would appear that it has had flashes of brillance judging by other reviews. I’ve come to have good experiences at other Blue Plate restaurants, so I hope Scusi can get its act together.

What a great neighborhood bistro and wine bar. Every neighborhood needs a place like Scusi. They have one of the best happy hours around. Late night in the wine bar, they have $ 5 pizza and $ 3 beer. The bar is a little small, so it can get crowded at times.
The dining room is great too. They have byob, with no corkage fee. That is the key to having a great dinner at a reasonable price. This is my go-​to spot for a casual, but romantic dinner. The lasagne and eggplant parmesan are both excellent and reasonably priced in the $ 12 – 14 range. The roasted chicken was probably one of the best I’ve had, and it kept ultra juicy. The wait staff has always been helpful and friendly.
It is the type of place that you never walk away hungry from, because they always start the meal off with some house made fococcia bread with olive oil. I’m usually full by the time the meal arrives.
The dining room has this little nook with a table inside. I ask for this table when its available, so I can have a little privacy with my date.

Amazing new chef came in and redid the menu! The food and wine are amazing, great selections! I would recommend this place for a special date night or a Tuesday night out with the family! Servers are friendly and knowledgable and the manager and chef walk around to ensure everyone is having a great time while enjoying their food!

I had the opportunity to try many of the items on the menu recently family-​style, and I can say that I was nothing less than extremely impressed and totally satisfied. Some of my favorites were the pizza with the prosciutto on it and the short ribs with the gnocchi. I typically eat mostly vegetarian, but the dishes were so well done with quality ingredients that there was very little that I did not enjoy. I would happily return again, ready to indulge once more!

Went here about a month ago (Jan. 2015) with some friends b/​c they wanted to try it out. They had a person waiting at the front door to hold it open for you, kind of cool, kind of unnecessary. The first thing I noticed was that all the tables are really close to each other, not much room for intimate dining.
Second red flag, there is but 1, yes 1, bathroom in the place (unisex) and it fits only 1 person. On a busy night like the night we went, expect to wait about 20 minutes before you get a shot at using the bathroom. Seems odd that you would do this since the «men» are probably going to leave it less pleasant than what a «girl» might expect to use.. if you catch my drift.
Lastly, our waitress seemed stoned, not going to lie. She forgot to put our order in so after an hour we asked another server about it. We must have overstepped our bounds b/​c the original server was less than pleasant to us after that. She seemed to be avoiding certain tables in her section, rather odd.
All the plates are mis-​matched. I don’t know if that is the «cool» thing to do, but it seems like it would tamper with consistency and plating /​stacking of plates. The tables are small, and have cheesy paper place-​mats on them. I saw a server just crumple up the place-​mat of a customer who left and just put a new one down without wiping the table down to seat the next guest.. not as sanitary as I would have expected.
Finally.. the aisle that the guests walk in and out of is right next to the ledge that the chefs /​cooks put the orders upon once completed for servers to take out. If a customer is walking by that and sneezes /​coughs, its more than likely going to be within a foot of your plated food. Poor design /​floor plan in my opinion.
The once reason why I dished up 2 stars instead of 1 was for the fact that the manager lady (really nice pregnant woman) was accommodating to our needs and helped to rectify the situation by reducing the bill slightly for our wait time on the food. I’m not a real complainer, I’m really not. I probably wouldn’t have even said anything if one of the girls I was with didn’t flag down a waiter after an hour, but I doubt I’ll ever go back even with how nice the manager was. I’ve laughed on the ride home with how close «Scusi» and «Scuzzy» are in nature.

Had my first visit to Scusi this past Saturday night. The place was hopping, and the noise level was VERY bad. Had to converse with people at your own table, and not fun to listen to the bellowing of people at other tables trying to talk over the din.
Service was VERY good.
White Bean Bruschetta was a FANTASTIC starter for four of us. Five crostini covered with a mountain of savory beans, prosciutto, olives and (perhaps) sun-​dried tomatoes in a delicious sauce. I’d order it again in a heartbeat.
Between the four of us we ordered:
— Braised short Rib w polenta. Extremely tender and tasty meat, ditto for the polenta.
— Carbonara. Spaghetti (to my tongue) was a bit shy of al dente. Sauce was a bit watery. Good but not great flavor. I probably would not order it again.
— Housemade Gnocchi. This won the tastiest entrée voting. Wonderfully light gnocchi with a fantastic sausage that carried a nice bite.
Prices highly reasonable. Now if they could just do something about the noise level…

I have been to Scusi’s twice and had an excellent experiences. Both waitresses I’ve had have been extremely pleasant — fun and wanting to make an excellent experience. Additionally, the atmosphere is adorable. A hidden gem in St. Paul.
The first time we dined, we got the large «Arugula Prosciutto» Salad. This salad is amazing. A ton of arugula, Parmesan flakes, crisp prosciutto, and pears in a balsamic glaze. First of all, the portion in a large salad is very good. I’ve split it both times and had more than enough to feel satisfied. Secondly, the salad is a delicacy. Very flavorful without overwhelming.
We also got the Cacio and Pepe pizza and the Salsiccia pizza. These were both excellent. The Cacio and Pepe pizza is a four cheese blend with cracked pepper and salt. It’s truly fantastic. All the flavors blend together wonderfully. The Salsiccia pizza is good too — a little more unique and spicy.
The second time we dined, we got the Arugula Proscuitto salad again (I swear i’ve had dreams about how good it is) and the Veal Bolognese Gnocchi. I am a total gnocchi snob, and this was incredible. They make the gnocci in house and it’s delightful — almost pillowy. The gnocchi is so soft it melts in your mouth. The bolognese sauce is a great addition.
We’ve gotten desserts both times simply due to the kindness of the waitresses. The Zeppole are these exquisite mini doughnuts and we got a amaretto pudding with caramel and biscotti.
The wine selection is good too. They feature wonderful italian wines at a reasonable price. Again, I commend the waiting staff for knowing the wines so well. I took the recommendation of the waitress and liked it even more than what I would have ordered myself.
I cannot recommend Scusi more. The food quality, atmosphere, and service have consistently made for an excellent experience.

Great place for a classy dinner but be willing to split dishes and eat family style. I’ve only dined here once and the staff is professional and knowledgable. Scusi does have an intimate vibe but can be quite loud and crowded at peak dinner times. Be sure to try their delivery if you live in the area!
I’ve gone to their bar area a lot more often for wine with friends. Their hours have always been a disappointment with closing at 10pm on weeknights and 11pm on weekends. Their «late-​night» happy hour starts at 9pm but you have to be out of there within an hour. There’s no other decent wine bar in the area unless you travel to downtown Saint Paul. I’ve often finished at Scusi and walked over to the Groveland Tap which is a big atmosphere change… plus their wine isn’t as good!