DaVinci Ristorante

This beautiful restaurant is a throwback (that’s a good thing) to the 80s. The service was great — warm without being aggressively personal, prompt and thoughtful. The waiter wasn’t shy about steering us away from dishes he didn’t love, so consequently we didn’t have a miss all evening. I kept thinking of Lofurno’s (the 70s and 80s Seattle restaurant that was notably ‘well-​connected’).
The steak tartare was beautiful. Most U.S. restaurants that serve it drown it with condiments: too much mustard, capers, shallots etc. This dish was like eating a plate of butter. The egg yolk on top was gorgeous — orange, not lemon yellow; the beef was unbelievably tender. The hazelnut was a brilliant touch.
The lobster Gnocchi was exceptional. Whoever cooked it was restrained with the Gnocchi, extravagant with the lobster. Thank you.
We had, like a reviewer below, the duck and the scallops. Our experience was very different. The duck was tender, slightly smoky, and expertly sauced. But it was the endive that sold it – the bitter edge was a nice surprise and took what might have been a fairly typical Willamette Valley plate of food up a notch. The scallops were wonderful — perfectly cooked.
Dessert is too often neglected at fine dining restaurants. We had the Tiramisu and the Apple Tart. The pastry on the tart was exceptional — very tender, not at all sweet (nice against the sweet filling and the caramel sauce). The Tiramisu was something straight from Italy: all liquor, hardly any cake, and a light froth of whipped mascarpone cream on top.
For some strange reason, Orupa was voted best fine dining restaurant in the Mid Valley. Who knows. Da Vinci’s seems to be spending at least some of its money on the food and not on cheesy turn-​of-​the-​century décor. It’s a class act.

Best food I have had in a long time. Filet mignon melted in my mouth. Great service. Fun and cheerful waiters.

I was in Salem for work which was rare. I was craving some pasta with neat sauce and some garlick bread. I came across this place while searching. Friendly syaff, long wait for food but food was good overall. Pasta sauce was not as thick as I would have liked.

Took a chance to try this place. Love the layout and ambiance. Definitely romantic, piano player welcomes you as you enter, and old period movie being projected on the wall. The bar is beautiful.
The service was extremely slow and felt we were forgotten half the time. They had also changed the menu for the worse for New Years Eve.
Got the lobster gnocchi and fried oyster appetizers to start. The gnocchi was excellent, good combo. The oysters were bad, mostly salty breading with very little substance. The sauce and garnish was better.
Entrées —
Duck was spongy, undercooked, and lifeless. Was barely warm along with the mashed potatoes.
Scallops were poorly prepared, light sear with no taste. Slightly undercooked.
Lamb was heavily seasoned and almost cold. Forgettable and sad.
Dessert —
Panna cotta was liquidy and tasted like grandmas bathroom.
Chocolate mousse was decent
Crème brulé was thicker on the crust than needed with almost no custard to back it up.
This was a poor experience all around. Would not recommend, don’t think I would go back again.

Stopped in to purchase a gift certificate. After more than 10 minutes of being very obviously snubbed by three waiters and the bartender, we left. We’ll spend our money at friendlier establishments in town.

Very good service, but I had the squid and it tasted undercooked. I’ve felt sick to my stomach since then. The butternut squash/​apple soup had literal slices of apple in it, which made for a really odd texture. It didn’t seem well thought out, since the slices were too large to be able to swallow without cutting them up. Personally, I prefer not to have to take a knife to my soup.
I spent $ 33 on a meal that did not remotely satisfy my hunger, and left me feeling ill.
I do not foresee returning anytime soon.

Foodies, want the ambience of New York City? This former carriage house, next to a theater built in 1880, has it all. Tiffany lamps, dark rich wood, soft jazz, impeccable service. From my table on the loft, I can see candlelight chandeliers flickering against the tall brick walls. Fresh, innovative menu items. I had superb scallops on a bed of vegetables, nuts and grains chopped to the perfect sizes for a pleasing texture. Truly a symphony of tastes! A romantic atmosphere for special occasions.

The lighting and spacious tables they allow for private conversations make for a nice date environment. We appreciated the drink selection available as well. We’ll go back to try more food options– we liked but didn’t love the foie gras, my husband loved the roast chicken while the mushroom ravioli special had too heavy of a mushroom topping with mushroom filling and little other flavor. The crème brûlée was tasty though. For those with shellfish allergies, the menu is quite limited– most appetizers are shellfish, and many entrees are as well. Great for seafood lovers though. Service started strong as we got there early but halfway through slowed tremendously– it took over 20 minutes to pay. If this was an indication of the usual service, we’ll be back during off peak hours.

We get take out from Davinci’s every weekend. We usually get steak tartare, a salad and the roasted chicken. We just ate downtown Portland on Broadway at the Imperial (Willamette Weekly’s 2015 restaurant of the year) – this restaurant is great BUT Davinci’s roasted chicken blows there’s away. A must try in Salem!

bad customer service, the bartender Cody is very rude. He shouted at me and my friends for not tipping him 20%. I will never go back and will never recommend this restaurant to any one.

Aside from the food and service this place is great. Very nice surroundings.
Had halibut cheeks smothered in garnish, hard to taste the fish but maybe that was by design.
The pasta and meatballs were just ok, but for $ 20 expect more.
Served a flatbread cold and tasteless.

Had the filet and it had the right consistency but not a lot of flavor. Tiramisu was fantastic.

I still love this place sooooooo much! The hangar steak and camizole are such treats in this city so devoid of quality food.

I refuse to go to this restaurant because of how rude the owner is, I don’t want to financially support someone like him. I would rather fuel a business backed by a respectable person. There are many other places to spend your hard earned money. Heard him treat some workers so poorly that they had to kick him out of the (unnamed) eatablishment, not only verbal abuse but looked like it was going to get aggressive (thankfully, they kicked him out before it got physical). I would urge you to NOT pay his restraunt a visit.

Always the best! We enjoyed the pancetta wrapped shrimp in a lemon cream sauce… wow! The decadent caprese salad with burrata and heirloom tomatoes, basil and balsamic glaze… perfect…every time! Then we shared the fettuccine with prawns in cream sauce… LOVE! Everything they do is flawless!

What a great place. Service right from the start was outstanding and memorable. The food was outstanding. Each person in our grouped raved. The portions were plentiful. We enjoyed a great wine from their diverse selections. Tends toward the pricey side, but I can see why the locals consider it as one of the best restaurants in Salem.

Disappointed! Food was not good this time! Under seasoned! Undercooked steak! Egg for duck fries was even undercooked! Ahi tuna and avocado appetizer was dry! This place used to be great! New chef or old chef no longer cares about quality! Just makes me sad!

Our daughter graduated from Willamette University this past weekend, and we decided to make reservations at DaVinci to celebrate. We had late reservations — 8:30 PM — so we missed the typical crowd, which was nice.
The restaurant is beautiful with a large, open floor plan. We liked the dimmed lighting, and there was plenty of room to manuever around tables. Our server was great and checked on us often, and was very knowledgable about the menu items.
The food was very, very good. There was a special menu on Sunday due to the graduation, but the selections offered were still varied. We started out sharing some appetizers — the lobster caprese (which was excellent!) — it’s the perfect bite of creamy burrata, meaty lobster, and fresh herbs. We also shared the prosciutto-​wrapped melon. The slices of watermelon were very large, the prosciutto was delicious, and the balsamic drizzle added a nice flavor profile. Our third shared appetizer was the bacon-​wrapped prawns. These were equally delicious; I just wish there were more!
The girls had the seafood fettucini which they both thoroughly enjoyed. There was plenty of shrimp, the sauce was creamy, and the pasta was a perfect al dente. I had the pistachio-​crusted halibut over mashed potatoes. The crust was crispy and the fish was flaky. The potatoes were great, as well! My husband had the filet and he cleaned his entire plate.
For dessert, we had gelato and the chocolate mousse covered in hard chocolate. Deliciously light and fluffy so as not to overwhelm, it was a great ending to an overall delicious meal.
A similar-​quality meal in the Bay Area would have cost us at least $ 100 more, so we found it to be a great value, given the ambience, service, and high-​quality of food. We would definitely eat here again should we return to Salem!

always to Salem classic wonderful Italian food.
great wine selection in a wonderful bar. true classic Italiano food. this beauty counts in an aesthetic way for a restaurant this one has it all

I have to knock them way down after my last visit. Very underwhelmed and disappointed, both in service and food.
First, my friend and I were seated underneath the stairs. Man, what a terrible place to be sat. I felt like we were being hidden away from the rest of the patrons. Not an intimate place at all – the tables were so close together that whispering was pointless.
Second, they’ve drastically cut back their happy hour. They now offer it only from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. 1. 5 hours? Unreal. Additionally, we inquired about the appetizer menu (as my friend and I love to try lots of dishes over the course of an evening) and were directed to the antipasti. Having dined here many times, I know they have an extensive app menu regardless of the time.
We tried to roll with the punches and we ordered just two antipasti items: the duck confit fries w/​caviar and the beet salad. Salad was good. Fries were DISGUSTING and ridiculously expensive.
Third, our dinners were overpriced and not so delicious. I ordered the gnocchi and it was so gluey it stuck to the roof of my mouth. It was also terribly bitter and when I pointed this out to my waitress, she just shrugged. So much for service.
Lastly, the bartender was STILL serving tables as well as acting as the sole drink mixer in the house. Why can’t this place add another wait person to the ground floor? We waited over 30 minutes for a drink refill!
It’s going to be a long while before I forget this last experience. I’ve decided that Davinci’s is really nothing but a fake fancy establishment. Before, I was able to look past their false advertising on the menu (subbing bacon for panceta, for instance) because we really enjoyed their happy hour and prices were fair. If I’m paying full (over)price I expect the quality to match.