Primo

Margherita pizza rocks. Nice happy hour.

What happened to this place?!
It used to be so good. A real treat. I had recommended it to friends.
Our last visit was so low to mediocre we won’t be back.
Really do something about the chairs-​they are so worn out it made for uncomfortable sitting.
The water needs to be filtered it was not drinkable. Yucky melted ice perhaps, or a tacky ploy to purchase bottle maybe?
The duck was not fresh tasting. I did not finish it. At almost 40 dollars this is totally unacceptable. Actually at any price, but it’s especially absurd when it’s this pricey.
Don’t be fooled by the James Beard award. This recognition, I’m convinced, is merely a marketing scam.

It was a nice evening. Very good service. Quiet atmosphere. Very relaxing. A great moment to sit, talk and relax. Fresh bread was nice. Over all food was ok. Had Moulard Duck Two Ways $ 37 Confit leg, farroh, chantrelles, SFF greens, huckleberry gastrique. The duck was cooked to medium rare perfectly. Flavor? Just ok. The greens were good. The rest… so so. Was I impressed? No! Would I return? Probably not. My friend had the monk fish. Said it was ok but would not return.

Went here for happy hour and could not have been happier with the experience. Enjoyed a few dishes, Fried Chicken with Honey, Meat pizza and some happy hour cab.
Our server was Chelsea and she was quite awesome. Nice views and good crew.

My husband, mother-​in-​law and I recently dined here while were staying at the hotel. I had read a lot of reviews and thought it sounded pretty good! Unfortunately, our experience was anything but stellar and I would probably go as far to say that it sucked. I was very disappointed for the fine establishment it claims to be. The service was terrible; the hostess and the waitress clearly did not want to be there and were standoffish. I felt like we were inconveniencing them as they barely spoke to us. My husband had asked about the Niman Ranch Burger on the menu and all she could say was «it’s good»…
Ok, it’s good, he’s decided to give it a try. I went with a pizza (typical pepperoni with a little garlic) and my MIL ordered the House-​Made Cavatelli. The burger was bland– just bun, burger, arugula and a choice of their house made ketchup or aioli. The pizza was pretty good, and a decent size! My MIL’s meal was good but supper flavorful — complete extreme from my husbands meal.
We had to wait a while for our waitress to come around for our check and when she did, she didn’t say anything to us as she dropped it off. I doubt I would ever eat here again.

Specifically for the manager, Adam, who went out of his way to give exceptional customer service. Thank you for making ours a great experience!

I like to swing by at night and have a (pricey) drink with a view. Love this vista, and the fires they have going.
Unfortunately the magic is sometimes interrupted by men who have had 2 drinks too many from some trade show conference at the hotel.

I have stayed at the Starr Pass Resort several years in a row for the Gem and Mineral show. This is the first time I have eaten at Primo. The first night, as a starter, ordered the bruschetta with goat cheese and balsamic onions, which was fantastic. As my main, I ordered the Polenta with Bolognese. I realize the chef likes to put a creative spin on things, but as an Italian, with relatives who live in Bologna, Italy, I can say with certainty, you DO NOT put hot pepper flakes in Bolognese sauce. EVER! You turned a nice Bolognese sauce into basically chili without beans and cumin. The service was great the first night, so bad Bolognese aside I decided to give the place another try.
The second time I ate there was a Thursday night. It was packed. I was able to get seating at the bar about 6:45 and ordered the duck, which came out promptly, and was great. However, at some point, the first bartender left and another bartender took over. He never asked me if I wanted a refill on water, or if I wanted anything else. He ignored me. Several other people sat down, wanting to eat at the bar and they were informed that the kitchen was overtaxed and that it would take over an hour for their meal to get to them if they stayed. So they left. I was quite literally the ONLY person sitting at the bar for about an hour. This bartender just filled drink orders and ignored me. The other bartender, who was now working the floor, finally reappeared and asked if I enjoyed my meal. I told her I did, and asked for the check.
C’mon, guys… you can’t handle a packed house? Really? I certainly hope other patrons did not have to wait an hour for their food to come out. If so, I would expect to see a lot of negative reviews.

The views were nice on the patio. The service was lackluster, uncoordinated, and at times I felt abandoned. The workers blamed each other for not taking orders, bringing items, etc.
They were quick to take our drink orders, and after pouring myself three glasses of water, they finally arrived and they offered us food and finally told us the specials. The Manhattan was alright, I never finished it, let alone desired a second. The food was bland and the textures gummy.
I wouldn’t suggest going for a meal, but happy hour may be better! At least then the bartender may be attentive and reliable.

This restaurant is a pleasant surprise in more ways than one. For starters, it’s located at a major resort, so by default, it’s not necessarily a first pick when I’m searching for a local eatery. The menu is Italian– one of my favorite cuisines, and it’s done (mostly) right. They have a garden on the property and they actually use the what they grow! They also feature local produce on their menu. They have AVERNA AMARO on their menu. Aside from these little surprises, which may only be relevant to me, here is what you should know.
While Primo is a resort restaurant, the prices are fair considering location and quality of ingredients. The portions are hearty, so you definitely won’t leave hungry. The staff was friendly, attentive and well versed on the menu. It’s definitely more of a special occasion type of place.
As mentioned, the menu features Italian cuisine with a modern twist. You’ll find everything from pizza to assorted bruschette (plural) to hand-​made pasta and the classics like Saltimbocca and Cioppino.
I treated my fiancé to dinner for his birthday. We started out with couple a cocktails each at Salud then headed in for dinner. We enjoyed our dinner with a Pinot Noir. Two appetizers (each $ 9) — The frutti di mare and an order of the bruschetta with house made ricotta and brandied pears. The bruschetta was the hit between the two. The frutti di mare was actually a fritto misto (assorted fried seafood and veggies). It was served with a harissa aioli. It was good, but the bruschetta was delicious! It was actually quite sweet, I could’ve eaten for dessert.
Next, we share the grilled Spanish octopus. Served with grilled chorizo, cannellini beans, charred onion with a Meyer lemon dressing. We love Octopus and we ordered this on our servers recommendation. The octopus was super tender and the chorizo was thinly sliced. We missed the flavor of the Meyer lemon. Priced at $ 14, the portion was a more petite than we anticipated.
For dinner I ordered the House-​Made Ricotta Ravioli with Local Lamb. This was probably the best pasta dish I’ve had in Tucson. Seriously. The dish was presented beautifully with tomato, basil and lamb served over the ravioli. The ricotta was lemony and zesty, the sauce was light was light. I only ate half of my entrée. It was so flavorful and rich. My fiancé ordered the Saltimbocca and thoroughly enjoyed it. This dish can easily be shared. It’s rich and super hearty.
Dessert was on the house– they presented us with canoli. Theirs are served hand-​rolled pistachio and chocolate-​dipped tuiles, filled with ricotta and topped with cherries. Holy decadence! It was über sweet and delicious.
We had a solid meal here and our server was fantastic. The ambiance is a little dated and definitely screams «hotel,» so on my next visit I’ll make sure to check out the patio and take in the gorgeous desert views.

I dined here last week. the pizza here was superb… and the deep fried artichoke was divine. I thought the food and the beer was priced very nicely for the quality and atmosphere Primo provides. Sadly, I’m not sure what happened because I had stomach problems + I threw up 5 hours after I ate here… it might have been the mussels. I am unsure. I hate to give Primo 3 stars. but I think that’s the best I could do due to my suspicions of food poisoning

I had a mixed experience here, and at the end, really enjoyed the night. The place was completely packed, at least in the main dining areas and outside were all reserved already for people there for a conference. I liked the fact that it was lively. We decided to sit at an area where you could see preparations for pizza, appetizers, soup, and some of the desserts. Wow, I was impressed with checking out how much detail and caring they put into it all. The amount of effort and tlc to make a beet salad, the salumi and formagi — really, everything they made — I really honor their work!
So, I started with the mussels — omg! Was it divine. I ate it all up and left drops of the sauce. I had to steal some of his crispy artichokes, what a great concept! Brings me back to the day when I ate lots of steamed artichokes, but with miracle whip. Of course, this was way better! It was the perfect crispy.
I ordered the medium rare duck and was offered a steak knife. As you can see from the photo I posted, a steak knife may be tough to cut it… and that rang true in this incidence. I tried to enjoy it, but it was so difficult to cut into because of the rare parts. Perhaps if it were a sharp knife, a smooth cut steak knife, that would have worked out. So when our server came to find out how our meals were, I asked if it could be cooked to a medium instead. She brought it back and came back with a grilled duck (grilled marks on it). It was definitely much easier to cut, however, the charred areas tasted burnt and I was beginning to try to enjoy it by cutting off those areas. My lovely server returned to find out what I was trying to do. She graciously offered to have another one made from scratch. I took her on this offer. By this time, hubby already finished his dinner.
So, we waited and waited. Thank goodness we were seated at the area where we could see the action of the kitchen employees. They were all very very nice and everything they were preparing, really liked appealing — making me want to return in the future to try out more!
The manager presented the new medium prepared duck, which was cooked to perfection (I believe I saw a kitchen staff wait a while before cutting it, to make sure it’s the right temp). To our disbelief, because of the long wait, he said we won’t have a bill and dessert is on them. Wow! Were we astonished. I asked hubby if he heard the same as I did. He confirmed. Oh, how I wish my mom dined with us — she never understood what good service was until I took her out to places like this.
His ravioli with duck dish was very herbally spiced and more to the extreme salty side, but he was a trooper and ate it all up. Then when he tasted my new dish, he was devouring my duck! Guess he was still hungry? Haha. No, it was THAT good! Including the Spanish style lentils! Especially because there was bacon mixed in. Yum!
And now to the dessert. We decided in the Zeppole. What a tough decision that was! He really wanted to try the Cannoli, it was one I know he would’ve enjoyed but since I was already overstuffed — he knew that my dairy intolerance would do me over if I had the cannoli. What a sweetheart. Boy, was that worth the wait. The manager came by to warn us that this dessert takes the longest (in his words, it takes forever). We let him know we were told that and willing to wait. Talk about worth the wait! We enjoyed every bite of it. 4 sauces that came with it were a salty caramel, local honey, chocolate, and berry sauce. Our favorite sauce? Salty caramel. It helped tone down the sweetness of the cinnamon and sugar coated Italian doughnuts. The perfect mix of sweet and salty. Yep — we really could not help finishing it off.
We will definitely be back, next time with the kids. After seeing so many of the pizzas being freshly made like that — we have to return to try that out. And next time, if I take my enzymes for dairy, I’ll order the gluten free cannoli. Mmmmm. And calamari, beets, and mussels again, since it changes daily!
Thank you for such an awesome experience, AND during our anniversary too! A wonderful gift from our patience.