Cafe Toscana

I was in the mood for Italian and after the first place didn’t look so hot, we landed here at Toscana. It’s located right off the Public Square, so there’s plenty of metered parking to be found in the evening hours. After 6pm, no need to feed them.
A well dress wait staff greeted us and brought us to a proper linen-​covered table with proper linen napkins. Very nice. Not much of a beer selection, but as an Italian restaurant they had the required Peroni.
I had the Mozzarella Caprese to start, which was well plated. Very tasty with two large roasted red peppers in addition to the thick sliced cheese layered with tomato slices. The bottle of Balsamic vinegar was interesting. I think it could have been presented better, but it was still nice to have.
For main, an interesting chicken dish with mushrooms and chestnuts caught my eye. What arrived were two very large chicken breasts pounded thin, covered in a Marsala-​like sauce with lots of mushrooms and lots of tasty chestnuts. It is December, after all. I cleared the plate. Yum.
Service was good, the food was very nice and while they do have a few very expensive entrees on the menu, there are also a lot of reasonably priced ones. I enjoyed it. I could eat here again.
Round number review — #5500!

I’ve been told by my hosts in town that people keep coming back to Café Toscana after they’ve tried it once — and it was true in my case. The wait staff are prompt and courteous. Their zuppa di faggioli is like a special treat from the kitchen of an Italian grandma I never had. Another great part is their pre-​fixe $ 30 dinner menu. Who knew I had to come to Wilkes-​Barre to have genuine Italian food!

My family and I ate in Little Italy this past summer to experience an authentic Italian Meal, but I have to say, the cuisine and service at Café Toscana was far and above our experience in Little Italy. Every time we visit the Wilkes Barre area, we make it a point to dine there because of the excellent food and service.

I ate there yesterday evening for the first time… in advance of a concert ay Kirby Hall. As a regular at Sambuca in Scranton, i was comparing Café Toscana to that high standard, The food was very good. I had the Fantasia di Mare which was very good, just a bit spicy and with lots of seafood. The service was definitely only okay. (as compared to Sambuca which is always friendly, personal, and attentive). I would definitely return when in WB.

I am always impressed by this restaurant. The wait staff is highly professional, the food always outstanding. I have been here about 5 times with my parents and everyone is always thrilled by their dishes… The soups, the salads, the entrees AND desserts! I really love their avocado and langostino salad and am really happy they don’t skimp on the seafood OR the avocado, like many other places would. It’s really a hidden gem in the center of W-​B.

Very good food. Good service. Lovely atmosphere. If I lived here I would be a regular customer. I wish they had outdoor seating, and maybe they do in the summer.
Prices are very reasonable.

One of my favorite restaurants in Wilkes Barre. The prices are reasonable and the food good and in large portions. I’ve had maybe two experiences that weren’t HORRIBLE but not too great… the rest have been fine. The salads are fresh and delicious and the tomato sauce is very good. My favorite dish is the calamari fra diavlo. The bread is accompanied by an awesome olive tapenade and fresh bruschetta, the service is very attentive, and the interior is very clean and classy. I especially love going for lunch!

Not much to look at from the street. But inside it was very nice with a professional staff. Had the veal marsala — sauce was very good; not too thick; let you taste the veal which was nice thin, tender cuts. Vege’s were good properly. Had the Insalatamista Verde — tasted great.

I’m giving this a five star review on the food alone. The complimentary bread & dip appetizer or what have you is amazing. My entrée was angel hair pasta with shiitake mushrooms, sun-​dried tomato & arugula in a garlic & olive oil sauce. Minus the shiitake because I don’t do shrooms. So good & garlicy. To go with it, I had some sort of limoncello martini (I think it was called an «Italian Sunrise») & it was also amazing. This coming from someone who isn’t a martini fan. Be careful though: they can definitely be dangerous. ;) They even fancied up my man’s Guiness by bringing out a fancy glass for him to pour it into. He also had a veal dish which he said was cooked to perfection. We passed up on dessert from being too full, but a lot of people around us had tiramisu and cheesecake. As one Unilocaler said, the crowd is older, but whatever. You’re there to eat a great Italian meal & forget that you’re on the Square. Which you do, so something should be said for that.

I’ve been there a few other times before over a number of years and was never very impressed. That changed tonight. I started out with calamari fritti, which was lightly breaded and cooked perfectly. I kept on the seafood theme and ordered the risotto pescatore — delicious. Clams, mussels, calamari on rice cooked perfectly. All went down nicely with a Peroni. Dessert was a yummy cappuccino.
Service was good and the crowd was much older than I expected but overall the experience was great. I might start coming for the cappuccinos and a place to grade papers.

Best dining on the square. Great service. Very attentive. Lots of attention went into the menu — regular and daily special. Fresh and well executed. Talent in the kitchen as well as on the floor. Great wine list. Oh yeah, extremely reasonable prices too! Going to make it a regular stop.

I was here a while back. From my notes — the service was slow and not very attentive. The food was also sub par. I ordered the penne vodka with chicken, which came out overly salty. As in it seemed like someone tripped and spilled a bunch of salt all over the vodka sauce kind of salty.
Will I give it another shot? Probably not.

Food was good, no complaints there. The service was terrible. Maybe it was that night, maybe it was the fact that we weren’t dressed as fancy as all of the elderly people that filled the restaurant, but it was terrible and we were completely ignored. We ordered our food, and once it arrived, weren’t even looked at until 20 minutes after we finished our entrée and asked for the check. My dinner was rich and a little salty, and all I wanted was a glass of water, but no one would come near our table for me to even ask. My favorite part? The food runner literally FLUNG a spoonful of Parmesan cheese onto my boyfriends pasta very angrily from a foot and half away. And we weren’t being rude or needy, he just did it without asking. I wouldn’t return here unless the service got exponentially better.

Truly only one word comes to mind… amazing. we ordered the 4 course meal at 30.00 per person. The fresh mozzarella with tomato delish then there was the side salad with walnuts blue cheese and a wonderful vinaigrette. Best salad I ever had! coming from a regular salad eater. I had the asparagus ravioli this was good my spouse has the veal marsala he said it was OKAY (not enough marsala)… finally the dessert I did the crème brûlée loved it! He had the Tira Misu that was okay.. overall we left full and satisfied.

Quiet Monday night. Service was good, not overbearing not disappearing. Food was delicious. Company was, none of your business :).
Visiting from out of town and I’ll come back.

Absolutely fabulous meal ruined only by poor pretentious service.
The (free) dip for the bread is pure heaven. We opted for the prix fix menu, choosing the mozzarella caprese, mista verde and the pollo francese. Some of the best Italian I’ve had, and I wish we lived closer so we could come back.
Ignore the unfriendly service and focus in the true purpose of the visit — the food — and you won’t be disappointed!

Dont be deceived by the location, its storefront location on the Public Square, but apparently its been around for about 10 years. The service was very good and the menu selection was great. I ate an angel hair pasta with arugula, sun dried tomato and mushroom. It was very good. We shared some appetizers, calamari, and a sampler platter of some cheese filled, sauced up deliciousness. I recommend this place if you are in town. If you are coming for a function at one of the colleges in the area I suggest you make a reservation since its one of the nicer places within walking distance of the area schools.

A modest storefront with a calming atmosphere, Café Toscana offers a nice mix of tasty Italian fare. You can choose from any of your typical Italian classics, or try one of several unique dishes, the latter of which is what I look for in a truly good restaurant. I had the potato gnocchi with a white wine sauce, spinach, and shrimp. Excellently executed.
I took away one star because although the servers were all very kind, we dined early and were one of only a few tables in the place and still the service felt very, very slow. I wouldn’t want to find out what it’s like when it’s actually busy.
Nonetheless, I’d go back! The food and atmosphere felt worth the wait.

When I try a new place, I generally ask the wait staff for a recommendation between a few different items. I do this because, it gives you a good indicator if the staff eats the food. Around here, you rarely find a waiter who knows the menu that well, and they just generally pick the most expensive item on the menu. Our waiter made an immediate pick and surprisingly, it was the lowest priced of the items I was interested in.
The meal started with bread and a nice olive oil blend, along with three slices of bruschetta. Then came our calamari app. Let’s face it, cooking calamari is a son of a bitch and they nailed.
Our dinners came out next. I tasted all three that we had; calamari fra diavolo, shrimp scampi and lasagna. Everything was great. Overall, it was a nice experience.

What an Italian Restaurant should be. I have been SEARCHING for a place like this in the valley, an Italian restaurant that features the following things:
1. Homemade pasta
2. Amazing sauce
3. Excellent Service
4. Upscale, romantic atmosphere (in my opinion, there are too many cheesy, all-​sinatra-​all-​the-​time, in-​need-​of-​renovation Italian joints in NEPA).
5. Amazing food
6. Great wine selection (and wine that is fresh — can’t tell you how many places have served me or my someone in my party wine that has turned)
I had the veal tortellacci with meat sauce and it was simply amazing. I’m not even the biggest veal fan, but I wanted to try something new and I’m so glad I did. Even the olive oil served with the bread was unique and delicious; I think it had some sort of olive tapenade and crushed garlic in it — it was very good.
The service was professional and attentive.
I will definitely be back!