By Vinny P., ’17
After eating at Cafe DaVinci, there were a lot of good things to say about the local and authentic Italian restaurant in Upper Arlington, O
Image courtesy Cafe Davinci
H. Cafe DaVinci serves traditional italian style food in their own individual way. Cafe DaVinci is located at 3080 Tremont Rd. The restaurant is family owned and operated by Tina and Kim Elsea, who formerly owned Davinci Ristorante in Columbus for over 30 years.
When I walked into Cafe DaVinci, the first thing that I noticed about the restaurant was the inviting setting. The cafe is dimly lit and gives off a warm and comfortable vibe the second you open the door. The cafeteria style ordering makes the ordering process feel less intimidating. As I read through the menu, there were a lot of items that sounded really tasty. I finally made up my mind and ordered the rigatoni with their marinara sauce, and I also ordered a side davinci salad. After ordering, I walked over to their bread and oil self service station and got a plate of fresh bread and olive oil and sat down. The salad came right out and tasted refreshing with the fresh vegetables. The salad had mixed greens with tomatoes and cucumbers, bathed in their italian vinaigrette. There was an excellent balance between the lettuce and the vegetables, and the flavor was impeccable. Shortly after, my rigatoni came out. It wasn’t a hefty portion, but it was enough for dinner on top of the bread and salad. The pasta tasted really good, and it is homemade at the restaurant. The rigatoni’s were a considerable size and had excellent texture. The sauce wasn’t too sweet and had excellent flavor. It was the perfect balance between sweet and savory, and that is something that I look for in a pasta sauce. I continued to go up and get the fine tasting bread with italian seasoning and olive oil. After I finished eating my pasta and bread, I went up to look in the desert case. I ordered a cannoli, a bambino sized stracciatella gelato and a piece of tiramisu , just to try it. The cannoli tasted excellent and was very large. I loved the texture of the cannoli filling and the chocolate chips at the end. After I finished my cannoli, I started to eat the small portion of gelato that I ordered. The gelato is made on site and is fresh everyday. The stracciatella was very smooth and melted in my mouth. The grated chocolate added an extraordinary texture and added some great flavor to the vanilla gelato. At the gelato case, there is complimentary lemon water that washes down the gelato and is quite refreshing. Lastly, I took a few bites of the tiramisu, and it really tasted great. It had the perfect balance of sweet and savory, and it was better than most tiramisu i’ve tried.
Cafe DaVinci did very well in all evaluated areas, and I would personally recommend any of their pastas and any of their deserts. The food tastes fantastic and the setting of the cafe makes you feel at home as soon as you walk in the front door. DaVinci’s is a great restaurant if you’re looking for homestyle Sicilian and Italian style food.