Cafe Stella Modern Italian Cuisine & Bar - Flagstaff, Arizona

Shalini Joiner

Just passing thru on our way from IL to CA, and happened upon this absolute gem for dinner (on Halloween, I’m a little delayed in this review). What’s great about this place besides the excellent food and service, is that they make their own pasta, and have the dried pastas for sale as well! We picked up 2 bags for the road. We ordered the creamy Tuscan salmon, and the sausage mushroom pasta. Both were so tasty. The owners treated us to an aperol spritz, on the house. Refreshing! We pass thru Flagstaff from time to time, and definitely plan to return. Thanks for a wonderful meal!

Alexander

I brought my family in to eat last night. The service was impeccable: the waitress was quick, courteous and welcoming. One of the owners was in and took the time to chat with us and check on the quality of the meal.

I ordered a couple of cucumber gimlets and they were absolutely delicious and looked beautiful: pale aquamarine with an unassuming but effective cucumber roll garnish.

The dishes were solid! I ordered the special Seafood ravioli. The ravioli wrap was tender and not too thick, contrasting nicely with the diced shrimp and lobster filling. The sauce for it is their house Alfredo. I feel like the sauce could have been tailored slightly more towards the specific meal it was topping (maybe a hint of lemon or seafood-pairing herbs), but no complaints here.

I tried some bites from the other dishes as well. The chicken Alfredo was fantastic. No frills. Just perfectly-cooked chicken, a solid traditional Alfredo and their housemade noodles somehow melt in your mouth while also possessing a satisfying chew. The Tuscan salmon was much the same, although the presentation was stepped up a notch from the other dishes and looked beautiful. Salmon was, again, perfectly-cooked with a great sear on top.

Overall, highly recommend this place if you're looking for traditional Italian meals cooked with care. Can't wait for my next visit.

Rob J

A lovely and very Flagstaff casual Italian restaurant in downtown Flagstaff. Their bruscetta is do die for and apparently one of the old Italian recipes. They have a few tables inside and a nice patio out back. It can get crowded here which we noticed on a Sunday night (we had made reservations). The pasta is homemade and you can actually see them make it in front of the restaurant. Really good soft pasta, used in every dish as far as we know. The building has a sign that says Scratch Kitchen and the window shows the name Cafe Stella, just in case you have trouble finding it. Highly recommended!

Jennifer Lakner

I wish I could give 10 stars. Full disclosure we are visiting from Phoenix/not locals. We stopped by here for dinner as we noticed the cute patio and ambiance walking by. Bonus points that we discovered they serve pasta! The food was delicious. Had a hard time picking what to order. We got the sausage and mushroom pasta, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and cannoli. We sat on the patio because we had our dog but also it’s beautiful. They brought a water bowl for our dog and were very dog friendly. Great conversation with the staff. Adding this spot on our usual rotation when we visit.

Lauren Kanelos

Saw great reviews on uber eats and google for cafe stella and figured they would be worth a try. Unfortunately I was definitely not impressed. The foods pictured on their menu do not match what is delivered. Both pasta dishes were also extremely overcooked and mushy. Alfredo didn't really have any flavor at all and the paccheri was not edible, this is a flavor issue as well as an extremely overcooked and mushy noodle issue. The dishes were truly inedible. It was a waste of money. I am truly shocked that this food is highly rated.

Mike L

So amazing that we had lunch and dinner there the same day! Lunch was the Grilled Fig & Cheese Sandwich (w/ arugula and prosciutto) and the Italian Philly. Pictures are 1/2 portions since we ate before the pics. Dinner was a split Caesar Salad and the Grilled Chicken Margherita. Great food and service! They make the pasta fresh onsite and have a great patio in the back. Say hi to Derick and Keith! We’ll be back next time in Flagstaff!

Roberto Heredia

Not entirely sure where to start…ordered the grilled chicken margarita per the servers recommendation. The pesto was very watered down with very of that strong flavor that makes pesto…well pesto. Granted it is advertised as pesto with no nuts. The garlic bread was the biggest disappointment, it was literally made with garlic salt and no actual garlic. I do not believe these dishes are made with much love, they lack that something that makes them special and they all were made with the same noodle. Restaurants do not last long in Flagstaff and i’m not sure how long this one will last.

The cherry on-top was that the to-go containers are styrofoam! This may not seem like a big deal to some but I immediately knew that this was a restaurant that does not value authenticity and only goes with the cheaper option for everything including their ingredients and to-go containers.

Sandra Trujillo-Siqueiros

Excellent, authentic Italian food.
The restaurant makes homemade pasta, so we were worried that we would be in for quite a wait, but no. The food came out in a timely manner.
We ordered garlic bread with marinara sauce, Scafetti's pasta that included a pork chop, Beef ravioli, lemon ricotta pasta with chicken, and tiramisu.
Everything was delicious!

I appreciated the female server because I initially asked our male server if the tiramisu was made with lady fingers and he did not know what those were which is a bad sign. If tiramisu is homemade, it should be made with lady fingers.
When a young woman brought us our entrees, I asked her about the tiramisu again. She did not know either but checked for us. The tiramisu was delicious! I am glad I asked again and appreciated that she found out even though she did not know.

Service was a bit slow after we got the check. We waited for 10 minutes for someone to get our credit card, but then we left cash instead which was no problem.