Papa’s Italian Restaurant

The atmosphere was great, staff was great and the food amazing!!! Already looking forward to going back!!!

Papa’s Italian is THE Italian place to eat in Prescott. Every single employee was very kind, genuine, and helpful… especially our waitress. The food was delicious and they give you very generous portions. Whenever we come back to visit Prescott again, Papa’s Italian will definitely be on our list of places to go.

I like this place so much. Mama is the sweetest, she always brings me soup :) They have $ 1 meatballs at happy hour that are killer. The ambience is nice… I love a dimly lit room. Service has always been solid. It’s all around pleasant.

Very good bread, minestrone soup, pizza, cheese ravioli, and pasta with mussels! Everything was great. The service was very nice and quick. Great atmosphere and location! The prices were good as well. We will definitely return!

Best Italian restaurant in Prescott. Great ambience and excellent service. Do not miss this wonderful place to dine.

My husband and I got out for a date night and this place was perfect. Service was great. I had the veal ravioli which was awesome! The sauce had a little kick which made it perfect! All around spectacular.

First of all I would like to say I find the claims of one star reviewer «Ahrash A» to be a quite unbelievable.
The food at Papa’s is the best Italian food in Prescott. The wait staff (yes you too Frank:)) is friendly and highly professional.
«Mama» truly cares about her clientele and comes by to chat often. My husband and I have found nothing but top performers working here.
We dine at this quiet, upscale restaurant about twice a month and will continue to enjoy their excellent food and service.
Reservations are recommended .
Keep up the good work!

This is a long review. But this is a very special restaurant.
I was in Prescott for a 4-​day training class, and found them on Unilocal.I called them on Thursday evening and asked if they could take one for dinner. The lady on the phone told me her name was Andrea and they would be waiting for my arrival.
When I arrived, Andrea greeted me very warmly, as if I was a regular customer of many years. She showed me to nice table for one.
Frank waited on me and his service was excellent. He made sure that I would be able to take advantage of their happy hour wine specials, up to the very last minute. Dinner started with still-​warm house-​baked bread with soft butter. Frank made very knowledgeable recommendations from the menu and specials. I ordered the Pompeii salad and the house made ravioli in pesto sauce. Both were very «old school» in style and portion; big portions, not fancy but well-​made, very good and tasty like something my Nonna would have for the family at Sunday dinner.
Service continued to be really outstanding Andrea came and checked on me during dinner. Even the younger bussing staff were warm and attentive.
So… I went back on Saturday night, right after the day’s training was over. The training was very physical, literally down in the dirt combat training at a nearby location, so I was pretty grubby. The restaurant was quite busy. Andrea again greeted me like a regular, with a big thank you for coming back. I apologized for my disheveled appearance and said I would be happy to sit at a table somewhere in the back. She laughed it off and sat me at a nice table. Frank also greeted me and welcomed me back.
Server was Laura. Same wonderful service, down to the bus boy. The restaurant’s owner, «Mama», came by with a bowl of her homemade minestrone for me. Delicious. Tasted like Nonna’s. Same salad and a Pizza Rustica for dinner. Again, big portions and very good. As I ate, I watched «Mama» check in at every table making sure all was well for everyone.
When I left, Andrea warmly thanked me again. Turns out «Mama» is her mother, and it really is a family affair all around.
I live in a place famous for its food scene, and have eaten in many of the famous/​fancy «starred» restaurants throughout the U.S. I would pick a restaurant like Papa’s over just about all of them. Food made with love and service to match. I was a single «low-​check» diner who had never been in their restaurant before, yet I was genuinely treated like family the entire time.
Next I find myself in the Prescott area, I will make sure to visit again.
Mille Grazie!

This amazing restaurant lived up to their reputation. From the ambiance to the food, everything was perfect. My group of six arrived and were greeted warmly. Our waitress, Dove, was kind and attentive to everything we asked for and even things we did not ask for. The owner, who also greeted us, brought out a soup starter that was full of flavor. We knew at that moment we were in for a great experience. As for the meal, best Italian food I have ever had. I had the portobello ravioli that was superb. My daughter had the shells and my wife had the special (manicotti or cannelloni?). I sadly can not remember everyone’s dishes as I was in heaven with mine. Lastly, and most important I want to give special recognition to all the staff. My aunt, who recently had surgery, was not feeling well and retreated to the restroom for privacy. Dove, our amazing waitress, without asking, took my aunts dish and warmed it up till my aunt could enjoy it. In addition, my wife said the owner’s daughter, I think, hung out with them in the restroom to insure my aunt was okay. Sadly, we did have to leave shortly there after but the staff was so caring and it showed in all that they did for us. I highly recommend this amazing restaurant to everyone and it will forever be our go to spot when we are in Prescott.

What a little GEM we have in Prescott! I can not tell you how fantastic this restaurant is! From the complimentary minestrone soup & bread, to the wonderful service and wine, this place is outstanding. We have had many dishes on the menu, plus a pizza or two, and the food is always DELICIOUS! If you are in the mood for a pizza, I totally recommend their stuffed-​style pizza. Wow… sooo good!!! I only have one tiny request of the owners… can you get your hands on some hot giardinera? You would make my life complete! Hahaha

Outstanding. The ONLY thing that I would ask for here is later hours but heck, y’all, if you go here and try how utterly fresh EVERY item on the menu is. And how the staff go out of their way to show you a quality experience, you will not mind working with the clock on their terms!
Great performance crew at Papas!

The chicken Parmesan is great and fresh! Gotta try their creamy Italian hands down best dressing I’ve had!

We came here to celebrate my university graduation but our dinner and night was soon ruined. It started with our waiter who also works at the liquor deli and she got our order of drinks wrong, again. We ordered 3 waters and, 3 lemonade saying only one water without ice but over half the others came without ice.
As I have lived in Prescott for 4 years, i wanted my family to experience the «Prescottonian» culture including but not limited to exceptional quality service. But my family was disappointed with the waitress, she carried her rude attitude from the previous night, brought her poor attitude against my family instead of just me this night.
After 13 hours of driving my parents and grandma finally had the chance to order the food. When we ordered our food the waitress rolled her eyes. My parents try really hard to speak proper English but due to «native accent,» it’s hard to understand them some times. Instead of being polite to my parents she said «I don’t understand you. «I was in utter shock!
When the food came the waitress dropped the extremely hot plate of lasagna on my 70 year old handicapped grandma. The staff was frozen and didn’t really help until I ran back and told them soak some towels and what to do. (The young male waiter who served us bread ran for us, Thanks!). We promptly soaked her burns for a bit (While the staff did nothing not even bothering to ask for medical assistance), got our food to go and walked out while the manager was trying to make us understand that stuff happens. And while that is true and might not reflect the true quality of this place we were appalled by multiple events and the responses of the night. We then at 8pm searched for another place on such a busy night. The young male waiter who brought us more bread (and ran for towels!) was the highlight of the experience.

**update**
The manager contacted me via Unilocal messenger, she was very kind and willing to try to make things right. Apparently our server didn’t communicate that there’d been any issue. She talked to their bread supplier, so hopefully this won’t happen to anyone else!
I have mixed feelings about our dinner here. My linguini with clam sauce was excellent as usual, so no problems there. My problems were all husband-​based. Not that he’s a problem. The problem is that if there’s ever anything wrong with the food, it is in his food. This time it was a hunk of what looked to be quartz crystal or glass baked into the bread. It was about the same size as a .45 round and roughly the shape. He cracked a tooth on it. The waiter comped my mediocre tiramisu, which was nice, but as far as explanation all he said was «we don’t bake our own bread.». No one in a management came by to check the situation. If I were managing the place and something like that happened, I would damn sure been involved. I probably would have pulled the bread and had some words with my supplier. What if someone shattered their dentures or worse got choked? Seriously, some concern would have been appropriate. That being said, the food is really good. I will probably come back if I’m in the area but i doubt I’ll be making a special trip. I think I will definitely be skipping the bread. I’m not taking that kind of risk. The linguini will have to stand alone, and its more than capable of doing so. In short, eat here if you get a chance but beware of the bread!

This traditional Italian restaurant has been here in downtown Prescott for over twenty years. The menu is a nice mix of (mostly) south-​central and northern Italian cuisine. The pasta was prepared al-​dente and the portion sizes not too large as seen elsewhere. The marinara sauce on my linguine was slightly acidic, but it’s a matter of taste. A nice touch was the presence of parmigiano reggiano cheese shavings on my pasta dish. Another nice touch, owner-​chef «mamma» greeted us at the table with small bowls of her delicious minestrone made with sausage bits and farfalle pasta. Dinner was topped off with refreshing banana-​caramel gelato.

First time trying this adorable little place. Friendly servers and «mama» brought us minestrone to sample. The bread (refilled twice without asking) was delicious. The house salad was a generous size and the creamy Italian they make was perfect! I I had the chicken Alfredo it was rich and cooked just right. The price was right and was all in all an extremely pleasant experience! We will be back!

Back time and time again and it’s always incredible!
GET THE CANOLI.
The service is always on par, the food has proven time and time to be rich, flavorful, and unique. I would come here weekly if I wouldn’t gain so much weight!

Amazing! Great food, great people and great ambience. We went to have dinner with my husband today and we ate a magnificent Italian dinner.
We were received with some minestrone (Soup) because it is very cold in Prescott right now and Warm bread. Then we ordered two of the house specials that day: ricota spinach ravioles with pesto cream and ricota, spinach and saussage caneloni with pink sauce and muzarella cheese on top. Both were incredible.
You should definitely try this place.
Ah…I almost forget a very important part of the meal: the dessert! We were super satisfied but we had to try the canoli and let me tell you, we weren’t mistaken. It was very good. It was crunchy on the outside and the ricota was soft and lightly sweet.
We are only visiting Prescott for one day, but we will come to this restaurant for sure if we visit again. Don’t doubt it and go to Papa’s if you like Italian food and nice people

Love Mama, the owner and promoter and head cook BTW, Mekela the receptionist and fill in wherever needed and Matt our server. Everyone knows their job, the menu and what sauces marry well with every dish.
The minestrone soup, a must have, dinner salad with vinaigrette dressing, fresh and tasty, did I mention the garlic bread, to die for!!!
I had the veal Ravioli with a red sauce that had a little kick to it but very good, this was one recommended by Matt.
The meat balls, three different style were some of the best I have ever had!
We finished dinner splitting a Tiramsu, killer desert made fresh that day by Moma.
We will make this a regular on our trips through Prescott
FYI. Make reservations before you go.

Coming up from Chandler I was in search of some good Italian food.
«Boy did I find it here!!»
Sat down and was greeted by a very nice hostess and waitress. After being explained the specials, I was greeted by the owner. She immediately welcomed U.S. and proceeded to give a couple full bowls of Minestrone Soup. Then came back with two of her homemade meatballs for us to try. Both were FANTASTIC!
Our meals were amazing and I now have a second Mom in Prescott and will be bringing the family up here to enjoy the best Italian food I have ever had!
Prices are average meals are huge! Might want to consider splitting if you don’t have a big appetite.