Experience one of the best specialty dining restaurants on Celebrity Cruises – Tuscan Grille
On all of the older Celebrity cruise ships (Non-Edge Class), the Tuscan Grill is the premier Italian restaurant (mixed with a bit of steakhouse offering). The eatery is almost universally loved by passengers and is the “go-to” for most people interested in an elevated food experience on their cruise.
The price of Tuscan Grille is $55 per person + 20% mandatory gratuity, making it expensive for what it is.
About the Tuscan Grille
At Tuscan Grille, there is a blend of the rustic charm of Italian dining with a modern, minimalist flair (or so they say). The setting is generally refined and is the perfect backdrop for a finer dining experience or a lovely date night.
The menu is a creative fusion of traditional Italian cuisine with a contemporary twist (and that’s both original and familiar). With large dishes of freshly made pasta, a selection of artisanal salumi, and a variety of seafood and butcher-cut meats, including USDA Prime dry-aged steaks, there’s a little something for everyone.
Tuscan Grille creates a dining experience with a blend of classic and contemporary dishes according to Celebrity Cruises. What this really means is you can order anything from a beautiful steak cooked to your liking (more on that later) or more creative dishes like Lobster Rigatoni Alfredo.
For people who want a more traditional Italian meal, there is of course Lasagne, Spaghetti & Meatballs and other popular and common dishes.
The restaurant serves incredibly generous portions of these classic dishes so bring your appetite!
TIP – Order half dishes
If you want to try multiple dishes, you can order half portions of the pasta mains. This was a real treat, as we wanted to try a few things without the dreaded food waste of over-ordering. (Had we not been able to order half portions, we’d have never discovered some of the best items on the menu!)
The menu is complemented by genuine Italian cocktails and beers, not to mention house-made Limoncello (it was so yummy!)
The Tuscan Grille Menu
Tuscan Grille is available on these Celebrity Ships:
- Infinity
- Summit
- Millennium
- Constellation
- Reflection
- Solstice
- Silhouette
- Equinox
- Eclipse
Our Experience at Tuscan Grille
Overall, the experience at Tuscan Grille was quite good. We did have a few hiccups including ordering steaks that came out at the wrong temperature and were actually cold. They promptly sorted this out, but it was a bit of a surprise since even the most basic steak restaurant owns a thermometer and can tell if a steak is cooked medium.
The pasta dishes we tried were amazing. We ordered half portions of the Lobster Rigatoni Alfredo, Gnocchi, and Spaghetti. They rivaled some of the best pasta dishes we’ve had.
However, another letdown was the sides and the sauces. The side dishes felt bulk produced and even possibly frozen & reheated while the sauces offered for the steaks were simply inedible by being too sweet or lacking any flavor.
In my glass-half-full mindset, I left thinking that the food was better than I had had on the rest of the ship, but honestly, not any more remarkable than any run-of-the-mill Italian restaurant in a major city.
The service at Tuscan Grille
The attentive staff tried to enhance the dining experience by being attentive, but I didn’t feel like they necessarily listened to what we were asking for. Everyone was friendly and efficient, but there were communication issues mostly due to being short-staffed from what I could gather.
We had a lovely conversation with the restaurant manager after our meal where we discussed some of the hits & misses. He was quite upset at the steak situation and the fact that we felt the sides were uninspiring. So much so that he invited us back on the house to experience the restaurant again. I didn’t feel like accepting this was appropriate considering we ate the entire meal and I’m not sure there would have been any benefit other than free food for us. So I respectfully declined. It just didn’t feel right.
Is Tuscan Grille on Celebrity Worth it?
Value is such a subjective question we are asked when something is “worth it”. At $66 per person including the gratuity, had this been a land-based restaurant, I probably wouldn’t go back. Not that it’s bad at all, it was just generally just “ok” and at a certain price, it needs to be really good! If you’re a steak person who enjoys something like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, then the value gets better, and by adding in some great pasta dishes to share, it’s a definite “win”.
For someone who is just looking for good Italian food, $66 is a hard pill to proverbially swallow for a slice of lasagne.
But will I go back? Most definitely, especially if I’m on an older ship where there are not many alternatives to the Main dining room. I will return with a hell of an appetite and craving a steak, that’s for sure!
TIP: On embarkation day, there are often “deals” to be had for booking the Tuscan Grille for the first night! It fills up fast, so check right when you make your reservation. You can save more than 20% by booking dinner at Tuscan Grille on the first night of your cruise!
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