Five Palms Steak & Seafood

If you are a casual person like me, who likes simple but delicious food Nino’s Bar and Grill on the top floor of Five Palms is where you want to go! This sport bar restaurant serves the most exquisite beef tacos: very generous serving with just the right amount of juice, salsa and guacamole. If you are a shrimp lover: they serve the freshest and tastiest peel and eat shrimp. They told as they fly in their seafood everyday! We accompanied them with refreshing Margaritas prepared to perfection. The service was great even though the restaurant was packed. There is no place in Tucson that you will have this spectacular 360 degree view of the city, the mountains, and, the sunset. The grill out on their deck is the most appetizing scene. Everything we tasted was very fresh and I actually fought the last bite of the plate with my wife. The decor is unbelievable: very comfortable, beautiful and cozy. It is also perfect if you want to go with your buddies to watch a game and have some drinks. Nino knows how to make you feel welcome! Once you go for the first time, this place will become your favorite place to get a quick bite and have cocktails.

The restaurant has nothing to envy any top rated restaurant in the world: the decor in the formal dinning room is so sophisticated it makes you feel in awe. The service outstanding, from the owner to their managers and waiters making sure that you are having a delightful evening. The food couldn’t be any better! Being a graduate of The Cordon Bleu Cookery School, I will tell you that they know their food: very fresh, seasoned and cooked to perfection. Plus, very original and presented to you in very fine China and the way you would be served in the finest restaurant in the world! And as days go by, every addition to their menu is more spectacular than the one before. We had deviled oysters, ceviche( I always brag that my country makes the best ceviche…I have to hand the title to Five Palms), escargots, the mediterranean appetizer, the prime rib (to die for!) and the fillet with the peppercorn sauce (I never tasted anyone better). 5 Palms rice and potatoes are an excellent compliment to their entrees. Make sure to try the 5 Palms Salad. And, save room for dessert: Crepes Suzette done table side: very thin crepes flamed with a Grand Marnier and orange-lemon sauce. Upon arrival we sat in their formal bar and zipped on cocktails while enjoying the live jazz group performing live. Like our friend expressed: he felt he was sitting in First Class on the Titanic! If you want the evening to be special, romantic, delicious, fun, unbelievable: go to Five Palms Arizona!

As a culinary professional, I like to try everything new in town and find the good spots to recommend… So, naturally, when I found out about Five Palms, I was stoked. Fine dining in Tucson?!?!?! Really?! That’s fantastic…. or so I thought…

When you think “fine dining” you think “comfortable chairs, outstanding food, great atmosphere, top notch service..” None of those things will be had at Five Palms. The owner, Nino, is rude and arrogant, with no business sense and a severe lack of professionalism. The food was horrendous and even the physical menu was terrible. We couldn’t read it because the font was tiny (I’d say probably 6pt and cursive). Guess what the solution was? They offered us reading glasses. Seriously. There were salt shakers and pepper shakers on the table (at fine dining… really?! No fresh ground? No sea salt? And if it’s fine dining, why do I need these things? The food should be superb without me touching it), a tacky dollar store type fake candle/lamp thing (it was black and gold, and had an LED with a plastic piece over it that was shaped like the flame from a candle). My date ordered a medium steak and it came out bloody and cold to the touch on the inside. I am a vegetarian and they do not have any vegetarian options on the menu. When we complained about the steak and asked for a do over, the server said it was the lighting and the steak was fine. (SERIOUSLY?!) And the server wasn’t excellent at all..he was annoying as could be and sat at the table for a solid 20 minutes making small talk and wouldn’t go away. And then to top it off… both my date and I got food poisoning. When he called and spoke to Nino (the owner) personally, Nino had no apologies. This place was atrocious and I DO NOT recommend you go. The entire evening was a disaster and we ended up leaving hungry and agitated. And guess what? This was at the soft opening when the owner should have welcomed criticism… Nino is a moron when it comes to business. He needs to pack up and go back to Mexico!

A $40 steak can be better spent just about anywhere in Tucson. The staff was clearly untrained in the ART of fine dining, the food is vastly over priced for the quality, the bar was very subpar and took forever to get my drink, etc, etc, etc. It was a chaotic environment and made eating there more stressful than it was enjoyable. Sure, the food was decent tasting, but its nothing I couldnt get at Outback Steakhouse for $12. When you pay that much for a steak and drinks, there is a certain environmental expectation that goes with it and Five Palms ABSOLUTELY did not have it. AVOID.