Vagabondo

The restaurant is beautifully decorated. Service and ambience were top notch. This is definitely a popular restaurant as waits for tables (without reservations) were over an hour and a half. We ordered the pizza margherita, pasta alla norma and pappardelle pancetta carbonara. The pizza was delicious but the crust was thicker than the typical Neapolitan-style pizzas, almost closer to a Roman-style crust. The pasta alla norma was way over-salted and it was difficult to taste the actual flavors of the dish. The carbonara was delicious— highly recommended. For dessert we ordered the table side tiramisu. I’ve never had the opportunity to experience having it presented table side but since we were seated downstairs, we were told that the cart wasn’t able to come to us and we were presented with a blob of tiramisu on a dish. Honestly, we would have ordered a different dessert since the presentation was the main reason for getting the tiramisu. This new restaurant was worth trying once but I don’t think I’ll return.

The food was amazing. The flavor of every dish was savory and perfectly seasoned. Must do alert. Order the Calamari and mussels! It was a flavor bomb. I would recommend and can’t wait to try the pizza again. If you have enough room for dessert, go for the chocolate cake. Service A plus. Everyone is happy and wanting to make your experience feel good!

My salad was good, but the big chunks of onion were a little much. The chicken was served in a cast iron skillet. Very hot! The flavors all sort of ran together. It was good, not great. Same for the chocolate mousse cake. The mousse layers were very solid. Not easy to eat. Loved the chocolate sauce.

A refreshing venue and menu for the downtown Excelsior, MN community. Fun French influenced patio tables and chairs outside and an eclectic decor vibe inside. We were unaware that there is lower level dining. It’s still first class. A large, well-lit screen provides rotating images; each one of interest and adds a nice decorative factor. It adds light familiar to a large window. Our server was excellent; very knowledgeable, polite, and passionate about the chef’s entrees. Great food! Every dish that our party of four tried was exceptional.

First and foremost, the pizza is potentially the best I've ever had. The toppings are quality and the crust, from a 100+ year old sourdough... Forget about it! The video I'm posting is of the crust pull, not the cheese pull (check it out); remarkable! Next on to the reasons for 4 stars and not 5.. first, for a fine dining establishment, I would expect full service... Meaning water being repoured for us, napkins being folded when we step away to the restroom, a follow-up on the glass of wine I ordered when I didn't know anything about it... It's the little touches that go a long way when the words fine dining are used. A bottle of water was placed on the table that we had to pour ourselves and while I'm not above pouring my own water, this is typically something expected at fine dining. The server explained the wine I asked about was her favorite, so it would have been a nice talking point to ask how I liked it... She completely forgot to ring in the second drink I ordered and only didn't when I reminded her. We were seated in the lower level and the whole time it felt like we had the JV squad down there, we didn't feel we were attended to as one might expect from most restaurants, fine dining or otherwise. The ambiance was nice, lower level is loud, and then they turned on loud music on top of the chatter; made it hard to converse. Beautiful decor from tables to lighting fixtures, to chairs to booths/couches. Aside from the amazing pizza, we ordered 2 pasta dishes that were wonderful.. the pappardelle pancetta carbonara was very rich, borderline too salty, but it was flavorful and good, no way could I have eaten a full portion as my meal. The sauce looked to be perhaps creamy, not sure entirely, just not the light sauce that carbonara typically comes looking like. The busiate al pesto trapanese was a great dish as well, this pesto is creamy and was explained as such. A very different dish from the carbonara and my companion mentioned it would be lovely if it had some spice/heat to it to really round it out. While I understand these dishes are likely full of family history, I don't want to assume that I know Sicilian recipes better than the next guy, these are just my opinions.

Ate here with friends and found the food to be disappointing. We chose this spot looking forward to trying the pizza but sadly do not recommend the pizza or anything else we tried from the menu. I have never tried a pizza I didn't like, including many Neapolitan varieties, but after this visit my leftover box of Spicy Sicilian Sausage pizza went straight in the trash. The pizza has a thick end crust but is very thin under the toppings. The taste of the crust itself tastes just like Digiorno rising-crust frozen pizza. I don't doubt it's fresh here but the taste similarity is uncanny - I truly wish I was kidding but I'm not! The sauce was watery and over-applied, completely soaking the crust, while the cheese was so sparse it was barely noticeable. As for “spicy,” the pizza had little to no kick and was quite bland overall. We also tried the Rigatoni Bolognese and the Arugula Salad. The pasta was just okay; the sauce was greasy and separated, with oil pooling around the edges of the dish. The salad was another big letdown: it arrived pre-tossed in a heavy, mayo-like dressing that tasted closer to thousand island than Italian. The menu gave no indication of this, and we never would have expected such a dressing on arugula—something light like balsamic or a simple oil-based vinaigrette would’ve made far more sense. Cocktails were fine but unremarkable, and at $16–$17 apiece, not compelling enough to return for. We really wanted to like this place, but between the disappointing food and the high prices, there are simply too many better options in Excelsior and nearby Wayzata.

I felt like I was on the Amalfi coast walking in with the lemon trees and decor. The pizza was some of the best of my life… turns out it’s a 150-year -old sourdough starter from Italy (!!) Telling all of my family and friends about this place. Will be back!

New gem in Excelsior! My experience here was wonderful. The Calamari was the best calamari I’ve had; it is lightly breaded and pan seared. The Panzanella Salad was light and refreshing. The small pieces of Ciabatta toast were a good addition. The Carbonara was great! It was flavorful, perfectly cooked, and my favorite dish of the night. The Sausage Pizza was awesome! The crust was light, fluffy, and crisp. The best bite of the night were the Datterini Tomatoes. These pops of joy from Italy were outstanding! I will definitely visit in the future!