The first European explorers set sail with hopes of finding new, exotic spices to placate the palates of epicurious monarchs, but all they found were heaps of boring, inedible gold. Pick up where they left off by broadening your mouth's horizons with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of sips and savories at Caffe Boa. This Groupon is good at the location on Mill Ave. in Tempe or at its sister restaurant Caffe Boa Bistro in Mesa. Additionally, this Groupon is worth $50 if redeemed at lunch, brunch, or dinner from Sunday through Tuesday.
European travels inspired owner and certified wine specialist Jay Wisniewski’s theme for Caffe Boa and Caffe Boa Bistro. The seasonal menus of Caffe Boa and Caffe Boa Bistro are a delicious blend of Mediterranean and Italian regional preparations made with as many local, organic ingredients as possible. Wisniewski is joined at Caffe Boa by renowned chef Payton Curry, formerly of Martini House, and Quince.
The menus and pricing vary by location, but the extensive menu at both establishments has plenty of mouth-thrillers, including seafood, salads, and pastas (handmade in-house at Caffe Boa). Start with pulled mozzarella ($12) or shaved fennel salad ($9). For an entree, scope out the voodoo penne, which combines roasted chicken with bell peppers, red onions, tomatoes, and penne rigate pasta in Cajun cream ($15–$16), or try the grass-fed strip steak with roasted asparagus, cipollini onions, crispy potatoes, and seasonal mushroom jus ($25–$27).
Pair plates with a fermented sip from Caffe Boa’s temperature-controlled, 2,500-bottle wine cellar. As one of only seven Phoenix-area establishments with a Wine Spectator's "Best Of" award, the restaurant offers more than 500 choices, with more than 50 varieties available by the bottle, half bottle, glass, and 3-ounce tajut. Or, opt for an original cocktail that features quality touches such as homegrown lavender, foams, and muddled organic fruit.
Reviews
Caffe Boa won the hearts of Phoenix New Times readers (Best Place for a First Date and Best Sangria) and critics (Best Place to Take a Wine Geek) in the 2009 Best Of awards. Eight Citysearchers give it an average of 4.5 stars, and OpenTablers give it an average of four stars. Caffe Boa Bistro also received an average of four stars on OpenTable:
- Lastly, the servers are all very professional without being "stuffy", let's say they just make you feel at home. A must visit! – caser515, Citysearch
- Just a pleasant atmosphere, efficient service and terrific food. The staff is very conscientious and the kitchen seems always to get the dishes 'right'. We have never been disappointed here. – Open Table diner, Caffe Boa, on 8/24/2010
- Including the service, handled by Chris our waiter, we could hardly find a reason not to love this place. We WILL be going back! - OpenTable user who dined at Caffe Boa Bistro on 9/10/2010
Groupon Says
Think Globally, Act Locally
At Caffe Boa, fresh, locally grown ingredients come together on a menu of delicious, yet responsible, fare. But looking out for your town, planet, and fellow diner doesn't have to stop at the stomach. How can you confront the problems facing humanity by making a difference in your own community?
Think Globally: The specter of climate change looms large and the future of our planet is uncertain.
Act Locally: Kick a dent into the passenger-side door of Mayor Deakins's Mazda Protege.
Think Globally: Approximately one-third of the human population is currently engaged in warfare.
Act Locally: Mayor Deakins works late, so he probably won't be home to walk that stupid Pomeranian of his until 2:00, maybe 2:30. Stay up late crouched by the window and as soon as he comes by, turn the sprinklers on. That ought to cool him off.
Think Globally: Predatory capitalism created a complex industrial system and an advanced technology; it permitted a considerable extension of democratic practice and fostered certain liberal values, but within limits that are now being pressed and must be overcome. It is not a fit system for the mid-twentieth century. It is incapable of meeting human needs that can be expressed only in collective terms, and its concept of competitive man who seeks only to maximize wealth and power, who subjects himself to market relationships, to exploitation and external authority, is antihuman and intolerable in the deepest sense. An autocratic state is no acceptable substitute; neither the militarized state capitalism evolving in the United States nor the bureaucratized, centralized welfare state be accepted as the goal of human existence. The only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. But such institutions, at certain stages of history, perpetuate and produce such a deficit, and even threaten human survival.
Act Locally: Beat up Mayor Deakins.
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