Go inside Il Bracco, Scottsdale’s newest Italian restaurant
Il Bracco, a new Italian restaurant in Scottsdale, is set to open on March 30, 2026. There are two other locations in Dallas and Houston.
Italian restaurant Il Bracco is opening its first Arizona location in Scottsdale on March 30.The brand, which has two locations in Texas, focuses on classic Italian and Italian American cuisine.Founders aim for a timeless, neighborhood feel rather than a trendy or special occasion restaurant.The menu will feature house-made pastas, steaks, and salads, incorporating local ingredients like Cartel Coffee.
What was once an empty dirt lot at the corner of Scottsdale Road and Rose Lane is now a beautiful Italian restaurant. Once open, the smells of good food and the sound of conversation will welcome guests toward the patio. Inside the door, an open concept kitchen allows guests to watch staff pull espresso shots and cut pasta by hand as the host welcomes you into Il Bracco.
Il Bracco currently has two locations in Texas, one in Dallas and another in Houston. The Scottsdale location will be the brand’s first in Arizona. The Scottsdale restaurant will open to the public on March 30, after over four years in development.
“We were very impressed with the dining culture, the natural beauty of the area, the hospitality we were seeing and the talent of the labor market (in Scottsdale),” said Robert Quick, Il Bracco’s founder, CEO and Chief Culinary Officer.
One thing you won’t hear from the open kitchen is “Yes, chef!” Quick hates the word chef because he believes it creates a meaningless hierarchy within the restaurant. He encourages all staff to refer to each other by their first names so that everyone is seen as equal humans. “We don’t want to be chef to them, and they’re not chef to us.”
Just don’t call it a chain
The Il Bracco team also hates the word chain. Chief Operating Officer Matt Gottlieb joked that it was basically a curse word. Rather, his vision for Il Bracco is “something special, not a commodity.” Even as the brand expands to new markets, he and Quick are committed to ensuring that there can be no more than one Il Bracco location per metro area.
“We try not to take Il Bracco and run it around and stick it wherever there’s an opening,” Quick said. “We really try to find grade A+ sites and develop them thoughtfully.”
Il Bracco is ‘your everyday neighborhood Italian restaurant’
Quick and Gottlieb place an extremely high importance on perceived value. To them, that means that every guest feels good about what they’re eating and what they’re spending.
“Our philosophy is providing the best possible product for what we think is a very reasonable price,” Quick said. “We try to provide a consistent product day in, day out. The one time that we are not consistent is when we learn how to do something even better.”
One thing that sets Il Bracco apart, Gottlieb said, is that while some newer restaurant developments focus on big concepts and “flashiness”, Il Bracco hopes to grab people’s attention instead through the quality of the service and the food.
Quick and Gottlieb said they “don’t want it to be obvious when the restaurant was built.” Rather than trying to incorporate things that are trendy, they want Il Bracco to feel classic and timeless.
And they don’t want to be seen as only a “special occasion” restaurant, but rather an “everyday neighborhood Italian restaurant” with plenty of returning visitors. Staff are encouraged to get on a first name basis with every guest, and they hope to turn every first-timer into a regular.
What’s on the menu at Il Bracco?
Il Bracco is an Italian restaurant in the general sense, but they don’t stick to just one region or flavor of Italy. The menu takes inspiration from a combination of traditional Italian cuisine and New York-style Italian American fare.
Guests who have been to Il Bracco’s Texas locations can expect many of the same and similar menu items, but made using locally sourced ingredients, such as Queen Creek Olive Oil and Cartel Coffee.
“This isn’t Il Bracco Texas, this is Il Bracco Scottsdale,” Gottlieb said.
Some standout menu items include bologneses with house made beef, pork and lamb ragu; “The Plaza” roasted chicken salad; a hefty serving of seared jumbo scallops; “single layer” lasagna; a cheeseburger with house ground chuck; steaks that Gottlieb said “rival any steakhouse”; and a tiramisu made using Cartel Coffee.
They also take a lot of pride in their wine list, which includes both domestic and high-end foreign wines at a lower price than almost any of their competitors, such as a 6-ounce glass of Gaja Promis for $25.
“Italian wine is this endless conversation, and it can be intimidating,” Quick said. But at Il Bracco, he hopes to be able to introduce people the beauty of classic Italian wine at a more accessible price and in a non-threatening environment.
How to visit Il Bracco Scottsdale
The first people to eat at Il Bracco Scottsdale were the families of Diamondbacks players and staff, when the restaurant hosted the team’s annual “Wives and Girlfriends Welcome Reception”. On March 30, the restaurant opens to the rest of the Valley to experience the restaurant for themselves.
The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Details: 6160 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. ilbraccorestaurant.com.
Reach the reporter at eddie.fontanez@azcentral.com. Follow @ERFontanez on Instagram.
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Dining and Cooking