Tesoro

Tesoro served some of the best pasta we've had anywhere. This is one of the best Italian restaurants we've been to not only in the Triangle, but in North Carolina. Needless to say, I highly recommend this place. It's bucket-list-worthy. That's all you need to know. If you want details, keep reading.This place is popular. You should book reservations well in advance, especially on weekends. Book here: https://tesorocarrboro.com/reservations/This is a small, intimate restaurant. You'll be sitting close to your neighbors. There's seating for about 20 inside, including six at the bar. Sitting at the bar is an experience because you get to watch and interact with chef-owner David Peretin. He cooks and finishes his housemade pastas in the front open kitchen. There are also a few two-tops outside on the sidewalk patio.As reported online, David worked his way up from dishwasher at The Fearrington House in Pittsboro. He was also sous chef at Pizzeria Mercato in Carrboro. For my wife and me, those are two of our favorite restaurants in the Triangle. Therefore, it was no surprise we found Tesoro to be outstanding as well.Tesoro means treasure in Italian (and Spanish). The restaurant opened on August 17, 2021: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSrfLwWHOfm/?hl=en It replaced Market Street Coffeehouse, which had closed by June 2020 due to the pandemic. David acquired the space in October 2020. He completely gutted and redesigned the interior: https://chapelhillmagazine.com/tesoro-slated-to-open-in-carrboro-this-spring/The atmosphere is hip and homey; this is Carrboro, after all. If you're looking for a bigger and more traditional Italian restaurant experience, this isn't it. My wife and I loved this place, from the warm and friendly vibe we got from David and his staff to the incredible food.We got lucky and found a free parking spot on E Weaver St, by the Spotted Dog Restaurant & Bar, next door to Tesoro. Do *not* park across the street at Weaver Street Market and Carr Mill Mall. Carr Mill Mall is notorious for towing. Tesoro has a helpful free parking map here: https://tesorocarrboro.com/parking/In addition to pasta, Tesoro serves "seasonal plates and classic sweets with Italian, French and Croatian influences." The restaurant is open Tuesday-Saturday for dinner only.During our visit, the food menu was straightforward with seven "plates" (appetizers, sides) priced at $6-16 each, seven pastas at $17-25 each, and seven sweets (desserts) at $5-15 each. The drink menu had about 40 wines, including 10 available by the glass. The wines were mostly Italian and French. There was also a small selection of beer with craft selections from Steel String Brewery in Carrboro and DSSOLVR in Asheville.Here's what we got:Drinks* Sanpellegrino Melograno & Arancia (pomegranate and orange) sparkling drink ($4) * Domaine Migot, Cotes de Toul "Vin Gris" 2022, France ($15)Plates* Arancini - risotto, salsa Calabrese ($16)* Local Lettuces - olive oil vinaigrette, shallot, Grana Padano ($13)* Special Bluefish Rillettes ($18)Pasta* Lumache with pork sausage, green garlic, Grana Padano ($25)* Linguine with garlic, anchovy, lemon, breadcrumbs ($17)* Ricotta Gnudi with spinach, brown butter, Parmigiano Reggiano ($17)Sweets* Ricotta Cake with Citrus ($15)* Caramel Bread Pudding ($15)Everything was phenomenal and presented beautifully. While the pastas stood out, we were impressed and happy with every dish. All of the dishes were quality. The Arancini were well made and hit the spot. One order came with two large balls. The accompanying salsa Calabrese was mildly spicy. The Local Lettuces salad was fresh and tasty. The leaves were crisp and satisfying, the Grana Padano was finely shaven, and the shallots were pickled. The Bluefish Rillettes were delicious. They came with grilled bread (sourdough, I think), Dijon mustard, and pickled onion. My mouth waters just thinking back to the rillettes, which was an off-menu special at the time.The pastas were fresh and absolutely fantastic. To me, the best thing about them was the texture. My wife thought all of the pastas were perfectly cooked. We loved everything about them, from their wonderful flavor to their uniqueness. For example, I don't think Lumache and Gnudi are common on restaurant menus in the US. Searching back through my thousands of Yelp reviews, I only found where we ate Lumache one other time and where I ate Gnudi two other times. Lumache are also known as shellbows. The pasta is shaped like snail shells, not exactly like the Kraft mini-shells or similar-type pasta you often see in mac and cheese. Gnudi is like gnocchi. They're both Italian dumplings, but Gnudi is bigger, softer, and made with ricotta cheese.Dessert-wise, we both preferred the Caramel Bread Pudding to the Ricotta Cake, but both were great. I suggest saving room for the Bread Pudding. You have to try it. Our slice had amazing consistency and taste.Olivia was our server and she was awesome.

I was so looking forward to coming to this Italian restaurant in Chapel Hill. The reviews online looked fabulous, I love a limited menu because it means they are really perfecting their craft, but I was let down to say the least. We started with the Focaccia which was great I just think it would have been 100x better if it was with whipped ricotta instead of butter. We also split the local lettuces (not pictured) which was good, nothing special. For entrees by boyfriend got the spaghetti which he enjoyed and I got the Ricotta Gnudi and I was so disappointed. I ate one and didn't eat the rest - the sauce was inedible. I'm Italian and cook my own sauces at home a lot and this chef did not know how to make a brown butter sauce it was practically lemon juice, water, and oil saturated on the pasta. It was not good. I would never recommend this dish. I was so let down. And the pasta took dishes took a long time to come out too. The staff were fine - they weren't the friendliest but surely didn't care about asking why the dishes weren't eaten. Another let down was they only serve beer and wine, so no cocktails if you're looking to have one. Restaurant needs some improvements in order for me to ever return.

This little Italian eatery is doing a lot of things right! Located in a very busy area of Carrboro across from Weaver Street Market, Tesoro offers up pastas made in-house in classic Italian styles along with a handful of appetizers (primi). And I can tell you that the focaccia here (served with olive oil and salted butter) may have been the best I've ever had.What makes Tesoro super interesting is its size, the space sits only 18 to 20 people so you'll likely need a reservation. And given the size, you're better off with a smaller group. Or just sit at the bar where there should be more availability. But overall I love what they are doing here. An old-school eatery with a small curated menu featuring top-quality ingredients and preparation. Make the effort to visit this busy restaurant!

I'd been waiting to try Tesoro out for months. They usually have reservations available, but there was a mixup on our end and we were able to sit outside as walkins on a Thursday which was nice. The outdoor tables are standard issue and nothing to write home about, but the street is relatively quiet. Despite there being a 12-top inside, our server was incredibly attentive and helpful for the entirety of our visit. She checked in at all the right times, and several other servers and hosts checked in with us. Service was 5/5. We ordered focaccia and olives to start with a green garlic/sausage rigatoni special and the linguine. Everything was 5/5 stars - the linguine wasn't anything to write home about, but there was a mixup with our ordering so an ingredient was missing. It was still 4/5 stars without that ingredient. The rigatoni special was incredible - my mom wasn't able to stop eating it even though she was so full. The focaccia is fried in olive oil before serving... enough said, but it was probably the best I've had since it wasn't served cold. We'll be back!

Tesoro is one of the few restaurants in the Triangle that my family and I really enjoyed! It did take us a month in advance to make a reservation, as there is limited seating inside the smaller location. The setting is classy and the table and wall decorations are a nice touch.Waiting time after ordering does take longer but it is absolutely worth the wait! The Focaccia with the whipped butter was delectable and the pasta was the thing of dreams (our favorite was the Linguine with lemon). We had an amazing time chatting and eating and the server was kind enough to explain all of the different choices and recommend wines that paired well with the dishes. One thing my family agreed to was that we wished there were more variety in the deserts and add a tiramisu or a chocolate cake option that would have completed our meal very nicely.

We finally had a chance to try Tesoro the other day, and it really lived up to its reputation, The food was excellent and service was good. I generally agree with most of the positive reviews, but a few tweaks are still needed (in my opinion).As others have noted, this is a small restaurant, and you do need reservations. I counted seating for 16 inside, and another 2 small tables on the sidewalk. Also a bit noisy, but not objectionable.We tried the arancini and focaccia as starters. The focaccia was near perfect - light crust on the outside and soft on the inside. The arancini was very good, and the sauce was excellent, but I do think smaller balls would make it even better.For mains we tried the ricotta gnudi and the tonarelli with pancetta. The gnudi is not something I have ever seen locally, and it was excellent - great flavor and texture. The tonarelli was also very good - perfectly al dente with an excellent sauce. My only complaint with the mains are that they are on the small side (the gnudi was 3 dumplings; 4 would have been perfect).As for service, the staff was attentive and helpful. One minor comment - you will have to ask for a spoon for past dishes (if you twirl).Highly recommended, and looking forward to going back soon.

The food was reasonably good but the pasta sauces repeated themselves and there was no hint of anchovies on the one dish that was supposed to feature them. The acoustics were prohibitive

where the free bread at?we love italian food so came to check this place out. surprised to find out that there is no complimentary bread to open the meal. we ordered the focaccia which was excellent - crispy on the outside, almost croissant like, and rich and soft on the inside - but extremely heavy. But I still missed the plain crusty bread that we usually get at other Italian restaurants. We also went for the Arancini which was honestly the best part of the meal. crispy hot and filled with this spicy marinara sauce. for the mains we went for the malfalde and linguine. pasta itself was excellent but the sauce was lacking - not particularly special or flavorful. the most surprising part of the pasta menu was the lack of seafood. overall, decent fare but a deviation from the italian experience we know and love.

What a treat! What are the chances you could find a reservation for Valentine's Day two days ahead? But when my husband called and asked, the really nice guy taking the call said, "if you get here right at 5:00, we have two spots at the bar for walk-ins". So glad we did! This tiny tesoro (Italian for 'treasure') offers an intimate atmosphere, amazing house-made pastas and focaccia, great wines and friendly staff. No wonder it's always full; David the owner knows the value of doing something with excellence and keeping it manageable for his staff and family. Bravo!

Absolutely delicious from apps to entrees. Wish they had amari cocktails but worth it nonetheless.