It began as a Blimpie sandwich shop tucked inside a Chevron gas station — and today it’s the most beloved Italian restaurant in Pocatello, a 2025 Idaho’s Best Award Winner, and a place where customers have compared the food to their own grandmother’s cooking.
Cafe Tuscano is the kind of only-in-Idaho origin story that makes you love local restaurants even more — a scratch-made Italian kitchen on East Center Street where Chef Jason Spence has spent over a decade quietly crafting the kind of hearty, soul-warming Italian cuisine that makes every visitor forget they’re technically still on the site of a former gas station. 🍝
How Cafe Tuscano Won Pocatello’s Hearts
When Cafe Tuscano first opened its doors around 2011 inside a converted Chevron station on East Center Street, the concept sounded like a punchline — fine Italian dining at a gas station?
Chef Jason Spence didn’t arrive at Tuscano through a straight path — he started as a dishwasher, worked his way through numerous local kitchens across southeast Idaho, and eventually earned his formal credentials through the Idaho State University Culinary Arts program.
His goal at Tuscano was precise and unwavering: serve authentic Italian food so good that the gas station address becomes part of the charm rather than a deterrent.
For almost a decade, Cafe Tuscano operated without a single dollar spent on advertising — relying entirely on word of mouth, the quality of the food, and a dining room that surprised every first-time visitor with its warm, art-lined interior.
As the reputation grew, so did the restaurant itself — the gas pumps were removed, the canopy came down, and Cafe Tuscano doubled its footprint to meet the demand of a community that had fully claimed it as their own.
The kitchen’s hallmark became its rotating, inspired menu — a combination of Italian classics executed with genuine craft and creative specialty dishes that kept even the most devoted regulars discovering something new.
Cafe Tuscano earned its 2025 Idaho’s Best Award the same way it earned everything else — through food so genuinely exceptional that people couldn’t stop talking about it, and a chef who refused to let the address define the ceiling of what was possible.
For anyone searching for the best Italian restaurant in Pocatello, ID, this is the answer that locals have been giving for over a decade.
Food Highlights 🍝
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Prime Rib: Slow-roasted prime rib cooked to order, topped with sherried mushrooms, roasted red potatoes, and sautéed vegetables, served with creamy horseradish and au jus. 🥩
- Pasta Carbonara: A classically executed Carbonara — properly balanced, creamy, and made entirely from scratch. 🍝
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Shrimp Alla Vodka: Sautéed shrimp tossed in the house’s signature creamy, spicy vodka sauce with linguine, served with garlic bread. 🍤
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Salsiccia: Diced bacon, Italian sausage, garlic, and basil in a creamy Alfredo sauce tossed with fettuccine and Parmesan. 🥓
- Halibut Tuscano: A fine-dining showstopper — pan-seared halibut stuffed with crab and Brie, wrapped in prosciutto, and finished with a tarragon lemon butter, served over creamy risotto and sautéed vegetables. 🐟
- Prime Rib Pizza: Tender prime rib, caramelized onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms over a creamy Alfredo sauce with a five-cheese blend. 🍕
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Blackberry and Brie Flatbread: Garlic-roasted flatbread topped with caramelized onions, fresh blackberries, creamed Brie, and fresh rosemary 🫐
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Mussels Saffron: A full pound of mussels steeped in a zesty saffron and red wine broth, topped with fresh basil and parsley, and served with house-made crostini. 🦪
Atmosphere
Cafe Tuscano’s interior is a genuine and delightful contradiction — step through the door of what was once a Chevron station, and you’re met with Italian landscape murals painted directly onto the walls, rich wood accents, and candlelit tables that feel far closer to a Tuscan trattoria. 🎨
The overall vibe is warm, unhurried, and quietly romantic — casual enough for a weeknight dinner, special enough for a milestone anniversary, and paired beautifully with an extensive wine list served by the bottle and glass. 🍷
First-time visitors consistently note that the interior surprises them most — and that by the time their entrée arrives, the former gas station has been completely, irreversibly forgotten. ❤️
Bottom Line
Reasons Cafe Tuscano belongs on every Pocatello food lover’s must-visit list: a scratch-made Italian menu that earned a 2025 Idaho’s Best Award; Chef Jason Spence’s formal culinary training poured into every dish from Carbonara to Halibut Tuscano; a rotating menu that keeps even the most loyal regulars discovering something new; and a prime rib so legendary that regulars demand it for their birthdays every single year. 🍝🏆
Address:
2231 E Center St, Pocatello, ID 83201
📞 (208) 232-3139
🕔 Open Mon–Wed, 11 AM–10 PM | Thu–Sat, 11 AM–11 PM | Sun, 11 AM–9 PM