Arizona Culinary Institute, Scottsdale | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

This review is for lunch in the dining room and not the culinary school. Our party of four arrived on-time for our 11:30 reservation today, were immediately greeted, signed in, provided a brief introduction/explanation and taken to our table in the dining room. First impressions are powerful and our first impression was that we made a smart decision to dine here. It got better from there. The student-tended dining room is run (under close supervision by senior instructors) much like a 5-star restaurant. Orders are served all at once by a group of student-servers. Presentation is impressive. Menu selections are wide and diverse. taste, quality, portion sizing are all perfect. Non-alcoholic as well as wine and spirits are available and priced well below market. The luncheon cost (very reasonable) covers an appetizer plus entree. Complimentary “add-ons” are provided including a decadent dessert. The palate-cleansing frozen “lolipop” intermezzo between courses was an unexpected treat that one finds today in few high-end restaurants (pic attached). Our student wait staff is not there to be trained as wait staff, of course, but rather culinary professionals. But they are taught the business from the ground up and do a stint for a short time serving the clientele. I estimate that the dining room has 10 tables and that at our seating there were approximately 16-20 patrons, making the experience sort of intimate and semi-private. Three in our party had the Mahi entree and one had the pork tenderloin. We each had a different appetizer. We will return and bring new friends with us to share the experience. I’ve attached a boat load of pics.

My family and I went to the Arizona Culinary Institute for my birthday to enjoy lunch at the school’s fine dining restaurant, “du Jour,” a practice facility for the students in fine dining restaurant setting. The menu is changed daily, and lunch and dinner is available throughout the year, during their students’ semesters. We started our dining with an amuse-bouche a small bite to enhance the dining experience, followed by appetizer, choice of entree, and, of course, dessert. The food was wonderful. The service was attentive, my only complaint was that they brought dessert before we had completed dinner so we felt rushed our front waiter explained that they have to clear the dining room by 2:00 pm. Next time we will come a little earlier because we like to take our time dining but everything is great and we look forward to returning. Reservations are limited, so I recommend you try to book early to avoid being disappointed. Bon appetite!

Dining Room should just close. What a dreadful experience. Miss Monroe was arrogant and unnecessarily rude. She created a conflict and embarrassed all of the students over cold coffee. There must have been something wrong with the machine and instead of listening to us she chose to freak out and start shouting. Great way to teach the students how to deal with things when they don’t go the right way.

The students did a great job at lifting the mood joking with us after she walked away but you could see the look of horror on their faces. I even tried contacting the institute and voiced my displeasure and never received a response so they clearly don’t care about the ‘customers’.

I guess Miss Monroe was right.. it’s first and foremost a school. So they would be better off to close that dining room if she’s the one in charge.