Grotto Trattoria — Restaurant in Thunder Bay

My mother and I had heard good things about this restaurant, so were eager to visit. Unfortunately, we were served plate after plate of disappointment.

We each ordered a different appetizer, main, and dessert, and since we shared I had the opportunity to try 6 dishes.

Nearly every dish missed the mark especially given the very steep prices.

The one dish which was "good enough" was my scallop appetizer, which I credit to it being coated in peppercorns. We found everything else to be rather bland. Namely, the tuna tartare, salmon, and beef short ribs.

The tuna tartare was too heavy on avocado which drowned out any flavor. The sauce used to garnish the plate was good but there wasn't enough of it to help.

The beef short ribs were well cooked - a beautifully tender piece of meat. But again rather bland, even with the gravy.

The salmon was served with a quinoa which proved to be the highlight (lowlight?) of the evenings disappointments, tasting like something you'd buy bagged at the grocery store.

Even the desserts were disappointing, with the creme brulee having the consistency of soggy undercooked pudding (although otherwise tasting fine), and the cheesecake being far too salty and lacking on... Well, flavor.

The saving grace for the evening was fantastic service by Leah who did her best to make amends for our specific complaints. Unfortunately the food fell short of expectations - frankly, I have had better meals on airplanes.

Fantastic service and atmosphere, would be a lovely little place if only the quality of food...

10/10 experience! Chef Jake without question made us a meal we will not forget.

I brought my parents in from out of town, the service from entering the building until the moment we left was exceptional. Even though it was very busy, they made the atmosphere feel calm and enjoyable.

The food was nothing short of divine! The lobster ravioli perfect! In my mother’s joking words “would it be rude to lick the plate”. We settled for a take out container for the sauce.

The mains were huge! We needed to pack our most of them as we were just to full. We had the lasagna, grottochini,and the lamb. The lamb balanced so well with the puree and grapes, cooked perfect with just a bit of pink. The other two were a wonderful twist on some classic Italian dishes that everyone should try.

Finally dessert the limoncello cake and the cannoli we a perfect way to end the night.

Thank you Grotto for a wonderful evening with my family I don’t see often. You made the night so...

I was in town for 1 night staying at a hotel with two young children and needed walking distance take out. I called to order take out from Seler, I heard a conversation in the background with 2 female employees that they only do take out for Bev. They came back to the phone and told me they don’t do take out. I called several other local restaurants within walking distance, they were either closed for a private event or had very long waits. I called back and spoke to a male employee, I told him about my experience and he said they could do take out for some dishes, I ordered. When picking up, the two female employees did not comment and did not apologize. The customer service was awful from the two female employees that seemed to be greeting and running the front of house. However, the food was excellent. Hopefully they find better front of house staff so their service matches the...