Chantecler's Trattoria — Restaurant in Sorrento

Having been made to queue for almost 30 minutes along with others who were all rather disgruntled, and who had waited longer. To then be served highly disappointing food was to be honest abysmal.

The owner is in the hospitality business for one thing only and it’s not service or good quality produce. The starters was acceptable but melon and Parma ham are not difficult. We ate far better at other restaurants. The chicken Milanese was cheap thin tasteless chicken with even cheaper breadcrumbs, served with undercooked french fries and a yellow ( it should have been a simple Green Salad). I make chicken Milanese at home weekly and it is by far better than what was served up to me.

The food was inedible and at gone 23.45 We were beyond trying to resolve this and simply wanted to leave. When the table was cleared, not one person asked why we hadn’t eaten our meal. A good restaurant would question this and look to remedy it. We were simply another paying customer. The wine tasted like cheap homemade plonk made by uncle frank. Having run my own organic and biodynamic wine business trust me I know good wine. As for the service, it was painfully slow and chaotic. Having to wait to be seated. Then having to wait and grab the waiters attention to be offered a drink, which is the first rule of service and especially after making your customers wait over 30 minutes to be seated. Then having to repeatedly chase waiters for service!

Firstly, it is nothing like a traditional trattoria, par the table cloths. There’s two televisions for blasting dance music, out dated reviews from over 10 years ago by the American foodie Steve's Stein! The worst meal in Sorrento over a 5 day period and in the top three of all poor dining experiences across Italy in 20 years. The queuing tactic is to maximise takings, instead of turning diners away and focusing on service and quality. Having dined at Da Francesco’s and Inn Bufalito which were both excellent and with no theatrical queues.

DO NOT BE lured in by the queuing tactics.

Or the over the top reviews.

Look at the pictures and the nationality. This is focused in to bring in the American diner. America is not known for its cuisine. Anyone who has reviewed positively simply does not know good food. This was booked by my 22 year old son, who was taken in by the outdated food writer reviews (2014) and google reviews. He’s learnt many dining lessons this evening from booking this place. No queuing, No TV and No poor food.

The bill was over £90 for two starters, two mains and two glasses of cheap house red. You feel ripped off! The boss who was busy accounting his earnings whilst we asked 3 times for our bill. I accept he has business to do but sit out of view of diners who wish to go home. There was an over polite Japanese elderly couple in the corner who were served their main meal past 22.45. They were seated at least half an hour before us!

I review candidly and carefully. My review is highly informative to help others who want to eat well whilst dinning out in Sorrento. And are not swayed by perhaps inexperienced diners of what should be a traditional trattoria. We felt totally disappointed in this restaurant. And to say that’s the price of a meal for two without even a bottle of wine, dessert or coffee. Pretty much sums up my review! In for the money not the...

Update: I miss eating here so much. I wrote this review two years ago (June 2023). As I stated in my previous review, this restaurant was my favorite place when I was in Sorrento completing a study abroad program at San’t Anna Institute Sorrento. I’m not sure if it’s still the same but I enjoyed the peace I experienced while eating here. I used to go EVERYDAY for lunch and dinner during my three week stay and I would take my classmates with me sometimes. I hope I can return to Italy one day with my family just to bring them here.

Me encanta este lugar! Una comida muy rica ❤️

The best restaurant in Sorrento!. The food is delicious, great customer service and very affordable. I was in sorrento for three weeks, studying abroad at Sant’Anna Institute. I am from the Dominican Republic but I live in New York, so I felt really home sick during my stay in Sorrento. This restaurant was the only place were I felt close to home, it is hidden behind the main tourist street “Corso Italia”. I went daily to have lunch or dinner and the servers and owner always greeted me with a smile. Please do yourself a favor and eat here!, when possible, avoid the big restaurants on the Main Street because most of them are tourist trap, serving expensive low quality food. I just want to say Thank you so much to everyone at Chantecler’s Trattoria, spero di...

I don’t know how people leave 4-5 star reviews for this place. First of all the atmosphere of the restaurant was very boring and not “up scale” like it says on google. They played the weirdest, high pitched, most annoying music ever and we had to listen to that while we waited for a hour to get our food when they weren’t even that busy. Our food took for ever and a group was served before us even though they came in long after us. By the time we got our food we were disappointed in what it looked like because it just looked sad. Mediocre looking and tasting. Our chicken cutlets came with potato chips? Bland potato chips. We also ordered a pasta that was awful as well, the sauce tasted cheap and canned. It felt like an eternity in that place. People need to praising these bad restaurants and saying that these places are ”amazing” when they aren’t just because they’re visiting Italy and they think it’s all going to be good here and it’s good because they paid for it in Euros and not USD. I’m very mad at the waste of 1/2 nights here in Sorrento...