La Cantinaccia del Popolo — Restaurant in Sorrento

Held off on posting because I knew we'd come back. We came here 2x during our short stay in Sorrento. HIGHLY RECOMMEND to not bother with other restaurants and just come here for your main meals. The line got massive our first night but we lined up 15-30mins before they open to get seated fastest. We had no issues getting a table 😀

The food selection is VAST and they are all delicious-- I suggest just order what you like, they will try their best to accomodate you in every way -- Mary is very involved and really tries to answer all our questions. There were only 2 of us and we wanted to try so much food. The first time we came we ordered maybe 5 dishes which was our error, not only was the food immaculate the PORTIONS WERE LARGE HAHAHAHHAHA. Safe to say we did not finish everything details per dish below--

DAY 1 OUR ORDERS AND OUR DOWNFALL

IF YOU LOVE MOZARELLA STICKS ORDER THE ZUCCHINI FLOWERS THEY ARE STUFFED WITH CHEESE AND I'LL BE DAYDREAMING OF THEM TIL MY DYING DAY-- It doesn't come with sauce but you won't look for it. NOTE THERE ARE 4 BUT THEY ARE BIG FAT AND STUFFED.

We ordered ravioli seafood you will love this 🥲 Seafood filling with seafood cooked in broth-- who thinks of that?!?!?!? They do.

We ordered gnocchi with red sauce-- it was also good but very heavy dish given everything we've stuffed ourselves with thus far because well gnocchi is a potato and pasta baby🥲

We ordered the fried mixed seafood-- the portion sizes were massive and I probably needed to crawl outta the restaurant at this point-- weird that every single seafood in that pan was perfectly cooked, crispy and seasoned despite the variety. Except the squid and shrimp it was crispy, and then soft and also seasoned.

We also had their grilled/butter basted fish -- it was buttery and cooked to perfection, perfectly seasoned, no fishy taste it was practically butter in fish form.

We had the audacity to order dessert after not finishing our meals because dessert apparently gets its own stomach--ESPECIALLY IN THE FACE OF A pistachio lava cake.. WHO THINKS OF PISTACHIO LAVA CAKE?? THEY DO.. IT WAS PERFECT 😭

DAY 2 US AND RESTAURANT LEARNING THE LESSONS

Pretty sure they remembered us as the girls who ordered too much because our lovely server Mary, an angel-- was telling us to pace ourselves as we can order more if we're still hungry 😂

Ask them for their veggie favorites they were all good -- we had mushroom, broccolli part that looks like spinach, fennel-- they asked if we want to try the half orders (we did). Delicious, fresh

We sat beside the food because why not-- They had a mountain of meatballs so we asked if we can order 4 without the pasta (in the spirit of pacing ourselves but eating a lot) and they indulged us-- meatballs delicious! We ate all of it

They had ham hanging all over the restaurant so we got ham and melon.. delicious. I'm waiting for something to not be good, so far nada 🥲

My friend ordered a potato salad with beans-- I hate beans and potato salad but I guess I don't hate theirs because I kept eating that

Our only main this round was their daily special, pulpo spaghetti, we thought weird but we love pulpo.. When I tell you this pulpo spaghetti was the best red sauce we ate you better believe it. I CAN PUT THAT PULPO MARINARA IN A CAN-- Nothing in that sauce indicated there was seafood in there but when eaten with pulpo-- what a marriage

They were so entertained by all our oohs and ahhs they gave us a carbonara in quiche form-- our stomachs were STUFFED AT THIS POINT BUT WHEN A BEAUTIFUL ITALIAN MAMA THAT HAS SERVED US THE BEST FOOD GIVES YOU FOOD AS A DELICIOUS GIFT YOU GROW ANOTHER STOMACH AND EAT.

Suffice to say we loved them...

This is a 6/5 star place. As everyone has said, the wait is long and no reservations are taken. I was hesitant that the wait would be worth it, it is. You can try to come early or just get in the mindset that you will be waiting 1.5-2 hours. There is a bar across the street you can grab drinks to go from. Others have said wine and cheese were handed out in line. We did not experience this but when we got to the front of the line, we saw you could ask the door man for a glass of wine and grab cheese from the plate. So send an ambassador to the front to grab these things! I highly suggest you talk to the people around you in line. Not only does it make the night go faster but it really lends more to the experience that is this restaurant. We met some lovely ladies in line and interacted with them all night long!

Now, on to the restaurant itself! Because the wait is so long if you can break up into couples that is sometimes better. But there are seats for 6-8 people as well. The service is actually really wonderful. Our server was super friendly and accommodating and all the wait staff work as a team and are very friendly. We ordered the zucchini flowers and fried calamari for appetizer. The squash flowers were good, not the best I’ve had, but I order them whenever I see them so you can’t be the best at everything! However, I highly recommend the calamari which was fresh and not chewy.

For main course I ordered the burrata and cherry tomato ravioli which resemble something like large tortellini. Mamma Mia I will remember them for the rest of my life. I closed my eyes to further enjoy the delight of tastes! My dining partner ordered the Scialatielli a specialty only found in this region that he had been trying to find all trip. Absolutely it is a fantastic option. My last dining partner ordered a somewhat customized meal of smashed meatballs and red sauce so it’s off menu. I would suggest sticking with something on the menu.

For dessert, I ordered the house dessert which was a strawberry and cream pie. WOW! I also closed my eyes to enjoy the taste of it. I think it’s seasonal but I will say I doubt you can go wrong with any dessert on their menu. We saw many people order the tiramisu. For wine we ordered one liter of the house white. It was good but there are also many good wines on their list at a very reasonable price. For the last thing we got a shot of meloncello which was excellent and looks like it’s made in house.

We saw many people licking their plates clean and we also celebrated a birthday which was special and further made the night amazing. The people just as much as the food are what make this a must try while in Sorrento. For me, the wait was...

Believe the hype and MAKE SURE you go here. This was the BEST restaurant/pasta experience we’ve had NOT just in Italy, not just in Europe, but honestly, our lives. Authentically Italian, everything made right there in house (from the perfectly tender pasta, to the soft mozzarella, to the tasteful prosciutto). We can’t believe how reasonably priced this place is for the high quality of the food and service. My Italian husband and I were in Italy for our honeymoon and we wanted to have amazing pasta, and the reviews of this restaurant seemed too good to be true so we had to check it out ourselves. We get there, and there’s a 45 minute line (the owner is offering wine and cheese to the line because why not) so we decide to come back earlier the next day and we’re so grateful we did. We arrived 15 minutes before opening and the place was almost full. Mery, the most caring waitress, suggested we try the Caperse salad and oh my gosh we knew we were in for a treat. the Caprese salad came with freshly made mozzarella and the most ripe tomatoes. For our main, we had Gnocci alla Sorrentina and the Eggplant Penne, and my husband and I were IN SHOCK at how perfect the dishes were. The gnocchi melted the moment you put it in your mouth. For dessert, we had the Lemon Delight and it was light and fluffy and refreshing (you can tell they made it with the lemons grown right there in Sorrento). The waitress offered us limoncello on the house to too off a flawless meal. The service was impeccable and the staff were so humble despite knowing they are probably the best place to eat in Sorrento. Mery NEVER rushed our meal and made us feel like the only ones in the entire restaurant as if there was not a huge line outside the restaurant door. Thank you so much for the greatest dining experience of our lives, we’ll be dreaming of this restaurant until...