Gustino Italian Grill — Restaurant in Cancún

Gustino is conveniently located in the JW Marriott Hotel and beautifully situated in the resort with views over the pool area, the grounds, and the ocean. Recognized with the 4 Diamonds Award, Gustino provides a great, intimate Italian/Mediterranean dining experience with live Jazz music. They offer a wide variety of pasta, pizza, wine and more. Dress code is formal and reservations are recommended since it can be busy at times. From the moment we arrived, we were warmly greeted by the hostess and she took us down a set of staircases showcased a wine cellar and tasting room, private dining room, and then opened to the main dining area. The setting is very romantic and classy. There was a centerpiece consisting of dozens of candles at the main landing of the restaurant. A musician played light jazz music with a soprano saxophone throughout the night. And tables are spaced far enough apart from each other so you can have an intimate, close conversation. The staff did a great job in setting a romantic ambiance.

Open the menu to find a nice selection of antipasti, soups, salads, pizza, risotto, fresh house-made pasta, seafood, beef, and pork. A long wine list accompanies, so ask the server for a recommendation based on what food you will be choosing to eat. We were first given a small set of salami and cheese to try, followed by an assortment of different bread rolls and olive oil. After going through the menu, there were too many items we wanted to try, so we first selected the Pizza Nera al Carbone (Black dough pizza, tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, green asparagus, pancetta, and roasted cherry tomatoes) and Insalata di Rucula, Proscuitto e Ficchi (Arugula salad, crunchy prosciutto di parma, black figs, fresh cherry tomatoes, strawberry-balsamic gel, and grapefruit vinaigrette). The salad was great – crisp arugula, crunchy prosciutto, and flavorful dressing. The pizza was equally as good – firm crust, rich cheese, and nicely portioned toppings. We were given a small palate cleanser (light sherbert) and then we proceeded to the entrees. For our main courses, we had Fettucine Carbonara al Tartufo (Traditional Roman style carbonara, pancetta, black truffle, and egg) and Garganelli al Ragu (Sweet Italian sausage, ground beef and pork ragout, ricotta cheese, and romanesco). The fettucine carbonara was fantastic – fresh pasta, rich sauce, and a runny egg. The ragout was equally as good – nice blend of meats, flavorful cheese, and nicely portioned. For dessert, we had a small scoop of gelati with a berry sauce. From the presentation to the quality and taste of the food, everything was excellent. I would recommend selecting a bunch of different items including the fresh, house-made pasta. We were offered a rose at the end of our meal. It made for a great date night meal and experience. I would not recommend bringing kids here. There is also an elevator for those needing...

Place is beautiful and elegant and all that. Service was pretty good but on the snooty side compared to the rest of the resort - which is ok I guess. Halfway through our visit, before our entrees we’re served, the hostess came and took away two of the chairs from our table of four. I didn’t particularly care for this considering the place positions itself as high end. I thought it was an assuming thing to do and is the kind of thing done at diners and places like that - not really a classy thing to do at a purported “4” star establishment. The food was pretty “meh”. We ordered one of the Bruchetta appetizers - really had little of any flavor and the bread was just cold soft bread and not crispy like I like it. Toppings were just kinda blah. Wife ordered short ribs entree and I ordered the fillet entree - both pricey compared to the rest of the menu. My steak was cooked well but fatty and lacking in flavor. Potato risotto was the same. Well cooked but very bland. Wife’s entree was as she described it....“meh”. Pretty small as well, which is fine with us since we do not like gorging ourselves. They brought out a “special” appetizer as well, an amuse bouche, which was pretty pitiful. Cold and leftover like. Nether of us were impressed with this “amuse bouche” at all. Overall I would say there are better options close by that are much better. I think the thing I most disliked was just the overall attitude of the place. Seemed like it thought it was this super high end place but really it was just another mediocre “all-inclusive” type restaurant. The marketing pics you see for the place are deceiving compared to the actual visit. The jazz clarinet version of Radiohead’s “ Creep” that was played I think describes the place...

Our experience at Jw Marriott can be summed up in one word - inconsistent.

On one hand there are staff who couldn't care less about your experience with the Marriot brand, and then there are stand out brand ambassadors like Eric at the reception and Carlos at gustino.

Our complimentary coffee experience at 750 pizzeria made us feel like we were imposing and that rules are rules and you can have this one thing that's all.

Then this is followed by an enthusiastic sharing of guacamole at the guacamole station paired with simply the most amazing penne Alfredo we've ever tasted. So much so that almost committed us to dinner at gustino.

We were blessed to have wine tasting and was cared for by Carlos Lona who is just a legend. Clearly passionate, friendly, not there to just do his job but to really take care of you as if he is a friend.

He set my friend up with a mocktail because he cannot drink alcohol. When he noticed that I literally just wanted a taste of the wine, he made sure o too had a drink I would enjoy throughout the night.

His care and serving above and beyond endeared is to have dinner and later even dessert because he was just great to have around.

The live violin was a wonderful touche and added beautifully to the ambience.

Then we had another down right awful experience at the speak easy bar. He could do one cocktail and that's it. For my friend who couldn't drink, just a standard lemonade, couldn't be bothered making even a mocktail. Hiding behind the 'oh the voucher is only for two cocktails' excuse.

So how was gustino? Because of Carlos amazing. The food understatedly superb, how this restaurant isn't rated on the top 3 in Cancun...