Santino's Fusion Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Alton

Horrible experience. First, we were seated at a table with a dirty table cloth—they put a large piece of paper over the cloth table cloth to avoid having to actually clean the table cloths. There were several unclean areas we noticed in the dining room—salt and pepper shakers with so much grime on them that the salt sitting on the top of the shaker didn’t even fall off when it was tipped over, the glass “windows” between the different areas of tables were filthy, they keep a communal pepper grinder hanging on the half-wall where anyone can touch it, cough on it, etc, they take your glass and straw away to refill it and bring back the same glass instead of bringing a fresh glass and straw. The whole vibe is weird…several non-waitstaff employees repeatedly walking back and forth at the tables but not speaking or checking on customers or actually doing anything just making customers feel uncomfortable, one was wearing a polo with sweatpants and had straws in his back pocket like he was going to give them to customers out of his pocket, loudly crumpling the paper table cloth cover when someone leaves and ripping new ones off to replace it, having the front of the house phone ringer set really loud, no real standards or management. The food was absolutely horrible. The breadsticks were cold. The minestrone soup was not even lukewarm, there was no pasta in it and the broth was GRAY. Their “dinner salad” was a bowl of bagged lettuce with two “croutons” (if you can call soggy, stale bread “croutons”) and one cherry tomato. Their “Italian Beef” is cold, fatty, unseasoned Pot Roast with clumpy, half-melted cheese, two little slivers of burnt onion and one sliver of pepper, served on a soggy hotdog bun. The Jumbo Tempura Shrimp dinner consisted of five TINY, overcooked, hard shrimp on a plate with a PILE of the same lettuce they use in their dinner salad. Their garlic mashed potatoes are clearly instant potatoes and were lumpy and unseasoned. The only halfway decent food item they had was the fries—they were actually hot and had seasoning. Our waitress was new but she was personable and did her best with the environment she was made to work in. Over all it was more like a dive diner environment. Poor mannerisms by other waitstaff…leaning on unoccupied chairs at customers tables, putting their hands all over customers tables to lean in to talk to customers, setting serving trays on tables, just a lot of unprofessionalism. In the 30-45 minutes we were there, we were the FIFTH table who had complaints with the food…and there were only SEVEN tables. One table had been there for an hour and a half and still hadn’t gotten their food. The rest were food complaints. And management never addressed any of it. I would have given zero stars if it were an option. The outside of the building is a disgrace…weeds growing up in the flower beds that have been there so long, they’re growing up through the tops of the tall bushes, dirty window units hanging out the side windows, stuff piled up outside the back of the building where an employee was sitting in a lawn chair playing on his phone while customers are not getting their food or were being served sub par food. Needless to say, we...

A friend chose this place for their birthday dinner. I knew it was Italian food and was excited. I was eating gluten-free for health reasons so I arrived early to inquire about gluten free options (none listed online). The hostess advised I'd have to ask my server at the table.

We were seated and it was a nice vibe. Candles on the table, white linen, calm atmosphere. I asked the server about gluten free options and they advised of multiple - kudos to them on having so many options, I was impressed! My friend ordered the eggplant parmigiana and enjoyed it. I ordered the scallops in lemon butter sauce. The server listed multiple potato options such as mashed, baked, loaded baked and twice baked. Twice baked?! Sold!

The salads came out and they were scarce... underwhelming. Dinners came out and my had a loaded baked potato with it. Odd. I asked the server and she said "um I think a loaded baked potato and a twice baked potato are the same thing, let me take that to the chef and ask them". Okay.... BTW - they are not usually the same thing. She takes it to the back and comes back out advising "yep the chef says that was a twice baked potato, do you still want it?". This was awkward now... I didn't necessarily want it but I felt like sure.... So I said yes. They warmed it up in the microwave and brought it back out. There was no butter on it which was also odd.... My scallops sauce was not what I expected. It was kind of heavy, very olive oil like. It was okay, nothing I'd order again.

Dessert options were shared, they had a gluten free cheesecake, so I ordered it, but they were out. Limited quantities...

As for service, our server was very friendly and very knowledgeable on the menu. However once she took our order she was helping so many other tables it was hard to get her attention for anything else. Also she was very timid and apologized for EVERYTHING, even before potato-gate. It was uncomfortable. EX: Do you have gluten free options on the pasta? Yes (she lists multiple), I'm so sorry, that's all we have, I'm really sorry. I am excited and say WOW that is a lot of options, thank you so much, she replies with "I'm so sorry, I wish there were more".

Overall I went in there thinking I was dining upscale because of the look and feel. I left disappointed, though I will say it was a good value for the money. Just remember sometimes you are getting what you are paying for. I'd have rather paid a bit more for a more...

So, I really want to give this local place a better review but there are just too many bads outweighing the goods. First, we were greeted warmly and felt absolutely welcome (I think by the owner or at least someone who seemed to be in charge). This is a big plus in customer service for me. After being sat at our table we had about three minutes before we were asked to order. That was the beginning of a very rushed meal. We asked for something special diet-wise for my nine year old son. They were accommodating for an upcharge of $1. I felt that our request and their accomodations were fair both directions. Our meal came fairly quickly. The food was okay. I felt it wasn't as good as I've had elsewhere, but the prices are fairly low so that is neutral to my rating. Here are the things that lost those extra stars. First, the bill was brought to our table and as the waitress was sitting it down she asked if we thought we might want dessert. I had only had my meal for maybe five minutes. I hadn't even eaten half of it. I said I didn't know yet. She returned in less than five minutes to ask again if we wanted dessert. My mouth was full. I sat down my fork and knife finishing my bite so I could answer her. We were still eating our meal so we weren't ready to make that decision but felt pressured to answer her. As soon as I said, "I guess not", she picked up my plate that still had food on it and walked away. Seriously. My nine year old son looked at me and I said, "I wasn't done eating." His response, "Well, that was rude ." Yes, yes it was. We were at our table for less than forty five minutes and not because we wanted to be done that fast. I didn't get to finish the meal I paid for. The final straw was when I used the restroom on the way out of the restaurant and there were cleaning supplies on top of the hand towel dispenser (gross) and a large bottle of bleach sitting on the floor making it easily accessible to children. We were in town to visit the museums. We always try to support local. If we lived here, we wouldn't be back. The atmosphere would have been pleasant if we hadn't literally been pushed out the door. I am still confused by the fact that my plate was taken while I was...