Locanda Sorrento — Restaurant in Campbell

So my sister asked me to take her 8 year old daughter on a fun uncle and niece lunch. As a good uncle should, I really wanted to introduce her to as authentic of an Italian restaurant as I could find in Silicon Valley. After doing my due diligence, I found an interesting prospect called Locanda Sorrento in Campbell. There are several other locations in Pleasanton, Danville, Lafayette and Brentwood. It turns out the founder Enzo Rosano is from Naples and his niece Annalise and her partner Rosa manage the Sorrento location. I made a reservation for two and let my sister know I had picked a place.

The parking lot is quite small and tight. Only a handful of cars can park there when it's less busy. Otherwise you need to round the block in search of street parking. The exterior of the restaurant is bright blue and white with some nice touches such as the faux shutters and hanging flowers.

As you enter, there is a large well-stocked bar that covers the entire width of the front half of the restaurant. There is also a dining area in the back half along with a larger private dining room for about 10 people. The inside of the restaurant feels lively and the staff is welcoming and friendly.

My niece and I sat in the back dining area. With the initial bread, it was not your typical olive oil and dab of balsamic vinegar in a shallow plate. Locanda provided a tiny bowl of pesto, which was freshly blended with loads of garlic, grated cheese and basil. We couldn't get enough of it, it was addictive!

We looked over the menu and ultimately decided to order the Gnocchi Sorrentina, a hearty dish with house made gnocchi in tomatoes, mozzarella, Parmesan and basil for my niece and I was curious enough to try the Trofie Al Pesto, slivers of pasta floating inside an ocean of glorious pesto.

My niece enjoyed her gnocchi, although the portion size was too large for her. She gave it a valiant attempt, and ate as much as an 8 year old could. I was also struggling to finish my pesto pasta. It was quite delicious but consuming all of it was also a bit more than I could do. Large portion sizes is usually a plus for almost everyone but I try my best to finish a dish without taking it home.

In subsequent trips, I found their Cacio e Pepe to be the highlight of their menu. The waiter rolls out a cart carrying a huge barrel of Parmesan Reggiano. They drop fresh pasta and sauce into the crater and excavate more cheese with a spoon. Then they get busy mixing and stirring the pasta, sauce and excavated cheese. By the time it gets plated and served, it is like a cheesetopia. One bite could whisk you away into Parmesan Elysium.

The Fritto Misto aka fried calamari, Polpette meatballs and prosciutto with hearts of palm antipasti are all worth trying. I tried their Picanha cocktail and enjoyed the dark berry tartness and saltiness. They appear to have an extensive wine menu but I'm not really a wine person so I can't judge.

My sister later told me that my niece really enjoyed the meal and experience. She also asked to have her next birthday dinner at Locanda Sorrento with our entire extended family. I was a...

POV: it's May 2022 and you've just had the best pasta of your entire LIFE.

I don't know how long this place has been around, or why it finally decided to show up on my search results for "dinner" one evening, but I'm sure glad it did.

Locanda Sorrento is a quaint restaurant occupying a corner spot on the outskirts of downtown Campbell. If you want to park right by the restaurant, it may take effort, but DT Campbell has plenty of public parking a quick walk away. We found a spot by the restaurant just fine.

We got seated quickly without a reservation and they immediately got us situated with menus, water, and fresh bread! It was a busy night, despite being close to closing. Luckily, I think we made it a safe amount of time before the kitchen closed.

Dishes we tried: Fresh bread: I do not know what type of bread we were given, though I want to guess sourdough. Either way, it was perfectly crispy (I don't like the chewy crusts that bread can sometimes come with) so it was easy to eat. The pesto that came with the bread was savory and herby; the bread was gobbled up quickly because of this pesto! 5/5! Caprese Salad: It was great, but the only acidic element came from four tomato confit. The ratio of ingredients wasn't my favorite. 3/5 will try the fried apps next time. Linguine del golfo: Smelled great and looked beautiful. ?/5 I didn't eat it. Carbonara: AL DENTE pasta has never been cooked so well for me. I always bite into pasta expecting it to be a tad overcooked, but this was chewy, hearty, and so so good! I'm ruined for other pastas. I also love that they didn't add peas into this dish, like many other places tend to. The sauce was thick and delicious and the bacon pieces were great. For people who have eaten good udon before, the pasta here had a similar springiness that makes it a star. 6/5 when can we go back?? Tiramisu: Beautiful presentation and tasted great on the edges. The center tasted way too soaked for my liking. 3/5 would try something else next time. Chocolate Tartufo: We didn't know what this was going into and it was delightful! If you love chocolate and gelato, this is an easy choice. 4/5!

For two people, you can typically just share a dessert. Protip for those who's eyes are bigger than their stomachs like me.

I really love the atmosphere they have crafted in this restaurant. Additionally, we were able to catch the staff member singing Happy Birthday to some guests. Let me tell you, this isn't your typical awkward staff singing for awkward guest situation. Hearing this guy sing is an EXPERIENCE. He sounds so good, that it makes me want to bring others here for their birthday! 🤣 Can't wait...

We were in the mood for something with a lot of garlic, so we decided on Italian food. Sadly, we chose the one Italian restaurant that had zero garlic of any kind on the premesis. I suppose if you were a vampire this would be ideal, but for us mere mortals it was disappointing. But that just set the tone of the evening for us, which I'll try and outline below.

We arrived at Locanda Sorrento right at six in the evening without a reservation. Parking in the tiny rear lot is an adventure in itself unless you drive a Smart car or a moped. Approaching an Italian restaurant should greet you with a welcoming aroma of roasted garlic and pasta. Here, from the rear lot, you are assaulted with the smell of rotting fish. That should have been our queue to turn around and opt for a Happy Meal at McDonald's.

Entering through the front door we were greeted promptly by a host who seated us immediately. We were walked to the rear room, which was packed elbow to elbow with others, and seated.

The host was also our waiter, and he came back after seating us and hovered over us while we chose our entrees. Once we made our selections, the waiter disappeared into the abyss for about a half hour.

Our food arrived a short time later, albeit they got the order wrong, and was delivered by a different server than our waiter. All the while, the noise in the restaurant was deafening. Several competing conversations made conversation all but impossible between the two of us unless we wanted to out yell others.

With the food in front of us we dug in. Nobody checked in with us after that. Nobody came by to top off our drinks. Nobody on the staff seemed to care, as witnessed by the couple next to us voicing their frustration with the lack of service. Underwhelming is all I can say. Both of us decided that the food wasn't worth the atmosphere and cut our meals short. So we searched for our waiter, who had vanished some time earlier.

Once our waiter resurfaced we asked for our check. He acknowledged me and once again vanished. Another server came by to clear our table some time later, at which time we reiterated that we wanted our check. Still no sign of our check out waiter.

Several more minutes went by until I saw him again. He preceded to walk past and avoided eye contact. Then we waited some more. And waited, and waited.

Twenty six minutes after first requesting the check it finally arrived. He took my credit card and vanished again, though this time he was only gone for eight minutes. All the while the noise was unbearable.

Ugh, never again for us. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone, unless you happen to...