Sotto — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Sotto- I didn’t think you could live up to all the love and hype we had seen, but you did a truly 5 start experience in every sense. We were lucky enough to grab a 10pm reservation for a Saturday evening about a week before our trip to Cincinnati. When we arrived they were waiting for a few tables to turn before we could sit so we grabbed a drink at the bar. We were between a couple different wine options and they let you taste before you decide which is great. We decided on the 2020 Toscana Rosso. I was surprised my wife enjoyed it so much as it wasn’t her style to have dryer wine. She loved it though. Bartenders were super nice, we were sat after 10 minutes or so. We had our 7 month old baby so they found us a spot near the back corner which was perfect. If had a slight view of the kitchen and a little nook for her stroller. The restaurant is huge from what you expect when you go down the stairs for the entrance from outside. (There is a plaque on the wall with a phone number if you need to use an elevator to get into the restaurant which is very nice). The ambiance in the place is next level, it’s a place you could’ve ate at 100 years ago or in 100 years and it will be a cool, upscale but not too upscale vibe with so many little touches that you keep seeing more the more you study the place. The pasta making room on the way to the bathroom, the wine storage with the steps down to it, the jarred tomatoes in the cabinets outside the bathrooms, exposed brick everywhere, real flame candles on the tables, perfect amount of lighting, real hand towels for drying your hands in the bathroom. I could go on and on. And I will about our server she was incredible, super knowledgeable about the menu, had a full conversation with our 7 month old baby making her giggle, and great recommendations. We started off with the fettunta which is a grilled garlic bread, very very good flavor grilled with a nice crisp but soft center. Definitely get the garlic taste. Only thing I would consider is if it came with a touch of a house marinara could make it go over the top. I went with the tagliatelle con porcini which was great, heavy mushroom flavors and good amount in the sauce which evened out nicely with the white wine sauce. My wife was super torn and got the cacio e pepe which she loved, noodles were perfectly al dente, sauce was so good she was eating fork fulls after her pasta had been eaten. I really don’t think you could go wrong with everything that came by looked delicious. We finished the evening with the ricotta donuts, this was one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time maybe ever. They were served hot and fresh, the three different sauces all paired so well. I preferred the caramel, it had such a deeper flavor profile than almost all other caramel I’ve had. These are an absolute must I don’t care how full you are order these and you won’t regret it. Overall top to bottom just a magnificent experience if I could give it 5+ stars I would. Nothing lacks at this place and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. We will be back next time we’re in town, probably...

I was very excited to try Sotto as I've heard that it's the closest we'll get to a Michelin-star restaurant in Cincinnati. I wish that I didn't have that expectation as our experience didn't live up to it.

THE BAD: Reservations: Yes, you have to book months in advance. That's perfectly fine, except when we showed up at 8:00 on a Monday, we ended up waiting 20 minutes for our table. Sotto's been open long enough where this process should be a well oiled machine.

Atmosphere: I realize why this place is so dark. Sotto keeps the lights low to hide how run-down the place really is, with stained ceiling tiles (ACT? in a high end restaurant?), beat-up surfaces, and power cords running all over the floors (trip hazard). For as much money as this place must bring in, the correct upgrades should be made.

Also, the music is so loud and acoustics so poor that it's hard to hold a normal conversation. We ended up hearing about half of what we said to each other, or shouting across the table.

Food: We started with the chicken liver mousse. The bread was burned and the mousse was okay but not great. They went heavy on the pistachios and we only had enough mousse to cover 3 of the 4 pieces of bread.

The tartare di fassone was a hot (or technically cold) mess. They add "breadcrumbs" on top which have the consistency of sand. Beef tartare is all about smooth, tender meat with a delicate balance of flavors - the sandy breadcrumbs add a harsh, gritty element. They replaced the egg with aioli which had hardened, making it hard to spread.

I ordered the wood-fired quail. I wish I hadn't. Quail has a flavor profile that's slightly gamier than chicken and should be very moist. Unfortunately, my quail was dry and the peperonata overpowered any flavor you'd want from the quail.

THE GOOD: The Service: Our waiter Max was excellent. He was personable and very knowledgeable about the menu, and he checked on us often to ensure we had everything we needed.

Some Dishes: The cappellacci is very good, but it reminded me more of dumplings than a pasta/ravioli dish. My boyfriend was a fan, so we'd probably go back for this one.

He ordered the branzino which was the right call. It was much better than the quail and I appreciated how well it worked with the zucchini.

The donuts, to be fair, are very good. They're essentially beignets with the addition of ricotta.

The Drinks: The Italian Stallion did not disappoint. It had a great mix of flavor and sweetness without being too sugary. I was also surprised by the Amalfi, which was light and paired well with most dishes.

VERDICT: Sotto's fine, but it doesn't compare to the food you'd find in bigger cities or authentic dishes in Italy. There are better restaurants in Cincinnati that don’t require a three-month wait and serve food that's just as...

Disappointment in every way. This is not the kind of place you wait 4 months to get into.

We were seated with my back in the kitchen literally even though only 2 other tables were occupied.

They force you to order all your food at one time. We tried to order our bread and salad and wanted to think longer about our entrees. our waitress (in some sort of weird fake uppity accent) told us we were not allowed. They only allow people to order everything at one time. Once we ordered we were told the bread and salad would be delivered as a course (not 2 separate courses) and our entrees as a second course. Not really how it’s suppose to be but with these hilljacks it is to be expected. Having eaten at restaurants of all kinds and levels of quality from New York to Tokyo to Rome to Los Angeles I have never been told I was required to order by their schedule. Most real restaurants tell their patrons they want them to have a pleasant, relaxed dining experience. Even Olive Garden doesn’t make you order everything at once. They might as well put a digital ordering and paying system on your table and let you play video games like Olive Garden (though you might not leave fast enough for Sotto’s liking).

On top of this the waitress with the fake uppity accent or the kitchen messed up our order which we were again forced to place all at once. They forgot our bread. When we alerted her she didn’t even apologize.

The food was slightly below average and signature dish (cappellacci) was gummy, rubbery (not “al dente chewy”), and flavorless. The food was room temperature (think sitting under heat lamps). This is why you never trust restaurants to “space your food out”. They don’t. They are lazy and want to prepare the food on their timeline. They want your credit card swiped as soon as possible and out of the seat.

The patate was a complete joke. All the ingredients were bordering on burnt to a crisp and barely identifiable. About 1/2 of the burnt mess could be identified as “potato” which were reminiscent of Dennys home fries. I would be hard pressed to say they were “fingerling”. The rest was something unidentifiable and burnt to a crisp in olive oil and likely some sort vinegar. My grandma’s fried potatoes made in an iron skillet with lard, pepper, and salt were more high-brow than this and a much better experience.

For a real, elevated Italian dining experience try Esther’s Kitchen in Las Vegas not this Olive Garden competitor.

Also, to management… you don’t need 4 women at the hostess station looking at the seating chart of 30 tables in a 2/3 full restaurant pretending to do something. Have them ensure quality control.

This cannot be rated low enough and even more so considering people are booking it 4 months out. I doubt this is the best Italian restaurant in the block let...