Disotto — Restaurant in Highwood

Update June '24. Great service, especially Seamus. Chopped salad was delicious. Tried the pappardelle Bolognese again and this time was cooked perfectly. My only complaint, again, is entrees come out immediately after appetizers. Back to back, like last time. This really takes away from what should be a nice relaxing meal at a very nice restaurant.

Returned Jan 13. Had an even better experience. Sat in the lower level, which we preferred. More quiet tho the tables are a bit close together. Our server Gretchen was fantastic! Attentive and friendly, but not pushy. John, the manager also very friendly-stopping by our table to ask if everything was ok -which it was! He even made a point of saying goodbye to us - remembering our names. I did mention I prefer "traditional" Italian bread as opposed to the focaccia style and he told me just ask next time! We had the Brussel sprouts, with bacon and fried egg for an app and it was so good! I had the orecchiette with sausage and rapini and it was delicious! Some places undercook the rapini, which makes it a bit tough -but not here - cooked perfectly. My wife had the mushroom risotto which was also very good. For dessert we had the chocolate layer cake with salted caramel - yum! My only other suggestion would be the pacing. While not rushed, the apps and mains came out very quickly-back to back. Barely finished the apps and the mains came. we were already enjoying our mains only 30 minutes after sitting down. This may be personal preference. For a night out we enjoy a nice leisurely meal to savor the experience. For example, i was still enjoying my wine even before dinner was over and dessert was on it's way. And we put the app order in separately from the mains. But a minor (and again perhaps personal situation). We most definitely will return - highly recommended! Upgraded from 4 star to 5 stars!

1st visit: Loved the octopus! Pappardelle was a bit overcooked to my liking, but i realize that fresh pasta has a very small window, as it cook so quickly. Very attentive staff and wonderful that they gave us a couple of glasses of prosecco to celebrate our...

We used to love Disotto, not impressed anymore. I have voiced some of these issues to the general manager via email from our previous visit, sad to see nothing has changed since then. The Atmosphere: The music is SO loud, and over powering for a small intimate style restaurant. Not only loud but the worst pop music! All of us in our group last night agreed that the music was so distracting and off-putting! There are so many workers in such a small space, which is not a bad thing, but when they are running around, bumping into your chairs, running in and out of the tiny walkways, and throwing plates down on the table so fast that your food sloshes around, something needs to change. Also the manager and another gentleman were standing around a table forever showing the customers bottles, and a kid was jumping around them, it was so distracting. The atmosphere is just not what you expect the place to be like. And the TV's... This may just be my personal opinion, but why do you need TV's at a bar in a small italian restaurant, where their website states, "Being Transported To Another Place & Time." Pop music and tv's do not scream being transported to the Italian countryside.

The food: The starter bread is great. We ordered the meatballs and brussel sprouts to start, both really good. My friend is vegetarian and wanted the special gnocchi of the night, the waitress had already stated they were out of the lamb for it so they could adjust, so my friend ordered it without the lamb. It came to the table with chicken in it, after picking out all the chicken there was probably a handful of gnocchi in the bowl. so disappointing. I have had this happen before when I wanted an item removed from the dish and they do not compensate with more of the other items. Such a small portion and still charge you a pretty penny. My risotto was soup, so much liquid! I have had and made risotto before and never has it been that soupy. Desserts are always on par here, so sad to see the blondie is no longer on the menu. Wine selection was good.

Overall, so sad to see such a cute place and somewhat good food ruined by...

Normally, I do not put the effort into leaving a review for a business, unless the service and/or food is either amazing and deserves all the praise or is absolutely terrible. Today (12/12/23), I ate dinner here with my sister and experienced service from our waiter that was severely below any acceptable standards. I want to state that I understand when the restaurant is very busy, can cause the server to be pulled in many different directions and spread thin amongst their tables which can cause service to be not the best. Though, tonight was very slow with the restaurant only had a few tables. At first, our waiter was constantly coming over to us to put our order in (felt very rushed) even though we had just been sat at our table and starting looking over the menu (it was our first time dining here) and once we had ordered, we did not see him again. It was not until I was finally able to grab his attention for takeout boxes. He did not check to see if we needed anything once the food runner dropped off our food including how the food was , refills on drinks or extra napkins …..nothing. When he came back with the takeout boxes, he asked if we wanted dessert and I simply said no we do not and I also expressed to him I didn’t really enjoy my meal. Below is a photo of the pizza I got, and how much I took home …….pretty much the whole pizza because I had a few bites of one piece and knew I did not like it. Instead of asking me, if there was anything to rectify the situation or if he could get me something that I may enjoy more, I was handed the check which I then paid and left. Overall, I felt that the food was relatively bland and think that the quality you get does not match the price tag and the service from the waiter we had tonight was extremely lacking. I would not recommend spending your time or money at this...