Cento — Restaurant in Madison

Cento has been my absolute favorite spot in Madison for almost 10 years. I've rented out their back room for private parties and birthdays and was a regular face for weekend Brunch for years.

Having recently moved to the Bay Area for work, Cento was top of my list for my recent visit back to Madison to catch up with friends over brunch - 2 of whom were first-timers.

Service: While our 1:30 reservation was nearing the tail-end of brunch, and I know as a former server that energy and service can take a dip when it's about to be closing time, I was both embarrassed and annoyed by our experience.

Our server seemed to be hungover or otherwise on the struggle bus: multiple spills while filling waters with little attempt to clean up after himself. Brought an empty pot of coffee to the table when we requested re-fills, was almost entirely absent from the table - and didn't make eye contact or check in when walking by our table to complete his side-work (something involving bouncing between the kitchen and the wee server closet behind the hostess stand). As a 6-top, it seemed the server chose to use the "gratuity will be added for parties of 6 or more" caveat as a means of not bothering to pay attention to us. We would certainly not have tipped that high based on our service - so I guess smart move on his part?, but also not what that caveat is intended for.

The manager came over to check in and refill waters - another spill. He too seemed to be uninterested in - or unable to - provide basic service. We thought about talking to him afterward as I often offer advice to restaurants when things aren't up to par, but we were on vacation and it seemed like the feedback would have fallen on deaf ears.

It was a rough time all-around for the staff that day, and all I could say to our friends was "we promise it's never like this, please come back."

Now, while service is important, and the social contract of "I come to your business and give you money, you provide great service" is apparently easier in theory than practice, we all know the main point of brunch is food and cocktails - where Cento always shines.

Food/Beverages: We had a mix of food allergies at the table and Cento had plenty of options to meet everyone's unique needs. The new (at least to us) Cacio e Pepe Biscuits and Gravy were OUT OF THIS WORLD. An immediate contender for my favorite dish - alongside the Tagliatelle which I will usually get for breakfast, lunch, or dinner because it's just that good. Anyway, the B&G were bomb, just the right amount of spicy and with a unique 4-some of tiny biscuits in place of the traditional 2 thicc bois, I was a big fan. All of the other meals were enjoyed by our group - the Shakshuka similarly had a nice bite to it, though was saucy enough - and wanting for - a second piece of toast on the side.

Another switch-up since we left was a move to Cannoli en lieu of the previous plate of pastries, this too was a great shift! Breakfast cannoli? Get outta town! We had a mix of pistachio and blueberry-chocolate chip offerings and both were delightful.

Cocktails are always a '10' as well, the Italiana '87 and Lemon Capri were fan favorites - though Cento's long-time lack of consistency in glassware and garnish for the same cocktails in the same sitting persisted.

One final note, on Atmosphere - the building/decor are starting to show some signs of wear and a few low-cost touch-ups would go a long way. In particular, the lamps above the tables appeared to not have been dusted in quite some time - which should be a daily cleaning task - scuffed walls, and a broken railing up the stairs to the bathroom took away from the polished appearance that Cento strives for. A little pride goes a long way, and doubling down on the details like these are what will help keep Cento at the top of the list for...

Really I’d give it 3 1/2 stars. Went before going to Wicked on a Sunday. Reservation was for 5pm. Was seated around 5:05. Two adults and two kiddos (8). It's a beautiful restaurant. The kitchen is fairly open - I love that. The sound does carry a bit. You needed to talk a little louder than normal and sometimes it was hard to hear. It was packed!

It took our waitress about 5-10 minutes to get to the table. She apologized for the delay stating it was busy. She was lovely. Got our drink orders and informed us that it was taking the kitchen about 20-30 minutes to get food out and suggested that we get our orders in as quickly as possible to make the show. She also told us that although there is not an actual kids menu, some of the dishes can be modified for them, but they did have a kids spaghetti and meatballs and pizza. She did not inform us of the theater menu, so perhaps it was not available, although we would not have had time for it - our show started at 6:30.

We ordered the kids lemonade with sprite and two glares of wine as well as Rustic Ciabatta Bread. The kiddos both ordered the kids spaghetti and meatballs, my friend ordered the Creste di Gallop and I ordered the Tagliatelle. We got the bread in about 10 minutes and our drinks arrived about 5 minutes after that. Our food arrived at about 5:50, with one of the kids spaghetti’s not there, and the one that did arrive had no meatballs. Our waitress told us that someone else took the spaghetti and that they were working on making a new one right away. When asked about the missing meatballs, she said she was mistaken that they came with it, but told us that she would try to sweet talk the kitchen into giving her them. It took another 5 minutes to get the second kids spaghetti, which wasn’t spaghetti at all, it was more like rigatoni. Strange. She followed by two plates with two meatballs each, saying she got the kitchen to give her them. We had to ask for parmesan cheese and it took reminding our waitress after a few minutes to get it.

The actual spaghetti was decent. They were larger noodles than I’ve ever seen for spaghetti, looked more like bucatini, although I didn’t inspect it for the hole. The creste di gallop and the tagliatelle were both quite good. My son who had the non-spaghetti “spaghetti” thought it was fine, “not his favorite.” Didn’t want to send it back because of the time crunch we found ourselves in, so he barely touched it. The meatballs were tender and light, but did have a bit of a zip to them. The tomato sauce on the kids meals seemed fairly flat. I was not really impressed either.

At 6:15 we needed to flag down our waitress to get the check and we’re scarfing down our food so we could make it to our seats by 6:30. When I made the reservation at 5, I thought it would be more than enough time - I was wrong. We were finally got our bill, I noticed that she didn’t sweet talk the kitchen for the meatballs so much as she charged us for them, which frankly would have been fine had she said that. We paid without saying anything, but I was a little annoyed at the communication struggle we felt throughout the meal. Although our server was very lovely, she was incredibly scattered, which added to the delays in our food and, I’m assuming, the missing meatballs and...

Had a group of friends and made a reservation long in advance. Definitely need to make reservations as this place gets busy .

We were quickly greeted and taken to our table which was located close to the kitchen .

Our server was excellent . She did a truly great job explaining the menu and recommended several small plates appetizers to share . Service was truly great .

Drinks and cocktails were all well prepared . We got a combination of multiple appetizers and several main dishes . Classic meatballs with a spicy marinara sauce were good and sauce had that desired spicy touch to it . Smoked tomato arancini with onion jam were okay . I was hoping for a bit better flavor punch having been to Sicily a few times . Fried artichokes with a lemon aioli for me fell short and was not my favorite of the various appetizers we got .

Main dishes were served for the table all at the same time after the first starters were all finished . I appreciated that our server had timed everything so nicely with the kitchen .

I only took two photos of the Main dishes as we started eating them . Gnocchi al tartufo was good fluffy gnocchi with a heavier sauce that included peas and mushrooms. The crispy Parmesan was a good touch - Okay dish . Also tried the ravioli di Drago . The sauce was a walnut crema base that was something I hadn’t tried before and I really enjoyed it . We also got the chicken Parmesan which looked big portion and allot of food .

A very good selection of small plates and main courses along with great cocktails and super service . It was also nice to see they offer gluten free pasta and pizza ( it we did not try any this time )

Our main complaint and especially for me , was the noise level was very high . It was almost impossible to carry on a conversation and often hard to hear what the people next to me were saying . I understand the open concept and popular with younger people approach , but it was a bit too overwhelming for my personal preference.

I would come back for the good service and food but I would try to return on a week night when it is...