Trattoria Dal Santo — Restaurant in Sturgeon Bay

My wife and I love this place. We love the food and the atmosphere, and having it right downtown from where we live is wonderful! It really gives some of the other italian restaurants in Northern Door a run for their money, and it shows in the craftsmanship of the food!

My only point I would make is to work on customer service with some of the servers. My wife and I brought my parents in to try for the first time, and my father had asked to substitute starch side with pasta, and the server went on to say they do not do that. It then became a conversation to purchase the pasta separate al a carte from the other sides that came from the original dish, to which my father was charged $10 for it; he then asked to have meat sauce with the pasta, to which the server curtly stated it would be $3 additional dollars. The conversation felt almost as if my dad was being "punished," because he wanted to do something different, and the server had to make it known in her delivery.

I understand no substitutions in some establishments when meals are curated in advance, and have a set menu with a smaller selection but these were sides where you are given the option between a starch/vegetable but not pasta? At an italian restaurant?

I have worked in hospitality in different facets over 20+ years, and have eaten at numerous restaurants over my lifetime around the nation; I have not yet encountered such trivial banter to please a guest for an otherwise simple request.

We will be back, and we love the restaurant, and I still give 5 stars for what they do, but be mindful of some of the idiosyncrasies some of the servers exude when engaging...

My family and I have always liked coming here. The food is great and we never had a bad experience prior to today. I understand the stress in the service industry right now. Almost every restaurant up here is short staffed, not taking reservations, and overall struggling. I paid a visit to a family favorite tonight, fully understanding that there was a good chance we wouldn’t be seated and pretty much expected it. What I didn’t expect was the rude, dismissive attitude of the host (who is also the owner, apparently). We put our name in, expecting to be called should there be an early opening or when our spot in line would open up. He informed us that we wouldn’t be called, given buzzer, nor could we stay to wait our turn. We asked how we would even know if our spot would be ready and the host shrugged his shoulders and told us to “check back” and that he doesn’t have the staff to wait all the tables or call us should there be an opening. I wasn’t understanding how putting our name in worked and how they were taking on tables. Upon asking this question, I was given an extremely rude, dismissive, and downright aggressive response. I understand the industry is hurting and that restaurants are short handed and struggling. I’ve seen it all over the peninsula. However, it’s a good rule of thumb not to slap the faces of those coming to give patronage to...

Wow, what an experience. I almost did not go out for dinner tonight - but man am I glad I did! As I just stated to my sister-in-law, “if I am found dead in the morning just know I had an amazing final meal!”

Started the meal with the Fritto do Calamari that was extraordinary...served with a lemon aioli (vs your standard marinara) and a little fennel salad. If you get and eat all three on the same fork, it is what is known as the perfect bite.

For dinner I had the special - Halibut over Polenta with a lemon butter caper sauce. First I had the Caesar Salad, which comes with the meal, which was amazing. Served with anchovies the right way it had a garlicky and creamy sauce. Didn’t finish as I knew I had my main still but would suggest it’d be enough of an appetizer/starter that you could avoid ordering one.

For the main, they obliged my ask for fettuccini as a substitute for the polenta, and man I am glad they did. The lightness of the Halibut with the heavy noodle with the delicious sauce - it literally almost made me tear up. Was FANTASTIC!!!

For dessert I had a cannoli and it was stuffed with a lemony creamy filling - my blood sugar may have spiked but it was worth it. Had an accompanying dark chocolate moose and a berry purée, it was a perfect blend.

Very worth it, we should feel great such a restaurant is in our town and look forward to...