Pros: Wine: limited selection but serviceable Italian choices. Salads: Mista salad and brussell sprouts good. Cons: Oso buco too tough to cut. Pasta cold Black cod cold. Summary: Disappointing evening. read more

I wanted to love this restaurant - Bellevue needed a place like this but perhaps a bit too much.....hopefully some of these things may improve. My view is v. similar to Hector L.'s review. The good... 1) Food excellent - the appetizers (mozzerella w/heirloom tomatoes, and antipasta), the main (pappardelle bolognese, taglietelle with panceta and mushrooms) were fresh and lovely 2) Staff - very personal incl. the bar tender, the hostess and the manager (or perhaps owner) The needs improvement:.. 1)portions (agree with an other early reviewer - portions are v. small ) [Note I am not recommending large Cheesecake factory type, but these were tiny) 2) menu selections - would be nice to have a slightly larger selection (again as another reviewer pointed out was v. limited) 3) the wine selection (by the glass) could be a bit larger (though not a major complaint) The Unacceptable... 1) Noise level and Crowding. I like restaurants that are lively etc.. There is loud and there is LOUD. This was on a on a wed evening at 7:30 Conversation at our table were too difficult - the decibel level was that high. With the number of people - the bar area was overflowing quite a bit to where the tables are. My view is Bellevue so much needed a restaurant like this, and once it has arrived it has become the go-to spot perhaps - and perhaps the restaurant is overwhelmed. I will give it another chance but disappointed due to the noise and small portions. read more

I ate here for a second time last night. I had the avacado/grapefruit salad, cheese plate with jams, roasted beet ravioli, a side of polenta and the apple farm cake & nutella mini donuts for dessert. As you can see I couldn't stop eating everything tasted great. I am glad there's a beautiful small restaurant on the Eastside that's reasonably priced with great food and great service. read more

Had dinner there last night for the first time. The food was excellent! The pasta was cooked perfectly and so delicious. The Zeppole dessert was heavenly! Surprisingly, I didn't even mind sitting at the bar to eat! The bartender/server Todd was friendly and knowledgeable. It was a great experience. read more

How did we not discover this place sooner? It has a lot of things going for it, mainly the nice ambience, good location (close to downtown) and arguably the best Italian food I've had in the Eastside. Love that they have so many options for vegetarians. Definitely worth a visit. read more

I had friends from California talking about this place & living close by I had to give it a try. I absolutely loved it! Sat right at the bar top & just loved the bartender think he was part owner but not totally sure. He gave amazing recommendations which I of course tried & loved. Highly recommend a trip to this amazing little gem. read more

Overall, very good food and excellent service. The Burrata as appetizer is awesome, very special. The Pesce di Giorno we had was Halibut served over soup-like gravy; very tasty. The Gnudi was fine, but not spectacular. The only weak part was the tiramisu dessert - it seemed like it wasn't fresh, perhaps a consequence of staying in the fridge for too long. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our dinner and we'll be back. read more

Fantastic evening. Party of four. Reservation ready on time. Delightful waitperson extremely pleasant and really knew the food so well that I felt confident that the reccomendation to try the short ribs was going to be spot on for me. Best short rib I had ever had. The wine, food, service cocktails, couldn't have been any better. We will be back soon. read more

The space was warm, relaxing and pleasant. I feel like to many times places seem stuffy- and for once the ambiance was right on. Our server was amazing and was very understanding that we were in no hurry and wanted to take our time. The food was amazing- I had the roasted game hen, and my girlfriend had the Black Cod. The Entrees were delicious and bursting with flavor. Our cheese plate was perhaps the moment I fell in love with this place. To many times cheese plates are to filling or just thrown together. This plate was simple, and a tease like a cheese and meat plate is supposed to be. It was the perfect portion, and left me wanting more. The figs that were cooked and reduced in a red wine and balsamic mixture were sweet, savory and tangy all in one bite. I was surprised that a restaurant in Bellevue could make me feel welcome and like I was once again in a small family owned botique restaurant. This place is finally what the Eastside ordered! The ambiance, food, and service is amazing. The food is simple yet complex. The Chef definetly has an inspired team, and the Front of House staff is on point and aware, but not annoyingly aware. I would reccomend this place to anyone, and if you like good food- well... your in for a treat. Thank you Cantinetta for coming to the Eastside- we will be back! read more

just came back from cantinetta with my wife. had an amazing experience. First food - I had Pancetta wrapped dates and my wife had Braised kale for appetizers. Pancetta wrapped dates really surprised me but I liked it. My wife sad the kale was good as well. for main course I had Hanger steak and my wife had the Halibut. steak was cooked perfectly. Halibut came with some kind of tomato chutney, made it taste very good. Finally for desert we had Zeppole and Pumpkin panna cotta. I was kind of disappointed with zeppole because it wasn't what I expected. It was more like a doughnut with a little bit of nutella. It was nice though, would have preferred it a bit more sweeter. The panna cotta was delightful. Like some of the pervious comments the quantity was quite small but I was there for the restaurant week so not sure if that's the regular quantity or just for the event. With the three courses, it was still perfect dinner. I wish they had more red wine options, the options they had were quite expensive. and as far as the service goes, I quite liked it. I spent close to two hours there, it was quite busy tonight and still I didn't feel as if I was rushed through. people were very pleasant and was perfect for a date night. When the evening started the ambience was quite nice but as it got late, they decided to increase the music volume so it got a bit loud. definitely worth the experience. read more

I had an amazing dinner. I went for dinner yesterday and tried Dine around seattle menu. Every thing was outstanding. Mussels - they were small, tender penn cove, arrived in white wine broth with garbanzo beans, whole fresh chilies and fried pancetta. The chilies were right kind of spicy and went really well. Pancetta was still crispy. I pretty much emptied the whole dish including slurping the broth Goat cheese gnudi, crispy oxtail, braised nettles - I don't know how they got the ricotta and goat cheese to stay the shape but it was pillowy gooness. Nice tartness of goat cheese complemented ricotta and added great flavor. Oxtail was flavorful and I think they served Kale. Nutella zeppole, marscarpone crema - the best I have had. They arrived hot with pool of nutella in the middle. There is no escaping the warm oozing chocolate, just go ahead and bit into it, forget the spoon and fork. I did use the spoon to scope up the last bit of sauce. For me the marscarpone wasn't necessary but it was delicious. I managed to save one and it tasted well even after few hours. Glass of ROSSO RISERVA VIGNALTA CABERNET, MERLOT went well with dinner. It was fruit forward with fig-jammy bouguet and stood up to chili as well as oxtail well. Service was great. My one zeppole was saved in a box with the name on top, nice touch. Out table was right next to the kitchen so we smelled the food the whole time. I would have liked a table by the window but no complains. I would go back again and again. read more

The rustic atmosphere for 'Toscano furinture' styles on looks all over and lace curtains. Notice a medium long bar for sitting. At this other place for onto cities eastside add 'website' as known successful into their daily made lightest pasta's, for special menu ! Easy but simple menu on the 'Dine-out' specials and everyone had antipasti of plates of vegetables+fruits in recipes or shellfish and fresh bread slices+ oil. Main entrees in choices pastas theme as all tasteful vermicelli gnocchi-cheesy & tortelino bolognese ! In all rate onto improvements for menu looks add a little touch to recipes complete to be more complex ! Dolci recipes in a few italian desserts like creamy semifreddo ! Wines were choices onto Italian areas & brands mainly add to wines list lots to Tuscany. read more

We waited 2 1/2 hours for a table after we were told it would be an hour maximum. When we were finally seated and starving the entrees were very small - good flavor, but not worth the long wait. We should of just stayed at Bis on Main. read more

Pretty good Italian restaurant. Their home made pasta never disappointed me. Dessert pretty good too.

Awesome fresh Italian food and an amazing staff. We eat here every week. One of the best of the Eastside. Nothing in Seattle even compares read more

My, new, favorite restaurant. The ambiance is intimate, yet not overdone. As someone who dines alone a lot, I do not hesitate visiting the bar area for dinner. Kevin, the bartender, is gracious, very knowledgeable, and makes you feel like you aren't dining alone. Quality ingredients make the creative food presentations and combinations that much more appealing to the senses. Will definitely go back! read more

Absolutely loved it. Yes, this is not the place to go if you are looking for massive portions. However, the portions were not small either. What you will find is finely prepared food with subtle mixtures of flavors and textures. Even the bread (with a slightly salted crust) is exceptional. And the finale is the Beignets filled with nutella...... My wife and I WILL be back for more. read more

Met up with some friends at this joint last night. The atmosphere and service were very promising, and were it not for those two elements, I would have given this place 1 star. The food is mediocre. We ordered scallops carpaccio, Dinah's cheese, and a beet salad. The carpaccio offered nothing really. It had zero flavor save the ones they added to it with some sort of reconstituted strawberry or other berry. That dominated the entire dish. The cheese with compote was fine. Nothing special. The beet salad. Worst one I've ever had. For 12 bucks, we received 3 or 4 tiny beets covered in some sort of stemmed vegetable that wasn't defined. It was super bitter and also tasted kind of like grass. Terrible, and a bit insulting considering the cost. For dinner, the three of us ordered the gnocchi, the risotto and a goat cheese ravioli of some sort. The gnocchi was actually good. Not great, but totally serviceable. The risotto....guys, you can't serve what you served to me. Ever so slightly watery and tasted solely of wine and salt. I had a tough time finishing it. All in all, they look busy and like they've got a good wine-bar type crowd. But I would never go back here and throw down a Bill for the food they serve up. Again, very good service and a great vibe. If they could match up the food to the front of the house services, I think they'd do a lot better. read more

My wife and I went here for the first time for our anniversary. I had stopped by two weeks before to make a reservation, but was told they only do reservations for 6 or more. The hostess took our name anyway and said they would try to make sure something was available. Fast forward two weeks later to our anniversary night. We walk in and a quaint table in the corner is reserved for us. The host immediately brings us complimentary champagne and says happy anniversary. The service is excellent, with the whole team working together and handling a very busy night. We had the avocado, grapefruit and olives over the mixed greens and it was amazing. I really liked the olive tapinade. The pastas were incredible. My wife had the 'lune' which was stuffed with butternut squash, flavored with olives and pumpkin seeds. I had the bolognese. Completely fresh and home made; perfect texture, perfect flavors. We finished with the Salmon which was a little on the salty side (if you left the skin on, but very tasty To finish the meal, the waitress brought out a complimentary gelato with a nutella/chocalate filled pastry that was just amazing. To add the final touch to the evening, they wrote Happy Anniversary in chocolate around the plate. An amazing gesture to accompany some amazing tastes. Needless to say, Cantinetta is now at the top of our list for special dinner occasions. read more

Great food, good atmosphere. Try the dates as an appy!! Service above excellant.

There are quite a few restaurants around town who don't take reservations and there are plenty of places around main street to go grab a drink while you wait for your table so I don't think you can give it a bad review based on the lack of reservations. We strolled over on a tuesday night at 8pm and got right in even though the restaurant was busy. We ordered a bottle of ROSSO DI MONTEPULCIANO POLIZIANO 2007 which was a really nice inexpensive wine! We started with the Smoked Mozzarella, frisee, balsamico. This was outstanding! It came as a large fist sized circle of mozzarella baked and oozing with smoky cheesy goodness. (ours didn't include any dandelions that previous reviews spoke of) I had the Butter lettuce green salad that came with shaved mizithra cheese drizzled with the perfect amount of raspberry vinegrette. My husband had the Radicchio, 15 yr balsamico which he liked but found they had really over done it with the balsamic. We both had the Lasagnette, spanch, proscuitto, cheese fonduta and it did not disappoint! The pasta is obviously hand made and each bite had you wishing for more. We finished the evening out with 2 iced coffees with baileys and Zeppole, Nutella Mascarpone, Ginger Sugar which are little warm sugar doughnut holes stuffed with warm nutella. WOW is this something you should NOT miss!! Our service was fantastic, we weren't sure what things were on the menu and our waitress was great about explaining everything and telling us what her favorites were. She made the experience even better! Yes portions are not huge, but they are probably what we all should be eating instead of the supersized portions most restaurants serve! We left the restaurant completely satisfied and are already planning our next trip back. I believe this is bellevues best kept secret! Shhh don't tell anyone! read more

Cantinetta will only take reservations for parties of 6 or more! After a movie, we arrived there at 7:00pm and there was an hour wait, which we understood. We got on the list and went to the 520 next door and had a drink. We were seated at 8:10pm but did not get our entrees until 9:10! While the food was really good, the kitchen was overwhelmed. That is way too long to have to wait from the time you order to the time the plates land on the table! Just a bit grumpy! read more

This place has overpriced food, tiny portions and bland. The wine was excellent however. The waiter was very rude and snobbish and he spoiled our evening and friend's b'day outing. Given the number of good restaurants in old Bellevue downtown and the new downtown, I wouldn't eat here again if I got something for free. FYI, cutting a cake and serving it to your party will cost you 15 bucks. Seriously? read more

One of our favorite places in Bellevue. Great food, great people, good service. Love the atmosphere as well. A little bit of the urban feel in the burbs. Yea it is great. read more

The service was pretty good not great. The food was average, without much taste. I had the paperdelle en bolognese and my husband had ravioli. Not likely to return. read more

Bad service, way overpriced, small menu selection, drink pours are weak especially when you consider the cost. I will not return!

It's your typical fancy restaurant with a pricey menu and small portions. The menu items do not come with a description, so I did not know what most of the items were. The food was okay... I didn't think there was anything extraordinary about it. The place is very loud, so it's very hard to have a conversation. The service is a bit slow and you may stay longer than desired. I enjoy a fancy restaurant, but its reputation has to fit the bill. Overall, it was just for the experience. But I think I'll pass on another visit. read more

Intimate restaurant. Great wine and beer selection. Limited menu options that rotate. Good food, not GREAT food. Nutella stuffed sweet bread? Yes please. Try them out if they are an option during your visit. Excellent service. Very clean. Only one bathroom, shared by men and women. read more

This is our favorite local date night establishment. The atmosphere is warn, cozy and rustic. The menu changes often and we've always been pleased with the seasonal selections. If you like fresh handmade pasta and seasonal ingredients then you'll like Cantinetta. read more

Yowza yum! I had friends recommend this place the week after they opened but I was a sceptic...no more, no more, no more! Our dinner was great! We (the bf and I) had an appetizer, pasta and shared a steak with wine and dessert for less than $100!! And it was great! pancetta wrapped dates - chewy crispy salty sweet.... burrata with tomatoes - perfect risotto with chard - filling and al dente garganelli (sp) with butter & sage - delightful teres major steak - ohhhhhh the flavor! zeppole - need I say more htan Nutella perfection? Try it...you'll like it! read more

I have been here twice (the first time in a group of 6) and both times we all loved what we had. The ricotta gnocci is great! Loved the house red, too. The service was good and the servers very personable. I will be a regular here. The only negative I can think of is it's a bit loud. read more

Mediocre at best. The restaurant is tiny, and there is no seating (or standing) area for those waiting for a table. The bar is so crowded that people are forced to stand in the middle of the restaurant, hovering over your table. The menu was pretty limited, and portion sizes were on the small side, and the food was alright. Service was hit or miss, no one came to the table for quite a stretch of time at the beginning of the meal. The biggest issue that we had was regarding the automatic gratuity for a party of 6 or more. We had 5 adults and 1 baby, just 1 year old. We were charged an automatic 20% gratuity because of the "sixth person". I almost always tip 20%, but not having a choice in the matter really rubbed me the wrong way. There were certainly more negatives than positives - no one in our party will be going back. read more

Zucchini? No problem! The torte is fabulous. Everything is tasty and the bar is quite competent.

I've eaten several times at Cantinetta and enjoyed the meal. However, my wife and I ate there the other night and the food was subpar. I had the veal and it tasted like bad cafeteria food. Very disappointing. read more

My girlfriends and I love Cantinetta for a girl's night out. Delicious food and cosy atmosphere. We always have a great time. This would be a 5 star for me if it weren't for their (lack of) ventilation. The cooking smells get intense and usually cut our evening a bit shorter. Then my hair and clothes always smell of fried food afterwards and the next day. I wish they'd fix this, it would be perfect otherwise. read more

I love the food here! Upscale, creative, but always delicious. I literally have never had anything I did not like here. My husband and I always order two appetizers and two entrees and split everything because we want to try all the new dishes (it's a seasonal menu). The only downside is that they do not take reservations for smaller parties so you have to lump into the doorway (the foyer is virtually nonexistent) and keep shuffling out of the busy waiter's paths, or else crowd around the small bar area (and continue to block the poor wait staff). Once you're seated, though, the service is good, attentive without being intrusive or pushy. read more

I love the atmosphere here and generally the food is great. I've had a few pasta dishes and the pasta is homemade and delicious. I recommend staying away from the cream sauces, though. The two I've tried here have left me feeling queasy a few hours after dining. Overall, a good place to go on a date or special occasion infrequently; it's too expensive to dine at on a regular basis. read more

Where do I start. The ambience, food, drinks, servers...AMAZING. The food is to die for. Everything i have tasted there is fresh and on point. Server Ushi was very pleasant and definitely can tell she enjoys working there. Very polite and checked up on us without being over whelming. The bartender Angelo makes killer drinks and very knowledgeable about the food menu as well. Great place to have drinks. Makes a difference when your drink is made with fresh juice. And the ambience is a wonderful. One last thing, if you are a nutella fan like myself, you have to try the zeppole. read more

My husband and I went here on a date. We travel in Italy a good deal and love true Italian food. We shared first the dry roasted pork belly--fabulous!!--along with the pea vines with spec & an egg on top. Both were delicious and nicely presented. Next, we shared the Ricotta Gnudi with lamb spezzatino, which was really amazing (very north African in flavors). It paired surprisingly well with our wine (a brunello). We had the Salt Roasted Cippollini alongside the gnuddi dish and it was nice, but we realized that we should have planned on sharing an entrée as well because the portions and richness of the other courses caught up with us! We each had the steak, which was really just ok--but I might have felt differently if I weren't so full at that point ;-) Service was fast & friendly without being intrusive. The only three things that could be improved: the room temp (it was a spring night, but it was quite warm in there); the noise level (the high ceilings I guess make it quite loud as the evening wears on, making conversation challenging); the bathroom situation--just one bathroom for the whole restaurant, unless you want to venture way down the cluttered back hall to the neighboring restaurant's bathrooms, which also tend to be quite busy. We will return in a heart beat, perhaps more to enjoy a couple of small plates and a negroni or glass of wine either at the bar or outside during the summer months. read more

This is a great date night restaurant. Portions are VERY small but yummy. The cheese plate was nothing more than a two-thumb sized wedge of cheese (disappointing to have so little), but the homemade ricotta gnudi made up for it - delish. The short ribs and Casoncelli were great too. The Tagliatelle, buro di Parma, pancetta, farm egg was very bland. Service was a bit slow when the restaurant was empty but picked up as the placed filled. Waitress seemed irritated to have to describe the dishes. read more