After our Wisconsin Dells trip with the toddler, we were jealous of all the adults with their big drinks and dining without children. So, we decided to return for a few nights child-free and check out some more adult activities. We had seen plenty of ads for Sarento’s, and since it was part of the Wilderness property, we figured we’d try it and do a Sarento’s restaurant review.

The website and ads make it look like a nice Italian restaurant, and pulling up to the building validated the theme. There was plenty of parking on a crowded Friday night, but there is also a shuttle from Wildnerness if you want to leverage that for convenience. The front desk was fairly organized and ready to seat us right away. We had read online that a reservation was a good idea for weekend nights to avoid a wait, and with the crowd, we ran into, we were glad we did. The dining room is fairly tight, and you can hear almost every conversation around your table. We were seated in a booth facing the parking lot, and at times there were headlights from the cars shining through the closed blinds, which was not great. If you have a choice, ask for a booth over a table in the crowded middle section.

The meal was fine…just fine. We each had a special that sounded great on the menu but was both rather bland and not worth the price, as we reflected on it after the meal. There are plenty of other restaurants in the area, and this will be one that we won’t make an effort to try again any time soon.

Service

The hostess seated us quickly, but then it wasn’t very clear. A server stopped by and asked for our drink order quickly, which was a plus, but then as soon as they walked away, another server told us they would be right over. Sometime after that, another server even stopped by asking if we wanted anything to drink, just a mess. Eventually, our wine came, we were offered a taste, and that service was excellent. Our food order was taken promptly, but then we didn’t see much of our server after that to help pour the wine or check-in.

One of the detractors of our visit was the experience with what appeared to be the manager. He was going around the room and visiting with tables and then made an awkward stop at our table. He picked up our bottle of wine, which was empty, asking if we wanted more, then proceeded just to pour drops onto the table. He had a bit of an arrogant vibe, apologized, then said, ” I hope you had a good time, ” and moved along.

Food

Sarento’s had a fairly large menu, with all the mainstays of an Italian restaurant. What stood out to us most was two items on the specials menu that we decided to try, the seafood cannelloni and the tenderloin trio. Both items came with breadsticks, oil, and a house salad. The breadsticks were just standard, with nothing to go out of your way for. We both agreed they were comparable to an Olive Garden breadstick. The salads were overwhelming, with bad lettuce and large chunks of an iceberg head that had some poor tastes. The other toppings were scarce and were not overly impressive for a pre-dinner salad. You have a choice to upgrade for a few dollars, we’d suggest it.

The entrees came out and were slightly underwhelming in portion sizes for the price. In most Italian restaurants, you’re leaving with leftovers; that would not be the case here. The cannelloni was two large stuffed noodles covered in a white sauce. The stuffing was listed as crab, lobster, and scallops, which did have that taste. The texture just seemed off, with these three ingredients shredded and mixed. As individual plates, they are great seafood options, but this mix was not as delicious as it sounded on the menu. This dish was not something that we’d order again, with bland flavors.

The tenderloin trio presentation looked nice on the plate, with sauce complimenting each piece. The potatoes on the side were just thrown on a small plate and didn’t fit with the presentation of the rest of the dish. I ordered the medium tenderloins, and they were cooked correctly with a little char. The sauces each had their unique flavor, but similar to the seafood, slightly on the bland side. The tenderloin pieces were rather small for the price of the dish, along with just two slices of potatoes. The potatoes were dry and mostly flavorless, which was not great. If there are other options, I’d suggest avoiding the potatoes.

Drinks

We went with a bottle of red wine for our Italian dinner, and this was probably the best part. We had a middle-of-the-road cab, which was poured well by the server and tasted great. The wine menu was extensive and had other great options that we could have picked from.

We did see some mixed drinks at other tables that looked great. This was the high point of our stop at Sarento’s restaurant.

Hopefully, you find our Sarento’s restaurant review helpful!