Trento

I can’t believe I haven’t yet reviewed Trento. I believe I was waiting to try it several times as I had seen the varied reviews. It is a spot near home, that I recently found and have visited several times since because of the quality fresh Italian focused food (most made in house), decent prices, superb friendly service, and gluten friendly menu. However, I just received a call today that saddened me letting me know my Easter Brunch reservation was canceled as they are closed for an indefinite period of time. I hope they are able to reopen.
My husband and I have never had a bad meal here. They have a fantastic lunch special and happy hour. The waffle fries, stuffed meatballs, and mussels were a family favorite. The waffle fries were the best I have had so far in Austin — the cheese dipping sauce was — AMAZING. My husband doesn’t usually like mussels, but the sauce they used here even lured him to have several.
Their interesting twist on gnocchi was great. They were not the traditional heavy on cheese and cream version. They were instead melt in your mouth, light, and mixed with peas, mushrooms, and pulled pork.
The majority of their pastas, could be substituted with their rice pasta, which didn’t fall apart and was tasty. My husband loved their house made ravioli. Their gluten free pizza was yummy. The toppings, sauce, and crust are a happy marriage of flavor and well balanced taste. The crust itself was light, very crunchy, and didn’t have a significant flavor itself. They would actually run out of gluten free crust often because people preferred it’s extra crunch over the normal.
The red sangria here was delicious, fruity, and made in house — one of my favorites. Also the desserts were a highlight. I loved the adult floats. Even the after dinner chocolate mints that you pick up on your way out were some of the best we have had.
The food of course is great, but the service is what keeps bringing us back. Jerri was our favorite server, and remembered us by name. I always felt like I was coming to visit with friends. We never did have a slow experience — which unfortunately seems to have happened to others. When we would bring our dog to eat outside, they would always bring a bowl of water. I hope I have future opportunities to come back here and eat.

I have enjoyed my time at happy hour here — but time and time again have had trouble flagging down a waitress. Finally, this past experience was the last straw. I went for dinner one weeknight, around 8ish with the place emptier than I had ever seen it. There were maybe 3 – 4 other tables aside from us (party of 2) with one being fairly large (10 – 12). We promptly ordered an appetizer, and about 15 minutes later (when we could find our waitress) we ordered our entrees. Well, another 30 minutes passed and finally our appetizer arrived — we had nothing to eat for the first 45 minutes of our experience. It took an hour and 10 minutes from sitting down to receive our entrees. Needless to say, we scarfed them down (I don’t even remember what they tasted like I was so hungry by then), paid, and took off, never to return again. We even mentioned to the server that it had been over an hour to receive our entrees and nothing was comped, no manager was brought to apologize. Just an «oh well» type attitude.
I’m so sad I’ve soured on Trento, as they were so good in the beginning. What happened!!!

I will say that my review is based on a «to go» order, which may have made the difference from the overall quality of my dinner. However there were some issues even with my «to go» meal. The small Caesar salad came without the anchovy, egg yolk or parmesan. Unless the dressing that came with it was a combination of this. It basically was a box of chopped romaine and croutons. I’m used to having the anchovy on the salad itself and the lettuce dressed already. A little different take with the lettuce being chopped up, rather than have the full leaves presented. This may be completely due to the request for taking the order with us. I guess Vespaio has spoiled me there.
Since we had a large order, a couple of entrée’s and deserts, somehow the veal meatballs never made the order. The waiter was careful to show us everything that was in the bag, somehow we forgot and they forgot to include the veal meatball’s in our order. We didn’t notice this until we got home. So, I guess, we will take responsibility on that one. I ordered the gnocchi pasta. The gnocchi were bigger than I expected, there were also caramelized and a couple a little burnt. Which surprised me since they are usually boiled, so perhaps in warming them up, they were overcooked. Another interesting take, is these may have been made out of potatoes. Which certainly is not an issue, if you are expecting it. I was assuming that these were traditional gnocchi made from flour. It may be a nice touch if this was mentioned on the menu or the server could mention this. I may be way off base here, perhaps they were made of flour, but honestly they tasted a bit like little mashed potato balls. The sauce and the oyster mushrooms were nicely done.
There definitely is a certain vibe here. Older folk, nothing wrong with that since I absolutely consider myself «Older Folk». However, on this friday night they seemed pretty frantic and woefully understaffed. The bar area had just one server, who was swamped. We were there for wine, an appy and wait for our food order, but with that, it took about an hour to get our order. Waiter was fine, wasn’t his fault that there wasn’t enough staff to help him out. If you live in the immediate hood, I guess this would be a good place to check out, but I seriously doubt we would make the drive out from SW Austin to eat there again.

I went here last night with some friends after a board meeting. The service was just fine, but my arugula salad with chicken added left a lot to be desired. The chicken was not a generous portion (although it added $ 5 to the price of the salad) and it was overcooked and dry. However, we grab our protein where we can, and the almonds were a nice touch. I noted that the salad was quite under-​dressed and so I asked the waiter for a little additional dressing. He brought it, and it helped the dryness of the dish quite a bit. Then, as he presented the bill, he disclosed that he was «forced» to add $ 1 for the tablespoon or so of dressing I had used. Seriously? So, let me get this straight… you under-​dress the salad so that the patron has to request more, and then add a dollar to the cost of the meal? I was already spending $ 13 for what I considered an «okay» salad and this just took it that next step toward spurring me to share my experience with all of you.
Word to the wise; tell them to dress your salad properly up front and save yourself a buck… oh, and you might want to skip the chicken, too.

After about 20 lunches and a couple of dinners at Trento, I suppose I should go ahead and let the people know how I feel.
smoked salmon panini — yum
Brussels sprouts — yum
beets — yum
kale — yum
soups — yum
mussels — yum
truffle fries — yum
$ 10 lunch including tea — yay
$ 5 apps & cocktails at HH, M-​F, 3−7p — yay
Monday ½ priced bottles of wine — yay
I never get the pizza, but my dining companions order it often and have no complaints. I just may have to deviate from my beloved salmon panini (so tender & juicy!) to try one of the custom pizzas with the fancier toppings I don’t usually see elsewhere (Brussels sprouts? Onion relish? Capers?).
What’s not to like? Trento doesn’t quite make it past 3.75 stars for me, as nothing except that smoked salmon wows me here. I feel that for the high price point, I should be more impressed with it all. I guess the Westlake location dictates the market, but any place in Austin advertising $ 5 beer (that’s $ 1 off the regular price for imports) as a happy hour discount is a bit out of my league. Having said that, the place is the closest restaurant to my office (besides the onsite café) so don’t be surprised if you see me check-​in here at least 10 times in 2014. Location, location, location!

I love Trento’s happy hour! Trento is within a mile from my office making it a convenient lunch and happy hour spot.
Not only is their white wine, mint pesto PEI mussels my favorite dish at Trento, it is also my favorite mussels in Austin. Mint and pesto sound like odd ingredients in mussels but it really works. The dish is aromatic from the hint of mint. It is served with grilled bread and you will need all of that bread to soak up every last drop that delicious white wine sauce.
Both their veal and stuffed meatballs are good happy hour options. The stuffed meatballs are loaded with rich cheeses to include ricotta and provolone and it is topped with a spicy arrabiata sauce. The veal meatballs will melt in your mouth.
One item I am not a huge fan of is their flat breads. If you are craving pizza go with their wood fired pizzas which are also available gluten free.
They once served these amazing suppli al telefono balls which is similar to arancini. It had a crisp shell and warm cheesy risotto goodness on the inside. Can we get that back on the menu pretty please?
It is easy to eat on the lighter side here too. They have a good selection of salads served in small or large portions and you can add protein for a few dollars more. I recently had the spinach salad with shrimp, simple and healthy.
They have two happy hour menus, one that is 3pm-​7pm Monday through Friday and 5pm-​7pm. It includes $ 3 off wines by the glass, full size appetizers and pizzas running $ 7 – 9 and specials on their oysters. The other happy hour is all night every night and a bit more happier. $ 4 wine, cocktails, beer and smaller portioned appetizers.
If you enjoy wine Sunday and Monday they offer ½ off bottles 3pm-​close and Tuesdays they have free wine tastings 6pm-​7pm.
They have a small patio and they do allow dogs.

I’ve tried Trento for lunch, dinner, and happy hour. The service is often slow, I had to wipe crumbs off of my booth while the server watched, and the food has never risen above average in my experience. I’ve tried the pizza, burger, panini, and salad. The pizza was ok. The burger was a disaster. Panini was not great, and the salad was average. I hope Trento get it together because it’s a nice place and there are few choices in the area.

I like Trento for some things and not for others. I love it for happy hour. Good cocktails and wine, friendly service, and well-​priced apps. Most of the good menu items are in the appetizer section anyway, so this is great news. The pâté is always good, the meatballs, the pickles: all delicious. I also enjoy the sangria.
The pizza… not so good. The crust is decent, and the cheese seems fresh, but the sauce is definitely lacking something… It’s chunky, gets cold quickly, and doesn’t seem to have much seasoning. Thanks for putting the basil on top of the margherita, but could we put it in the sauce instead? Got Tabasco to make it better.
Service is good, the clientele is a little more mature, and there aren’t many kids generally (which is GREAT in my book…). Ambiance is classy and fits with the hill country.
Check out the lunch deal. Small pizza or panini with a salad or soup and a tea or soda. Only $ 10. Definitely go for the panini, not the pizza.

Happy hour every day from 4pm to close. Love this and thank you Trento!
As we’ve visited this location in the last few months, we’ve noticed the attempts to change things up. Chicken Parm and Truffle Fries have always been on point, however my pasta, gnocchi and calamari experiences left much to be desired!
Service is nothing to rave about but they get the job done. I wish that the servers and bartenders appeared to be more Trento-​Cultured.
I’m rooting for this restaurant! I hope that they continue to improve!

I can see why Trento gets 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews. Food is good to ok, service is friendly, but could use some training.
Mussels a little overwhelmed by the amount of herbs in the broth. Served without utensils, had to pull the mussels out using our dinner forks. Seeing our tiny bread plate piled high with shells, waiter asked if we needed a larger plate for shells. No, really? Then he pleasantly brought us a bowl for them.
Caprese salad was outstanding. Fresh tomatoes, beautiful mozzarella. Simple and delicious. Brought out before we were finished with the mussels.
Fettuccine primavera served without a pasta spoon. Dish was ok, but not something we’d order again. Cheese ravioli had nice complex flavor, enjoyed it, just slightly marred by raviolis seeming not entirely fresh.

I’ve noticed the older I get in Unilocal dog years, the easier I am to please. It seems less about finding specific faults and imperfections in some restaurant, and more about deciding, «Did I have a good time here or not?» I’m not sure this is a good or bad thing.
And Trento is a case in point: I didn’t think anything about our Wednesday lunch was mind-​boggling, but there was nothing that got in the way either. Our Rigatoni and Carbonara pastas were tasty, and the stuffed meatballs, Caprese, and side of Brussels sprouts were pleasant as well. I could argue the pricing and cooking times here are a tad aggressive, but they do offer combo lunch specials that are reasonable, and Italian cuisine in Austin is so odd to me I pretty much take what I can get. I’ve been told Trento’s Happy Hour and brunch deals are great.
But the reason I’m a fan of Trento is because when I’m meeting someone here, I always feel like I’m driving to another city, just for the fun of it, for a quick bite at a secret rendezvous. And then we can be back in town dealing with the usual suspects. The fun of being on 360 is it never quite feels like I’m in Austin. So does that constitute an appropriate criterion, a basis and foundation for another serious investigatory Unilocal review? Nah, probably not — just go ahead and blame it on the dog years.

I’ve been here twice; I came back the second time because the food was good.
I also happen to have a friend who works here, so I came to visit. She was really busy apparently because another server didn’t show up.
We had exchanged roughly ten words: My order, and her explanation of the chaotic nature of the restaurant. I was hoping to talk to her more considering I was sitting by myself.
After sitting by myself in the cold restaurant for 25 minutes, my food came. The manager dropped my food off and rudely said: «French toast AND a pizza?» To which I replyed «Um thanks.» before he marched off.
Let me clarify I ordered so much food because I wanted to eat but I also wanted to grab dinner for my friend and I later. I understand that the manager didn’t know this, but either way, his tone was uncalled for.
After not seeing my server for a bit, she stops by and hastily tells me that the same manager that had dropped my food off told her that if she spoke to me she would be written up.
I understand that I’m sitting by myself and that my server is my friend, but I am also a guest in your restaurant. I am paying for your food and tipping for the service. I am not a friend just wanting to talk. I am also a customer.
I left irritated, and without saying bye to my server. I’m giving this review 2 stars for the food, none for the bad management.
I will return providing he isn’t running the restaurant at the time.

Love, Love, Love this place.
Had a phenomenal HH experience here with several friends around the New Year and still remember it fondly. Great food. Delicious Drinks. Good friends. You get it.
Then I really fell for this place when I had brunch with my Grandparents. I get almost apoplectic taking them to a place that I don’t know they already love. Trento hit it out of the park. They LOVED it. L-​O-​V-​E-​D!!!
I posted a pic of my meal (Proscuitto Benedict w Pancetta Hash). My god was that meal delicious. I can’t recommend it enough.
Thanks Trento for being awesome. And thanks to the hostess who had to take our pic a ridiculous amount of times. I won’t get going on that.

We came on a Sunday a little before the dinner hour, thinking they were open based on the hours listed on Unilocal.They weren’t open quite yet. They do not open until 5 on Sunday for dinner (I sent in an edit of their Sunday hours). There were 6 of us celebrating my daughter’s last orchestra concert of the year. Instead of turning us away, they welcomed us in. They set us up and quickly tried to figure out what they could offer us straight away. Turns out the kitchen was pretty much set for dinner service, so we went ahead and ordered. Service was attentive the entire evening and food was delicious. They were out of the first two bottles of red wine we ordered, but recommended one they did have. It was more expensive than our second choice, but they charged us the lower cost of the wine they were out of. Of course we ordered dessert. It was a celebration. Someday I am going to try one of their adult crafted floats.
I had been here before for dinner. We came here to plan a trip to San Fransisco, which basically just meant going on Unilocal and figuring out where we were going to eat. The food was good then, too, as was the service. During dessert, they somehow made too much espresso, so we got the extra.
While the food is good – I’d give it a solid 4 stars – I have to try a few more things before I can go up to five. The service, however, is five. I’ll have to come back for brunch and lunch.
PS Yes, they have Brussels Sprouts. Please please let this trend never end. Extra bonus points for having kale. You should eat more kale.

Me: Wow, this place is so classy and stylish. I love the open layout and design. I wonder who built it?
Amy D: Um, it was originally built as a Chili’s
Trento is the 3^rd restaurant to move into this building and hopefully it will be here to stay. I don’t get out to this part of Austin too frequently but Amy D works right near Trento so we finally were able to settle into a happy hour recently. I could see this becoming a regular happy hour spot. I highly recommend coming to the bar area for happy hour as it is open, the bar has tons of space and you can get cocktails for $ 6 a piece. Amy raved about the mussels but we ended up splitting the veal meatballs (warning: they are green) and cheese.
I haven’t had dinner here yet but will come back to try it as our food was really great. The bartenders were fantastic and were on top of everything, filling our drinks and water as needed. On your way out the door don’t forget the packaged samples of dark chocolate.

First visited Trento for a Unilocal event. Was really impressed. It’s a good Italian restaurant with a fun bar area. Less ‘stuffy’ than nearby Siento. Most of the menu focuses on the ‘normal’ selection of pizzas, pastas and entrees that have a unusual twist. I had a wonderful pizza margherita and a very tasty chicken parm in recent weeks at Trento. The chicken liver app is as good as that offered by the gone (but not forgotten) Le Marseillais in Austin. I love the bar. Very friendly with good service and drinks — perfect for happy hour.

I kind of feel like I can’t REALLY comment on this place because I didn’t have Italian food here, but the food we did have was great =) We were there for Restaurant Week Brunch this morning, and we really enjoyed our meal. I think I’d do Brunch there again, and I’m interested in trying out their normal menu.
I had a Bloody Mary (super fresh and nicely spicy), Burger & Fries (totally not anwhere near Italian, right? But the fries were crispy and well seasoned, and the burger was so delicious and juicy!), and I finished off with the «Chocolate Pâté» (with caramel and hazelnuts… it’s totally enough for 2 people).
Friend had the Sangria (she said it was good but she could have handled it a bit sweeter), Sausage Omelette with Pancetta Hash (I stole some. SO. GOOD.), and also the Chocolate Pâté.
Friendly and unpretentious service all the way through. Would recommend.

I’m almost shocked to read all of the high reviews on this place. I went on Valentine’s Day and this place hands down ruined that day. (Extremely delayed Unilocal review but better than never) We made a reservation like most people in anticipation for a crowded night out. The reservation was completely worthless. We arrived 10 minutes earlier before our time, I expected to wait a little while, but not an hour and a half to be seated finally.
The menu was condensed for the night and you had certain options that you could choose from. Not a big deal that the menu didn’t have a variety of choices. The fact that the tables were practically stacked upon each other and that I was having dinner with another couple was thrilling. I had conversations with my neighboring table because we were so close. Needless to say the atmosphere wasn’t suitable for the holiday. Too crowded and clearly the restaurant couldn’t keep up with the demand of the night.
Not only was the wait to sit down horrendous, the wait for the waitress to come greet us and get drinks order was unbearable especially since she strolled by the table numerous times before stopping. When she came we were obviously ready to order since we had so much time to look over the menu. My boyfriend and I ordered our meal and wanted side of potatoes to go along with our meal which was an option on another dish. After getting our appetizer had arrived, the waitress came to inform us that they could not do a side of potatoes because it was rationed out for the amount of dishes they had available to serve that night. Fine no big deal, we decided we would just order 3 dishes in total one that included the potatoes. The manager came out to tell us we could not do that either.
At this point this place is just being ridiculous. I was being told that they could not sell me an additional dish for whatever reason. We were willing to pay $ 40 for a side of potatoes. The manager said it wasn’t an option because it would cause the restaurant kitchen to go into chaos. I could not believe what I was being told. I was turned down for offering more money for an item that would take any chef 5 minutes to make.
Appalled at the entire situation that has taken place at this restaurant nearly 3 hours after we arrived there. No dinner was served nor did we receive a drink refill in that time frame. We decided to cut our loss and get a pizza for the night at 10pm.
Regardless of the high demand of a holiday. Being told by any manager that a kitchen could go into chaos for making one of the 5 dishes they had set for the menu is outrageous and ridiculous it down right doesn’t make sense. It’s a poor excuse for running a business. To note, there were multiple other couples who cut their loss and left after waiting hours on end to receive sub par service.

If the citizens of Trento, Italy knew of the misrepresentation of their name that this restaurant was committing… I’m sure there would be some mafia style justice going down.
Many have said it before. Austin lacks in Italian cuisine. Reading through the reviews got me all sorts of happy. The menu is simple and full of traditional items.
The food is downright overpriced and disappointing. Now… it’s not all terrible. There are some little gems here.
*Antipasti — that’s Appetizers to you foreign language deficient types. As Eric Cartman describes…“It’s what we eat, before we eat… to make us more hungry.“
Calamari Fritti — well fried and seasoned. Light crisp batter with a spicy tomato sugo. Sugo is sauce… seriously…you need a translator to eat here. The calamari was the highlight of the entire meal. On a side note, it always amazes me how much people will pay for deep fried bait.
Carciofi alla Romana — Broiled artichokes with sundried tomato aoili. Not really sure what made them Roman, but my dining companions seemed to enjoy them.
*Main Meal
One diner orders the Veal Picatta — I won’t get into details, but let’s just say he was not pleased. He left the meal barely half eaten.
I ordered the Brussels Sprout Pizza — I’m just relieved they aren’t advertising fresh hand tossed dough, because I’ve had better crust on a Totino’s. The toppings included the sprout leaves… about 8 leaves, not even equaling a full Brussels sprout, grain mustard, onion, bacon and goat cheese. A few scant pieces of bacon and a couple dollops of goat cheese were obscured by mass amounts of unadvertised apples. I am not a fan of cooked fruit. I’m even less a fan of fruit in my food. I tried it anyway, giving it a chance. The apples were so overpowering and ridiculously cloying. It needs to be renamed and moved to the dessert menu.
I saved the final diner for a reason. Our final diner is vegetarian/​novice vegan. She ended up with the Conchiglie all’arabiata. That’s fancy foreign talk for «Angry Seashells». I’m not sure what made them angry, but they lacked the spiciness that defines an arrabiata. The impression I got was that the dish was bland and generally not good. Now the reason I made mention of the fact that the third diner is a veghead is this…
…asking for veggie friendly options, the server pointed out that if she was not opposed to eggs, the Carbonara was both delicious and meat free. Now… call me crazy, but the menu states it has guanciale. Guanciale is unsmoked bacon. Maybe the server doesn’t consider bacon meat? I know I don’t…
The dessert round was back to decent. I mean… it’s pretty tough to mess up dessert cocktails. The Espresso Martini is excellent. It’s like a chilled spiked cappuccino. They have a few grappa selections, which I found rewarding. There was an order of Cherry Zeppole. The zeppole were well fried and dense. Subtle cherry flavors with a light sugar dusting. The accompanying chocolate sauce unfortunately seized up and solidified.
Well planned, but poorly executed is my overall take on Trento.
The food alone, would have barely garnered 1 – 2 stars from me. The three stars is a result of the service. The service is friendly and attentive.
The short and skinny? Go for drinks and apps, but don’t bother eating anything substantial…

If there’s one area the Austin restaurant scene is lacking, I’d say it’s Italian. We’ve got sushi covered, Mexican, yep, but Italian? There aren’t many standout Italian restaurants in Austin that I’ve found and it’s unfortunate because I have a lot of out of town guests who want Italian and I never know where to take them.
Had high hopes for Trento, especially since it’s close to home.
Anyway, dropped in over the holidays and got a waiter who didn’t know the menu/​specials at all. We actually had to tell him about what we had read on Unilocal in 3 or 4 different cases and he would ask us to hang on a sec while he confirmed. We are pretty easy going diners but it was disappointing. They definitely need to iron things out before I’ll consider bringing out of town guests for dinner.
Long story short, the butternut squash soup was the highlight of our meal. Pasta that was supposed to have some spice was very bland. Etc.
Off the Happy Hour menu, the meatballs and the risotto were good. Not bad but not great. — Avoid the eggplant bruschetta at all costs! Seriously, it was even hard to look at.
And speaking of Happy Hour, if you are just going for a few glasses of wine, this place is a bargain. 3 dollars off per glass can get you down to 5 bucks a glass on some pretty good wine.