Grotto Ristorante

Loved the food, probably one of the best Italian pasta dishes I have had. Wait staff was a little slow but very friendly. Wish they were in Austin.

I’ve been to this chain restaurant plenty of items — homecoming, prom, anniversaries– you name it! But this particular location is what I’m reviewing. Staff was on point. Attentive and very nice. The restaurant in the casino can be quite busy at anytime but she handle it very well. They have HH I think from 2pm –6pm — includes $ 8 pizzas and $ 5 beers and wine? But I had lunch instead. Had the bolognese pork pasta and it was amazing. Warm and the sauce we perfect.

The best service I have received since moving here. Excellent bread, bruschetta, and pasta.

I’ve eaten here 3 times. Tomato soup is delicious, I love the bread and oil. Fried mushrooms and lasagna are good as well. Went for happy hour and had peach bellinis that were very tasty and their herb chicken pizza. Pizza was crispy and flavorful. Also we tried their spinach and artichoke dip, it was decent. I prefer the soft bread to the harder croutons. Tiramisu was very delicious too.

Food was good, service wasn’t all that great. We asked for iced tea and never got it (but it wasn’t in the bill so I guess that’s ok). I recommend this place to eat. Reasonably priced and good food.

Seriously our favorite restaurants in Vegas are in the Golden Nugget!!! This time we tried Grotto. Everything we ate was Delicious!!! From the warm bread they brought out in the beginning, to the meatball appetizers, then on to all of the 4 mains courses we had at the table… DELISH!!! One person had the lasagna, another had a rigatoni dish, another had a spicy seafood dish, and I had the Veal and Fettuccini dish. My stomach hurts and my mouth is still watering thinking about it. It was ALL so good!!! Can’t wait to come back for dessert :-D

A group of us went for happy hour the other day and enjoyed a few drinks and appies in the bar area. It wasn’t busy, as we went on a Tuesday around 2:30pm — but the service was quite slow despite the near empty bar area.
I had Peroni ($ 5) and a shrimp cocktail ($ 13.95) which was extremely overpriced for the happy hour portion, which was 4 smallish prawns. Not very high quality, and they were a bit over-​cooked. Our table also had the stuffed mushrooms and an order of bruschetta, which was quite tasty. I would go back for the drink specials, but I’d rather eat somewhere else for better food.

We wanted a special place to share an anniversary and birthday celebration so opted for this since it was convenient to our hotel. Ambiance was a bit too noisy for good conversation so if you want a quiet place to chat, this is not it.
Food was fine, a few notches above typical Italian and well done. One of us had an order that got mucked up but the waitress handled it beautifully and got the right one to us within about 10 minutes. The major disappointment was that management didn’t come out to apologize, and nothing was offered as compensation for making 1 of us wait to eat while everyone else had their food.

We were spending our last night on Fremont at the Golden Nugget and Grotto was recommended to us when we told our friends we wanted Italian.
Atmosphere is lacking. Its smack in the middle of the casino and very loud and smokey. This normally does not bother me in Vegas — but it didn’t feel like a real restaurant… just kind of a spot to eat in the middle of the casino.
My sister ordered the pizza, I ordered the veal parmesan. We had a soup and salad to start.
Starters were fine.
Our mains came out — her pizza was basically cold as if it had been sitting out. My veal parm was borderline disgusting. It is rare I leave leftovers — I left over half my meal.
It was super expensive for the quality and portion size.
Honestly worth the cab ride to the strip for proper Italian. I cannot stress how bad this meal was. Go somewhere else.

Meatballs meatballs meatballs! Some of the best I’ve had in long time! So light and delicious! The tiramisu is a must!
Watch out for the peppers that are served with the house salad. I tried cutting into one and ended up wearing some of the juice on my shirt… right before a show no less.
Service could have been a little faster that night, but they did have a banquet of over 20 people that night so it wasn’t a big deal.

I came here with a large dinner party and where we were seated in the room to the left of check in. That night it seemed to consist of just large parties. So as far as being located in Vegas downtown I think it’s a great venue for celebratory occasions. I only tried three items, the bread, artichoke & spinach dip, and the Cannelloni di Pollo. It would have been nice to have vinegar on the table along with the oil for the bread. I thought the artichoke and spinach dip was okay. I found it to be a little watery for my taste. I enjoyed my Cannelloni di Pollo. It was only an an appetizer portion but after stuffing my face with bread it was the perfect portion. Being that it was a large party I was pleasantly surprised that the waitress gave us all separate checks. I know none of us were expecting that as we were prepared with cash.
Will I go here again? Probably not. There is just much better Italian food in Vegas at a much better price point.

We came here mostly because we were tired, staying at the Golden Nugget, and didn’t feel like going too far out of the way. We sat in a part of the restaurant that is separated from the rest by one of the resort’s pathways. In some ways, that was nice, because it felt a little more private, and at the same time you could people watch. On the other hand, service may have been slowed just a tad, due to location. The food was good, and the cocktails were nice. The tiramisu was OK. I did enjoy the dessert cart coming over to show us what we could choose from. Nothing very outstanding, but nothing bad either.

Had a wedding reception for a party of 20. The food tasted great, the service was wonderful and all of the food arrived to our table at the same time and all warm, which is difficult to do with a party that large. The manager was great and even comped us a huge piece of wedding cake. All of our guests enjoyed themselves and had a wonderful time.

Our table of 8 dined here on a recent Saturday evening. On the recommendation of the door man when we arrived, we tried Grotto and were glad that we did.
Good Italian food as part of a large menu in a lively atmosphere. Veal Marsala was tasty and the vegetables were good as well (asparagus in particular). Sauces, which are a good indicator of a restaurant’s quality, were smooth and flavorful.
Service was the highlight, with Denise being a treat as a server. We had just had a poor service experience at lunch the same day, and Denise showed that with effort and a good attitude, you can turn a good dinner into a fun evening!

Came here with my mother when she was staying at the Golden Nugget for a business trip and I have to admit I had heard bad things and read some bad reviews but I was pleasantly surprised!
The only bad part of our visit was at the very beginning for me and I have read this to be true in some othe reviews on here as well. We had to wait a really long time at the Host desk to be greeted and seated and there were only 3 or 4 tables eating in the entire place there was really no excuse for the hostess to be MIA.
From there we got seated with a great view of the pool and we were introduced to our server. Great experience from there on out!
They brought out some ridiculously good bread with some oil and basalmic. We ordered a Margharita Pizza and a Casaer Salad to split and everything was incredibly good!
Great service and beautiful food at a decent price,
I will definitely be back!

Let me start this review off by bragging on the bread. Holy shizballs, the fresh baked bread with the basil and garlic infused olive oil was the bomb. I could have eaten that all day. I wish the other food was on this same level.
So, my first experience with the Grotto was ordering Chicken and Goat Cheese Pizza. The crust was just okay, but I loved the sauce and the goat cheese. The chicken unfortunately tasted boiled versus grilled so it gave a weird one note texture experience and almost blandness. I think I would have enjoyed the pizza as a vegetarian option better. Also, the price I paid for it made me shake my head. Vegas is overly expensive for no reason.
On day two, I was really wanting brunch and their brunch options caught my eye. I HAD to have the Ossobuco Hash. It sounded way amazing. So I ordered and I think it confused the waiter that I wasn’t drinking. Look, the prices I’ve ran into have turned me almost tea totaller. Plus, watching drunk douchebags over the past 24 hours have turned me off.
So I order my food and I’m just people watching while trying to figure out if I can eat my food without choking on the fumes of cigarette smoke– because obviously it’s 1995 vs 2015, and my food comes out, I look down and I’m immediately disappointed. I don’t see any of the rich colors associated with Ossobuco. It just looks like shredded, boiled beef. Also, I was failing to see the hash part. But the biggest sin were the two petrified volley balls sitting on that plate masquerading as poached eggs. No cook with pride would serve that. No line runner worth their salt would approve that. No waiter paying close attention would let that mess make it to me. They were boiled eggs. For the amount of time I waited (and I’m an easy, easy going person to wait on) and knowing how many hands had to touch that plate, I was kinda livid. Well, more insulted. Not all of us are so drunk that everything looks awesome. I had to track down my waiter and tell him what was wrong and it’s like he knew! I’m like WTF, if you knew the eggs weren’t poached correctly, WHY would you serve them to me?! With no other moisture in the dish, it hinged on the runny yoke.
So he takes the plate and I wait some more. Finally a woman brings it out and she’s cordial enough but something about her gave an air of agitation. Well excuse me doll face for having a sense of culinary pride. I thanked her for my order and was happy to see things looked right. I broke the eggs and was very pleased as the yoke ran beautiful on my plate. I tucked into the meal and it was okay. There were missteps pertaining to layered flavoring and again, the key ingredients of Ossobuco. It definitely wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really good or great either. It was just okay.
Do I think I’ll eat her again? Nah. I never want to return to Vegas again!

OLD VEGAS ITALIANO
Came here with a group of my co-​workers to celebrate the MARCH BIRTHDAYS.
The resteraunt is located right next to the hotel pool & they have an awsome view of the shark tank too. The décor make me think of how an italian resteraunt looked like back in the days. There were also cool looking blown glass chandeliers. The lighting was dim & the place was packed.
We had a party of 5 & the host seated us quickly followed by our server to greet us. I wish I remembered his name because he is what made this review a 5 star. He was very professional & informed us about the specials for the night.
We started off with some cocktails that came out quickly & he gave us a few minutes to look over the menu.
We were given hot fluffy bread at the beginning and with some garlic infused olive oil.
TOMATO CAPRESE $ 12.99 — we ordered 2 and they split it up for us and also added one more mozzarella-​tomato-​basil & so each dish got 2 pieces which was nice but we couldn’t even eat more than one because they were so big.
LOBSTER BISQUE $ 9.99 — it was nice & delicious but definately cannot have one serving to myself
SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP $ 9.99 — can’t really go wrong with this appetizer
PENNE CON GAMBERI AL LIMONE $ 20.99 — this was the dish I ordered & I have to say that it was just okay. The pasta it self could have used more flavoring because it was a bit bland… the shrimps had a lot of flavor though.
PROSCIUTTO-​WRAPPED CHILEAN SEABASS $ 29.99 — it was delicious… presentation was a little plain but it was gonna be eaten regardless. The seabass was cooked to a perfect medium temperature.
CIOPPINO $ 35.99 — this was a flavor packed dish. Lots of different seafood from clams to crab claws with the flavorful broth it comes in.
ITALIAN CHOPPED $ 17.99 — the dressing was tossed in & there was a bite of every ingredient of tomato.onion.feta.kalamata olives. Grilled chicken. The chicken was also juicy & not dried out.
CHICKEN PICATTA $ 19.99 — didn’t get to try this one ahhahaha
COCONUT CREAM PIE $ 7.99 — OMG it was just filled with cream but there was just enough toasted coconuts on the outside to give a little texture & flavor along with the pie crust.
TIRAMISU $ 7.99 — you could taste a little bit of the alcohol which was great & it literally melted away the moment it touched your toungue which is exactly what I look for in a tiramisu! The décor presentation was cute too.
CREME BRULEE $ 7.99 — simple but the least of my favorites out of all the desserts but only because it just tasted like a really good normal crème brûlée. The sugar crust on top was perfect & the crème inside was creamy soft perfection.
STRAWBERRY CASSATTA $ 7.99 — my first experience & the light angel cake on the inside was amazing with the cream & fresh strawberries with strawberry sauce… DROOL
CAPACCINO $ 4.50
BOTTLE OF ARGYLE PINOT NOIR $ 65
The fact that he lit up a candle for every single one of the desserts was a very awsome touch to the whole dinner. One sad thing was that they didn’t offer anything little for dessert which would have just been a nice touch.
ALL-​IN-​ALL service was great… ambience & décor was wonderful & fun… food was delcious… didn’t really realize timing for everything because we came to dine & enjoy ourselves so you don’t realize the timing on anything. But i know we were there for over 2 hours!!! =]

The server Denise was great. Had the meatballs as appetizer and were great. Salad fantastic. I had the lasagna and very happy
Do laugh at the fake desert cart
Wish I could go back

I was excited to try this place out, lots and lots of great reviews; the place is within the Golden Nugget and right across from the shark tank.
We had a reservation for a party of 14, and they were able to accommodate us, our server Denise was chatty and friendly, she asked where we were all from, it was an even split between California and Arizona. She even remembered most of our names, and she told us she was 63, man she didn’t look it at all! Life has been kind to her.
After glancing over the menu 1^st thing that caught my eye, damn this place is pricy, for a bowl of spaghetti and sauce was 20 bucks, that stuff better be amazing! Also on the table they brought out fresh sourdough bread and oil with spicy herbs, that was pretty tasty too, the bread was delish!
So after the sticker shock, I went with the Pollo Romano and small Caesar salda (additional 4.99 charge). The Caesar salad had crisp romaine lettuce, garlic croutons, a great tasting Caesar dressing and was blanketed in Parmigiano-​Reggiano cheese. It was a great tasting salad,
The Pollo Romano, on the menu had great potential, it Romano-​crusted chicken scaloppini with artichokes & Roma tomatoes in a white wine sauce served with penne sugo rosa for $ 19.99, I guess I should have really pay attention to the scaloppini part of the chicken, man my chicken was small, almost to the point of not being there, it was 2 pieces about the size of a half dollar and as thin as a sheet of paper, super small, piled on top a heaping mound of spinach with 1 artichoke heart cut in half propped to make the chicken appear bigger and to the side of this was a huge mound of pasta with minimal sauce, so very disappointed in my dinner, did it taste good, yea the 2 bites of chicken was great in flavor, the white wine sauce was thin and sparse, the mound of spinach felt like it was never ending, and the pasta was cooked all the way but was very dry. I do not feel this meal was worth the price. Everyone was under wowed by their meal, but had a great time enjoying everyone’s company.
Sometimes you can’t believe the hype of a place, and I feel this place falls in that category.

My general impression is ‘meh’, which is sad, because the food was good.
For three of us we had the Calamari, the Meatzza and an Italian Chopped salad. The calamari was nice and cripsy. The pizza was a nicely sized thin crust, they had crushed red pepper and parmesan cheese to boot! The Italian Chopped was by far my favorite. When you put bacon in a salad it becomes a game of ‘Find The Bacon!‘
The unfortunate part was the service. The bulk of the restaurant was empty, only the bar area really had any people in it. We sat down, it took probably 10 minutes just to get menus. After that it took another 10 minutes for beers to be delivered. After that our waitress never showed back up after almost 15 minutes AND someone saying they’d go find her for us. Apparently they never did. We moved to the bar. 15 minutes later our waitress came back out and proceeded to get in an argument with the bartender about which one of them screwed up someone else’s bill right in front of several customers (including us) and also never even apologized for not having shown back up.
I don’t think I’d go back again even though the food was solid.