Stortini

I've been eating at Stortini since they opened. The food is consistently fabulous. Christine is a genius. Sadly, Stortini has closed. I ate there the last night, Saturday November 1st. I ordered extra food to take home so I could continure the yummy food for a couple more days. Fortunately, The Red House is still open and their Happy Hour is wonderful You can take your dog if you sit outside on the patio. Pros: Food, service, wine and being able to sit outdoors when the weather is nice more

My husband and I happend on this place several months ago and had a wonderful meal..he's Italian and very picky. It's become a weekly spot for us and we frequently bring friends, none of whom have been disappointed. The eggplant ravioli is divine, as is the grilled shrimp & pasta, the gnochi, and the pasta with wild mushrooms. If you like red sauce, get the rigatoni with parmesan meatballs. The sausage & fig appetiser is delish and everyone loves the risottoballs. The wine list is great, and I love the grapefruit martini made with fresh juice. \r One caution, they tend to over cook the steak on the steak & fries with cippolina glaze so order it less cooked than you normally would...but those fries with aioli yumm..... oh, and the service has been wonderful also. Very attentive and accomodating. The bar out back is always hopping, especially during happy hour. more

We chose Stortini's because we were in the mood for food that tasted home-cooked. With El Chile packed for the night, we headed down the road to Stortini's and were not disappointed.\r I've eaten Italian food since I could chew; my family's Italian. The menu at Stortini's reminded me of trips to Italy: the pasta with rabbit was like my grandmother's, seafood, antipasti, it was all amazing. Who knew that I could travel to the east side of Austin to get food as fresh and as good as that which I used to eat in my family's kitchen?\r Our waiter was very attentive and did a good job making sure our party of eight was taken care of. His wine pairings were spot on.\r After our meal we headed over to the bar behind Stortini's and enjoyed a few drinks before heading home. One of the best evenings I've had in a while. Pros: Fresh ingredients, ample parking, friendly staff, exciting dishes more

It's this attention to the little things that has made the El Chile crew such a success, and they repeat that recipe here at Stortini. The white bean dip and homemade bread to start, the Italian-only wine list, the homemade pastas and handthrown pizzas, attentive service, the hip meets Italian auntie decor--it all measures up to a great dining experience. And the real star is the food. It's innovative and delicious. The chef has found her niche in Italian comfort food. The last time I was there I had the housemade sausage and fig. (brilliant) The goat's cheese and honey to start. (I wanted to order another one it was so good) And for mains, I had the lasagna and my boyfriend had the duck and squash ravioli. The lasagna was rich and flavorful and my boyfriend had to fend me off with his fork to keep me away from his ravioli. It's restaurants like this that make me wish I had two stomachs. And again with the details, being able to end the evening with a cocktail at the Red House is a nice touch. Pros: Everything on the menu, the ambience, wine list Cons: It's no longer open for lunch more

I was not impressed with this local eatery. The service was slow and the food was average. I have been befor and have also eaten at El Chili. Both restaurants can have great food if you catch them on the right night but neither are consistent in the quality of food,portion or service. There are to many great dependable restaurant choices in central Austin that are consistent in quality, expected portion and service. I sort of get the impression the owners try to cut corners as much as they can to increase the bottom line and do not expect the consumer to notice. Fortunately the consumer does notice and realizes there are choices out there. These two places are not on my list of choices. I wonder how often they will have to change the name befor they realize why business is so slow. Hmmmm!! more

I went for lunch with 2 friends in December (wait was too long at East Side)\r \r We were served very good bread & spread as an appetizer.\r I had the Chicken Parmesan sandwich & it was very tasty. It was so large, I took 1/2 home.\r My friends gobbled up every bit of their entrees too.\r \r Service was decent, prices were cheap (under $10 for most entrees).\r Reading the other reviews, I'm wondering if perhaps they have different servers at night?\r \r I will definitely go back. more

i came here with a group of friends expecting to eat at El Gringo's which i was in love with.....found it had changed names and menus and still decided to give it a shot.\r Not a good choice.\r The service was pretty slow....i figured it's pretty hard to make a bad italian dish..\r My sister and I ordered the lasagna and what ended up being served to me was a dish of mushy cheese and grease. I couldn't even see the pasta...How is that possible in a lasagna dish? \r We ordered beers while waiting for our food and they didn't come out until the food came out which was a good while to wait for your drinks....\r we ordered dessert, being described in an appetizing manner on the menu...\r what came out where cold hard pasties that seemed as if they had been purchased from HEB, opened, and thrown on a plate.\r Now my friends who i ended up running into ended up liking what they got which was NOT the lasagna...oh and my boyfriend got the calamari which was like 7 pieces of flavorless calamari.....not worth the price. \r So....that's my story. Maybe it's changed....maybe they've gotten it down by now.\r I only hope. Pros: good location Cons: yucky italian food more

very nice little spot. Great lunch prices and choices. I had dinner with my husband and enjoyed the ravioli and a carafe of house wine. Service was great, we'll be back! more

I met a friend for lunch recently and sat on the patio outside. Our waitress was very attentive and warm. Our white wine choice was excellent and when the food arrived it tasted wonderful. My friend realized he had accidentally ordered the wrong item off the menu. Our waitress immediately wisked the plate away and reappeared shortly with the entree he actually wanted.\r I am delighted to find a new place with delicious homemade tasting food and a great atmosphere. It should be easy to find a good Italian place, but it's not. I am headed back there for another lunch experience today! Pros: fresh, homemade tasting food, creative selection more

We enjoy the bar patio so we greatly looked forward to trying the new adjoining restaurant and went into it on a lovely Fall evening in good spirits. That is the end of the good part of our dining experience. First, we had dreadful service. But that's livable if the food is good. My wife is a chef so while I may doubt my untrained palette, we both gave it two thumbs down. I hate to even start with the fact that I think our hummus was ""regifted"". The bread is served with a spread that has a chickpea base. We dipped into it and there was a lump..we thought it might be a pepper or something not minced...brought it up and it was a small piece of bread. Hmmm, we were optimistic and hoped somehow bread had fallen in and then somehow been covered by more hummus.\r Then we got the calamari. Chewy! We BOTH could not decipher what kind of sauce was served with it but it had zero flavor and the consistency of warm cream cheese. We squeezed lemon juice on it waiting for the waitress to return so that we could ask for another sauce. Didn't help and the waitress didn't come back for about 30 minutes. Someone else brought our entrees, and the calamari still sat there cold and uneaten. We overlooked that and dug into our entrees. You know on Hell's Kitchen when Chef Ramsey picks up the risotto and yells because it's in one big clump? Yep. AND it tasted horribly bitter. Total mush with hen on top. My pasta with mushrooms and cream Marsala sauce tasted like milk (runny) sans Marsala. We had hoped for more wine but the waitress still didn't return and our uneaten calamari remained on the table even after finishing the entrees. Finally another waitress said ""Was the calamari ok?"" and we explained the issue with the sauce served with it. She told us next time we come back we should ask for a different sauce. (We tried! And the menu didn't list the sauce...) and she walked off.\r We waited for the bill for 30 more minutes after we were done. Just awful... Pros: It was a nice Fall evening Cons: Everything else more

It's simply not working. Atmosphere and new decor was fine and comfortable. The staff were their usual friendly selves. Our waitress was a little heavy handed (nice word for clumsy) and everything put down on the table was presented with a SLAM which was a little unnerving. Whenever she came around, I was on point to jump over the back of the booth in effort to dodge flying sauces and wine if need be. But more importantly, the food wasn't good. I had the caprese salad. I'm all for a new spin on an old dish but this one wasn't good. It contained cherry tomatoes, blocks of mozzarella served in a bowl and drowned in olive oil. Needed a kick of balsamic at a minimum. Salt and pepper please! And perhaps a strainer. The other salads were just okay. I had the Rigatoni with meatballs and it was okay...standard. My husband had a pasta with rabbit which the waitress said was the chef's signature dish. It looked like canned tuna fish had been spread over noodles. Tasted like it too. Power of the mind I suppose. But it simply did not work. Our friend dining with us had another dish which escapes me but I clearly remember the words ""inedible"" escaping her lips. Not a good sign. Overall I'd give it a D. Not a completely bad experience but I don't think we'll be repeat customers. more