Bar Cantinetta

Nice quaint spot for date night. We shared the short ribs and the pasta with mushrooms and crème fraîche. Bonus they serve mocktails. The waiter was very good and gave us a freebie virgin drink.

fabulous food, service, and atmosphere. We showed up at 8 on Friday night and it was obviously packed, but the front desk/​server was so nice she made a space for us to have a drink and wait for a table. Very welcoming staff which can be hit or miss around Seattle sometimes. We wound up eating at the bar, and the bartender just did a marvelous job suggesting things and helping us find the right wine. Really a nice touch – i am a former long time restaurant worker and as a result good service is really the most important part for me at times. Bar Cantinetta REALLY hit it out of the park on all fronts.

New favorite local spot! Great addition to Madison valley. Staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. Cocktails are delicious. Great wine options. Looks like everything is made fresh and in house from their small kitchen. I want to try everything! :)

After a lovely anniversary dinner at a nearby restaurant, my girlfriend and I were looking for a good spot to get drinks, maybe dessert and just hang out. The first establishment we stopped at shooed us out the door as soon as we walked in saying, «We are closed.» It was 9:20pm and the sign on the door that oh so gently tapped us on the way out clearly indicated 10pm was the actual closing time.
So we walked a few doors away and found Bar Cantinetta and it was perfect. Not only were they still open and warmly welcoming guests, but the even the kitchen was still serving food.
The whole place had the feel of a large Italian family gathering. Tables were small and intimate but everywhere I looked I saw them pushed together to accommodate groups of 6, 8 or 10 people having a great time.
We sat at the bar, which is right next to the kitchen and allows you to see all the food prep. Normally this makes me feel voyeuristic but it was kind of fascinating to be so close to the cooks that you could shake their hand.
That is when we saw the delicious donut platter. And another. And another. They were coming out of the kitchen so fast and frequently, we knew we had to try that dish. And every time another plate go from scratch to served, we anxiously hoped it was our order. We must have seen 10 of them before we got ours and then they just kept on churning out more.
The donuts were the only thing we had here but they were amazing. The ambiance was so friendly, warm and inviting that we can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu.

Overall We really enjoyed our meal and the experience. The ambiance is intimate and classy-​cosy. However the night we were there it was VERY warm inside. Luckily it cooled a bit as people left and the air outside find its way in.
The food was very good. Loved the tartare and quail egg. The pastas were excellent.
I found the wine list a little over priced and limited. But the waiter was generous to let us try some wines by the glass after we finished our bottle.

This is such a great gem in Madison Valley!
Definitely a small, intimate restaurant that is beautifully decorated inside. Make sure to take a peek at the lovely chandeliers!
We had such a delicious meal. I love that their menu is seasonal and they always have fresh ingredients.
Smaller plates which is perfect to share and try a bite of everything. We had:
— Fontina fonduta, white truffle butter, and baguette. This is an amazing way to start your meal. This is a soft baguette, brushed with truffle butter, baked on the oven to get a nice crispy outside, but soft inside. The fonduta cheese is soft and can be spread right into your baguette. Highly recommended!
— Bib lettuce salad with a champagne vinaigrette. This salad was clean & crisp. Lightly dressed (my pet peeve is overly soaked & soggy lettuce!) with a great complement to my meal
— Tagliatelle, sugar snap peas, pancetta, and a fresh egg. This was my favorite meal of the night. The fresh egg is broken and transforms into the sauce for the pasta. The pasta was deliciously fresh, perfectly al dente. The snap peas & pancetta offered texture to the pasta and the saltiness of the pancetta rounded out the dish.
— Hangar steak & crispy frites. We had our steak cooked medium– perfectly pink & tender. The frites were crispy and had a truffle oil flavor to them.
This entire meal was paired with a bottle of Stevens ’11 cab franc.
Such a delicious meal and I love that we live so close by. Definitely recommend for you to check out this exceptional restaurant!

Great pasta dishes and a cute little restaurant. Great spot for dinner dates. I would recommend ordering the cheese and honey on a cedar plank. For pastas, I really like the tomato cappellini and the pappardell. Can’t forget about the dessert and I love the zeppole.

Very disappointed, we shared 5 appetizers. There were like two pieces per appetizer. We had a view drinks and $ 175 dollars later still hungry. Must of been a bad night. Wish we would of ordered main courses and split them. Brad B.

Our favourite local restaurant, always great service and incredible food. Even though the menu is small, whatever we eat is always incredible. Our go to whenever we have guests or want a weekend treat. Highly recommended

To stay in the neighborhood and feel like I’ve headed somewhere super special is such a delight. I love this place. It’s better for adults, but I’ve taken my kids and they’ve loved it too. I love to sit out on the deck on warm nights. Amazing wine list, excellent service and special/​memorable food
Bonus, they have always been super happy to accommodate a vegetarian/​pescatarian, even when it looks like there’s «nothing I can eat» they create magic.

Cute restaurant great for getting a drink (or three) and a bite to eat. My drink was actually the best part of the whole experience… that and the nice corner table for two with comfy pillows for your back. Benches can be uncomfortable but the pillow was a nice touch. Back to the drink! I had lavender infused vodka with lemon and sparkling wine. Sooo good. It was not too sweet and very refreshing. I split an arugula salad and it was also very tasty. The pistachios added a lot of flavor and the light dressing was just right. Some sweet cipollini onions were in there too in addition to a bit of shaved cheese (parmesan)? I was really excited for the lemony risotto with artichokes and mascarpone cheese but it was a little disappointing. The rice wasn’t as plump and creamy as I was hoping and some of the artichokes were crunchy and not tender… purposefully, but I would have preferred fully cooked artichokes. My boyfriend enjoyed his fresh pasta with bolognese and said the pasta itself was excellent (although the portion a tad small for the price). I would come back for another drink and perhaps an appetizer. P. S. make a reservation!

Cozy, relaxed atmosphere with friendly service and an open kitchen, but overpriced and feels a bit generic. I’m all for fine dining, and love me some tapas, but ~$ 12 got us two of the tiniest scallops I’ve ever seen. Despite accompanying it with two entrees, we promptly had a second dinner after getting home.

Intimate, totally foodie lovers delight without pretensions.
Where do I begin? Came here with a. Group of gal friends who had visited me when I lived in France. We all love to try new things and share… that we did. Everything was fantastic, the food dishes people raved about in previous reviews all hit the mark. We had the salads, soup, steak tartare, risotto, and more… plus everyone was pleased with their cocktails and or wine.
Go early if u can.
All of us gave it high marks and coming from us all well travelled gals who love the fine bistros to the little discreet fab find.

A great little Italian spot for wonderful small plates. The service is excellent, the food exceptional and a great bar and wine list. Very small and neighborly. The menu rotates so everything is seasonal and fresh. They also have great deserts.
Always a fun crowd. As it is in Madison Valley where they roll up the streets early, don’t wait too late in the evening.

This place was great. I am a bit of a whore for risotto and so I had to try the risotto with beets and truffle oil. Yum! What an awesome flavor combination that I would have never expected but decided to try as an adventure. Zeppole with Nutella and Mascarpone for dessert were delicious (and provided for a lot of jokes that were reminiscent of that Saturday Night Live sketch about «Schweddy Balls» –
).

Dropped in on a whim and so glad that we did! They also happened to have a Dine Around Seattle menu which we partook in. First off — this place is pretty small BUT in a really good way. Not a ton tables, the bar is fairly small, and the area that the bartenders are in behind the bar is even smaller! But it has a great atmosphere, don’t get me wrong. Would be a great romantic dinner place or a small friendly group dinner. Might want to consider reservations though given the size limitations — we were lucky and got the only two open seats in the place at the bar.
For drinks the bartender made my boyfriend a newly learned recipe for an old fashioned which turned out to be one of the best old fashions he’s ever had. I had a glass of their house white wine. For food we had, from the DAS menu, beet salad and polenta with egg and sopressata (think fancy bacon). The beets were good but the polenta was great! This would also be an excellent breakfast! Entrees were mushroom risotto and pappardelle bolognese. I’m not quite sure if I could pick a favorite between these two entrees; they were both so yummy in their own ways. Lastly for dessert was panna cotta and zeppoles. Both great again but the zeppoles were definitely my favorite.
I would not hesitate to go back here!

Really good food and great service– 4.5 stars. I ate from the Dine Around Seattle menu and my husband ate from the regular menu.
I had:
Arugula, baby fennel, gala apples, pecorino, speck: really good and nice size portion
Painted Hills Braised Beef with polenta: delicious, enjoyed every bite-​again really nice size portion
Brown Sugar Panna Cotta: icing on the cake
My husband had:
Bistecca alla Tartare (Painted Hills), quail egg: it was good but the mustard sauce was a little weird
Gnocchi, duck confit, butternut squash, crème fraiche: highlight of the night– it was really delicious and I highly recommend trying it when you come here
We would definately come here again

I am torn between wishing I lived closer to Bar Cantinetta and being really glad that I don’t, because I only have so much money! The atmosphere is very intimate without being pretentious, and the pillows along the booths add a very homey feel.
Everything we ate was incredible. I commented to the server that I was very interested in a particular dish, but didn’t really like duck much. He and the chef were quick to offer an alternative so that I could still enjoy it; to be honest, it was probably one of my favorite things I’ve eaten in the three years we’ve lived here.
I work in the restaurant industry, so I eat out often and I really appreciate when a restaurant offers «the full package». This place is just awesome, and I can’t wait to come back.

Cozy little place with delish food & super fun people!
Imagine eating at a small candle lit place with cute and cozy décor. So much wine, so much food and all that added glamour of Madison park area. And then imagined the place turning into your own personal dance club!!! Whaaaaaa? Dance all over the place? Check! Play your favorite music, check! A whole lot of unexpected fun? Check check check!
My night at Bar Cantinetta was absolutely fabulous. Came around 10 pm on a Friday night for a late dinner. The two of us waited a bit for our table. It was packed! This also happened to be across from my old favorite~ former Rover’s. Such a good spot.
On to our dinner at this cute little place. Everyone seems to know everyone here. Customers, servers, owners. I love such atmosphere. So homey! Got started with a bottle of Pinot, cause why not? It was not an easy task considering how much wine they have on their list! I think we got a Sicilian Pinot? Or Sardinian? I forget.
Food~ surprisingly good! I told this to our server and the owners too. First time I’ve tasted my favorite roman dish outside of Rome. I was so happy!!! It’s the most simple dish one can find. Pasta with cheese and peppers. But the art is in mastering that simplicity. Most chefs in Seattle failed to do so. (sorry chefs!!) My only suggestion: use a different type of handmade pasta since the pasta they used was way too soft for that dish. But it was definitely a happy in your mouth and stomach dish!
Dishes~
Steak tartare with quail egg– yumm!
Charred octopus with garbanzo beans~ pretty good.
Tagliatelle with pecorino, crème fraîche ans peppers. Delish!
Spaghetti with clams~ yey me
Halibut baked in parchment paper– Yummy!
Over all, it was a good meal! I’m a huge pasta and Italian food snob. I only eat at places I know that make fresh pasta. I make it to a point in my travels to know and taste all the local food. Italy is close to my heart since I’ve already spent over half a year there mainly for food. We have families there that can outcook almost any chef. To find a good pasta dish that’s close to home is hard but this place did come close!
And upon chatting with super fun husband and wife owners, I found out that the chef is from Bangladesh and they’ve sent him to my favorite Roma to learn how to cook. No wonder!!! Even though other places that have the same dish did the same: they didn’t quite taste the same. (Ahem Rione XIII) But this chef: He learned it properly. Double points!
Ended the night dancing & drinking more wine with very friendly locals at this joint. Talk about a great night. I even met someone that was the fourth generation in Seattle. A very cool gentleman whose grandfather confounded Seattle? What? And we danced! Wine was flowing, everyone was singing, ACDC and MJ playing… Laughed hard, tummy was full! Nights like these are my favorite :) Grazie Tanto Bar Cantinetta! We shall be back!

Well we were sad to see the old crêpe place go, but this little place has really transformed itself. The dark wood décor is great as are the seats with pillows. And the kitchen bar that dovetails into the regular bar is just so cool looking.
We tried the appetizers. They have an incentive menu. The The charred octopus just sounded so good. And it was! Chilled octopus perfectly tender. With chickpeas and a nice fresh dressed.
The quilted a creek duck egg with white truffles was just so rich and delicious. And then pici is a wonderful short pasta with mint and tomatoes. Terrific and inventive.
And the dessert was a lovely doughnut with Nutella and crème fraîche. Delicious!