Travis L.
Yelp
My girlfriend and I were eager to try Montesacro after they closed 54 Mint several months ago to remodel/rebrand. We loved the food, happy hour, and service experience at 54 Mint so we had high hopes for Montesacro.
When we arrived, we were greeted and brought to our table reasonably quickly. When we sat down, we noted the updated decor and the newly built wall where there once were large windows that allowed customers to view into the kitchen and bakery. This new construction makes the space feel a lot smaller than before, and not exactly in an "intimate" way. It was very warm inside as well: my girlfriend and I resorted to fanning ourselves with the menus, occasionally wiping the sweat from our brows as we watched other customers and the staff also struggle to keep cool. This was the first properly warm night of the summer, and this weekend is supposed to be 10* warmer... the restaurant faces the afternoon sun so they'd best figure out a way to cool the place off.
The food and cocktails we ordered definitely lived up to the expectation of quality and taste, albeit exceptionally pricey! The cocktails started at $17 (!!!) and we were charged $35 for corkage of our bottle of Pinot Noir we brought with us. I was disappointed that, despite charging corkage, our server did not offer to continue pouring our wine despite visiting our table on multiple occasions with empty wine glasses in front of us.
I had a clarified Gin cocktail, which was refreshing and smooth. My girlfriend had their "pink drink" which was much on the tart/bitter side.
For food, we shared the Porchetta, the Pulpo and their mozzarella/tomato croquettes. The Porchetta was perfect! Ordered the bread and olive oil (not complimentary) which was a nice way to enjoy the thinly sliced roast pork. The pulpo was tasty as well, but $17 for the serving size was spendy. The croquettes were recommended to us by our server, but were disappointing. They didn't come with any sauce and were a fairly bland take on one of our favorite Italian foods, arancini.
We also ordered the carbonara and the Tormarancia "pinsa" with hot coppa and basil. Both were passable, though for $23 each, definitely on the pricey side.
When we commented to our server how warm it was inside, their response was "I know! I don't know how I'm doing it" without any apology for the discomfort.
Out the door, our dinner for two was $185 with two cocktails, corkage, three appetizers, a pasta dish and a small pizza.
I'd say "we'll be back" for happy hour, but unfortunately there isn't anything about a deal or value listed there worth revisiting. Really bummed this place has become what it is, it used to be our favorite place downtown to walk to on warm summer evenings.