Ristorante DellaSantina: Our Favorite Restaurant

People always ask us where we recommend eating in the Smokies. The answer depends on what they’re looking for. Sometimes it’s a quick lunch. Sometimes it’s a family-friendly spot after a day at Dollywood. Sometimes it’s pancakes.

But if someone asks us where we’d go if we were only picking one restaurant for the entire trip?

Ristorante DellaSantina.

It’s tucked away from the busiest tourist areas, which means a lot of visitors never find it. That’s a shame because it’s one of the best restaurants in the area. Better yet, it’s only a few minutes from Wildflower, and you don’t have to fight Pigeon Forge traffic to get there. You can also do call ahead seating so you don’t even have to wait.

That’s a pretty nice combination.

Fine Dining Without the Fuss

One of the things we love most about Ristorante DellaSantina is that it manages to strike a balance that a lot of restaurants miss. The food is absolutely special occasion worthy. The atmosphere is nice enough to show up dressed up, but casual enough if you want to go wearing shorts after a long day at Dollywood. It feels welcoming instead of formal.

The focus is exactly where it should be: on the food.

The Food Really Is That Good

We’ve eaten here enough times that we’ve worked our way through a pretty significant portion of the menu (and by that, we mean… all of it except any new specials).

At this point, we’ve stopped trying to figure out what the best dish is because every time we think we’ve found it, something else shows up at the table and changes our mind.

One thing that immediately stands out is the seafood. The restaurant flies seafood in fresh multiple times each week, and you can tell. The quality is noticeable from the first bite. There are very few restaurants where we feel comfortable recommending almost anything on the menu. This is one of them.

Start With the Calamari

If you’re ordering appetizers, our vote goes to the fried calamari every time. It’s cooked perfectly, the breading is light, the seasoning is spot on, and somehow it manages to be consistently excellent visit after visit. We’ve ordered it enough times that we’d probably notice if they changed anything. Thankfully, they haven’t.

The Entrées We Keep Coming Back To

If you’re having trouble deciding, the Filet Mignon Special is one of our favorite options. Part of the appeal is that you get a little bit of everything. A perfectly cooked filet, shrimp, and a pasta of your choice all on one plate. For indecisive people, which includes at least one of us, it’s kind of the ideal solution.

The Lobster Ravioli is another family favorite and one we find ourselves recommending often. The Shrimp Valentino is consistently excellent. The Salmone Grigliato deserves its reputation as well.

Honestly, this is where restaurant reviews get tricky. Usually there’s a clear winner and a few dishes we’d gently steer people away from. Here, the bigger challenge is narrowing down the list of things we’d recommend.

Save Room for Dessert

This is where many people make a critical error. They eat too much bread. Then they eat too much dinner. Then they convince themselves they don’t need dessert.

Don’t do that.

The tiramisu is worth planning ahead for. We’ve tried most of the dessert menu over the years, and everything has been good. The tiramisu, however, is the one we continue to order over and over again. If you’re pairing dessert with one of their after-dinner coffees, even better. At that point, you’ve basically committed to staying awhile, and we fully support that decision.

Would We Go Back?

Frequently. In fact, we do. There are plenty of restaurants in Sevier County that are good. Ristorante DellaSantina is the one we compare the others to. You simply can’t beat their great food, excellent service, and relaxed atmosphere.

And somehow, no matter what we order, somebody at the table ends up saying: “You need to try a bite of this.”

They’re always right. And they always regret offering because we always want more than one bite. Be prepared to defend your food if you make the same mistake.