At the end of 2013, the owners of Cancun Mexican Restaurant shut down the operation and opened Nonno’s Ristorante Italiano in its place on the highly visible corner of Whitney Way and Odana Road. I like the menu and the decor, and other than a few glitches in service I experienced, I’d say it’s worth dining here.
This being an Italian restaurant, I had to try the spaghetti alle polpette (spaghetti and meatballs, $10), which turned out to be my favorite dish. The noodles were perfectly al dente, the meatballs had a nice, soft texture and the marinara sauce wasn’t overly liquidy like so many bad sauces.
From spaghetti and meatballs I moved onto another classic, pizza. The capricciosa ($10) is topped with mushrooms, black olives, artichoke hearts (too many), prosciutto, anchovies (too few) and oregano. Not surprisingly, the taste leans on the salty side, but nonetheless it’s a well-crafted pie for two to share. Note that the crust is actually closer to hand-tossed instead of thin as written on the menu.
Let’s look at some of the other entrees, of which there are many. I don’t recommend the penne e pollo alla genovese ($10), only because there was barely any chicken in it. On the flip side, I enjoyed the big portions of flaky fish in the tilapia al limone ($12).
I did try one salad, the innamorate ($8), which comes with strawberries, feta and toasted almonds; however, it was the fennel that gave this salad its signature flavor. I also enjoyed the golden brown calamari fritti ($8) with the spicy marinara, which is just marinara and crushed red pepper.
While the dark-toned restaurant has a small bar, it unfortunately under-utilizes it. I could see a strong happy hour being done here, but alas, the bar is an after-thought to the owners. Another area that could use some improvement is staffing; on my visits, I’ve felt it’s been under-staffed. I’ve had good servers, but they’ve been so busy that they’ve failed at simple things, like bringing menus (even upon request) and bringing the check in a timely manner (one time took nine min.).
Nonno’s serves lunch, dinner and carryout every day.
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See more photos in our Nonno’s Ristorante Italiano Flickr album.
Over at the high-energy and gigantic Red Rock Saloon, it’s amazing how many people can fit inside, yet there are always long lines to get in on the weekend. With the mechanical bull near the entryway and the music stage in the back, the country-themed bar fills a void that was created when the Bean closed.
On the far end of downtown Wisconsin Dells, right across the street from Famous Dave’s, is 
I would describe the brisket ($17.99) and pulled pork sandwich ($10.99) the same way: juicy and well prepared, but a bit pricey. I don’t think brisket should be more expensive than ribs; this dish would be better priced at $13.99 (that’s also what Famous Dave’s charges), while the sandwich should have been less than $10. Other dishes’ prices were just as puzzling, such as the hot wings ($15.99), smoked turkey leg ($18.99) and 16 oz. T-Bone steak ($29.99).
