Came for a semi private party to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday. I have celiac disease (must be gluten free) so eating out is hard and requires lots of research even when I'm choosing the restaurant. The party was going to be served family style and I was going to order off the menu. I called ahead and was assured that they had procedures to keep me safe and that the servers and kitchen were educated on dietary issues. Upon ordering the server was wonderful! We found something for me. When it was came it was delish. The salmon had a crispy skin and the gluten free pasta didn't immediately fall apart! I will definitely be back!

In Little Italy there's a bajillion restaurants you can try, so why Bencotto over everything else? Well, I can't say anything about the other places yet since I haven't tried them but Bencotto was pretty darn good. To start, we got their Zucchini which had some cheese and whatever else stuffed inside. It was delicious, but wow, the sauce was heavenly. I was just about ready to lick the plates clean of it but my partner and I just opted to use spoons to spoon out the sauce like civilized people. Tagliatelle lamb was our first pasta option and we got it extra spicy which mind you, wasn't all that spicy. It had a nice kick but wow, this pasta was fantastic, the lamb and pasta mixes together for a rich and savory experience and portions are fairly generous. The Cheese wheel pasta is one of those experiences you should all try once in your life. The parmesan melts onto the pasta and then you can sprinkle more on top cause you can never have enough cheese in your life. This was rich, rich, and rich. Creamy too, but rich. Phew. Enough said. We were celebrating an early anniversary and the restaurant was kind enough to give us complimentary gelato to celebrate and yeah, that was a perfect way to end this meal. Would I come back? Definitey. Is a reservation needed? Most definitely.

The ambiance was relaxed and the food was amazing! We came here at the suggestion of our vendor partner and this place did not disappoint. Our waiter sat us upstairs due to our group size. The staff were hands-on and pretty much tended, not only to us, but to all the other tables with ease. The drinks were well made, which meant I got more than one throughout the course of the dinner. For appetizers, we shared the Caprese salad. We also opted to share the Cavatelli al Tartufo & Funghi which was exquisitely prepared. We did not have the visual demo on the parmigiano cheese wheel but the flavor did not disappoint. Will definitely bookmark this place when in SD next time.

Overall, our experience was okay. We were looking for an Italian spot (it is Little Italy, after all) and Bencotto kept popping up on our radars. We actually had no idea about any of the social media posts made about this place; the menu just sounded delicious to us! We made a reservation for lunch and were seated promptly. Service was friendly and attentive. We ordered a couple of pastas, including the Cheesewheel Pasta, because why not? Tagliatelle al ragu' di agnello. Lamb ragu with tagliatelle. I'm actually not a huge fan of lamb, but my husband said it was tasty! Cavatelli al Tartufo e Funghi/Cheesewheel Pasta. I think this was a little underwhelming to me. It definitely had good truffle and cheese flavors in the sauce, but it got to be pretty heavy after a few bites. I was hoping to be blown away by this dish since it seemed to be what they're known for, but it didn't quite hit for me. Pasta is fresh but maybe we'll skip the cheesewheel next time.

Amazing food and service, alongside the fact that it doesn't even take that long to arrive. Cheese wheel pasta was amazing - definitely coming again.

Reservations: super easy to make via apps or calling the place Parking: metered parking in front of the restaurants and free parking (check the signs!) in close neighborhoods Ambiance: relaxing, romantic, intimate and Service: terrific!!! we were sat near the front but wanted to be next to the window and they gladly accommodated us. our waiter helped us immediately, gave wonderful recommendations which we ordered most of our items from and frequently checked on us Food: Delicious but was hoping for bigger services LOL we ordered pasta made with the cheese wheel and was hopppinggg the wheel would be brought to our table to be presented, but we just walked a few steps for it- still super neat! our favorite item was the lasagna, squid ink pasta, then cheese wheel pizza :)

Delicious Italian Food!!! From drinks to apps, salads, homemade pastas, their amazing breads and so much more!!! Definitely a great meal!! Great space and the friendliest servers. Make a reservation!! Gets packed cause it's sooo yummy!!!

If you're lookin for an Italian spot, this is the one! Randomly walked into this place on a Friday afternoon and I was surprised it wasn't more busy. Five tall the food was amazing. We ordered several dishes and shared it amongst ourselves so we can taste each dish with out having to be confined to one flavor profile for our whole meal Went with the pasta of the day that was tossed in the big cheese wheel. It happened to be a truffle pasta so the additional cheese was just splendid. The pasta that was made with squid ink helped balance all the other creamier pastas we ordered with a punch of red sauce. The crab ravioli was also very rich in flavor.

The other evening, we had a wonderful time savoring the Lamb Ragu and Squid Fettucci. Be sure to request Scott as your server, and consider sitting upstairs or outside for a great experience. Regards, Will D ESi Agency

Just visiting from out of town. Little Italy has a TONN of Italian places to choose from. Ugh my pasta loving DREAM! But also really overwhelming because how do you choose?? Thank you Yelp and google. We selected this place based off reviews, menu items and pictures. Andddd we picked right!! The cheese wheel pasta special was amazing AF! It just made the creamy sauce. We also enjoyed the calamari. It has a really nice, lightly fried breading. You get two dipping sauces with it: marinara and lemon garlic aioli. Both amazing! Large portion sizes for a great price. With food so good I sorta wished the ambience was more natural instead of grey and modern. The ambience didn't fit the menu items if that makes sense. Give me more classy Italian feel. Anyways, foods amazing and that's all we really cared about.