Salento

So, Salento in the Village is great if you are needing a quiet place to work or want to meet up with someone for breakfast/​lunch/​happy hour. They have a large selection of hot/​cold teas and coffee drinks to meet your needs. I love coming to Salento in the Village, especially since the Village Starbucks is always packed and a little too noisy for my taste.
The menu is your standard café-​fare food with a bit of a Latin-​American/​Spanish twist. Their empanadas are heavenly and come served with a chimichurri oil that’s heavenly. I get the chimichurri oil for my salads and will literally pour it on anything from crackers to fruit. Their lunch specials are pretty reasonable; a half sandwich with soup, or soup and side salad with an iced tea or coffee. Their salads are sizeable and most come with a full serving of chicken or fish on them; and, their hummus is made in house.
I recommend the Brie and Prosciutto sandwich or the Three Cheese Melt Al Pesto. My favorite thing at Salento has to be a special menu item (it’s not on the regular menu but they’ll make it for you) called the PBB&J. It’s Peanut Butter, Brie, and Jam on wheat bread which sounds off-​putting, but tastes amazing when toasted in the panini press.
All in all, this is a perfect little place for some light refreshment. I know they have dinner offerings, but I’ve never been to Salento for dinner and am basing this review on what I only know of the menu.

Excellent food and presentation. Small place but very nice atmosphere with great food. The Salmon fish tacos are excellent and are sure to impress the pickiest of fish taco experts out there. The humus is excellent as well. Maybe a little on the pricey side, but worth it.

Salento has quickly become one of my favorite spots in Houston. They offer a selection of coffee and wine, so your decision might be difficult if you roll in around 3PM like I did. My brain says coffee, but my heart says wine.
The ambiance is fantastic here. The place isn’t too quiet to where you feel uncomfortable having a conversation, but it’s not loud to the point where you’re frustrated and can’t get any work done or hear yourself think.
Music was my taste, sets a great mood, and I love the higher ceilings and natural light here. I also like that you order at your table and aren’t pressured to pay until you are ready to leave. Very relaxed environment with nice energy. Prices are about the same as Starbucks or any other coffee shop, but it feels like you should be paying more for a place this great.

4 star food 2 star service. It’s such a shame that the service brings down the overall experience. If you have a lot of time on your hands and aren’t that hungry this is the place to go. By the time you receive your order you will be hungry. If you ask for bread it’s an up charge. It’s tasty but just FYI. Their entrees are delish. The stuffed mushroom dish is on the lighter side but packed with flavor. My boyfriend had the salmon risotto, and he thought it was good. If you don’t mind poor service give it a try

Quaint little spot to post up, drink coffee, nibble on something and people watch on a Saturday morning or any morning for that matter.
The people are nice and courteous, the food is good. There is free wifi. And it’s on a nice little spot in Rice Village.

Salento is a very neat place. While I was here, mid afternoon, there were people eating and drinking wine and others drinking coffee. Location is great in rice village. Coffee is about the same price as Starbucks.
Recommend the iced Americano.

What can I say…
It speaks by it self…

This is a lovely little place that reminds one of an Italian café (just a busier and smaller sidewalk).
My girls and I indulged in lovely happy hour delights as well as dinner!
Among us, we had:
1) Hummus and Tapenade plate with their delicious olive bread
2) Spanish Margarita Pizzetta
4) Salmon Salad
5) Butternut Squash Soup
We had no room for dessert, but we’ll have to return to try some of their specializes.
Or, Hell, I’ll come by myself for a coffee and pastry with a book!

The food is really good here, if you know what to order. Stick with the breakfast, make your own salads and desserts and you are good to go. The olive bread is delicious, it’s more of a focaccia… so good!
I really dislike the pizzas. The crust is what kills it, reminds me of something from the frozen food section.
Service is horrible. No getting around it. I’ve been here twice and both times EVERY single thing we ordered was messed up. What annoys you the most is the waiters never write anything down… Come on.

Been a year since I’ve been here and I didn’t even remember coming here!
Wanted to grab a quick dinner and popped in here to see what they had and if they had any gluten-​free options. I quickly was seated (self seat) and got served water out of a jar and ordered an iced coffee which was nom.
Got the Carnita appetizer with onions, red peppers, and what seemed like a chimi churri sauce which both together were good. Then for my entrée I chose an item on the menu that had a black dot which was noted *Gluten Free* at the top of the menu to what had a black dot and asked him how is this gluten-​free since it’s breaded and he asked the chef and came back and told me it was not. So be warned they do denote items gluten-​free that are in fact NOT gluten-​free… really mind boggling I have no clue.
So instead of that I ordered the chicken with goat cheese, beets, cauliflower and some greens. I never thought in a million years I would be eating a dish with chicken/​goat cheese/​beets but let me tell you it looked like Valentines day on a plate and was darn good. I would eat that everyday and it was cooked perfectly. I didn’t think beets and goat cheese would pair but it very well surprised me. I was to full for dessert but got an espresso to go which gave me that goat kick I needed. I will def be back soon!
Walk in, grab a menu, sit down, wait for waiter.
Lunch specials, wine specials, and water served out of a jar.
Bathrooms in the back right corner.

This place is alright. I had the chicken pesto sandwich and it was. Well. A sandwich. Nothing fancy at all.
Skip the main course and go right for the desert case. The almond cake and cinnamon iced tea tasted pretty good.

Overall nice experience. We were heading to Tourchy Tacos but the line was out the door. Our visit was on a Friday about 7 pm and was not overly hungary just wanted some bites. They have a nice happy hour from 3 – 7 with some nice bites. We had two orders of the filet mignon bites and two orders of Empanada Platter were includes one spinach and one chicken empanada. They are served with a nice spring salad. We coupled these bites with two beers and two glasses of nice red blend wine. Total bill was $ 43. Nice atmosphere, not a very big place and parking is parking. If you have been to the village you know parking is hit and miss but you can always find a place to park. Yes I would recommend and would visit again. And yes the service was great.