A solid, South Minneapolis ""date night" staple. Â
Charming atmosphere. Â Creative, but approachable menu. Â Interesting drinks. Great deals on wine on Mondays. Â A little chilly by the front door.
Great deserts. Â Always save room.
I've read here about the brunch - that'll be next on my list to try.
Wednesday night is a great night to go to Al Vento. They have half price bottles of wine and $5 sandwiches....We're not just talking plain old turkey or something. They had two options ~ meatball or mahi mahi. I went with the mahi.
The service was excellent. The bread never went empty or the drinks.
I wish it was in my neighborhood.
What a delight for the palate. I had never heard of Al Vento before but a friend of mine is working there and offered me a gift card for Xmas. It was the best Xmas present ever!
The ingredients are fresh and a lot of the food is homemade : bred, pasta (yes, they make the pasta themselves!)
They have an awesome deal : 50% off on any wine bottle of Mondays, which is great!
As a Frenchman  being blessed by amazing restaurants in Paris, I am not afraid to say that Al Vento is ONE OF THE BEST restaurant i've ever been.
The prices are very very affordable and the quantities served are huge!
Kudos to the staff who was delightful and very professional, I was, for once, happy to tip more than 20%.
I strongly recommend this place. I'll be back with pleasure!
Ma gourmandise a été satisfaite, merci, Al Vento!
Brunchin' has recently become one of my favorite activities, and Al Vento proved to be a premier brunchin' spot. Do not, and I repeat, dooo noooot be turned off by the buffet-only brunch here. Because this is not your average breakfast buffet. It's more spruced up...fancy, fresh, and fab - with their signature Italian twist (olive oil cake, salad, eggs florentine, chocolate fountain, crepes, pasta - oh em gee).
$14 if you just want the food. But why would you just want the food? $20 will get you unlimited trips to the buffet plus unlimited glasses of your favorite breakfast cocktail - mimosas, bloody marys, screwdrivers. Feel free to mix and match, because you're allowed to! And trust me, by the 4th mimosa, that $20 price tag will be feeling A-OK.
Atmosphere isn't the coziest, but I'll definitely be going back!
Brunch should always be this majestic. I showed up to Al Vento in a hoodie and jeans, not quite sure what to expect - after my friend had told me about their $16 brunch (bottomless mimosas/bloody marys included), I had assumed that it was a casual place, because no decent restaurant can offer fixed price brunch - with booze - that cheaply, right? Right? WRONG. I wasn't uncomfortable in my shabby threads, but Al Vento's vibe is cool and intimate, unpretentious but still comfortably appointed. Don't go in your pyjamas like you would at the Uptown Diner or Bad Waitress.
Make reservations before you go just to be certain. I've been lucky and still been able to make them the morning of brunch - but on arrival, I have always been glad that I had reserved a table, because the wait line can get long.
Even at brunch, the service was attentive. Our friendly but unintrusive waitress had no issues bringing me cup after cup of coffee, refilling my mimosa, and keeping my water glass full - and whether it's a fluke or policy, I still only paid $16. Either the prix fixe gets you bottomless glasses of any beverage you order OR someone forgot to put it in the computer.
Please don't miss the smoked salmon or the eggs florentine. On the salad spread side, Al Vento has homemade mozzarella, tons of fresh fruit, flaky bakery items, and a chocolate fountain. That's right. Chocolate fountain. This is not a drill.
I would give Al Vento 5 stars however it only takes one rude employee to destroy a perfect rating.
Aside from "Ms. I'm Too Busy to Help You" (not "Ms. I'll BRB, one sec ^.^"), Al Vento provides excellent cuisine and a wonderful atmosphere. Â Clean bathrooms and I only noticed one cobweb way up high in a corner. Â I especially enjoy the brunch offerings.
If you are into Eggs Florentine then do try theirs. Â I swear it was reminiscent of eating lobster. Â Not saying it tastes of bugs, but more so a sublime richness.
It's just such a delicious experience at Al Vento regardless of that one person who has no business in customer service. Â May she slip on a pat of butter and get some sense knocked into her.
Al Vento is my wonderful neighborhood restaurant, that just happens to not be in my neighborhood. Â It is totally worth the drive from Cottage Grove!
Love, love, LOVE the fact that they offer brunch on both Saturday and Sundays...it is not the over the top buffet with a bizillion offering, they have smaller options done perfectly! Â I am not a huge egg fan at all and I love the eggs Florentine, the perfect combination of flavors to start the day. Â Their roasted potatoes are wonderful on their own, but I love to take it to the next level by adding some of their outstanding bleu cheese - what a great way to wake up on the weekend!
The service is great. Â The hubby loves the fact that they will take your flatware when they clear your plate. Â One of his pet peeves is using a dirty fork when he switches plates at buffets.
And to top it off, all you desire mimosas - yes please!
PS - they also offer a date night special on Tuesday nights and $5 sandwiches on Wednesday nights...and we have never had a bad meal..
It's a few hours after brunch at Al Vento, and my stomach is finally starting to feel normal again. Â My brunch group decided to give this place a try, and we will certainly be back. Â For $16, you get unlimited beverages (coffee, mimosas, bloodies, juice, etc) and as many trips to the buffet as you can manage. Â Our favorites were the eggs Florentine, house-made mozzarella, crepes filled with cinnamon and marscapone, and the abundance of fresh fruit adjacent to a chocolate fountain. Â There were also waffles, roasted potatoes, salads, and spicy sausage among the offerings. Â Our server was fantastic and funny- he advised us that Saturdays are much less chaotic than Sunday, and we will be sure to return on a Saturday in the future; the tables are pretty close together and there is only one bathroom. Â Â This was a great brunch with friends and I am looking forwarding to returning.
Review Source:I went here with my parents, sister and boyfriend. Atmosphere-wise, it probably wasn't the right choice for a family dinner. Had it been just my boyfriend and I, I would have adored the atmosphere. It's a pretty small restaurant, and the 5 of us were squeezed into a corner table/booth, so it was a little much. Plus, it was a pretty noisy restaurant. Luckily, my family is used to chaos, so it didn't bother us too much. Had it been some of my friend's families, though, I know they wouldn't have enjoyed their time.
But the food! YUM!! My mom and I split a salad for an appetizer, "Mista with preserved white asparagus cranberry vinaigrette chevre and walnuts" - Fantastic! It came with an actual wedge of chevre cheese on top. Heaven.
For dinner, I had the "Bucatini all'amatriciana with pancetta tomato and chili flake." If you're a fan of spicy food and panceta (Italian bacon) - this is the option for you. It was phenomenal. Craving it right now.
My dad and boyfriend had the "Pappardelle with braised pork shoulder broccolini mushroom and goat cheese" and my dad who always takes home half of his meal because he's so health conscious, devoured it before I even noticed. They both loved it.
My mom and sister are both gluten-free eaters. Al Vento has GF pasta! What they didn't tell us when they called to ask if it was GF friendly, is that not a lot of the dishes are GF, and they have to recreate a lot of the dishes, with GF pasta. They split-share the spaghetti with mother sauce (minus the meatballs - they are not GF, sadly) and the "Grilled porcini pork tenderloin with root vegetables and duo reductions." AND - they had a GF desert at the end! They LOVED both dishes - which is always so nice because GF eating is so difficult.
All in all, I would recommend this restaurant highly! If you're with a group, I'd probably consider somewhere else, unless it's a very outgoing group - then this place is even more perfect. Great place!
I like Al Vento. Â Before going there I thought maybe it'd be all stuck up and snotty but they are very nice and welcoming and you don't have to be dressed to the nines and whatnot; come as you are. Â The food is very good, the pastas and such are delicious and the brunch was very interesting and wide-ranging. Â You can get free bloodies and mimosas with brunch, unlimited, which is cool. Â The atmosphere is comfy cozy and the prices are reasonable; a real slick spot to have in an otherwise often vanilla neighborhood.
Review Source:I personally like the ambiance of this place. I very much felt like I was back on vacation in Italy. The spaghetti is wonderful and some of the best I've ever had. Now for some reason, the meatballs taste different than any others I've ever had. If the spaghetti had not been so good, based on my food selection, I would have given this place only two stars.
My husband ordered the braised short ribs and a potato gorgonzola tart. His thoughts were that he would not order the short ribs again. However, in all fairness, he did not realize that because they were braised, they were most likely cooked with red wine. Something he is allergic to. I took a bite of them and actually thought they were very good. The potato tart was kind of disgusting as he said.
The service was actually TOO good. It felt like we were at a fast food restaurant. Our food was placed in front of us literally within five minutes while we were still enjoying our bread and oil. Did I mention it was my birthday and I was looking forward to a romantic night out? We had driven an hour to get there. Our entire restaurant experience was over in 15 minutes and we were out the door for an hour drive home. We would have preferred to settle in, order drinks, enjoy a little bread and THEN order our entrees. There were only two other couples in the restaurant, so there should have been no hurry to get our table. Other than that....I did enjoy the bread and spaghettil, as well as the short ribs that I ate for lunch today.
Oh. My. God. Can I give 6 stars?
If you live anywhere in the midwest, drop whatever you are doing this weekend and get yourself down here. Make sure to Clear your schedule between 10-2 because you will want to spend every minute possible luxuriating in the unbelievably delicious brunch spread. For a mere 16 buckaroos, you can indulge in: unlimited beverages of your choosing, eggs, sausages, waffles, potatoes, a whole cheese and charcuterie spread, smoked salmon, salads, hand-ground cinnamon cakes, dark chocolate fondue, fruits... The list continues... The selection was so good I ended up having four plates. Four.
Saturday is the day to go. We walked in at 10:30 and were one of 3 couples seated. Service was fast and friendly. We felt comfortable to laugh loudly and stay for a couple of hours... The ideal brunch setup!
If you insist on going on Sunday, make a reservation (it gets packed).
After going to Al Vento for the first time a couple of years ago thanks to a Groupon, we have been regular customers ever since. Their menu has a nice collection of flavors, Â where it is easy to find a delicious app, salad, entree and dessert. Â And I'd be remiss if I didn't say that their pizza is the best thin crust, fancy pizza in the Twin Cities.
But today was the first time we tried their brunch. Â I'm not as much of a brunch fan as some people, but this was amazing. Â The fee is $16 and it gets you access to a mighty fine buffet spread. Â It reminded me of being at a nice hotel in Europe, but with a twist. My first plate had scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, pasta, bagel, goat cheese, vegetable salad, cannolis, and a white chocolate cake. Â Somehow it all worked together great. Oh, and it came with a bottomless mimosa (you can also get bottomless bloody mary and screwdrivers, along with non-alcoholic beverages). Â It is definitely not the place to go for a light bite (though I did see a woman making an impressive salad plate--seemed like a waste of a good buffet, but whatever). Instead, be prepared to linger and enjoy lots of delicious food and beverages. Only downside is that it is a little too dark to comfortably read the paper or a magazine and there were two large tables right by us with the requisite loud, conversation-hog person seemingly trying to talk to everyone in the restaurant, but that was a small price to pay for what will undoubtedly be my meal for the next 6 hours.
I think I make a mean spaghetti & meatballs...so if I ever have it in a restaurant, I'm really disappointed if it's not as good. Well, I wasn't disappointed at Al Vento. I guess there's is a contender. :P
The food is good. The service is good. The restaurant is really dark, but that's okay.
Don't miss out on the "Date Night" special -- it's fantastically affordable.
We had one of our Boy's night out dinners at our favorite Al Vento restaurant. Â Monday nights are great since they have half price bottles of wine. Â Martini's are cheap until 6 PM. Â As usual the food was outstanding! I believe they change the menu every day. Â I had BUCATINI ALL'AMATRICIANA. Â It was wonderful. Â The homemade bread is super. Â The service always excellent. Â I have never been disappointed. Give it a try
Review Source:Incredible little place hidden in a small out of way location. Â Not a huge seating area inside or outside but a great relaxing place with great food selection. Â I didn't expect to get a good Italian meal near the airport in Minnesota but what a hidden gem this place is. Â With the right group, it's the kinda place you could spend a few hours easy over some wine and great Italian food and not even realized the time slipped away. Â It'll be on my list for a repeat visit if I ever wind up in that area again.
Bruschetta, peach salad and Neapolitan pizza were all excellent.
Came here on a late Tuesday night after my plane landed and everything at the airport was closed. Â They have a pretty large patio area outside with a few large groups of customers, but I opted to sit inside. Â There were a few people inside but it was mostly empty.
The ambiance was pretty romantic. Â It was dark with very dim lights above, and every table had a tiny candle on it. Â Unfortunately it was dimmed to the point of almost ridiculous as I could barely even read the menu. Â
Darkness is spreading!
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/W6JgDV47gePoXPrsnQlt9g?select=zc5Us1EbvdQwFc1tinwFMQ#zc5Us1EbvdQwFc1tinwFMQ">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
I went with the good old spaghetti and meatballs, but before that came out, the waiter brought me some of the best free bread I've ever had. Â The bread was so soft and fluffy! Â I ended up eating almost the whole thing. Â Yeah it was THAT good. Â
On to the spaghetti.. oh boy. Â I did not enjoy this at all. Â It came with two fairly large meatballs, but the meatballs were a little too hard for my liking. Â I almost needed a knife just to break it apart. Â As for the spaghetti, it was way too chewy. Â Kind of felt like I was chewing on plastic. Â
Although I didn't like my entree, the pre-meal bread and service was pretty good. Â Parking was easy to find in the lot behind it. Â And they have a Tuesday date menu, which is a good option if you bring a date here.
Cute place
I was feeling tired coming off the plane late Friday night so the lighting was good to me
we were seated quickly
I ordered the chicken w sauteed eggplant
and my friend ordered the oxtail ravioli
both were delicious
we ordered 2 specialty martinis that were also very tasty can't remember the names
the only thing was that I think they forgot us a couple of times
overall a great experience
will be back :)
My friends and I wanted to venture in to Al Vento for their breakfast buffet.
With what I had heard, this all seemed like a dream come true....
Endless eggs benedict??
Bottomless mimosas??
Bountiful amounts of belguim waffles??
Where do I sign up?!?!
My friends and I didn't look into this too far,
all we knew was that their breakfast buffet is a Sunday-only deal
and that it only ran until like 2pm.
We didn't know that we should have made reservations...
so, if you are wanting to go here for a good time...
MAKE RESERVATIONS!!!!!!
It really is a deal breaker.
We thought it wouldn't be a big deal,
we thought we could just wing it.
But, we were wrong.
We waited for an hour and a half while all the people with reservations
were steadily seated before us...rightfully so.
We were able to get in after awhile and promptly put in our drink orders.
We bellied up to the buffet and started filling our plates.
Their buffet has a lot of nice food, it's done pretty classy.
They had eggs benedict that were tasty,
some belguin waffles that were delicious,
eggs floretine, sausage, salad, bagles, fresh fruit, tarts, etc.
Very nice selection!
The drinks kept coming at a steady pace,
our mimosas were never empty for very long.
All this for $16 was a great deal!
I was full and content to have a nap immediatly after,
which made for a nice lazy Sunday :)
We had one little bump in the road,
but it was actually resolved very nicely.
When we sat down with our first plates and started nibbling away,
our waitress brought our drink orders over.
After setting down one drink of four,
her tray became unbalanced
which caused three drinks to come crashing down on my friend.
He handled it like a champ and didn't flip out.
He was pretty soaked from the three drinks
and there was broken glasses around him,
but he stayed calm and didn't cause a scene.
The waitress was incredibly apologetic,
which I felt bad for her because I could tell she felt bad during the rest of our meal.
The chef came out with 5 shots of everclear limon
and had a shot with us, on the house.
And the owner came out to apologize to our drenched friend
and then told us that our bill would be taken care of.
None of us had to pay!
Awesome!
Spilling all over your guests has to be an employee's worst nightmare,
but we tried to make her feel ok,
she was really nice overall.
This situation could have ruined our meal,
but the staff at Al Vento really strived to recover the experience
so that we left feeling happy and prioritized.
LOVE IT.
Have I really never reviewed this? Â I can't believe it!
This place is awesome - AND walking distance. Â Sun and monday nights are half price wine.
Anyways, went there last night for the Morels. Â I was drooling after seeing them on the menu - and had to have them.
There was a pizza with Morels on it and a pasta. Â The pizza crust was perfect and also had asparagus on it - which I loved. Â It was more of an olive oil sauce and it was divine. Â
The pasta was a gnocci w/ the morels and spring peas - oh man - I wanted to lick the bowl clean - the sauce was all kinds of delcious. Â And there were good sized pieces of morels in both dishes, so you definitely got what you paid for!!
We also tried the trout crostini with a rhubard compote - highly recommend this as well if it's on the menu!! Â
Tuesday nights is date night - also definitely worth the visit!!
After being referred to Al Vento via Yelp Talk, we visited with a group of 4 for Easter Brunch & were so very excited!
Al Vento met & exceeded our expectations! Â The tables are situated family style such that they can accomodate large groups. Â The ambiance is contemporary & vintagy @ the same time w/ an old Italian feel. Â Our server was fantastic; attentive and friendly.
Brunch was $16/person & included a spectacular array of food & a bottomless beverage of your choice including mimosas, bloodys, screwdrivers, coffee, tea, juice, coke products, & Italian sodas. Â The breakfast buffet consisted of eggs benedict, sausage & bacon, breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, waffles, pasta, salad w/ fresh greens & veggies, smoked salmon, salami, bagels & cream cheese, European pastries, fresh fruit, & a chocolate fountain. Â We tried a little bit of everything & everything cooked & prepared perfectly. Â The bacon was crispy, veggies & fruit were extremely fresh, & the drinks were plentiful!
Definetly the best brunch I have had in years. Â Can't wait to go back for dinner!
A classy Italian restaurant in a great part of town
The atmosphere is great for a group dinner or date night (call ahead for reservation!) . It seemed every table was full when we arrived at dinner time on Saturday. Each table had candle light and great smelling food.
The menu is updated daily to reflect seasonal items. When we went it was morel mushroom season and their menu reflected that with 2-3 items featuring fresh morels. Each appetizer and entree we had was quite good. I really enjoyed the ravioli entree and the meat/cheese platter.
I will certainly be back for more
Ahhhhh, there was plenty of Amore in the air last night for Valentines Day, and plenty at my table as well! The lighting was dim, the linen table cloths had a nice covering on them, and the candle light was in full force. I thank the heavens above that I had the sense to put in a dinner reservation a week ago, because there were a lot of seemingly unhappy people waiting for tables, that also didn't seem to like the fact that a younger person than them was smart enough to make a reservation on such a busy day! (It's V-Day people, get with the program).
We were seated as soon as I told the hostess my name (and what a little blonde ray of sunshine she really was). It was interesting to me how the actual restaurant was laid out... it seemed as though the poor wait staff had to thrive in the literal three feet between each table.
Our drink orders were taken promptly as well as a nice plate of bread with some olive oil and cracked pepper. I got the Italian Cosmo, and Kyle got the Espresso Martini. Both were FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!! They actually made the limoncello in house (which is truly an art)!
Onto the food. We shared the Bruschetta Sampler (with all four types of Bruschetta) and were in absolute heaven! The marinated white bean one was phenominal, and the eggplant one was both our favorites! Not going to lie, the tampanade one was a litle too salty for my taste, and the brussel sprouts one had almost no flavor until you got to the herbed ricotta.
For our entree's we each got the grilled beef tenderloin with roasted potatoes and a redwine gorgonzola reduction. I got mine rare (yes I like to hear my meat moo before I eat it), and Kyle got his medium. I could totally tell the difference in the way that ours were cooked. Mine was falling apart and dripping its wonderful juices into the reduction, Kyle's was slightly less juicy, but still very tender.
For dessert a chocolate tarte was on tap, as well as another cocktail to finish off.
All in all I would say that our experience here for our Valentines Dinner was a very pleasant one! I will for sure complain though, that there were three seperate occasions where it seemed like the wait staff on the floor was not communicating with one another. The bussers were doing a really great job, and so was our waitress, but this male waiter came over halfway through service and started berating us with questions over who our waitress was, and trying to figure out what we had to drink... midway through his conversation with us our waitress popped back with the cocktails she had hand made for us because the bar was backed up.
I couldn't tell if he was trying to get her in trouble, or get the massive tip I left for her at the end of the meal... but I would say that it was pretty unprofessional on his part, even if he was trying to be helpful.
Will I be back? Absolutely! Will I be back soon? Hell no, I need to start saving again for a dinner like we had last night!
What a great neighborhood restaurant. Cozy, with a warm vibe. The tables are close together but you don't feel as though you are dining with  the people at the table next to you. I highly recommend the Tuesday date-night menu: $20 per person for a 4-course meal. And the meal is ample and well-prepared. A salad/soup, appetizer, main dish and dessert.
Great food, great setting, kind wait staff. Definitely try to eat at Al Vento in the summer to take advantage of the cute patio dining!
We had a groupon to use, and my friend swears this is the best restaurant in town, so we were excited for our weekend lunch date!
The location is somewhat off the beaten path, and it doesn't look like much from the outside. Â The inside is cozy, but small. Â I would think probably more inviting during the evening than in the middle of the day, when we were there.
Service was friendly. Wine was good (and a good deal on the carafe!) We tried the bruschetta sampler to start. It was okay. Â I appreciate that they were trying to do interesting flavor profiles, and while some were good, some were too strong-- in less palatable flavors (ie- too many black olives). Â We also split the spaghetti and meatballs. Â This was very good. Â Noodles tasted fresh, cooked just right. Â The sauce and meatballs were very tasty, comparable to Carmelo's in St. Paul. Â
I think we also had a dessert, but alas, it's been a few weeks now, and my memory is muddled with all of the holiday eating we did.
I think it's safe to say we would be up to try this place again. Â They have a date night special on Tuesdays, and I look forward to it!
Man, Al Vento just knocks it out of the park. Â Its got a romantic, cozy neighborhood vibe, the service is exceptional, and you get a classy dining experience at a reasonable price. Â Great date spot, for sure.
This is just one of those spots that will probably come to hold a special place in your heart. Â My sister and I took my mom here for Mother's Day Brunch a couple years ago, and we have great memories of that meal together. Â The brunch menu is a "European-style buffet with fresh fruit, pastries, salads, meats, cheeses, smoked salmon, sausage, roasted potatoes, eggs benedict, waffles, crepes, a chocolate fondue fountain with strawberries"- so it's pretty rad.
They also have a date night special on Tuesday nights - $20 per person for a 4-course meal. Â Or $5 sandwiches on Wednesday nights. Â Win win.
I tried Al Vento for the first time with some friends during Restaurant Week. The main reason we chose to try it was because the 3 course meal was priced at $15 instead of the usual $30 that other participating restaurants charge.
Al Vento is a quaint little restaurant, you sit pretty close to other diners, which is awesome because you can scope out what they ordered. My gals and I ordered a glass of wine which was well priced at $5/glass. I loved this as I am usually spending between $8 and $10 if I want vino with my dinner.
I started with an app of stuffed mushrooms and mother's sauce. The mushrooms caps had walnuts in them and the mother's sauce is spaghetti sauce. The app was the perfect size and was very tasty.
I then got the spaghetti with more mother's sauce-yes a bit too much mother's sauce. It came with two humongous meatballs (insert balls joke here.) The spaghetti was good but I feel like I could make it better at home, maybe I had just od-ed on the sauce though.
For dessert you could choose between the creme brulee or the chocolate torte and the torte was calling my name. I had told my boyfriend I would bring him home some of my dessert but when the torte came out I knew that wasn't happening. It was about two bites worth of chocolate and caramel. It was perfect for some added sweet to the end of your meal but the man didn't get anything brought home.
The service was extremely attentive and our server was funny and knowledgeable.
It was a pleasant experience but nothing that I would go rushing back for.
It took a 5-star restaurant to revitalize my yelping career... just wowed by Al Vento!
Usually skeptical of the restaurant week menu, but this place was just buzzing with guests excited to try the fantastic offerings, and for $15... it cant be beat.
We started with the white bean bruscette and stuffed mushrooms. The boy would have eaten a meal of those little mushrooms - amazing! The bruschetta was chilled, and really garlicky, but I love some garlic so happy camper!
We started the meal with delightful heavy seasoned bread, which was welcomed with the liter of wine (which was a super reasonable $18). Only qualm was that I later realized that a liter is more than a bottle and for the best left some at the table.
For our entrees we both ordered the spaghetti. Often skeptical of any of my "foodie" restaurant choices, the boy half serious asked if he could get an order for lunch tomorrow...
The dessert was fine. Nothing special.. next time we'll skip it. A great chocolate tart, but we're here for the homemade pasta!
Taste good, food quality decent, priced reasonable, awkward service, cheap decor, and restaurant week timing.
We had everything on the 2011 Fall Restaurant Week menu:
Stuffed mushroom in mother sauce was really tasty. Â Bean and pesto bruschetta had some seriously vampire killing raw garlic action in it. Â The beet salad was the most sad little plate of little greens and mushy beets I've ever seen, but the hazel nuts were a nice touch.
I love their home made pasta in their spaghetti and meat balls entree. Â Not the pasta itself, but that they actually make home made pasta. Â The distinction is that the pasta itself was bland and sided with very salty meat balls, but the work that went in for the price and portion size is awesome. Â The chicken and roasted root veg: chicken breast was great but root veg were over cooked. Â The butternut squash ravioli in brown butter sage was okay; I think it needed more sage infusion.
Dessert can be skipped 'cause there's not much to write about.
It's odd; there's really nothing straight up bad to talk about. Â I feel like I'm some how being overly picky. Â At the same time, I really didn't enjoy myself. Â I just left feeling I got my 15 dollars worth, and that's just not enough.
Inconsistency is the name of the game!
I wanted to give this place four stars, as on one of our visits, our experience was indeed great. Unfortunately, all subsequent visits fell really short of this, hence the three star rating.
What I like about this place is that they are vegetarian friendly and that it is elegant without being pretentious.
The first time we ate there, the food was very, very good. The stuffed mushrooms in particular, were wonderful, as was the gnocchi and even the bruschetta was good! Similarly the service was very good - there were a few odd moments, but for the most part the food was the star of the show, as it should be.
Unfortunately it all went downhill after that. The next time around, the service was lousy. We had a server who was difficult to understand, and he had a hard time understanding the three of us - although to be fair, two out of the three of us have "accents" - but still, this hadn't been a problem anywhere else, nor had it been a problem at this place on other occasions! As a result, our server seemed frustrated with our table, and was somewhat "short" with us. This was unnecessary in my opinion, because although this place is loud (in a good way) - other servers had no problems understanding us, and vice versa.
In addition to this extremely awkward service, the food was sub par - the same mushroom dish that I'd talked up to one of my dining companions (and in fact the deciding factor for our visit) was just awful - tasteless and just texturally flailing! The only thing that saved the meal from being a complete flop was the tiramisu for dessert. It wasn't the best tiramisu on earth (the best I've had in the cities so far is at Carmelo's in Saint Paul) but it was sadly the best thing that we had all night, and our waiter, at least, understood us when we ordered dessert.
Overall, I may try this place again, if I'm feeling lucky, but honestly the last time really turned me off.
On a good night it is a great place for a date, as it is very intimate, and the lighting is very warm and flattering - sadly, it is difficult to know beforehand whether the restaurant will flop or shine!
My husband made reservations at Al Vento for my birthday on 9/9/11. We got there and were seated outside in the back of the patio where they forgot about us. After sitting there for about 10 minutes someone finally stopped by and apologized, then forgot about us again. He stated that the waiter that was working that part of the patio had been cut a few minutes earlier so they didn't have any coverage and would stop by "when he could."
The food was very good once we finally got it. Our reservation was for later in the evening so we had to sit in complete darkness while we ate. The tiny candle they put on the table just didn't cut it, and it kept getting blown out with the slightest gust of wind. We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert because we had been sitting there for so long it just seemed like the better choice.
I will not be going back nor would I recommend it.
My boyfriend and I took a 'let's try somewhere new' night and came here. Â We came right after work - so there were no many people in the restaurant and more people at the bar for happy hour. Â We had a reservation - so this helped us be seated. Â I would recommend a reservation because the seating didn't seem to be very big in selection - and the turn over on tables were quick. Â
The waiter was very helpful, after we ordered out wine he suggested to just buy a bottle which was a cheaper option (so we did-note to self a whole bottle always better than a part)... I ordered the Braised Boar Risotto... this was delicious! Â it had amazingly flavor and WAY too much for my eating. Â I took it home and it could easily feed 4 other people. Â
I think with 2 meals and a bottle of wine our bill came to about $80. Â The food was delicious and it was a great feel and set up. Â I would save this spot for a romantic date for two.
I think this place is one of the "best kept secrets" in town. If you're looking  for a charming little Italian restaurant then you need to put Al Vento on your list.
On recent visit were lucky enough to have a perfect summer evening and sat outside on the patio. This is my favorite spot here as most of the tables are enclosed by a wooden fence and lots of greenery. There was an abundance of wait staff and we were impressed with the service. They were always "attentive" and seemed to check back with us at just the right moments.
I love their spaghetti here and have had it on several occasions. It comes with a mother sauce and 2 large meatballs. It's been consistently good. My son opted for the clams with linguine and white wine sauce. It was loaded with clams and flavor.
To sum it all up you really can't go wrong here. Reasonable prices...delicious food...exceptional service. It's a winning combination.
Maybe it was the food, or maybe it was just the great company in the relaxed environment, but I loved my evening at Al Vento!
I decided to try the place out because of their restaurant week deal, and I have to say their marketing efforts worked wonders. Â I never would have stopped in otherwise, and I left with the intention to return soon.
First course: The caprese salad was outstanding. Â It didn't look like anything special on the plate, but their combination of olive oil and salt to the tomato and mozarella was perfect.
Second course: Gnocci with mushrooms. Â When you go here, you must try this! Â
Third course: Â Peach creme brule. Â This was their only miss. Â In fact, it looked and tasted a little like baby food peaches. Â I ALWAYS order creme brule when I see it on a dessert menu, and this is the first time that I ordered it anywhere and didn't like it.
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