Sempre Uno — Restaurant in North Vancouver

Very Disappointing Experience – Not Worth the Review Hype

We had high hopes for Sempre Uno in North Van, but our experience from start to finish was frustrating and underwhelming. I had called ahead to book a table for Saturday, June 21, and mentioned we were celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday. The person on the phone rushed the conversation, barely gave me the time of day, and offered zero warmth. I let it slide, thinking maybe they were overwhelmed. Unfortunately, that set the tone for the rest of the night.

We arrived at 6pm and were seated outside near the door. There was no welcome, no acknowledgment that it was our first visit or a birthday celebration, despite me mentioning it on the phone. The first person who came to the table (who we assumed was our server) didn’t greet us, didn’t introduce themselves, and just dropped off water before vanishing. A second person brought menus again, no name, no explanation, and no effort to make us feel welcome. A third person finally seemed to be our actual server, but even then, there was no friendliness, no real connection, just the bare minimum.

She did ask if there was a special occasion, and I mentioned it was my girlfriend’s birthday but it went nowhere. No birthday acknowledgment, no kind words, just an awkward “oh, very nice” and on with the night.

To top it off, our starter plates still had food marks on them—clearly not cleaned properly. We had to ask for replacements. As for the food: the Carpaccio Marinato was visually unappetizing and underwhelming in taste, the Caesar salad had yellowing lettuce and some strange-tasting bites, and the Italian stuffed shells were just okay—not what you'd expect from a restaurant with a 4.7-star rating and nearly 200 reviews.

By the time dessert was offered, we were so disappointed we just wanted to leave. And just when we thought it was over, our server ended with “thank you for celebrating your birthday with us tonight.” That actually made things worse as it felt tone-deaf, like a last-minute attempt to seem attentive? Like cool, right on…

I’m not saying a birthday should come with a free treat or confetti. But some basic warmth, acknowledgment, and hospitality go a long way—and none of that happened here. The atmosphere might look good online and in person, but the service and food absolutely didn’t deliver. For the price point and reputation, this felt like...

This was a great experience for our wedding anniversary. Most important thing, be prepared for an expensive meal. If you go in with any other expectation, you’re going to be disappointed. That is not a negative by any means it’s just an expectation. The service is top-notch and I would definitely like to give a call out to our server Morris, he was excellent and definitely added to the experience of the evening. The food was really good, lovely presentation, excellent flavours and cooked to perfection. My husband had the lamb and I had veal and they were both excellent. Just a heads up the lamb is spicy, which was unexpected and would’ve wrecked my dinner, but my husband said it was excellent. My husband had the testarossa cocktail and it was fun, definitely worth ordering for the presentation. It was a very busy night so we ended up being sat out on the patio, which we were hesitant about at first. It is very comfortable on the patio, warm and heated, our seat had a peekaboo of the ocean. You do need to be OK with people walking by but we enjoy watching people so that worked out fine. I have read some comments where people said it had an Italian “feel”. We personally don’t agree with this, the inside of the restaurant is very cold and does not have an old Italian restaurant feel at all. It is the total opposite decor of the restaurant that was there before which definitely captured the old Italian feel. It’s very modern so we were happy to be put outside. Two suggestions, we found it kind of cheeky that we had to pay for bread at the table, considering the cost of all the other menu items and they definitely need to take the scented candles out of the little bathrooms. Haha I know this sounds weird, but it’s a small space and it was way too...

Such a wonderful experience dining at Sempre Uno for the first time!

The atmosphere was perfect. Some people were dressed casually, others a little fancier but no pressure either way. The staff greeted us right away and seated us at our table. There is both indoor and outdoor seating. I believe their outdoors is heated for the cooler days. Overall great layout. There’s an open kitchen and bar which is nice as well, feels very welcoming.

Onto the service and food! The menu read very well, and it was hard picking. Our waiter recommended a few options, plus went through some daily specials which all sounded AMAZING. We ended up starting with the carpaccio, oysters (that were on special) and a classic ceasar salad. Everything was delicious. Our daughter had a smaller order of their Ragu bolognese and it was possibly the best bolognese we’ve ever had. (Highly recommend a full order!)

For mains we had the Lobster Tagliarini , mussels/clams in a Yuzu curry base (was one of the appetizer specials) and Scallop and Prawn risotto. Every dish blew it out of the park. They were SO delicious. It’s hard to find a place where every single dish is a hit. This was it.

For dessert we shared the lemon cheesecake and the Budino. Hard to pick which one was better but if we had to, the Budino!

The service was also amazing. Our waiter was very attentive and friendly. The whole vibe of the place and staff were superb.

We will definitely be back!!

🍝 🍝 🍝 🍝 🍝 5/5 experience...