Avanti Trattoria — Restaurant in Oshawa

My husband and I chose to book a table here to celebrate our anniversary, because our favourite memories took place during a summer tour of Italy. We ordered wine, cocktails, appetizers, pasta, veal, dessert and cappuccinos. The bill came to roughly $250 after tip.

The positives were the food and drinks. The menu was authentic enough. The antipasto, pasta and secondi courses were well-prepared, hot to the table and nicely presented. The wine selection was nice and my husband's old fashioned was well-made.

The negatives were the stemless glass for my pinot grigio. I really prefer white in stemware to preserve the optimal drinking temp. The service was also subpar. Our server never introduced themselves but I think the name may have been Jaime according to the bill. She was efficient and by the book. She took care of us but I didn't feel particularly welcome. For the price and for our special night we would've enjoyed a simple "I'm JaneDoe, thanks for dining with us" or "Are you celebrating anything special?" Etc. I had to engage her in conversation only to hear "I hope you enjoy the rest of your night" twice in a row, revealing she didn't even register what I had just said to her. The final negative was the dessert. I had a forgettable tiramisu. It was overly wet, perhaps frozen, then thawed?? Not sure. I could barely detect the mascarpone. It lacked the delectable richness of tiramisu. My husband ordered the profiteroles which were frankly awful. They were mounded on a plate, then smothered in a chocolate mousse making them rather unappealing to the eye. The mousse made what is supposed to be a delicate airy choux pastry, a mucky mess. My final negative is the environment. It was remarkably dingy, gloomy and not evocative of modern Italian trattorias. Paper serviettes, no tablecloths and mismatched uncomfortable seating.

My recommendations would include updating the decor. Replace those dirty ceiling tiles. Paint the walls a lighter colour. Add italian murano glass lighting fixtures. Put linens on the table. Get stemmed glasses for white wine and better decanters, that can be wrapped in a cloth napkin and placed in an ice bucket. Remove the dusty shelves of kitsch and unframed canvasses of cliche Italian art. Replace it with greenery and authentic Italian moulding and pay an artist to do a fresco or bring in marble, mirrors and sculpture to elevate the environment to reflect a truly upscale dining experience. Also train the staff to give the best service. Get rid of the profiteroles and fix...

My partner Emma and I took my niece here. It was their first time meeting and I was looking for somewhere nice to spend our evening.

After browsing listings we came across Avanti. At first, I was hesitant as some of the Google review pictures weren't the most flattering, but man am I glad I listened to my GF and picked Avanti.

The food was absolutely delicious, we enjoyed literally every part of our meal. The wine selection was nice and I enjoyed a Cab Sauv, Emma and my niece had some Shirley temples. We all ordered different pasta dishes as well as a couple of apps. We started with the bruschetta and the lumache (my niece had never had escargot/snails and was open to trying!), both were delicious and my niece actually went for seconds of the lumache, I was very pleasantly surprised.

For our main course, I had the Tortellini di Bosci, Emma had the gnocchi (we forget the specific name, but it was cheesy and amazing), and my niece has the spaghettini with meatballs. Honest to god, without exaggeration, it was all impeccable and sooo tasty.

We were incredibly satisfied. Our server was also incredibly kind and pleasant and the atmosphere was clean, warm, and very inviting.

I would absolutely come back myself, will recommend it to friends and family, and look forward to coming back...

Last night, two friends and I had supper at Avanti, and while the food was quite good and our server (Kate?) was excellent, we were almost late for our event because of Avanti. It was my friend's birthday and we were attending a show after dinner. We had made the dinner reservation a week in advance, and wanted to make it for 6 pm (8 pm show time). We were asked to make it for 6:15, and we agreed, even though that meant that supper would have to be contained to 90 minutes. When we arrived, we were told that it would be "about five to ten minutes" for our table. But we have a reservation... Weird. We were not pleased but, being too polite for our own good, said "okay." Well, ten minutes turned into 25, and so, we had to rush through supper, skipping dessert (on a birthday!), and running to the theatre with SECONDS to spare before lights went down. On top of that, we were charged an extra $5.50 to swap out the marinara for alfredo on the chicken parm side pasta. I understand these things happen (I guess), but we were not offered an apology -- never mind a comped appetizer or anything like that. We were just told, blank-faced and matter-of-factly that we would have to wait. It was the Seinfeld car-rental scene come to life! Very...