Violino Restaurant — Restaurant in Western Mature Area

I have to say I was disappointed in my recent experience at Violino. I had been looking forward to trying it out for the first time and the service fell flat for me. Especially at the price point of the pasta.

I'll start with the good things. The ambiance is good, I like the smaller dining room, it felt cozy and quaint. Being there early in the evening, parking was not an issue. The food tasted great, although I feel it's maybe overpriced for pasta but I decided to splurge on a higher priced dinner since the dish was recommended by a friend. It was delicious and I don't regret spending that money on the dish. I'm glad I tried their signature dish, with the fettuccine in the asiago cheese wheel. It was rich, and delicious ans I had some left for lunch.

Now the bad comes from the service. Initially is was ok, albeit very rushed. We had hardly sat down before being asked if we wanted drinks. Hadn't even had a chance to open the menu! Then when we said we didn't want anything but water the waitress seemed mad. Why a person chooses to only drink water is no ones business and shouldn't feel judged for it. When we placed our food order we were asked if we wanted an appetizer and we politely said no, just the entree please. While this is a normal question from a server, the response was again being scoffed at and we felt like she was angry at us for not ordering something more. Again I understand it's normal to ask if a table wants any appetizers, showing visible displeasure when they don't want anything is not good service. The same thing happened when we said we were too full from dinner to order a dessert. Thankfully a positive note on the service was the gentleman who noticed we were not likely to finish our entrees and offered to bring boxes. However he dropped the dessert menu off and hardly gave us time to even look it over before asking what we wanted. Again with the rushed sense of dinning. We did not want dessert as we all full from the delicious pasta entree.

I understand the staff are likely used to people coming and buying drinks, appetizers/desserts, but to make a table feel like garbage for only wanting an entree is not the type of service I would expect from a higher end restaurant. Your staff have no idea why someone might opt to not order a drink, or other items. Maybe they are pregnant, maybe they don't like to drink and drive, maybe they try not to overindulge when eating and know the entree is already too much food. And for not spending more money, maybe someone decided to save up and treat themselves to a nice dinner at a restaurant they may not go to very often. There are many reasons why a table orders the way they do, they should never feel judged for their choices.

I was looking forward to bringing my boyfriend here for a special date night or anniversary, but after the experience I had recently, I'm not sure. I was looking forward to trying more items on the menu in the future because many things sounded good. Hopefully they will take this review and discuss with their serving staff to treat all paying customers well regardless of...

Never been here before but it was picked by a coworker for our large office group for a nice evening out. The location is a little hidden away, parking is limited. Our group was 28 people so we were seated on the second level. There was an additional room for other people to still enjoy the second floor, but we had the main room for our group. The place settings on the table was beautiful along with the napkin. While myself and a few of us early birds waited for the rest of our group to arrive, they took our drink orders. Ordered an Italian Café Shakerato and it was soo good. As the rest of our group arrived, they were all greeted and welcomed and drinks were ordered. The Antipasto Placcatore was served and it was delicious. There were lots of options for meats, cheese, grilled vegetables, pickles, olives and smoked salmon. Plus the bread with the oil and balsamic vinaigrette was soo tasty. I decided to try their classic Ceasar Salad and it was perfect. Not too heavy on the dressing and the prosciutto chips were excellent. Even though we were on the top level, there was a bathroom on the top level which was nice. No need to change floors to use the bathroom. When I returned from the bathroom, my third course was waiting for me. This honestly, was a perfect way to cleanse the palette. Though I loved the idea of this being served as a drink...either blended or served over champagne. We were given a selection of five main course meals and I picked the Quattro Formaggio Ravioli (Seafood). I asked for a side of vegetables as well. All of our meals came out hot and the presentation was beautiful. My side of vegetables looked amazing and I could smell all the butter, yum! The pasta serving was a bit smaller then I would have liked but over the course of the meal, I did enjoy quite a bit of food so it was okay. We were then served their Tiramisu and it was exceptional. A few from our group left before dessert, but I then got two pieces of this treat. Ordered a Bellini for my dessert experience and it was perfect. With such a large group, the wait staff was excellent. They served, cleared, took orders and the courses were served in a way that did not make me feel rushed. I was able to sit and enjoy each course along with my wine and friends. I did order a bottle of their Banfi San Angelo Pinot Grigio and it was just the...

Head and shoulders above the rest of the overrated, tired and repetitive restaurants in Edmonton.

If you're sick of paying through the nose for average quality food prepared by pretentious, pimple faced teenagers and served by young girls with more of their skin exposed than covered then you've just found your new culinary oasis!

Violino has much to offer the foodie and discerning diner alike. The mansion turned restaurant is tucked into a quiet nook in the old Glenora area surrounded by trendy shops and beautiful old trees.

The decor is simple, classy and comfortable offering a pleasant and unique dining experience. The noise level was remarkably quiet even with 5 other tables filled close by...thanks to the clever choice to use carpet to absorb sound. My party couldn't help but remark on how refreshing it was to talk at a reasonable decibel while enjoying our meal.

The service is consistently outstanding and friendly with focus on professionalism and the fine dining experience. It's rare to get a server these days who can make you feel respected and taken care of while offering both impeccable knowledge of the food and wine. Their pleasantries and greetings are always polished and appropriate.

The food is thoughtful, simplistic and pleasureable. The chef has done a great job designing a menu that's not pretentious but instead focused on simple flavours that marry well together and are consistently executed. I've yet to eat something I wasn't impressed with and that's saying something coming from a fine dining chef myself. If there's one thing you can count on it's that your food is well cared for and not just getting slapped on a plate.

Violino is easily in the top 5 restaurants in Edmonton and they've earned that reputation by staying true to what they do, offering the traditionally elegant dining experience. You will get exactly what you pay for...not such a common thing these...