Flavio's Restaurant — Restaurant in Apollo

Flavio’s is simply amazing and more so if you consider the rural context. Make no mistake this is Italian-American cuisine and that’s the point. Most such restaurants are long closed, morphed into Olive Garden-like quality, or merged with an Italian influence, which took hold in urban areas in the 90s. Flavio’s transports you to a pre-1970s authenticity. If you’re younger and traveled the world, your disdain for Italian-American food is understandable. And therefore if you’ve wondered what did my grandparents like about this cuisine, a visit to Flavio’s is the answer. Attention to the quality of ingredients is clear. The raw onions in the house salad are sweet. The wedding soup is on point. I’ve never had better oyster crackers. The creamed butter with just baked bread, perfect. The shrimp in the shrimp cocktail, superb. The homemade pasta, excellent. The veal Marsala, classic. But remember this is Apollo. A small, struggling town an hour outside of Pittsburgh. That’s what makes things more amazing. This was the first time I have eaten here since 1989. It has not skipped a beat. The waitress, on the job three weeks and her first waitressing job, was delightful, well represented her town, and obviously extremely well trained. If you live in this rural area it may seem pricey. But you must go at least once before you die. For the rest of us it’s a destination, captures a piece of culinary history, and well worth the trip. I won’t wait so...

Our first time visiting this long standing establishment. Family run, "old school" kind of place nestled in the little town of Apollo. Please note that we learned that you must have a reservation, as the restaurant like most everyone is facing staffing issues. When we called for our reservation for 7pm, it was made clear to us (politely) that they would love to have us, but that the food may take some time to arrive due to staffing issues. I was glad she told us, as this set proper expectations. The restaurant was clean and bustling when we arrived. We were immediately greeted in a friendly fashion. We were immediately seated. The waitress was quirky but in a good way and friendly, warm and attentive. The salad with homemade Italian dressing was simply excellent. We ordered bruschetta, it was good. As expected, the main course did take some time to arrive, but again the waitress was very attentive, getting us drinks and providing status updates. As for the entrees, I had homemade gnocchi with meatballs, very good and a nice sized portion. My wife had Chicken Romano, very tasty. We wish this place all the best and hope that they can resolve the staffing...

We had the BEST experience. I can't say enough good things about this wonderful old world restaurant. Our meals were tasty and perfect. The service was exemplary. Angela, our server, made a great suggestion of splitting the shrimp and crab pasta meal with my son because it is so huge. That was a great idea and I added a Caesar salad with it. All of the food was fresh and delicious. The pasta is homemade as were the delicious buttery croutons on my salad. The orange roughy is huge even my skeptical father was very impressed. The warm homemade bread is also amazing. We loved the decor saluting our local hometown soldiers. I am so happy that this place is still in business after all of these years. That speaks volumes! Don't be scared of the price range - their prices are in range with every other restaurant serving similar dishes including chains. Just be sure to look at your receipt as parties that are five or larger receive an automatic gratuity on their bill (these girls do a great job and definitely deserve the 20%). Note to the chef - looking forward to when you start making desserts again. I will be making another...