The Original Vinnie's Neighborhood Italian — Restaurant in Asheville

First time, went on a Friday. It's hectic at peak times since they don't do reservations, but you can get seating at the bar if you're dining in. There's even a 'back' bar where a few young kids were eating with their folks. An option if you like bar stools and dining facing a wall!

If you're in for a wait, half the outdoor patio space is dedicated for waiting. It's got water, seating, it's covered, and you can order drinks at the bar. I can't imagine coming here with more than four people and not expecting to wait. Fortunately, Fridays are $6 martini nights (well gin or vodka).

Parking is nuts. Their parking lot does not match their capacity, so plan on finding alternate parking. Or take Lyft and then take advantage of the daily drink special. Solution-oriented folks appeared to be parking in the lots across Merrimon, the larger of which didn't appear to have a parking notice posted.

I arrived at 6, sat myself at the bar and ordered a dirty gin martini (no vermouth), half an order of the garlic knots, the linguini with clams in white wine, and the white cake. All 5/5.

The garlic knots were sitting in a yummy pool of garlic and olive oil and were liberally doused with Parmesan.

The linguini was a large portion of pasta, cooked beautifully al dente, with six or so clams-in-shell on top and absolutely chock-full of chopped clams and garlic. They should call it garlic lovers linguini and you should avoid it at all costs if you don't like garlic. They also do table side Parm grating, if you're into that.

Every bite was a delight, and i enjoyed spinning my forkfuls of pasta on the giant spoon that came with the dish, using it to load up each bite with sauce, clam, and garlic.

The ladies beside me ordered the Caesar without anchovies, which tells me they make the dressing in-house. Noted for next time.

I also want to try the red sauce with pasta - the garlic knots were served with a side of red sauce, which I wasn't overwhelmed by, so ordering another plate of pasta is the clear scientific solution.

The white cake I ordered to-go, so it came packed in a sturdy container and cute little bag stamped with the Vinnie's name. I didn't have any expectations, hadn't read anything about it, didn't look at pictures. But I've had tiramisu and it was the one different dessert they offered and I was curious.

Y'all, it's gonna be this year's birthday cake.

The cake is so yummy, but the texture threw me off at first bite. I was expecting a light, airy, vanilla cake. So I went in for another bite and it was like that scene from Ratatouille when Remi ate the cheese and fruit together for the first time. Fireworks. It's denser, like almond cake (could BE almond cake), isn't too sweet, and pairs beautifully with the slightly sweeter velvety, airy, white frosting.

The cake has three layers, is frosted and filled with what I assume is Italian meringue, coated with shredded coconut, and filled in the middle with almond slices. The cake is a joy of flavor and texture.

Is Vinnie's authentic Italian? I'm not Italian, so I couldn't tell you. I can tell you that I had a wonderful meal, and that's...

I’m think my husband and I just got very unlucky because the reviews are for the most part stellar, but I wanted other to be aware just so they can make an informed decision in the future. My husband and I were really excited to try Vinnie’s and we arrived just shortly after they opened at 4:35 on a Tuesday. The staff are exceptionally friendly and everyone was greeted like family. Very nice touch. We sat down and ordered right away as we had already scoped the menu before we arrived. We tried the meatballs and garlic knots as an appetizer. The meatballs were fantastic! 10/10 would eat again hence the 2 stars. But everything else sort of went down hill. My husband got the house made lemonade and chicken parm as both are his favorites at just about any restaurant. The lemonade had absolutely NO sugar. It was very heavy on the lemon, bitter and not palatable in any fashion. He ended up getting a water instead. We then tried the garlic knots. The portion was generous, but the tops of the knots were borderline burnt and the inside was roughly and raw on both mine and my husbands so we were too afraid to try any more to check if they if they were all equally doughy. The marinara was nice though. They then brought out our entrees. My husband had one bit of the chicken and one bite of the pasta. This was his summary- The chicken was cooked well, the portion was very large, but every other aspect of the mean was inedible. The chicken breading was slightly bitter and had a very soggy texture. The pasta was more than just al dente, it was very firm in the center almost raw, it was also not salted and had a very bitter flavor. The sauce was not like the marinara served with the garlic knots, it was exceptionally sweet and his thought was it maybe trying to make up for the bitterness of the pasta and breading of the chicken. ( he ended up spitting it out in a napkin) I got the chicken Marsala. Fortunately it was well done. The chicken was soft and succulent, the breading was soft but not soggy. The broccoli was also delicious. The pasta was a bit over cooked and the sauce a bit sweet but overall it was okay. All together we paid 85 with tip and I would say it was a shame. We were not once asked why we didn’t drink the lemonade, eat the garlic knots, or the chicken parm. It may just because it was the start of service and everyone was getting ready and a bit rushed. We don’t live in the area so we definitely won’t be back which is a shame, but my husband said it was the worst meal he had ever had. :( If you do visit my suggestions would be meatballs with...

A very detailed review from a frequent customer who has been dining here for over a decade I guess it’s about time that I reviewed Vinnie’s as we have been coming here for over a decade. The food is consistently good; the servers are consistently great, and the bartender, Willie, is one of our favorites in town. We have been here for small intimate occasions; we have been here with a big group celebrating things like my son‘s first Greenbelt in tae kwon do (that was at least a decade ago), and we are locals who live nearby, so we also just run into Vinnie's when we recognize it it’s 8 PM and we haven’t cooked anything and we are craving pasta. We also really enjoy sitting at the bar and having some of their focaccia and delicious whipped lemon ricotta and a couple of cocktails from master bartender, Willie.

Our favorite dishes: The penne ala vodka, the flavor is on point! The meatballs, flavorful and big. The focaccia with the whipped ricotta. Once in a while they are out, and my heart is broken!

I am giving Vinnie’s a five-star review for the restaurant itself, because there’s nothing to fault, but… we have also had catering from Vinnie’s on four or five different occasions over the years. And I will say that while I understand that a lot of elements have affected restaurants (such as Covid, and, of course the recent hurricane) the catering seems to have Consistently become a little bit worse over the last decade or so. Even trying to get somebody to call us back was really tricky last time. I filled out their online form. I called three times. There was no response. Finally, one day, in desperation, because our event was coming up, we walked in and asked the host if he could please take our catering order! Was this his job? Certainly not. But, like I said, the host and the servers are all fantastic, and so he was quick to pull out a catering form for us, and take a credit card, and pass the message onto the catering department. But this shouldn’t have had to be the case.

OK, enough complaining about the catering, because I’m really here to praise the actual restaurant of Vinnie’s. Again, so much to love, consistently good food, consistently amazing servers, great bartender, excellent cocktails. One of our “go to” restaurants for both celebrations and last minute Cravings. Thank you Vinnie’s for all of the pasta ...