Venditori's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Auburn

I am going back and reading these reviews and I'm seriously questioning if we are all talking about the same place. We tried Venditori's while visiting my daughter after we attempted the Mason Jar and it was closed. Venditori's had 4.5 stars out of over 900 reviews. It MUST be great! BOY WERE WE DISAPPOINTED.

The restaurant upon entering looked nice. We were seated right away and the options on the menu sounded delicious!

We ordered out drinks and an appitizer (A sampler with fried mozzarella sticks and fried zucchini). The waiter said he would be right back with bread and salad. (Famous bread and salad! It is posted everywhere)

He came back with our drinks and two bowls of these tiny little rolls, so cute! Until he put them down and the rolls were sitting in a quarter inch of oil...not even real butter but the butter like cooking oil (like they use at Little Ceasar's) and topped with minced garlic. This could have been possibly delicious if it had been real butter. Then he sat down the salad...which looked really nice until you realize it is just drowning in vinager and oil. Poor veggies...they were dying. It was mostly vinager and seriously was just pooled in the bottom of this bowl.

He also sat down our appitizer at the same time.....a big bowl of what I can assume was supposed to be maranara sauce, but was really just diced tomatoes with onion and garlic. No flavor at all. I took what I thought was mozzarella and bit into a hunk of zucchini...which I love zucchini but this was bad...no flavor to the breading and like the hardest zucchini ever. Next I tried the mozzarella...but this was sad too. No taste at all, it wasn't hot and gooey cheese just luke warm saddness....

So we waited on our main courses...We ordered the chicken parm, lasagna and Angel Hair Dalvina. We had high hopes for these!

The amount of food that came with the Dalvina was enormous! But the noodles were over cooked and the sauce was watered down. Which was disappointing because the dish itself looked yummy. The chicken parm was warm and the chicken was ok...not terrible but again the side of spaghetti was over cooked and the sauce was flavorless. I asked for parmesan cheese and the waiter brought what we call shakey cheese. Not fresh parm like you would expect at a classier joint than Fazolli's. But that's fine we like shakey cheese I was just a little shocked. My husband's lasagna was very hot and looked incredible but he said "eh, it's alright." So maybe that's a win...

But the bill came and after I was able to just eat half my chicken parm and my daughter had three bites and decided to take it home to doctor it up herself and add some protein in hopes of making it better I was appalled that this tasteless dinner cost us $79. (That included the $14 tip even though the service was SLOW as Christmas and had to ask for more drinks after we depleated what he brought to the table before our food)

All this to say...I could not understand why there were people waiting to be seated and why the reviews are so high. This place is sad...the food made me sad....People of Auburn branch out...there is better Italian food out there. Don't let this place fool you into complacency. Do better Sellers...Auburn...

A great location in what looks like a safe area; nothing sketchy going on outside; free parking. A clean look inside and out; perfect place to take mom and dad or special night out regardless of the reason. I'm dinning alone tonight, so I was wondering where I would be seated. No worries! Without asking, I was taken to one of the little 'coves' with a group of six booths, all nicely decorated (photo below). Immediately, I felt relaxed, comfortable and had a protected feeling. Definitely not like I was hanging out in the middle of a large "mess hall."

I am going with the veggie lasagna tonight. The dinner salad that arrived not long after the order was taken is simply scrumptious! Let's see, there's a grated mozzarella on top over a medley of veggies that include cucumber, juicy red beat, mushrooms, garbanzo beans (chick peas) and artichoke leaves, A generous portion of house dressing (Italian) was tossed through the salad. Salad time includes freshly baked rolls served warm (mini-rounds with a drizzle of butter and fresh garlic!) I'm really taking in the vibe as I dive into this large portion and listening to Frank Sinatra singing, "I could have danced all night".

The casserole served at my table could have easily been shared with two very hungry adults or three with modest appetites and nobody would be going home hungry, trust me on that. The veggies beneath the canopy of cheese were prepared Al dente (not over-cooked). When the food server noticed I had demolished the baby baked rolls, she brought me another bowl and no, I didn't ask.

I barely made a dent in my entre' and if it turns out that lasagna fits with my preferences (never met a lasagna I didn't like), I could be continuing with leftovers for another next 2 days.

The desert card was a dreamy walk through a sweetland of decadence. Since I was going all out, I chose the New York Cheese Cake. A generous portion was served (what else, right?) alongside of a strawberry glaze (I prefer it on the side.) The glaze had lots of fresh strawberries, so much so that I couldn't keep from smiling widely.

I admit, I was ready to be hauled out to the car in a wheelbarrow. At no point was I in want during my visit to Venditori's! The service didn't miss a step. Customer's are treated like royalty here. I hope you have as much fun...

I had been to Venditori’s before but it was before I started doing my restaurant reviews. My wife had decided earlier in the day that she wanted to make the 45 minute drive to Auburn to have dinner. I had called a little before lunch and gotten a 7 pm reservation since it was a Friday night. We arrived about 20 minutes early to our reservation time and it was starting to get pretty busy. I checked in but unfortunately the host said he forgot to put it in. My first thought was “oh no” but was pleasantly surprised that they got us seated even before our scheduled reservation time. It took a bit for the waitress to get to our table for us to place our order but she was busy with a large table next to us. I ordered the Seafood Cannelloni and my wife ordered the Italian Combination with Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant Parmesan. Hers also came with a small side of spaghetti. We had to wait a while to get our food but they did bring out a large Italian Salad and garlic butter rolls. The salad was delicious with a nice garlicky Italian dressing and the rolls were warm and covered in mouthwatering butter and garlic. This was more than enough to hold us over until the main course. And, after taking our first bite of food when it came out, the wait and 45 minute drive to Auburn was well worth it. My Seafood Cannelloni was a delicious combination of shells filled with lobster, shrimp and scallops in ricotta covered with mozzarella cheese and baked in a rosatella cream sauce. It was exquisite. I tasted some of my wife’s Chicken Parmesan and it too was wonderful. We both cleaned our plates. We ended the evening with a tasty Spumoni ice cream. All I can say is that it’s been a while since I’ve had a meal this good. The staff was friendly and constantly checking on us before, during and at the end of our meal. With the food we got (which was a nice amount) we spent right at $78 with tip….and worth every penny. While it had been a while since I’ve had eaten here, I had forgotten how good the food was and this time I’m not going to forget. Venditori’s will definitely get a return...