Agostino's Bistro & Pub — Restaurant in Cleveland

PLEASE READ: I’m providing a realistic review based on my recent experience here and list constructive criticism. In no way is this review written in ill intent or speak poorly of the establishment.

Atmosphere: The restaurant is welcoming and clean, and you are welcomed by a friendly staff. We sat in booths which was very comfortable, however we were constantly surrounded by multiple gnats and flies through the entire meal. I understand there are a lot of bugs in out and about, however I haven’t really seen this issue with other restaurants in the area.

Service: All of the staff were wonderful and our waitress, although she was relatively new, was very willing to provide the best service possible. Not much to say here other than great job.

Food: I will say I had mixed feelings here. My group and I ordered the bread with oil ($4) as the appetizer, two cups of wines ($9 and $10 for the cup), the chicken piccata($24), chicken Alfredo ($27), and the chicken Parmesan with angel hair pasta ($24).

The appetizer: I wish I would’ve taken a picture of this but we were served a massive slice of sourdough bread which was toasted, along with a small amount of oil with cut bell peppers. It was delicious, however the portion of bread was massive relative to the oil served. It would be great if the bread was pre portioned to bite sized pieces and the amount of oil was reassessed. The bread was great though!

The wine: I had a Merlot and my friend had a white wine which unfortunately we can’t remember the name, however they were well priced and delicious.

The Entree: I’ll start with the chicken Parmesan with angel hair pasta. It was delicious, the portion size was large, especially the chicken (took half the plate) which I honestly appreciate. The pastas were clearly boxed and not hand made, however the sauce did seem made in-house. It had a good balance of flavors but I’d say it was just a good plate of pasta, nothing too special.

I’ll group the rest of the pastas together since those need urgent attention regarding a revision to the recipe. The chicken piccata was not edible. It was like the pasta itself was submerged in lemonade. It simply tasted like lemon. A revision of the recipe is seriously warranted, and furthermore, the chef cooking these dishes needs to taste the food prior to serving. I can guarantee that they did not taste it as serving that would’ve been a disservice to the restaurant. Another point is that the protein portion sizes are incredibly disproportionate. The chicken Parmesan dish had a massive piece of chicken, which is great. However, the other pasta dishes had incredibly small portion sizes of chicken that looked boiled and tasted rubbery (and lemony). The chicken Alfredo had the same portion size as the piccata, was $3 more expensive (doesn’t make sense), and it was bland. I highly encourage the restaurant to revise the portion sizes and and standardize these dishes as customers will, in reality, be paying for boxed pasta with some handmade sauce (which in itself needs a revision), and disproportionate portions of protein for around $24. In my opinion, that leaves much to be desired.

The final comment I had was regarding their ingredient availability. There were multiple items on the menu which sounded very delicious; however, were crossed out with a white sticker indicating it was not available. I’m not sure if there was a mishap in resource allocation and ordering of ingredients, however I fear that this may cause issues in the future. I did eat here only once so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt if this was a one time thing.

In conclusion, the biggest areas of improvement are portion sizing, actually making sure the chef tastes each dish prior to serving or at least a revision to the recipe, and optimizing their ingredient availability.

This place has great potential and it seems like the staff cares a lot, however it’ll be difficult in my opinion to compete with all of the other surrounding restaurants if these fundamental concepts are not...

Wow! This place is an absolute gem. I had to travel to Cleveland for a client of mine and growing up in a Sicilian household in New York, when i travel I am always on the hunt for some solid Italian food and this place did not disappoint. My friend had recommended it to me and it was absolutely spectacular! The ambiance wonderful, the restaurant itself was extremely clean and the food was truly delicious. The waiter suggested the fried Calamri as an appetizer, which was perfectly breaded and fried (I certainly recommend it). As an entree, I went with a tried and true staple, Chicken Parmigiana, which was excellent, a solid portion and delicious. They also had extensive dessert options and I went with the Strawberry Cheesecake, Which was divine, but EVERY dessert looked absolutely phenomenal. This restaurant is truly a must try if you're in Cleveland. I HIGHLY RECCOMEND if to Everyone, you will be beyond...

The experience at Agostino's was fantastic across the board. We ordered from all areas of the menu - Apps, Salads, Entres, Pizza. The Bread / Oil appetizer is the best appetizer we have ever had. Authentic, great portion and perfectly accompanied. There were 4 of us and we all were able to enjoy. Pizza is fantastic. We really enjoyed the italian sausage.

Service and atmosphere were great. We were greeted promptly and our server was spot on with frequency and attentiveness, but not so much she was hindering our privacy. There was a decent crowd, but not too loud :-)

Great wine list. Enough variety across varietals and price range, but not so much that it is too hard to handle. We tried the house red - perfect. Kudos to the bartender, the mixed drinks our friends ordered were fantastic.

Lots of options in Little Italy, but Agostino's definitely needs to be on everyone's list. ...