Avanti's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Normal

I'm a local who deals with Avantis on a very regular (excessive?) basis. I dine in, carry out, and place frequent catering orders for my office. I have some points people should be aware of:

1. the food in general -- Avanti's is a local favorite. The food is pretty decent (4 stars). I do not believe it to be mass produced by food company and shipped in by truck. For the most part, it’s uniquely Avanti’s. Not sure what to order? Get a fail-safe staple: Gondola sandwich, Jumbo cheese ravioli, or pizza burger (aka meatball sandwich with motz cheese on their amazing italian bread). Food is low cost and a great value for taste and quantity.
2. Dine In – the restaurant is clean, well-lit, not excessively noisy, family friendly, speedy, and can accommodate large groups – not fancy at all (4 stars)
3. Carry out – quick, easy, good food to take home. (5 stars)
4. Catering – I am frequently required to order Avanti’s catering for work. I HATE dealing with their catering. (1 star) They make it extremely difficult to order and provide very little assistance with estimating the amounts that you’ll need. Its as if the restaurant has their way of quantifying items and the customer has a different way (the way of trying to figure out how much to spend and how many it will feed!) and Avanti’s is terrible about speaking the customer’s language (if that makes sense). Without fail, every time I hang up from placing a catering order, I’m infuriated and questioning whether I got the appropriate amount of food for my group. Another minor but irritating point is poor quality of their silver wear and serving utensils. It works fine if you’re eating it in a college dorm room, but if you’re hosting important guests at the office you’ll be ashamed to give them the flimsiest plastic silver wear they’ve ever eaten with. Plan on providing your own. Finally, don’t even bother ordering the “side salad” for your group – it’s literally an ice cream buck of bagged lettuce. Step it up and order the (confusing) “garden salad” which at least has olives, mushrooms, onions, and cheese. All that ranting aside – at least they deliver on time – but don’t expect them to do...

I’m a truck driver by trade. Because I have some extra time outside my primary job, I have applied for several part-time positions online. I put in an application for Avantis for a delivery driver position advertised on indeed. I was really interested in this position thinking it would accommodate for that extra time and a chance to make some extra money. Today I got a call about the job, I guess from one of their managers. At the beginning of the call, she did not speak clearly and I had trouble identifying exactly who she was and from what company. Mind you… I had put in several applications. My brief confusion, I could tell frustrated her, so I went on through the phone conversation without identifying who she was. I expressed to her I was looking for part time, she immediately proceeded to say they paid 10 an hour. I have managed several restaurants myself? Who opens an interview with how much they pay? Now I was really confused, when I know Illinois minimum wage is $15. Again I asked her which company she represented and finally I heard clearly who she was. I apologize for the misunderstanding and processed to let her know that yes… I was highly interested. Before I could get half the sentence out, she told me thanks and that they were alright and hung up the phone. I was astonished. All is asked was to get a clear understanding of what company she represented, so that I could respond in the proper way. Her frustration, attitude and unwillingness to get beyond a proper introduction prevented any further interview. One could truly say, this interview did not go well. I am yet to understand why I wasn’t even given an opportunity to even be heard in the interview.

Sometimes God avoids us situations that only he knows will be bad. If this was her attitude during the initial introduction, I can only imagine what it would have been like to work for her.

I’m not from Illinois and my understanding Avantis is a popular restaurant in this area. Surely they don’t treat their customers in this fashion? My experience applying to work there was terrible, and making sure to never find out what their in restaurant...

I was very disappointed. My husband has always spoken highly of Avanti’s from when he used to have business travels in the area several years ago. I had explained to the girl at the register that I was new and asked several questions. She was also new and had to ask someone else, which would’ve been fine except that I feel like I might’ve received more information had I been served by someone with experience.

For example: my husband ordered two large gondolas for him and my one son, then my other son and I each ordered “regular” sandwiches. While waiting for the sandwiches, I looked at the receipt and was trying to make sense of the prices. That’s when I realize she likely charged us for four large sandwiches. Another worker said that our order was almost up, so I asked him if we were getting four large sandwiches. He confirmed, so I explained about the error. He informed us that they are usually ordered as full or half sandwiches. That should be listed on the menu or I should’ve been asked for clarification if she didn’t understand. But, whatever, the food won’t go to waste with 2 teenage blues in the house & we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us, so told the gentleman I was talking to not to worry about fixing it.

Got on the highway & gave everyone their sandwiches only to find out they weren’t cut in 1/2. Dealt with that as best as we could, then start eating mine only to realize how dry it is. Look at the receipt again & all sandwiches have “real mayo” and mustard listed, but there is not a speck on the sandwiches. At this point I’m so frustrated that I called the restaurant and explained the situation. To which I’m told sauces usually come on the side and you have to ask for them. Are you kidding me?! Ridiculous!

The only reason I didn’t give less stars is because the bread is nice and fresh, they seem to use quality meats, and I do feel like the new girl was trying. But things were definitely deficient all...