Aldo's Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in San Antonio

Everything is relative right? While this was decent for San Antonio, it fell very short for Italian or even Italian-American food. Who am I to say? I was born and raised in the Lou, a city with the only remaining authentic Italian borough. I grew up on this stuff. There are iconic dishes that serve as a standard that one should be used to compare. For Italian in varies between Northern and Southern cuisine so when going to a generic 'Italian' it's generally escargot, lasagna, tiramisu. We ordered a variety of items, none of them were worth more than 2-4 stars. The escargot, good. no polenta, fine, the bread was an acceptable substitute. 4 stars for that! I would return just to get this for an afternoon break, but that's about it. Salad was ok, didn't appreciate having to crumble my own bleu cheese. Next was the pizza everyone raves about. I live and breathe pizza, worked in pizzerias for decades, make it at home a few times a month... I pondered giving 1 star, for the same ratio (20%) of cooked pizza crust to uncooked in the Margarita. There was too much tomato, lacked oil and the oven stones were clearly not hot enough. We sent it back and got a decently edible second attempt in return. 2 stars for the pizza. Next, the lobster ravioli was ok, not impressive for the cost, 'Luke'-warm and muted flavors left me relegating the sauce to being used a bread softener. Sauce should have stood on it's own. Presented with a second bottle of wine or that ravioli, I'll have a second order of escargot and that wine please. Desserts? of course. Irish coffee was a mess, glass was too small. Coffee filled to the brim resulting in the entire cap of cream above the lip. Instantly began melting down the outside of the glass onto the handle. Could not mix the cream in. Chocolate cake was dry. My 12yo makes better. The most disappointing was the tiramisu, my golden standard. Chewy, dry, disgusting. It was more like a sponge cake with whip cream. Little to no expresso taste, didn't melt in my mouth, just a sad, sad excuse of 'dipped,...

I never experienced the previous location, which seemed to have a lot of charm and ambiance that certainly contributed to the rave reviews. Alas, although the new Dominion. location is grand and modern, that charm has been lost with the cavernous feel and high warehouse ceilings. The decor is certainly tasteful, but rather on the cold side given all the hard surfaces including glass and stone walls and floors. The service was good until it got busier and I was somewhat neglected. I was expecting spectacular food... the escargot in herb butter was very good as was the bread which had to be asked for. I couldn't decide between the veal scaloppine Piccata and the well reviewed fettuccini Bolognese, so the waiter suggested a side order of the pasta which would accommodate both (making that happen came at a hefty $8 surcharge for just the sauce on the final bill though!). But certainly this would be worth it... given all the rave reviews? The veal was prepared well with a kind of unusual mixed Marsala and Piccata sauce. The pasta was nothing special however, and bland as well as watery, with course meat, certainly not veal. Maybe some fresh grated parmesan might have helped, but again my server was preoccupied with larger groups and failed to return to the table until well after I was done with the meal! For fine dinning, this is just OK... the wine list by the glass is weak, the Bolognese is bland, and the $$$ is high. Unfortunately, the charm of the old restaurant is long...

I didn’t dine here, but hung out during happy hour and had appetizers. It’s a really quaint little place with great ambience. It’s in an old farmhouse but is in great shape and it seems like it would be a great place for a special date night.

Happy hour is only served in the lounge/bar area and the outside patio (weather permitting). Happy hour is from 3:30p to 6:30p and includes $3 off most of their specialty cocktails, glasses of wine, and dinner appetizers. No specials for beer - BOO!

A group of us crowded around a small coffee table and pulled in extra chairs to sit around the edges. That was ok, but the service in the lounge area left more to be desired. We had to tell them we wanted to order appetizers and also had to request that they clear some of the plates, glasses, and bottles from the smallish coffee table area.

The appetizers were ok, but nothing to rave about. However, the ambience of the place really makes me want to return for a special evening. It’s a really classy place with large plate glass windows looking outside from the dining areas.

They have PLENTY of parking for this area of town.

Sadly, I was informed that they are moving up toward the Dominion on I-10 in November. This old place (the restaurant has been open since 1985, but the building is MUCH older) is being demolished to make way for another strip center.

If you have never been here, make it a point to visit before they relocate in November 2018. You don’t have much...