Avanti's is a Peoria favorite. They're especially known for their bread. I think sugar is one of the key ingredients that sets it apart. I end up stocking up on loaves of bread whenever I visit - they're that good! They're also known for their Gondola sandwiches. The signature bread with cheese and cold cuts (you can get lettuce, tomato, etc on it too). There are 2 locations I visit in Peoria, this one and the one on Knoxville. I highly recommend dining in at that location. I ordered online - easy parking and it has its own pick up entrance. Staff was friendly, order ready when I got there, and the order was correct. Food tasted great. read more

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At Avantis for the Easter Buffett. The only thing worse than the food is the service. SLOW, cold food, dry chicken. Puke on a plate. GO ELSEWHERE. Just got home. Terrible stomach ache. Avoid Rockwood Avantis, it's contaminated. read more

Visiting from out of town and received wonderful service from Jordynn, the woman who took our order. Ordered the Pizza Bread Deluxe & two other sandwiches-- The Bristol (Hot) and Pizza Burger. Sandwiches were great and filling! Chocolate chip cookie was average. read more

Avantis - Large Chocolate Chip Cookie - Italian Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

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They get busy but always get the food out on time, no matter the line. You see them pushing through the orders w respect to grumpy customers and that alone is tough. read more

Amazing food as always! Whenever we visit Peoria we go here and Schooner's. We ate Avanti's gondola 3 times in the week we were there! I also love chicken salad (with fried chicken) and their ranch. Delicious!! And their homemade bread! read more

The lasagna special was very good and filling. The fresh made bread was delicious with it. I really enjoyed my meal.

Inferior Italian food...like Cici's pizza was good.. soup was like it was boiled, it was soooo hot!! The place is very outdated...needs a good scrubbing!! Server was not into it. She would disappear quite often. I would not go out of my way to come back here..... read more

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Food was so good. Bread is to die for. Service was absolutely amazing. The place was also so clean and beautiful. Thank you so much. Will return! read more

First time here and was in the area for work. Didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. I got all you can pasta on a Monday and it pretty good. No complaints. The salad also was simple but good.... Basically lettuce and dressing. The bread came out warm and with butter so it was good too. My waitress Sara was very attentive and polite and seemed happy to help so I appreciate her for that. Also the food came out fast as well. read more

I've been coming to this restaurant ever since I was a little child and I'll never stop! I have never craved a cold sandwich the way I crave their Gondola. Their homemade sweet bread completes the whole sandwich filled with deli meat, cheese, and fresh lettuce, and it doesn't matter if it's toasted or cold, it's ALWAYS fire. ‍ (It's always worth buying one to eat and one to go because you'll want another one soon after it's gone! Hehe!) read more

I ordered something almost 2 hours ago and it was supposed to be delivered. Still no one has come to deliver it. I called the restaurant and they said they would be here soon. What kind of business does this? And the girl hung up on me that worked there. It's becoming very unknown for that reason. I don't know who's in charge but you got to get your staff in order read more

Our server SueAnn S was wonderful she helped me find soft food because I recently had wisdom teeth surgery and she recommended the Mostaccioli and it was awesome I wish I had cash or I would have tipped her $20, I also over heard her helping a elderly lady on how to pay SueAnn your above and beyond and the overall experience was amazing definitely coming back! read more

Avanti's feels more like a reheated cafeteria than a true Italian dining experience. Most of the food seems pre-made and warmed up rather than freshly prepared. The flavors are bland, the textures are off, and nothing stands out as authentic or made with care. If you're looking for quality Italian cuisine, this isn't the place. Management needs to take a hard look at hiring and training practices. Whoever is overseeing HR should be retrained or replaced, as the current team clearly isn't meeting basic standards. read more

Amazing as usual. Great bread, but make sure to ask for double meat or you may be disappointed. My go to is toasted ham and cheese or the Gondola read more

Just had a delicious chicken parmigiana dinner. Good crisp salad and the incredible (as always) fresh-baked on-premises bread! Service by Erica C was most excellent. Fast, courteous, and correct. She kept my drink filled and checked back frequently. Avantis always provides and all-around wonderful dining experience! Thank you, Avantis! read more

Avantis - Spaghetti with meat sauce and side of meatballs - Italian Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Its a classic Peoria staple. You can not beat the gondola, but the lasagna is my favorite. Especially if you dip it in their homemade ranch dressing! yum yum yum read more

Quality was down significantly from what it use to be. Sad as it's a Peoria staple. This was a take out order.

Food was good. I had the Lasagna. Service was very good. The waitress checked on us several times about water and how the food was.

Avanti's is always a great pace to go! It is quick and delicious! I do not eat Gluten.. and I really appreciate the GF bread. It is a great place to go whether you are in a rush... or even if you want to take time and socialize with friends! It is affordable as well!! read more

The gondolas are delicious and huge! They last me a few days. They have gluten free bread and pasta options as well.

I've been eating here for years and never had a bad meal. The downside is that I don't like the ambiance so usually order takeout or delivery. read more

I've never had a bad meal here. I really like the food, but not the ambiance. Usually order delivery.

I grew up eating Avantis and recently moved out of state but always ask friends and family to bring me something when they visit. I recommend the Sicilian! read more

Avantis - Sicilian - Italian Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Horrid experience...first time at an Avanti's and not sure I'll try any of the others at this rate. Atmosphere is nice and relaxing, cute decor makes it nice. Garlic bread and bread was good too! Garlic bread was excellent Now for the bad. Waiter was terrible!!! He took our drink order, brought our drink (after 15 minutes), and to take our food order. The rest of the staff picked up his slack. Then my girlfriends and my pasta orders came out and they were room temperature. When we told them, they took it back and microwaved it. We could tell this, due to the missing bite being where my girlfriend had tried her meal. Really!?!?! Not even going to try and remake it to make it right?! The bright spot was the dining room manager, Kayla, who was a rockstar! She needs a raise and promotion. read more

Avantis - Italian Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Food was very good and service was also very good - not like some of the other reviews. The bread was excellent - and they are known for it. We diid the make your own pasta and both our dinners were very good. It's not high end Italian, but it is very good and the price is extremely good! You get a salad, bread, and your pasta dish, and our tab was $22 including tax. Can't beat it. read more

Avantis - Baked ziti with mushrooms - Italian Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

There were 13 of us and the service was excellent. Everyone was very happy with their food choices, and the room we sat in had a very nice Italian theme. Wonderful evening. read more

I forgot to mention to the girl working the Counter that I didn't have my ticket because it was stapled to my bag of food sitting on the counter in my kitchen getting cold because you forgot my salad. read more

there were flies everywhere trying to eat my food, food was good, except the cheese on the pizza wasn't very good, and they didn't deliver my salad the server was very nice to us the restruant was plain, not much decoration but i liked it i guess read more

Terrible experience. The hostess didn't even speak to us when we walked in. Just seated us, no words spoken. Salad was out of a bag as the waitress told us. Gross. Food was bland. We had to ask for our ticket and when we paid once again no words were spoken. No thank you, nothing. If you want horrible service and bland food, go here. Otherwise keep driving. read more

food was good but service was terriable we asked for ranck with out order wauted a soild 10 minutes after food arrived then asked again waited 5 minutes then finally after we went to the desk we got out ranch some other waitress checked on us more than out own to. read more

This is my favorite restaurant by far! I moved away from peoria years ago and still crave their food. Every time I go back I end up eating here at least 2 meals a day. And never fail to take as much possible home with me. The prices are so cheap too! Mondays & Tuesdays they offer unlimited pasta with their homemade bread. My favorites are definitely the original gondola & pizza bread. Can't wait to get back here for more. Everything is amazing thanks to their homemade bread! read more

Avantis - Pizza bread & 1/2 gondola - Italian Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

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Tasteless salad, mediocre pasta, ok bread if you like some mushy white bread. Definitely lacking, and what is with the flies? Shut the screen door someone. read more

The food was good. Staff were friendly. We took a large group of hungry college kids and the bill was surprisingly low.

Meatball sandwich is delicious! Gondola sandwich is so good. Lettuce salad could have been better. Tomato, cucumber, black olives, cheese and onion would have been nice.ç read more

Always a good time here. You cannot beat the quality and quantity of food for the price. Must try restaurant. We are from out of town but come here everytime visiting Peoria for dine in and of course take out. The gondolas are unnecessarily huge and delicious. The bread is unique which sets them apart from other sandwiches. Tried the chicken parmigiana which was really good. You have to get the pizza bread too. Enjoy! Will be back soon! read more

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So I ordered take out, chefs grilled chicken salad, bruschetta, side regular salad & pasta salad. Two stars because I found a black hair on the boiled egg in my chefs salad.. everything else seemed okay. Just, lost my appetite. read more

Avantis - Italian Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Avanti's is usually consistent, but delivery tonight was disappointing. Got Alfredo sauce for spaghetti when I ordered meat sauce. Pizza bread was soggy and not hot. So much strong red onion on the garden salad that it was barely edible. Called to report this and got a very apathetic response. read more

The waitress is clearly high on something almost falling over on our table and talking really slow and rolling her eyes back in her head. Cannot make this shit up read more

Avanti's is revered by several people I know, including my boyfriend, who assured me that one meal here would have me eschewing my favorite Quad City Italian dive forever. That did not happen. Instead when I went to Avanti's for dinner, my life was left unchanged. The service was crazy. I think we saw our waitress when we arrived and when she took our order, and that was it. This was particularly challenging when we'd finished our meals and waited for a check to arrive. It didn't for just about 20 minutes, which I could have gotten over if the food had been completely marvelous. However. I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs in order to make a direct comparison with my favorite dish at Grinders in Moline. It wasn't bad but it absolutely was something I could make at home, simply by opening a can of Ragu (the sauce wasn't even on par with Prego). "BUT THE BREAD!" Nah. Warm bread is always pretty good, right? And Avanti's bread was definitely good, but again, just not great. The garlic bread was just plain sad. It was dry to the point of inedibility. I would never refuse to return to Avanti's outright if some friend or family member wanted to go there but with the dozens of other intriguing restaurants in Peoria I'll never independently choose to return. read more

Ordered a pizza and a gondola online at 12:50 PM. Drove to the restaurant and immediately went into the carryout lobby. Wasn't long to have my turn at the counter and was told it would be a while for the pizza. Ok. It's only been 10-ish minutes. Waited patiently for 20+ minutes, asked about my pizza and was told again it would be a bit as they were short-handed. Ok. Not unusual in many places, but pushing the limits of acceptability here. A bit before I asked about my order, I noticed what I thought might be my pizza getting put into the warming oven. Counterguy never paid any attention to those two pizzas that were in there in spite of having pulled a couple of other orders out to give to their owners. So back to waiting. At about 1:35 (45 minutes after the order was entered), Counterguy says 'Here's your pizza'. To which I replied, "Um, that's a 6", I ordered a 10" AND a gondola. Is this a 10?" He said no, grabbed a gondola (at least it was the right one), and then proceeds to finally look into the warming oven, at the very pizza that has been sitting in there for over 30 MINUTES! Turns to hand it to me and I say "You've got to be kidding me! That pizza's been sitting there for half an hour or more while you left me waiting?' Counterguy sharply replies 'I'm trying to do five things here.' No apology, just an excuse that he was too busy. Granted he was busy, but he never even looked at that pizza or the other one in there in all that time. So while I was waiting and I was basically watching my pizza turn into a brick. Counterguy proceeded to deny responsibility for the poor service when I addressed his snappy response about being busy. Got to my car (finally) with my pizza and gondola. Before leaving the lot, called the manager and was told only that he would talk to Counterguy and discipline him accordingly. No empathy, no apology, just mostly dead silence. Discipline him accordingly sounds to me like he was likely not even going to say a word to him. This ticked me off further and though not proud of it I gave him an earful, too. Got home with my brick with extra cheese and after one bite, tossed the whole dam*ed thing in the garbage. I have never had worse service at Avanti's. read more