My second visit to Fiorino, and honestly, I left feeling a little disappointed. The first tim came,…read morethe food was decent but nothing particularly memorable. This time, unfortunately, I found it even less impressive. We tried three cocktails, and they were all pretty average. They have an entire page dedicated to Negronis, so I was excited to try the Watermelon Negroni. However, I could barely taste any watermelon at all. I think the idea is that the watermelon ice cube slowly melts into the drink, but by the time I finished it, there still wasn't much watermelon flavor. The whiskey cocktail was also quite underwhelming. Food-wise, the Apricot Salad was probably my favorite. It had a caramelized sweetness that made it feel almost more like a dessert than a salad, but it was still refreshing and enjoyable. The Wagyu Meatball, on the other hand, was quite dry. It was very different from the meatballs I'm used to having served in a rich sauce. For the main course, we had the brie-filled pasta with Argentinian shrimp. It was okay overall, but the pasta itself felt slightly undercooked. The biggest disappointment was the dessert -- a traditional Italian lemon and white chocolate dessert. Unfortunately, the lemon flavor tasted very artificial and almost like a strong lemon extract, which made it difficult to enjoy.

We went to Fiorino for my birthday dinner. Got the amazing aesthetic corner seat. The inside was…read morequite busy, bustling with people and Italian country decor was in every wall. We got the Gnochetti and the Pollo ala diavola and negroni (both virgin and alcoholic). The gnochetti was super creamy, melts in the mouth and quite filling. But the absolute star of the show was the chicken! OH MY GOD!!! I've never had such a good sauce it was absolutely fingerlicking. The negronis were decent, the virgin one was pretty good though! Still dreaming of the chicken. Will go back again!

Everything was very good. Will definitely return. Charming servers tasty dishes. Sure meatballs…read morewere unacceptably salty but they took care of it. Didn't quite enjoy their wine by the glass but pricing was reasonable so no complaints. Just a little difficult to find parking is the only concern when returning.

We were interested in trying this because decent Italian on Main would be nice…read more Our take: It's best for people who don't know much about Italian food. It's a North American pizza and pasta joint, dressed up for the 2020s. Pizzas -- $26 for floppy crust, soggy individual pizzas that we didn't want to finish. Pasta -- $28 for bucatini cacio e pepe. This is exactly what I make my kid on nights when I don't have much on hand / am going out without the kid -- bucatini with parmesan and pepper. $28! When it has three ingredients other than water, one of which is black pepper. No secondi. Pasta or pizza are meant to be your secondo. Wine -- $18 for a glass of Fantini primitivo, which you can get for $15 a bottle at BC Liquors. So little attention and so much markup on the wine list means I wouldn't bother ordering any of the other wines on it, either. Service -- we ordered our mains together. It's not a tapas / shared plates restaurant. Our three mains came out separately, so we were all looking at each other, ignoring our food until it was all on the table. We won't likely be back, even though it's in our neighbourhood. Too expensive for what it is.

Food wisdoms: 1…read more You are what you eat. Capelllini. 2. I was looking at that salad, hoping it would turn into a donut. 3. Weight is directly related to gravity. Gravity is directly related to the earth. The earth is heavy and if you weigh more, it means you're more connected to the earth. Science!!! 4. A well balanced diet is having a piece of cake in each hand. See my pics. That's what I had. It was busy when I got here. Efficient, attentive but not intrusive service. Pasta made in house. Having said all of the above. I go to the gym regularly, and train like a demon about to be kicked out of purgatory. That means one thing. I have ABS -olutely no self control.

Booked a table for 5:30 pm and arrived on time. The kitchen was slow, the mains arrived before the…read moreappetizers. It was more than 45 minutes before all the food was on the table. By that point the mains were cold. Server promised us free desserts because of the delay but we never got them because after less than 2 hours we were told we had to pay up because there were people waiting for the table. Ambience...noisy! Food....linguini stodgy and congealed.

Tucked away in a cozy little spot, Artusi instantly charmed us with its warm, intimate ambience --…read moreperfect for a slow, comforting evening. The vibe is inviting without trying too hard, with just the right balance of casual and classy. We tried the Rigatoni Panna E Prosciutto and the Tagliatelle Papalina -- both were absolutely fantastic. The rigatoni was rich and creamy without being heavy, and the prosciutto added just the right amount of savory depth. The tagliatelle had a silky texture and the sauce was beautifully balanced -- subtle, but packed with flavor. You can tell the pasta is fresh and made with care. Service was attentive and friendly throughout, never rushed, and the staff seemed genuinely happy to be there. The only thing I'd note is that the portion sizes were on the smaller side. That said, the quality and taste more than made up for it. Every bite was worth savoring. Highly recommend for date night or a cozy dinner with close friends. I'll definitely be back to try more from their menu.

We stumbled into the cozy new Italian place on a pretty dark rainy Vancouver night…read more The small intimate dining room was light with soft lights and candles . Service was attentive and friendly. I had the Gnocchi my usual go to Italian pasta and it was delicious . So fresh and filling . One of the best I've had in a long time . The wine I ordered was out for the night but the wait staff's recommendation was spot on . All around a great small local business we will be happy to pop into again

Small staff but great service, owner was great and friendly. Ordered the set dinner menu, fine…read moreItalian cuisine. Love the interior design, old & modern combined ambiences.

This is always a fun place to go to for a special events like birthday and anniversary. On…read moreweekends, Frederico signs from 9-11:30 for dancing after dinner. There are not too many super clubs left in town so this is always top of mind. The staff runs like a well oiled machine. Food gets served as soon as you arrive when you go for the group menu since they know what have been ordered in advance. Veal Parmesan, chicken, basa are all done well.

We went out for dinner at Piva last night. We had gone there once before and my husband was…read morefeeling like good Italian food and he remember Piva from a previous evening out, so we went to Piva. It was such a nice experience the last time that we decided to go again. What a disappointment. We shared the same pasta we had the last time and it was still really good Zio Italiano. For entrees my husband had the pizza special of the day and it was disappointing. We did not care for the taste and the crust was soggy. My husband had roast duck the last time we were there, and it was so good that I decided on it for my entree. Our waitress said that it was served medium rare. Duck breast generally is served medium rare so I didn't have an issue with this. When it came to the table it wasn't just rare it was raw. I couldn't cut it with my knife and I sent it back to the kitchen. I had a caprese salad - very expensive at $19.00. It was good but I've had much better. A man, who I believe was probably the manager came to the table to check on us and apologized for the duck. We shared a creme brulee for dessert. With a bottle of one of the reasonably priced wines at $60.00 our meal with tip was almost $200.00. Definitely not worth the money. It was so different from our last experience. It's unlikely that we would return. I gave it 5* last time. What a difference. It was so much better last time and although the pricing is the same we felt that received value for the money last time.

Our family was in New West, and we wanted to grab brunch. I checked Yelp, and Piva looked to be…read morean highly reviewed spot, so we decided to try it out. I made reservations, but on arrival, it was clear we didn't need them as it wasn't that busy. The space is quite nice, similar if we were inside a Browns Social House or something similar. I only tried a few things: - Truffle Fries: Good. Lacked salt, but the grana padano provided enough umami - Breakfast Pizza: Good. A little different, but still fitting for brunch. I particularly like the pickled onion that added a bit of crunch and acidity to every bite. - Margherita Pizza: Good. More roasted tomato than I would normally see in a margherita, but still a good pizza. Service was very polite and attentive. No issues came up. Overall, I was a little impressed. Considering I've never heard of Piva before, it was pretty good food, good service in a nice setting. I'd consider returning.

What a fantastic experience! We happened to visit on the very first night Trattoria by Italian…read moreKitchen launched its new menu, and if this is what the future looks like, they're off to an incredible start. Everything we ordered was outstanding. We had the meatballs, Caprese salad, mushroom bruschetta, and the Bolognese pasta, and every single dish was full of flavor. It's rare to leave a restaurant already planning your next visit, but the meal was so good that we're coming back again tomorrow. Our server, Angela, was wonderful. She was friendly, welcoming, attentive, and had such a positive disposition throughout the evening. She checked on us regularly and even tracked down a Coke Zero for us, which was greatly appreciated. I also want to recognize one of the managers (Asian male). While making his rounds through the dining room, he noticed that we hadn't been given plates after our food was delivered. Before we even had to ask, he quickly brought them over and handled the situation smoothly and professionally. It's those little moments of attention to detail that make a difference. The atmosphere was lively and enjoyable. The restaurant was busy, FIFA was on the TVs, music was playing, and it created a fun, energetic dining experience. I can't compare it to the previous menu because this was our first visit, but if this is the new direction, congratulations to the entire team. You absolutely nailed it. 5 out of 5 stars. We'll definitely be back.

Trattoria by Italian Kitchen is located at 4501 Kingsway, Burnaby,BC…read more Food : Service : Ambiance :

Went here on a spur to try something new in the neighbourhood. We loved the white ancovy with…read moreradish & focaccia bread, def a fav! We were quite disappointed with the watermelon and cucumber salad, for some reason the cucumber tasted awfully bitter which we returned the entire dish. Thankfully service was great and they were able to comped the dish for us. The restaurant was quite busy but we enjoyed sitting out on the patio while enjoying our aperol spritz. If I came here again, I'll have to try the other pastas cause the one we selected wasn't a highlight for us.

My friend and I had an enjoyable dinner at Giusti tonight, about a week from when the place first…read moreopened for reservations. Taking over the old Bar Susu spot, Giusti's $75 tasting menu option harkens back to when the previous establishment that owned the space did affordable $55 tasting menus once upon a time. So, we were happy to opt for this option and try a little bit of everything instead of deciding on a la carte options. I appreciate the adventurous feel this menu has with its carefully selected ingredients and everything sounded quite thrilling. This $75 tasting menu consists of 7 dishes, which includes a dessert to share. For wines, the list has decreased in size from Bar Susu, filling up a one pager on the backside of the menu, but in return offers interesting carafe sizes at 500ml, alongside by the glass or bottle prices. We opted for the Tantalus Blanc de Noir in the carafe size for our meal and it was a very nice choice. Fine bubbles, fruity, orange blossom notes, without the fermentation funk and stayed bubbly for a long time. Our server, Chris, was appreciative to the notes of improvement and positive feedback we had for some of the dishes throughout the tasting menu experience and we had a good conversation. Something that stood out was that you can also make requests to your server if something in particular catches your eye on the menu that you'd like to see included in the tasting menu, and they delivered on both my requests of the Bagna Cauda and Pumpkin Cappellacci. Savio Volpe's Bagna Cauda still reigns supreme for me, but the Giusti one hit the spot as one of our green courses. The inclusion of the squash, radishes, radicchio etc. was a nice touch. They typically do ONE dessert to share, but Chris went above and beyond, and we were lucky enough to be able to get the apple crostata and the pear sorbetto both. Pacing wise, we had a 5pm reso, got water and wine at about 5:20, first two starters at 5:30. Second round took a little long, and we waited to 6pm to see the 2 greens. Third round felt faster but appeared at 6:30, with dessert happening at 7pm. My absolute fave of the night was the meatballs on sourdough for the second starter, and my friend's fave was the cavatelli with stewed beef (one of the two pasta dishes in round 3). We are STILL thinking about these dishes! Maybe just a personal preference, but I will say the dough things tasted doughy or lacked a certain oomph of flavor? The cavatelli had a nice handmade taste and texture quality to it which I appreciated. Maybe try giving it a good mix before dividing it up. I think I realized one of the salads was misintroduced to us by another server and was actually the Crispy Potato and Punterelle salad with fried pigs head and feed, mustard and pickles. We thought this was a little confusing on being cohesive, but this one kind of grows on you on the third and forth bite, and there are a lot of textures to discover on the plate. Ambiance wise, Giusti seems like it has the potential to be a place that is great for families, and with the great prices we saw on the menu, we love to see more places like this in Vancouver.