Do a search below using the city or postal code search box if your city is not listed above.
Get dining news including restaurant closures and qualify for giveaways.
Authentic Northern Italian cuisine with full bar and extensive wine list. Maximum 65 seats, air conditioned, wheelchair entrance, full menu, large seafood selection, steaks, veal, risotto, gnocchi speciality, large choice of appetizers, soups, salads. Elegant, cozy, unpretentious ambience.
For Yaletown standards this place boasts reasonable prices. The decor is a little out of date but the food is pretty good. Mind you, if you;re looking for 5 star italian then head to Villa del Luppo but if you have an entertainment book you can get a pretty good deal here. Average dinner for 2 with drinks including discount around $150.00 including taxes and tips.
Preamble: big gathering of 10+ people
Food: I regret not ordering the seafood pasta (clam or mussel) as people raved about it. The risotto was alright, but certainly nothing to brag about. Having said that, my prosciutto soup off the daily specials was excellent.
Service: very accomodating to a large group even with frequent number changes. Knowledgeable, waiter chose excellent Italian wine for us.
Value: fairly well priced for Yaletown
Ambiance: small restaurant, quiet. There wasn't even a big fuss (except, alas, from our group) even with the presence of a famous celebrity who is currently shooting a movie here.
Judging from the other reviews, the place is staffed by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; unfortunately for us, we got Mr Hyde tonight or more appropriately, Ms. Hyde. We were in for an early Sunday dinner and there was only one other table seated at the time. We were promptly seated and given menus and then the waitress disappeared. After what seemed like an eternity she re-appeared to take our orders, She wasn't rude or anything like that but her style was more conducive to ordering a Grand Slam at a Denny's than a meal at a "table cloth and candle ligth" type restaurant.
The meals came in reasonably good time but out of our 3 orders, one was wrong. When we let the waitress know, she removed the incorrect order without a word of apology. Two of us were almost done before the 3rd meal arrived at which time she asked if the first 2 meals were OK. We saw her one more time when she dropped by to fill our water glasses. At the end of the meal when our bill arrived, she disappeared once again for the longest time before she came by for our payment...no mention of the error or any apologies or a "please come back soon".
Too bad the poor service overtook the fact that the food was fairly decent. The prices were reasonable as compared to other restaurants in the same category. The room was quite cozy and comfortable and since there were only 4 tables being served while we were there, it was very hushed too; a nice change from those noisy places where you have to scream to be heard.
With so many good choices around Yaletown, the management better weed out Ms. Hyde soon or customers will go elsewhere, good food or not.
I have been to Amarcord many times in the past (pre - baby) and was always satisfied with the service and food. I've raved about the restaurant to friends and tourists since they were reasonable in price for quality. My auntie also goes at least 2x month since she works in Yaletown and has many business lunches there.
But since having a baby, I have not had much time to eat out. But we decided to go to Amarcord when we received our Entertainment book a few months back and were utterly dissapointed. I usually would not go to such extent as to write a review (I don't have much time - toddler mommy now) but felt very frustrated at my recent and last experience there.
Firstly, we had a party of 4, 3 adults and my 2yr daughter. We ordered 4 entrees. The service was slow and we were the 3rd table filled during an earlier reservation. When we finally received our food and had our first tastes, it was extremely salty. My daughter who loves to eat did not have more than 5 bites of 2 entrees. Everything was too salty. (We tried to give her some variety but due to her egg allergy we were limited in choices) She ate the foccacia for the rest of the night. Previously, the food was so tasty and above average but this time it was certainly below par.
At the end of our meal, we had 2 entertainment cards to use and the promotion was "Buy one entree, receive one of equal or lesser value for free". The manager came back and told us that we could only apply one promotion to the bill b/c my daughter was not considered an "adult"! How ridiculous is that? The promotion is for "entrees" NOT people. Although my daughter is 2, she is big for her age and it's b/c she can eat almost adult size portions.
Anyhow, to make a long story short, we guess that the ownership/chef has changed from some tell tale signs. We could forgive the saltiness but the customer service was horrible. We won't be going back there again...their loss.
A small restaurant with fantastic food and service! Have been here several times and it is always fabulous. The bread here is to die for and every entree i have ever tried has been delicious and cooked to prefection. I brought my family here and everyone was impressed. Make sure to finish your dinner off with an espresso and a piece of tiramisu.
We really enjoyed our meals and we agreed that we would have loved the setting and ambiance if it wasn't so crowded... we were there on a Saturday night but even so, the seating isn't spaced out very well.
The waitress was friendly enough but she spoke very softly and couldn't quite remember the specials. Maybe she was new?
We were very upset though at the end of the night because when we were paying our bill our bank's system was down so our debit card didn't go through and the hostess was VERY rude and very vocal about it. It was very embarrassing. We had another form of payment so it shouldn't have been a big deal.
If you are just looking for good food and good wine... this is the right place.
Great service to start it off and it takes you to a classic Italian setting. Traditional, nothing flashy and one of the better values of Yaletown.
Sure you can gets something CUTTING edge at the 3X more expensive Ciopinos but this place is cozy, non pretentious and humble. Had the lasagna bolognese which is only available on thursdays and good portions and value.
This is a place I can come to twice a week where the other fine dining establishments are priced out for a visit once a year.
I hope these guys don't get rent bullied by corporate style restaurants that seems to just dominate the restaurant scene in Vancouver.
A friend from Seattle wanted Italian food when she was up visiting in early January. I have been to Amarcord for dine italia and for dine out in 2007 and both times the food has been great. We had a table for 5 and each person ordered different items off the menu. The ceasar salad was light flavourfull. We had 2 pasta orders that were awesome (pesto sauce, seafood spicy linguine), the daily meat (duck special) and 2 veal dishes (1 with fois grois) that was very good. The best part of the meal was the dessert, their tirimusu is probably the greatest I have tasted in this city. I would highly recommend this restaurant and with the ent card its even a better deal.
This place is a tad expensive but lovely non the less,
Very cosy atmosphere and the best service i've ever had.
The gnoccis are great and so is the dessert. Simply put good food good value so if you'r wondering through the yaletown are this is definitly a place to consider dropping by.
After hearing so much about this restaurant we were quite disappointed by what could be called nothing other than very mediocre Italian food. One thing is for sure at these prices there is no excuse for what we received. I know Jolly Green Giant frozen mixed vegetables when I see and taste them and they have no place in a pasta dish! At least not with the label: mixed seasonal vegetables! Won't be going again. The service was notable, though. The atmosphere: Homey.
I had delicious, well cooked pasta and the tiramisu was rich was mascarpone and flavour. Service is friendly and fast while the room is spacious and comfortable. Highly recommended if you need an authentic italian pasta fix!
After we sat down, we're left unattended for a good 10 mins. Then the sever came to let us know the special and asked if we would any drink. We just had ice water. It took another 10 mins before she came to take our order. We order the pasta only and skipped the appetizer coz we would like to the have dessert afterwards, the sever showed her attitude right away. Our pasta came after another long wait, tasted ok. Becuase of the poor service, we just ask for the bill after finishing the pasta!!!!! The sever didn't even asked if we would like to have any dessert!!!!!!
My best friend and I decided to try this Italian restaurant after reading all the reviews. We had a pretty pleasant dinner, both of our pastas were filling and delicious. Portions were reasonable, but the server could have been a little more attentive. The owner / manager of the restaurant greeted us and checked on us several times during our dinner. His service was a lot more delightful than our server. The ambiance was quite nice, we were offered one of the smallest tables right beside the washrooms as we didn't have a reservation, but it was a good experience overall.
After reading all the reviews here, I had very high expectations of this restaurant and was praying it didn't disappoint as I was in charge of planning a birthday dinner. I made reservations the night before, the person I spoke to was friendly and informative. We were a little late but they were very accomodating.
The food took a little long to prepare, but it was probably because we had a fairly large group and they had to serve all the dishes together... while waiting, we ate the bread which was just divine... it was like eating cake, light and fluffy, perfectly prepared...
For an appetizer, I had the butternut squash soup and that was very tasty. The linguine with mussels, clams, etc.. was just wonderful as it had the right amount of seafood and it was perfectly cooked, sauce was great, I'm not a fan of pasta but this place serves some of the best pasta I've ever had, and I tried some of the dishes other people had, the gnochi, risotto, they were all very yummy.
The wine menu was terrific, they had a great selection.
Last but not least, the dessert, I had the chocolate pear which was just heavenly, the tiramisu was pretty good and the chocolate salami was good as well, a little too chocolatey for my tastes...
The service was wonderful, our server was terrific as was the other servers. Everyone was so friendly... and they're skilled at taking pictures as well.
The ambience is good.
Will certainly be back for more of the great food, especially the yummy desserts.
Stopped by on limb to try this place out.
Food was excellent and service was truly outstanding. Even though Yaletown is overun by more expensive trendier establishments Amarcord has its own small village Italy feel to it.
Had the Tagliatelle Bolognese and it was superb. The servers were on point with service and I left feeling I got great value and an excellent meal. In comparison the prices are very reasonable.
Will be back for sure.
Good meal, Hostess was very friendly and the wait staff was very attentive and efficient. Food was good and reasonably priced. Nice ambiance. We haven't tried the higher priced more well know local Italian restaurants yet so have no comparison to offer. We made a reservation early mid week and had no problem getting a good table. Will return.
We had our first Dine Out meal last night at Amarcord. We had been there for lunch a couple of times before and this was our first experience for dinner.
We ordered a nice wine in the Sandhill Pinot Blanc which went very well with the Brodetta all’Adriatica (Seafood & Vegetable Soup), which had a very nice flavour. The broth of the soup was outstanding. We also ordered a couple of salads on top of the dine out appetizers. They had an outstanding Tomato and Cucumber salad that a couple of us had and one other person thouroughly enjoyed the Caesar Salad that he had ordered.
For the mains, I ordered the Bistecca alla Boscaiola (Sirloin Steak in a red wine and mushroom sauce). It was cooked to the way I liked it and the sauce went very well with it. One of my friends had the Flatano con Gamberetti (Halibut with shrimp & champagne sauce) and he liked the flavour along with the texture. The other two in our party ordered the Scaloppine alla Valdostana (Veal stuffed with prosciutto & fontina cheese). They enjoyed it and from the taste I had, thought it was probably the best of all the dishes.
For dessert, I had a simple Lemon sorbet, which proved to be a great way to finish the meal. My sister ordered the Tiramisu, which she finished off quite quickly. My friends ordered the three layered sorbet, which they said had an eggnog flavour to it. They enjoyed it.
Looking around the restaurant, there was a mix of people who ordered off both the main menu along with the dine out menu. The regular menu items looked good and they had a Lasagna special that looked like it should have been part of the dine out menu as well. It looked that good.
The service through the night was attentive and did not obstruct too much, though we could here some cutlery being dropped every once in while.
We are now looking forward to the next time we come here. We are definitely going to try and come back for their regular menu.
Imagine a Yaletown restaurant that serves delicious authentic Italian pasta in a cozy environment where the service is attentive and pleasant and the $ is about half what you'd spend elsewhere in Yaletown? We have dined here a few times. We'd go more often but we're on the North Shore so it's a little further away. Why go to Cioppino's (nothing against that restaurant... the food and ambiance there is incredible...) and pay double the amount for VERY similar food quality? The best bang-for-your-buck in Yaletown and you'd be proud to have a first date there... it's a classy environment.
Our food choices - Appetizer: tortellini in chicken broth; Entrees: Linguini with mussels, prawns, clams in tomato sauce, and gnocchi in a rose cream sauce; Dessert: pear shaped hazelnut and mocha ice-cream dipped in chocolate.
The decor of the restaurant was old European; warm and quite charming. Service was top-notch, our water glasses were always full and empty plates were whisked away soon after we were done with our food.
As for the food itself, it wasn't mindblowingly impressive but still quite good. One caveat: don't order the gnocchi cardinale if you were expecting something fulfilling. All starch + no meat = gf giving you half her seafood out of sympathy. The dessert pear was heavenly.
All in all a pleasant place to go to, with the staff making you feel very welcome to eat there.
So my girlfriend and I went to this place after the constant raving from my friend about their Lobster Pasta, and boy was he right!
We started off with the baked prawns which were not great but not bad either. I've just had better at places that charge even less.
The lobster was great! The spaghetti itself a was a tad too undercooked for my liking but I've heard many others prefer it that style so I guess that's just me. My gf had their pasta special of the day, seafood pasta with baked cream oysters, the oysters were quite creamy, my gf loved the cheese they used! After all that we had no room left for dessert, although all the previous reviews is making my regret not ordering any!
The service was impeccable, our server was quite knowledgeable and had a friendly hearty laugh! Our wine and water glasses were also always promptly filled.
The ambiance was very soft and warm. I guess it was a Monday night as well so it wasn't very busy either, so made the place feel very .. bland ..
Overall a very nice place but it is quite pricey!
| 1. | Chez Faye Cafe (0 m) |  |
| 2. | Flying Pig, The (4 m) |  |
| 3. | Hapa Izakaya (17 m) | |
| 4. | Caffe Artigiano (39 m) | |
| 5. | Cactus Club Cafe (47 m) | |
| 6. | Cafe O (50 m) | |
| 7. | Hub Restaurant and Lounge (51 m) |  |
| 8. | George (55 m) | |
| 9. | Opus Bar (58 m) | |
| 10. | Cento Notti (58 m) |  |
