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Campagnolo offers affordable, causal Italian on Main Street in Chinatown. Now open for weekend brunch.
Who would have guessed that such a nice Italian restaurant has sprung up in Chinatown (or at the fringe of it)? I had lunch there with my wife just now. The appetizers were very creative and very tasty. We had two different pasta dishes for our main course, and both were yummy, cooked just right (al dente). We saw that some of the people at the neighbouring tables ordered pizza, and all the pizzas looked great (at a very decent size), so I presume that they tasted great as well. The price is not cheap, but you get what you pay for. The only slight negative was that bread did not come free, and they charged $1.50 or $2 for 'a side of bread', which consisted of 4 small thin slices of freshly toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil. There weren't too many people there, so the place was nice and quiet, but considering the hard surfaces everywhere, it may get noisy in the evening. But then, Italian restaurants are always noisy anyways. If you haven't been here, you really should try it out.
I am not sure what all the fuss is about (mental note to self - stop paying attention to pretentious foodies and self-appointed experts), but, I for one, was most disappointed. Had the special - spot prawn withh spag - very poor. The spot prawns were floppy and tasteless - worse acutally - had a distinctive fishy taste - gross. It's now several hours since my dinner and I can still taste that fishy mush - yuk.
Also had the chick pea appet - avoid it; dry and tasteless - need something to take it up several notches.
On the other hand - great ambiance . . . too bad about the food. Those morons at Van Mag and other critics - get a life; better yet, go to school (college at least) and qualify for a real job.
I have had both lunch and dinner here now and this is the experience:
Great friendly service and nice laid back atmosphere.
First visit-lunch-I had pizza and my dinign companion had risotto. The pizza was very good and the risotti was excellent (cauliflower)
Second visit- dinner- I had the days feature risotto-disappointing in a big way. Compared to the house cauliflower risotto it was downright blah. My dining companion had the pizza-again very good. We both ordered dessert and both desserts were not good-we would go again for the pizza but skip the dessert. I might consider having the feature cauliflower risotti again but not sure.
So, it is a nice neighbourhood feeling place to enjoy a meal with friends or family but-our dinner of risotto, pizza, two desserts and one coffee and one glass of winr $75 and we only enjoyed the pizza, wine and coffee :-)
I guess we will be back but they need to take the blah out of some dishes.
Went there on a weekend lunch cause we happened to be in the area. We were the 2nd table there so it was pretty empty, but thereafter, people started flooding in.
The place is quite roomy, not cramped, and decor is reasonably appropriate. Only 2 waitresses on duty, but they attended to us quite well. Quite accomodating even though we had a young child in our party.
The lunch menu was simple, short. At least compared to what we are used to. Some antipasti, pasta & pizza. That's it. We decided to grab a pizza, which was a margherita scramble (you know, with scrambled eggs on top), a squash risotto that the waitress said they just introduced the day before and a pasta with rabbit ragout.
The pizza, well, don't knock it till you try it. The scrambled eggs worked nicely. Crust was done well, it was way better than Nicli Antica's bullet proof, hack-saw proof crust. The flavour of the crust isn't as good as Sciue or Bibo though. Decent size, overall great flavour. We really liked it, but I wish they could've been a bit more generous with the basil. Skimpy!
Aaah, the pasta with rabbit? Really, really tasty, big thumbs up for the flavour. Pasta was decently done as well. The only complaint, $14 for a really small dish. The risotto came up and we quite good. It was "creamy" but not rich, nice balance of flavours. In fact, the last, forgotten spoonful got cold, but it was still good. Yup, liked that too. Again, the dish was not big. I think there are many people who may not feel completely full with sizes like this, even for lunch.
Hmmm.... dilemma. If I were in the area, yeah, I would stop by again. We enjoyed the whole experience, especially the food. I would recommend it for that. Would I want to make a trip of it out to this questionable neighbourhood? Was it really really creative? Maybe. Was the execution beyond compare? Not quite. Are there other options in town with similar price? Yes, I think there might be, in better neighbourhoods. Tough call, but I think I would save it for when you're driving by. I'm glad it's in the area and I would go again to check it out some more to see if it merits an upgrade.
I went there with a friend on a Sunday for lunch after we saw other friends mentioned that they visited this place. We had high hopes after browsing the restaurant's menu on their website, thinking that we might get a bit of little Italy out of this visit.
Unfortunately we were definitely underwhelmed. They were not horrible but not even close to what it is racked up to be. We found couple of their food items too salty and too greasy.
The decor is not too bad but we felt that the waiter didn't give us enough time to look over the menu before coming back again to get our order. We had to send her away twice before we were ready to order. Just to set the context, the restaurant was not busy at all so they were not in a rush to get people out so to free up tables for other guests.
Overall, I think the restaurant has potential with its concept, but execution (food and service) needs quite a bit of work.
Went to Campagnolo before a hockey game with three other people including at 10 year old picky eater and we sure were glad we did! We had the Tagliatelle, Spaghetti, and the Salsiccia pizza. I can't really say much about the pasta as I only wanted pizza, but my dining mates, including the picky 10 year old loved it! He and his dad shared both pastas, and they both agreed that the Tagliatelle was the better one of the two.
My husband and I shared the pizza and it was amazing! Much better than Nicli's as I found Nicli's to be quite chewy. The pizza was perfectly seasoned and I loved their crust. It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
The service was good. The place was busy and our server was attentive enough. Will definitly be paying Campagnolo another visit in the near future.
I was at Campagnolo the other night for a friend's birthday dinner. Never heard much about it but was pleasantly surprised when I walk in. It isn't in the nicest part of town but the interior is tastyfully decorated and well thought out.
The food itself was okay, the spaghetti noodles was fresh and tasty but the portion was pretty small. We also had a pizza and again it was tasty, but small portions. Good thing we had the chorizo sausage as the appetizer as well.
This is the kind of place where you enjoy your experience, but it isn't particularly memorable and you wouldn't really go out of your way just to come back here.
Every time I drive by this place, there is always people in there. So one day, I finally got a chance to try their lunch menu. I was by myself. Once I stepped in, I was almost immediately greeted by a smiley lady. My server was very friendly and attentive. The menu was in Italian and I am not very familiar with Italian food so I ordered what I can pronounce. I ordered the Tuna Preserva. I had no idea what it was but I like surprises. While I was waiting for the food to arrive, I had nothing to do. But my server was smart and handed me a magazine to read. Wow, I don't remember ever receiving such great service. When the food arrive, it looked different than what I imagined. It looked like a piece of naan bread topped with tuna & cesar salad. I was excited cuz I like them both. The server told me that traditionally, I have to fold the bread and eat it like a wrap. The bread was super fresh and fluffy and the salad was delicious. I really liked it. At $13 it was worth it.
Totally recommended!
Waited one hour for pizzas, without receiving any sort of apology from staff, who were frankly dismissive about our questions regarding serving time. And I honestly am not one to generally care too much about quality of service. Food was very mediocre for the price, will not go back again.
Heard good things about this place and wanted to try it out. Well first of all it's in a seedy part of town which doesn't really bother me. We ordered the albacore crudo which was pretty average, and then we had the salumi platter which again was pretty average. Then we shared a pasta (which was the special that day) and a pizza. The pasta was pretty good but the pizza was a bit underdone. The service was good and the room is quite nice and they have a bar in the back which was kind of weird. Overall it was okay, but since I don't live in that neighborhood and don't frequent that part of town much, I probably won't be going back any time soon.
Tried this new restaurant on a weeknight and it is in out of the way part of town. Right beside the Ivanhoe Pub but it seems to have improved a bit since they have started targeting the backpacker crowd for the hotel. Shared these items. Tried a pasta, the ragu, which was full of slow cooked pork. I think the noodles were made from dry pasta and it could of been improved with a wider, fresh noodle and maybe a slightly bigger portion but great tasting. Had a pizza and it was very good, nice portion with good toppings. Also had the flank steak which was done rare-medium rare. Very nice a flavourful with a side of kale.
Nice wine selection and service was very good with the waitress giving suggestions on food and wine. Value overall is good. Would come back.
Always thought there may be something to this place, after seeing it full many times on a drive by. However, decided to try it during dine-out and was sorely disappointed. Wanted a table for three, and were sent upstairs to the "wine lounge" for an hour and a half wait. Tables came and went but they were obviously unwilling to seat a waiting table of three when they could get a table of four who just walked in the door. This is simply insulting. Wish we had known what we were waiting for. The first indication should have been the amazingly overpriced wine list. All italian bottles priced at 3-5 x their value, excepting the most expensive choice being from the owners own winery in Canada (of course). The price for this bottle was simply obnoxious. A bit like his food. The beef brisket itself was cooked really well, but served in a pool of runny polenta. I have never seen such watery polenta. The pasta, cant recall what it was called, a sausage one with conchiglie (shell pasta) was dry as a bone. Almost as if it had been cooked a while ago and then reheated. In an italian restaurant I expect to be blown away by pasta. Didn't see much sausage either. Then came the desserts. A bland chocolate mouse with a sauce made with cocoa powder with little/no sugar, so very bitter. The apple tart was bland as well with plain apples baked in a thick stodgy pie crust - no flavor, no sparkle whatsoever. Would not give this one another go. There is a serious disconnection between the popularity of this restaurant and the calibre of the food. You come away feeling as if they are trying to pinch pennies by cutting corners in the kitchen, while killing it on the wine. Ultimately, between the price of the wine, the underwhelming food, the really long wait in the quiet lonely "wine lounge" and the large bill, we left unsatisfied and feeling a little gouged.
Stopped in for dinner with my wife on a recomendation from a server at another resturant. We were met promptly and pleasantly and shown to our table. The room was warm, interesting and about 3/4 full. We skipped the appies and went for two mains, the Thursday night special Lasagna, & Mussels Rissoto. When the special is ordered you can purchase a glass of featured red wine for $6.95, however if the special is not ordered the same glass costs $9.25??? We both had a glass and although I didn't measure it I would swear it was about 2.5 -3 oz. Didn't make note of the wine, however it was in the quality level of an Itallian blend that would sell for $12.00 per ltr in a liquor store. This was a total rip-off, it wasn't the price, just the fact that the glass was so short poured. I recomend they get the little carafe's that other establishments use which makes the qty consistant, and fair. Our dinner arrived in record time, about 15 min. The rissoto was closer to soup than risotto was bland and devoid of texture. The loosness of the dish can be overlooked a bit as there is more than one opinion on how wet a rissoto should be, but to be mushy and bland is just bad prep. If there is a chef in the back he/she should be cut loose. If Belcham had anything to do with his/her training, he should be ashamed. The Lasagna was dry, pasty, and lacked flavor. I mean come on guys, this is your "feature". Bottom line for this one is we won't remotly consider another visit. If an Itallian resturant can't make a decent lasagna or risotto, its time to throw in the tongs. My prediction is this resturant will be gone in less than 12 months.
Had a very enjoyable meal at this slightly out of the way, yet classical Italian joint. We sampled a variety of their appetizers with a generous bowl of fried, salty chickpeas a favourite among the group with the garbanzos crunchy exteriors a perfect foil for the still moist centres. The pizza bianca came out hot and crisp but the toppings were slightly subdued with the accompanying spices (additional cheese, chilis, and oregano) all unnecessary save for the real dried oregano. Lack of cured meats available was surprising because it’s a large portion of their menu so we subbed in fried pig trotters. Meaty, breaded and fried pork balls were uplifted by a very vibrant salsa verde. All three pastas sampled earned high marks. The pork ragu (a known standout) was surprisingly delicate in both flavour and texture while the farfalle with fennel sausage, fresh cheese, and leeks stole the show. The meatiness of the sausage was to my preference with the ragu lacking a bit of bite despite its luscious texture. The only main was a shared pork loin cooked perfectly pink and elevated by a cotechnio jus with crisp beans and onions. The desserts didn't last long and showed a typical Italian restraint that was much desired after such a hearty meal. The cherry cake was a moist pound cake on a pool of mascarpone cream while the panna cotta, in all its wobbly glory, came adorned with chunky apricot breadcrumbs. Wine list was heavy on Italian and prices ranged from very reasonable to very exclusive. Service was tight and the pacing of the meal was spot on. The bill can add up by the end of the night but it is worth it.
Upon entering this cozy space, I really wanted to like this restaurant. The ambience is great and really lends itself to a nice place to lounge with friends over drinks. Unfortunately, the food quality doesn't deliver. It's not bad by any means, but it lacks any WOW factor warranting a second visit. Here's the skinny:
Food: shared appie was pretty good, had the chick pea salad that seems to be a common item with many previous reviewers. My risotto was too salty and mushy. Friends' meals were also too salty. Flavours were adequate but the saltiness was overpowering. Smallish in portion size which would've been fine if off-set by quality ingredients.
Service: attentive and friendly. Owner/operator made an effort to ensure that we had a good time. Food came out quickly and drinks/water were refilled.
Ambiance: dark, trendy - but not pretentiously trendy space. Interesting lighting fixtures. Comfortable seating.
Value: Most entrees were priced between $13 to $20 so it's not a shock to the pocket book. Overall average value and the wine was reasonably priced. Hmmmm...however in consideration of the portion size, this is not a solid 3 - more like a 2.5. You may need a few appies to supplement the entree to leave feeling full.
Following on the heels of successful casual Italian restaurants like La Buca and La Quercia, Campagnolo falls short. The food was good but not great.
Pros: The price point was very affordable, and the cutlery and room clean, simple and inviting. Our waitress was also extremely professional and friendly.
To improve on: Portions were a bit small, menu hard to read if you're not familiar with Italian (translations would help), and they could work on the quality of the pasta - I wonder if it was freshly made in house, didn't seem like it.
That said - it is a good restaurant, I just think there is room for improvement.
I really wanted to like this place as there's few or no Italian restaurants in the Main street area, not this kind anyway. The highlight of this restaurant is not the food but the space. Modern but warm, not Yaletown trendy. The wine lounge in the back is pretty nice too.
Food was ok, but nothing really stood out. The fried chickpea appetizer may have been one of the best things we had. The ling cod was also above average, but the pastas were forgettable (which is surprising, since this is an Italian restaurant). Portions were on the small side, but nothing totally unexpected except for the octopus salad - I think we got 10 little bits of diced octopus. The scarcity of food on that dish rivaled that at Lumiere.
The really underwhelming part of this restaurant, though, is the service. Uninspired, almost cold, and not very knowledgeable. Our waitress had no clue about wine - I'd venture to say that the servers at the Bentall Cactus Club know more about wine.
Maybe this restaurant just needs some time. I won't hold my breath
Ugh - I get frustrated just thinking about my experience here.
We were finally greeted at the door with a rather chilly reception. The place was almost empty & the room felt icy cold.
Our server was slow, unenthusiastic & totally removed. She couldn't be bothered to answer any questions & barely grunted out her responses.
The menu was so annoying to look over. It was built entirely around the most obscure words - I can only assume they're not trying to make you feel like an idiot, but that's certainly what one feels like when wondering what EVERY.SINGLE.ITEM. is!? The wine list is totally...uninteresting, not to mention overpriced. (Good Grappa, though)
Our food came - bland, uninspired, and TINY. I don't get it at all - when you're 'playing poor' by slumming it beside the Ivanhoe, why would you charge an arm & a leg for miniscule portions?! More importantly, why would anyone ever go back?
Had a totally mediocre experience here last night. The server was unkempt (big hair that he constantly had his fingers in coupled with a waft of B.O.) and surprisingly unprofessional and unenthusiastic. From the get-go he treated our table as if we were a huge burden, just waiting for this night to be over, and as if he was anticipating a super low tip. He was so apathetic about every aspect of his 'service' to us - he was just terrible.
Sometimes a server with this kind of attitude can be compensated for by fantastic food, but not in this case. The portions were teeny-tiny, the pizza crust was terribly chewy-doughy, and the Salumi Platter was not served with crostini. We had to ask for it, and obviously wait for it to arrive.
The best thing about the dinner was the decor, the restaurant is beautiful, and the space has a great vibe and feel to it. The unisex toilets were both dirty (and unflushed) and placed beside the kitchen. Felt unsanitary. I cannot recommend this place, and even if I was given a gift card for this restaurant, I would not go back. Really disappointed.
I don't have much to add to what others have already said about the value and quality of Campagnolo. Let's just say I was there recently and will be a repeat customer for years to come.
A quick note to DOGETT: if you feel ripped-off for your $58 meal because it wasn't portioned to your liking, may I suggest establishments like Anton's, Anducci's ....... or The Olde Spaghetti Factory. Campagnolo isn't about quantity over quality. If that's what you expect you have totally missed their point and the modern "retro" genre of quality dining that we are so lucky to have in Vancouver.
Thanks for leaving more available table space for me in the future ;-)
| 1. | Ivanhoe Pub (29 m) | |
| 2. | Safari Cafe & Coffee Imports (36 m) | |
| 3. | Tap House, The (60 m) |  |
| 4. | Subway (66 m) | |
| 5. | Electric Owl Social Club (106 m) |  |
| 6. | Pizzeria Farina (140 m) | |
| 7. | Hana Sushi (159 m) | |
| 8. | Central Station Cappuccino Bar (159 m) | |
| 9. | McDonald's (203 m) | |
| 10. | Apple Deli (262 m) |  |
