I've been attending this place for years, and have become great friends with the owners and staff. Joe the owner is top notch, and his food outstanding. The staff, although there have been many are great, one of which has been there when the original owner was around. I have become friends with Joe over the years and this is why i still go. I am hoping that he reads this and does something to save his business. He needs to address the management situation, which will be difficult because she is his wife. Obviously this is the only restaurant in which she has worked. I have sent many people to this locale only to be told that the french speaking woman is totally rude. The night was very busy and she was running around in a panic trying to create space by placing tables together and cramming people in. My friends decided to stay and found the food excellent and service to be good as well. They did however complain that the price of cetain things is ludicrous 3.50 for a splash of pop in a glass full of ice and no refills for instance as well as other things. Ive also noticed price changes for things that I already consider over priced.

So on this note I hope Joe reads this and does something, cause the problems his manager cause will be his demise. I myself am embarassed and will no longer send any more people to his place because of these complaint from people in which I already sent.

This hidden gem is a really great restaurant with amazing dishes. Our waiter was great, he was attentive and very nice and genuine! They have a special on the front page of the menu where you get your choice of appetizers (the mussels and clams was really yummy), pasta trio, veal done 3 ways with delicious roasted potatoes, grilled tomato, peas, red pepper and broccoli!! After your meal, you get a choice of dessert (the home-style Tiramisu was really well done!) and coffee or tea is offered after. There were a lot of food and I even had take out from each course to bring home!! We would definitely come back to order off the regular menu. Very pleasant dinner and great service, it was amazing from start to finish.

We came for the dine-out event with an early reservation. The restaurant is divided into two parts, the front and back. When we arrived only one other table was occupied and yet they placed us right in the passage between the front section and the back - next to the entrance to the kitchen. Whenever a waiter would want to check if the other table in the back was doing fine they would just poke their head around the wall right next to us, essentially over the shoulder of two people at our party. Then the cook would come out of the kitchen and stand on the other side of our table chatting with the waiters. Throughout the entire meal we felt like we had someone hovering around us. Never a moment of privacy.

At one point a table of 6 in the back turned into a table of 9. This meant that the waiters had to carry a smaller table from the front to the back. Since we were right in the middle they lifted it up over our heads. Thankfully not over our food. The most entertaining part was that now, with the addition of the extra table, the waiters had no way to get to the table at the far back where a couple was sitting. Thankfully, there was a back corridor that led to the restrooms so the waiters did not have to jump over the tables and instead served all the food for the couple via the "restroom" corridor.

As for food - at most it was average. The "original" ceasar salad was horrible. An ordinary ceasar would would been better. The antipasto was average. The tomatoes and bococcini was the only good appetizer. For the main entre everyone at our table ordered veal - 2 different kinds. None were exceptional - they were covered in sauce with some steemed vegies on the side - essentially identical to anything I could prepare at home, except the sauces at home would be better. For desert I ordered the tiramisu which tasted store bought.

To top of the experience, the ladies restroom had a large container of digestive tablets - just in case the food you had been served was not sitting well with you.

Overall, even though I can't comment on their non-dine-out meu, I will not be coming back.

Dine Out Vancouver 2009 - Table of 6
4 of our table had chossen to have Dine Out Vancouver, and from the first moment our server understood that, we noticed a cold shoulder and poor service right away.

It was more then fair that he mentioned the portion size of Dine Out Vancouver was smaller then normal. He is not responsible for portion control, but instead for our experience. However, we do expect courtesey and appreciation, neither of which we got.

It was funny, they other 2 of our table decided to order from the regular menu, and the 4 of us couldn't understand why the waiter was willing to engage only half our table. Putting our plates down on the small table seating 6 people can be a challange, but come on, you dont need to bang the plates on the wine glasses and bread plates everytime.

We had to ask twice to even get a wine menu, the server continously rushed our plates, putting his hand on our plate asking to remove before we had finished. Even the other 2 where getting rushed, the server 'forgot' to server them they Pasta Course (thats a joke) but at least remembered to bring it to them to go.

Portion control was a concern. All of our desert sizes where extermely different, 3 different sizes of Tiramisu? And the portion size for the caesar salad looked similar to what they serve at Wendy's for 1.59, in those plastic to go containers. Sure it was good tasting, but after seeing the HUGE by compairison bocochini salad and Antipasta (and I am only talking about portions of the 4 Dine Out Van) it was a joke.

The main course has decent all around the table, but as the server forgot the other 2 were not on Dine Out Van, I had the feeling he did not serve them the correct poriton size (and of course neglecting their Pasta course).

Offering us coffee after desert is finished is a little too late in my opinion, I though they are suppose to be served together, mind you, i am no expert. But at least be willing to serve us a second cup of coffee.

Quality and taste of food was very good.

Ambiance was decent. Lower marks for putting our big table between a narrow path of the restaruant. Table of 4 could have gotten away with it, but a table of 6 (with a reservation over a weak old) should have been reconsidered.

Mrs. C and I were on the prowl for Italian, and I remembered this place was near the T&T in East Van. It seemed like a good opportunity to try a new place.

The restaurant itself didn't look like much. It was rather run down and the tables were too close together. The w/c was reasonably clean. On the plus side they had live entertainment in the form of a guy playing the keyboard near the bar section. Very home-style.

We got a table and menus quickly. I noticed they had a decent selection of entrees including a set dinner with an appetizer, main, dessert and coffee for 34 bucks. I saw that the deserts were all from one of those gelato factories though, so I decided to go with a la carte ordering so I could get exactly what I wanted.

I went with a veal parmigiana and penne pasta with tomato sauce and my beloved dining companion had prawns in Alfedo sauce with pasta. I also had a small glass of the house red for 8 bucks more.

The server seemed like a nice guy but the manager/hostess (who had a really strong accent) was a different story. She took our orders and told me I had a choice of veggies or pasta with my veal. I said pasta please, and even asked what kind, etc. She said penne with tomato sauce. After about half an hour our orders arrived, and for some reason there was no pasta on my plate. I mentioned this to our server and he apologized and brought me a side dish of pasta right away. Just as I was about to plunge my fork into my coveted pasta, the manager came over and started to berate me for "changing my mind" and said I definitely ordered the veggie sides. I politely reminded her about our previous conversation about the pasta, and she yelled "you are wrong" and stomped away. The server apologized when his boss was out of range, explaining that she was French (as if that explained anything) but the damage was done.

I also noticed at the neighboring table another couple had ordered the set dinner and I overheard them tell the server they had not received their pasta or one of their desserts. Once again the server apologized, and he was offering an adjustment when the same manager stormed over to the table and began arguing with the couple like they were trying to cheat the restaurant or something. The man left the restaurant red-faced, but his female companion stuck around for a while and tried to explain what happened. I couldn't help but watch the way you would when you see a car crash. I just could not believe how out of control the manager was. I left the place with the shrill rantings of the crazy manager ringing in my ears. Perhaps she should consider a career change.

It was a shame because the food wasn't too bad.

Definitely not recommended, except for the masochists out there.

Went here with my husband earlier this month on a weeknight. From the outside, the tables looked nicely decorated with white tablecloths and candles at each table. When we walked in, the place had an "old musty house" smell (the building was kind of old) and the floor on the front half of the restaurant looked grungy - the grout between the (vinyl?) tiles seemed to have some black stuff stuck to it. I give the ambiance a 2 because of the nice table cloths - otherwise I would give it a 1.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay, but since there were no other customers, we felt it was rude to walk out and go to some other (cleaner-looking) restaurant. At least the food and service were better than the ambiance.

Their complimentary bread was nice and warm - great for a rainy night. Unfortunately, the butter was almost frozen. We had eggplant in tomato sauce for the appetizer. The tomato sauce was reasonably tasty and we soaked it up with the bread. For our mains, I had fish in a tomato sauce (with capers) that was a bit on the sour side. The fish was cooked to a good texture, though. My husband had the lamb chops in brown sauce. The lamb chops were cooked medium (that's what he asked for) and I thought the sauce was just OK. We didn't feel like dessert that night. Portion sizes were reasonable. All in all, the food was solid, but nothing to write home about. There was no "wow" factor to it, although it's nice that the food came out hot and fresh and both entrees came at the same time. I've had food that was about the same quality at other restaurants for a few dollars less, so it wasn't the best value (then again, it wasn't the worst either.) Drinks were also pricey - we both had juices and they were $3.50 each for a tiny glass.

Service was polite and solid - nothing outstanding but nothing bad either.

Overall, I'd give this place 2.5 stars if I could (but barring that, I'll give it a 2). Unless they renovate the place, I won't be going back.

Went there a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday evening with a group of people. Our first time there. Unpretentious, but warm and cozy with friendly staff. Food and service were very good, nothing fantastic. They had a singer who payed the keyboards and also roamed around with his accordion. He was great and a lot of fun! Overall, a nice little place and reasonably priced. Even better, they take the Entertainment coupons!