Wow!! This is an amazing Italian restaurant!! If you want a cozy place for a date night or to…read moresatisfy an Italian food craving this should be your first pick! . We were visiting my brother from out of state and this was a must in his eyes and it didn't disappoint. I was told their scampi sauce was an absolute must taste too and it was amazing. The fresh garlic bread tasted like something out of my grandmas home recipe book. I ordered the traditional meat sauce and angel hair pasta. Surely if it was amazing I'd stamp my approval all over this place because it should hold up to my scrutiny and OMG wow!! Definitely as authentic as it gets. The rest of my family picked different meals and the nom nom nom's didn't stop nor did the wow's. The service was impeccable from the hostess, waitress and the live piano player. Very warming environment with a taste of actual traditional recipes. You won't be disappointed. I noticed they also have a catering area for receptions or large parties too so add them to your list for your next get together! Very very well done guys!

We came for date night and as always, everything was amazing. We did an early dinner and the…read morerestaurant filled up within the hour, which I always love to see. They had a piano player toward the end of the dinner, and it was perfect. Not too loud, very enjoyable. The food was incredible. I love the bread (not pictured) and our usual favorite (cavatelli bolognese) was reliable as always. Our server and serve assistants were amazing and timely. We had perfect table touches and everything was nice and hot (or cold) as it should be. Always love this spot - a true hidden gem in Orange park!

I've been to Italy, so I was honestly surprised to find my favorite lasagna right here at home. The…read morelasagna there had this light, fresh quality that I'd never been able to find anywhere else in America...until now. This one had that same light, refreshing feel but with even more flavor. It was hard to explain what I meant to my husband until he tried it and he ended up liking my lasagna more than the calzone he ordered! You can tell they make everything from scratch. We also got spaghetti and meatballs to go, and the sauce tasted so fresh. The cannoli was incredible. I used to make cannoli at a bakery years ago, and theirs had the smoothest, creamiest filling I've ever had. The staff was wonderful, and the owner treated us like an old friend. It's a modest size restaurant with good seating but limited parking,and it's always busy for a good reason. We'll definitely be back!

After hearing other soccer parents talk about it and driving by this place almost every day for a…read moreyear , when my husband was in town, I chose to make a reservation here for date night. You would never think that this small place, a stand alone building in a gas station parking lot, would have the best Italian food in town, but they do. The smell of garlic in the air as we were led to a corner table made my mouth water. We split a delicous Caprese appetizer and had entrees so big, we took half home. Then came dessert which is made in their in house bakery. We chose cannolis and they didn't disappoint. You can view all their fantastic creations in the display case up front Our waitress was friendly and great at her job. If you are going on the weekend make a reservation. They were packed. Now I know why!!

Paige ( hope I spelled that right ) the young lady who was running take out and pick up orders last…read morenight once again is the definition of EXCELLENCE, asked her for a napkin to wipe off the rain on the bench outside Paige came out with a towel and wiped off both benches and then a few minutes later brought our food out to us There have been times in the past when it was so busy I waited out in my truck and it started to rain Paige brought the food to the truck in the rain Simply so we wouldn't have to walk in the rain back into the restaurant Bella Vista continues to show why they are the best in Florida Food and Service every time 5 stars

Well I was finally able to try this restaurant for the first time. The restaurant looks deceiving…read morefrom the outside, looks small but they have another joining room along with an outdoor patio. The parking is very small so you're limited. Extra parking in the back but it looked like it was for other businesses. It was a Saturday night so the other businesses were closed, so it didn't matter. Greeted promptly, was seated with a reservation for 5 at 6:45pm. Immediately asked what we wanted to drink and a warm bread basket was immediately brought out with oil and vinegar dipping. The bread is delicious! The service was prompt and always were there to serve us. We tried a smaller sample of the Cheese Pasta bowl to share with our table. It looked really rich to eat as an entree but it was a delicious side appetizer dish. Very fresh noodles in that melted creamy cheese. Delicious! And also 2 side dishes of the fried Potato Croquette's. Comes with marinara dipping sauce. Delicious! I tried the Ultimate Chicken Vodka Parm with spicy Penne noodles. The fried chicken was cooked perfectly but I wasn't a great fan of the Vodka sauce on the Parm, but I wanted to try something different. It was still good just not my favorite. We also got a picture of Red Sangria. I also wasn't a fan of Sangria a little less sweet than I'm used to. It was okay. Overall we had a great time and the food was very fresh and I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone to try. Just not in our neighborhood to come back on a regular basis since we live near the Jacksonville Airport.

When I helped my daughter and her family moved to the Middleburg area last July, we were looking…read morefor someplace for dinner on our first night in her new home. We decided on Aspendos and, wow, were we glad we did! Every dish was delicious. As a result, while spending the Christmas holidays with my daughter, I made sure we went to Aspendos and again on my third visit a few weeks ago. While I have fallen in love with their Penne alla Vodka, I have sampled other dishes and found them to be very good, as well (my daughter's go-to is their pesto pasta dish). This is a small operation, run by three members of the same family. If you have a large group you will need to wait awhile for your food, but it's worth the wait. We have some good Italian restaurants where I live in California, but I wish we had Aspendos here!

Ordered a pizza for carry-out from this small local pizza place in the Oakleaf area after reading…read morethe positive reviews. The adventure started when I called and after 4 rings was greeted with the following convo with an unknown male employee: Business: Hello Me: is this Aspenedo's? Business: Yes Me: are you taking orders? Business: yes Me: can I place and order? Business: yes Me: can I have a 16 inch Hawaiian pizza ads Banana peppers Business: yes Me: can you tell me when to pick it up? Business: 35 minutes Me: how much will I owe? Business: $34 I sent my 17 year old son to pick up the food and he called me upon arrival stating that they did not have my pizza. I then had to call the business again to find my pizza which they had but could not find bc they did not associate it with me or my phone number. My son brought the pizza home and it was good but not $34 good. The pizza tasted smoky from the bacon and ham. The sauce was light and tomatoey but the crust could not hold under the weight of the toppings. My son also advised that his experience with the staff at the restaurant was similar to mine on the phone. Love to support local businesses but I don't think we will be back.

Excellent food and service.The ambiance was rustic. I ate…read moreate the bar and the bartenders name was Blair. He did an excellent job showing me the specials and served a very tasty Old Fashion and asked hiw I like my old Fationed with bourbon or rye. I choose knob creek rye. I then ordered the goat cheese bruschetta and then main course was the pork osso buca which was so tender and filled with flavor. For desert I had the limonchello mascarpone cake. It was also moist and very tasty. I'll be back to this restaurant.

Probably the BEST BIRTHDAY so far that I could wish or ask for. Thank you god for everything that…read moreyou have given me in life. Having said that what an awesome way to end my birthday with this amazing dinner that I had at this place. One of the best Italian restaurants in Jacksonville I must say. As soon as me and my wife walked in to the restaurant we were greeted and sat right away. The ambiance of this restaurant is truly amazing and very Italian vibe. We were greeted by our server MORGAN who was fantastic from beginning to the end. She suggested some incredible stuff that as a vegetarian I tried and was just amazing. For drinks we had mojito and pinacolada which was nice and refreshing. For appetiser we were recommended with Pomodoro Caprese which was amazing especially their Pesto sauce. For my entree she suggested me Luingini Josephine which was unique and nice pasta. Morgan surprised me with a dessert which was very kind of her. Overall this family owned small business is an amazing must try Italian restaurant. I can't wait to back and try more stuff. I highly recommend this restaurant.

We had it DoorDashed to us so I don't know about ambiance but the pizza is delicious! We had a…read morelarge deluxe pizza and our son had a large pepperoni pizza. They're both delicious and we love it.

I had a good experience with the food and the service. Even though we had to wait, the food is…read moreconsistently hot and fresh.

I've heard numerous times this spot is pretty good and finally had the chance to check it out. The…read morefood was very good and the service was excellent! It's a cute place. A little bit loud so beware if you're looking for intimate conversation you may have to yell a little lol. I had the lasagna. This was my plan B. It was pretty good but I only got it in my devastation that they were out of aglio olio. Also the lasagna was enormous! But another extra bummer.... They were also out of the ravioli (which is what my dinner companion wanted). However both our meals and the service were good enough to still try to go back to try our original cravings! We also did try the garlic Parmesan breadsticks as an app. Pretty good. But so much bread. My own fault for eating more than one lol

Ever get very excited when you finally get back to a place you haven't been in a while? That's how…read morewe were when we finally went back to Picasso's last night. They're located at 10503 San Jose Blvd over in Mandarin. It was a night of firsts! We had an appetizer we've never had before, then we both ordered things we've never had before. We started with the St. Louis Ravioli, which was great. Don't be intimidated by the size on the photo, they just puff up a LOT. Many people have raved about the steak at Picasso's so I finally ordered it last night. Their special was Prime New York Strip and holy cow, it was a big steak! I ordered it medium rare and it was cooked perfectly. Every single one of you who were raving about the steak were not lying. It was seasoned well, juicy & tender...just excellent. My wife tried their Meatball Madness pizza, which she ordered St. Louis Style. She'd never tried that style of pizza before and she really liked it. It's a very thin crust pizza, cut into squares. She REALLY liked the meatballs to the point where she kept saying that the next time we come back, she wants to try their spaghetti & meatballs. We got there right at 4:30 when they open for dinner and they were packed almost instantly. It's worth noting that our server Kelsie was fantastic through the whole meal. One nice touch was that she took our leftovers, boxed them up and brought them back to us. That may not seem like a huge thing but it's a little touch we always like. This review originally appeared in the Jacksonville Fun, Eats & Drinks Facebook group.

The food was delicious and staff was friendly and attentive. The restaurant wasn't overcrowded and…read morethere was ample room for my large party to eat comfortably. The food service felt extremely delayed for the visible traffic and the calamari was so salty that my aunt had to send it back. The manager removed it from the bill without ceremony so that was fine. An overall good dining experience.

Decided to have dinner here Saturday evening. They have happy hour daily from 4-6pm I believe. They…read morehave great options on there! I tried the blood orange margarita and the lasagne dip. The margaritas were refreshing and the dip was good, but nothing special just lasagne without the noodles. I had the Johnny's trio. Everything was so good and our waiter was very attentive and personable, shout out to Will!

Ordered curbside to go. I had a Free Dessert with purchase of an adult dinner entree. I chose the…read morebuild your own pasta with rigatoni and meat sauce. This also included their salad and 2 breadsticks. For my dessert I chose the Black Tie Mousse Cake. The BYO pasta was $13.99 and I enjoy this deal because I can easily split everything into 2 meals. I got pasta, salad, a breadstick, and dessert for less than $16 and got 2 full meals out of it! My curbside order was accurate and brought out ahead of time. The young lady was very friendly and kind. Highly recommend!

Slow service, we did not get what we ordered. We had a…read morecalamari appetizer that was awful. We sent it back and the server said she would have it taken off our bill. After we paid we realized she did not, she said the manager would have to help her. Themanager said we paid for it, nothing he could do now. There is always something you can do.

We enjoyed my wife's birthday with friends and the entire event was wonderful! It was a Saturday…read morenight and we waited just a few minutes as it was very busy! However, after just a few minutes we were seated in a very nice, secluded corner that allowed for a rather normal conversation around and across the table! We were greeted at the table and never felt hurried even if the restaurant was very busy. The menu offered a wide ranging selection of delicious Italian options from which each of us ordered something different and equality very good. Because of our special occasion we ordered a bottle of French Champaign and enjoyed fresh bread and each other's company while making our entree selections. Our dinner salad came at an appropriate time while our conversation continued until everyone had finished their plate and the dishes were silently removed from our table. In just a few minutes, our various entrees arrived and each of us began our Italian culinary delight! Throughout our meal the room continued to fill with more and more people, more and more excitement and obviously the energy moved in and around the room from table to table with each server adding to the feel of sitting somewhere in Italy enjoying a delicious meal with friends and family! By the end of our two hour time in the restaurant we were quite content and happy with our time spent at Vito's! The food was great and we will certainly return again soon!

I liked the atmosphere of this place, old style Italian restaurant. Server was attentive enough but…read moreit took awhile to get our drinks. Speaking of, I didn't care for my Gin Mojito with cucumber slices. Not much flavor at all, I should have sent it back, but I kept thinking it would get better- it didn't. Also didn't care for the salad, I hate iceberg lettuce and that's what it was, with 1 tomato slice and a couple of red onion pieces. Next time I'll get the soup. But I did thoroughly enjoy my Shrimp Scampi. Will definitely give it another try.