My parents have talked about the Gondola sandwich which I never had until now. Geez Louise, I wish the task hadn't taken so long. While I'm not an American cheese, cold cut variety kind of girl, let's just say, the Gondola sandwich is on an entire different planet. OH MY GOD is that good - from that bread that's to die for (perfect for a sandwich in every way), to a healthy portion of the crispest lettuce and ruby red but firm tomato slices, the cheese and the meats danced magically together as a perfect sandwich reminding me of something during my childhood that I probably never had, but wished I did. For a "sub" style sandwich, there is no other in taste and price range. It's a shame Avanti's isn't way closer to Chicago! read more

Avanti's is a must for ISU or IWU college students. I went to ISU and could often smell the fresh bread baking in the morning when I walked from my dorm to class. Avanti's is not authentic Italian food- it's basically extremely Americanized Italian that is good and cheap. It's a great place to go with friends or large groups, and is often full of little kids, families, and senior citizens. The bread is the best thing on the menu- sweet tasting and warm. I always got the spaghetti and a small salad. The salad is just bagged iceburg, but the ranch dressing is great. The spagetti is decent, but for the price, you can't beat it. Mostly, Avanti's is just a classic college restaurant. People go there for the memories and to enjoy a cheap, "American" Italian meal. read more

A college staple, and I've been coming back for over 20 years. Why? The bread. Before you try the various "Italian" dishes, start with the classic Gondola sandwich. The bread, OMG the bread, it's the only reason to go here. Next, try the grilled ham & cheese. After that, you're on your own. I just keep coming back for another ham & cheese. read more

Love this place! Bread is amazing and I crave it all the time, but sadly I don't live in Normal anymore. Growing up in Blo-no, you see Avanti's everywhere. They are very involved in the community which is awesome. Expand to Chicago!! read more

It's Avanti's- nothing spectacular, but they have their niche and do it well. Pepperoni pizza bread and fettuccine alfredo are favorites. May not think to order a salad here but they are great. Chef salad is the perfect size and comes with two big containers of dressing so you're never wishing you had more. One of the best Caesar salads in town. Awesome to go containers you can save for leftovers and keep re-using. read more

We ordered online, never received email confirmation. Food was good but they shorted me a gondola. I called them and after speaking with the manager, I didn't get my gondola or my money. I feel ripped off read more

I ordered coffee and server reminded herself two times to bring it and never did. Ordered a sandwich to go TWICE and we never got sandwich. Food had no flavor. Clearly this is fast food. read more

I really want to like it but the food was just plain awful. Bread too sweet and lunchmeat/cheeses seemed to be a very low quality. The service was good and prices fair but the poor flavored food and old, kind of dirty look and feel makes it hard to have the desire to come back. read more

Not sure how this restaurant stays open unless no one in this town knows what Italian food is supposed to taste like. I would rather eat fazolis next time..gross carpet flooring, the meat sauce (paste) is bland..the lasagna I had was pretty much flavor-less, the ravioli had no flavor and they managed to make french onion soup badly somehow... the ceasar salad was good I guess. The wait staff did a fantastic job despite the fact that.. the dinner menu has literally 4 items to choose from.. read more

We only get down here once a year on a high school band trip! This is the place to go. The Gondola sandwich is to die for! The pasta is sublime and the bread is homemade!!!!!! Drive on down to Normal! read more

You can't be serious... Avanti's is crap. Pre frozen pasta with a sauce that is only red because of spray paint. Go home boil some Wal-Mart brand pasta and slap Prego on it. read more

Reasonable prices, fast friendly service. Food is good, not great, but good. Not sure how authentic it is, more American-Italian than old world Italy. Don't come here expecting a fancy creation by Chef Enzo, or Chef Vito. You'll more likely get Tyler or Josh from some farm town, Illinois who attend ISU to whip out your plate. Just basic Italian- American dishes. It's good for families. Hey, I'm not knocking this place down, I actually look forward to eating here every time I'm in town. read more

I ordered the pizza bread pepperoni which was pretty good but a little greasy. Their bread is amazing and the service was good. Prices were very reasonable. I would definitely visit again. read more

Still must stop every trip to central IL. The bread = ISU memories and still as good as remembered. Pizza bread will always be my favorite.

I believe I just had the best fettuccini with pesto alfredo sauce ever! I'm happy I got the fat free Italian dressing with my salad, too. The bread is delightful, and the menu is quite versatile. Ciara was the server and had a wonderful charm; overall, it couldn't have been a more enjoyable dinner! Would recommend it to everybody. read more

Used to be my favorite place. But prices are up and food quality is down. The cheese balls were good, but the pasta and bread were almost inedible tonight. Guess I'll move on and find a new fave. read more

Honestly, I could make better pasta myself. I really don't know how I agree to come back here. For the price I paid for a cup of pasta, I could have made enough pasta to feed myself for a week - or longer. read more

Hands down, the worst so-called Italian food I've ever had. My wife's French onion soup was thin and what little onion it contained was under-cooked. My Italian beef sandwich was disgusting - the beef was tough and flavorless, the cheese consisted of slices from a package, and the Au jus has never benefitted from an Italian herb. The two positives were the Dr. Pepper I drank and our cheerful server. I won't even go back again for a gondola. read more

Based on the experience I had tonight I would 1 star review. The server was okay. I asked for a high chair 3 times until I just had to get up and get one myself. The table and booth were dirty. The bread was hard and gross. The drink had no flavoring. I watched a table sit dirty for over 25 minutes. Why? read more

I'm going to start off by saying the staff here is very friendly, get you quickly to your table, and do a great job of keeping drinks and bread filled.. Moving on... All I hear from locals and the majority of students who mention this place is how it's a must eat and how good the food is. Honestly it makes a low grade place like Olive Garden look authentic for italian food. But I really can't expect authenticity from a place offering $4 endless bowl pasta. My description for all of Avanti's "Italian cuisine" is that it's mushy cheap noodles covered in ketchup. Nothing about this place is special read more

Below average pasta. Below average pizza, gondolas bring back fond memories but even those are pretty bad. I honestly have no idea how they have managed to continue. read more

Food took forever and the food and quantity is subpar at best. There is much better Italian food in the area.

I was very disappointed in this establishment when I walked in. There was a young girl behind the counter, blonde with a pony tail. She was at the register counting money. We have a party of 7 and as we walked in, she just stared at us and then went back to counting her money. She said nothing to us, didn't smile or anything. We all felt very unwelcome. I even made a comment that usually when you walk into a place, someone greets you, she continued to ignore us. However, Devon was our waiter and he did an awesome job. The food was pretty decent but his service was our favorite part of the visit. read more

We had the ravioli for an appetizer and that was pretty good. I had a salad that was ok- mainly just iceberg lettuce. We had the lasagna special. I can't say it was bad but it really want good either. Kind of bland. The bread that came out wasn't warm, plain. I wish it would have been warm or at least came with some dipping oils. I feel like all of the food just didn't have much flavor. The waitress was great and the prices are very reasonable. We had four dinners and an appetizer for under $50 with a nice tip. read more

Their bread is great, sweet but not too sweet, and their sandwiches are good as a result, but everything else is, well... Passable. Their pasta tends to be overcooked, and their sauces uninteresting, along the same lines as what you'd buy in a jar from the store. Stick to the gondola, bit of mustard, you'll do just fine. read more

I don't know why everyone loves this place so much. I mean its average. Not bad, not great. Being from St. Louis and having had Italian on The Hill I may be a little spoiled. Love that they have toasted ravioli! Whenever I order pasta dinners I always ask for extra sauce because they tend to serve it on the dry side. Pizza, average. Sandwiches, nothing to write home about. read more

I'm a huge fan of avanti's. My grandma used to take me here all the time when I was a kid, and I sometimes still go just in memory of her. Honestly, it probably only tastes good to me because I ate here almost every week as a child. This is a restaurant that you LOVE if you've lived in the area your whole life, but if you are from out of town you are genuinely confused about all the hype. Sure, Biaggi's and even Olive Garden have way better and more legit Italian food, but this place is cheap and tasty for the price. You have to try it at least once if you are around, and if you want to play it safe order the gondola- a yummy cold sandwich. Pizza bread is good too... but I always order the tortellini. I'm a fan... but I'm a blo/no person by blood. read more

Went for dinner this weekend after a long weekend. The waiter a current ISU student was very attentive and helpful so I will give a star for the service. I had the cod special with pasta ... the portion was large I'll give them that but the Pesto sauce on top was like soup. The cod was just OK (probably just out of the freezer). I think I could have made it better at home. The place may have been good many years ago, but I think they need to go back to cooking class. read more

This place is like Italian fast food. poor quality food and as a student I ate and briefly worked for this place. I know alot about this place and can say they get very cheap processed food from cheap vendors. I guess college students are not bright enough to know quality or want convieance. I am surprised that the University has not sawallowed up this location yet after the many years ago I was there. I last ate a few years ago, so I don't know if the quality as changed or not. It has been at that location for a long time and sometimes restarants get lazy and don't find it necessary to improve. The place is old, but kinda quaint. It will remind you of a seventies restaurant. They are quick on take outs and prices still very reasonable in town. There are many more places farhter away worth the trip than this dump. read more

Excellent spaghetti and garlic cheese bread. Huge portions at a great price.

I love their bread. Ever since I was a teenager, I have enjoyed buying a loaf of their bread and dipping it into a side of their meat sauce. Yum. read more

Service was great but food was edible but not delicious by any means. In our group we had pizza, French onion soup, chicken Caesar salad, toasted ravioli, mozzarella sticks and bbq chicken wings. The best and most appetizing part of the meal was the bread served beforehand. read more

Ketchup and cheap noodles and that may be a stretch. I'm not sure why people go so crazy for this place other than maybe drunken memories of college. The sandwiches are ok and the pizza bread is palatable. The bread on the sandwiches which everyone goes nuts for is sweet which I personally hate. I will say it is better than Subway but I'm not sure that's a compliment. Cheers! read more

Gave it another go. The service was impeccable and my gondola was worth my while. I was stuffed and at a fair price... and nobody can complain on that. read more

This review is for the carry-out portion only. My husband used to get Avanti's sandwiches in college so as we were driving through we decided to stop for lunch. We ordered Gondolas - from other reviews, this may be the way to go. The bread is nice and soft but quite sweet and the sandwich itself had a decent amount of stuff on it. I asked for light cheese and that was what I got. The full size is enormous - you'll have to be ravenous to get that whole thing in one go - but the half is a decent for one person, though two less hungry people could share. It's a bit pricey but quite good. read more

This may sound very strange, but their sandwich is the best! I know this is an Italian restaurant, but their Gondola is so simple, yet so tasty! I believe that it's because of their homemade bread, but that really is what makes a sandwich good. I have tried their spaghetti here, too, but I can always be in the mood just to eat their bread. Darn, I'm getting hungry now just thinking about it! read more

The bread is awesome - sweet and fresh. In fact, everything I love at the restaurant centers on that bread - garlic bread, loaf of bread with ranch dressing, mozzarella bread, gondola. Always crazy-busy. Loaf of bread used to be around $0.75, plus ranch dressing another $0.75 - two meals for $1.50. My friends have raved about their all-you-can-eat-spaghetti ($5-7), pizza choices ($7-10), and meatball sandwiches ($5) as well. Interestingly, there is an Avanti's in Peoria that is not worth the time of day, so perhaps this place is a chain-to-chain location rarity for quality. They do deliver to the local area. read more

If you are from out of town and you stumbled upon this page trying to read reviews to decide if you should go here for food or not. YES, yes please go and do yourself a favor. This is thee restaurant to eat at in the town of normal. I would suggest ordering their gondola but that's just me. read more

The bread was great, but the pasta was fairly mediocre, which is kind of sad since pasta isn't that difficult to get right. The service from our actual waiter was good... it was unfortunate that one of the other staff members saw fit to try and hover and socialize with my boyfriend and I while we were eating and fairly clearly out on a lunch date. It was fairly awkward and brought down the general experience. Hopefully when I try it again the next item I eat will be better and the weird guy will leave us alone. read more

I don't like the pasta at avantis. I don't like their sauce. I think I'm better off fixing my own frozen pasta with some store bought sauce. Their bread, however, is great when it isn't brought out stale. I also really like their pizza. I've been going here 10 years plus. It's always hit and miss. I've had great experiences and awful. One thing that's consistent... I love their house italian dressing! It's great to dip the bread in:) read more