YUCK!!! I have had better Italian out of the freezer section of the grocery store! I had the seafood pasta dish, that was supposed to be shrimp and crab. It was the tiny salad shrimp and imitation crab. The white sauce wasn't white, it was a more clear than white that did not have any cream in it at all. They should buy the jar stuff, it would be better. The only good thing here is their bread! Thank you God that the bread and salad were good. read more

Avanti's goes above and beyond to ensure their customers have an enjoyable experience.

Maybe I am just spoiled because I live in the Chicago area and have access to some of the best pizza known to man, but the pizza from this place is so God-awful I had to post something. I read reviews here that said the pizza was pretty good and since I am in town on business, I thought I would give it a try. BIG mistake. I can't remember ever having pizza that was this gross. I wish I could get my money back because I took just a few bites and that was more than enough. The rest is in the trash. Domino's would have been better. YUCK. read more

We contacted Avanti's to handle a funeral luncheon. With only one weekend day's notice and two phone calls, they handled everything perfectly. The food was great. We had plenty of choices on price and type of food to serve. We had great service and they didn't charge us for the room because it was a funeral. I worked with Pauline and she was a huge help. Great experience helped ease difficult day. read more

Growing up in the Peoria area, Avantis was the place to go to get good food, with good prices. When Avantis opened in Pekin, I was thrilled. Unfortunately our experience on our last 4 visits have been mediocre at best. The food is usually "ok". The service seems to be getting worse. Last year we visited on a weekend and had bad service and terrible food. I filled out a comment card and the manager called. She was very professional and offered to replace my meal if we would try again. We came in a short time later, told the waitress who we were (as the manager had requested) so she would know of our food credit. The food this time was good, but again the service was horrible. We visited with friends party a short time later, had the same experience. This weekend some other friends invited us for lunch. Our orders were pretty good, but our friends simple order was botched badly. The service was very lax, even though the side dining area where we ate was not packed. We had to ask repeatedly for bread or anything else we desired. I still crave their food, but for the complete lack of respect we have experienced, we will go elsewhere. In addendum, my wife and I have both worked in the food service industry, we are in our mid 40s and very easy to please. We have other restaurants we frequent and have the most pleasant experiences. read more

Nice big party rooms in the back. Had a surprise party there for a friend and service was fine and food was decent. My gondola deluxe was wonderful but my buddies lasagna was only so-so. The serving of pasta salad was large but kind of dry. Atleast the flavor was good. I would recommend this Avanti's over some of the other locations. read more

Avanti's is essentially *the* option for Italian in Pekin. (Yes, there is the La Gondola Spaghetti House, but . . . ) Drive by the place at lunch or dinner time and you will see how popular the restaurant is. This location is (currently) the newest Avanti's. Yes, Avanti's, compared to other Italian restaurants in larger cities, is average, but in this case, there's nothing wrong with average! If the food doesn't set off fireworks in your mouth, neither does it leave you feeling as if you just ate something you shouldn't have. What's good? For lunch, many people order the gondola sandwiches (sort of Avanti's trademark). I'd recommend the pizza or the chef's salad. Regarding appetizers, the fried ravioli can be good. The garlic bread isn't memorable, but isn't terrible, either. For dinner, the asiago cheese ravioli is, for my money, the "stand out" dish. As for the other entrees, they all compare favorably with one another: no special stand outs and no particular disasters. The oven baked cod is acceptable, but be sure to order the vegetables or else a salad with it: the fish comes out all by itself in the serving dish. The pizza should please just about anybody. Avanti's will satisfy anyone who just likes Italian food and isn't too picky. read more

Close to hotel here in Pekin but food is always good. Service and price is good too . I got the chicken parm.

Had the experience of dining here earlier this week with family members including my pregnant daughter with food allergies. After being very specific that her salad could not have nor be touched by croutons due to her being allergic to them, we were assured by the waitress that she observed them open a new bag and that it was indeed crouton free as requested. Great. But half way through eating it her fork hit a non salad object in the bottom of the bowl. Low and behold, one lonely crouton buried in the middle. I won't go in to the entire fiasco but we immediately flagged the waitress and cancelled the rest of her food while the rest of us would still eat. Shortly thereafter the kitchen manner appeared at the table asking what she would like instead. She told us it was the waitresses fault and the croutons sit next to the salads in the kitchen. She was very interested in selling that meal. Upon being told that my daughter could not trust anything from that kitchen as they had already potentially endangered her life and that of the baby, she left. Her exit was followed by the arrival of the general manager who was also most interested in selling her a meal. Upon being told the same thing, she said she would remove my daughters meal from the bill. Shortly after our food was delivered, the dreaded allergic reaction began in full force. My daughter and I exited the table to the ladies room to deal with the issue and contact the physician. We were gone for about 20 minutes during which time no one asked the remaining adult member about my daughter or checked on her in any way. When we returned to the table with instructions from the doctor to go to the ER to have the baby monitored for reaction to medications that had been necessary to alleviate daughter's medical difficulties, she was no longer in medical danger. She was however, thirsty, cold, and itchy. I flagged the waitress down for a glass of water for her and also asked if they had a blanket, which they did not. She brought the water and my bill, which did have my daughter's food removed, and disappeared again. We continued to eat our food and talked to doctors office on phone again. While we were eating, the general manager then appeared and announced she had 911 on the phone and an ambulance was on the way. We told her we did not need that and she got angry and said they were on the phone now. So we gathered our belongings and I dropped sufficient money for the bill in the general managers hand while she was still on the phone on the way out. She ran out after U.S. When the fire truck pulled in pointing at us and yelling. An ambulance did not pull in. We proceeded to get in the car and I drove my daughter to the ER for fetal monitoring per doctors instructions. The unprofessional manner with which we were treated was horrible. We were very specific as to what the allergen was and that the ramifications were serious. Still she was served with it hidden beneath the other food. All management employees wanted to blame the waitress and were not interested in the health ramifications but only in selling the meal. There was no follow up checks to see how she was doing only the call to 911 when I requested a blanket without telling us. In communication with their operational manager, I was told they are required by insurance to call 911as soon as they know someone is in medical distress. 30 minutes earlier she had been in medical distress but they did not care to check. By the time they called, her medical emergency was handled and we just needed fetal monitoring. Our other companion stayed behind and gave them the details for their incident report. She also asked for ingredients of the offending crouton. She was shown a bag with an ingredient label on it which the first ingredient was bread, which is itself a finished product needing an ingredients list. In trying to obtain the information for ingredients to give to the allergist, the operational manager questioned that my daughter was even allergic to that item and said the other adult could not have seen a bag with an ingredient list as those are made on site. Well thank you for calling us liars. It should also be noted that I left more than enough money for our food and they did not offer to give my change to our eating companion to return it to us. Good things though, food tasted good even though management was unethical and I doubt kitchen was clean enough to avoid cross contamination and daughter and baby are going to be fine. She was immediately released from ER after monitoring of baby was completed successfully. Needless to say, we will not be dining at Avant's in Pekin again. Too bad the same Operational Manager that called us a liar is over all of them in the Peoria area. And I am still waiting for that ingredient list. read more

4 stars more for my teenage and college years than the quality of today. I love the place and the food, mostly I love the pizza bread and the gondola. Old favorites I still have to have when I come to town. read more

Barely average. Linguine carbanara sub par. Baked cod just average. Small portions but ok sized per the price. Small glasses of wine typical. Traveling thru town and next to motel but won't come again read more

Service was ok, food was to out it mildly...tasteless. Servers seemed nice, food just had no taste to it, Childs plate and adults plate seemed to be about the same size. read more

We ordered take out and it was amazing. The staff was so friendly and always smiling! I ordered the make your own pasta meals.. which come with a FRESH salad :) .. also bread.. which was really good. Great! Must have .. and I will be back read more

Stopped in when I traveled through town on business. Pleasant memories of the Gondola sandwich from college days in Normal. This location has a bar, though it was not staffed and was used as more seating for guests. The service was fantastic, the gondola was as good as I remember. This is not a fine Italian dining experience, but rather a family style restaurant with an Italian emphasis. read more

Didn't even get to eat. Went in stood there for 10 mins while other people got rung up or their food. Had people keep coming up to me saying will be with you in a min. It was 1:30 and nobody else was there. I walked out. Apparently they don't want my business read more

Great meat sauce! Regular size cheese ravioli with sausage cut into coins and fresh mushrooms was great! I usually can't pass up the Lasagne, but this was a close second. He had a carbonara with chicken, garlic, bacon, mushrooms and linguine. The added ingredients gave the Alfredo much more flavor than the usual bland version. They always have fresh bread and reliable cheese soup. Stay away from the pizza and the boring bland plain Alfredo. It isn't fine dining Italian but it's good food for the price. read more

They have a great takeout service that is within walking distance from the hotel. The staff was friendly and the food was very good. Best of all I got a large order of pasta, a half loaf of bread, and a small salad for less than 10 bucks. read more

I ordered 6 gondolas for my birthday party, and several of my guests were immediately sick after eating them. I called the Pekin store and talked to manager Ben. He basically told me there was no way it was from the gondolas, and he hadn't had any calls about this that day or ever. He said if I would have called that day, he could have looked at the ingredients used to review. I called a few days later as I kept forgetting to call. Really? Why would I waste my break at work to call in and lie about this? He said there was NOTHING he was willing to do. We were all very ill for 12-24 hours! I will never go to this Avanti's or any other Avanti's again if this is the way they promise to treat their patrons. He told me to take it up with corporate, that he doesn't have a manager for me to contact. Avanti's WAS my favorite restaurant. I will be going to La Gondola now. read more

As a former Illinois resident, I've heard about Avanti's for years. I was excited that I was going to finally have the chance to experience the food. I was surprised by the variety on the menu as it is extensive. But, I decided to stick with a basic Italian choice since I was confident that Avanti's would have it perfected. Ok, wrong... worst spaghetti and meatballs I've ever had. The plate was served to me luke warm. There was not enough sauce to even cover the pasta, and the pasta was dry as a bone. I would only return to this place if there were no other choices available. Very underwhelmed. read more

Bar service non-existant, staying at Holiday Inn across the street, came in at 5:30 for a drink and maybe appetizer after traveling all day. Waited 10 minutes for bartender, came in got drinks and disappeared again. We could hear her in the kitchen area socializing. Had to get up and call to her in kitchen to get ticket, gave up on idea of appetizer, will forgo convenience next time and go to Applebees. read more

A good go to for cheaper meal for the family. Food is good, service is ok but the floors are greasy.

I visited Avanti's on a Saturday night while in town visiting relatives. According to our host, Avanti's is THE place for Italian food in the area. Just as the rating system reflects, I gave this two stars because, truly, "Meh. I've experienced better." That being said, it really wasn't bad...just not what I normally experience. I had Chicken Parm, which I normally never order. The red sauce was wonderful, and the linguine cooked perfectly. However, the piece of chicken was simply terrible. The breading was WAY too salty to even eat. I had a small house salad with my dinner, and it was pretty boring. Lettuce, a few tomatoes, and a few strands of purple cabbage. You get the picture. My husband had the lasagna and said it was "just alright". My kids both had ravioli and enjoyed it, but said they've had better. Although they're only 7 and 3, they've had their share of excellent ravioli (we love Italian food), and I trust their judgment. I will say that the bread served with the meal is really wonderful. Very flavorful and served very warm. It was a nice way to start the meal. Our server was efficient, even though the place was packed. And, everyone there seemed to really be enjoying themselves, so that must say something about how well-loved it is. Will I go there again, if given the opportunity? Doubtful. read more

On Saturday evening placed a noon order for Sunday. Arrived at 11:45 on the chance it would be ready early. Several people came in or drove thru and placed orders after I did. Although they were similar orders of cold sandwiches they received their orders before I did. When they finally brought out the order at 12:10, rather than simply hand it to me so I could leave, she set it down and took someone else's order, got it wrong, fixed it, and then finally handed me the bag. Didn't mind it wasn't ready early, but a web order should be ready on time. And people who come in after you shouldn't be served first. Sandwiches are good, and we will buy again. But service was poor. . read more

if i could give this place no stars then i would. there were so many hairs in my gondola and they packed on so much cheese more than the meat and lettuce. very disappointed. read more

service is always poor. lot of food for the money but the quality is just ok...

Nice location with hotel close but don't be fooled by the short walk. Sat at the bar expecting a chat with the bartender and to watch tv, there are no tv's at the bar to view but there are tv's available for the table seating? Aside from no tv's there was no bar tender... I had a waitress taking my order and bringing me my drinks and food... It's quite odd when you get a tap on the shoulder asking what you'll have. As for the food I had the lasagna w/side salad and bread with toasted ravioli for an app. The salad came first with bread, okay sub par I'd say 3 stars, then came the toasted ravioli half breaded and chewy around the edges hardly tolerable if you submerged it in sauce. Next came my lasagna loaded in a pool of sauce and I was warned my plate was hot... It was like warm to the touch as was my food, hunger driving me I was committed to "take a bite" upon doing so I had to crunch my lasagna, I was crunching on uncooked chunks of onion, being brave I took another bite and again to my unsurprised imagination... Crunch. That was my last bite. I asked for my check and I will make the inconvenient drive for better food and atmosphere the next time I stay in Pekin. read more

I'm new to the pekin area, and ate here for the first time yesterday and I have to say, I wasn't very pleased with the service. I called to place an order for delivery, a young man took my order and told me it would be delivered in about 20 minutes. 30 minutes or so goes by, and I realized that I was never asked for an address for the food to be delivered to. So, I called back, the same young man answered and I explained to him the situation, and he stated they couldn't find my order. Eventually, after 10 minutes, he found it under "carry out" instead. So, he made it to delivery, said it would be an hour and a half and proceeded to get off the phone, when I said again, he still did not have my address. Needless to say, it took about 3 hours or so, and 2 phone calls for me to get my food. When I got it, most was hot and tasted pretty well which is why I gave 3 stars instead of 2. I've heard a lot of good things about the food, but they definitely need to work on their service end of things! read more