"Disappointing Service and Management Handling" On December 12, six of us dined at Aventino Cucina, four of whom are regular patrons. Our bill was nearly $800, yet a legitimate concern involving $100 was not addressed by management during our visit. The service and management handling were disappointing. We felt we were not treated with the courtesy or fairness expected of a restaurant at this price point, and certain aspects of the experience felt dismissive and concerning. The management team was very aggressive and made longstanding customers feel unwelcome and a burden. We attempted to resolve this privately after our visit and after 10 days and two emails, we received a response from management; however, the core issues were not addressed in any meaningful way, and the proposed resolution was simply an invitation to return. As we will not be returning, we feel it's important to share our experience so others can make an informed decision. Overrated and overpriced with no management training. Do not recommend! read more

We were looking to try out a new restaurant and decided to take a friend to dinner here for her birthday. Everyone was very helpful: assisting us with the wheelchair lift, getting us comfy and walking us through some menu options. Our waitress was spot on with her appetizer recommendations. We had the pizza, the sourdough toast with butter and anchovies, the fried zucchini, the pulpo and the polenta triangles with ricotta and honey. They were excellent but I forgot to take photos! The pasta orders were another story. The one who ordered the spaghetti alla amatriciana thought it was too cheesy. Two people ordered the lumache alla Norma and both felt disappointed: too doughy and bland. The cacio e peppe was excellent! The rigatoni carbonara was okay but not special. The gelato: chocolate, cappuccino and pumpkin were very good-- the perfect ending to a big meal. We might go back and concentrate on the appetizers. read more

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Giving it 1 star to draw attention to the oppressing acoustic noise that ruined the entire experience. Otherwise the food was ok but overpriced; you can get honest Roman style food at I'mEddieCano without the pretense. Also, we were intrigued by the Jewish Ghetto story but no traces were found in the menu - and the server had no clue as to what we were talking about... read more

This restaurant has a smallish menu of familiar dishes, but the preparation is exquisite. Each dish was the best we've had this year or the best we've ever had! The dishes were expertly prepared and delicately seasoned. You're not going to get blown with salt, garlic, or olive oil. The prices were quite reasonable for a relatively high-end restaurant and the service was friendly without being familiar and efficient without being bothersome. The ambiance is a bit noisy, but with good energy. And they had enough staff so that folks didn't seem stressed. Highest recommendation, would definitely eat there again. read more

Great food a bit pricy , but tasty . The ambience is great and location wise it's easy to find lots of indoor parking garages and street parking as well . We had a fun night . Great team work the staff are nice and sharp . read more

Food was wonderful. 8.5/10 Service was exceptional. Ambiance on a Friday night was also exceptional, classy, chill. Great experience. Would definitely recommend! read more

Very very noisy. I ordered the papardelle, which our waiter informed me was not as good a choice as my dining companions. Who says that??? It was ok but really overpriced at $32 for some pasta and mushrooms. The cocktails are very small for the price. The food was fine, nothing spectacular and I doubt I'll go back. read more

The food and drinks were delicious. Perfect place to grab a nice lunch. My friend and I got the daily special and it was fabulous! read more

Aventino Cucina - spaghetti and clams (daily special) and aperol spritz - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Food was ok, atmosphere is good, service is great. My main complaint is, the pasta dishes are about $30 and come with little to no meat, and portions are not large. I ordered an appetizer, pasta dish and main meal and excluding the wine, the prices was $150 for two people. Totally not worth it. read more

If you're craving Roman cuisine in the DC metro area, this is the place. Glad I was talking to someone who intimately knew the menu. Those suggestions were crucial. I normally only eat suppli when I am waiting for my taglio of pizza, but I decided to go ahead and order. It didn't disappoint. Suppli is a like smaller version of arancini. I couldn't resist ordering the cacio e pepe with tonarelli pasta. Felt a little nostalgic. I also had the fior de latte gelato as it was dinner time and an affogatto would leave me sleepless. To make this place even more authentic, I would suggest adding fried artichokes, lamb (abbachio), orata (sea bream), and tiramisu. read more

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We ordered Prosecco and beer, Insalata salad, Suppli Al Telefono ( like Arancini ) and Casio E Pepe and Swordfish. All were average and not the best Italian dishes we've had before, However Swordfish was the best in all and perfectly cooked - praise the chef for the Swordfish ( who worked on Tuesday night around 8pm, 9/10/2024 ) The front waiter was very nice, he took us to the nicest seat. Our waitress was friendly and nice but she was a little bit too casual to take our orders - used "sounds good" too often and repeatedly each time she checked on us. That was okay, but the other waitress who clean the table actually were worst and very unprofessional, she ruined our mood whille we were enjoying our conversation, she came to cut it off and asked us she wanted to pick up our water bottles and other plates even though we were still enjoying some dish and drinks too. Not even passed 1 hour yet since sat our seat. We were surprised by her manner and very disappointed she completely disturbed our conversation and dinner - We have never encountered in any other restaurants before. It's probably just about waitresses level that day, though, definitely affected to our review and unfortunately can't give 4 to 5 stars to this place for the reason. Hopefully the management notice this. Ambiance was nice in good lighting and our seat was comfortable. This newer place is probably better for the ambiance compare to the other older restaurants in Bethesda downtown, but to be honest overall the foods is nothing special and service are not the level to make us want to try again or recommend to our people yet unfortunately. read more

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They were booked solid so my sisters and I opted to eat at the bar which provided a full dinner service. I am so glad we came here. The place is beautiful inside and every staff person we came across was cool, gracious, friendly, and accommodating. The star of course was the food. Freaking phenomenal. If you can go, please do... experience the awesomeness of Aventino. read more

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Delicious meal at Aventino Cucina. We have been several times and never been disappointed. The service is always excellent. We had the proscuitto, parmesan, and the citrus salad. The mushroom pasta is incredible and we also had the main course pork chop (delicious and huge serving). We split these and it was a great balance. We were with a kiddo today and they do provide plain pasta with butter, cheese and/or marinara for kids. I have had the amaro flight twice and it is so fun! The bartender seems very knowledgeable. It is pricy, but for me the quality was worth it. read more

All of the food was good. Not extraordinary but good. The pizza on the appetizer list was actually quite disappointing. The calamari, meatballs and fries ricotta were delicious. The duck pasta dish was delicious. The cocktails were very good. The service was ok. They seemed to be rushing us, taking food away when we weren't done. The price was reasonable but only because we got pastas. read more

Went for lunch. Waiters lacked knowledge of and ability to discuss the menu (we had two males maybe in their 30s) and seemed to have little interest in their jobs - far below service standards of fine dining. No bread. Minimal protein offerings. Pasta with bacon (?) meh at best, so the fact that it was a very small amount of food didn't bother me, as I didn't finish. Salad too heavily dressed. Overpriced. Left hungry and disappointed. Although nice and pretty room. read more

Very disappointing, especially at this price point. Portions of pasta were surprisingly small. In a party of three, orders of pasta didn't come out together -- one person in our party was almost finished eating before the third person was served. No explanation, no apology. Quality of pork used in one of the pasta dishes was very poor. Didn't do a good job dealing with a food allergy. Won't be back. read more

No complaints. The first true "DC" spot in Bethesda that hits on all fronts. Great service and love sitting by the open windows on a nice Friday evening. Great cocktails (got the Sardinia and Verona spritzes which were hella refreshing). Wife got the night we met (kind of like a pisco sour) and the To Those Who Wait (like a rye Manhattan). Sardines were salty and perfect w the butter and dill on bread. The chickpea and ricotta dish was surprising and delicious. Got an extra slice of bread w leftover ricotta. Got the Cacio i Pepe and ravioli as well as mushroom polenta side. All incredible. Also excellent dessert and service. Will be back. read more

Aventino Cucina - Sardines on bread w butter and chickpea fried deliciousness w ricotta - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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My friend who lives in the area kept suggesting another restaurant when we were making dinner plans but I really wanted to try this so went separately. Now I understand why my friend doesn't think this is her go to restaurant. We had 2 adults and 1 child and our bill was $220! We didn't even order alcohol during dinner. The food is decent but not that amazing to warrant this price. We ordered 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and gelato for dessert. Service was attentive but rather casual. I also have a pet peeve with the servers resting the water bottle on your glass when they refill your water. This transfers germs from the edge of your glass to the bottle, and next time when they pour, there is cross contamination to the next glass. This is a fancy restaurant and I feel this simple detail should be noted. read more

Make a res here as soon as possible. Service, food and ambience were all outstanding. Dined here with friends Monday, and the restaurant was packed. The 4 of us had the dorado....succulent and moist. Couldn't have been better. Started with an expertly made Manhattan cocktail. Salad with garlic anchovy dressing topped with finely shredded Parmesan was just so delish and large enough to share. I forget the name of the dessert ( maybe budino?), but 4 of us shared it, and it was the perfect ending to an outstanding meal. Can't wait to return! Highly highly recommended! read more

Wonderful service, great food, fun cocktails and a great environment. Collin, Francesco, Hannah, and hostess staff could not have been nicer or more professiona. And we loved the menu, esp the small plates. Delicious! read more

An eclectic menu for an Italian restaurant. I found very little that was appealing. The $17 glass of Pinot Noir was a very small pour. The flatbread was more like focaccia. Pasta portions were very tiny and had unusual combinations of ingredients. Although the decor was attractive, it was noisy even on a Tuesday night. I would definitely not go back there. On top of all that it was fairly pricey for the amount of food we ordered. read more

Way too loud for normal conversation. None of the reviews mention how loud this place can get. The decor is lovely to look at. Service is excellent. One note the messages about my reservation continually reminding me that we had a limit of 2 hours to dine was excessive. I get it, don't linger. That wasn't a problem due to the noise. read more

Nice after work place to hang by the bar. Pasta is fresh. I wish they kept some of the popular pasta dishes (they change the menu regularly). Good local place though nothing in our selection was a must to come back - though willing to come back again. Servers were very attentive and host was very friendly and accommodating. Desserts seem promising, but falls slightly short. read more

Aventino Cucina - Okay concept, but not sure of the execution of taste and flavors. - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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From the time we were greeted by Ralph the host we enjoyed ourselves. The pastas were delicious.

Great service and even better food. The pasta dishes were fabulous (squash-filled ravioli, duck ragu tagliatelle, and a mushroom gnocchi). The starters (funghi, calamari, and pizza rossa) were delicious and save room for dessert - dark chocolate cake and the almond pound cake were insanely good. We're kicking ourselves for not coming here earlier. Head and shoulders better than Sfoglina, Claudio's Table, and the other Italian restaurants in upper NW. read more

Aventino Cucina - Ricotta poundcake - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Fabulous! Great service, amazing food. Pleasing ambiance. Ample portions. Expensive and worth every penny. First visit last summer with cousin visiting from georgia. We shared an appetizer, a side and a very large pork chop. Enough to satisfy both of us and still plenty to take home. My second visit was in November with my husband and my daughter and her significant other who were visiting from San Francisco. All 4 of us loved our choices from appetizers to salads to entrees and dessert. Wonderful wait staff, very attentive. Love everything about Aventino Cucina! Best to make a reservation. Highly recommend this fine dining addition to Bethesda. read more

We have been waiting for this resturaunt for almost three years, and it was worth every second! We were privileged to go the night before the grand opening. Not your average Italian restaurant, with a Roman-Jewish influence, which makes for a unique menu, and completely lives up to the hype of its sister (Red Hen) in DC. The staff was lovely, the food was yummy, and the ambiance was elevated yet homey. Highly encourage anyone to take a risk and try out dishes with unique ingredients like sunchoke. This place will be a regular spot for special occasion. read more

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Fantastic new location in Bethesda area. We liked everything we tried. The grilled octopus, the duck tagliatelle and lumache with lamb sausage were all very tasty. Well done. read more

Simply the most delicious burger I've ever eaten. Must get it medium rare to make sure it's juicy and amazing. The flat bread appetizer is also delicious. And the service is very friendly and professional. Love it here. read more

Second time dining. Food was good. Service was horrible. Rude server (from the start) who wanted our party of 8 out as fast as possible. Bill came to 1k plus a surcharge of approx $30. This restaurant had gotten a little too big for its britches, which is too bad bc it had such a great opportunity to be the best place in Bethesda read more

The food was nothing special, if you have had the opportunity to travel in Italy. Their problem is and i'm sure they're well aware of this is the incredibly loud noise level. We were in and out of the restaurant less than 40 minutes. Even our waitstaff had to yell at us so we could hear her. Not relaxing, not enjoyable and worth the price. Hard pass. read more

Super excited to try as a couple of my colleagues had highly recommended the place. The ambiance and interior design was awesome! Felt very luxurious! We ordered cavateli pasta , suppli al telefono, and, ACCIUGHE E BURRO. The mushroom pasta was good. The other two dishes were so so. I would say I had better Italian food that is much less. Would go for ambiance but probably would not go back for the food. read more

This restaurant is really terrific. The food is excellent. I had the bread appetizer and the flounder and both were out of this world! The service was excellent too and there is parking right next door. This is one of my new favorite restaurants! read more

This literally just happened. We came out here for the first time with some family who were in town for the week. We made a reservation, we were seated, we ate and talked, and everything was lovely. Nice and attentive staff, good food. Everything was fine up until the last 10 minutes of our evening. The manager came by and asked us if we enjoyed our meal, and we said everything was great. Then she said "okay glad to hear it, now is the time where I need to ask you to leave to make room for our next table." They had just served us dessert about 10-15 min prior. We had just paid the bill and tipped to the total amt of $560. She sent her servers over to take our water. They took my dessert while I was still eating, and also tried to take my coffee and wine. I'm honestly still in shock and so flipping angry. This was our first time at this restaurant, and we were just thinking what a nice place to take friends, we will come here more often. Nope! I've never been asked to leave a restaurant in my life. Also it's Wednesday night. If you're thinking this is Friday Saturday and we were just hogging the table, absolutely not. If you're thinking maybe we were rude and loud, I assure you absolutely not. For the first time in my life I wanted to confront the manager on the way out like a Karen, but she'd escaped somewhere to the back and let her staff take the fallout, and I wouldn't have said anything to them because they were super nice. But we won't be going back there literally ever, even though we live close enough by. So freaking rude, I cannot believe it. And it was so obvious we were almost done. That's the absolutely wild part. Two almost empty glasses of wine left, a couple waters, 1/2 a remaining dessert being eaten, and the check signed barely 5 min prior. Hopefully they get some more professional managers in the future cause this woman was unreal. I feel bad for her staff. Wednesday night, June 25, 2025. read more

The pastas were great! I would definitely come back again just for the pastas. We did not find the appetizers particularly good or special, and I would recommend passing on this. I am disappointed that there was so much pork on the menu. It is not vegetarian or kosher friendly. In general, this restaurant is more expensive, but the area is known for being a bit pricey. Overall, it is a nice experience and it would be a great spot for a date night or dinner with a large group of friends or family. read more

There were 4 in our party and we all agreed. The worst dining experience ever! It was so noisy you had to yell to the person right next to you. The acoustics were horrible. We tried to get moved but the staff expressed no interest in helping. This is NOT a restaurant to go to to enjoy conversation together. More of a very loud disco vibe. The food was mediocre at best. Definitely not up to Bethesda standards. Definitely the worst food I have eaten out. And the service was poor. Bad experience & Definitely not up to Bethesda standards. I can't imagine it will last.​ read more

Completely overrated, food just ok. I don't understand why this place gets such good reviews. Will not go again.

Dine in | Lunch | $30-50 Best lunch in Bethesda. Aventino is delicious and the setting is idyllic. There a few truly special lunch spots like Aventino. The service is friendly and efficient. We were celebrating, so we lingered. That said, I saw folks on obvious schedules who were in and out in an hour yet it was obvious they has a nice experience. The menu has many options and, based on the quality, it is a good value. Me and my friend shared the Pizza Rossa, Insalata, Rigatoni, and Flounder - all were outstanding. The Flounder may be the best piece of fish I've enjoyed this year - and I dine out often. It was perfectly crisp with a flawless sear. Chef Mike's team are pasta artists. They never disappoint. We enjoyed a glass of Frascati, which was so good it led to another glass. We ended our meal with a decadent budino and fall gelatos, a pumpkin and a "chef's surprise." I'm not at liberty to share the secret. However, it's fall in a scoop. Our lunch concluded with deep, dark, and energizing Americanos. If our lunch wasn't spectacular enough, we had a visit with Chef Mike, the mastermind, architect, evil genius, behind Aventino, Red Hen, and Fossette's Foccaceria. All spots I highly recommend. With this good fortune, I'm on my way to play the lottery... read more

Aventino Cucina - Entrance - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Amazing food with great service in a cool location(the bathroom wallpapers in Chef Mike's restaurants are always interesting). The highlights for me were: -sweetbreads(the celery apple slaw is perfectly acidic and creamy to complement them) -ricotta(perfect consistency and taste) -rigatoni(best carbonara I've ever had, the yolk sauce was emulsified, the noodles were nice and Al dente with a little chew) -zucca(just ate a leftover piece, the texture from the sesame seeds works great with the sauce it's in, and there's a little hint of heat from the chili crisp) -budino(I only had a bite, but the gianduja crunch was addictive, wish I'd ordered this) The special was a hamachi collar, which was very rich and tasty, and paired great with the misticanza salad. My party ordered a lot, and also had some other dishes which were solid, which were the steak, spaghetti, almond panna cotta, and prosciutto. The only dishes that were kind of meh for me was the pizza rossa, and gnocchi fritto. I haven't had traditional Roman flatbread before, which may be why I thought the pizza rossa wouldn't be just an average piece of bread. Regarding the gnocchi frito, the mortadella was delicious, but I think the gnocchi needed a sauce, as the bites were kind of dry, since it was just fried bread and sliced meat. But that wasn't a big deal, and I'm sure they'll figure it out in a few months, as they just opened. Wish I had pictures, but we ate everything too fast! read more

Tonight, Aventino was a bit off... The reduced noise level is pleasing. Service, attentive and professional. Wine. With lamb on the menu, we ordered an appropriate bottle of wine and requested, on the reservation, that it be decanted about an hour and a half earlier. It helps that a nice bottle of wine breathe a bit. We do this with places that have nice wine lists. The last time we had tried it at Aventino, it had not worked as they brought the ordered bottle to the table instead of decanting it. This time they had decanted the wine as asked but it was the wine we had ordered the time before. Ah, well... A bit of attention would have helped... On the food. The side dish of beans was overcooked and had gotten mushy. The suppli were fine.The pappardelle with mushrooms were excellent. Now, the lamb chops. First, the chops appeared rather dry. In addition they were put atop a cold puree of faba beans, and they became cool quickly. Very disappointing... Hope this is rare night off. We'll try again and see if the previously positive trend is continued. read more