I was really disappointed by the food at Modesto. I got the caprese salad and it had about a tablespoon of chopped burnt garlic. It was so dominant, I could not eat much of the salad. I had a pizza as my entree and it was just average. Our server could not have been nicer, gold star there,......:: read more

The food is advertised as one of the best in Asheville.... I'm here to disagree. We have eaten Italian in many states across the country and overseas including Italy; we love a good Italian meal. This was not it. The prices make it seem as though you will receive a top quality meal/experience but we received nothing close to this. Service, this should never be held against an establishment but in this case I think it should. This place is tiny, we could hear everything our waiter explained to nearby tables, he didn't explain a thing to us. He offered complimentary bread, we were not offered a thing. Regardless, as mentioned above we knew what we were looking for so I didn't need an explanation. The service was horrible to say the least. The FOOD. Take your time on Yelp and look at the photos, they tell more than I can explain. The food wasn't anything close to any Italian I have experienced. Not even close. The meals were 50-100$, I had the filet ordered medium rare; I received medium well burnt crust. This is supposedly led by a lead professional chef, and the prices/reservations/wait reflected this.... Just not the final product. If I could assume anything tasted similar to Italian cuisine was the pizza. Still 25$ plus for this. My husband ordered the seafood carbonara and it was just as disappointing, runny, no cheese, one piece of pancetta, chewy seafood on all levels. Overall, extremely disappointed..... 94 rating at the door for food health and safety. read more

NOT ENOUGH STARS - NEED MORE! Hector, Kevin, Jim, and Carmen are a force of nature! Hector's impossible energy and remarkable humanity and generosity during the horrific city wide food, water, wifi, access outage by opening their doors to serve pizza, and some few guests when he had just enough (bottled water) to make a plate or few - was a testament to a TRUE ASHVILLE GEM and SAINT. Let's not let the generosity shadow the amazing food; specialty Bolognese and Salad with wine - and his remarkable pizza's was so well done and balanced; the fact he could do it under a city in such duress - it is truly humanity and community at its finest. Hector - Christiane and I (Stanley) from Tampa/Brazil are stunned by your food, your energy, your history and SOMEONE NEEDS TO WRITE HIS BOOK! Thank you beyond words, the City should thank you for what you did by opening your doors and feeding people, when the rest of the citu was on total lock down.....No words, just prayers and praise for you and your team for your kindness during such a difficult time. Shout out to the local favorites; Toni, John and Adam . . .your community and spirit has made us a permanant visitor and patron - forever! read more

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I came here on August 21, 2019. I knew from the very first bite that this was the best meal I have ever had. While visiting the area myself and my wife were visiting the area, we were walking by the restaurant when the host stopped us to see if we wanted to make a reservation. We already had plans for that night so we told him we would do it tomorrow. He insisted that the food was delicious and he was so right. We both got the swordfish. I loved the way the restaurant looked, the service, and of course the food. I don't normally take pictures of my food, but something about this dish looked too good to skip over. I still tell people where I had the best meal of my life. I will say, it was a bit higher when it comes to pricing, but after a meal, you'll know why. If you're in the area looking for a quality meal, look no further. I'm sorry to say that I don't remember the hosts name, but to the gentleman with long curly hair and a twirled mustache, thank you for the great service and convincing us to come in for the meal. read more

Modesto - Swordfish - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

Okay so I'm up in Asheville and decided to take myself to lunch. I love this place I don't get to come here all the time but when I want my fig and prosciutto wood fired pizza this place does it right. What makes this pizza so good is the sour dough crust and it passes the cold pizza test. So today's add on was the Romaine wood fired salad. My new obsession, it's so good and the preserve lemon pieces just brighten the salad. If you are looking for a refreshing drink on a warm day I highly recommend the Basil limeade Italian soda. A must stop and eat at place in Asheville read more

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Two words...crab cakes! Seriously those were by far the best crab cakes I think I have ever tasted! Bolagnese and eggplant parmesan were very excellent as well. A lot to choose on the menu so we'll definitely be back on our next trip to Asheville. Great service and great atmosphere as well. read more

Modesto - North Carolina Crab Cakes. - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

We were excited to try another Italian restaurant. The prices are high but that's typical of a excellent restaurant. Unfortunately this place was very expensive & had lots of hype from the waiter, the food however was not as expected. Had the lobster claw sea food dish with home made Fettuccine & a tomato based sauce, the dish was $49.00, the Pasta was all stuck together under the sauce, the shrimp was tasteless, the lobster claw was huge but way over cooked. The saving grace was the huge scallop that was fantastic, mussels were bland as was the sauce. Felt I had paid enough for the food to be 1st class, it was not by a long way .. ambiance was nice, it's cozy but that didn't make up for the poor food preparation & taste . I did let the waiter know how disappointed I was, he offered a free dessert, that was also worse than you can by from any supermarket... Over hyped & over priced .. read more

Service from bar was terrible bar tender on Tuesday was highly inappropriate and rude. Worst service I've had in my lifetime. I would fire him in a second if he was my employee. I'll spread the word here in maryville. Tn. read more

Planning for a reunion of ten childhood friends coming into Asheville from all over the country took months of research. We wanted to get the best pizza-to-go in town for our first night event so we chose Modesto, based on its reviews and menu. I even spoke to the owner about making sure everything would be perfect. We called our order in and drove over to pick it up. Imagine our dismay when, back at our B & B, we opened the pizza boxes and saw that they were burned to a crisp. They were completely inedible since even the bottoms of the pizzas were burned. What employee would put those in a box? Did they think that no one would notice? Wouldn't they remake them on the spot? After a despairing phone call during which we were offered a "gift coupon" (how could we use that??), we finally got a credit card refund, but we were SOL for dinner. Would NEVER recommend this place to anyone!! read more

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Nice welcoming waiter. He seems proud to work there! Excellent ceasar salad, better than typical. Excellent pizza. Excellent pasta bolognese with vegetables. As he said, everything is farm to table! We received complimentary excellent dessert for our anniversary! Nice vibe! Not noisy. read more

I've left less than five 1-star restaurant reviews throughout the whole time I've been on Yelp (one restaurant went out of business and the other gave me food poisoning). So I don't give 1-star reviews lightly. I try to be as understanding as possible, especially during COVID, but I also feel that if you're going to splurge for $30-40 entrées, the food should be exceptional. Modesto is an incredible disappointment. The prices here seem to indicate that the food will be amazing, but from appetizer to main, our meal was mediocre at best and inedible for the most part. The charcuterie plate is served hot, so all the cheese was a big melted mess, and strangely the plate was accented with something that tasted like strawberry sauce around the rim. The real disaster, though, was the seafood "risotto." My fiance had the trout, which came with a mushroom risotto which was cooked properly- a bit of bite, but creamy. The seafood "risotto" was basically a thin tomato broth accented with bits of barely cooked rice and seafood- quite a few mussels, 2 scallops and a few shrimp. I fully expected it to be a bed of creamy risotto with seafood on top, but this was absolutely terrible. A good restaurant would take away the food and offer something as a replacement, but the waiter just shrugged when I told him that what I was served was clearly not risotto. So, I asked for a side of mushroom risotto, hoping that I could eat that with my seafood, but the kitchen rushed it out (risotto can't be rushed, sorry), so again, it was not creamy and not cooked all the way. The head waiter came out and offered 10% of my dish - so $4 off a $40 plate of uncooked rice in soup! That just made the whole experience worse. For the prices you pay at this restaurant, I would fully expect that a staple like risotto would be good, but I did notice at nearby tables that other diners were not finishing their food either. I'd give Modesto a miss - a lot of really great restaurants in Asheville, and this ain't one of them. Avoid. read more

Modesto - Seafood "risotto" ? Nope. - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

Great experience. Wait staff attentive and on spot and food came out quick and excellent. We got a crab cake Cesar salad and chicken wood fried pizza. Both were great. Highly recommend read more

We arrived 15 minutes early for our reservation and we were seated promptly by a pleasant hostess. Our table was next to the bar in the rear of the restaurant. It took some time to get waited on and realized the bartender was our waiter. Unfortunately, was constantly being "harassed" by the other wait staff for not being fast enough and they all took over in a very small area. The bartender tried hard but constantly pushed aside. This meant he had limited access to our table. One waitress said, "I don't know why they let him have tables". She then took over the bar tossing and banging things and complaining. I felt very sorry for the way he was being treated. All this going on next to us and it was mass chaos. A lot more going on with that but I understand understaffing during this time so I'll stop talking about service. Food was underwhelming to say the least. My husband had Wood Fire Spanish Octopus which was delicious. I had Calamari Fritti which was inedible to my taste. A majority of the dish seemed to be deep fried lemon and lime which left an extreme bitter taste in my mouth. I tried to separate them out but they were overwhelming. For mains we ordered Summer Truffle Magnifico and Wild Mushroom pasta dishes. Both looked pretty much the same and were not very tasty. The "Magnifico" tasted like the pasta was cooked in dish water and there was a hint of truffle oil but certainly not a fresh truffle or truffle paste as you would assume. The Wild Mushroom was one note and not satisfying. Since the bar was on one side of us the other side was empty tables (3) that were never bussed and full of dirty dishes. One had a bottle of windex and a dirty rag sitting on it form the time we got there till the time we left. A good manager could have handled the bar situation and other issues. When you make a reservation, you must give a credit card so they can charge you a $20 no show fee. What do we get when Modesto didn't show up for us? read more

Modesto - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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We made reservations and got there right on time. We were escorted to a great table in the back and were greeted by the bartender who was also going to be our server. We ordered a couple of standard cocktails off the drink menu and decided to start off with the gnocchi and mushrooms as well as the wood fired romaine salad. They were AMAZING. The slightly charred romaine salad was exactly what I was looking for as well as the very mushroom forward gnocchi dish packed great flavor. We chatted Kevin (the bartender) quite a bit before deciding on a couple of more drinks and our main course. I asked the bartender to make a drink based on my likes. I mentioned that I like gin and don't like things that are overly sweet. He asked me a few follow up questions and went to mixing. He made me something commonly known as a Lumiere but with a twist. I'm not sure what made it a beautiful shade of pink, but overall it was one of the best drinks I've had to date. My husband threw the same type of curveball at him and he made an amazing after dinner version of an Irish coffee but not as plain jane. We opted to share the eggplant parmesan dish and it didn't disappoint at all! It was the perfect marriage of eggplant and goat cheese. The sauce was so fresh and paired great on top of the pasta. It wasn't heavy at all! We were so full by the time we got around to dessert that we had to pass. Kevin was so helpful in making our anniversary date so special and even sent us off with a great recommendation for a bar to hang out at for the rest of the night. Highly recommend this place for an amazing meal as well as Kevin for your beverage needs. read more

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There is something going on here that just doesn't happen in may places. Everything from service to drinks to food is incredible. Our server Eli is freakin awesome and the host was super accommodating. We showed up on the wrong day for our reservation and she went out of her way to still get us sat. This is a must go to spot in asheville, trust me. read more

Came to Modesto for lunch and was very pleased with the service and food we received. My party ordered the seafood carbonara, mushroom pasta, crab cakes, and the fig and prosciutto pizza. The portion sizes and prices were reasonable and the food was really good! We especially liked the pizza and carbonara. It was very flavorful without being too salty. The service was also exceptional, the waiter somehow anticipated our every need and was very attentive. Would definitely recommend coming here! read more

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Outstanding food quality & extensive menu choices! The Cesar salad was crisp, flavorful & interesting with currants & pistachios - among the very best I've had. The crab encrusted snapper w/ risotto & vegetables was perfection in taste & visual interest (I'll include a photo). Even the tiramisu was really good, with great texture and a nice cocoa flavor (after having it countless times at other places). Expresso w/ lemon twist was the perfect finish. My server Darrin was was spot on with intuitive timing, enthusiasm, and knowledge of ingredients & preparations. read more

Modesto - Crab encrusted Snapper w/ risotto & vegetables. Outstanding! - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

can someone please explain the pickles on top of a caprese salad? it was an overwhelming salad with way more of everything than the just good, simple, high quality ingredients it needs. Everything was just .... meh. And waaaay overpriced. the service was good- a very attentive waiter and staff during our meal. We were tucked into a small spot in a room that was a little claustrophobic. I just can't recommend this place up against places like Curate and Chestnut. I have no problem dropping money on a meal, but to spend the money on these prices with underwhelming food is not how it should go. read more

Indoor and outdoor seating. Server was very professional and attentive. The food and drinks were excellent. Atmosphere is great, especially outside. My neighbors ordered pizza and raved about it. read more

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While visiting Asheville, this restaurant caught our attention for the wood fired pizzas. However, we ended up getting a grilled artichoke which came with 2 delicious sauces. Then we shared the crab cakes and their chicken parmigiana. Before you think this doesn't sound inviting, this Italian restaurant is most unusual. The chef is from Puerto Rico and brings an excellent twist on his dishes. Very delicious and exceeded our expectations. Also, the ambiance was very romantic and the wait staff extremely nice and welcoming. Maybe we'll try the pizza tomorrow. Ciao 2020 read more

Modesto - Crab cake, Organic Chicken Parmigiana and a Bellini. - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

Had dinner on a Monday evening. This small restaurant serves delicious food. I ordered two appetizers as an entree. Got two lump crab cakes and wood fired romaine. The crab cakes were truly lump. One girlfriend got a seafood pasta which had a lot of different seafoods including mussels, shrimp and fish. The other ordered a pork chop which she let me taste. It was delicious- well done but tender and not dry. Service was good. Considering restaurant prices today, the cost was good. The server said they have a different menu each night because they use all local ingredients and use what is available. I would go back again if I'm in Asheville. read more

Green goddess Pizza was to die for. The crust was amazing. Perfectly cooked. Caprese salad was fresh and full of flavor. Here on a small get away and would recommend one hundred percent. My wife who is a vegetarian was also in heaven with the pizza we ordered. So so so good. read more

Modesto - Amazing bread made to order - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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Best Italian good and best service in Asheville. Scallops are perfectly cooked and presented. Every plate we saw served was....perfect.

Great all around experience here. The place is very cozy and, clean and well appointed. You feel like you've stepped out of hipster Asheville and into an East Side NYC boutique restaurant that takes 6 months to get into. Food: seriously 5 out of 5. We tried a lot. Octopus, crab cakes, oyster mushroom pizza, bolognese, and bragiole. There's a lot of effort and love put into the food. Some thing s were better than others but nothing was "not good". We had 2 different Italian wines - great wine selection by the way, definitely more on the higher end of the scale. Awesome service. We sat at a niche table literally at the bar and probably can't ever not sit there again. Our bartender/server was great. Overall we we can't wait to get back. We're in a sea of fantastic restaurants and this one just made the short list. read more

From out of town. Call for reservation. Service was amazing. We had the recommended calamari/octopus appetizers, and the entree mushroom pizza. The calamari was amazing and the octopus was good. The mushroom pizza has very unique flavors, including mint jalapeño pesto. I would recommend a shared pizza and a seafood platter for dinner/paired with a yummy dessert. Overall, a great spot to visit during Covid times! read more

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This was a FABULOUS upscale experience. We sat at the bar and were served by Tyler who was great. She made good food and drink recommendations. We had the Oysters and Fried Green tomato's as appetizers. The Oysters were excellent and the marinated vegetables that came with the Fried Green tomatoes made the dish. I had the ribeye which was a plentiful and excellent dish that didn't disappoint my friend had Seafood dish with Risotto which was exquisite. The company at the bar was friendly amongst strangers. Highly recommend this place and suggest making reservations. read more

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We are travel nurses.. we ordered 2 pizzas and 3 pasta dishes so we could sample different items! Loved it all and the vibe was perfect. We all had leftovers to take home and eat for lunch the next day! read more

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The menu has very creative and unique options to choose from; a twist on the usual. Hector (the head chef)'s magic touch shines through! Excellent outdoor seating, the service is great; and the location is a great dining area, on a quiet street. Great choice for food in Asheville. read more

I wish 4.5 stars was an option but I'm going with four since it's not. Our visit started very poorly. We reserved through OpenTable and they require a credit card because they may charge a $20 fee for no shows. I'M OKAY WITH THIS! No showing a restaurant reservation is incredibly rude barring some extreme emergency that prevents you from calling and cancelling. The issue is that when we arrived, despite telling the hostess we had a reservation two times, we waited 15 minutes for a table while two walk up groups were seated ahead of us. With obvious frustration in my voice, I reminded the hostess we had a reservation for 15 minutes ago, she looked surprised and admitted it was her fault. She seated us and advised she'd get a manager (though I didn't request one). At this point we were at a one star experience. The manager came out and was very friendly and understanding but without throwing the hostess under the bus, which I really appreciated. She acknowledged the mistake, offered a complimentary appetizer, and hoped the evening would improve. This gave us a good reset away from that initial one star experience. We got the Tomato Caprese and the Fried Green Tomatoes, both of which were delicious! The breading on the tomatoes was outstanding, and the sauce for the caprese was delicious. For dinner I went with the Wild Mushroom pasta which was very flavorful and had a good amount of mushrooms in it, and my wife had the Risotta di Mare which she said was very good (I'm allergic to some seafood\shellfish so I didn't try it). The service was also very good after the initial seating issues. Overall, aside from the initial error, the service was friendly, the food was very good, and the setting was nice. I'm not sure it lives up to it's pricing so I couldn't get to five stars, but it's definitely a 4 to 4.5 star experience! read more

Ate here today with a group of friends. The food was so delicious and service was top notch. I had the best Caesar salad I've ever eaten. Would definitely recommend eating here for authentic delicious Italian with a modern twist! read more

The food is way overpriced and super underwhelming. I ordered a wagyu tri tip steak (medium rare) with shrimp ($58). What I received tasted nothing like wagyu, more like a choice steak from Ingles and it was way overcooked, completely grey colored all the way through. My partner order a chicken carbonara and it came with a really watery tomato sauce and way too much pasta - basically no flavor at all. We also ordered some crab stuffed peppers that had so little crab in them you couldn't taste it at all. The only decent thing we had was the caesar salad. Spent almost $200 for total disappointment, will not be returning. read more

My husband got one of the best meals of our trip here and I could barely eat my meal because it was so spicy and over seasoned (not listed to be a spicy dish at all). He got the Lobster Love and I got the Wood Fired Veal Marsala. The service was great and the atmosphere was elevated but fun. If this review was based on my husbands meal it would be a 5/5, but if it were based on my meal I would give 2/5, that is why I chose 3/5. read more

Modesto - Lobster Love - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

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I visited Modesto with friends for dinner on a Sunday evening. We had reservations and were seated promptly upon arrival. I ordered the chicken parmigiana and shared a salad with the group. Pros - - Nice ambiance, somewhat intimate and upscale setting, but no need to be dressed up - Chicken was seasoned well and perfectly cooked Cons - - The overall dish didn't have much sauce; although the noodles were a good consistency, the dish was drier than I'd hoped - We ordered a Greek salad but the salad was more of a regular house salad since it lacked olives. read more

Modesto - Chicken Parmigiana - Italian Near Me - Asheville, North Carolina

I don't normally give a five star review the first time I go to a restaurant. BUT we loved it so much we ate lunch here the following day. Both visits were outstanding! Highly recommend! read more

I went here the other night while visiting Asheville for the first time. I had one of the BEST meals I've ever had! My friend and I sat at the bar where the bartender was very attentive. The bread was to die for; the meatball appetizer was incredible and was a large portion instead of the usual 2-3 meatballs; the bolognese was different with veggies on top, but it was delicious; and the warm berry cobler with ice cream was a great finish to the meal. I would definitely eat here again if I go back to Asheville. I also LOVED the ambiance! The restaurant was cozy, classy, warm, and inviting. I wish I lived closer. It would be my go-to Italian food destination. read more

Had a delicious dinner on our vacation. Wife had a pasta ragu, I went with a pizza. While mine was excellent, nice crisp crust and fresh toppings, she definitely won. We ordered more bread so we could both enjoy the sauce. We sat outside and enjoyed the weather, server was quick with our drinks and helpful with recommendations. read more

Such a wonderful spot with unbelievable food. Celebrated my 40th bday with family here for dinner (we had traveled from Wrightsville Beach back to Indiana) All entrees were perfect, the pizza crust was to die for and the service great! We will be back! read more

I had previously given Modesto a great rating. The second to last time we were there it was not so good, but, as we had been there on many occasions I was prepared to put it down to a bad day for the staff. But we went there again just two nights ago. The service was very good (Thanks Rachel), but almost everything else was, quite frankly, terrible. My wife ordered a whole roasted artichoke for starters. She couldn't finish it. She said the vegetable itself lacked flavor and the sauce was, she said, awful. I ordered fried green tomatoes which were good...as was the bread. For a main course my wife ordered veal marsala. It should have been good, but it appears that someone may have dropped the salt on the meal. It was inedible. I ordered Mushroom pasta. If I had made the same thing at home, and it turned out the same I would have thrown it out. The sauce was ordinary, the pasta was not cooked through. We were asked what we thought about the meal, so we pointed all this out. The restaurant owner (apparently the cook for the night) took half of one main course off the bill...and that's it! This is an expensive restaurant and we therefore have high expectations.On this night they absolutely goofed it up. There is a wide variety of reasonably priced restaurants in Asheville...it's hard to imagine we will return to Modesto. read more

Absolutely the best Italian food I've ever had outside of Italy!!!!! We were staying at the Biltmore for our anniversary and decided to venture into Asheville for a change and boy this place really made the day! Do yourself a favor and get the chef's choice 5 course menu!! It's only $75 and the value is well over $100+. We sat on the patio with Anya as our server and it was a wonderful evening! read more

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My husband and I accidentally ran into this place. By pure luck we got a table on Saturday night. Our server Kenny I believe was his name was absolutely amazing. My husband and I always have a hard time choosing and he knew the menu so well. He paired our whole meal together. He took the time to learn our names and was very nice. The food was also amazing. Turned around our entire Asheville experience. I highly recommend. read more