Al Vento

5001 34th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55417
(866) 383-3107
http://www.alventorestaurant.com/

Category: Italian

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 7
Service: 5
Ambience: 8

Recommendation: Very good. Al Vento serves moderately priced authentic Italian food in a romantic bistro setting.

Al Vento is an Italian bistro in South Minneapolis' Longfellow neighborhood. Al Vento’s chef-owner Jonathan Hunt was previously chef at Pane Vino Dolce. Similar to Pane, Arezzo and Broder’s Pasta bar, this place offers simple yet authentic dishes in a romantic setting. The interior feels like Tuscany with the rich browns, reds, and chromes on the walls, slate floors, and warm flickering lighting with beautiful lampshades. The place is small and cozy, ideal for a nice romantic dinner. Some of their tables, however, are a little too close together and the restaurant is pretty loud so it’s hard to have a conversation. There are two dining rooms along with a small bar. The menu includes authentic Italian pastas, meat entrees, Bruschettas, and thin crust pizzas. Al Vento is also a good option for group events; they have catering options available.

The bottles of wine were mostly Italian and moderately priced, they also have a nice beer list. They serve complimentary Focaccia bread along with olive oil for dipping. The bread was delicious but very greasy. For starters, we tried their Caprese with house made mozzarella. Overall, the dish lacked flavor, which is hard to do with a simple dish like Caprese. The mozzarella was not as soft as we would have liked. The dish didn’t offer much value for $8.25 as it only came with three pieces.

The Fennel Sausage with Tomato and Herb Goat Cheese pizza was our favorite dish. The crust was thin and crispy and the goat cheese had sharpness to it and was incredibly flavorful. The only downside was that it was very greasy…our plate was literally coated with a layer of olive oil when we were done eating. Another favorite was the Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce. Although the dish was delicious with hints of crispy sage, we thought the amount of butter in the dish was overdone. The Fettuccini with Tiger Shrimp, Tomatoes, and Basil was simple, flavorful and we loved that the pasta was cooked al dente.

At this point, we were very satisfied with our meal (ex the grease), but dessert took it to a new level. We had the Crème Brulee Trio which came with 3 mini ramekins of Vanilla Bean, Pistachio, and Chocolate Espresso. The crust was perfect and while we liked all three, the Chocolate was our favorite.

Even though we were there on a Wednesday evening, the place was pretty busy. We thought the service lacked warmth and was less than stellar. The servers seemed very rushed.

$$-$$$. Pizzas and Pastas are under $15, Entrees are $15-$25. Open Sunday - Thursday 4:30 pm - 10 pm, Friday - Saturday 4:30 pm - 11 pm, Monday - Friday 11 am - 2 pm, Sunday 10 am - 2 pm. Street parking available. They also have a lot in the back.