Aventino Cucina

When my family came to town, I finally had the opportunity to try out Aventino! Pretty spacious inside, with a massive bar in the middle and cool modern decor. They were busy in a Friday night, but the manager stepped up to help take our drink orders and ensure we were not forgotten or slowed down! I was surprised to learn that there were not too many protein options on the menu - or the options that did have meat they were very light. However, we all thoroughly enjoyed our pasta choices. The classic cacio e Pepe "Tonnarelli" was a hit, the "Pappardelle" with mushrooms was delish, and the "Lumache" hit the spot! Serving sizes were just right - not too big, just enough to get us full! Excited to come back and try more of the appetizers and pizzas on this menu!

Super cute decor, delicious food (pasta was incredible), service was super friendly but the pastas came out so slow (30 min after our apps). That's the only ding but otherwise everything was excellent and I'll be back!Highly recommend:Suppli al telefono (like an arancini)Vongole pastaAmatriciana

I loooved Aventino! The interior and exterior signage is beautiful. Interesting wallpaper, colorful seating areas and overall a clean and intriguing design concept. Our waiter was great, knowledgeable on the menu and so kind. I loved my pasta! Warm and filling meal. Dessert was an interesting mix of flavors from the cake having a cinnamon kick and the gelato being sweet. Not usually something I note but the bathrooms smelt like strawberries... so random but pleasant? I'd recommend stopping by Aventino anytime

We had dinner at Aventino Cucino tonight and we had an amazing experience from the food, service, to the ambiance.We ordered several dishes and all of them were excellent. The food was great quality and authentic Italian dishes. We tried the pizza rossa, PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA which was sweet and savory flavors with the prosciutto and pineapple with focaccia bread. We had also PAPPARDELLE which had wild mushrooms and it was delicious. We also tried the SALTIMBOCCA with veal loin and sweet potato crema. We even ordered their special dessert which was the Opera cake, which was perfect with the fior di latte gelato. The ambiance was very classy, upscale, and modern. We enjoyed it even with our kids. The service was excellent as well. Our server was knowledgeable, friendly, and precise. From the friendly greetings from the hostesses as you enter into the restaurant. You are welcome and greeted with a smiling face. We definitely had a great experience and would return to try other dishes.

Came here for lunch on a cold Friday at noon. Place was not busy. Was greeted warmly at the door and taken to the table one of my lunch partners had reserved. It's a very nice restaurant with a classy atmosphere. Large bar in the middle of the restaurant. Server poured water from a glass pitcher on the table and we said we were waiting for a third person. A few minutes later they came back and asked if we wanted a drink or app. We said no and they only came back once more a few minutes later, repeating the question. Our third person arrived about 12:30 pm. Based on that and the rest of the service duringour meal, I would rate the place very high for service. The servers were pleasant and not pushy. We were there for a good 25 minutes before we ordered an app. The app we ordered was the Ricotta ($16). Good portion for the three of us. The menu says the ingredients are chickpea 'panelle,' whipped ricotta, wildflower honey, fried rosemary, sea salt. I found it a bit bland, except for the ever-present rosemary, which I think was too heavy handed. I'd pass on this next time. We each enjoyed our entrees, although the two of us who got pasta agreed that the food, although the pasta itself was well prepared and the sauces were flavorful (and nicely spicy), the pasta dishes were both too heavily salted. We each would have enjoyed the flavor of the sauces without the overpowering saltiness. I got the Lumache ($26) and my lunch partner got the Tonnarelli ($22). Our third person got the Pesce ($39). Don't get me wrong. The entrees were tasty. But the two pasta dishes were diminished by the heavy saltiness. I think the service here is outstanding. The food was good, but I've had better food (in terms of interesting and full flavors with less salt) at other places. It was ok for this price point for lunch.Oh, and the music playing over the restaurant speakers is a bit too loud for having conversation.

4.5*We celebrated my daughter's birthday here this week and we had a great time. We had the Pizza Rossa, suppli Al telefono, and prosciutto with burrata for appetizers. All were fantastic. We ordered several pastas-Lumache and Tonnarelli were big hits. The Rigatoni carbonara was a little bland. The pork chop was tasty if a bit fatty in parts. The Potatoes I thought were pretty good but my father in law felt they were overdone/too crispy. Service was very good. The restaurant is very pretty although pretty loud. The booths are nice but a bit hard to get in and out of. Overall great experience and would recommend!

This is what Bethesda really needed. Upscale Italian food with delicious food and finally something that doesn't read like your typical suburb menu. It's very nicely decorated with some noise reducing elements like the fabric booths, but it's quite loud still so you have speak with a louder voice. Big bar in the middle. Have to come back to the bar with their awesome cocktail menu. Best dirty martini! I liked their BRUTUS & BOOTS drink too. We were a group of 6 and our server recommended two entrees and several pasta dishes. We had to try their three pasta dishes. He was a good server and was so helpful. I didn't take a pic of their carbonara pasta but wow I could just this dish alone and just that only. I really enjoyed their cacio e pepe dish too. Both pork chop and steak entrees are meant to be shared and both were so good too. Perfectly cooked per temperature as requested. Highly recommend to give this place a try.

5 star Italian place, don't miss out!Came here for dinner around the holidays and had a great experience. Restaurant has beautiful sleek interior with festive decor. The bar also looked very nice. Service was friendly and attentive.We ordered some drinks, ricotta and zucca e finocchio to start, tonnarelli (cacio e pepe), rigatoni (carbonara), pesce (flounder), and aventino mess. Loved every item we ordered. The cacio e pepe was the best I've had in a while and the pesce was perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Don't skip out on the dessert bc it was such a nice way to end the meal.I would definitely come back again with a group to try more menu items. Make sure to make a reservation bc this place is already getting popular!

Aventino Cucina is what Bethesda needed. Reservations are hard to come by, so plan in advance, although their bar is pretty large so I am sure you can grab a chair there. The dining room looks very nice. The only knock is it gets really loud in there. Our waitress was very efficient, but it was hard to hear her as again it was very loud. For appetizers, we enjoyed the Prosciutto Di Parma and Zucca E FinocchioI. You can tell their prosciutto is made in-house and paired well with the burrata. I highly recommend this appetizer. The fried zucchini was good especially dipping it in the black truffle dip. For entrees, the Pesce came with two pan roasted flounder filets. It was a big portion. This was really good. It also came with cauliflower mash and cauliflower florets. We also had the cacio e peppe, and I thought the portion was size was large and it tasted really good. Make sure to mix all the ingredients as the cheese is in the bottom of the bowl. For cocktails, I did like their take on the Old Fashioned, the Snappin Fashioned. Looking forward to our next meal here.

Big central bar with some empty seats when we got there so I'd imagine it would be it can be relatively easy to get two seats at the bar for dinner if you can't get reservations (which you have to make well in advance). The pizza rossa, vongole, cacio e pepe, rigatoni, lumache, pork chop and porterhouse were all excellent. The pastas are house made. The mandorle and cioccolato were delicious. For two people would get two pasta dishes and split an entree. I suppose it depends on who you're with as to deciding whether to share your dessert. Best restaurant in Bethesda