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.

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!

We ate at the bar, which is stunningly placed sunken a few steps in the restaurant and sets the vibe immediately. A for ambience - it's a little noisy when busy, but like in a good way. Lively. The drinks we had were spot on in construction and taste. They were a little slow in coming out, but not sure that was technique or priority. Anyway, the Fantasma is my go-to drink and I've been trying to copy it at home! Think spicy mezcal white Negroni. The anchovy appetizer on buttered sourdough was the kind of authenticate apertivo that recognizes expanded palate that doesn't condescend the diner. Delicious. Same for the flatbreads, simple, high quality ingredients executed perfectly. Not mailed in, in any respect. The suppli was absolutely addictive. We were there mostly for drinks, so we split the cacio e pepe pasta (tonnarelli) and it was up there with Eddie Cano's though a bit more peppery than I am used to. Okay with me! All-in-all, after grabbing a to-go pie from the attached AP Pizza shop, very satisfying meal with great ambience. Not knock me out service at the bar and it somewhat pricey (but well within the DC mean). Overall, looking forward to coming back and working through the menu.

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

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.

KenScale: 8.25/10 Visit: June 2024 One of the gripes from my wife Jun since we moved to the DC area is a lack of go-to restaurants within the walking distance from our home in Bethesda, Maryland. So we were both very excited to hear about the opening of a new project by chef Mike Friedman behind DC's popular Italian restaurant The Red Hen. This past summer, we finally checked out Aventino, which opened in January (there is also a companion AP Pizza Shop focusing on pizzas from the same chef). It was certainly refreshing to visit a restaurant without driving our car and worrying about not drinking too much (not an insignificant drawback from living in the suburban area outside of DC as we enjoy complementing food with at least a glass of wine or cocktail). More importantly, our first meal at Aventino showed a lot of promise. Reflecting chef Friedman's Italian-Jewish background, the focus of Aventino is in traditional Roman cuisine with inspirations from the Roman-Jewish ghetto. While I am not particularly well-versed in different culinary traditions of Italy, the dishes we ordered were mostly very delicious. Jun was intrigued by the description of fried gnocchi in the starter section, but what really made me a fan of the dish was the house-made mortadella meat that was wonderful, especially with cherry and toasted pistachios that give added flavor and texture. Among all the appetizing pasta options, we chose ravioli and lumache. The ravioli was more than solid, with ricotta, morel mushrooms and spinach to give the impression of a pasta dish directly brought from a garden. It was the lumache, however, that I couldn't stop thinking about, especially the fabulous pieces of guanciale that, with tomato and Calabrian chili, created wonderful effects to the pasta. If that dish is available again on our next visit, I will be sure to try it again. For the main dish, we split the porchetta-spiced lamb ribs. The lamb, accompanied by soft herbs and pickled fennel, was another winner from the menu, especially with a side of roasted Italian cauliflower that provided really nice crunchy texture; the only pet peeve from both of us was that the portion could've been somewhat larger at the $48 price tag (or perhaps that's the reality of restaurant dining in the current inflationary environment). We finished our meal with two desserts, both also very good. The pasta fritto that you can dip onto honey mascarpone alongside pistachio gelato is something that you could love sharing with fellow diners on a bright sunny evening, and the poached rhubarb with whipped vanilla mascarpone and rhubarb sorbetto was also well-executed to bring a delightful touch. Not surprisingly from the restaurant behind perennially difficult-to-reserve The Red Hen, it will take more efforts to book a table at Aventino than you would normally at a suburban Maryland restaurant. There is full bar with a thoughtful Italian-focused wine list (a good bet is to look at volcano symbol denoting wines from volcanic soil, although I found it curious that the list didn't feature as many Sicilian wines as I had expected). The bright, upscale dining room that certainly looks like an upgrade over other suburban restaurants is another plus to the dining experience at Aventino. Jun and I are very glad that we now have a restaurant where we can casually walk from our home for dinner or, perhaps next time, even drop by at the bar for some quick cocktails and pastas. We will absolutely be back again in the near future to try other dishes from this very welcome newcomer to our neighborhood.

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.

PESCE $39 Pan-roasted cobia, cauliflower, toasted almonds, raisin agrodolce, lemon The cobia was flavorful. It came paired with a few cauliflower florets and a silky cauliflower purée. However, it's worth noting that this dish is on the smaller side, so if you're looking for something more substantial, I'd recommend adding a side or two to round out the meal. TORTA DELLA NONNA $13 Italian custard tart, poached Bartlett pear, pine nut crunch The poached Bartlett pears added a nice texture. The torta it's self reminded me of cheesecake-- The crunch added a savory-sweet element that I loved. I'm a huge fan of pine nuts, it worked beautifully with the dessert. The ginger gelée offered a warm, aromatic spice that enhanced the overall flavor. In addition to the great food, our server was warm, engaging, and made the ambiance more enjoyable. The restaurant was crowded and busy on a Saturday evening.