Amelia’s Italian Restaurant

This is a reluctant 4 stars. Others in party voted for 4. If I had eaten without them, I would have given them a 3.

This restaurant is a bit old and it has an old building odor.
The wait staff is friendly which is lovely.
It took us over 2 hours to eat not because the kitchen was busy, but our waiter explained that they don’t fire another course until we were finished with the course that we were eating. While I understand the experience of having a meal of courses, the wait staff has to be attentive enough to be asking frequently if you are ready to order.

We spent $50/person for entrees, 2 appetizers and 7 drinks. No dessert. They have a very limited dessert menu and there were out of one of the desserts.

The food was just OK. It was of the same level that you might get at a local pizza place which also serves pasta.

The bar has just a few choices of each type of liquor so if you are used to a really good drink for your $50/person, you won’t get it here. Three vodkas only and 3-4 gin choices.

I would not go here again. The quality of the food has to be better.

Good service and good food , I wouldn’t say it’s 100% worth every single penny I spent but it’s the best in Gainesville I’ve tried !

Best Italian in Gainesville! The restaurant was extremely booked for graduation parties when we arrived without reservations, however, they were able to fit us in. The staff was great and we got our food quickly despite how busy the restaurant was. The waiter answered all our questions and made great recommendations. In addition to great food and service the prices were lower than expected for a fine dining type of atmosphere. I would definitely go back and recommend this place to anyone looking for great Italian in Gainesville.

Last minute find. Food were great and reasonably priced despite the fine dining atmosphere. The best part of the restaurant is their staff. Receptionist was very nice to accommodate us. And our guy, Adam was the best! Everything you could ask for a waiter!

Traveling through Florida stopped in Gainesville to grab a quick dinner. It took a bit to find Amelia’s (it’s in the back of an office building) that leads to a quaint court yard.

Marie was our server/pastry chef (her cherry pancetta with an almond cookie base is WOW) and a newfound friend.

We started with Crostini NY (House-made spinach & artichoke parmesan cream; garlic crostini), then their house salad (very good), and then Stracciatella alla Florentina soup (again, excellent)

Our main dish was Linguini Pesto. Perfect.
Then, we ended with a cherry pancetta. It’s one of the best desserts we’ve ever had! Really!
Pasto perfetto……