Cafe Amore Bistro

We decided to take my mom to Café Amore for her birthday while she was visiting. We hadn’t decided on a place before hand and Café Amore was a spontaneous choice but luckily we got a spot on the patio. Café Amore is a fairly busy place and it’s usually a good idea to make a reservation, especially on the weekend. Even when we got there (around 8pm) they were still taking call in reservations for 8:45.
The patio has a canopy and high walls so it’s nice and enclosed. Our waiter was pleasant and cheerful. I found him a little over the top but he gave us good service and was helpful with the menu. Since there were 4 of us, we decided to share the platter (you get to choose 3 of their daily specials for $ 40) and the lobster Mac and cheese. The lobster Mac and cheese was absolutely delicious but it’s fairly rich so I’m glad we shared it. The platter was a good size and was a great way to try several different dishes. We also shared a tiramisu for dessert. The tiramisu was good but definitely not my favorite.
The waiter must of heard us wish my mom a happy birthday because he brought out a birthday drink (we never asked for any kind of birthday thing) and wished my mom a happy birthday as well. Even the owner came out and said happy birthday and told us a little bit about the liquor they gave my mom. At first we were all very impressed by how they brought out something nice for my mom until we got the bill and noticed that they charged us for the liquor. This actually irked me quite a bit and I wanted to say something about it but my mom convinced me not to. I know it might have just been a mistake but at the same time I’m still a little peeved that they brought out a drink we didn’t order and then charged us for it… hence the 3 stars, rather than 4.

Eh. That’s what I’ll say. All the food we tried was good but not at all worth what they charge.
Maybe I’m biased because of my Italian roots but I can make the same dishes at a fraction of the cost. I understand the seafood dishes being higher priced but pasta with mushroom and chicken is $ 25. What. And it doesn’t come with a side of bread or salad. Nothing. $ 20 antipasto that’s 5 dollars worth of delicatessen. No free refills on soft drinks.
Disappointing, overpriced, crazy high air conditioning… Besides that the atmosphere was nice and inviting. I would return for the mussel appetizer, but that’s it.

Went here for my birthday because we always enjoy the food and was disappointed with the service we received. After ordering drinks and food, our appetizers arrived before my drink came to our table which was okay but a little bit of weird timing. After we had finished our appetizers our waitress told us «a couple of minutes» until our pasta dishes would be ready…30 minutes later our dishes finally arrived. They were delicious as expected however our waitress only came to check on us once and we had to flag down another waiter to package our leftovers after waiting and waiting for our waitress to come back. Overall, we enjoy the food even if it is a little pricy, but we were very disappointed in the lack of service and how unfriendly our waitress was! It’ll be a long while before we return here.

One of the top Italian restaurants in the city. I’ve eaten here several time and have yet to be disappointed.
Dishes I recommend:
— Maple Sausage Crostini — this sweet and savoury appetizer is delicious! Hard to share with others.
— Amore Pescatore is a favourite! I always get the white wine sauce with it because I love the flavour it brings out the assortment of seafood.
— Spicy Marsala is intense with flavour.
— Sambuca Rose sauce on any pasta. This is my go-​to dish. Whenever I can’t make up my mind, this is the dish I end up with and it always hits the spot.

My favorite Italian restaurant in the city. The staff makes you feel so welcomed. I’m never ignored when I walk in. I’m very happy this is a family owned business because they treat you like family and check on you and make sure that you get absolutely the best service. I always have a friendly server and they always give me recommendations when I am unsure of what I want on the menu. They always make sure my glasses of drinks are filled and that’s a plus for me because I hate having to eye down someone to have something topped off. The owner always comes to say hi and asks if we’re enjoying our meal and if we need anything else and I appreciate that. Will always be a loyal customer here and always recommend it to anyone who’s craving authentic Italian.

Super excited to try this place, and got to go for a friend’s birthday.
As we were a big party, the waitress named Candice started off by telling us what numbers we were so she could keep track of our bills. She made it clear that hopping around hang out with friends at other tables was not ok. Being the usual me, I joked around saying musical chairs is our favourite game. She clearly and rudely stated that she would just put everything on one bill.
Her nasty «I hate my job» attitude was off-​putting for all of us, and that kind of set the tone for the evening.
I tried the vongole with linguini and was looking forward to some good pasta. Garlic bread was ordered as well, but that didn’t arrive until halfway through our meals.
Vongole was baby clam pasta in a garlic sauce and the linguini was overcooked. The garlic sauce was delicious, though. Can’t go wrong with buttloads of garlic and butter.
Garlic bread was slightly burnt and had zero garlic on it. It should be renamed «slightly burnt buttered bread».
I saw some other things on the menu that caught my eye, but because of the nasty «I’m doing you a favour by serving your food» attitude and the limp linguini, I’ll probably never go back.

Everybody seems to love this place, but I have to straight up tell you right now that this place is for rich people.
If you are not a rich person they have a daily special every day, and that’s ten bucks, and that’s alright. There’s a decent amount of food for ten dollars. That is only the daily special though. The rest of the prices are a bit steep. The portions are still large enough, but I used to go to a place that gave larger portions for fifteen bucks, and I could eat a few meals out of that.
The serving staff is attentive and nice though. And there is a guy playing accordion, so somebody has to pay for that. What, you think he does it for free? So, you’re paying for the accordion. And the fancy blue lights on the back wall. They were pretty good looking.
The stairs to the bathroom are steep though, and the toilets aren’t even fancy. They are totally normal toilets like you’d see anywhere.
The food itself is pretty standard pasta. I just had calabrese, and it tasted like a normal pasta you could make at home with ease. The giant king pescatore was alright. It is a lot of food. And a pile of seafood. Expensive but you could feed your whole family. Actually, it only fed me and one date, because she devoured five full plates of pasta, but she’s a monster and I can’t believe she can eat so much. For normal people it would feed an entire family.
The salads are pretty sub-​standard though. We got a berry salad. Seasonal berries? Well, there were a few strawberries. A couple dried cranberries. That’s it for berries. Mostly it was a pile of boring old romaine lettuce with a bit of feta on it. A little bit. The salad dressing was pretty sad too, and strangely bitter, which didn’t offset well with the occasional berry. There were a couple of orange slices, too. Canned mandarin. Personally, I could have made a better dressing. Some pepper, a bit of strawberry juice for sweetness, a dash of mustard, vinegar, oil… I don’t know how that got messed up. It was a sad day for salads.
I’m not saying this place is horrible and you’ll hate yourself for going here. I’m just saying, your money could be better spent elsewhere. I mean, if you really like tightly packed restaurants with a lot of rich jerks eating, and you like being able to stare at a lobster while you eat another lobster, then this is probably the place for you.

Not the greatest area but the food and super friendly service more than make up for the neighborhood.
My wife loves this place. The vast majority of their dishes are Celiac friendly. They are also very in tune with accommodating allergies. She had the corn pasra with chicken and alfedo sauce. It was excellent you couldn’t tell it from regular pasta.
Servings are huge. The starter salad would have fed 4. The pasta dishes are more than big enough to feed two. A couple can sharre or you have another full meal for later. The pasta is fresh made daily as is the bread but it isnt made inhouse. We will definitely be back.

Outstanding service from Vince and the family at Amore this evening. Easily the best Italian food in Edmonton supporting individual and family style dining. Although some reviews cite the prices as being high, the portions are huge. You’ll definitely get two, maybe even three meals out of one pasta.
Our server was Vince tonight and I must say I have not had that much fun or this level of service in over 10 years. Vince was incredible with his witty banter, sincere appreciation, and insane passion toward the the food and the restaurant. Spending 18 years in hospitality myself, Vince and the family at Amore offer an experience that is extremely rare.
I will definitely be adding Amore to the top of my favourite restaurant list. What a fantastic experience!!!

I really love this place and would love to give it 5 stars, but for a one bad experience I had. This is hopefully a one off. The service is the best in the city and and atmosphere inviting. I enjoy the food but perhaps too much butter in the pasta sauces. I would recommend this place for family style Italian.

Another great meal with excellent service. I love their pastor and their lamb is amazing. And their house wines are awesome and well priced.

I came to this bistro as it was highly recommended by friends and colleagues. Parking is not too much of an issue in this location for the evening. The atmosphere is friendly, well lit, and bustling with a range of patrons… from couples on dates to groups of friends or families. I strongly recommend making reservations as they book up quickly. We were lucky enough to get seats at the bar to have dinner.
They do have some off the menu specials. Actually they ran out of the special appetizer that evening, but also had a great substitute recommendation of a maple chilli sausage crostini. Delicious!
The Amore Pescatori was something I’ve been wanting to try as that was the main dish my friends raved about. It did not disappoint either. I personally am not a fan of seafood, but the flavours were well balanced and tasty! Portion sizes were large enough for both my husband and I to split one appetizer and 1 main dish and feel too full for dessert.
Service was thoughtful, efficient, and well timed. This is one of the great dining gems in the city and I would definitely recommend this place if you’re craving Italian food.

Dailypastaspecial for $ 10 all day. I ordered a daily pasta special which was vongole pasta. A baby clams sauteed with tomato sauce. OMG it’s probably the best pasta I have ever had. My bf ordered something else because he wasn’t really a fan of clams. He ordered spicy marsala which is chicken and mushrooms in a marsala habanero cream sauce for $ 25. But we ended up sharing half and half. He even liked the clams pasta. He also agreed that this place is probably the best pasta he has ever had. All their pasta sauces are homemade that’s why they were so delicious. So we rated this restaurant 4.5÷5 due to no garlic bread. Would definitely go back and highly recommended

I really enjoyed my dinner here tonight. It was delicious without being too expensive, and the portions are big. The place was busy, which speaks to the quality of the service and food. Our server was really nice and I found out she was a Unilocaler too haha which made me happy. :)
My Babe ordered the Lobster Mac and Cheese and he said it was a ¹⁰⁄₁₀. I only got to try a few bites because he was being GREEDY but I liked what I got to taste! I had the Chicken Parm with linguini and it was really good. It paired well with the Syrah we had for the table. My girlfriend ordered the Minestrone soup, she said it was flavourful and hearty — came out the perfect temperature as well.
One thing that I always like about service is having my water refilled, which happened here. I drink A LOT of water and love it when my glass is filled.
My only complaint was that the food took a long time to come out, almost an hour. But I do realize it was a busy Friday night, so it’s not a big deal. My boyfriend needed to leave early to get to work and once we told him they literally brought his food straight out within 10 minutes. I thought that was extremely thoughtful and is something I really appreciate about this place.
So thanks for the great night Café Amore! :)

Superb. Excellent. Incredible. Tasteful. Homey.
Excellent service. Incredible food. Welcoming atmosphere. I absolutely loved it here and can’t wait to come back.
The Argentinian Malbec Reserve was delicious. The Amore Pescatore is WELL WORTH it. Incredible amount of seafood. Delicious. The Pimm’s Cocktail, also highly recommended.
Thanks, Amore! Yummmm

The food is great and the lunch prices are reasonable. The evening prices are high but the quality may be worth it if your interested.
I used to come here when they were in Alberta Avenue by Delton School. The newer location has a more elegant, formal feel than the former neighbourhood café. Tough to tell which was better. I liked that small community feel.

I would rather be able to give it a 3.5 more so for a few details regarding the food, but in all, we were here for their New Year’s Even Dinner and I will say it was fun :-)
Café Amore has a very easy, fun atmosphere where there is no «coming to be seen and seeing who is there». It is a cozy place and the Crudo family definitely makes this possible with their hospitality and attention to all its customers.
For NYE they featured a 6 course meal with an accompanying glass of Prosecco to start the evening. As well, there was a lovely gentleman playing the accordion and starting at 11pm there was music for dancing (Yes, in ‘house party’ tradition, tables were moved and it was as though we all knew each other on the dance floor :-)).
The meal was good, solid in all respects. A really nice thing that was provided was a salmon for those who do not eat meat. My companion had this and enjoyed it very much. We started with a small dish of traditional Italian antipasto (various salami, cheeses and some olives), then Stuffed Shells with Ricotta & Spinach and their Rose’ Sauce followed by a nice size green salad, and the main entrée’ — Prime Rib with accompanying vegetables, and to finish, dessert… This is where I guess I was a bit disappointed as I had hoped for perhaps something more traditional (i.e. Panettone or Pandoro which is what is had in Italy) and instead of the Prosecco at the start, it would have been nice to have had it for midnight. Of course, these are all personal culinary opinions. Overall, it was a fun evening and spent with a large group of fun people all there for the same reason: To ring in the New Year in an easy and enjoyable way :-) And, the food was well made and served by a very attentive Staff.
This was my companion’s first time here (I have been here once before with work colleagues). We will be coming back for a «regular» dinner evening :-) as the year progresses.

I am a big fan of this cute and quaint bistro. I like how intimate and homey this place is. This is probably one of the best Italian restaurants in the city. Resos book up fast and at times it can be weeks before you can get in. I called in a week before and was fortunate to get a table at 5:30pm
The price point is very reasonable for the generous portions they give you. My date ordered the chicken parmigiana and it was delish. The breaded chicken was perfect with the tomato sauce. I ordered the Vongole with baby clams in white wine sauce and as much I love it, there’s always leftovers. We share the sauteed rapini which seemed a little soggy for my taste. We mentioned it to our waiter and he told the owner who quickly came over to explain to me that it was more cooked so the the stalks were not too hard. The experience ended of course with tiramisu «Pick Me Up» in Italian and I must have licked that glass and spoon till there was nothing left.
Our server was very attentive and I felt very looked after. Wished I remember his name though. I highly recommend this gem any day and any time.

With authentic Italian food to fit any budget Café Amore is the place to be any night of the week. Sadly they are closed on Sunday’s, but with a very family oriented establishment that doesn’t come as a surprise. They pride themselves in this, and it’s obvious the moment you walk through the door.
Whether you’re in a large group or here on a romantic date, you’re sure to be welcomed and treated as though your dining in Mama or in this case Papa’s kitchen. Because you’re family now, and will be treated as such! Papa Giuseppe can be seen here almost anytime, saying hello to patrons by name. Just a warning, you will be back and they will remember you!
The atmosphere at Café Amore is non-​pretentious and can get a little loud on weekends (don’t forget it’s an Italian restaurant). When you plan on dining here, make sure to make a reservation! On Saturdays you will be serenaded by a man playing the accordion, and he may even play you a special tune if it’s your birthday.
The service here is friendly and personable. The servers will also treat you like family, I’m sensing a trend here… With knowledge of the menu they will guide you through the experience; never shying away from making sure your appetite is met.
Which brings me to the food… Make sure you bring your appetite and in my case some comfy pants! You will not leave here hungry… You will leave here with leftovers! They don’t shy away from generous portions. With food meant to be shared, make sure you try as much as you can!
One thing that I will note is that Café Amore does their reservations in seatings. Which means you have a «time slot». This allows everyone an equal opportunity to dine. So if you’re someone who likes to spend more than 2 hours I suggest making a later reservation where you can sit for a little longer. You will be told when you make your reservation what time your table is available until. The servers do a great job timing everything perfectly to ensure you’re not feeling rushed out.

This is as good as it gets when it comes to Italian food. We were politely greeted when first came in the door by either the owner or someone who treats the place like he owns it.
It was a Wednesday evening and the place was jumping! Apparently you should always make a reservation before coming but they told us a spot would open up on the patio shortly so we waited and it was very much worth the wait.
We received top notch service throughout the night. We started with the tomato, onion, and cucumber salad that had an amazing house made dressing on it along with the bread, oil, and vinegar.
We were almost full by the time the mains came out but my truffle pasta was over the top! So rich and creamy and I am a total sucker for anything with truffle oil. The serving was so large you could have easily gotten 3 meals out of it.
The atmosphere was awesome with a frosted patio railing that blocked any of the street you wouldn’t want to see but left the view of the downtown skyline open.
I think the nicest finishing touch was as we walked out of the restaurant we saw the person who had taken my name down for the table at the start and he said, «Goodbye, Stefan. We hope to see you again!» HE REMEMBERED MY NAME! That is classy and that is how you run a restaurant!

I wish I went to this place sooner.
Amazing Italian restaurant. We went on a Wednesday evening and it was packed! We didn’t realize you had to make reservations.
We didn’t have to wait too long. We met the owner when we first got there. He was a really nice guy and even came to check how our food was once we got it.
They have a really nice patio that provides enough coverage so you can’t tell it is in a sketchy area of downtown. So you only see a great view of downtown.
We enjoyed a salad to start and had a truffle oil pasta. It was amazing. Incredibly huge portions that we shared for dinner with leftovers for 2 people for lunch. Very tasty.
The only thing I wasn’t too happy about was the $ 7 charge for gluten free pasta. But considering how much food we got I wasn’t too upset.
I look forward to our next visit!

This review comes in 2 parts: first is my dinner visit at the restaurant itself and the second. Is my take out experience 2 days later.
I came here with a big group of coworkers Wednesday night to celebrate a birthday. I’ve been a fan of this place since their old location. Service was pretty good from our server who was friendly and prompt with orders.
To start, a coworker and I shared the salad special which contained fresh strawberries, roasted sliced almonds & feta in a Stawberry balsamic vinaigrette. Yum!
I ordered the pasta special which was soooo delicious and soooooo big! It was linguine topped with fresh PEI mussels, large Manila clams and baby clams in a tomato-​based sauce for $ 25. The serving was so huge that I had enough left overs for two meals!
By the end of the meal I was way too full for dessert but the restaurant served up a piece of chocolate cake for the birthday girl which was nice.
So all in all this visit was lovely and a success.
Part 2: I was so taken with my pasta dish on Wednesday that I decided to order their Friday pasta special for take out on Friday. It was clams in a white wine sauce with linguine. Vongole. When I got home and started digging in, I noticed a clear crinkly thread sticking to a clam. Curious, I pulled it with my fingers only to find it was 3 inches long and had what looked like a piece of fluff attached! Disgusted I couldn’t eat any more. What the heck was that doing in the clams and where did it come from? That was super gross and has now made me rethink eating here again.

Lovely cozy ambience. Small family run restaurant is super friendly.
Located near grant macewan college. Theres street parking available for 1 hour for free. Spots are limited but if you dont mind walking you will get one. Once inside its so warm and cozy. Checkered red and white table cloths. Dark wood. Family photos surround the space with photos with local celebrities as well. What a nice concept. Beautiful. The décor sets a family style ambience like you are visiting your grandma for a home cooked meal. Italian opera music playing in the backround. Sets a a romantic feeling like you are in rome. Honestly. The atmosphere reminds me the most of eating at a restaurant in rome but in edmonton. Its similar to a locale warp.
Reservations are a must. This restaurant is jam packed full all the time. In the evening there are two seatings: 5 – 730 then 745‑1000. We were not all rushed after staying a tad after 10pm. I enjoyed the live accordion music. It was cute.
We started with an antipesto platter it was smaller than most with about three peices of everything. Some cheese wrapped in prosuitto, marinated artichokes, olives and a few pieces of cheese. Its best for about two to three people. Pretty average at best. I have to say the ceasers here are impressive. Literally a huge beer cup filled to the rim with a huge pickle, like 8 olives and even a spoonful of horseradish. It was an appetizer on its own.
The group of girls I was with wanted to share. So we had a little bit of everything. The portion sizes are huge. Good for two people easy. All of them were tasty with plenty of sauces. I have to say the best pastas were the three cheese pasta and the friday clam special with a garlic wine sauce. They were both creamy and surprisingly light for heavy dishes. I tried the bolagnese, the truffled chicken and mushrooms, the clam garlic wine sauce pasta and the three cheese. We shared a chicken parmigiana as well which was plenty of meat for three people. The chickens were the size of a hand and there was two pieces smothered in cheese and sauce. It was all great. We had carb overload afterwards and it was very satisfying. There was still plenty of leftovers. There were 7 of us, and we each had full plates but left with three bags of leftovers still!
For dessert we shared the tiramisu which was different bc the ladyfingers were crushed into the cheese and there was a lot of whipped cream. It was good but not at all authentic tiramisu. I have to highly recommend the red velvet cake. It has this thick center of white chocolate that is not sweet which was so good. It comes from a local bakery in the west end and it is by far one of the best red velvet cakes ive had in edmonton. Dont miss out. Ive come for lunch and despite the business being busy. Service was great. Food delicious and we were in and out in less than an hour. Which at lunch time is a perk! They have paninis only before 4pm. And they are served on a crusty bread which was delicious.
Pricewise…it seems a good value bc the portions are large and do not skimp out on meat or sauces. The daily specials with the added side of meat or seafood is probably the best choices on the menu. If you can get a table at this cozy family owned resto… take it!