Fresco Bistro Italiano

Disappointed. I came there with kids, the meatballs pasta was very spicy, the orange juice was bad… OK, but doesn’t worth the money…

What a cool little spot! I came in here with my friend Deirdre for a celebratory lunch, as she’s heading to military boot camp this week, and it was the perfect lunch spot. Our server, Kristen (or Kirsten — arg!) was lovely, and led us to two bistro tables on their little patio (there’s only about 4 tables out there).
She warned us while we were perusing the menu that some of the menu items had different ingredients, as their fridge had shut down unexpectedly a few nights ago, and they had lost some of their prepared sauces and such. She was very forthcoming and handled it very professionally.
They have a rather small-​ish lunch menu (our server mentioned they just started serving lunch again, as they don’t serve it in the cooler months, so be sure to check if you’re in between summer and winter), with appetizers, pasta and pizza, and sandwiches. I like a smaller menu, and I knew right away the Fresco Club was exactly what I wanted for lunch. Slices of moist and delicious oven-​roasted chicken, avocado, bacon, arugula, bacon, cheddar and a spicy mayo were all piled high on an exquisite ArtIsIn bread. Oh man, that bread. Chewy, with just the right amount of crisp, and they grilled it just enough. Fabulous!
I opted for the greens salad on the side, but I sort of wish I’d gone with the fries or the kale caesar salad. The tomatoes, although lovely in colour, were a bit on the wilted side. The dressing however, was very tasty.
I was impressed by their cocktail menu, and can’t wait to come back to try their upstairs bar for drinks. Their dinner menu is what they are known for, so I’ll have to drag Noah K along as well. This place is small, but stylish and intimate, and they have fun décor like a pillar covered in cork, a vase filled with pennies and a lovely photo gallery wall. This would be a fantastic date spot!
Thanks for the lovely service, and I look forward to coming back soon.

The best thing about Fresco is the quality of their ingredients. The vegetables in particular are prepared wonderfully, are full of flavour, and are quite plentiful. Small menu, great food, very attentive service. Also, the setting is a little more spacious than many of the new trendy restaurants, where they attempt to pack in as many people as possible. The room itself is quieter than many other places. I brought my elderly parents for dinner, and we were able to sit comfortably, and converse with ease.

Just having a few drinks at the bar, I enjoyed the whiskey, but this place gets no credit for that, it’s not like they made it themselves.
I spoke with the manager I guess? He had this thick ass red beard, dirty hair and dressed like a lumberjack, that’s cool everyone has their own style. I just didn’t realize he would be in the customer service industry.
The problem with him is that he is too rude, talked down to me when I wanted to inquire about certain types of liquor. He acted as if he was better than me and it was a huge waste of time talking to me.
Sorry I ruined your life lumberjack! Maybe you should go back to cutting down trees and avoid talking to people in general.

Visit: September 18 2014
THANK YOU very much for your fabulous dinner that you served to us. We actually ate there two nights in a row because the meal we had the first night was delicious and we had to come back for more. My husband had your pork chop special (he said it was the best he ever tasted) and I had the pasta special. .. TWICE. He isn’t into spicy food, but I convinced him that it was so good that he tried it and loved it too. We were so impressed with your staff also. They are top-​notch employees. But especially, our compliments to your chef. Wish I had that recipe! MERCI!

Excellent Burbon Street style lounge/​restaurant. The cocktail list is incredibly well thought out. The bartender was a true professional when it came to anything food or beverage related. I went in on a Monday night and the drink special was 3 $ Jamesons. All around great spot.

Came out her on a Saturday night for dinner with friends. The place was packed and we managed to get a booth upstairs near the back. The décor was intriguing.
got started with some delicious freshly baked bread and the Morgan mojito, which was made just right. I went with the scallops with pancetta on a bed of spinach ($ 15) and the butter-​braised cabbage with bacon ($ 6 add-​on). The cabbage was amazing, but way too much calories for a side.
Will definitely need to come back with more of an appetite.

While visiting this quaint little restaurant for my birthday, I was very pleased with the taste of my lunch, but extremely displeased with the service.
A coworker was treating me out to lunch on a Friday, and after walking up and down Elgin, looking for a place we hadn’t tried yet, we decided on Fresco. To be quite honest, my first choice was Town, though it was closed and even if it wasn’t, I was worried about the portion size, no matter how delicious I hear their dishes are. Fresco’s prices were very comparable for lunch dishes and the second I saw the open-​faced mushroom melt on the menu, I was sold.
I do love my meat and find it difficult to feel satiated with just veggies, but it was hard to pass up goat cheese and truffle oil, and my friend is a pescatarian anyway, so I wasn’t about to be picky and at least we knew she had more than one option to choose from.
The sandwich had a mix of portobello, cremini, and oyster mushrooms, leeks, and spinach, plus the goat cheese and truffle oil on a toasted garlic baguette. I also chose a green salad with their balsamic vinaigrette as the side. My girlfriend ordered the beet goat salad with fresh greens, walnut-​crusted goat cheese, pickled golden beets, poached pears, candied pecans, and caramelized onions with balsamic vinaigrette.
My meal was delicious. The sandwich was very flavorful with the different mushrooms and the goat cheese, and the spinach lightened it up a bit. They went easy on the truffle oil, which I appreciate, and the addition of the freshley ground black pepper was perfect. Not that it needed it, but I tried a couple of pieces with the sea salt on the table and it was also very tasty. The bread was toasted a bit too long, and while it was just the right amount of garlic flavor, it was really crunchy and made it especially difficult to eat open-​faced, with mushrooms falling all over the place. I was also surprised to find golden beets in my salad, so my friend was disappointed that I essentially had more food and more variety, but for the same price.
With that being said, though our waiter was very pleasant, the service was extremely slow. Given, it was prime lunch hour on a Friday and since the place is very cozy, it gets packed pretty fast. However, not all of the tables were taken and we noticed some people who arrived after us were served before us. There may have only been one waitier, so I understand that he would not have been able to attend to everyone that quickly and I could tell he was trying. It was just very disappointing, as we were excited about our meal, but it should not take 20+ minutes to serve two people water, a salad, and a sandwich. I would only recommend coming here if you aren’t on a tight schedule. Would be great to come back here for some after work drinks, rather than rush through our lunch hour.

This was our first time ever visiting Ottawa, we are from California. I saw the great reviews on Unilocal,so we thought we would come and check it out. We were not let down! The server was SUPER nice! And took the time to explain every dish to you in detail that was on special that night. The beet salad was AMAZING! The bread that they give you as a freebie is awesome! Their oil is infused with curry and some other things that I cant remember. I’m not a huge fan of curry at all, but OMG it was sooo good! I should’ve done this review right away so I can remember what else was in there. You won’t be disappointed if you come here. It is by far one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve ever been to, if not THE best!

Lychee martini — not on the menu, but a fantastic recommendation from the server at Johnny Farina!

Came in on a Friday night for dinner with a group of 12.
Very cute place with seating downstairs and upstairs.
We were seated upstairs and the wine started flowing. Good selection of wines to choose from.
Food:
We ordered multiple appetizers: brushetta, tuna carpaccio, artichoke fritters, calamari. Everything was tasty, I really liked the sauces for the fritters & calamari. My least favorite was the tuna carpaccio, tuna was cooked.
For my entrée, I decided to get the caesar salad and the mussles from the appetizer menu. Yummy! salad was good, and the mussles really, really good! They have two sauces to pick from, I went with the garlic and lemon and it was divine!
A little on the pricey side, but yummy nonetheless.

Review is for the Stittsville/​Kanata location on Hazeldean Rd.
Wonderful in every way! Best filet mignon ever, and I’ve had many over the years at many fine restaurants. I’ve ordered salads, sandwiches, and the steak and all have been simply delicious with beautiful presentation. Exceptional service. Warm and cozy ambiance. Delicious food. What more could you want in a restaurant?
I have been there many, many times and have never been disappointed.
Cheers,
Tracey B.

The Hubster and I came here for our anniversary dinner. We were walking around Elgin street, looking at menus and this one seemed to fit. They were pretty packed, but able to sit us on a nice seat on the patio. It was a bit cramped, but meh, we’re outside.
Service was delightful and pretty quick, with the only hiccup being that they put cheese on my main when I told them I’m allergic. The replacement came quickly, which was awesome.
I had the ceviche special to start, which was okay, not great. The Hubster had the chicken parm which he LOVED and I had the duck confit, which was fine. I thought they were a bit heavy handed with the glaze, which was quite sweet and overpowering and the potatoes on the side were ice cold (on purpose, I think). I don’t get duck confit very often so I had really high hopes, and this didn’t really meet them.
I really enjoyed the ambiance and the service (again, absolutely delightful) and I’d like to give this place another try. Maybe I’ll get something more Italian next time.

Excellent cooking and knowledgable staff make this a nice place to go out with a small group. I was especially pleased to see so many items that featured sustainable food from local farms. I had a chicken dish, which really made the farm quality stand out – juicy and tasty. My friends had lamb, which they really enjoyed. And the restaurant staff took real pride in what they were offering — adds to my pleasure at least to see that passion and commitment. Price is high-​end relative to the street, but nice for a special evening. The restaurant is called Fresco – sorry for bad typing in headline!

Went here last night for a friend’s (surprise) birthday party and loved it. They have a more private area upstairs where our big group was able to reserve a table. There were about 20 or so of us. The service was good considering. They have daily specials and I ordered a delicious homemade penne dish that I would highly recommend (available tuesdays!). The bathrooms could be nicer to match the elegant restaurant ambiance, but overall I really enjoyed my experience here!

Can I just come out and say it? This was the best meal I have ever had, and I’ve had a loooooooot of great meals before.
We went to their downtown location tonight and literally ordered everything from their menu. It’s very telling when the worst part of my meal was the cocktails, and not any of the food.
We got an order of the zucchini fritters, fried calamari and veal meatballs to share, along with an entrée dish of our own. I went with their duck confit, which was a great choice.
Their zucchini fritters might be one of the best fried vegetables dishes I have ever had. It was extremely crispy and flavorful, while still maintaining their lightness. The fried calamari was fried to perfection, with a perfect ratio of calamari to crust. The meatballs were absolutely delicious, accompanied by bruschetta and tomato sauce.
Despite their amazing appetizers, I was more blown away by the duck confit. Most of the time, I would only order duck at Asian restaurants, but I was convinced otherwise tonight. Their duck was cooked to perfection, with a crispy skin wrapped around some juicy, tender meat. The entire thing was laid over some delectable maple glazed veggies.
I was completely full after everything, but because of the pure deliciousness of everything, I just had to try their dessert. I ended up ordering their Chocolate and Raspberry Gelato Tartufo, which was basically raspberry sorbet laid over chocolate gelato. It was extremely rich and diverse, and was probably my favorite dessert at a restaurant ever.
I honestly have no reason to rate this restaurant anything less than 4 stars, and I hope everyone goes here the first chance they get.

Didn’t eat so heads up on the limited usefulness of this review, but I did have a great time here last night at the bar on the second floor. The atmosphere is cozy and quirky and not pub-​like, so at first I was confused (am I still in Ottawa?) but then all my government and politics friends arrived and I felt more oriented ;)
The upside-​down lamps, comfy booths, chalkboards, cocktail menu and small but nicely selective Scotch and wine lists all made me a happy camper, and I liked the look of the more closed-​off crate wood booth areas as well. Our waitress was friendly and relaxed for most of the evening, though a bit stressed by the debit machine at the end. I accidentally pulled my card out too soon and she trashed the receipt for the failed transaction without showing it to me, bc I guess this happens all the time. Rest assured if it turns out she charged me twice I will update this review with all the fury and removal of stars necessary, but otherwise this little moment was a non-​event in an altogether great evening at Fresco.

A surprising departure from the cookie cutter places on Elgin. I was dressed for business and my husband was dressed in jeans. Fresco worked for both of us for a late dinner. Bartender and server were both professional and attentive.
The menu was well thought out. Warning, this is not a cheap dive. Entrée’s are in the $ 20 to $ 30 range.
We started with grilled scallops in balsamic reduction on wilted spinach. Sweet, plump and flawlessly prepared. We also tried the calamari salad which was terrific. Baby spinach, sweet cherry tomatoes, feta, almonds and non-​breaded very tender little squid-​lets.
We split one of the daily specials, beef ribs and roasted vegetables, as an entrée.
The portion size was perfect for splitting. One moderate rack per person. The meat was tender in a sauce that was sweet but not cloying. The vegetable medley that came with was excellent. Roasted fingerling potatoes, a few parsnip and carrot straws and other stuff I couldn’t identify but it tasted good.
Had this not been Elgin Street and had there not been a loud-​mouthed guy impressing his girlfriend at the next table, Fresco might have earned five stars.

came here last night for the 1^st time on the advice of friends, who were with me, the bartender recommended the duck confit and the gnocchi — so we ordered both.
the duck had a nice crispy skin, and just pulled apart with ease, super tender, with lots of flavor — various vegetables were fantastic. The gnocchi was very good but super filling, where the duck was lighter.

I went back this week and had another great meal.
The server was very friendly and offered us some local brews and was helpful with the menu. Although I was set already on having the gnocchi again. It was probably better than the first time. The chicken and mushrooms really added to the dish.
Another great meal and a nice table by the window.