Vannis Restaurant

Came here for Winterlicious with some girlfriends and had a good time! The place is quite small but super cute with nice décor and a great ambience. I really liked the service– our server was super nice, attentive and gave us really good advice on what to order.
The food was alright– the portions were quite large but didn’t taste that great. I had the minestrone and tiramisu which were pretty good. For my main, I had the risotto de marre and it was okay. I found it quite bland and not very flavourful.
Overall, not a bad place to visit but if you’re looking for good pasta/​risotto, I wouldn’t recommend it.

I took my family to Vannis for the first time tonight to celebrate my wife’s birthday. It was during Winterlicious so we knew ahead of time that it would be quite busy. Overall I was pretty happy with our experience.
For the appetizers we ordered the arugula and caesar and minestrone. The salad portions were just massive, and were very well dressed. The soup wasn’t too bad, nothing really brag about.
For mains we ordered the rissoto de mare, fruite de mare, pizza bufala and pizza diavola. Both seafood dishes were very good, but I thought the rissoto was a bit better than the linguine because it was more el dante. I was a little disappointed with the diavola pizza as I found it a bit soggy. The bufala however was very good.
For dessert had the cream caramel and tiramisu. I originally ordered the mini cream puffs, but once I saw that it was merely the frozen cream puffs you would by from Costco, I immediately changed my order to the cream caramel. The desserts were pretty good, nothing to complain, and nothing to really brag about.
The only complain I had was the service. Our server wasn’t very pleasant. For such a small restaurant I expected her to remember, or at the very least write down who ordered what, instead of telling us she forgot when the food was brought to our tables. During the middle of our meal I was taking a bite out of my pizza, and she asked us «if we were still working on everything» which was pretty obvious, so I thought that comment wasn’t really necessary. It was clear that she was on auto pilot mode.
The one gentlemen that sat us down appeared to be the manager, and he was very nice.
At the end of the night, 4 adults had each consumed a 3 course meal, and the bill was a very generous $ 113, after taxes, before gratuities. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone that likes good Italian food, at a very reasonable price.

Went there last week with a friend. We got there around 5 pm so we were the only customers. The waitress kindly told us what the special was and recommended us which pizza were popular. The speed of the pizza and the burger was a little bit long but acceptable. The service was great. Definitely going back, maybe try some pasta :)

Been here twice now and both times it was great. The first time got a pizza and penne pasta to share. Pizza and a pint is $ 17 which is amazing since its wood oven cooked and the crust is a perfect chewiness. The toppings are good and lots of selection in choices. There’s a small but adequate patio to people watch. You get bread and a salsa type spread while you wait which is delicious. The second time we had calamari grilled and pizza to share as well as a goat cheese salad which was delicious. You really can’t go wrong with anything you choose. Servers are polite and the food great. Price point is good too and less expensive than the place directly next door with same quality.

I tend to come to Vannis quite often for good Italian food at a great price. Food is prepared well with fresh ingredients and portions are very generous. One of rare Italian restaurants that knows how to do proper al dente pasta.

An excellent experience here at Vannis. I felt like I had to write a review after seeing the lower than expected rating on this restaurant –pricing was affordable for what I got: seafood linguine — pasta was perfect Al Dante, flavourful and seafood super fresh. My boyfriend also got the 3 course meal for $ 25, which I thought was a steal– we had tiramisu for dessert! Service was amazing — the server was so nice even though they were short staffed and despite coming in late and she checked up on us throughout the way.

The only reasons this place is getting a star is a) you can’t not pick one, b) the coffee was decent.
Decided to visit today as our first choice next door wasnt open yet. A decision we soon came to regret. I went for the classic chicken parm on a bun (something i felt would be best from an Italian place). Our food arrived quickly, but that was the end of the positive experience. Chicken was poorly seasoned and dry, the sauce had zero flavor and the bun seemed stale but heated in an attempt to cover it up. The house cut fries were not seasoned and over all… the grapes put on the plate as garnish could have been considered the most flavorful. My friend took the recommendation of the server for eggs benny and I could not believe the look of disappointment in her face.
Side note… they also have very strange knives as part of their flatware.
Save your disappointment and money and go elsewhere.

After scanning through all the Winterlicious menus, we decided Vannis was where we wanted to go first. We just beat the Saturday lunch rush, because shortly after our order was taken several people showed up.
We both started with the Caesar salad, which was ok. Too much dressing for my liking, and pretty bland. Could use more garlic. Good portion size, though.
For the mains, I got a pizza with pepperoni, artichoke and goat cheese. It tasted absolutely amazing — better than Pizza e Pazzi, Frank’s Pizza House and maybe even Marcello’s! It was bigger than I thought it would be and cooked perfectly. Thin crust that was soft and a bit crispy on the outside. My partner got a chicken parmigiana sandwich. It was delicious and came with a large side of fries.
For dessert, I got the tiramisu. It was cakey, chocolatey and oh-​so good. My partner got crème caramel, which had a gel-​like outside and was creamy on the inside.
The wait staff were pleasant, attentive and friendly enough to make small talk. The food came quickly. We will definitely be back!

We’ve ordered from Vannis a few times through an online delivery service. Every time, we did so only when there was a big discount promotion being offered through said delivery service, as the prices at Vannis are pretty high and I wouldn’t pay full price.
The pizza is pretty decent! BUT I really kept ordering because I looooooved the chicken wings! They were perfectly crispy and came with a sauce on the side that was some of the best I’ve veer had. Unfortunately, we ordered again recently and realized they have completely changed the wings. Gone is the delicious, unique, thick sauce, replaced with some generic nothing-​special hot sauce.
Don’t think we’ll be ordering from here again.

We ordered beers and a pizza to share. My husband also had minestrone soup to start. The service was friendly and attentive without being overbearing. The food was good and the atmosphere was nice. The beer was a bit pricey but otherwise a great experience. We’ll definitely visit again.

This place has amazing food. I go here often for take out. The only thing is that every time I order something its slightly different than what the menu says. Like a pizza will be missing several toppings or the sauce will be the wrong kind. I’m not picky and I’m always already home by the time I realize. But… it just seems a little careless? I only mention this as it has happened 3 times now. I’ll continue to go back though.

I have only ordered take out from here and it wasn’t too bad. They have quite an extensive delivery menu which was nice. I ordered a capraese salad and spaghetti with meat balls. It came to about $ 30 with tax and delivery fees. A little over priced for what you get, but it’s convenience!
The Capraese salad I was a bit disappointed with. There were 4 slices of tomato, 4 pieces of cheese, a bit of arugula and a small thing of olive oil to put on yourself. The problem was that they stuck it in a hug take out box and by the time it got to me the salad was just splattered all over the place.
The spaghetti and meatballs weren’t bad. It was a huge portion (I had lunch for the next day). It was very basic. Not a ton of flavour, but did the job. It came with 4 large meatballs, which were very tasty. I wish there was more sauce on them though — they were just placed on top, and even when you mixed it around there wasn’t too much extra sauce to cover the meatballs.
For the price you pay, it’s not really worth it.

There are few times when a meal can be as hopelessly awful as the one I had at Vannis. I went with my wife and parents and 1 year old.
Service was friendly, but the food… my parents and wife had various pizzas, all bland and with rubbery crusts. I ordered the veal marsala, a favourite of mine, which came with a side of fettuccine Alfredo. If there was a drop off marsala wine in that sauce I’d be amazed. The veal itself was a sad, grey, piece of meat, cooked like it was beef jerky, except with no flavour.
I actually stopped eating the meat, which is the rarest thing for me to do, and decided to console myself with the Alfredo. Bland, starchy sauce, and, a piece of SHARP PLASTIC in it! For real! In my many years of eating at restaurants around the globe, I never found anything more than an errant hair!
The waiter, or manager, came by, suitably concerned, and said he wouldn’t charge me for my meal. But he charged the rest of us. He gave me a pizza as we left, nice, but the wrong move, since I didn’t want his lousy pizza.
I think the only one who had a good meal was my boy, but that’s because we packed his dinner for him.
Just a lousy ‘Italian’ restaurant trying to siphon business from Pizza & Pazzi next door.

Went for brunch today with my wife. My eggs were horribly overcooked, toast was slightly burnt, bacon was beyond crispy.
My wife ordered the pea meal eggs benedict — the eggs tasted of too much vinegar in the poaching water and the hollandaise was so thin it was barely there, plus the English muffins were stale.
To top it off, the so-​called home fries with the brunch meals are really just soggy french fries dusted with a nasty garlic seasoning.
Do yourself a huge favour and go elsewhere. I would rate zero stars if I was able to.

I just ordered from here using Just Eat. It was excellent! We had the breaded wings and the pollo parmigiana with penne. The potions were very generous and the quality was above par. The wings are well seasoned, meaty and cooked to crispy perfection. The large portion of chicken was moist and the sugo is simple as it should be. I do wish that I could have had the option of sauce on the wings seeing as it is offered on the menu.

Poor food for the cost.
I am familiar with good Italian food. This is not it.
I had the daily special pasta with scallops for $ 20.
The pluses–
The pasta contained a nice number of large and small scallops and the fettuccine was cooked al dente.
The minuses – The tomato sauce was from a can. What? Really?
The larger scallops were overcooked.
The people, ie. cooks and servers, were nice, but the food… just no.
Though it is just down the street, I won’t be back.

Love the food here. is a lot cheaper than it’s neighbor. people are relatively nice. simple layout and good Napoleon food. the Americano pizza is incredibly goood!

Great all day brunch! Still can’t get over the $ 6.50 price tag which includes any omelet or sandwich, choice of side, and a drink… certainly makes this place a 4 star despite the 3 – 3.5 star food.
The food portions are done so as to be slightly gourmet, but they don’t quite hit the mark. The omelets have all the right ingredients eg (California — asparagus, avocado, sundries tomatoes, caramelized onions, and goat cheese) but are served a bit on the small size and lacks the softness of a well whipped omelet. As well the salad of mixed greens tends to be a little on the sauggy side but has a nice house dressing drizzled atop. Instead I’d go for the sweet potato fries or their delicious chip style garlic home fries.
Service is sometimes slow bc there is usually only 1 server, but it’s nice to come for a casual cheap brunch in a modern, clean, venue.

A surprise on St. Clair. A steak to die for… very tasty… the TV ambiance did not distract from the prix fixe selection… including warm rolls, salad and dessert…
and…considering it was «Salsa-​On-​St. Clair» night… the waitress was busier than an Air Traffic Controller at Oshkosh…
The three of us enjoyed the meal, and got change back from $$ !!!

Food quality: low
Food taste: low
Service: medium
Ambiance: medium
The food the 3 of us had was at best mediocre. Truthfully, the place seems like a pizza joint and the customers eating pizza seemed really pleased. None of us ordered pizza and were let down. The waitress we had was really sweet and helpful, but she was way overworked (not her fault at all, just too many customers and no support for her).