Amaro Bistro

I would not recommend going here. We had a 6:30pm reservation and were sat promptly. We waited nearly another half hour before our orders had been taken and 40 minutes before had either our wines or our soft drinks. It was another 20 minutes before we got our salads, and we were an hour and 15 minutes after our reservation before getting our meals. $175 for that meal was asinine, and that was after comping the Caesar. Our server, Andre, did apologize for the wait, but then was nowhere to be seen for the next 20-30 minutes. All told, for a 6:30 reservation, we didn't leave until 8:15. The food was okay, but I would recommend the Olive Garden for better rigatoni.

I would not recommend going here. We had a 6:30pm reservation and were sat promptly. We waited nearly another half hour before our orders had been taken and 40 minutes before had either our wines or our soft drinks. It was another 20 minutes before we got our salads, and we were an hour and 15 minutes after our reservation before getting our meals. $175 for that meal was asinine, and that was after comping the Caesar. Our server, Andre, did apologize for the wait, but then was nowhere to be seen for the next 20-30 minutes. All told, for a 6:30 reservation, we didn't leave until 8:15. The food was okay, but I would recommend the Olive Garden for better rigatoni.

We had reservations for 6:30pm on a Thursday. It was mostly full, but we were seated right away. We then waited 15 minutes for our waiter (Andre) to ask us about drinks. 42 minutes later, we finally had 2 glasses of wine and a Pepsi on the table. Twenty minutes after that, we finally had our appetizer and a Caesar salad on the table. After an hour and a half, we finally had entrees on the table. Let's talk about those. Appetizer: Ricotta al Tartufo The ricotta itself, was really good. Unfortunately, there was not enough bread. This, I don't understand. Bread is cheap; quit being greedy. Three slices of toast for a cup to a cup and a half of whipped ricotta? We each (3 of us) had it spread an inch thick on the toast and there was still a serving left on the plate. So I have to leave an entire serving that I paid $14 for on the plate, because I don't want to pay $5 for another slice of toast, or have our waiter take another 20 minutes to get that to us? Caesar salad: It was fair. It's pretty hard to mess up a Caesar salad. It should have had freshly sliced Parmigiano Reggianno on it in my opinion. We also asked for lemons with it, but had to wait for that because it wasn't served with the salad. Entrees: Rigatoni Bolognese - Again...it was okay. It wasn't anything special. I could get better Rigatoni at the Olive Garden, much cheaper, with much faster service. Manzo Brasato - The short ribs had good flavor. The risotto was...meh. My wife makes a much better risotto. It was just an average risotto, made with those spindly, tough little stalks of asparagus about half a big around as a pencil. It should have been made with nice big stalks of asparagus, at least. Ravioli di Manzo - This one hit it out of the park. This is the ONLY dish I'd go back for. The mushrooms and the sauce on this were extremely flavorful. The pasta was perfect. If you like mushrooms, this dish was a 9.0 out of 10. As a minimal token effort, they comped our bowl of lettuce, in order to compensate for the horrible service. Okay, that's a start. But why not comp one of the entrees, that actually cost you something to make, not a $2 bowl of lettuce? That would have gone a lot farther as an apology. Overall, it's a nice restaurant, in a great location. But it was horrible service and with the exception of one dish, did not justify a $175 bill.

We had reservations for 6:30pm on a Thursday. It was mostly full, but we were seated right away. We then waited 15 minutes for our waiter (Andre) to ask us about drinks. 42 minutes later, we finally had 2 glasses of wine and a Pepsi on the table. Twenty minutes after that, we finally had our appetizer and a Caesar salad on the table. After an hour and a half, we finally had entrees on the table. Let's talk about those. Appetizer: Ricotta al Tartufo The ricotta itself, was really good. Unfortunately, there was not enough bread. This, I don't understand. Bread is cheap; quit being greedy. Three slices of toast for a cup to a cup and a half of whipped ricotta? We each (3 of us) had it spread an inch thick on the toast and there was still a serving left on the plate. So I have to leave an entire serving that I paid $14 for on the plate, because I don't want to pay $5 for another slice of toast, or have our waiter take another 20 minutes to get that to us? Caesar salad: It was fair. It's pretty hard to mess up a Caesar salad. It should have had freshly sliced Parmigiano Reggianno on it in my opinion. We also asked for lemons with it, but had to wait for that because it wasn't served with the salad. Entrees: Rigatoni Bolognese - Again...it was okay. It wasn't anything special. I could get better Rigatoni at the Olive Garden, much cheaper, with much faster service. Manzo Brasato - The short ribs had good flavor. The risotto was...meh. My wife makes a much better risotto. It was just an average risotto, made with those spindly, tough little stalks of asparagus about half a big around as a pencil. It should have been made with nice big stalks of asparagus, at least. Ravioli di Manzo - This one hit it out of the park. This is the ONLY dish I'd go back for. The mushrooms and the sauce on this were extremely flavorful. The pasta was perfect. If you like mushrooms, this dish was a 9.0 out of 10. As a minimal token effort, they comped our bowl of lettuce, in order to compensate for the horrible service. Okay, that's a start. But why not comp one of the entrees, that actually cost you something to make, not a $2 bowl of lettuce? That would have gone a lot farther as an apology. Overall, it's a nice restaurant, in a great location. But it was horrible service and with the exception of one dish, did not justify a $175 bill.

Food is amazing along with the service and our waiter Sherman was top notch with great service and recommendations. Spent my 27th birthday here tonight and was not disappointed. Had some appetizer and wine along with a great braised short rib. A great place in Bothell for a night out