armando's cucina italiana & pizzeria

enjoyable experience!. ate dinner here with a good friend on may 10, 2012 at around 6:45 p.m. i love the seating area outside - it was extended into the adjacent street (hannibal square east) that is blocked off. we sat out there on a beautiful night. there was live music and the restaurant was fairly busy for a thursday.

iorderedthe insalata di spinaci ($6.95) as a starter, the orecchiette pulcinella ($16.95) for my entree, and a side of two homemade meatballs ($4.95). my friendorderedthe gnocchi alla sorrentina ($13.95) for her entree.

the salad was a nice size and served with fresh spinach leaves, tomatoes, and diced red onions tossed in a homemade italian vinaigrette. it was delicious. my pasta dish was a nice size and delicious as well. it was full of thick coin-shaped sausage, peppers, and smoked mozzarella in a fresh plum tomato sauce. the two homemade meatballs were large and without a doubt, the best meatballs i have ever eaten - and i come from a big italian family! my friend also enjoyed her pasta dish. she alsoorderedtwo chimay and commented that the $5.00 price was a good deal (not sure if that was a happy hour price). the one thing i do not like is that they do not have any whole wheat pasta options.

our server according to our receipt (george) was a nice fella. he was friendly and prompt with our drinks and bringing us our checks. we were also surprised how fast our meals came out. overall, good job armando's. i will be back. next time i want to try the pizza though!

armando's cucina italiana & pizzeria is located in hannibal square, at the ne corner of west new england avenue and hannibal square east in downtown winter park.

awful! i'll never go back!. had a date night tonight with my husband and we figured we'd finally try armando's. to start, the drink menu was not great. pricey and not much to choose other than bottles of over priced wine. then weordereda pizza which was $18 and it sounded great. well out came a soggy, tasteless pizza with a raw egg on top. it was so raw and runny that i actually gagged. the waiter asked how it was and we admitted it wasn't too good and the egg was raw. he suggested we let the pizza sit awhile and cook. we didn't want a cold pizza and besides that it had zero taste! we let the manager know and he said since we had each eaten a slice he wouldn't do a thing. he actually made us pay for the uneaten pizza in full and we left. we told him that was horrible business practice and we'd never be back. we said we'd tell all our friends about the terrible food and service and he could have cared less. we'll never be back! awful food and absolutely horrible service and management!

meh.. we received a gift card here for christmas and decided to grab an early dinner this past friday. the food was a good quality and everything was delicious. however, the sizes were extraordinarily small (my ravioli dish came with 5 ravioli). my 8-year-old son easily handled the lasagna portion, ate the entire basket of bread, and half the appetizer before eyeing his younger sister's entree... and he was still hungry after dinner. in addition, the server was nice but the service was terrible. weorderedan appetizer -- it came out after the entrees (really?). in addition, the bread was served at the same time as the entrees (again, really?). no one refilled our waters -- not once, even though i had drank my entire glass in the first five minutes of being at the table and started on my husband's. there was also a problem with the bill and it took forever to flag down the waiter. i wanted to like it, i really did, but the poor service and the small amount of food left us disappointed (honestly, not one member of our family was left even moderately full, except the preschooler because she wasn't hungry, and that's after eating an appetizer, bread, and her entree). sorry, armando's, we won't be back.

great for lunch. never tried their dinner service, however i haveorderedfrom them several times for lunch (usually carry out) and the food is good quality for the price. the only thing i can say is that the quantity sometimes seems like it is lacking.

good atmosphere, service and food!. we were a bit skeptical due to some reviews posted, but we visited on 01/08/2014 for the first time on a recommendation by our son and it was a pleasant surprise.
beautiful, cozy homelike restaurant (it was too chilly for outdoor dining). great warm lighting and nice wood tones of the tables compliment the white walls.
started with wine/beer/drinks as it was happy hour. waiter had knowledge of wine (awesome) but also kept on top of the happy hour specials which is a sign of a good server.orderedthe fried calamari which was awesome. would get again for sure. plenty for four people. the pizzas were awesome (there were four of us and 2 people split one pizza and one salad, hubbyorderedthe pizza that had sausage, chicken, ham, etc. could not finish and raved about the flavor. salad was arugula (cannot remember the name; sorry) but it was very good. iorderedthe pumpkin filled pasta. when it came i was thinking it was such a small serving. not. it was so rich and filling that i had no chance of finishing.
i think it needs to be said that our service was awesome. a parade had just run through the area and all of the restaurants were a bit off schedule, but armando's did not miss a beat.
we felt relaxed, unrushed, and frankly, well served. try it.

went there on 2/11/13. the location was nice and the weather was fantastic. sat outside(street side). the menu was not so much where one doesnt want to read it.orderedthe calmari fritti as a starter. they were great, not over cooked and chewy like most places, but real tender. also split a pizza prosciutto di san daniele. my only gripe about that was that the prosciutto was sliced a little thick, otherwise great flavor. dateorderedthe pasta carbornara. it was pretty good but traditional carbonara has no cream in which this one did. but again it was pretty darn good. we were not able to finish so we wanted to take the remaining pizza home with us. this is where i think they fall short. the service sucked. we had a server with a long pony tail that started out attentive but as soon as the food was delivered, never saw him again. not even his face from across the patio. if that is the worst thing than i know ask for a different server next time. at the end of it all, i would return. i enjoyed entire experience, almost.

went tonight for the first time. got a table immediately outside, but we were next to a table of about 16-18 celebrating a birthday. they were so loud that we could barely hear the people at our own table. the four of usorderedsalads and pizzas. the salads came relatively quickly (each caesar salad had two, count 'em, two anchovies), but we waited and waited ... and waited for the pizzas, which finally came one at a time, over a period of maybe 10 minutes. the waiter barely apologized and gave us no explanation. the pizza was good, not great. i'd say this place needs another person in the kitchen and much better training for its waitstaff. our ears still hurt. we won't be back.

worst restaurant experience!!!!. my husband, mom, and i attempted to eat at this restaurant for dinner friday night. we have been excited to try the pizza...heard great things, but we didn't get to eat. we showed up at 6:15 or 6:30 on a friday, so obviously quite early/before the big dinner rush. we showed up dressed casually, which is not important to me, but is important for this review. i feel that we were treated poorly because we were not all dressed up. we sat at the bar to order a drink while we waited for our table to be ready. my mom and iordereda bottle of bubbly and my husband got a big beer. we really should have just eaten at the bar in retrospect, but we wanted a table so we could share a few things. we ran into some friends and chatted with them at the bar, then the owner/host came over to show us to our table. it was in the middle of the street between the restaurant and hannibals. first of all, it had been a hot day, but was now super windy and chilly so we were freezing and my mom wasn't pleased we were sitting in the street to begin with. i am still unclear as to why we were sat here in the first place as there were open tables inside. anyway, my mom is in town from sarasota (she also worked all day and then drove two hours to see us) and we were trying to take her out for a nice dinner and show her around winter park. weorderedsome pumpkin ball appetizer thing. by the time that came out the whole evening at this restaurant was ruined. the wind picked up and our menus flew all around, knocking both full glasses of champagne over (and all over my husband's pants). i went to ask if we could move to a table inside, thinking of course we would be accommodated due to the circumstances, and we were told we could move to a table four feet to the right...no longer in the street, but still not inside or even under the overhang, essentially on the curb. what's the difference? the host scoffed at our request as if we had asked the impossible. look...i get it's friday night, but under the circumstances wouldn't you think something could be done? he had the worst arrogant attitude and acted like there was no way to do anything better than another table right next to the street. literally, using the word correctly, the street. normally, a host at a restaurant is kind and accommodating, but he could not have been farther from it.

i told him that simply did not work for us and we'll take the check, certainly assuming that since two entire glasses of champagne spilled all over my husband that they would not charge us for the (four pumpkin balls for $8.95) and they did!! they actually brought us a bill for $8.95 after all of this (we paid for the drinks at the bar). it was a joke. i honestly found this particularly insulting. the two glasses of champagne my husband was wearing totaled more than the half eaten appetizer. we expressed this to our (super nice, funny, dedicated, knowledgeable) server and he completely understood. he missed the scene with the host/owner and wasn't aware how unhappy we were until we told him. the thing is, we live in winter park and we are major foodies. we frequent luma and prato and we thought this could be a new regular place for us. i wouldn't go back if you paid me. i wore leggings and a little dress and toms shoes, so i wasn't exactly dressed up, but we weren't going to victoria and albert's. i felt like we were treated so poorly because we weren't dressed up and we didn't have a reservation (it was 6:30, and we were more than happy to wait at the bar with a drink for a table, we are not unreasonable people). my husband is a corporate chef for a major company and he could have brought a lot of business dinners here, but we will be telling anyone who will listen to dine elsewhere. the host/owner is an inept and abrasive unprofessional, the likes of which i have never seen dining all over new york city at le bernardin, marea, wd-50, blue hill, jean georges, etc. i'm used to being treated with respect and was treated so poorly; i was beyond pissed. we left the restaurant so frustrated and still quite hungry. in all my years as a foodie (my whole life) and all my years in winter park (ten) i have never been so upset with a restaurant experience. the host/owner is so arrogant and acted as if he was heading the front of house at the finest of restaurants, except i have eaten at the finest of restaurants and have always been treated with respect and like an absolute lady. he needs a crash course in tact, kindness, and humility. we also saw him barking at the servers and treating them poorly. i can't wait to never eat here and to let everyone know to spend your money elsewhere. too bad too...we were excited to try the pizza. whatever, we will have some at prato today where we are treated like family.

worst service... my fiance and i went here on a saturday night. we did not have a reservation, but only waited about 20 minutes, which was fine. we sat down, and our waiter (i'm afraid i don't know his name - he never introduced himself, but he was a man in his late 30s, early 40s with glasses) quickly greeted us and said he'd be right there. we waited 25 minutes for him to even take a drink order! we were very close to walking out. he seemed completely overwhelmed by the three tables he had. when he finally arrived, he quickly took our food order, and did not mention drinks. i had to call him back over to take our drink order. my fiance and iorderedan appetizer, we eachordereda side salad, and then a pizza to share. we got the appetizer - delicious. fresh mozzerella and prosciutto. we then waited for our salads, and... nothing. he then came by to let us know that our pizza would be up shortly. obviously, he had forgotten about our salads. then, our pizza came out - and it was the wrong pizza! we went ahead and took it, because we were starving and didn't want to have to sit there any longer. the pizza was delicious! it's such a shame. the food here is really good, but we will not be returning because the service was so horrendous. my fiance and i both worked in the restaurant industry for several years, so we're pretty forgiving, but this was just beyond awful.