bravo cucina italiana

overpriced. i've gone a few times and left with a lasting impression of "meh." nothing stood out compared to other italian places in the area, except it was prices more. i've had better dishes at olive garden for $10 cheaper. waitstaff tends to be a little slow and no know much about drinks.

try the bar bites!. i've never had a regular entree here, but my friends and i will go during happy hour and get a drink and their bar bites. these bar bites, which i think are regular appetizers, are only $2.95, and if you get two you have a good meal. i get the same two every time, the crispy shrimp napoli, and the chicken bacon artichoke flatbread. both are extremely tasty and have great flavors. the white peach sangria is sweet but delicious. the bartenders were extremely friendly as well. if you want a cheap meal with a classy atmosphere, this is the place to go!

ok. we just had a desert omg. a must have, chocolate cake thingy with gelato.


-----02 jul, 2011-----

awesome lazagne & the bread w/dipping oil is to die for. we are buying a bottle of oil and bread to go. crystal, our waitress, was very professional and helpful. thx bravo, great job!!!

this bravo is on a downward spiral. just finished dinner here. it's clear that management has started to cut corners at this location, to save money, i guess. two examples: 1) they don't have lime juice at the bar. how you do run a bar without lime juice? 2) my meal was incorrect when it came out. i pointed it out to the server, but nothing ever happened to fix the problem. now, lime juice isn't a big thing and everyone makes mistakes, but, these examples are indicators of bigger issues. clearly management has started to cut corners. it makes you wonder what other corners they're cutting? what about in the kitchen? what about in the area of sanitation?

i used to be a semi-regular visitor. now, i'm done. dine at your own risk at this location!

chain where you get what you expect. we've been to this location 3 or 4 times over the last couple years. as mentioned by several other yelpers, bravo! is a moderately upscale chain similar in theme and substance to others of its ilk - meaning you'll (generally) get consistent food, service, ambience and value. chains like these have spent countless hours standardizing the customer's experience. i'm not complaining about this formaic approach but you should have very few surprises during any visit. we also noticed the sanitation rating was a 100 - excellent.

food: my girlfriend ordered off the seasonal menu - the chicken valdostana which were thinly pounded chicken breasts sautéed and topped with prosciutto di parma, fontina, diced tomatoes and a mushroom white wine sauce. served with brown butter and sage fettuccine ($10.99). she enjoyed it and thought the butter/sage fettuccine was tasty.

i got the chicken marsala that is served with tuscan mashed potatoes and pan roasted green beans ($15.99). i also thought the chicken was good though a touch overcooked and the mashed potatoes had a nice balance of garlic. the "roasted green beans" were a bit of a disappointed, however. first, the name is a misnomer. it's really a vegetable medley of broccoli, mushrooms, carrots a few green beans. second, the pan roasting instills a stew-like texture eliminating most of the crispiness of the vegetables.

both servings were large and we both left with doggie boxes.

service: i would have to say our service this visit was on the low side overall. i did overhear a conversation that indicated that they may have been understaffed. on the other hand, i also suspect the fact that we were both dressed pretty casually (especially me!) and passed on drinks from the bar for once :) contributed to the lack of urgency. the wait time between the salad course and the main course was lengthy and water refills were slow in the making.

value: i mentioned the prices above which i consider in the ballpark for this kind of restaurant. the other menu items seemed resonable, as well. we were fortunate to have a $10 off coupon from a local coupon book so our ticket was about $25 before tip.

ambience: i like the atmosphere of bravo! even it is a bit "forced". no complaints here.

food: 7/10, service: 6/10, value 7/10 (much better if you have the coupon), atmosphere: 8/10

don't take your nonna here!. she'll probably slap you, make you cry, then take you home and cook real italian food for a fraction of the price.
on second thought, i'll take a slap for nonna's meatballs!

disappointing. the only good thing about my last visit to bravo was good service and a good caesar salad. i ordered the chicken bacon ranch flatbread pizza. it was like an extremely salty cracker. and it was overpriced. definitely will not be going back again.

customer. holly and vicki, go above an beyond to welcome my family and friends when we dine. alwayas offering opinions on what is new on the menu, or ask if they can create a dish to our liking. the new bravo bites during happy hour are great.

hate bravo with passion. hated it 10 years ago, tried again with group. tool 1.5 hours to sort out the check, they refused to split. everyone had bad meal but we still had to pay the required large party tip. complained to manager who was useless. staff were snooty (as they were 10 years ago in mcknight location). small salad, cup of soup, creme brule = $27 and attitude from staff. seriously, never going back! not even with free coupons.

one of the most beautiful restaurants in fredericksburg. the service and food were both great. we will add bravo to our list of favorite places to eat in the area.

great food despite it being a chain!. i'm genuinely surprised by the comments of those who dislike bravo. i've never had a horrible experience dining here. for it being a chain, i've always had consistently good food. i don't know if i'm just hitting it on the "right " nights, but i've never had to send my food back or have been sick afterward. for the price (don't expect to spend less than $20-$25/person, which unless you're a poor college student, is reasonable) , you get a generous amount of food, and it makes great leftovers! the chicken scaloppini and the insalata mista are the best dishes there, i think! and their martinis are wonderful!

uncomfortable experience. we had an adult group of 20 people there for dinner,the food was good,but with 5 different families of 4 ,, you would think they would be able to do seperate checks / family.....instead of asking us how we would want this done the waiter just took it upon himself and made it like this is the way it had to be done and this was how it was going to be done! do you realize how confusing it was for us all when we got the tab.not only did we have to figure what all we had,but also having to include a 20% tip/meal....dont get me wrong we eat out quite often,and 20 % is always at least the norm,but having to leave a generous tip of 20% ,is something you do not want to do ,after being treated like a herd of cattle.the waiter had a demenor about himself like as if he was doing us the favor.(wrong) we were there giving you the business,we were not there to get the (business).we eat out alot and so do alot of our friends,bravo most certainly is not the only rest.out there,and had better set there ways to be more kinder and respectful to the people they serve.ithe manager should have a good talking to.this was saturday at 3:30 at the waterfront .
i did not want to make a seen at the rest.(not my style)but hopefully this matter will be addressed,and i would like to hear some sort of response from the owners of this establishment,just to let us know someone is reading this.

not so much. i thought the food was very average for the price. thought the atmosphere was good. thought the service was average. i have had better meals at olive garden for less money. just an average italian restaurant trying to be upscale but failing.

great food. you'll pay more than at olive garden or carrabas, but it's better food. the eggplant parm is awesome.

don't expect much. this restaurant has high prices and delivers "typical" american-italian food. although the atmosphere is nice, it sets you up to expect more from this restaurant than you will actually get. would not recommend to friends.