Review Zefferelli's - Vancouver

Flavours are good, service was great. The pasta sauces were good themselves I just wished the pasta noodles were more flavourful. And also wished the Eggplant Parmigiana had more eggplant in it, it had lots of mozzarella though so was tasty still. The atmosphere is quite nice and comfortable. Will come back to try other dishes. Went at 5pm when dining room had only a couple of people but then got seated at an awkward 2-person table that was next to the utensil station. I understand this table was probably only placed here for spacing out for Covid precautions but still, the rest of the restaurant was basically empty at the time. The restaurant filled up fast though. So close to 4 stars.

I really love Italian food so I was really excited to come here. Their food is amazing. I came here for lunch and I ordered the Penne Michelangelo, it was really tasty and flavorful. The ambiance is great and since it is on the second floor, if you seat by the window there is a nice view of the street below. I can’t wait to come back once I visit Vancouver again!

Very busy restaurant with decent food. We had the steamed mussels, crab ravioli off the features board, and spaghetti carbonara. Very filling, and the crab was fresh and tasty. Our server was attentive but so soft we were struggling to hear anything he said over the noise in the restaurant

Came here for the first time the other night. We attempted to dine elsewhere last minute, but the wait times were too significant. En route back to our car, we noticed this restaurant and decided to try it out. Overall the service was really good, however the food and beverage were really underwhelming. We left disappointed and probably won’t be back. It’s definitely in a phenomenal location and it has tremendous potential, however, all said and done, it wasn’t excellent except for the service. Perhaps on another visit, there may be improvement with the food and beverage program. Until then, there are many other Italian restaurants that cook phenomenal fare.

This place was not to my liking. We weren’t asked to show our passports and the staff seemed so rushed and inconsistent. It was so loud In the restaurant you could barely hear yourself. The seating was open floor concept and no one was divided. The butter served with bread was hard as a hockey puck. The food itself was tasty but waaay too salty. The tiramisu was delicious, highlight of the meal for sure!

My go-to pasta restaurant 🍝 An amazing Italian restaurant right in the heart of downtown♥️ Try to get a seat by the window when you go there! 🌸 The pasta always very big portions & extremely delicious. BEST Italian food on popular Robson Street🌺

I had this pasta and garlic bread for my lunch on 2/22 at 12pm. Foods are so good. I have been here so many times and I know that this restaurant always serves pre meal bread before having main meal. While everyone else got their bread in the restaurant, I had not had any breads although I really wanted it. I was confused that I was not supposed to have pre meal bread or they changed their policy, so I had to order garlic bread additionally and also asked to get balsamic and oil sauce. After I finish my lunch, I realized that I was suppose to have that bread while I waited for my pasta and I was only one who did not get pre meal bread. Is this part of racism?

I had the best birthday's dinner since ages at Zefferelli's the last night. My bestie took me there, and it was the best choice ever. What a wonderful experience at all levels from drinks, food, desert and service. Also the extremely waiter Joey Johnson who served us at that night is the best of the best. Can't wait till my next visit! :) :)

From the moment we walked in we were greeted with a warm welcome. The service by all staff was fantastic ans only equaled by the gorgeous meal we had for dinner. We travelled half way round the world from Australia to experience some of the finest Italian dining. Would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fabulous meal at a very reasonable price. We will be back for sure! Michelle and Darrin - Sydney Australia

Very good! They got us in without a reservation, while kinda busy. Our server, Kameko, was great and the food was excellent! It was a little loud inside, but otherwise, a great place!!

Visited Vancouver few times before and this time we had dinner at this sensational restaurant for the very first time which will be of others to come when in Vancouver. One of our best meals ever ! Starting with MJ our waiter who was fun, accommodating and very informative. And then the food... WOW. Everything was delicious. but it's not just delicious, it's beautifully crafted. Looks great and inviting on the plate and it taste even better. NO flaws. accompanied by some beautiful Italian wine and beer. Very VERY recommended !

As we approached we were a little wary of what we may find when we walked up those stairs its certainly not the best of entrances lol.. but once inside we were greeted and shown a table by the window .. our server was very good told us the house specials and proceeded to take our order ..the coffee was good bread and a tomato based dip came ..a little too spicy for me but not a problem oil and balsamic to the rescue ... we ordered the golden beet salad which we split between the both us we would have just eaten from the same plate but i told the server we would share and it came on two plates it was delicious ... i had the salmon tagliatelle and my husband had a tomato penne i forget the exact dish ... very big servings unfortunately we were going to the theater from there so no take home box :-( .....so a definite return for us .. really enjoyed it ...

Great ambience and environment. The staff were very friendly as well. The one thing that made my experience at zefferellis poor was the ribeye steak. At $32 I felt completely robbed; the steak was so small you could finish it in 3 bites, and the veggies were so little that I personally felt insulted that they would cheap out on the most expensive thing on the menu. Please do yourself a favour and don't order this menu item, absolute and complete robbery

You can't go wrong. My third visit. From the management to the Chefs wait staff and the owners they all run a fine tuned classy and professional business. The food is always on the spot. Delicious and fresh. As I'm Italian I know what good food is and this is the best!

They are open late till 11 pm. Our 1st time here and not a disappointment. We ordered 3 pasta dishes & 1 main entree. Everything was very good. Sometimes when you eat pasta, towards the middle of the meal, the pasta starts to taste the same & you don't enjoy the taste like you did when you take the 1st bite. Not here, every bite to the end was enjoyable as the first bite. The taste is simply exquisite. The bread & the marinara sauce is yummy. We had pasta with clams... every bite was lots of baby clams. The tortellini Gorgonzola with crispy bacon & blue cheese sauce was good. Chicken with Marsala sauce was so good, the chicken was very juicy & tender, the Marsala sauce was to die for. Pasta al Funghi was a large portion with sun-dried tomatoes with spicy sausage & prosciutto ham. Like I said, all 4 dishes were excellent, we enjoyed the meal immensely. Service was attentive, friendly & good. Menu is small, perhaps that Is why the quality of the food is so good. The pasta was nicely done. Street parking available but challenging, check other nearby street for availability.

I have to stay clear of gluten and dairy and I assumed going into the restaurant I would be very limited in my choices. When I asked the server what she would suggest given my allergies she said all of their pastas are made to order so making additions/omissions were not a problem and that if I wanted a dish that did had dairy in it, they could customize it to suit my needs - I wasn't limited at all! Incredible! I had the putanesca with the gluten free potato gnocci and everything about the dish was spot on! My colleagues all had an appetizer to start and everything looked delicious (especially the eggplant parm and the beet salad). I tried the olives and they were great!<br/>We all shared a couple bottles of pinot noir and that too was fantastic! <br/>We all ;oved the whole experience and our server was very attentive and I so appreciated her/the restaurant being able to accommodate my allergies. <br/>Also, you can do half orders of pasta and the portions are still plenty!My expectations were exceeded and I will definitely be going back!

Zefferelli’s Spaghetti is located on Robson Street in Vancouver. It’s between Thurlow and Bute Street on a prime location in downtown Vancouver. However, it is easy to walk pass it because there is only a sign on the street. It is easier to locate it by looking for Cactus Club Cafe on Robson. <br/><br/>We ordered a Pizza Margherita and a Linguine Vongole for two to share. Their Linguine Vongole was authentic clams pasta in white wine. 🍝🍴 They were excellent and huge dishes. We like their pasta, it was incredibly delicious. 😋<br/><br/>📝📝<br/>Food: 🍽🍽🍽🍽 Should Try! <br/>Service: 👩‍🍳👩‍🍳👩‍🍳👩‍🍳<br/>Price: 💲💲$30-$50 for two (dinner)<br/>Kids: 👶👶 Meh (have to walk up steep stairs)<br/>Presentation: 📷📷<br/>Parking: street parking<br/>Explore the menu: Linguine Vongole, Pizza Margherita<br/>Tips:<br/>📝serve unique complimentary baguette 🥖 with tomato sauce <br/>📝makes a reservation<br/>📝climb up a steep flight of stairs to reach an unidentified entrance door<br/>📝serve huge portions to share <br/>📝has $2 surcharge for splitting dishes<br/>Would I Return: Yes 🙋‍♀️

This restaurant is wonderful! The food is amazing! My friend had the Osso bucco which melted in your mouth. Also, it was a huge portion. I had the Halibut which was cooked just right - very moist. And it came with the best vegetables I have ever tasted - wish I knew their secret. Great service and relaxing ambiance!

This is a favourite place of mine for lunch and I have been coming here for years.Service is prompt and attentive. Food is always so fresh and tasty. I highly recommend this place

I came here with a couple of friends for dinner tonight. Today the weather was nice, so it was a good walk in downtown and we walked to this restaurant on the second floor. We reserved a table by phone, so we got a table right away. <br/><br/>Actually the ambience was nice, but what a coincidence that there was a company gathering or dinner or something that happened at the same time. All those people were super loud and noisy. It was harder for us to chat when we were having dinner. <br/><br/>We ordered a dish of mussels, chicken liver, and a couple of pasta to share. The pasta was spaghetti carbonara and penne al salmone. Both dishes were excellent. They were tasty that every single bite had a good amount of sauce and meat. We loved them. The chicken liver tasted great that there were a couple of toasted bread underneath. The only thing that disappointed us was the mussels. We even told our server about them. The mussels were super tiny that I had bigger ones somewhere else. The server answered us that probably it was not the right season. Oh well, we still ate the tiny little mussels but we enjoyed the sauce that went with them. The sauce was extraordinary. <br/><br/>The server was friendly and helped us to add water to our glass throughout the whole meal. She also helped us to take a couple of photos even though she was very busy. We really appreciate it. <br/><br/>Would I recommend others to come here for Italian food? Yes! The pasta here is good in general. Service is good. Pricing is reasonable. If you want to have a date or come here for dinner with friends, this is a good option.

This is a clean and comfortable Italian restaurant that's located right above a Cactus Club. I was having a craving for pasta, and ended up stopping by here for lunch today after hearing that they serve big portions (I've got a massive appetite and eat obscene amounts of food). I got their Tortellini Gorgonzola, which came with some complimentary bread & tomato sauce. I enjoyed the food quite a bit, and while I didn't think that the portion was that big, I was stil nicely filled. The service was great; I had a French gentleman who was really friendly and charming. Overall, this is a solid joint that I'd recommend checking out.<br/><br/>Complimentary Bread & Tomato Sauce:<br/>The bread was freshly toasted, with a nice, crusty exterior. The interior was soft and a bit doughy, almost as if it was undercooked (which is, of course, not the case). I was initially put off a bit by the texture, but I did warm up to it more. I personally didn't really care for the tomato sauce however; it was cold and just tasted like, well, tomatoes. I suggest saving the bread for mopping up the sauces from the pastas instead.<br/><br/>Tortellini Gorgonzola ($21):<br/>3.5/5<br/>This consisted of tortellini served with a bacon and cream sauce. The pasta was cooked al dente, meaning that it was on the firmer side. Personally, I would have preferred my pasta to be a bit more tender, but I can't fault them for it as that's supposed to be the correct preparation and I didn't make any specific requests for it to be more done. I couldn't really tell what the stuffing inside the tortellini was; from the description on the menu I thought that it was cheese, but it actually tasted a bit starchy to me and didn't have too much flavour. The sauce was creamy but not too heavy or rich, and was filled with a generous amount of bacon and onions. I did find the dish to be a bit on the bland side; I would have liked a little more seasoning. Portion-wise, I didn't find it to be particularly large, as some reviewers have described, but it was still fairly generous and left me comfortably food.

Located at Robson st. second floor. Did I expect too much?? Nothing was very special. Bread with tomato sauce was best. Pasta, for me I ordered vongole, must be something wrong, it taste wrong. Carbonara was ok. Pretty crowed, Service wasn't the best but ok.

Zefferelli's atmosphere was characteristic of Italy with a wine exhibition on one wall. It was my first time there. I ordered pasta with salmon, it was nice but sure not the best in the world. The pasta and fish were good but the sauce was for me too creamy. The cost of this meal was 19 CAD. <br/><br/>About the service I'd say that it was friendly and efficient. They offered me bread and water to give me some time to order what I think represent an excellent customer service.<br/><br/>If you want to go there it's better to book a table before going. <br/><br/>To sum up I recommend this restaurant for people who love pasta.<br/><br/>:)

We went there with our 10 classmates and teacher for lunch. When we arrived, they served small bread with tomatoes sauce for us. It was great classical Italian restaurant. The atmosphere was casual and not busy. Also It was quiet. I was late 15minutes than others but food came almost same time as my friend. That made me satisfied for their services.  We ordered half of spaghetti carbonnara. The price is reasonable to size of the dish. The noodles are not too soft and not too oily. Even we ordered a half, It was enough to both man and woman.  Waitress is friendly and polite. I think this restaurant is nice place for both romantic couple and group of friends like us. It'd better to make a reservation before you go.

Zefferelli’s is located on Robson Street, on the second floor. Immediately walking in, I loved the cozy and classy atmosphere. Spaghetti carbonnara, $19: The boyfriend’s spaghetti carbonnara came with bacon, egg yolk, black pepper, and cream topped with a copious amount of parmesan.

Came for a birthday.The carbonara was not good. Friendly people but way too busy. Took about an hour to get out food, took 30 mins for the cake to come out, after another 20 mins the plates and cutlery still didnt come out so we just asked for the cake box. <br/>

I just called in to Zefferelli's to make a dinner reservation. The lady that answered my call replied that I had caught her at a bad time and told me to call back an hour later because there were lots of people waiting in line. Before I even had a chance to respond, she hung up on me. Needless to say, I will not dining at this restaurant anymore since I received such poor and rude service from the staff. I am very disappointed at this level of service.

Very unimpressed with the food. Pasta was ok quality. Pepper was far too much and sauce was somewhat dry. Service was average, not bad, not excellent.

I came here with a friend at the recommendation of another friend. This place blew me away at how amazing it was!<br/><br/>Crowded and on the pricier side and I see why! The service was fast, the food was superb, this is now on my "must stop here" list of restaurants in Vancouver!

Great location on Robson, love the wall of wine bottles and the service has been very good both times we have been there. Pasta dishes are good and the portion sizes are large. Also their house white wine is a great price and is a perfect easy drinking wine that can pair well with a variety of dishes! Overall good little Italian place.

I don't know why Zefferellis has such a low rating here. It has excellent pastas, super friendly servers and a prime location: right on Robson street, with a spectacular view if you sit by the window. The kitchen is visible to everyone inside, so you can assure yourself that the food is fresh. Don't miss the chicken saltimbocca w/ prosciutto and the ravioli w/ gorgonzola.

I love Zefferelli's. I love the old school menu, I love the fact that you are greeted warmly even when you're wearing flip flops, I love the way that they make sure everyone at your table leaves satisfied.  <br/><br/>This is the kind of thing that great dining used to be before pretentiousness took the fun out of it.  <br/><br/>The pasta here is simply great.  Authentic and subtle.  Their entree's like chops and Osso Bucco will have you coming back for more.  This place does not get the good press it deserves.  It's worth your time and money.

This was our first trip to Zefferelli's. They have a small menu but it's hard to choose! Lots of great pasta options, we chose the carbonnara and the vongole. The carbonnara wasn't too creamy, which is always nice to see. The vongole was littered with clams, just enough for every bite. We also ordered the spinach lasagna and the pork medallions with risotto from the daily specials. The lasagna portion was a little small, compared to the two other pasta dishes and the pork was over cooked while the risotto was a underseasoned. <br/><br/>{{ TIP }} this restaurant can be found in the entertainment book!

Had the Vongole as well! Seems to be the popular choice :-) and for good reason, it was delicious. The server was also super attentive and had great timing and a keen eye. Will definitely come back to enjoy the breeze from their open windows as we overlook Robson from the second story.

Maybe I came on a bad day, I've visited Zefferllis a handful of times since my first review of the place. This has been a long overdue edit for this review.<br/>I fell inlove with the atmosphere, service and especially the Carbonara since day 1.<br/>My most recent visit, was on thursday friday evening around 7pm. We did not make a reservation, but lucked out with being able to grab a seat near the kitchen. Service was impeccable, it was a full house and even with that our server was on top of it all.<br/>The wait for food was less than 15 minutes.<br/>Let me tell you, how hyped I was to be able to slurp this carbonara up. I dream of this creamy carbonara dish- literally, wake up drooling.<br/>As soon as my dish arrived, and after the first bite - disappointment..<br/>I mean it was okay, creamy - noodles were cooked al dente, plenty of bacon; but so much onions. The whole did just had an excessive amount of onions. It wasn't carbonara, just noodles with onion cream sauce.<br/>Needless to say, I didn't end up finishing my dish.<br/>The other dish we tried was the Spghetti al Ragu - Boo enjoyed this very much. He finished his dish /rollseyes.<br/><br/>Spaghetti Carbonnara ($19.00)<br/>Spaghetti al Ragu ($18.00)<br/><br/>It's sad to say but I tihnk my love for Zefferelli's has ended. Though it might have been just an off night that night, I'm on a new search for a pasta joint in Vancouver serving my beloved dish of carboara.<br/>(Suggestions are totally welcome!!)<br/>

Sunday Night. I had a simple pasta dish, I really enjoyed! The atmosphere is really nice and the Server was perfect. <br/>I tried a new drink from the menu and it was noted I did not have much, item wasn't on the bill. <br/>Thank you for a nice night!

Wrong hostess. Good food, nice waiter, nice decor and beautiful open windows... and for all these reasons I go there often. My only problem with this place is the hostess ,she has no tact and no class, she gives people a condescending look, her attitude is so wrong, she is all over the place following waiters trying to control the whole place. She doesn't listen and has an answer for everything.It is obvious that she is driving everyone crazy. I am not sure why she is " in charge" or if she made herself in charge .This place need someone with a different approach, really. I don't think she means to do bad, but OMG ! Does she even get a night off ? she is always there .Different culture I guess

If you have an entertainment book coupon be sure to get there before 6! we were 5 min late and they wouldn't let us use it. <br/>besides that, we really enjoyed the atmosphere and the service. The food was pretty average. We had the squid for appetizer and it was pretty salty. I had the crab linguini which was quite flavor lacking. The pasta was cooked just right, though! I would recommend this place to friends looking for a nice date (where the focus is the ambience and each other, not so much the food!).

A Birthday Night for a Friend. Great ambience. I didnt know there was a hidden place above off Robson. Definitely worth trying. They serve huge portions. I had the spaghetti carbonara, fantastic sauce. The flavour balance was excellent. I recommend it. Service was excellent for our group of 9.

Amazing food but HORRIBLE front desk hostess and waitress. Our table was not ready when we arrived (RESV was at 8:30pm feb.08.2014). We were asked to wait at the bar which only had 4 seats. We waited for almost 30mins and there was no apology. When we were seated we asked the hostress if she can add extra seats since we have unexpected guests coming. After giving us 5 mins of lecture about not having proper resv she said she'll have to check since Sat. is their busy night. Mind you this is a little after 9pm. The restaurant was EMPTY and we were one of the three parties there. Talking about power tripping... lady if you do your job properly you would not have a problem or worry. We should've moved the table ourselves to make your job easier. For a table of 15 we only had one waitress ... the poor lady was not able to keep up. Drinks were missing and appie orders as well. The table was not clear on time and in a rude manner. Probably will not be back again. The hostess and waitress really threw us off this time. You would expect better service or manners for a bill of $1000. As good will we still gave 15% service tip.

Went there with a group of girls for my birthday. Had just mediocre service. The waitress didn't smile and looked completely stressed. What made things worse was when the food came, the pastas for the most part was salty and the although we didn't let the mediocre food get in the way of the evening... The hostesses who was walking by ( my friend was going to ask her to help take a picture of the girl get together) snapped at us saying we are extremely busy and we have no time to take a picture right now. It was her tone and rudeness that turned our night to sour. We understand that it is busy, but for the entire dining experience it only takes less than ten seconds to press a button to remember the birthday night. I was extremely disappointed and contemplated complain about the hostess but didn't. However even after a few days, the negative experience has led me to write a review of this horrible experience. The look on my friends face when the hostess snapped at her was not acceptable. Extremely disappointed.

Great food, great ambiance, great service - the trifecta of what you need to be a great restaurant! Our family of five ate here. Our daughter went gaga over the penne Michelangelo (joking about TMNT... Sigh... A telling sign of our culture in this day and age), our son went crazy over the mushroom pizza, and our other son quietly shared everyone's plate. Wife and I started with the spinache salad (not bad but the feta dominated the palette). We both had the vongole - huge huge portion and was prepared nicely. Server was great and everyone walked away very content.

Great service, was ensured by two servers the hostess was on her way as it was clear she was busy. Our waiter was superb, quick and attentive.<br/>Ambiance was nice. Great italian family environment.Sat by the window, could lose the lamps on some tables as there were tiny flies hovering inside of them. <br/><br/>Otherwise, our food came in generous portions. Linguine putanesca was average, al dente, but personally i thought could use a bit more kick of spiciness in the sauce. We also ordered the risotto and halibut special. Halibut perfect cooked but lacked any flavor, risotto was was a bit bland, nothing special.

Service here was decent and the atmosphere was nice however the food is lacking:( The only part of my dinner I enjoyed was the bread they served for free! The veal was tasteless and the spaghetti that came with it was too salty. Eating it together did not make it taste better. The carbonnara was alright, wasnt bad but wasnt amazing either. We also had the chicken canneloni which was tasteless as well. The portions were large but large portions does not mean it tastes good. I might come back for another try because of all the good reviews but I was quite disappointed:(

Hesitant to go in at first with the 2nd floor entrance. Once in, well balanced food, warm spinach salad excellent, pasta dishes were more that I could eat, good experience in general.

Great Italian restaurant! Helpful and attentive service. If you're vegan or vegetarian they only appear to have one menu option but we found when we mentioned it they make everything from scratch and were amazingly helpful about pointing out options. <br/><br/>We loved it and will be back. We eat early though so while it wasn't a problem for us, you should make a reservation as it appeared to fill up super fast. They just squeezed us in.

Great Experience. We visited Vancouver last night and used Urbanspoon to find Zefferelli's. Lucky us. We had M.J. as our server and he was awesome. The restaurant was busy and he handed each table without delay and was attentive to everyone. Definitely a huge asset to a busy restaurant. The food was to die for. I had the Chicken Parm. Wow!! One of the best I've ever had. My wife had the Penne Michelangelo but substituted spaghetti noodles and loved it. The place has great ambience and an excellent wine list. I recommend the Felino Cabernet Sauvignon which we had. Try this place and you'll love it!

Extremely good! Really, my wife and I are picky when it comes to Italian food and we both loved it. The chicken parm was perfect. Our server Rob was terrific too.

Good, but not special. The menu is standard Italian fare, no surprises there. This place is not for the daring. Reliably good pasta, if a tad boring. The portions are quite large too.

Excellent Lunch. I came here for lunch for my friend, we were seated promptly and split the Penne Michelangelo. The bread wasn't too fantastic, just regular crusty bread but the pasta was delicious. The chicken was juicy and cut into bite sized pieces and there was just enough pasta for the two of us. Yum!

Going home happy!. I was in the mood for pasta while shopping in Downtown. I came across Zefferelli's, it was above Cactus Club. I have never tried restaurants that were on the 2nd floor, so i went. Place was not big, but it felt warm and homey. I ordered Spaghetti Carbonara, my friends went with the Pasta with veal meatball. The portions were HUGE. Not only that, it was also very tasty. Service was good, the servers were friendly. Overall, I would definitely come back for Italian food here. Its awesome!

Knowledgeable, polite and attentive wait staff. Large, tasty portions. Cabrese salad is quite good. Good wine selection - domestic, Italian and international choices.

Pasta Paradise. This place provides good service, food, and location. Great selection on menu and a excellent wine list. Mussels are excellent. If you like a little heat ask for ground red pepper for all the dishes.

Excellent service from our server MJ. Food was tremendous. Wife really enjoyed the Shrimp and Avocado salad.

Excellent Pasta. I love this restaurant. My favorite pasta restaurant in Vancouver. Service is excellent, portions are large and prices are reasonable. The spaghetti and meatballs are excellent. The pasta is always al dente and perfect. The meatballs are made of veal with parmesan cheese.<br/><br/>You will not find a better product at a better price. Great central location on the prime shopping street of Robson.

Always Perfect. We are local and we eat here regularly- It is always consistant - waits are short and the food is wonderful. <br/>The service is always genuine and quick. <br/>Favourite dishes are the Tortellini Gorgonzola - always leave with leftovers and the Penne al Salmone. <br/><br/>The Steamed mussels are enough to share!

Great Food and Service. We were visiting Vancouver for our honeymoon and stumbled upon this awesome restaurant. The food was amazing, the service was awesome, and the atmosphere was fantastic. Cute restaurant! Very happy with everything!

Pleasantly Surprised. The interior of this place was really nice. A great, calm atmosphere and elegfant setting without being stuffy. I split the Penne Michelangelo - chicken, sundried tomatoes, peas & cream with a friend and we both were full. Good dinner portion sizes and friendly servers. The tone and pace of the meal was perfect whether you are just wanting a break from shopping on Robson or celebrating a birthday.

Rude and Expensive. Well to start with I was invited for dinner at the last minute so I was wearing a hoodie, shorts and flips flops to a fairly fancy looking place. This could have been the root of the server's rudeness and abruptness.<br/><br/>Upon arrival the server was quite rude (maybe because we were the last - and latest- table to sit down, but that shouldn't effect service). He was very abrupt and impersonal, with little positivity in his tone of voice. He was trying to humour us but he just came across as condescending. His jokes were just a thin veil over his worsening mood.<br/><br/>Since I had already eaten earlier I just had a Negroni martini (which was quite good) and the mussels. The mussels were a little over cooked because they seemed to have shrunk inside their shells (or just the tiniest mussels I've ever seen). The sauce for the mussels was quite salty but edible - it needed some bread on the side (which was not provided nor was I asked if I wanted any).<br/><br/>The part that was the worst for me was the desert. For the serving size it was quite the rip-off. $9 for a dessert is simply too much (unless you're eating at Bishop's or somewhere like that). I've had plenty of delicous house-made deserts for $6 dollars and they were just as substantial if not more delicous than Zefferelli's. Zefferelli's deserts were just too plain and unexciting to deserve that higher price.<br/><br/>I will not be eating there again which is probably fine because it came across as a major tourist trap. I don't see many locals going when they know they can get much better for less at loads of other places in the downtown core and elsewhere in Vancouver. Zefferelli's seems like an old dog that just won't learn any new tricks. If you go there for anything go for the $60+ bottles of wine.

Nice pasta, the sauce was a bit salty. Came here for dinner the other day. I had the spaghetti with meat sauce, the texture of the spaghetti was perfect, but the sauce was too salty for my taste. The boyfriend had the smoked salmon pasta thing, he really liked it. The ambiance of the place was nice, the service was pretty decent.

Good Pasta. I had the spaghetti con Vongole. It smelt really nice when it hit my table, and it tasted good too. It was a nice light pasta, the clams were nicely seasoned, the pasta was cooked Al-dente. The portion was nice too, not too big, and not too little, they didn't skimp out on the clams.

Great lunch!. My friend T. and I had lunch at Zefferelli's today, and it was excellent. T. had the spaghetti with veal and ricotta meatballs, I had the seafood pasta special -- fettuccine tossed with a cream sauce and pieces of salmon and halibut. We both had half portions, which (together with the generous slabs of bread served at the beginning of the meal) was plenty of food, even for a gluttonous pasta freak like me. The service was excellent, the atmosphere was lovely (they had the windows thrown wide open, since it was a cool, sunny day) and I have renewed my enthusiasm for this well concealed gem of Robson Street. Climb the stairs and have the pasta - Zefferelli's is wonderful.

...the shrimp didn't taste quite as fresh as I imagined, and the pasta could have used some sauce instead of just olive oil...

Zefferelli’s is located right beside one of many Cactus Club Cafes, just up a set of stairs. It doesn’t look like much at all from the outside, but as soon as you get up the stairs, you’re greeted by a beautiful aroma of Italian food and a warm, inviting interior of dark woods and a wall of fine wines. It was fairly quiet when we got there, so we snagged one of the prime window seats overlooking Robson Street.

Last Friday night, my quest for delicious and affordable pasta took me to Zeffirelli’s Spaghetti Joint. Located on the heart of Robson street, Zeffirelli’s is hidden above Cactus Club cafe, only accessible through a long flight of stairs. Like me, you probably walked by this place countless times without acknowledging its existence. This restaurant was recommended to me by a friend and I was skeptical at first, but upon looking at the reviews and menu I realized this restaurant is not the same as the other rip off mediocore restaurants on Robson.                          I invited CL and my friends to join me on Friday night and upon entering the restaurant, the first thing that impressed me was the tasteful décor. The walls of the restaurant were covered in wine bottles which gave it a very wine-cellar-like ambiance and the piano shaped salad/antipasto bar added a touch of class to the restaurant. Another thing I noticed was how noisy the restaurant was. There was no open kitchen

The Tiramisu tasted really good despite how full we were. After our meal, Zefferelli’s was added to our list of restaurants to revisit.

The theme of Zefferelli’s seems to be BIG. The crowd was BIG. The NOISE was LOUD. The single-serving salad was also BIG. The pastas were SUPER-SIZED. I remember watching 20/20 or Dateline a few years ago and one of the segments was about the fact that restaurants were using large portion sizes to substitute for taste and service. Zefferelli’s seems to be a textbook example of this formula for running a restaurant. And it seems to be working well for them. BIG salads and BIG pastas bring in the BIG crowds which generate BIG money and BIG NOISE.

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Zefferelli’s is a spaghetti joint that hippoCHAN and I stumbled upon after wandering the streets of downtown for who knows how long… At least, it was a happy accident! hippoCHAN was super famished that night, so it was great to have some bread and marinara sauce to dip while we waited for our pastas. We had a good feeling about this place because the marinara sauce, as simple as it was, tasted amazing and fresh. hippoCHAN ordered the Penne Michelangelo ($19), which had chicken, sundried tomatoes, peas and cream. Emphasis on the last ingredient, because it was indulgently creamy. Although, it could’ve used some more chicken. I had the Spaghetti Carbonnara ($19). Let me say that I haven’t had a real carbonara until I hit up Zefferelli’s that night. The saltiness of the pancetta bacon paired with the richness of egg yolk and cream… much mouthgasm! The pasta was cooked to perfection and hugged onto the sauce dearly so every byte was pure indulgence. Aside from the food, the service was abs

Clearly, I was craving for some protein along with my carbohydrates, which were incidentally cooked tremendously al dente. This texture seemed to overwhelm everything else in this generous portion of pasta, as they gave quite the distinctive chew...

I was craving for pasta that night, and Zefferelli’s didn’t let me down. This place has really nice ambiance, with dark wood furniture, wine, and pellegrino bottles stacked a long the walls.

We almost always order the same thing when we come here. Boyfriend had the Mushroom Agnollotti. It had always been very good, very fragrant of mushrooms and the pasta part isn’t too doughy. Even though it doesn’t look like you get a lot, you will most def