Al Vento

• Cuisine(s): Italian, Pizza, Wine Bar
  Hours: Sun 10am-2pm, Sun-Thu 4:30pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-11pm
  Price: $$$
• Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
  Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Private Party, Catering, Vegetarian Friendly
  Serving: Brunch, Dinner
• Alcohol: Full bar
  Reservations: Accepted, Recommended
  Parking: Free, Lot Available, Street

Description

A red-sauce southern Italian restaurant with some lovely golden lighting, miles of seating, and a few contemporary non-Italian restaurant treats, Al Vento is as popular among Minneapolis's south siders as kids, dogs, and televisions. And who can blame them? The Caesar salad is as perky as a frisky Pomeranian, but comes with a much higher-grade Parmesan cheese. The fennel sausage pizza is covered with chunks of sausage as chubby as campfire marshmallows. The house-made fettuccine with clam sauce is as fresh and zesty as an episode of Desperate Housewives, but easier to talk about at the block club meeting. A lovely summer patio rounds out the restaurant--so why don't you join the rest of the Lake Nokomis area and blow young chef Jonathan Hunt a kiss? He's made the good life on the South Side just that much better.