Aiolio - Scarborough

We had a bit of an issue making the booking, as it was done through OpenTable but then notified that it was cancelled by the restaurant. By calling I was able to re-establish a reservation but at a bit of an early time, which I didn't understand as the restaurant was empty when we arrived. It did start to fill while we were there, though. Our server explained that the issue was due to the booking service. This is apparently about to be addressed. In any case... the restaurant is charming in decor, in an unassuming location. Our starters were very good, our mains were ok, and our desserts were excellent. We chose from the Winterlicious menu, having the butternut squash soup and house salad for appies, which had good flavour (especially the soup) and freshness, trying a bit of each other's dish. The mains were a bit disappointing compared to the rest of the meal. I had the salmon (not on the current online menu), and my friend had the linguini carbonara, and both seemed a bit underflavoured to each of us. They did a great creme brulee and a great brioche bread pudding, and again we tried of bit of each other's dish, and concurred. Service was attentive, no concerns there. I would go again, but next time maybe try different mains, perhaps from the regular menu.

Servers were fairly friendly and engaging. Took a while for appetizers to arrive, but food arrived fairly quickly after other tables were cleared (I guess they were short-staffed in the kitchen? . They didn't have a cocktail menu, but offered to make a cocktail I wanted, so I ordered an Old Fashioned. It was a bit imbalanced; the bitters was a bit much, but the server did inform me, so I couldn't really taste the bourbon. Butternut squash soup was nice, but the house salad could've been dressed a bit more. Linguine was delicious, steak was tender and well-prepared. Desserts were a great hit. Would probably give it another shot.

This is my 3rd year visiting Aiolio during the Winterlicious Event, this year I rated the establishment a low score, due to the disappointing incident I witnessed on our visit. Ever since I discovered this restaurant I have been taking my husband here to celebrate his birthday. All previous years were excellent. This year, we could hear management yelling at the wait staff and it made other patrons uncomfortable. We couldn't wait to finish our meal. I had to use the bathroom but I skipped to even walk pass the kitchen, once we left, I had to stop by somewhere to use the restroom. Its too bad, food was great. Better last year. This place left a sour taste in my mouth due to the incident. I felt bad for the wait staff after that. The last thing I would ever want to experience is how management treats their staff.

Great experience overall, I would highly recommend it!

I felt something was unusual, maybe in the kitchen or in the short staff. it took quite a long time to get our first 2 courses so that the first did not arrive until 18:50 pm. with a 19:30 watch next door, felt pushed through dessert and coffee. then the bottleneck at the front door with 15 people trying to get their moms out to get out, and 15 people trying to come for the next sitting. dinge. I would suggest a 3 cures, and in contrast to 4. there was a lot of food. too much for me. I'd rather pay a little less and have less food. less pressure on the kitchen and the staff also when the dinge go sideways. the palate purifying sorbet was a nice note. I'd keep that in the menu. Hopefully, it helps. overall, pretty good. would come back.