La Vecchia Fontana

I visited this restaurant on a Friday night, and it was packed, clearly a popular local spot. While the atmosphere was lively and inviting, the service left a bit to be desired. It took 35 minutes for our server to take our order, and over an hour for the food to arrive. That said, the restaurant is small and was juggling several large parties, so a delay is understandable, just be prepared to wait. The real standout here is the food. Every dish we tried was superb, thoughtfully prepared, bursting with flavor, and well worth the wait. It's a BYOB spot, which is a nice bonus if you plan ahead. Bottom line: if you’re looking for an amazing meal and don’t mind a slower pace, this place is a gem. Just bring a bottle, some patience, and enjoy the experience.

The Latino female server was so great to our large party and knew all the specials by heart! ALL the staff were checking on us, taking plates, etc. very good service and friendly atmosphere. The pasta is so great here, lobster rigatoni was delicious and a friend got short ribs (special) which looked amazing. Also their Tiramisu for desert is incredible!! A little pricey but totally worth it.

The food was fantastic - absolutely some of the best I’ve had in the area. The downside was that we had a large party and had to wait a while, which would not have been a problem except for the small children. However, the restaurant was aware and accommodated us as best as possible.

Excellent food & service in a calm dining room, rare in Avalon in season. Party of 7, everyone loved their choices. BYOB helps the budget, too!

NOW OFFERING TAKEOUT! If you’re looking for the finest of Italian cuisine in the Avalon area stop by and pick up here! La Vecchia Fontana is an Italian restaurant in the Avalon area. People love their "Seafood Risotto" and "Parm Appetizer", and locals also mention "wonderful pasta" and "intimate conversation" in their reviews.

Great food and service!! 10/10 all around.

We had a wonderful dining experience at La Vecchia Fontana last Sunday evening. The food was delicious and Mario, our server, was delightful. He was attentive and friendly and made sure we were well served. This place is a hidden gem and we always enjoy visiting during our annual beach vacation.

The Burrata salad was delicious! Lobster Ravioli was amazing too!

Great service and decent food. Their chicken Fontana was delicious but I wish it came with a side of pasta or potato/vegetable. Nice ambiance, parking was easy, and it's a BYOB. I would suggest more signage as it's easy to miss. Would definitely go back!

Concealed inside the ground floor of a condo complex (?!) is a wonderful surprise- delightful Italian cuisine in an unpretentious setting. Dwith a larger group and made a reservation in advance. Were seated without delay and Service was not overly solicitous- which may be reflected in the other reviews here. Main dishes came at different times for people- but this to me was not a damnable offense since the food served was high quality. Did not see a formal waiting area- this could be a problem if you're with a large group with children. We had kids with us but know that this is not a place where coloring books & balloons are provided. A distinctly Euro feel with the somewhat relaxed service of Italia.

Food was way better than 3 star average. Service was excellent. Deserts were delicious. Lil pricey but it's Avalon. BYOB

Had the worst experience tonight at this place, unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to eat here because of how terrible they run their reservations logistics. We had a large party reservation and after waiting over a half hour (with 0 insight as to how long the wait would be and no apology or acknowledgement) we left. Same thing that was happening to us was happening to 3 other parties waiting in the lobby- one woman told us she had been waiting nearly an hour despite having a reservation. The host was nowhere to be found and just avoiding addressing the wondering patrons. Poor way to treat customers, super unfortunate!

Ask for Mario! He's genuinely happy to make your experience here wonderful. We had the grilled calamari appetizer followed by the Seafood Risotto. Seafood pescatore sand clams vongole. We were very pleased with our choices and our dining experience.

Wasn't very fancy for the price of a BYOB ... Food was sub par as the pasta was cooked in the ocean water tasted the beach like ... The service was not satisfactory , only came to our table two times in @45 mins plus our drinks weren't being refilled either until we finished dinner??? Hostess brought us to table that had a huge blowing air duct above us , not really happy of being a Pittsburgh steeler fan sitting in the cold air for 45 mins when it was 72 outside ???

An absolute must!!!! This restaurant is awesome, and I'm writing a review to update and clarify some things. First off, currently the restaurant is open and does have outdoor seating. The seating location is actually great and we got to watch the sunset while eating dinner. It was fantastic. It is BYOB so make sure you bring a drink with you if you care for one. I booked us for 9 people over the phone. I looked at the yelp and google reviews after and didn't love the lack of pictures/stars, but once we were at the restaurant, I was very impressed. There were several delicious-sounding specials including burrata with prosciutto and melon, and artichokes wrapped in prosciutto in a delicious sauce. All the food we got was AMAZING and the portions were perfect, not giant but big enough. The kitchen is far from where the seating is, so the waitresses and waitors were hurrying back and forth to make sure they were addressing all needs. They were polite and able to provide everything we needed when we needed it. Definitely recommend, and nice that it's a little out of the way so you're not right in the downtown part of Avalon with tons of other ppl walking around.

We (6 of us) had an excellent meal here. The food was fresh and delicious; included osso buco, rigatoni arrosto (lobster), gnocchi, calamari, we loved it all. Nice atmosphere, more intimate than its sister restaurant Polpo. Service was great. Highly recommend!

Excellent food. Got carryout. Memorable Italian and I've eaten some great Italian. Osso Bucco

horrible experience. ordered through doordash and restaurant waited over 1.5 hours to then refuse the driver when he arrived. offered no apologies. DO NOT patronize this place. Shady, unprofessional operation. complete garbage

No side dishes are included with the meal. Ordered one dish of broccoli rabe and one side dish of sautéed spinach . When the check came, we were charged $17.90 for each. Questioned the waiter regarding the price. He explained the overcharge was a mistake, that he accidentally "pushed the button" twice. He then presented a "corrected" version... this time the broccoli rabe was $10, and the spinach was $9. Once again, the math did not add up. Confronted the waiter once again, and his explanation was .. there was no explanation! Not going back here. Felt ripped off!

BYOB. Worth the trip to enjoy great food in a throw back to 70s like environment. But authentic. No nonsense service and staff. Professional staff. One word of advice, if you want a special ask the price. We had the special pasta and then learned it was almost 2x price of menus pastas. Anyway, check it out.

They are open and eating in the parking lot. I have to hand it to these little restuarant's, they are making it work. La Vecchia Fontana had wonderful food despite the fact that they were in 'Unusual Times'. They wait staff was understaffed and running around like crazy. My only complaint was the water...tap and a bit brackish. I started with the sautéed octopus- tasty, well prepared and seasoned to perfection. Next was mushroom risotto. Very good, actually more than I could eat. The mushrooms appeared to be porchini with, possibly morrels. Mama K started with artichoke hearts and progressed to gnocchi & with a light cream sauce. She was pleased! Glammom K also did the artichoke hearts and moved to devour Bronzino w/angel hair pasta. Wine: since it's byob, we brought our own: 2016 Meyer family vineyard- fluffy billows cab 2017 J Lohr hilltop cab Worth it but wait until it's cooler - (7/31)

As I was winding up a 2-week vacation in Avalon NJ during the COVID-19 pandemic summer of 2020, we booked a a reservation for 5 at this Italian Restaurant in a resort turned condos. We'd been to the site several times before, but long enough ago that it may have been different ownership. So we were skeptical. Also, during this vacation we inly cooked at home or had takeout. And our home-cooked meals were far better than the takeout which sometimes crested $300 for family of 5!! Anyway, we were immediately impressed by the table spacing in the new parking lot dining room. And as guests arrived, we were also impressed by the hustle of the short-staffed team. Having just had a subpar takeout Italian experience at a *similar* restaurant on the island, we asked our waiter enough questions to be classified as "picky". But as experienced diners we were just trying to order within the parameters of the sweet spot for the day. The end result was hands-down the best meal of vacation 2020! Perfectly cooked shrimp and lobster over linguine. Excellent mushroom risotto. Fragrant Spaghetti a la Fontana. Deliciously tender grilled octopus with the sweetest red onions. Also the staff was friendly, fast-moving and smiled continuously (with their eyes and voices--they all wore masks) while essentially running a marathon. There were some pauses in the service due the minimal staff, number of tables and the overall situation. But the overall result was excellent. Seriously the best food we had on 7mi island!! Give them a try on the north end near the inlet. You won't be disappointed. And the bill was considerably under $300 for a hungry party of 5 including dessert.

The food is amazing but the service is a hot mess. Great authentic Italian, but literally nothing comes out as it should. The servers are completely lost. The bread was rock hard and the bill was a complete mess. Wait staff seemed overwhelmed and does not want to take any accommodations for customers or even take requests. It's a shame because the food is sooo good. But just a horrible dining experience

Delicious Italian restaurant with a fun ambience, wonderful waitstaff, delicious food, and pretty table ware! Visited here with my family and I had the Pomodoro Fritto, Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli Special, and the Limoncello Mascarpone Cake. Everything was delicious, and our waiter was very friendly and funny! This was my second time here, and both times were wonderful visits. Will definitely be back!

Came here after not being able to get our table at Polpo - loved it! Penne vodka was delicious and the service was great. They did their best to accommodate our large group of 9 last minute. Definitely will be back!

Probably one of the best restaurants for Italian in the Avalon/Stone Harbor area. I've never had a pasta I didn't like, especially any of the dishes with fresh seafood. Their burrata special with grilled eggplant was also delicious. It is BYOB and there is a parking lot! Hard to come by in the area.

The food was good. The service was ok. As soon as we got there we were seated in the worst table at the place. For the first 40 minutes we sat next to a table completely blinded by the sun. 3/4 of us had to hold menus up to block the sun because it was so uncomfortable. At one point the AC went off and it was disgusting hot in there. Then we had to wait 25 min, and request twice, to get a bucket of ice for our wine. By the time it got there, my wine was warm from sitting in the heat. All they have to do to fix the problem is get a shade. Such an easy fix That said, the food was pretty good. But due to the extreme discomfort we experienced, none of us would be going back.

I don't care how good the food is, it's not worth it. We had 7:45 reservations but weren't seated until 8:20. It's incredibly noisy, so you have to lean in and yell to have a conversation. We ordered the eggplant appetizer, and had the pleasure of biting into pieces of walnut shell. Our entrees were good, but my dad ordered chicken piccata and they served him chicken francaise. Our waiter was very nice, but this place is clearly not managed well. Do not recommend.

Went here for the outdoor seating during Covid and it was fantastic!! The servers were professional and really made sure to keep their distance, and there was plenty of space between other tables as well. The food was absolutely outstanding, easily one of the best meals I've ever had here in Avalon. I seriously plan on eating/ ordering food here at least once a week now, I loved the food that much!

Below average. Take out arrived cold, without bread and with a piece of tinfoil in the gnocchi. Not rushing back.

great food and date-night ambience. friendly service, but they do not serve alcohol so BYOB.

Had a reservation. No hostess. Finally seated. Waited 30 minutes. Waiter took care of other tables that came in after us. We questioned it and he was arrogant told us he would be right back and disappeared.

We have eaten here twice. It is a Avalon staple for us. Everything is tasty and good. I do not balk at the price compared to some other places like Avalon brew pub. The food is really good and just like their sister location in Sea Isle.

Made a reservation for a Saturday night via Open Table, called and cancelled the reservation on Thursday due to a change in our flight schedule from airline. The hostess told me it was cancelled. On the following Monday I was charged a $100 no show fee. I called the restaurant immediately and the woman who answered said they would take care of it. 3 days went by and no refund so I called again, this time the woman said I needed to call earlier in the day and speak to a manager. I called the following day and spoke to the man saying he was the manager and he claimed he needed to contact Open Table to reverse the charge. I contacted Open Table and they said the restaurant charged it and the restaurant has to refund it. I called him back again (this is the 5th or 6th time I've contacted the restaurant at this point) and he said he would refund it. I called every week and it was not done. Finally I disputed it with my credit card company and they refunded the $100. HOWEVER THE RESTAURANT DISPUTED IT BACK! I have tried emailing the restaurant, the restaurant group, etc to no response. I am so disappointed as we had frequented all of their restaurants on Sea Isle and in Avalon and this customer service is SO dishonest and shady! We are there every summer and we will never visit another of their restaurants. Thankfully there are so many other good spots to frequent!

Number 1 item. BYOB!!! Hard to believe other reviewers don't say this or put so deep into the review. This restaurant is in an old hotel now a condo I believe. As such it it retains the characteristics of a typical hotel restaurant mediocre food with high prices. We had Bolognese and veal française. The veal was fine but the pasta dish was over salted. The wait staff was very nice and did a good service.

We had a large group Saturday night , the entrance is located in a hotel lobby that off season is closed so in our case the dark lobby and lack of a hostess was a little confusing. However if you can get by that the food was worth the initial impression. Caesar salads were great , we shared a gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce which was really nice for a starter course. Entrees included chicken w lemon butter wine sauce -awesome, veal special with shrimp and light lemon sauce was very good and the old standby Chicken Parmesan was really nice , great sauce and fork tender meat. The 3 waiters for the small restaurant did a great job handling the crowd albeit a few missed silverware settings. Give it a try in Avalon BYOB too !!

You can have this place... subpar Italian with a manager who thinks a 10 top can be turned in 1.5 hrs. Double booked again and they tried to tell us they backed us up 15 min even though we booked 1 month in advance. Frozen calamari which was mush, and risotto that was not anywhere near the classic creamy firm dish. Vodka penne.... blahahaha Good luck.

Been vacationing on the island for over 50 years but never tried this restaurant. We needed a last minute reservation and this was one of the few restaurants available so we took a chance (all our usual go-to restaurants were fully booked). So glad we did as our group of four had a great meal - excellent service, excellent food. The risotto with seafood and shrimp dishes were excellent. No question that we will be back again this summer. So glad we tried it - and really enjoyed it.

Have been twice in past month and both times service was poor, poor, poor (hope reigns supreme :) . In each instance, had to request service several times. Including host, a grand total of a staff of 3 to seat, serve, bus for an absolutely packed and noisy house. To be fair, the 2 servers were hustling but overwhelmed. Got it that servers/bus staff leave after the summer BUT knowing that happens every year, need to address the issue! BYOB is nice (bring your own corkscrew if you want bottles opened in a timely fashion), no ice bucket offered or brought to the table. Food is definitely good--veal, seafood pescatore, arugula & beet salad. Pricey but not out of line w/area. Off season it is a captive audience, a shame to take advantage of it.

Summer of 2021 when most places are over crowded, no staff and poor food this place has found a way to deliver. The service was good and food bordering on excellent. Everything we ordered was on point; calamari, fried tomato with burrata and pesto, Caesar salad, veal Fontana, pasta w/ seafood. Not to mention excellent Italian bread ordered in from AC. We are going back.

We had a brunch for 32 at Le Vecchia. Their new Chef, Ciro did a great job of planning the menu. He was easy to work with and very accommodating. The food was delicious! I particularly liked the Chicken Marsala and the Salmon Amalfi. The fruit salad was terrific and beautifully presented. The food was abundant and our guests were very complementary. We went home happy and look forward to our next Chef Ciro meal.

The staff at La Vecchia Fontana could not be more rude. Beyond rude. I have never felt so unwelcome at any restaurant and this was after spending $250 in an hour and ten minutes for a party of five AT A BYOB. In this time, we were rushed three courses, and then at the 1:10 mark a staff member approached us and asked to leave BEFORE our coffee and wine were even finished. Apparently, they over-scheduled their restaurant and had several people waiting in the lobby and since we paid our bill, we were expendable. In fact, they crammed so many tables in the restaurant that it was nearly impossible to get to your table and once we arrived the table, it was placed next to the door so the sunlight was so blinding that they put a table cloth over the door. And with so many tables, It was so loud you could barely hear the people at your own table. Exactly the ambiance you want for a $250 meal. But mostly, I will never get over how rude they were. We will never go back.

Great Italian food, but absolutely THE WORST customer service I have ever seen at any restaurant in my entire life. They do not have a receptionist, so even if you are on time for a reservation, they may not seat you for a good 15-30 minutes. We ordered takeout one time and they told us it would be a 30-40 minute wait for our food. It ended up being an hour and 30 minutes. Do not recommend ever going here unless you like waiting extended periods of time for any type of normal customer service.

3 stars is generous but I'll give it anyway. We were an 11 top booked months in advance. Like others said, it was BYOB. No ice buckets. The appetizers were very good (mozzarella, calamari, caprese). Caesar salad was really good. Entrees were hit and miss. My rigatoni bolognese was amazing (very garlicky), the chicken parm was ok but the chicken picatta was over cooked and my husband and sister's veal was terrible. My sister sent hers back but my husband made the mistake of eating his anyway and spent the night dealing with food poisoning. The waiter had to be asked to remove my sister's veal and was pretty clear that he was annoyed about it. The bread was good. Like another reviewer said, it is a VERY loud place. Very difficult to have a conversation even with the person sitting next to you. I probably wouldn't go back.

Well my meal was very underwhelming. First the Caesar salad was nothing special. Small for the price and the dressing tasted like it was from a bottle off the supermarket shelf. I ordered the Veal Marsala. Meat was tough. Virtually zero flavor. It was like they forgot the salt or used cheap Marsala wine. Almost like there was no foundation to the Marsala sauce. Specials were $41.95. Yeh right. I would not order them just on principle. So I ordered off the menu. The portions on the specials also looked small for $41.00. My companions said they were good, not great. Maybe people don't care about price or quality, but I do. I will not be returning. The only good thing about this place is that there is a parking lot.

We had a reservation for 11 people on Sat Sept 22. They were so understaffed and overwhelmed with the crowd. It took two hours to get our meals! My chicken piccata was definitely missing something. It was quite bland. The room is so overcrowded with the tables that no one can even move around! Not sure where the management was but the lack of service and employees was so evident. Will not go back.

We saw an add that they have 20% off your meal if you sit before 5:30pm and mention it so we did that. I saw the bill cause I took my coworkers out to eat they did not honor the add when I mentioned it and just to add I took the server somewhere private and I was calm but he did not like that got offensive and told me to lower my voice. I took my friends and we left tried to speak to the manager the next day and he hangs up on me twice so now we are on a dispute with my bank. When you offer you should honor it and respect your elders never going back. This place is over rated their service was horrible food is over priced for being box pasta and frozen sea food no side dishes like salad or soup we had to ask for everything had a man called mike not sure if his name is right and he acted like a snob came to our table reading the specials from a phone when asked prices he just ignored my friends and kept reading so fast we had to ask him to repeat it and slow down. My friend that I took to dinner was between 70 and the oldest was 91 years old and it was six, and me make it seven so he was already getting annoyed no patience for the elderly. We spilt the table so I had a check and the other couple insisted in paying their check so they did not honor the 20% discount on both bills. This is not about the price of the bill when the house I'm staying cost $3500.00 for just one week so 170.00 dollar check is nothing this is about offering a service and not respecting your guest or honoring your discounts. When we got to the house we just laughed it off and made jokes about it playing sequence the board game so we did not let ruin our day.

Food is expensive and the service is pretty overrated. Came in last night to find three people working a total of thirty tables with no manager in sight. The staff was overworked and it showed. Our waiter was hosting, serving, and busing. For all I know, he was cooking as well. The interior was not following health department guidelines for seating.

Don't ever go to this restaurant. While their food is good they run a terrible business. Over the last two summers I've had three reservations there and I've had to wait up to an hour with two of them and never got seated on the third. We had an 8:30 reservation and gave up at 9:40, still in the lobby with many others. They play the same game at la Fontana Coastal in Sea Isle City. STAY AWAY FROM BOTH!

Dinner was very good however when we got the bill we were appalled to find out that the specials were double the prices on the menu. An arugula salad with apples, goat cheese, and walnuts was 15.95 Prices of specials should be told to customers especially when they are so much higher than regular items. The specials were not worth their value.

EVERYTHING IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE!!!!! where do I start?! There are no soft drinks, and the water tasted and smelled strange. The waitress argued with us and tried to defend herself after messing up our order. The place was tiny and insanely loud. It was also strangely in a condo complex. The bread was cold, the risotto was microwave, and the pasta had randome chili peppers in it. The service was awful. We walked in and we were asked "what type of water, tap or sparkling", because that was the only choice of drinks. If you chose to ask for bread or water, the staff would give you a dirty look. It was also WILDLY overpriced. Don't even waste you time here. GO ELSEWHERE! If I could put negative amounts of stars, I would.

As always, a really nice meal- couple of nice salads, shared a fantastic capellini positano, couple of veal chops, salmon etc. everything is great but their pasta is really superb. They set up n the parking lot which gave us plenty of room and fresh air. Good service like having dinner at friends except those friends can cook!

We had a wonderful meal there this evening. The service was very attentive. I had the special crab and shrimp ravioli and my husband had the veal rolitini with shrimp and pea risotto. We finished with pistachio gelato and a cannoli. We shall return!

What a pleasant surprise! Coming to 7 mile island since 1963 and last night was our first visit. Service by Joya was excellent! Food was outstanding!!! Recommend the mussels app. They even have gluten free pasta! Love this place!

Another fantastic meal with the family. Best restaurant in Avalon. The chicken and veal parm are very good and flounder was excellent. BYOB and great food!

If I could rate this restaurant -10 I would. We had a reservation and arrived to start a nice meal. A few members of the party went to use the bathroom. It was "out of order!" Everything went downhill from there...including the conversation that took place with the manager. I believe the quote was "If you don't want your food I'll call you an uber." To the disrespectful boy/"manager"...Get it together! You have no bathroom and you should be accommodating and more forthright. End of story.

Food was great, I ordered the shrimp scampi and my boyfriend got the risotto. We shared clams and fried calamari for an appetizer. However, the service was not great. We ate on Memorial Day and they were extremely understaffed, especially for the holiday. There were only four other tables in there (none of them big). We waited at the hostess stand for ten minutes before walking over and asking if we should seat ourselves. We saw another couple experience the same issue. Our server did not come over for another ten minutes, and we did not receive menus until we asked for them. We also had to ask for rolls and waters. Pretty disappointing experience, given the food was so great. For the price and the service, I would not go back.