A Veneto Pizzeria
My husband and I had planned to eat lunch in Glorietta, Makati while waiting for our car which was in the shop. Red and green colors of a nearby dining place caught our eye and we stopped to read the menu. It was impressive at first glance. The name of the place is A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante. Having such a name makes me think authentic italian and italian always makes my mouth water. We entered excitedly and hungrily.
The place was… shall I say trying hard? It appeared to want to look more high end but ended up about 10,000 steps short. The sign at the entrance said "Please wait to be seated", but no one greeted you at the door so my husband just charged in and picked the nearest table there was.
We were given thick laminated menus that were neither chic nor cheap. The selection though was interesting. There were several choices for appetizers, salads, pasta and pizza. Everything sounded delicious even though the pictures on the menu were far from enticing. It may have been to my husband though, because he ordered enough for 6 people (we were only 2).
We chose the A Veneto Family Platter, the Baked Zitti with 3 Hungarian Sausages, and two sliced of pizza – Bacon Cheeseburger and New England’s Best.
A Veneto Family Platter – This barkada appetizer included french fries, onion rings, breaded crabsticks and chicken wings. It came with catsup and sour cream for dipping. The first piece I tried was one of the onion rings. It came big, round and floured. Someone though forgot to put in seasoning and the whole thing just tasted like fried flour. The sour cream did wonders so it was bearable enough for me to wolf down a couple. The crabsticks tasted… well weird and soggy so I stopped at one piece. The fries tasted like the frozen one I buy at the grocery for my kids or those that are cooked by Potato Corner using a turbo broiler. The saving grace of this dish is the chicken. It was fried crisp and salty and doused with chili sauce. Yummy.
Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza – Large, thin and oh so bacon-ly. It might have been my love for anything bacon but this pizza tickled my fancy. I am embarrassed to say I finished every last bite. It was thin. It was sweet. It was salty. It was soo yummy.
Baked Zitti with 3 Hungarian Sausages – The dish came very hot and oozing with cheese. That was about it. You could have eaten 3 spoonfuls and not notice anything. It was that forgettable and disappointing. My husband kept nibbling trying to find some sort of flavor. I advised him to eat some sausage with the pasta and it worked. He said it indeed tasted better. I still beg to differ. The sausages added flavor to the dish, but it could not hide the fact that it lacked taste and quality.
I no longer tried the New England’s Best pizza. I thought if that was New England’s Best, I do not want to imagine their worst. The pizza looked like a bigger version of a Greenwich pizza, only bigger. Tsk tsk.
You may think I am being too harsh and I do not mean to be. But naming your place A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante, one would expect some sort of authenticity in your establishment. There was nothing authentic about the place. It was all store bought and assembled. From the sauce which tasted like canned tomato paste cooked and seasoned, to the canned mushrooms spread on top of the pizza, to the fries, and even the black pepper. We saw the servers earlier spooning black pepper into McCormick containers from a big pail of black pepper (not sure if it was generic or just tons of McCormick black pepper in a pail).
Ok I will say one good thing about the place. You get what you pay for. The dishes are served and priced enough for sharing. To me, it was more a like a casual place where you took your friends if you want to and save money. The place feeds hungry diners and that’s about it. If you wanted to eat pasta or pizza and enjoy it, why not just go to TOSH. Its got a simple name but delicious food at least.
A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante
Ground Level
Glorietta 3, Ayala Center, Makati City
Tel. No: 818-3090
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I actually liked A Venetto. I first tried it when they branched opened in Trinoma last year. Their pizza was good with loads of toppings. Then they eased up on the toppings after a couple of months. They *might* be having problems with keeping the quality with the different branches? Hmm, I must try eating at their original branch one of these days.
P.s. I haven’t seen you in so long! When’s the next event?
You could try their nut pesto pasta with chicken, and philly cheese steak sandwich. Their pesto is one of my favorites, while my CFO (a.k.a. my wife) loves their steak sandwich.
Hi nina! So their first branch was in Trinoma? I agree that it looked like it had better times. But it is a fairly new place to start losing its quality right?
Re: P.s. – I havent been out in a long time! Mygosh my hubby and I have been so out of it lately. But we are looking forward to the next event too and meet up with old friends. I will see you soon (hopefully)!
Hi Ced and welcome to my site! Depending if I am not too hesitant to go back, I think I will try their Philly Cheese Steak. Thanks!
i like their bacon cheeseburger pizza, lasagna and Oil & Garlic w/ Seafood pasta. tagal ko na na-try yan coz there’s one near our place, so whenever tamad mag-cook sa house, isa sa choices namin yan when we wanna eat out nalang.
kaso now, dami ng restos na kalaban nya sa pque e! hehe.
u8mypinkcookies – Pareho tayo ng gusto na pizza. But that’s about it. I heard they were good years ago. So the place may just have deteriorated or the service/quality changed when they opened up this branch in Glorietta.
I prefer A Veneto over TOSH. I find the pasta at A Veneto tastier than those at TOSH. Try their chicken carbonara and seafood pesto pizza. Both are really good!
Although I must admit I don’t like their variations of pizza. I find it too dry so I only go to A Veneto for the pasta. My last visit at their branch at Glorietta was last month. I remember that their restroom was under maintenance during that time so that was quite disappointing. Have you tried Amici de Don Bosco and Green Tomato? My top two places for reasonably priced pasta and pizza dishes. 
weird that you missed adding the address to this post.
ciao!
Hi Ayen! I agree about Green Tomato but I have not personally been to Amici de Don Bosco but have heard great things about it.
You mean the bathroom was being renovated since last month? It was still under renovation last weekend when we were there. Tsk tsk.
I have been QA’d by Erin! I can say that I was too disappointed with the experience that I did not want to promote the place. But nah… I simply forgot. Thanks for noticing! I am updating this tonight.
i’m not so happy about tosh. i’ll give this resto a try.
happy – Thats too bad about TOSH. But yeah try this one but maybe the branch at Trinoma which I understand was the original one.
Hi there!
A friend of mine shared this blog with me..and already I’m hooked!
Try Mary Grace Cafe at Serendra – home of the famous ensaymadas and cheeserolls of Mary Grace. It comes of course with a tasty array of pastas and a whole lot. I particularly love the carbonara.
Let me know if Mary Grace Cafe tickles your taste buds.
Hi Sean! I am glad you came by and like it here. I haven’t tried Mary Grace Cafe but I have heard a lot about it. Is it the same as the one that sells apple pies? I’ll write about it once I get to dine there. Cheers!
I’m not sure about the apple pie (they probably have it on the menu or something)..They have a branch at Trinoma too, but its smaller than the one at Serendra, and likewise the overall feel of Serendra adds to the fun.
Oh, and try the hot chocolate too. I heard its quite something.
Yay! I’m not the only one who is not so fond of this place. Their tomato sauce is too sweet and made with canned tomato sauce. However, it is relatively affordable.
Candygirl – Don’t you just hate how artificial it tastes? Like using ready made sauce instead of mixing your own. I beg to disagree on the affordable. I would rather say “cheap”. It doesn’t cost that much for the quantity they serve but such a waste for the lack of flavor.
i suggest that you try their branches in timog or in visayas ave. these branches, as i believe were the first ones and not the one in trinoma. for those that are familiar with napoli pizzeria ristorante, they would find that the menus between the two pizzerias dont differ much. actually, they’re the same. that’s because they’re sister restaurants (dont ask me why they still bother changing the name)
ramil – do you mean that food may be better in these branches?
Yes, napoli in Timog is better than the others. And give seafood pesto pasta a try
tina – I am still trying to get acquainted with pesto.
I will try it as soon as I get my taste buds conditioned. Cheers!
i love a veneto’s carbonara with chicken! i think it’s the best. try it next time. i agree when you said the food at a veneto are meant for sharing and are priced reasonably.
edelweiza – My brother loves A Veneto actually so I resolve to give it a chance. I will try all your recommendations on my next visit and see how the experience goes. Thanks!
We celebrated my daughter’s (Charms) birthday in your resto last May 7. We really enjoyed your pizza and Seafood Pesto Pasta, so yummy talaga. Yun nga lang ‘wait to be seated’ pala jan. Dami pa naman tao. Nywyz its worth the wait naman. Sarrraap kasi ng food. I still have to try your carbonara on my next visit. I hope you put a branch at Robinson’s manila coz i’m near this place.
I think A Veneto is really a good place to eat. Cheap pero so far it never disappointed me if we were talking about food. Hehe. I hate their “please wait to be seated” concept though. Not really working cos they don’t assist agad.
BUT I think perhaps it was just the choice of food. You should try their oil and garlic in white sauce pastas and the nut pesto ones. Their seafood pesto pizza is good too.
I still think the branch in Glorietta is better.
Isai – Yes I agree it must have been the choice of food that I ordered. I still maintain that the chicken is the one thing that remains great. I went back to this place just for it.