Allegro Ristorante

A nice quiet place with great food generous portions, and they don’t rush you through your meal. Mussels were perfect, the bread with oil is so flavorful and the mushroom cream sauce with pappardelle was amazing. I won’t need to eat again for days.

What a wonderful find! Our server told us that the restaurant is 9 years old. This was a surprise because we thought it looked like new! In any case, everything was wonderful. The restaurant displays prints of notable Italian architecture, as well as some original art. As people involved in design, we always pick apart every restaurant, among ourselves, for the sheer joy of it. With Allegro, however, there were only one thing that made us cringe: The canopy about the bar … hmm … it’s out of place. Meanwhile, the restaurant has a wonderful ambiance that would be improved only by the addition of candles.
Another reviewer complained that the sausage and broccoli rabe pasta dish was too large. Sorry, but that’s hogwash. It was perfect in quantity and quite delicious. Everything was outstanding.
We decided to try different wines by the glass (5), which was fun. For our meal we enjoyed the following:
— Eggplant and parmesan meatballs (Excellent flavor!)
— Sausage and broccoli rabe (Delicious)
— Bread pudding (Incredible)
Food: 4.5 stars
Service: 4.5 stars
Ambiance: 4.5 stars
Rounding = 5 stars overall

Tried the rabbit meatballs last night. There’s a reason everyone is raving — they’re delicious.
Definitely a favorite place in a town severely lacking in the food department. I have some gripes but they are minimal and the types of gripes that are borderline obnoxious:
1. Pasta dishes are still too huge and then fennel sausage broccoli rabe dish is essentially a gigantic bowl of sausage. The pasta should be the largest percentage of the dish.
2. They keep their red wines at room temperature. That makes me insane. Way too warm.
3. Also, they don’t have a Lambrusco on the menu. I’d like to see an Italian frizzante make an appearance (by the bottle is fine).
4. It would be awesome to see them use their social media (Facebook, website) daily to post their specials. They rarely update.
I was a little disappointed in the short ribs, a dish I’ve been looking forward to trying. Zero seasoning. The bitterness of the rave was beautifully balanced by the parsnip/​potato purée but the dish itself was really boring. And the portion was far too large.
A lot of food is wasted. We were really shocked last night to see how much is taken home and how much is tossed. That’s my reason for deducting a star. It should be a clear sign that they are off on their portion sizes. And if they want to continue I think this would be awesome:
Make a half sized portion!
We have never finished a dish and the leftovers sometimes get finished but the food is like 3 – 4 meals worth so often times it doesn’t.

Worth the trip! Chose this restaurant as a meeting place with friends coming from NY and VT. The reservation info was left on the machine and the call was returned promptly. The manager was able to answer all food allergy questions we had (nut/​peanut). Upon arrival we were seated quickly and pleasantly by our server. Drinks and menus arrived immediately. House specials sounded unique and featured fresh local produce in many dishes. While the menu was short it offered many delicious dishes for a variety of tastes. See the website for the menu. Please note there were no options specifically listed for young children but they seem like they would be very accommodating. Fresh bread and olive oil preceded the meal. Every dish that came out was fresh, full of quality produce, seafood and other ingredients. All very tasty. While the menu was limited, dishes were executed well and we would return there in a heartbeat. It was well worth the hour drive to get there.

Excellent ambiance, excellent service, and excellent food. We would definitely recommend this restaurant!

As part of a group of seven, there were plenty of dishes to sample. Our favorite was the ribbon noodle pasta (pappardelle) with portabella and shitake mushrooms in a cream sauce. I had the pappardelle with a bolognese made with pork and beef that just didn’t send me. Another hit was the eggplant meatballs (veggie balls) that were good, but they didn’t have enough for each of us to try one. The skirt steak was a hit with the one person who had it; the swordfish got a meh! but we are a long way from the ocean, so considering we were in the mountains, it was fine. All in all the restaurant seemed to have a good sense of how to do things, so we will go back next time believing that it will be a better and more typical night for them. PS, they had a good wine list.

I love to come in for dessert. This time I had Avogadro paired with Sambuca. Fantastique

We love to stop at Allegro when we swing through Bennington. Consistently the best food and service in southern Vermont. Reasonable prices, masterful execution, spot-​on service.
We had amazing rabbit meatballs, spicy chicken pasta and tender flank steak. Plenty left over for lunch tomorrow.

We had a super yummy meal here for our anniversary last week. The eggplant Parmesan «meatballs» were crispy on the outside and appropriately gooey on the inside, the Arctic char was just delicious, and the Belgian chocolate pot de crème surpassed even my friend’s glowing review. We will be putting this on our «excellent kinda fancy dinner place» list for sure!

Delicious from top to bottom.
I had the Italian fennel sausage with broccoli rabe on a bed of penne pasta. The pasta was almost too al dente but the sauce & sausage were so good it didn’t matter. My daughter had skirt steak in mushroom cream sauce & that too was great — great cut cooked to perfection. My wife had a special of pasta in mushroom cream sauce tossed with bacon & chicken — also to die for. The Pinot by-​the-​glass was very good. The wait staff was great staff — patient, friendly, good humored, attentive … They have espresso.

Very nice experience here. Had rabbit meatball and rigatoni with tomato sauce. Both are flavorful and memorable dishes. The tomato sauce was especially fantastic. My friend said the food was on the slightly salty side, so if you like low sodium you probably wanna ask them to be easy on the salt.
This place is about 40min away from the Mt Snow ski resort, so consider it on your next ski trip!

Whenever we have something to celebrate we go to Allegro. We have only ever had the best dining experiences there: incredible, creative food; wonderful wine and beer selection; phenomenal service. Make sure to try the eggplant asparagus app– to die for!

The menu here is well put together and priced right for the quality of the food. The inside is open and appealing. The wine list was excellent which made my husband and I very happy– it can be hard to get a good glass of wine around these parts at a decent price. The food was excellent and the service was well timed which I appreciated.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here. Despite the restaurant’s shortcomings it was still a haven of decent food in the barren culinary desert of Bennington VT.
Décor and service were always fine and nice. The salads and bread were fresh and fluffy.
My only problem was that the pasta dishes are always either over-​seasoned in some way or they only hit one flavor note/​are a big pile of one thing taste/​texture. a couple of times the sauce was just too salty or too thick/​over-​saturated with cream to eat.
If I still lived here I would probably come back sometimes but I would order with a bit of caution or maybe have sauces on the side.

What a pleasant surprise! My wife and I were passing through Bennington and on a whim stopped at Allegro. The fare is simple and beautifully prepared with fresh ingredients. The pasta we perfectly cooked. It was kind of late but the wait staff was attentive and friendly. They didn’t try to hurry us out. Good simple Italian food, well prepared, pleasant quiet surroundings, a good moderately priced wine menu and friendly staff. We would happily return.

Driving through small towns in New England we usually don’t get this lucky. We were there early on a Saturday night and couldn’t get a table (even though the place was fairly empty-​reservations I assumed) so we sat at the bar. Obviously a place where locals go to spend their food dollars. The place was upscale, clean and tastefully decorated. Both our meals were fabulous. Service was courteous and prompt. The wine did not taste like it had been open that day but I can let that go.
We ended up having a nice relaxing meal that sustained us the rest of our drive home.

An excellent choice in Bennington! My husband and I were really happy with the service here and the kitchen was super fast!
We walked in at 9:15 ahead of a party of ten and our dinners arrived before they finished ordering. The party of 10 was also served incredibly fast.
The pappardelle with mushrooms was as good as the pasta I had in Italy.
The $ 4 house salad was very generous and the dressing was flavorful. Simply good food. Yum!

Very nice Italian restaurant in downtown Bennington. The pasta was excellent and the prices were very good as well. Clean restaurant with a nice atmosphere. Very friendly service and all you can eat bread with oil and vinegar dipping sauce.

My family and I have been big fans of Allegro for years, and we are glad it has survived the rough economic climate of Bennington for those years. The couple that owns the place is fantastic and always very welcoming.
And to be perfectly honest, this is probably the best restaurant in Bennington. They have a good menu — my mother likes the spaghettini with clams/​mussels, my father likes the alfredo, and I usually go for the locally-​grown specials or the spinach salad — and a decent wine selection (we like the pinots). And for dessert, we always get the pot de crème (it’s the best)!
If you’re in Bennington, definitely try Allegro!

8 o’clock on a Friday night and the streets of Bennington were deserted. However, as soon as I stepped into Allegro, I felt as if the town came to life. This place was so busy I was taken aback. My friend and I had to sit at the counter, otherwise it’ll be a 45 min wait. Wow!
The bread was so good we had to have seconds. That or the 2 of us were starving out of our mind. The bread was very good though. Being in front of the kitchen window, I couldn’t help but hawk out for our food, as always.
I had the rigatoni with chicken over spicy tomato cream sauce and it was amazing. It was spicy, creamy and very tasty. Half way through, it got a little too cheesy for me but I made it until almost the end. My friend enjoyed her clams and mussels over spaghetti as well.
If I were to live in Bennington, I’d frequent this place. The atmosphere was warm. Though busy, I was still aware that I was in the country, and not a bustling city. It was a very enjoyable dinner.