Ambrosia Restaurant & Bar

I do love Ambrosia for several reasons: consistency, atmosphere, and generally their food. We had stuffed mushrooms for the appetizer; these were gobbled up, so delicious. For dinner, my friend had the halibut which was fantastic, and I had the beef tenderloin ravioli which needed some help. We sat at the bar, as we were told it would be a long wait for a table, yet many tables remained empty the whole time we were there. Maybe they were short staffed. Our server was good, but I think she forgot to check on our food when it came out, which brings me back to the ravioli. It was overcooked, cold, and the brown butter sauce has been all soaked up, so it was rather dry and chewy. The server corrected this by bringing a sauce the kitchen whipped up, and with that it was quite good. For dessert we had the yummy flourless chocolate cake. I’ve been going here for over 20 years, and the restaurant remains a favorite, but after dining in Portland for the last 15, my expectations of fine dining are very high and Ambrosia missed the mark last night. I will be back, but I will definitely order something different.

Stopped in for drinks and hors d’oeuvres last night — Wednesday. Food and atmosphere were nice. But for the second time, we were chastised for not having reservations. Really? It was 5pm. The place was EMPTY and continued to be so for the next hour! We left around 7 and the restaurant was still not packed. In fact, we were making jokes most of the time about how loud it was in the vacant area in which we were seated. Not the way to treat your paying customers, Ambrosia!

Awesome bartender! Thank you so much for setting our taste buds back on track! Great bread with balsamic & olive oil, fresh garlic and rosemary! Service here is outstanding, ask for Jason! Definitely one of the best in the business! We had the best crab stuffed mushrooms, thanks Erik!

Always liked this place… But sat at the bar for a at least 20 minutes without any acknowledgement from the (hopefully new) bartender. How many times does one have to ask for a drink? There were a few people at the bar… Guess they must have ordered some really complicated drinks. Anyway a previously loyal customer from the old days probably won’t be rushing back. Wake up, unlike the old days, There’s a lot of great options downtown these days.

Had a bad experience service wise but they made it up by comping our appetizers and drinks. Good food. Just a bad night for them

I ordered the beef stroganoff, stuffed crab cakes, calamari The food was great service was ok they are slow for dinner we got here at 6pm it 8pm it was only 4 of us. All in all I like the food I think it price too high

I’m giving it 3 stars for 3 reasons.
1. We had to wait to be seated while no one was waiting ahead of us.
2. We had to wait for our server and it took awhile to get our food
3. Drinks were soooo late
The food pricey but was good but almost not worth it…
Will I go here again? I honestly don’t know… I’m torn… Still waiting on our check… so maybe not… I would understand if it was packed but I don’t see anyone else in our section, hmmm
(Here are some of the things we had, some in our party started eating before I could take a picture)

I’ve lived in Eugene just over a year, and I’m sad I’ve never been here before. I spent two years stationed in Alaska and I’m always hesitant about ordering fish after catching it myself and having it same day, I was wrong. I got the halibut covered in a blackberry sauce with rice and veggies and holy shit was it delicious. Comboed with a glass of Sailor Jerry I’ll certainly be coming back!!!

Food took way too long. Pear salad ok, tasty. Froze my a_​_​off waiting for a calzone. It has been an hour and a half and we have not had it served to us. Finally! We got our calzone, almost two hours. Waiter was embarrassed and said it was on him. Good thing. We ordered the chicken pesto calzone and we got a cheese and some mushrooms No chicken and the crust was not cooked.
The best thing in the restaurant was our waiter Eric. Somebody please steal him.

Just showed up at 8:45 on a Wednesday and was told they were closed even though they are all in there «working» with people sitting outside eating. Maybe you shouldn’t say you’re open until 9pm if you’re a liar?

Fabulous Lobster Ravioli! Always a good dinner here. Love to come for a romantic evening.

I joined 16 family members for a pre-​wedding party — we were rambunctious and loud (think Italians who hadn’t seen each other in awhile). We were given the upstairs table and were served so graciously with such good food, that Ambrosia gets high marks in my book!
The next time I’m in Eugene, I’ll go back for a normal eating experience, and know I’ll really enjoy it! Thank you Ambrosia!

I ate supper here the other evening — lobster ravioli, Caesar salad, and a toffee carmel pudding cake for dessert. Tonight I’m having the Four Seasons pizza and Caesar salad as take out.
The pizza consisted of two slices each of artichoke hearts, mushrooms, pepperoni, and prosciutto. This was delicious with ample ingredients on each slice, which was small in size. Tonight’s Caesar salad had large pieces of romaine lettuce, which were awkward to eat because I didn’t have a knife with which to cut them into smaller pieces.
I’ll write now of the previous supper, which I ate at the restaurant, sitting outside. The lobster ravioli was bland, and I thought the pasta encasing the lobster was thicker than it needed to be. There could have been more lobster, too. All in all, I wouldn’t order it again. The Caesar salad was delicious — bite-​sized pieces of crisp lettuce tossed with dressing and cheese and croutons. The dessert was an interesting choice to offer as it’s English in origin amid Italian cuisine. The toffee imparted an unusual flavor.

I loved my meal. That’s honestly all I remember from my visit. It’s like the girl’s name you can’t remember but you remember her having a nice swoon to her walk. Ya dig? That halibut… that sauce. What sauce you say? Lemon, dill, shallot, white wine sauce. Perfectly grilled halibut on a bed of greens and tasty risotto.
Appetizer is fresh bread with garlic and olive oil. I loved my meal. That’s really all I know. The layout was a little awkward, some tables really close, some 6 person tables next to 2 person tables, creates contravaling noise levels throughout the floor. I feel like having a more romantic and quiet section for 2 – 4 people, and then some more loud tables in another section for groups is a better option. Staff was good, you can always tell when the staff really loves food and cooking because our server definitely didn’t play the halibut and that sauce up to what it should be. Saying «it’s popular and I like it» doesn’t do justice to a wonderful dish.

Two years later and the same thing has happened… we arrived for our reservation a few minutes early to a nearly empty restaurant and told that we would be seated only at 5:30 on the dot and to take a seat to wait. When asked why, the hostess informed us that due to a large party (the only party in the place was about 6 people) already seated it would be terribly hard on the wait staff and kitchen to seat us before our reservation time. I struggled to make any sense of this, as a woman and her daughter who came in right after us without a reservation were immediately seated. How does making a reservation wait while seating walk-​ins help the kitchen? Is there not enough kitchen staff in the first place? Why aren’t the customers as important as the wait and kitchen staff? Why is there no manager or a manager who actually manages the place? When it became obvious to the hostess that we were not pleased she grudgingly seated us with a snide «You are being seated 5 minutes early!»
The food itself was delicious. I had Tradizionali Penne con Salsiccia, my husband had a calzone. The wait staff was attentive throughout the meal. However, as we neared the end of dining, the wait staff bustled our plates away whilst mid-​bit. My dad had to snatch his piece of pizza as the plate was being removed.
First they don’t want to seat us, then they want us to hurry up and leave. I just don’t understand what has happened to Ambrosia, and with so many other options to choose from where the staff is actually happy to seat parties, five minutes early or not, it will be a while before we return.

I have been coming to Ambrosia for going on 10 years now. I love love love this restaurant. It is one of my top favorites. My favorite dish to get is the fettuccine davide. Also their salads are amazing and their blue cheese is homemade and out of this world. The bread is awesome as well. The servers are awesome. I have come in a lot over the 10 years, dining in and taking food to go. Both ways of eating here the food is always amazing. My dessert favorite is the chocolate mousse. I don’t drink but very rarely but their hard strawberry lemonade is bomb.

I must admit, prior to this year I thought that Ambrosia had all but disappeared off the map. To me Ambrosia seemed antiquated, dusty, but I decided to give it another go one day with a friend of mine. You must give it to whoever decorated the place because the whole dramatic velvet drapery, and fringed lampshades really do lend to the mysterious ways this restaurant moves.
The employees are the ones who really changed my view of this place. Their familiarity and genuine connections with their patrons are a rarity in any restaurant business, much less one that’s seems to be struggling with relevancy.
My favorite place in most establishments, is the bar. You really get to know the restaurant by the bar, I feel. You hear, feel, and see all the goings on of the restaurant from that one high seat at the bar. I always sit at the bar at Ambrosia, I chat with the bartenders, servers while eating a pound of clams, shallots, garlic and herbs in a white wine butter sauce, sipping on a cloud nine as I take in the going on’s of the night.
Here’s my advice: come in with an open mind, listen and taste with all five senses and enjoy yourself at Ambrosia.

Ambrosia is my favorite restaurant in Eugene. Every time my parents are in town, this is our go-​to place. This restaurant is also favorited by many of my friends and any time we have a special occasion, this is the first place that comes to mind. For an italian restaurant with amazing food, the prices can’t be beat. The service is always top-​notch and they go out of their way to make you feel comfortable and served throughout your time there. The only downside about this place is that it gets crowded, so be sure to make a reservation far in advance.

I’ve been here quite a few times for lunch and dinner and it is usually pretty good; there have been times that I’ve gotten some lackluster service but the food is generally excellent. I tend to stick with the specials since they are usually the best options, although they have some stellar items on their everyday menu: the Insalata Pistachio is very tasty and their Crab Stuffed Mushroom appetizer is prepared very well — flavorful and tender; the cheese plate is usually a good bet as are the roasted olives. As far as entrees on their everyday menu I would go for the Lobster Ravioli or the Wild Mushroom Agnolotti although the Pan-​Seared Scallops have been good as well.
I will say that over the years I have had some mixed experiences here, particularly in more recent times which is why they get 3 stars. Some of my worse experiences may have been due to new staff — e.g. french onion soup coming sans bread and cheese, which makes it really just onion soup — but those things need to be caught by their trainers or the kitchen staff. They are always very gracious when errors or complaints are brought to their attention, so that is a big plus.

Great restaurant. The service was excellent for our large party. The food was outstanding (although I would have liked to see a few more choices).
Be warned that it is crowded and on the noisy side.
Overall, a great place for dinner out in Eugene.