Alvaro Bread and Pastry Shoppe

Absolutely charming and amazing! I can’t stress enough that you will love this restaurant! They make everything from scratch, and it’s is a genuinely family establishment

Alvaro Bread & Pastry is a family owned restaurant important in its neighborhood community, it just wouldn’t be the same without it. I usually get the chicken parm sub, it is always good.

We had the sausage and peppers and the eggplant parm. Both were excellent. The sausage is made fresh in store. Bread was great.

Excellent neighborhood Italian. Seating is limited, I’m generally a take out person there and have never, ever had a bad pasta dish. Gelato portion is obscenely huge. It lasted me days at home. Be sure to check the hours if you want dinner, they close at 6pm most nights (fine to take out on the way home) and serve dinner in the evenings on Fridays and Saturdays, with reservations very strongly recommended. The only thing I don’t recommend is the cookies and cannoli, which have been either very dry or damp in my experience. Chicken parm, penne with vodka sauce and meatballs are standouts.

An absolute neighborhood gem. Brick oven breads, house-​made pasta, pastries and gelato. Family-​run, committed to the city, the neighborhood, and their customers. They close a couple weeks mid-​summer to go back to Italy for family visits and gelato supplies. Lunch and dinner, order at the counter, dine in or take out. BYOB. Stop in when they open for pastries still warm from the oven.

Prices and portion sizes are superb! I’ve been here prior to my Unilocal days, and recently returned. I was craving something Italian after having been in Texas for 2 years. I decided to go with a small eggplant parm sandwich, while my boyfriend ordered a slice of pepperoni pizza. I also wanted pizza, but I told him he could have the last slice, so I was a little bummed that by 1:30 pm, they were already out of pizza. The sandwich was good, but a bit cold and very difficult to eat. The flavor made up for that, but I would have preferred the stuff to bread ratio to be a bit more even. My boyfriend’s slice of pizza was similar, where there was sooo much bread, and very little sauce/​cheese/​toppings. I ended up ordering a side of sauce (free, which was great!) and using it to dip all of the remaining bread after the pizza part of it was all gone. I understand that they are known for their bread, so it definitely makes sense. I know I will be back, undoubtedly for a loaf of bread.

Came for lunch: terrific sandwiches, especially the chicken Parmesan. Family-​owned and all cooked and baked on site. Get an extra roll to nosh on while you wait. Will definitely be back. P. s. Save room for one of their awesome almond cookies.

Absolutely fabulous fresh baked bread! Real authentic Italian bread. Staff is very friendly and helpful. Will definitely be back!

This place was great! Delicious food, reasonable prices, and friendly service! We will definitely be going back.

A very authentic family owned Italian restaurant/​bakery! We had the ravioli & sausage and the chicken parm Gnocchi and it was excellent. For dessert we had the biscotti and it was phenomenal.
It’s a warm, friendly, family run Italian resistant very similar to the decades old Italian bakeries in Brooklyn that we go to. The son was running the shop and he was very passionate about sharing the history of their restaurant. Would definitely come back!

By far the best Italian Restaurant in Harrisburg! Awesome Food, awesome Service. Can’t wait to go again…

Nothing beats good homemade cooking and baking. We ordered the sausage and peppers and pizza. Big portions and competitive pricing. It’s a small place so it’s usually hard to move around during lunch break during the week. I like that they have a variety of things to eat throughout the week. Did I mention they were a super friendly family? I encourage you to try their cookies and gelato too!

Great homemade food, and large portions. We got their pepperoni and sausage pizza, and their penne pasta. The pizza slice was huge. I liked the texture and the flavor of the pizza dough — it was nice and chewy, with a light sweet note. The pizza also had a lot of toppings, which I liked. We also liked the pasta sauce, which tasted fresh and herby. The pasta also came with really good bread. Bottom line — this place seems to have amazing bread items. I tend to like keeping my carbs light so it wasn’t my style but I still really liked the food.

UPDATE 8÷1÷2015 I guess the previous one was just a bad dish as I gave them another chance with multiple dishes including Chicken Parmesan Hoggie and some pasta and they delivered it well and it was one of the best I have had in Harrisburg. Changing my review from 1 star to 4 star. It is still not 5 stars due to one bad experience I had.
Oh boy. I read some reviews and my co worker gave a personal recommendation so I thought I would try it out for lunch. I got the chicken Parmesan with penne pasta.
And it was not good .
It was bad
The moment I opened the box there was a rotten smell and I assumed it was just the smell of the cheese. Then I ate it, the pasta literally tasted like vomit. I don’t know if the cheese was bad or the pasta was undercooked or the sauce was bad but that was a very negative experience that I had. I did not even bother with the chicken as I could not bear risking the taste again
I tasted 5 pieces of penne pasta and I was done and this was all I could bear. I had a thought maybe It was an acquired taste, I let my wife taste this and she spit it out and she loves penne pasta
This was my first experience at Alvaro and a very negative last. I just hope the 5 penne pieces I did have don’t give me food poisoning

Just had the sausage and peppers sub. I ordered a large because I was hungry. OMG! It’s huge! The Taste is killer! I shall return!

Delicious!!! We went there for the OUTSTANDING Cookies, came to find they served hot homemade meals as well! Lasagna, Eggplant, Meatballs, are to name a few, menu is different everyday! Enjoy!
Con: We travel from Long Island to buy the cookies and they are almost always SOLD out! We can’t even pre-​order! LOL, its like hitting the lotto in the morning before our trip from NY to Harrisburg, we call to see if we can have a few pounds put aside and they are always already sold out!!! That is how amazingly yummy they are!!!

Great spot for lunch and quality Italian food. I grew up in north nj where Italian restaurants are like McDonald’s (in terms of being everywhere) and this place competes. I had the stuffed shells with eggplant. Perfect amount of food, left there stuffed.

Alvaros is a hidden treasure in Harrisburg. Located in Midtown just a block or two from the Governor’s Mansion.
I have been going to Alvaros for over eight years now, it’s great for lunch, a snack and dinner. Any of the pasta dishes are a must, the pizza is not like anything you will ever have in Harrisburg. Don’t even get me started on the great gelato. The menu changes each day and sometimes it just depends on what Mamma wants to make that day.
The fresh baked bread is a diet killer, we have stopped there to grab a loft or two and it does not make it to the next day.

This is possibly the best Italian around. It is unpretentious, friendly, high quality, and feels like you have found a secret. Like a neighborhood hideaway in a much bigger city. We had a garlic spaghetti, chicken parm, penne in pink cream sauce, and chicken cordon bleu today. Pasta is perfectly cooked, and the chicken is hot and crispy. The cordon bleu had a spicy capicolla inside. We will be back over and over. Oh my god, yes! The Rosemary Tuscan bread then came home for later.

What a great find. Feel like I should keep it a secret. Besides great bread and Italian pastries, the food on weekend evenings is very good.
Went Friday night and had some pasta and stuffed meatballs.
Nice appetizers as well.
Limited menu and all cooked and served by the family.
BYO as well.
The best Italian I have had in the area and nice cozy atmosphere with only 6 – 7 tables.