AVANT

My husband and I were staying at Rancho Bernardo Inn for our first anniversary and came to AVANT for our anniversary dinner. All expectations were exceeded at this beautiful restaurant and we felt like VIPs the whole time. Service, ambiance, food, drinks and desserts were all A+ and we are so appreciative of their anniversary gifts to us as well. Thank you AVANT team for making our anniversary perfect!

We had dinner at AVANT Friday night Food and servive was excellent
Saturday we celebrated my Wife's Birthday with Friends
The birthday cake Ordered never came
My breast of duck come rare ,after recooking the same meat it was very poor
We where giving the choice water or sparkling and where charged $ 9:00 per glass
On our bill there where 4 different other charges
It was not a enjoyable evening disappointing

Beautiful restaurant, creative and artistic plating of food, delicious flavors and very knowledgable and attentive staff. It was a wonderful experience all around!

It had been a while since we had been to Avant, and we were pleasantly surprised. The food was outstanding. It is clear the establishment is making a huge effort to return to their previous place. Although pricey, I am looking forward to our next visit.

Alway a treat dining at Avant! Staff is friendly, courteous, helpful and attentive. The food is always delicious and beautifully presented. We were there to celebrate a birthday, a go to for special occasions. We shared a salad and appetizer among the three of us and ordered our individual entrees.
Share plates were automatically offered with the salad and appetizer. The entrees were brought out all together so no one was waiting for their food. Our server was very helpful with suggestions and was spot on. We love the ambiance and decor, the free valet parking and the beauty of the RB Inn

Food and ambiance and waiter were all top notch!!

Everything was delicious and our sever Anthony was great!!!

Take down the noise level and this is the perfect place: great setting, excellent food creatively plated, excellent service. But, on this occasion, the noise level did not allow conversation at our table and at times, there was a shrill quality which was painful to the human ear.

Very ambitious chef and the staff is trying to keep up. The creations on the plates demonstrate that chef is working to bring our dining experience up a notch and the prices reflect the work that it takes to do it. Because of that price level, staff needs to get some more polish in order to complete the experience. Great effort though!

Great food, great service! Date night with my husband or cocktail at the bar never disappoints!

Delicious food and a couple of creative cocktails, ok wine list (by the glasses) better by the bottle, beautiful ambience, attentive service while sitting at the bar. Love this place! A little pricey for just every day, but nice special occasion place

This was an absolutely amazing experience. the restaurant provided my wife and I free champagne for our anniversary while we were awaiting our drinks. Then just everything was great from the appetizer to the salads to the entrees... Just A+

Great evening, cannot wait to go back! Charcuterie board and cheese board were delicious. We had a bottle of Gros Ventre Pinot Nior 2014 and loved it! The sweet potato gnocchi was wonderful, I would definitely order again. My boyfriend had the special (Waygu rib eye) and it came cold to the table, which was odd because we were a party of two and a fairly early sitting, but the waiter addressed the issue and offered a complimentary dessert. The ambiance was fabulous - we stayed for another drink and to enjoy the music, the service was impeccable. We will definitely be back.

Had the brussel sprouts appie which is not on the menu but we always ask for it. This should be a permanent item. It is so good. The Wagyu Duo is tender and delicious. Recommend highly.

After getting the check, I asked my server “why is there a $7.50 service charge”? He informed me that it was there to accommodate California’s $15.00 minimum wage. Wow! What an “in your face” charge. This should be included in the overall food pricing. The next time I am faced with this, without being notified in advance, I WILL NOT pay it. Either that or I will deduct from my overall tip. California needs to realize that those of us who do not drink their “juice” will not put up with there excessive spending and free benefits. Shamfull!!!!

Our server Jonah was not only attentive and knowledgeable, but very friendly and made our experience memorable. The restaurant is stunning and the chef prepares beautiful plates with photo-quality detail. I would recommend this restaurant for anyone celebrating a special event or any event, for that matter. 5/5 stars.

Very slow service.
Complained to hostess, she couldn't have cared less. At the very least she should have gotten the manager.
Anyway, we found the manager ourselves and he offered to send champagne and strawberries to the room.
Really needs a new hostess, one who gives a crap about the patrons.
Anyway, last time we're going there thats for sure.

My wife and I were celebrating a late valentines dinner. It was our first time at Avant. We were greeted by our server Anthony as soon as we sat down. When it was time to order our appetizers, we asked him what he recommended and he suggested the mussels and the charcuterie. We ordered both and weren’t disappointed at all. The mussels had great flavor. When it was time to order our main entree we again asked Anthony what he recommended. He suggested the lamb shank and the black truffle risotto. Both dishes were out of this world. Anthony made our first time at Avant and very memorable experience. We will definitely be back and would love to sit in Anthony’s section again.

NEW MENU, CUISINE DIRECTION VERY DISAPPOINTING. We are frequent diners at Avant and were sadly disappointed this past Saturday evening. Apparently, there is a new Executive Chef. The menu is even more limited and restrictive than before (only 4 entrees each for fish/seafood/and poultry/beef choices--8 total items). Weirdly, entrees are starkly served alone with minimalist-to-token accompaniments. There is a "Leaf & Root" section that is offered/served as a separate 'course' when several of the items should be served as a side dish ALONG WITH the entrée. Menu prices are stable but on the high side...value is so-so. Service was the slowest we experienced in a long time there. The 8-table section had 3 servers and 2 assistant servers but service was still unnecessarily slow...perhaps the post-Valentines Day 'B-team' was on duty. My 'Wagyu Duo' (steak+brisket) was cooked to the proper medium-rare doneness but must have sat in the kitchen window as the temperature was cool and had to be sent back. By the time it was returned to me, my wife had finished her entrée. The staff did offer complimentary after dinner drinks and a shared dessert but by then the experience was far less than fantastic. The table next to us also complained about an error to their order. Not sure what was going on Saturday night but we sincerely hope that this is not indicative of the ongoing menu/culinary/service direction...especially the sub-par menu...which was far from the usually solid Avant standard.

Food was fantastic! But, potions are too small. And, it is a little cold in the restaurant since it’s a bit “rustic” inside

Dan was our server... he was impeccable. The food was superb. I look forward to the next excuse I have to dine there again!

Valentines meal was 4 course meal that had 2 was ok lobster consommé bland, Dessert red velvet dried. The lobster marrow incredible and pig belly great. I found price a tad too much for the entire experience. Lots of options at this high price level.

As a regular, I have to say this was the best, most well rounded meal I've ever had at Avant. Love what the new chef is doing with the menu. First time I've really felt that each dish was cooked with love and IMMACULATE attention to detail. The service is always phenomenal (thank you Sal, Shane & Tyson!), the food is always delicious... But today especially the food knocked it out of the park. A true culinary adventure that we both loved! Can't wait to see the new menu in March. Thanks for a great night!

It was for Valentines Day and a 4 course meal selection was provided... It was for the price which was expensive very bad and very disappointed. The bread was good... : )

The service was very good, but the food was one of the worst...

Need a new menu and chef...

Sorry for the bad review...

Very nice ambiance, pretty views, and good service. Unfortunately the food was very disappointing, especially given the high price. I ordered the Chicken Roulade, and didn't care for it at all. I left most of it on the plate. The root vegetables served as a side dish were so under-cooked that I couldn't pierce them with a fork, so they were left on the plate, as well. My husband ordered the trout, and said it was also quite disappointing. The promised flavors of lemon and tangerine just weren't there, and it was quite tasteless. We almost never give a restaurant a bad review ... but in this case, it is well deserved.

Food is good but expensive for portions and quality.

Over priced and not worth the experience. Have been there before and experienced the same issue. Will not be returning

So many great things to say about this wonderful place. The ambiance is merely a complement to the fine tuned service and beautiful presented and flavorful dishes. I’m falling in love with this hidden gem each time I visit. The menu has since changed since my last visit which is also nice to have fresh seasonal choices. The pork belly trio is absolutely delicious with just the right amount of crisp, the whole branzino, WOW! Such amazing fresh flavors of herbs and lemon. Dalton did a great job describing all the dishes and sold me on what he called his “bosses barrel”. This barrel aged old fashioned is one of the best I’ve had. Thank you again for such a quality dining experience.

Best meal I have ever had there, split the Branzino and the Beef Wagyu Duo with my wife. Both were amazing, the flavors exploded in my mouth.

Upon arrival, we had to wait although we had reservations. Although the food was very tasteful to the palate as well as the eyes, we had Avery long wait in between courses, after waiting so long,the food arrived lukewarm! The margaritas we ordered were delicious! The mussels exceptional... The duck lukewarm and the stripped base was delicious. The waitress made small appearances, I am sure it was due to the long intervals in receiving our selected dishes...starting with appetizers through delivery of desert...

The New menu rocked my world! Keep up the great work chef!

First time at Avant. Great experience. The food was very good. The service was also very good. My wife and I would go back for another dinner.

Fabulous night as always! Food was on point and Shane always makes us feel like family!

Another Excellent meal at Avant. VERY creative fall/winter menu with new items and exciting approaches to food and presentation. Unless you are getting a huge steak, be prepared for smaller portions, which is my preference (quality rather than quantity).

Daniel was superb as was the food!

They provided really good service, enjoyed that great dinner!

We really enjoyed our food (I had the duck and my husband had the trout) and our server was very friendly and attentive. We will definitely be back for another special occasion.

I would recommend only for people that like gourmet food. Little choice for those with simpler tastes. At these prices, everything should be perfect. Some entrees were warm, not hot like they should have been.

Entire dining experience was outstanding. The food was perfectly prepared and presented in a very artistic manner.

New Year’s eve dinner