Fri, March 29, 2024

Business Lunch Review: Antonio’s Italian Eatery

Editor’s Note:
Our regular lunch reviewer, Wes Hennings, is taking a few weeks of paternity leave. While we assume he is still eating something, somewhere, he won’t be writing about it while he’s off duty. Meanwhile, ABD editor, Gary Kauffman will pinch-hit with the reviews of his lunches with a colleague, as a way to advise our business community on the good, the bad, and the tasty across the CSRA. He doesn’t let the restaurant know where he is going; his opinions are his own. He grades the restaurants he visits on a 1-5 scale with “5” being outstanding. We call this our “Real Business Lunch Review.”

Food Quality: 4
Service: 4
Business Meeting: 5
Value: 4

Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5

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Tucked inside the first floor of the Jackson Square building on the corner of Georgia and Buena Vista avenues in downtown North Augusta is a restaurant called Antonio’s Italian Eatery and it offers a surprisingly good venue for a business meeting.

As you can guess from the name, Antonio’s serves Italian food and the restaurant décor reflects that theme. You can enter on either side of the building; I arrived from the parking lot via the back entrance while my lunch companion entered through the front door.

Although it isn’t a stand-alone restaurant, it offers ample seating. Because we arrived at 11:30, we had no trouble finding a seat.

The room gradually filled up to more than half capacity and even though there are no booths or dividers between the tables that are set close together, the noise level stayed low. We could easily converse in normal tones and, as we didn’t notice the conversations around us, others probably couldn’t hear ours, making it an ideal place to meet if business matters require some delicate conversations.

The service was prompt, with drinks served within minutes of ordering them. The menu offers a wide variety of traditional Italian restaurant fare but includes a section for lunch items. I chose the Fettucine Alfredo while my companion opted for the baked spaghetti.

We learned, however, that these dishes didn’t come with a salad, so we had to order a garden salad separately. The salad was fair – mostly, it tasted as if the entire thing had been sitting in water before being served. While that made for crisp lettuce, eating it felt like half-food, half-drink.

The entrees did come with a loaf of delicious bread, though, so that was a plus.

There was a bit of confusion when the waitress informed me that they were out of fettuccine noodles and asked if I’d accept spaghetti noodles instead. I agreed, but when my dish arrived, it was made with fettuccine noodles after all. No explanation was offered.

It was very tasty Fettucine with an adequate coating of Alfredo sauce. My companion’s baked spaghetti looked basically like traditional spaghetti and the sauce was a bit watery. My companion rated it good but not spectacular. The portions, though, were just right for lunch, leaving us filled but not stuffed.

Another point for it being a good meeting place for a business lunch is that we were finished eating and out of the restaurant in under 45 minutes, ideal for a quick lunch hour on a busy day.

One thing we all need to get used to is paying more for lunches than we have in the not-too-distant past. With tip, the meals worked out to just a bit over $18 each. If you’re content with just pasta and bread and forgo the salad, you could knock about $5 off that price.

Overall, if our experience with speedy service is the norm, Antonio’s is a great option for a quick and tasty lunch meeting.

Antonio’s Italian Eatery
336 Georgia Ave.
North Augusta

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