Arriva Ristorante Ltd - Vancouver

Love this old school Commercial Drive venue. It's been around since 1984, for reasons that are obvious once you've eaten here. Great insalata and pasta, and forget about the character and great wine lists. Loads of ambience and great for people watching. Will revisit.

We did not have reservations (a good suggestion for a weekend) but on a Saturday night they made a special accommodation for our party of four....at 5:30 the room was empty, but by 6 it was totally full. We agreed with the captain waiter to be finished by 8...a very good request on their part and agreed to by us (we were finished by 7-ish)This is a true Italian restaurant....seasoned professional adult waiters instead of "kids" who don't know linguine from spaghetti. The menu is very good in choices beit antipasto or seafood or meats or pasta. Portions are generous ... but... the food is very tasty and good.We shared some freshly grilled brushetta with house wine (a liter for four), our dinners were veal marsala (exceptional !), salmon pasta, and a chicken pasta in white wine sauce. I have had veal marsala in many fine restaurants in Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, and many places in Italy...this was 100%.Would I go back....yes, can't wait.Dinner as above for four, about $150.

I am Italian and I was very surprised by the quality of pasta (I highly recommend pasta primavera). The restaurant was very nice and typical Italian style, the waiter very friendly and the prices average. A plate of pasta was $ 15-19.I will go back

When it comes to Italian restaurants in North America I feel blessed if I can find at least 5-6 original/ authentic recipes in a menu and that's because Italian dishes are quite difficult to reproduce with no filter. Here you can get at least 15 of them, thanks to Paolo, the owner who came to Vancouver from the beautiful Sardegna island many years ago. Italians in Vancouver know him because he offers the full Italian good pasta line up: Puttanesca, Amatriciana, Carbonara, Tortellini Cardinale. If I could listen to my istincts, I would stuff myself with all of them. But I have to say that the seafood pasta is just as good. Did you know that one of the most popular entree in the Italian countryside is the carne arrosto mista, a mix of grilled meats? Well you can order it here.

A Thursday evening meal and it was very quiet. Great atmosphere with the music at just the right volume so you did not feel like you need to shout and friendly host who was very helpful and accommodating to our allergy concens. They had an incredible section of pasta sauces and had the option for GF pasta. I had the rack of lamb with pasta. The lamb was beautifully done and they served 6 midsized pieces with just enough pasta to compliment the dish. My spouse had pasta with calms. There were 10 fresh calms in there shells with the pasta. They served us GF rice spaghetti pasta, which was perfectly done with a homemade tomato base sauce. We both had a lovely salad to start with and shared a bottle of sparkling water. The entire meal cost $88 before tip. It has been a while since my spouse and I went out, and I was very glad that we chose this restaurant. I am looking forward to our next visit to Vancouver so we can go back and enjoy many other choices of pasta sauces.