Aioli

The nicest service of really fine food. Go on Jazz Thursday. Special drink concoctions and fabulous desserts.

Southern hospitality not so much. Visiting Staunton Va from NYC area. Looking for a friendly more laid back environment. Heard restaurant was good. Tried to go Sat nite 8:30 pm. Was turned away. There were empty tables and it looked like a few seats at the bar. Was told restaurant was not accepting any more walk-​ins. Went outside and met a local who said food was good but customer service not great. Went to Mill Street Grill. They were good and generous with their portions and hospitality. Also ate at Byers Street Grill. Great for lunch and dinner. And dinner at Zynodoa. Phenomenal food and great in customer service. Called restaurant to make them aware of turning us away. They said they had walk-​ins at 9pm. ??? Why didn’t they ask us to wait? Then chef called me back and yelled at me. Like I said customer service not so great. Food is important but feeling welcome is as important in my book. I’ve never been treated so poorly in a New York restaurant and we went to Virginia to relax.

Simply wonderful.
Elegant, quiet, and soft environmentally — dark woods lit with lighting from the transition era between gas and electricity mixes with small gems of artwork and a gently sparkling back bar to create complete comfort — and with great service from the start (taking your coats), this is one of The Valley’s great restaurants and at least matches anything Charlottesville.
We had the Pork Tenderloin and Paella entries (others around us stuck with the Tapas plates) and both were brilliant. Be prepared for perfect plating that not only looks magnificent but blends flavors carefully.
The Pork was exactly cooked and sat sliced among root vegetables and a very gentle sauce. The Paella was filled with coastal fresh shellfish, the scallops deserve special recognition, and the rice had just the balance of spice.
We finished with fine coffee and a cobbler dessert that was rich, hot, and fresh.
As I said above, service was wonderful without ever being intrusive.
It’s a hidden gem in Staunton well worth turning the corner to discover.

Aioli got excellent reviews and we love Mediterranean food so we stopped in hoping for a great meal, neither I nor my family was impressed and we aren’t perfectionists. The atmosphere is very stuffy, people give you dirty looks for smiling and laughing as a family at your table. The décor is gorgeous and service is impeccable. We ordered Tapas, two hummus, brushetta, charcuterie and my youngest had the 8oz Grilled Angus Filet Of Beef. The hummus was horrible, the menu says chick pea hummus but I swear it was red pepper or something different — I have had much better out of a container from the grocery store. The filet was phenomenal, as were the potatoes and asparagus. Maybe Aioli should change over to a steak house and drop the Mediterranean logo, they aren’t very good at Mediterranean but make awesome steaks.

We were just passing thru on an RV trip around the country. A Google search for Med food led us here and the parking lot across the street was ample. That was not true of the Paella we ordered… it was the smallest serving in our experience. The mussels and clams were the tiniest we have ever seen… the shrimp were nice and the scallops great. Usually Paella has a spicy flavor… not this one. Later I read a review in the AAA guide about the small portions. Too late. Our server was very attentive and the wine selection good. We aren’t big eaters, but this was one of the first times we left a restaurant still hungry. The highlight was the downtown architecture.

We were a party of nine, on a week day evening and there were 11 other guests in the dining room. We had an attentive waitress, and everyone enjoyed their meal. The portions were just right, and the presentation of our meals A+. I will be gifting our daughter and son-​in-​law with a gift certificate to Aioli to celebrate their wedding anniversary!

Born and Raised in Casablanca Morocco Chef Said Rhafiri’s Menu used to have some Moroccan Influence and Inspiration! Not anymore, thank to the Stauntonites! Anytime I’m moving to or visiting a «new» area there are three less common Cuisines I look for! Moroccan is one of those three! I’ll still say this place has potential!
As a non-​Moroccan Restaurant though still with many other Mediterranean many Northern Mediterranean!
Specials Grilled Specials
They sounded Delicious and they were!
Gazpacho was the Soup Special…
1.) Grilled Watermelon Gazpacho
2.) Grilled Jumbo Shrimp
3.) Grilled Lamb Sausage
Main Menu
We ordered Caprese Salad which was also Delicious!
All Food items were very close to 5 Unilocal stars and for the Aioli, well I’m not going to comment negatively on an egg-​based sauce that I prefer to stay away from… I’ll only say I expected more Garlic, still I believe the Chef/​Owner is being wise listening to his Bigger Loyal Local Audience (an Older Crowd with Older Taste)!
Great place for a Date!

I love this restaurant! This is my first trip to Staunton and as a solo traveler, quality food is a must for me. I started with a refreshing chilled cantaloupe soup (I already downloaded a recipe!). For an entrée I order the duck breast, which was cooked perfectly and the sauces were beyond wonderful. I appreciated the true portions (not oversized) that allowed me to order desert. The blackberry lemon crisp was clearly fresh and went nicely with my peach delight martini. To top it all add, my waitress, Ann, was attentive, brisk, sincere, and everything I dream of for restaurant service! I plan to eat here next time I am in town!

Don’t pass this place up. We did not have reservations so we ended up at the bar. Seats were very comfortable, bar tender was fantastic, food was wonderful. They rush around to make sure everyone is taken care of but you never feel rushed. Fantabulous place. Don’t miss out!

Wonderful food! The quail was excellent. My father claims it the best place to eat in Staunton. Definitely worth the visit.

Taking my new BFF, Ashlee T’s advice I strolled to downtown Staunton’s Aioli Restaurant for dinner. There I was greeted by Ms. Erica; a person I’m sure is or soon will be the star of their wait service team.
The pomegranate martini was a very big deal a few seasons back when some friends, (Halstead & Phiffer) first introduced me to it at The Tobacco Warehouse in Richmond. Against my on judgement but on Ms. Erica’s suggestion I had ordered it. These people got it just right. The drink may be a fad but the skill to make the perfect martini lives on in their capable hands. Hang on to this bartender, people. «The hands that shake the shaker, shake the world». Wodehouse? Noël Coward? Ranzo?
The gazpacho was like no other. The chef had apparently accepted a challenge from somewhere or someone and had taken the tired, dull «cold potato soup» concept to a whole new place. When you spooned the bits of blue veined cheese floating in the berry purée into your mouth the contrasts of flavor and texture caused you to stop, freeze-​frame your face, hold your breath, slowly blink your eyes and swallow. Wow!
The grilled shrimp were just that. They were grilled shrimp. The portion was generous. They were perfectly cooked. To be sure, having grown up in the «Low Country» has jaded me to anything you can do with or to a shrimp. They were good and if you were shrimp hungry, then there you have it. I doubt you could do better anywhere else in Virginia. ‘Nuff said.
Now on to the pièce de résistance. The Crab Cake. The crab cake «killed». G&M, Faidley, Pappas, Koco’s are all fine in the traditional since and I’d never slur any of them. I’ve never had a bad meal in any of their places. But… this is not just food. This is artistry. Words fail. It occurs to me that culinary art is the worst kind of art because it is consumed at the point of creation. Nothing is left but the empty plates and words of travelers like myself. You’ll have to try this for yourself as I nor anyone else could ever do justice to this chef.
Later that night I dreamed of a beautiful, curly blonde, miniature witch doctoress dancing on my tongue. She attacked it here and there with a feather and fur embellished spear. Everywhere her spear point pricked a new taste or flavor was uncovered.
I now know at least once again in my life I’ll drive the 75 miles out of my way to eat here. And gladly drive back the same 75 miles.

Scallops were perfectly seared with a carrot purée and a red wine reduction that created a really great complex mix of flavors. (with mushrooms and fingerling potatoes too!)

Dinner last night was delightful. Charming atmosphere, good wine list, and food was delicious. We had scallops, duck, crab stuffed flounder, and grilled shrimp with caprese salad. We will be back. Wait staff, Erica made the evening special.

My wife tried this place when last in Staunton and couldn’t wait to take me. It was dead when we were there — hope it was because it was a cold wintery Wednesday night — because that place needs to stay in business! Excellent meal and service. Risotto was very creamy and scallops were perfectly cooked. We’ll be back.

Excellent restaurant. We walked in with 7 people and ordered one of everything on the menu. Every dish was better than the next. Crème brûlée was best I’ve had outside of Paris in 20 years. Well done chef.

Well, what can I say: try this. Get 6 or 7 of your best friends. Go to Aioli. Order the entire menu. Yes you read that right. The whole menu. Pass the plates. Be prepared to be amazed.
Chef Said Rhafiri has developed one of the most diversely flavored menus I’ve had the privilege to taste and I’m told he has no sous chef, so all the work is done by him. Because the theme of the restaurant is Mediterranean he has 8 or so small plates that should be passed to be appreciated. Then order the 6 entrees including the duck, the steak, the salmon, the tangine chicken, and oh, did I mention the risotto? Oh gosh, this was perhaps the best use of black truffle oil I can recall in a long time; creamy, laced with summer squash and green onion.
But as the barker says: there’s more! We worked our way through this night’s specials, including the quail and the wonderfully spicy Marquez sausage.
We finished with the crème brûlée and the berry lemon crisp. Aw, sucks we didn’t get the other desert.
Sum this all up. Even if you don’t have 6 or 7 friends, you really need to go here. It’ll just take you 6 or seven times to eat the whole menu, but you won’t be disappointed.

We had the seafood paella and out was fresh and delicious! And also the crime brûlée was fantastic!!! Love it!!! Best I ever had!

I’ll admit. It’s very difficult to meet my expectations. I’ve had the pleasure of dining in several places in my life that create fantastic cuisine. However many of those times I’ve been semi or blatantly disappointed by the service and/​or quality or food.
That didn’t happen at Aioli. I was actually blown away by the service, attention to detail and quality of product. I’m huge on quality. So much so that I’m completely willing to pay for it.
Aioli met and exceeded my fiancées and my expectations. Combining Impeccable menu (frequently changing) options with quality chef selected produce provided a wonderful experience.
I would HIGHLY recommend Aioli.

Our waitress was so positive and friendly!!! Food was great but we didn’t get a meal because it was very overpriced! Tapas were reasonable so that’s what we stuck with! Very pretty atmosphere! I really liked this place… just go when you have a tad bit of money!

We were so thrilled to find Aioli.
It was nice to find a quiet comfortable place with ingredients like goat cheese, arugula, beets, duck and salmon on the menu.
We started with the special appetizer which was a goat cheese baked in a phyllo crust and topped with figs. Everything about this dish was fresh and well-​presented. We next had the Charcuterie platter, which was very nice. We were also served warm bread with olive oil. The bread was crunchy on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside, it comes to your table if you order a main dish, but you can also order it separately if you do not order an entrée. For a main course we split the pan seared salmon on cauliflower purée. The salmon was perfectly cooked with a firm and flakey texture. We also had the arugula salad with seared peaches. This salad was fresh, delicious and a great accompaniment to the salmon. For dessert we finished with a crème brûlée.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here and will definitely go back if we visit the area again.