Le Bistro By Avila

Overall good food but I agree with other reviews:
1) small portions
2) you most likely will leave hungry
3) European type flair and style of food presented
4) chef and waitress appear to be husband and wife
5) be prepared to wait a while for your food
Unique restaurant indeed

I have family that lives in the area and have been to Le Bistro on a few occasions when visiting, my last trip was last weekend. I’m surprised by the poor reviews because I’ve always had a great experience. The food is always delicious! The portions are probably small to some but when you come to a restaurant like this, you shouldn’t be expecting The Cheesecake Factory portions. The wine pairings are on point, the service is good, and the atmosphere relaxing. I’ll definitely continue to stop in when I’m in town!

Let me start off by saying that I am not one to write a review over one bad experience, but I felt beyond compelled to, after my horrific experience here. I ended up purchasing a groupon to le bistro about a year ago, and thought it would be a good idea to use one night, several months ago for take out. I called and placed my order with a woman over the phone, who seemed to have a lackluster personality at best. At the time they were offering a tiger shrimp dish. The dish came as an appetizer portion AND an entrée (dinner sized) portion. I ordered the appetizer portion (among a few other items from the menu). Upon arriving to le bistro I gave the woman behind the counter my phone, so that she could apply the groupon application to my bill. After applying it, I was still asked to pay an additional $ 16, to which I gave the woman my credit card. After she swiped it, I looked at the bill and noticed that she had charged me for the dinner sized shrimp portion and not the appetizer. I quickly pointed this out to her and asked that she correct it. Upon making my request, she said, and I quote «Well, the chef already made it, so I can’t credit it» I asked her to please give me the correct portion size that I had ordered and to also correct the amount charged on my credit card again. She followed up by saying (again), that she couldn’t. I then asked to speak to someone (i.e. the manager) that could honor my request, to which she responded by telling me that she was the owner. I told her that it would really make a big difference if she could just credit the $ 16 back to me, especially since it was her mistake to begin with. She then told me that she thought «that I would like the shrimp regardless» of the mistake on her part and that she wouldn’t be crediting my card. This is a terrible way to do business. The woman who owns this restaurant has ZERO customer service skills. She is completely impersonal and lacks any sort of common sense or general business skill. I sincerely advise against EVER dining here.

I have a friend that lives in Torrington that I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. She had never heard of this place so we definitely wanted to do our «catch up» here. I had been previously and was very impressed.
When we arrived we were the only patrons, fine with us. The wife/​owner took our drink orders and I have to say she made the BEST Dirty Martini I have ever had, hands down! My friend and I were catching up, so it took visits by her to get us to order. We didn’t feel any pressure fom her at all but felt we should look at the menu before the night passed us by. I ordered the Four Cheese Ravioli and had grilled chicken added and it was phenomenal and a perfect amount of food. Every bite was heaven. My friend had the Chicken Francaise and she said it was very good. We said no to dessert but we were brought a «baby brulee» anyway, which was a very nice gesture.
As always the food was beyond amazing, as was the service. More people need to learn of this place. One of the best Italian restaurants Ive ever dined in, within the US.

We had 6 people in our party and sat down at 7:45. At that time only 1 other couple were eating. We placed our order for appetizers around 8:15. We ordered 4 dishes to share. They brought the first one 30 minutes later, 2 others 30 minutes later and the 4^th 10 minutes after that. We were passing around granola bars to supplement the meager portions to go along with the wait.
By this time around 6 other couples had come in, ordered and were having their dinner before our main course arrived. We finally got served at 10:15, two and a half hours after sitting down.
Bottom line is if you want a restaurant that gives you meager portions, and like waiting 2.5 hrs to eat than this is your place

My mom lives in the area and I do not, so I did a Google search to find a place for my brother and I to take her for Mothers Day, and Le Bistro by Avila came up. They had a set menu for $ 19.95 and relatively positive reviews, so I went ahead and made reservations for 11:30 a.m. Within an hour, they called to confirm my reservation and give me directions, which was very considerate. However, they called from a blocked number, and for some reason I answered even though I never answer blocked calls. The reservation (via OpenTable) informed me the dress code was smart casual so we made sure to dress in our Sunday best.
We arrived exactly on time, and saw only two other parties seated with plenty of open tables, so at first I worried this was a horrible idea. The other parties were dressed extremely casual, but that was on them. We didn’t feel overdressed. It was a few moments before anyone acknowledged us and we were seated. The hostess, who also happened to be the waitress and I believe, the owner or wife of the owner/​chef, just left us there. No menus, no drink orders, nothing. On the table were menus for a June wine tasting event, which confused us at first since we assumed they were the brunch menus.
Finally, she came back and told us about the three-​course meal for $ 20 (I thought mentioning the price was tacky since we were clearly treating our mom). It was very hard to hear her even though the restaurant was relatively quiet. Once she finished telling us about the three entrée options (eggs benedict, French toast, and quiche), she walked away. Again, no drink orders, nothing. We waited about five minutes for her return, upon which we ordered waters all around, a mimosa and a bellini, as well as our entrée options. It took a long time for our drinks, and they all came at the same time instead of getting the waters while the cocktails were prepared.
Our «first course» arrived about 15 minutes later. Tasting-​size plates of fruit. Each had about 10 pieces of dime-​sized fruit. It was good, but extremely tiny. It was quite a while before our empty plates were cleared.
Our meals arrived after another 20 minutes or so after the fruit plates were cleared. We had two orders of eggs benedict and one order of the French toast, sans apricot preserves. The portions were very small, with no presentation or dressings, save a tiny cup of syrup for the French toast. The food was amazing — the eggs benedict was served on a croissant with Spanish prosciutto instead of Canadian bacon, and the eggs were cooked to medium-​yolk perfection. The French toast was also delicious but could have used more powdered sugar and a lot more syrup, however we didn’t bother to ask for more because we knew it would take too long.
Once our plates were cleared, we were all still hungry, but knew dessert was included as the third course. We were delightfully surprised when our options were more expanded than the original menu online had indicated — crème brûlée, chocolate mousse (the only two originally listed), an apple blossom/​donut, and two more that I completely forget because we went with the first three options.
A few minutes after ordering dessert, the hostess/​waitress/​wife dropped off our check. This was a bit odd, since we hadn’t finished our meals or even received our desserts, but I guess since the menu was set she felt it appropriate? We knew the coffee and cocktails weren’t included though, so I guess she cut us each off after one? Who knows.
Anyway, she returned after a few minutes to pick up the check but before we could stop her, she went to the register with it. She eventually brought it back when she realized there was nothing in it yet. I don’t know about you, but I don’t pay my check until I am done with my entire meal. She actually did this once more until we gently reminded her that we were still waiting on dessert. It had been nearly 20 minutes since ordering, and it became clear she had completely forgotten about our desserts. She quickly went and retrieved them for us.
The crème brûlée and mouse were served in shotglass-​sized dishes. The donut was generously sized, but impossible to eat without a knife and all we had were tasting-​sized spoons. All in all, it was frustrating and we were eager to just leave. We ended up bringing the check up to the bar/​register instead of waiting another 20 minutes for her to acknowledge us.
I’m not sure if it was just a challenging day (the restaurant’s six or so tables eventually filled up) or if it’s always like this, but we felt robbed. We spent $ 100+ for three people and all of us left hungry and annoyed. The food was very good but entirely too small, and the service (or lack thereof) ruined the entire experience. We will not be returning.
Also, ignore any comments about there being a dress code. People were dressed in gym clothes, flip flops, and children had unbrushed hair. We were comfortable in our skirts and dress shirts, but you will likely feel overdressed.

A little pricey for lunch, but OMG is the food worth it. I had a groupon I needed to use up so I got lunch takeout for the BF and I. I got the ribeye sandwich and he got the Cuban. They were both $ 10 a piece and came with fresh kettle chips. Both were utterly fantastic.
I had to wait a while for the food — but that’s not their fault so much as my own/​the boyfriend’s. Had he told me he just wanted to grab the food and go I would have called ahead, instead of showing up and then being told «Nope, I’ll just stay here»
The dining area is cozy, and they have a cute little bar area. I do plan on returning for dinner. I know they get busy, and reservations are pretty much a must. I really hope they do well, Torrington has WAY too many substandard crappy chain things, and not enough original places like this.

My boyfriend and I went there for dinner on a Thursday night. We were one of only two tables there; now I know why! For a place that is supposed to be «distinctive dining», we were not impressed. Our server was wearing what appeared to be pajama pants. While we waited, she was busy talking to an employee sitting at the «bar». The only thing good was the flat bread we ordered for an appetizer. The menus they had were not updated to have the flat bread, so I only knew they had it because I checked their website beforehand. To know what wine they had, I had to get up and go to the bar to look at the 5 bottles of wine they had on the counter. I ordered a glass of wine that cost $ 9 and it was half the amount of wine normally poured for a glass. The kitchen is open and while we waited for our dinner we could smell a rush of smoke from burnt food. I ordered a ribeye steak, I didn’t notice there were two options and our server neglected to ask me which option I wanted. Once our meal came, my boyfriend’s fish was okay, but the green beans were burnt and the mashed potatos were actually whipped into a sloppy glue-​like paste. I inquired about the sauce that was supposed to come with my steak and she responded that it only came with the other option, but she would see if he could whip some up. I waited for the sauce which came out cold, I cut into my steak and it was medium well-​I had ordered medium rare. When she checked on us again, I told her all the problems we were having. She said nothing and walked away. Later she came back with the bill and asked if I wanted a box. I said no nothing was right. We looked at the bill and I couldn’t believe it! She didn’t offer me any other dinner options or attempt to make it right but there on the bill was the $ 25 steak that I couldn’t eat. I asked her why and her response was «I’ve never heard someone not like it before, but I brought you dessert». What she brought was a very small chocolate mousse that we didn’t want. To top it all off, we were charged a 15% gratuity. I’ve never seen that before for just a party of 2. We will NEVER be going back!

This is a quaint yet elegant restaurant in the back of a small strip mall. There are only 7 tables and a bar. It has a cozy atmosphere with classical music playing in the background.
The food is absolutely delicious. I had cheese ravioli and my husband had tilapia which he describes as tasty and says he would eat it again. The ravioli was tender and creamy, the best I have had from a restaurant. For dessert we had chocolate mousse and crème brûlée. They were both wonderful.
When we went it appeared that there is one 1 waitress and I believe it is one of the owners. This being said, it may take a little bit of a wait to get your food, but it is well worth it.