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I had an amazing experience today that I must share with everyone - especially anyone from Gainesville and the surrounding area, and anyone who ever plans to visit Gainesville. For many years I have known about Leonardo's 706 Restaurant (706 West University Avenue) and have eaten there and thoroughly enjoyed the food and the atmosphere, but I had never experienced the Sunday Brunch! I didn't even know about it until my friend Mike told me, and took me there today. This Brunch is nothing less than a masterpiece work of art! When we walked in the door, Master Chef, Mark Newman, the artist who creates this experience every Sunday, was delivering fresh potato latkes to every table. (I embarrassed myself by saying they were the best "hash browns" I had ever tasted and Mike gently set me straight on that technicality!) We sat in the buffet room and Chef Mark came over to greet us and even gave me a tour of all the wonderful dishes he had been preparing for us since long before I even got out of bed, and as he described each creation, he was checking to make sure that they were presented properly and that the temperature of each was perfect. After the tour, I grabbed a plate and filled it with samples of the first six dishes. A waiter came and brought delicious coffee and a glass of refreshing fruit punch. As soon as I finished the first sampling, my plate was whisked away and I went back with a clean plate for the next round. Delicately sweet pastries, several exotic fruit dishes, pastas, so many offerings of vegetables, vegetarian and vegan selections, gluten-free selections, various healthy protein selections - all brilliantly seasoned (sorry I just don't have the vocabulary to adequately describe it!) Every single taste was a delightful complement to the next one. It was performance art, culinary art, social art, presentation art, atmosphere art - all to perfection! I'm not exaggerating! You really need to try this if you haven't already! Thank you MH Weiss and thank you Mark Newman for your dedication to your art!
Some friends and I stopped in for brunch today and the entire experience was great! The buffet was filled with endless options although most of us ordered from the menu. The staff are genuinely kind and attentive. The owner in true brunch fashion wearing pajamas, kept offering samples of great food from the kitchen. I felt like we were in a family restaurant in Italy. The food was superb as I enjoyed a Cajun omelet made with fresh grouper and crab. I think we found our Gainesville brunch staple!
Friendly staff, spectacular dishes, best garlic rolls of my life! The sangria was refreshing. The Chicken Agave will always be my favorite! We’ve never had to wait too long to be seated and getting our food took a reasonable amount of time. Definitely a destination for Gainesville.
Perfect evening out with family. Aaron took great care of. 1st time here. Had the Large Vegetable Lovers Salad split with the table. The salad looked small but turned out plenty for all of us. We got the 706 Garlic Knots which was covered in Garlic butter. They tasted amazing. Then I ordered the Botticelli which was an enormous amount of food. The atmosphere was very cozy and we left very pleased and stuffed with leftovers to take home.
Had the mondo pizza and bouillabaisse. The pizza is about 10 in, so enough for 2 to share if you get an app. Both were very good and the live jazz wasn't to loud coming from the side room. My problem was with my mojito. The drinks are on the higher end price wise, and it wasn't drinkable. Would recommend beer or wine instead.
Leonardo's was a lovely place to take my date out for a nice dinner from the atmosphere to the food. The place itself is dimly lit and warm with a casual vibe from the patrons and the servers. Our waiters were dressed very nicely and were friendly and knowledgeable about what was on the menu. I very much enjoyed an angel hair pasta dish with avocado, grilled shrimp, and tomatoes while my girlfriend had a seafood pasta that was also excellent. Be prepared to pay a moderate price for the food here but I can assure it's quality.
A stylish restaurant with pasta, pizza, and seafood. The interior is very classy, though there were glimpses of the casual. We ordered the grouper a la francaise, it was delicious. The servers were spotless. The bathroom could be cleaner. The prizes were a bit on the higher side for the level of formality.
Great food, nice atmosphere, old church pew as my booth bench. Loved it. Loved the employee art on the wall, loved the accommodations they made for my kids, loved the house made raspberry vinaigrette. Wish I lived closer so I could go back again very soon.
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