Autostrada Osteria – Main Street

We have been to Autostrada on Main Street a number of times and each time the food has been delicious. The chef and staff work out of a very small kitchen, but all the food comes out on time and all the ingredients are handled…beautifully. The daily Salad and pasta special were very good and all the ingredients taste incredibly fresh. The cacio et Pepe pasta was sublime and the twist on the dessert crepe filled with Panna Cotta was fabulous. We will definitely return.

A very creative menu and perfectly prepared meals. Service is excellent and the room is warm and inviting. First class dining in a casual atmosphere.

We were in Vancouver for four nights and it was only the fourth night we could find a reservation opening at this popular spot. So pleased we persevered. It was a slower night and our server was utterly delightful. We ordered according to his recommendations…and were thrilled with our meal. The fresh burrata with salmon roe and the chicken liver pate with rhubarb compote were most noteworthy. I’d send you there for those two items alone.

There are a number of recipes for success in the food industry. Many routes lead to culinary & financial achievement but most include the recognition, it seems to me, that one has to do one thing mainly & do it well. I had had this…kind of conversation with a few chef friends over the years but it really struck home when this proposition was put to me by one of the legendary pizza chefs of the mid 90s, who had people driving from Seattle for his wonderful pizza. His business recipe was to make pizza & to make them very well. Italian-born, he built a pizzeria, which made great pizzas — much as they would be made in Italy — & viola, people would come from far-and wide. Lucais Syme seems to abide by that truth. He makes pasta dishes & he makes them very well. Food reviews have said that when it comes to making pasta dishes, Lucais Syme not only knows his stuff but is right out there in this city when it comes to producing this Italian favourite. Syme has spoken about his love of pasta. At his relatively new restaurant, Autostrada, which he co-owns with wine expert, Dustin Dockendorf, his focus remains on pasta, the dish he has long had a passion for & which he makes so very well. The philosophy at Autostrada is to keep it simple. Make the pasta well & then let the good quality ingredients, which accompany the pasta, shine. The 30-seater which Syme & Dockendorf have built on Main @ 32nd has people coming, attracting those in the industry, which is always a good sign. There is a second location downtown. Both are now offering food-to-go, both meals to be eaten that day & those to be eaten later after refrigeration or freezing. Along with the Autostrada’s pasta staples, the to-go menu offers various antipasto dishes, including a delicious chicken liver dish, a Pugliese burrata with Parma dish, as well as well sourced olives. Its to-go beer & wine prices also seem reasonable, I first met Syme when he & his then co-owner, Adam Pegg, were getting ready to open La Quercia in 2008. I liked him immediately as a person, & then as a chef immediately I had the first bite of my food. I want all the good places I have written about recently on TripAdvisor to survive the crisis & this will happen if we support our great eateries online now. While waiting for an order, I was social distance away from a woman, also waiting for an order, who happened to be a Dasher. We got taking & she told me they were doing nicely, making 200$ on average a day. Online order so both restaurant & food deliverers can pay their bills. Posted by S FullerMore

Ordered ahead and picked up puttanesca with tuna/capers and garganelle with fennel sausage. The puttanesca was fantastic, beautiful flavours. The garganelle (?) was a little too on the oily side, was just fine. Overall, nicely done pastas, takeout handled well.

This is my second time to dine in Autostrada. Nice, little place with simple but cute decor. Friendly servers, delicious food and reasonable prices! Their chicken liver is so smooth! From antipasti to desserts, good quality of food and decent portions. Parking on the street…was easy. Will come again for sure.

Atmosphere, staff, food, all fabulous. The protocols were in place and maintained thru out our meal. Lucy was absolutely wonderful. Friendly, knowledgeable, and you can tell she loves working here. The customer experience was top notch. We ordered so many menu items to mention and…each was prepared to perfection. The fresh pasta… yes. yum. Thank you for a wonderful chance for our family to gather and enjoy each other’s company for a evening out.

I went there more than once, as an Italian I can say that It’s very good and the staff is very welcoming and friendly.

Loving the Vancouver food scene with lots of selection and variety. Never noticed this place and it’s a vibrant restaurant with great food! Started off with their duck liver and it’s fantastic. So decadent and creamy on top of the crostini and pickled beets. Ordered…some pillowy soft focaccia that we spread it over. The bucatini cacao e pepe was excellent. Loved that it was pepper forward in a light cream sauce with the pecorino cheese blanketing everything. The halibut al cartoccio was beautifully cooked in parchment so it was flaky, moist and flavourful. The garganelli with an amazing lamb ragu is so perfect! I had the fusillioni which was deliciously el dente. A great meal and a neighbourhood gem… they already have three locations so they might be coming to you.