Anna-Maria's Autentico Ristorante Italiano

Atmosphere was lovely and warm feeling of being in someones backyard. That was the best part. Service was slow, the owner was rude and the food was fair at best. Disappointing for sure!

Always a must when we are in Aruba. The lasagna is our favorite. All food is cooked to order. The pastas are fresh and cooked to perfection. Seafood is superb. Close your eyes and you are in Italia!!!!

Heard about Anna Maria at poolside and visited that evening .
Rang the bell and was greeted by a wonderful staff member that escorted us to the dining room in the back yard patio . After being seated we were greeted immediately by a very knowledgeable waiter that took us through the menu and explained each dish. We placed our order and wow everything was better than we could have expected. We have been coming to Aruba for 16 years now and are so happy to have found Anna Maria's and will be sure to make it one of our dining favorites. The food, ambiance and service make it a winner for sure. I could go on and on but when you are in Aruba give them a try and you will be very glad you did.

This is a MUST do restaurant in Aruba. We found out about this restaurant from our cab driver last year and loved it. We returned to Aruba in May and enjoyed this restaurant again so much that we went twice in one week. Entrance to this gem is gained by ringing the bell to a house. A waiter appears and you are escorted around back to a courtyard, where you will find maybe 8 or 9 tables, a picture painted on the wall of Italy and delightful dinner music. From the beginning appetizer to the final cordial everything satisfies the palate with utmost blends of taste and texture. Everything was perfect. The waiters Jean-Pierre and Carlos orchestrate the serving of the meal with finesse and attention to the diner. Christopher, the owner/chef, takes the time to introduce himself to every table. We would love to also meet Anna Maria next time. If you are not in a hurry, go and enjoy a wonderfully prepared meal, made with the freshest ingredients. We will be back again in September and this restaurant will definitely be on our reservation list.

As an Italian from Queens, NY, I can attest that this is the WORST italian food in Aruba. What an absolute joke. From the food, to the waitstaff, service - horrible. Everyone has an attitude, no one smiles and the food tastes like it's from a can. The calamari was rubbery, the pasta overcooked and the meatballs, I think that's what THEY call them are terrible. I wouldn't go back here if it was free. One poster said it was romantic - HA, you're sitting in someone's backyard. Ok if that is romantic for you, then so be it. I guarantee they will be out of business in a year.

one of the best in Aruba - will eat there anytime I come to Aruba and I come very often - will tell my friends who also come every year

We have been blessed to travel all over the world and dine in some truly remarkable restaurants. Frankly, there are only about 8 to 10 restaurants that truly stand out as being exceptional and a remarkable experience. Anna Maria�s Autentico Ristrante Italiano is truly at the top of the list. The owners � Christopher and Anna Maria are truly delightful!

This beautiful restaurant was highly recommended by some very close friends and the recommendation was correct. Reservations are essential and were handled with extreme professionalism. We were met at the gate and escorted to our delightful table for a romantic dinner.

The menu is outstanding and the service was beyond compare. The atmosphere is very intimate and romantic. The staff and owners are dedicated to making your dining experience a true delight. The food was beyond fabulous! The menu is extensive and everything we selected was a culinary delight.

Throughout the entire evening we were honestly treated like royalty and it was a remarkable evening. I would highly recommend Anna Maria�s for a wonderful dining experience!

Our last review of this place seems to have caused a bit of a stir amongst those who do not share our opinion of this place, Nonetheless, we find that the majority of reviews do agree with us and we are pleased to see that. ANNA MARIA'S continues to be a unique dining experience that is quite pleasurable and satisfying. Though we continue to regard it as one of the better ITALIAN eateries in ARUBA, this year we have found some credible competition that may join it as being amongst the better Italian venues. That would not diminish our opinion of this place but it may provide an alternative to those that do not appreciate the leisurely approach that Anna Maria's provides.

Many of those who oppose Anna Maria's seem to have some type of issue with the owner and his aggressive rebuttals to some criticisms. What they appear to regard as arrogance or nastiness, we tend to view as the passion and concern that the owners have for the place. It is the same type of attitude that abounds at the Hostaria d'Vittorio and it justifiably exists - it is a reflection of the striving to maintain the highest of standards. Another way of thinking about it is that if you are good at what you do then you are entitled to show it. There is nothing wrong with that and those who take offense to it simply are thin skinned.

ANNA MARIA'S continues to be a wonderful dining experience and it is one that we recommend to all. Remember to make reservations and remember to plan on a long, leisurely, and enjoyable evening. Also remember that the genre of ITALIAN food is that of being SICILIAN based.

While I wanted to give this establishment a 10 star rating unfortunately it started off strong and ended on a less than positive note.

Arrived for 7 PM weeknight reservation -

1) Decor and atmosphere are great and authentic (5 star) -- roughly 10 total tables (6 with 2 seat arrangements and the others with 4-6 seat arrangements.

2) Appetizer - we ordered Calamari and they were well cooked and the breading and sauce were very good.

3) Main course -- 10 star rating -- eggplant lasagne was excellent and the gnocchi with vodka sauce and mushrooms were both excellent.

The price of the appetizer and main course were reasonable and the timeliness was good for these two courses.

Now for the bad --

The Sangria carafe is about 2 liters (with ice) and costs around $63-68. While the glasses that come out have fruit in them the Sangria carafe does not. We were told it had 6 liquors in it and my 125 pound wife and I finished the carafe and neither of us had the slightest effect of alcohol. The Sangria while it tasted good was definitely lacking in alcohol content -- for around $65 I would expect a lot better. Minus 2 star.

The worst however was the meal was going quite well and ended the main course around 80-90 min after arriving and onto dessert. I was so looking forward to some Tiramisu and was told initially they were out - I mentioned I was really hoping for this dessert and if they didn't have it that we would just take the check and call it a night and I would pickup some Tiramisu Gelato back near the Occidental Resort. Well 5 minutes goes by and the waiter comes back out and mentions that they do indeed have Tiramisu after all . Great -- ordered Tiramisu and my wife ordered a Cannoli. This is at 830... OK so 845 no dessert, 850 nothing, 855 nothing. The place is half empty and the two waiters are focused on getting the entrees out to the tables and no dessert in sight. 9 PM no dessert... Finally at 905PM after 35 minutes I asked for the check -- credit card in hand.

I get that meals are prepared based on what was ordered and they take time but dessert should be out within 5-10 minutes (15 min tops). When I asked for my check after sitting an additional 35 minutes after ordering it the dessert was no where to be found. Ended up going back to the hotel and stopping to get Tiramisu Gelato -- which while it was good was from somewhere else and not what I had my heart set on. Would have been better if they just said they didn't have it -- would have been a 3.5 star review rounded up to 4 probably.

Minus 2 star for Sangria that missed the mark (if two people drink an equal amount of 2L Sangria and the wife doesn't feel any effect of the alcohol there is a problem).

Minus 4 stars for the dessert fiasco -- It did get uncomfortable just sitting there from the 90 min mark to 125 minutes waiting for the dessert that just never arrived -- also changed the mood of the dinning experience. There isn't enough guests to miss this and we were right by the sliding door that goes into the kitchen -- I had a notion to pop my head in and ask if someone was running to the grocery store to pick it up.

My wife and I along with another couple heard about this restaurant from a cab driver and we decided to check out the reviews on this web site as well as 1 other site. Based on the rave reports we decided to give it a try. Folks, all 4 of us live in New York City and frequent Little Italy often. We know what real Italian food tastes like and believe me this ain't it. I had the lasagna which was actually a lasagna soup. Watery and no taste. My wife had the spinach crepe which was a disgrace. She isn't a big eater but when she finished she asked the server for the rest of her meal as there was nothing to it. 2 small crepe with some tasteless spinach inside. when she was told there was no more she asked for a bowel of pumpkin soup. She said that was worse that the crepe. one friend had an order of spaghetti and he said the sauce was wattery and in fact looked much like my lasagna and the fourth member of our party had a chicken dish which he said was just O.K. We arrived at 5:45 for a 6:00 reservation and were seated by 6. We were given a small dish of bread, 1 piece each with dipping oil. 1 small piece of bread for each person so when that went which took about 30 seconds we asked for more. We were told there was an additional charge for extra bread and dipping oil. So we ordered another dish of bread along with 2 glasses of wine, and 2 sangrias. The wine was definately a house brand and the sangria came with too much fruit and maybe 4 ounces of watered down sangria. My last observation is the time it took to bring this terrible dining experience to an end. As we waited and waited and waited we couldn't help but observe 2 complete parties of 4 and 6 people who came in after us and ordered after us receiving their food quite a while before we did. Finally I brought my observations to our server and he said the people we refered to ordered before we did. I called him on that and everyone at our table said the same thing: We definately came in and ordered before either of the 2 parties I refered to and there was no doubt about it. He just shrugged it off. I have no doubt regular customers are taken care of at the expense of all others. We paid our inflated bill which came to $154 for trash and walked out at exactly 9:55 PM, thats 3 hours and 55 minuted of a really bad evening at a horrid restaurant. As we drove back to our time share we all agreed, the people writing the rave reviews about Anna Marias must be eating a lot of Italian food at Pizza Hut because no true Italian food lover would ever consider this junk good.