Avanti, Lake Mary - Closed

I had an order of lasagna and an Italiano Panini wrapped up to go from this take over of Ravalia's on Thursday. The lasagna ($9) was better than I expected. A huge portion. I tried a bite (it was to be dinner) and kept on eating. It is a non-traditional lasagna. They substituted a bechemal type sauce for ricotta. The filling was ground pork. They double sheeted the bottom of the lasagna. It was a two level lasagna. The reason for this may be that the owners are Colombian. It was good regardless. The tomato sauce was fresh. the pasta was cooked well. The mozzarella was good. The sandwich ($8) came on great bread. A sesame roll I would eat plain. They could have parted with a slice or two extra on the three cold cuts. The quality of the meat (cap/salami/pro) was middling. Also in the mix was mozzarella and red peppers. It came with fries. They could have used thirty seconds more in the fryer. Close though. I dipped the fries in the leftover lasagna goo. Lasagna fries have to be the next rage. Believe me. All in all I was impressed. Ravalia's got worse every time I went back. These guys didn't seem to have cleaned or upgraded anything, so, I expected the same poor execution. Ravalia's started out well too. Hopefully, these guys don't shoot their wad/lose their passion too quickly (or at all). Like I said, the place needs a bath and some botox. They just took over last week,so, I'll give them a pass. Though, I would have addressed that BEFORE I tried to lure people in. Maybe they are on a shoe string? They said the menu is a "new direction". It looked nearly the same as Ravalia's if you ask me. The place was full at lunch. The owner is the son of the guy who ran Wilfredo's on Lake Ivanhoe. I forget what I thought of that place. * Just looked. I hated it. Called it Sh-Italian. Man I'm funny.