The restaurant itself is attractive and inviting. We were lucky enough to have nice weather and ate on the patio.
The wine, bread, antipasti and pasta were excellent and deserve 5 stars, The main courses were not quite the show stoppers everything else was, but still good.
What stood out the most was the service. Attentive, thoughtful and considerate. Consummate professionalism with a smile in the very highest standard of Italian restaurants.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Rob Gambino
Excellent!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tom Thornton
Le Virtu is a gem for Italian fine dining in Philadelphia. The cuisine is from Abruzzo, a region not normally represented amongst the red sauce and gravy establishments. We absolutely love the pastas - haven’t had a bad one yet - and find the specials on the menu have been a home run. There’s a great selection of cocktails and wine plus the enormous patio.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Trinh Vu
We had a pretty great meal here. Just a few things that were kind of “off.” We had been seated inside due to limited seating outdoors, which was fine since we were walk-ins. However, inside lighting is super dim, I had to lean towards the doorway to see the menu. Not a big deal.
As we were looking over the menu I overheard another table complain about the service being slow and the meal being disappointing from start to finish. I felt bad for the waitress because my fiancé and I have both worked in the dining industry before so we get it, off days happen.
We had ordered the sausage (very good, might have been raw inside but couldn’t tell because of it being dark) and the duck ragu pasta (also very good, a little under seasoned but to each their own). I like how they make all their pasta in house.
We also orders the bread service that included sour dough and focaccia (bread used to be included but as people kept asking for more they decided to charge for it, makes sense). We received the sour dough which was a bit burnt on the crust and cold as it had been sitting out in a chest of some sort in the dining room just open to air. I had asked if it could be heated up, the waitress said they don’t do that here since it’s made in the mornings and served all day. We did receive olive oil with the bread but it was pretty bland so we just dipped the bread in the entree sauces.
We ended up finishing our meal still waiting for the focaccia to come and never did. So we asked the bus girl (very loud at cleaning up the plates by the way) who gave us the sour dough if we were still going to get our focaccia. She looked confused and said that they don’t have anymore and that we can have another helping of regular bread instead.
The waitress quickly came over and clarified that they are out of focaccia. She did not offer to take it off our bill so we had to ask to which she took off the entire bread service. Not only did she not tell us that there was no focaccia but was going to charge us for it, claiming that the sour dough was excellent enough even though it was cold and burnt.
Overall the meal was good, but it was definitely an interesting experience. We still tipped her well because we did feel that she may have been having an off day and we didn’t want to make it worse, but damn.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
mary albus
Will dream of that Fazzoletti pasta with Duck Ragu for a looooong time! So so good and the bread service was so delicious and rich in flavor. Will be back soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nicole Matregrano
There's nothing bad to say about this hidden gem. The food was amazing!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Paul Darrah
Outstanding meal and I can’t stop thinking about it. We had the Fazzoletti with Duck Ragu, Pasta with nettles and the macaroni with pork and I was stunned by how great each were. Hearty, fresh, complex flavors and incredibly delicious. Definitely on par with meals I’ve had in Italy. I know it’s not fair to compare restaurants but I never came away from Fiorella or Misi or other celebrated pasta go-to spots with the same desire to return. I don’t know why I waited so long to come here but I regret that. Staff was great and informed about their menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
David Ellis
What a gem! I can't say enough good things about this restaurant. Each dish was perfect. And a great, reasonably priced wine list.
Small and intimate with home cooked regional meals. If in Philadelphia, you must go.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Emily K
Went here for my birthday dinner and it was sooooo good! I highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
cmdieter3
The food was not great with the exception of the olive oil for dipping Great staff
Unfussy south Philly restaurant serving food from the abruzzo region of Italy. Every dish is a smash. A+ service. Can’t recommend enough. Great wine list too!
Renee Bonfiglio
Not sure how much longer this restaurant can survive. We had been regulars but now the menu continues to shrink, a pasta place with only a handful of options, up charge for bread and weak over-priced wine pours. There are numerous South Philly options that will have the business. A shame!
Jeff
Very average food but good service. Small portions
Andy Abramson
Every time I’m in Philly I come here for one dinner as the food and wine and service is always top notch
Shannon S
Cozy, little neighborhood place. We all tried something different so we could taste each item. We had the meat charcuterie board, which had salami, prosciutto, pickled veg, and some soft buns. Everything was fresh, and the steaming bread was fabulous. We tried 3 pastas. Cavetelli with rabbit, raviolis with mortadella and ricotta and spaghetti with lamb ragu. They called that Maccheroni alla chitarra. They were all excellent. The cavetelli and the maccheroni had a kick to them. So if you don't like spice. I would not select these items. It wasn't over the top spacey, but my husband isn't a fan of food with heat, so we traded meals. I had the sweet and sour por ribs. They were tasty in a different way than the usual ribs. I would have preferred them a little softer, but they were good. They also have a nice cocktail selection. Our waiter was friendly and attentive. We would go back when we're in the area.
The restaurant itself is attractive and inviting. We were lucky enough to have nice weather and ate on the patio.
The wine, bread, antipasti and pasta were excellent and deserve 5 stars, The main courses were not quite the show stoppers everything else was, but still good.
What stood out the most was the service. Attentive, thoughtful and considerate. Consummate professionalism with a smile in the very highest standard of Italian restaurants.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Excellent!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Le Virtu is a gem for Italian fine dining in Philadelphia. The cuisine is from Abruzzo, a region not normally represented amongst the red sauce and gravy establishments. We absolutely love the pastas - haven’t had a bad one yet - and find the specials on the menu have been a home run. There’s a great selection of cocktails and wine plus the enormous patio.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
We had a pretty great meal here. Just a few things that were kind of “off.” We had been seated inside due to limited seating outdoors, which was fine since we were walk-ins. However, inside lighting is super dim, I had to lean towards the doorway to see the menu. Not a big deal.
As we were looking over the menu I overheard another table complain about the service being slow and the meal being disappointing from start to finish. I felt bad for the waitress because my fiancé and I have both worked in the dining industry before so we get it, off days happen.
We had ordered the sausage (very good, might have been raw inside but couldn’t tell because of it being dark) and the duck ragu pasta (also very good, a little under seasoned but to each their own). I like how they make all their pasta in house.
We also orders the bread service that included sour dough and focaccia (bread used to be included but as people kept asking for more they decided to charge for it, makes sense). We received the sour dough which was a bit burnt on the crust and cold as it had been sitting out in a chest of some sort in the dining room just open to air. I had asked if it could be heated up, the waitress said they don’t do that here since it’s made in the mornings and served all day. We did receive olive oil with the bread but it was pretty bland so we just dipped the bread in the entree sauces.
We ended up finishing our meal still waiting for the focaccia to come and never did. So we asked the bus girl (very loud at cleaning up the plates by the way) who gave us the sour dough if we were still going to get our focaccia. She looked confused and said that they don’t have anymore and that we can have another helping of regular bread instead.
The waitress quickly came over and clarified that they are out of focaccia. She did not offer to take it off our bill so we had to ask to which she took off the entire bread service. Not only did she not tell us that there was no focaccia but was going to charge us for it, claiming that the sour dough was excellent enough even though it was cold and burnt.
Overall the meal was good, but it was definitely an interesting experience. We still tipped her well because we did feel that she may have been having an off day and we didn’t want to make it worse, but damn.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Will dream of that Fazzoletti pasta with Duck Ragu for a looooong time! So so good and the bread service was so delicious and rich in flavor. Will be back soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
There's nothing bad to say about this hidden gem. The food was amazing!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Outstanding meal and I can’t stop thinking about it. We had the Fazzoletti with Duck Ragu, Pasta with nettles and the macaroni with pork and I was stunned by how great each were. Hearty, fresh, complex flavors and incredibly delicious. Definitely on par with meals I’ve had in Italy. I know it’s not fair to compare restaurants but I never came away from Fiorella or Misi or other celebrated pasta go-to spots with the same desire to return. I don’t know why I waited so long to come here but I regret that. Staff was great and informed about their menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
What a gem! I can't say enough good things about this restaurant. Each dish was perfect. And a great, reasonably priced wine list.
Small and intimate with home cooked regional meals. If in Philadelphia, you must go.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Went here for my birthday dinner and it was sooooo good! I highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food was not great with the exception of the olive oil for dipping
Great staff
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Unfussy south Philly restaurant serving food from the abruzzo region of Italy. Every dish is a smash. A+ service. Can’t recommend enough. Great wine list too!
Not sure how much longer this restaurant can survive. We had been regulars but now the menu continues to shrink, a pasta place with only a handful of options, up charge for bread and weak over-priced wine pours. There are numerous South Philly options that will have the business. A shame!
Very average food but good service. Small portions
Every time I’m in Philly I come here for one dinner as the food and wine and service is always top notch
Cozy, little neighborhood place. We all tried something different so we could taste each item. We had the meat charcuterie board, which had salami, prosciutto, pickled veg, and some soft buns. Everything was fresh, and the steaming bread was fabulous. We tried 3 pastas. Cavetelli with rabbit, raviolis with mortadella and ricotta and spaghetti with lamb ragu. They called that Maccheroni alla chitarra. They were all excellent. The cavetelli and the maccheroni had a kick to them. So if you don't like spice. I would not select these items. It wasn't over the top spacey, but my husband isn't a fan of food with heat, so we traded meals. I had the sweet and sour por ribs. They were tasty in a different way than the usual ribs. I would have preferred them a little softer, but they were good. They also have a nice cocktail selection. Our waiter was friendly and attentive. We would go back when we're in the area.
Loading...