Wonderful, relaxed 2 hour pre Anniversary dinner. Kit he being slow was no issue. We DINED ! Warm crusty Italian Bread and house salad were tasty and filled the time till the delicious and beautifully presented VEAL Picatta arrived. We enjoyed and recommend.
Kevin Wohl
For a pre anniversary dinner , I chose Vivace and glad I did.
Service was a little slow as was the kitchen but that made for a relaxed and enjoyable, romantic atmosphere. Our server Tim was friendly and courteous even if was a bit confused at times.
Many tempting choices on the menu but after conferring we opted to share a bottle of San Pelligrino ( I don’t drink and drive ) , the house salad ( home made Gorgonzola dressing was delicious!) and the Veal Picatta.
Fantastic presentation and flavor ; tender and tasty veal and the crusty warm Italian bread kept us occupied while waiting for our meal.
All in all a wonderful experience and very reasonable prices for such good quality as well. Highly recommended.
Sarah D
Good food, strong drinks, and friendly staff. I would make a reservation
Melissa Brendtro
The kitchen is sooooo slow but our waiter killed it. The food is very authentic and the atmosphere is pretty much what you would expect from a packed Italian popular restaurant in America.
Susan
One of my favorites! Authentic Italian with awesome drinks!
Michael Jackman
Excellent food and friendly service.
Zoey Mojica
Went this past Thursday to celebrate my uncles birthday and it was my first time in this restaurant. The building itself was very pretty and clean. There was a problem with where we were originally sat and the hostess was patient enough to fix it and our server Kenzie was the best! The food was amazing and Kenzie even provided extra plates and cake utensils. Would 10/10 go again.
Thanks Kenzie!😊
Rebecca Whisnant
Recommended by grandson my 1st time there, the food was amazing service was excellent people were friendly the building was decorated nicely a big thumbs up. We will be back again
Elizabeth Mizell
So good. The lasagne is the best.
Julie Schmidt
I only came here for the cheesecake which is described as NY style. It's not. It doesn't taste anything like NY cheesecake but the cherries they out on it are delicious.
Cozy atmosphere, friendly waitstaff, incredible food. Highly recommend the arancini. The bread is also soft and delicious.
Andrea Stufflebeem
I have been going to Vivace since 2014 and it is one of my favorite restaurants in Charlottesville. It is a very nice restaurant and sitting outside on a beautiful evening is enjoyable. We were there recently for NYE and I was very disappointed. My chicken was cold and undercooked. I did not return it because our waiter was working too many tables and it would take too long. I will say that our waiter Laurence who has waited on us twice now is excellent! Very knowledgeable about the menu and the wine. He made our dinner enjoyable. Go to Vivace and ask for Laurence.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Wedge Salad, House Bread
Aris Agarwala
Always a pleasure to eat here. Perfect for dates, friends, or company meetings. Food is wonderful and the building is interestingly rustic. Nice.
I go here every NYE. I've done this for at least the last 10 years. I always get eggplant parmesan. It is consistently good. I always look forward to the bread and olive oil. I could make a meal out b of that!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Eggplant Parmesan
Ashley Starke
Disappointed in Vivace for New Years Eve (12/31/2024). Vivace's has been one of our favorites "go to places" for special occasions. My Wife and I recommended it to friends who had never been. We were looking forward to sharing this place with friends. We had reservations at 6:15 p.m. and were on time at the restaurant. We were seated upstairs at a corner table which was ok with us. After sitting for about 20 minutes, we noticed the section to our left was clearing out, and the section to our right was enjoying their dinners. Both waiters and waitresses kept walking by without even acknowledging that we were there. Finally, a waiter came by (Leander S.) and said that there had been a mix up on who was covering our table and gave is a waitress's name. The waiter went on to finally offer us some bread and water and then disappeared. Another 10 minutes or so went by and this same waiter came back and said, "well I guess I'm going to be your waiter after all". We told him that was fine and could we order some wine and appetizers. He took our order and after a while he came back with the wine. The appetizers came out shortly after that. We placed our dinner orders with him and proceeded to enjoy the wine and the appetizers. We notice that the tables to the left had filled in after our arrival and those parties were ordering as we had, but for some reason all their food was coming out ahead of ours. It did not bother us that much until what happened at the end of the evening (I will explain in a minute). So, our food finally arrived. At this time, I had to ask for more water for the table. I had the chicken marsala and mashed potatoes. One of our friends had the same, however they had the pasta and sauce with theirs. The mash potatoes on my plate were ice cold and the chicken just barely warm. Our friend's pasta and sauce were cool as well. Our waiter finally came within speaking distance, and I asked to send mine back, but did not blame anyone because I mentioned I could see they were very busy. The waiter said he would speak to management about it and see if some type of discount could be given. My plate came back this time hot, but the potatoes were just above lukewarm. I did not want to send it back again, so I just went on with the dinner to save our group's time together. Our waiter came back to see if we had finished, but in his haste to give us the bill, I had to stop and asked about a dessert menu for the table, which he gave us. From this menu the wives ordered coffee. Upon bringing us their coffee our waiter also brought us the bill. He left for a couple of minutes and came back to pick up our credit cards. When he brought the receipts back for us to sign, he said to our table, there is another group that was waiting downstairs for our table. Now our wives had not even finished half their cups of coffee. Now grated this journey began at 6:15 p.m. and it was now 8:45 p.m., however there were at least four tables in our area which had been cleaned and sitting vacant for over 10 minutes. The restaurant stated for New Years Eve they were closing at 9:30 p.m., thus it was doubtful that anyone else was being seated at these vacant tables, let alone of all the time we had to wait just to be noticed for bread and water due to a server mix-up. Our table found this statement very rude and a poor showing on Vivace. In addition, there was nothing reduced from my bill for having to send my meal back (another waste of time). When we went back downstairs by the hostess table, no one was standing anywhere waiting and you noticed tables had started clearing out due to the 9:30 p.m. closing. This entire event on trying to show someone new Vivace's turned out to be a disaster and left a bad impression for all of us.
Wonderful, relaxed 2 hour pre Anniversary dinner. Kit he being slow was no issue. We DINED ! Warm crusty Italian Bread and house salad were tasty and filled the time till the delicious and beautifully presented VEAL Picatta arrived. We enjoyed and recommend.
For a pre anniversary dinner , I chose Vivace and glad I did. Service was a little slow as was the kitchen but that made for a relaxed and enjoyable, romantic atmosphere. Our server Tim was friendly and courteous even if was a bit confused at times. Many tempting choices on the menu but after conferring we opted to share a bottle of San Pelligrino ( I don’t drink and drive ) , the house salad ( home made Gorgonzola dressing was delicious!) and the Veal Picatta. Fantastic presentation and flavor ; tender and tasty veal and the crusty warm Italian bread kept us occupied while waiting for our meal. All in all a wonderful experience and very reasonable prices for such good quality as well. Highly recommended.
Good food, strong drinks, and friendly staff. I would make a reservation
The kitchen is sooooo slow but our waiter killed it. The food is very authentic and the atmosphere is pretty much what you would expect from a packed Italian popular restaurant in America.
One of my favorites! Authentic Italian with awesome drinks!
Excellent food and friendly service.
Went this past Thursday to celebrate my uncles birthday and it was my first time in this restaurant. The building itself was very pretty and clean. There was a problem with where we were originally sat and the hostess was patient enough to fix it and our server Kenzie was the best! The food was amazing and Kenzie even provided extra plates and cake utensils. Would 10/10 go again.
Thanks Kenzie!😊
Recommended by grandson my 1st time there, the food was amazing service was excellent people were friendly the building was decorated nicely a big thumbs up. We will be back again
So good. The lasagne is the best.
I only came here for the cheesecake which is described as NY style. It's not. It doesn't taste anything like NY cheesecake but the cherries they out on it are delicious.
Restaurantji Recommends
Cozy atmosphere, friendly waitstaff, incredible food. Highly recommend the arancini. The bread is also soft and delicious.
I have been going to Vivace since 2014 and it is one of my favorite restaurants in Charlottesville. It is a very nice restaurant and sitting outside on a beautiful evening is enjoyable. We were there recently for NYE and I was very disappointed. My chicken was cold and undercooked. I did not return it because our waiter was working too many tables and it would take too long. I will say that our waiter Laurence who has waited on us twice now is excellent! Very knowledgeable about the menu and the wine. He made our dinner enjoyable. Go to Vivace and ask for Laurence.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Wedge Salad, House Bread
Always a pleasure to eat here. Perfect for dates, friends, or company meetings. Food is wonderful and the building is interestingly rustic. Nice.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Marsala, Chicken Parmigiana, Bruschetta, Ravioli Rosati, Veal Marsala
I go here every NYE. I've done this for at least the last 10 years. I always get eggplant parmesan. It is consistently good. I always look forward to the bread and olive oil. I could make a meal out b of that!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Eggplant Parmesan
Disappointed in Vivace for New Years Eve (12/31/2024). Vivace's has been one of our favorites "go to places" for special occasions. My Wife and I recommended it to friends who had never been. We were looking forward to sharing this place with friends. We had reservations at 6:15 p.m. and were on time at the restaurant. We were seated upstairs at a corner table which was ok with us. After sitting for about 20 minutes, we noticed the section to our left was clearing out, and the section to our right was enjoying their dinners. Both waiters and waitresses kept walking by without even acknowledging that we were there. Finally, a waiter came by (Leander S.) and said that there had been a mix up on who was covering our table and gave is a waitress's name. The waiter went on to finally offer us some bread and water and then disappeared. Another 10 minutes or so went by and this same waiter came back and said, "well I guess I'm going to be your waiter after all". We told him that was fine and could we order some wine and appetizers. He took our order and after a while he came back with the wine. The appetizers came out shortly after that. We placed our dinner orders with him and proceeded to enjoy the wine and the appetizers. We notice that the tables to the left had filled in after our arrival and those parties were ordering as we had, but for some reason all their food was coming out ahead of ours. It did not bother us that much until what happened at the end of the evening (I will explain in a minute). So, our food finally arrived. At this time, I had to ask for more water for the table. I had the chicken marsala and mashed potatoes. One of our friends had the same, however they had the pasta and sauce with theirs. The mash potatoes on my plate were ice cold and the chicken just barely warm. Our friend's pasta and sauce were cool as well. Our waiter finally came within speaking distance, and I asked to send mine back, but did not blame anyone because I mentioned I could see they were very busy. The waiter said he would speak to management about it and see if some type of discount could be given. My plate came back this time hot, but the potatoes were just above lukewarm. I did not want to send it back again, so I just went on with the dinner to save our group's time together. Our waiter came back to see if we had finished, but in his haste to give us the bill, I had to stop and asked about a dessert menu for the table, which he gave us. From this menu the wives ordered coffee. Upon bringing us their coffee our waiter also brought us the bill. He left for a couple of minutes and came back to pick up our credit cards. When he brought the receipts back for us to sign, he said to our table, there is another group that was waiting downstairs for our table. Now our wives had not even finished half their cups of coffee. Now grated this journey began at 6:15 p.m. and it was now 8:45 p.m., however there were at least four tables in our area which had been cleaned and sitting vacant for over 10 minutes. The restaurant stated for New Years Eve they were closing at 9:30 p.m., thus it was doubtful that anyone else was being seated at these vacant tables, let alone of all the time we had to wait just to be noticed for bread and water due to a server mix-up. Our table found this statement very rude and a poor showing on Vivace. In addition, there was nothing reduced from my bill for having to send my meal back (another waste of time). When we went back downstairs by the hostess table, no one was standing anywhere waiting and you noticed tables had started clearing out due to the 9:30 p.m. closing. This entire event on trying to show someone new Vivace's turned out to be a disaster and left a bad impression for all of us.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
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