This is one of those bougie places where you don't really get much for your money. That being said.. our meals were very good. You get in house made bread and some garlic infused olive oil that is delicious before your meal. Now the part that was not good was the service. Our waitress started off promising but after we got our food she never came back to the table to check on us. I had asked for a refill when the food was dropped off which she never brought. I ate almost my entire meal with no drink until my boyfriend went to the bar and got it refilled for me. She finally came back and asked if we needed boxes when it was obvious there was nothing left. We will probably go back but will definitely request a different waitresses section if we see her. It's still worth checking out if you like this sort of place though.
Eric M.
It is good. Not anything remarkable to us but it was good. A little pricey for what we had in our opinion for the small town of Beloit but for local and wanting a special meal - May be worth it to them.
Betty C.
I would rate the service -1 The managers should be hiring servers that are happy an dont have resting bit*h face or have attitudes. I felt very uncomfortable around the servers. Hearing them talk badly about other employees. When we where walking to our vehicles two of the servers were smoking pot by the dumpsters. Very unprofessional!! I will be making phone calls about that.
Mary Y.
This place was very hyped up to us by locals and out-of-towners alike. What can I say? The service was impeccable; our waitress really knew the wine selection and how to sell it. Our water glasses were never low. Our cocktails were great! Even the free bread, although I wish we could've gotten more of it. The pasta was just okay, I found Liberty House Grill to have better pasta. The pesto sauce could've used less cream and more pesto, and the orecchiette could've used more sauce period. The tiramisu wasn't a true cake nor did it have ladyfingers, but the taste was pretty good.
Paula K.
I am giving this restaurant one star because zero stars is not an option. We had a reservation. We arrived about 10 minutes early. Although there were open tables we were asked to wait. We were seated right outside the kitchen door with numerous people coming and going. I asked if we could get another table as there were several open tables not directly in the line of traffic next to the kitchen. I was told that the other tables were reserved for people coming shortly. After being seated someone came with water and stated a server would be with us shortly. Then for the next 15 minutes waitstaff was coming and going out of the kitchen ignoring us. Even the hostess who seated us passed several times without doing anything. The bartender who was about 6 feet away saw us. No shortage of servers. Finally we got up to leave. The other tables we couldn't have because people were coming? Still empty. Absolutely appalling.
Martin M.
It was just "meh". I had high expectations based on some of the reviews here, but I found the food to be completely underwhelming. Went on a Friday night and it was quite full. There was a single bartender and she was extremely busy. They could definitely use a second set of hands behind the bar. Got seated promptly at our reservation time. We had a small table for two next to the column in the middle of the dining room. Immediately noticed how tiny the table was compared to the other tables in the dining room (even other 2 tops). Started with the artichoke fritti and socca fries. Both my wife and I found them to be very heavy and oily. For our mains we ordered the roasted chicken and I had the saffron risotto. The chicken was very good, easily the best thing we had all night. My risotto was extremely watery and was more like rice soup. I also wasn't digging that I had to pull the shrimp out of the bowl and pull their heads off while covered in risotto "juice". For dessert we had the apricot frangipane, extremely sweet. Be sure to pack some insulin if you order it. Side note - the chairs are some of the most uncomfortable chairs you have ever sat in. I'm sure they're fine for 30 min at a time, but for a two hour meal, not so much. More of a two star night, only selected three because our server was pretty good for as busy as it was. She gets her own star.
Enrique L.
Great place for a nice evening meal or just to have a drink with friends....great food choices.....!!
Patrick M.
Well the food, service, and atmosphere lived up to it's reputation. Our first visit and we sat at the bar to eat. The bartender was outstanding! Saturday around 5:30pm and it was getting busy- she handled the crowd with grace and class. She was friendly and efficient. I wish I could remember her name. We had spaghetti and meatballs- possibly the best I've had in the Midwest. There was a mixup with our order and a couple sitting next to us at the bar. The mixup was entirely my fault, however the bartender handled the situation extremely well without making anyone feel uncomfortable. Again, it was my fault but she never made me feel badly. She is a Champ! Quality and portion size was excellent- definitely five stars. I highly recommend this place.
Caroline M.
Magnificent! Delicious! Wonderful service! Best Italian food I've eaten in Wisconsin. Last night We sat at the bar as we didn't have reservations. No problem, the female bartender was efficient , attentive and pleasant. We had a little snafu which she handled quickly and no fuss. Top notch food and staff. We will definitely be back again and again.
Lauri D.
I really like this restaurant but you do need a reservation most of the time. Great bruschetta (very unique but good). Nice atmosphere near a lot of Beloit attractions.
Excellent service and food! The staff is so amazing and polite. Had some questions on the food as far as ingredients and they wrote them down so we could try and recreate it at home!
Sherry Blakeley
Server Sara Lemen is excellent! She's efficient, professional, and cordial. Her presence plus the delicious gourmet food made the evening a happy event.
Kim Prusansky
Amazing experience. My husband had the squash pasta and we also had the Cesar salad. Probably the best meal we have had. Jaimie and Tina took great care of us. Portions were appropriate. Highly recommend
Teddy B.
Excellent place if ur looking for an inexpensive, romantic date night. Pizza was terrific! Would definitely recommend.
James F.
Velvet Buffalo is easily my favorite domestic Italian restaurant. The ambiance is perfect. It's a small, dimly lit dining room on a busy Beloit street, so there's a great balance of intimacy and happenings. Again, the dining room is small, so be sure to make reservations ahead of time as it fills up in there. If you have to wait, there is a bar on the rooftop as well as a bar in the dining room. The bar in the dining room makes fantastic drinks--I recommend asking them to make a White Russian. I honestly am going to have a hard time coming up with enough positive adjectives to describe the food. Yummy or tasty isn't strong enough. I've tried many different combinations of Velvet Buffalo's food, and each time it blows me away. Usually for my appetizer, I'll get both the mussels and bruschetta for myself and a plus one to share. This is a great combination to keep the social aspect of your dinner rolling. It does look like a lot of food, but it's lightweight and leaves plenty of room for the entré. For my entré, I've had both the mushroom garganelli and the angus beef tenderloin. The mushroom garganelli I've only had once, and it was a delicious and fresh pasta dish--nothing to rush and write home about in my opinion, but it was very filling and satisfying. The beef tenderloin is also a great option; I've gotten this dish many many times and it's one of the best beef dishes in memory for me from a flavor standpoint. The entré is usually where I fill up, and I never have room for dessert afterwards, but I still try to order a dish for takeout and eat it the next morning. The desserts are very unique and are definitely worth either trying to push through another course or taking it home. I'm sure you'll be left feeling like you've tried something new and upscale every time. Wrapping up, if you're looking for a modern Italian dining experience, Velvet Buffalo is a must try. Perfect for date night. My only negative with them is the service. My wait staff is never usually on top of their game. I don't know if it's because they're slammed or what--I hope this is the reason, because I can understand that. But if you're looking to have drinks, I recommend ordering a few at a time because I personally have only see wait staff come around to me when it's time to order food, deliver food, and deliver the check. Other than that, great ambiance, great food, great drinks, free parking, and hotel options are all things they have to offer!
This is one of those bougie places where you don't really get much for your money. That being said.. our meals were very good. You get in house made bread and some garlic infused olive oil that is delicious before your meal. Now the part that was not good was the service. Our waitress started off promising but after we got our food she never came back to the table to check on us. I had asked for a refill when the food was dropped off which she never brought. I ate almost my entire meal with no drink until my boyfriend went to the bar and got it refilled for me. She finally came back and asked if we needed boxes when it was obvious there was nothing left. We will probably go back but will definitely request a different waitresses section if we see her. It's still worth checking out if you like this sort of place though.
It is good. Not anything remarkable to us but it was good. A little pricey for what we had in our opinion for the small town of Beloit but for local and wanting a special meal - May be worth it to them.
I would rate the service -1 The managers should be hiring servers that are happy an dont have resting bit*h face or have attitudes. I felt very uncomfortable around the servers. Hearing them talk badly about other employees. When we where walking to our vehicles two of the servers were smoking pot by the dumpsters. Very unprofessional!! I will be making phone calls about that.
This place was very hyped up to us by locals and out-of-towners alike. What can I say? The service was impeccable; our waitress really knew the wine selection and how to sell it. Our water glasses were never low. Our cocktails were great! Even the free bread, although I wish we could've gotten more of it. The pasta was just okay, I found Liberty House Grill to have better pasta. The pesto sauce could've used less cream and more pesto, and the orecchiette could've used more sauce period. The tiramisu wasn't a true cake nor did it have ladyfingers, but the taste was pretty good.
I am giving this restaurant one star because zero stars is not an option. We had a reservation. We arrived about 10 minutes early. Although there were open tables we were asked to wait. We were seated right outside the kitchen door with numerous people coming and going. I asked if we could get another table as there were several open tables not directly in the line of traffic next to the kitchen. I was told that the other tables were reserved for people coming shortly. After being seated someone came with water and stated a server would be with us shortly. Then for the next 15 minutes waitstaff was coming and going out of the kitchen ignoring us. Even the hostess who seated us passed several times without doing anything. The bartender who was about 6 feet away saw us. No shortage of servers. Finally we got up to leave. The other tables we couldn't have because people were coming? Still empty. Absolutely appalling.
It was just "meh". I had high expectations based on some of the reviews here, but I found the food to be completely underwhelming. Went on a Friday night and it was quite full. There was a single bartender and she was extremely busy. They could definitely use a second set of hands behind the bar. Got seated promptly at our reservation time. We had a small table for two next to the column in the middle of the dining room. Immediately noticed how tiny the table was compared to the other tables in the dining room (even other 2 tops). Started with the artichoke fritti and socca fries. Both my wife and I found them to be very heavy and oily. For our mains we ordered the roasted chicken and I had the saffron risotto. The chicken was very good, easily the best thing we had all night. My risotto was extremely watery and was more like rice soup. I also wasn't digging that I had to pull the shrimp out of the bowl and pull their heads off while covered in risotto "juice". For dessert we had the apricot frangipane, extremely sweet. Be sure to pack some insulin if you order it. Side note - the chairs are some of the most uncomfortable chairs you have ever sat in. I'm sure they're fine for 30 min at a time, but for a two hour meal, not so much. More of a two star night, only selected three because our server was pretty good for as busy as it was. She gets her own star.
Great place for a nice evening meal or just to have a drink with friends....great food choices.....!!
Well the food, service, and atmosphere lived up to it's reputation. Our first visit and we sat at the bar to eat. The bartender was outstanding! Saturday around 5:30pm and it was getting busy- she handled the crowd with grace and class. She was friendly and efficient. I wish I could remember her name. We had spaghetti and meatballs- possibly the best I've had in the Midwest. There was a mixup with our order and a couple sitting next to us at the bar. The mixup was entirely my fault, however the bartender handled the situation extremely well without making anyone feel uncomfortable. Again, it was my fault but she never made me feel badly. She is a Champ! Quality and portion size was excellent- definitely five stars. I highly recommend this place.
Magnificent! Delicious! Wonderful service! Best Italian food I've eaten in Wisconsin. Last night We sat at the bar as we didn't have reservations. No problem, the female bartender was efficient , attentive and pleasant. We had a little snafu which she handled quickly and no fuss. Top notch food and staff. We will definitely be back again and again.
I really like this restaurant but you do need a reservation most of the time. Great bruschetta (very unique but good). Nice atmosphere near a lot of Beloit attractions.
Restaurantji Recommends
Excellent service and food! The staff is so amazing and polite. Had some questions on the food as far as ingredients and they wrote them down so we could try and recreate it at home!
Server Sara Lemen is excellent! She's efficient, professional, and cordial. Her presence plus the delicious gourmet food made the evening a happy event.
Amazing experience. My husband had the squash pasta and we also had the Cesar salad. Probably the best meal we have had. Jaimie and Tina took great care of us. Portions were appropriate. Highly recommend
Excellent place if ur looking for an inexpensive, romantic date night. Pizza was terrific! Would definitely recommend.
Velvet Buffalo is easily my favorite domestic Italian restaurant. The ambiance is perfect. It's a small, dimly lit dining room on a busy Beloit street, so there's a great balance of intimacy and happenings. Again, the dining room is small, so be sure to make reservations ahead of time as it fills up in there. If you have to wait, there is a bar on the rooftop as well as a bar in the dining room. The bar in the dining room makes fantastic drinks--I recommend asking them to make a White Russian. I honestly am going to have a hard time coming up with enough positive adjectives to describe the food. Yummy or tasty isn't strong enough. I've tried many different combinations of Velvet Buffalo's food, and each time it blows me away. Usually for my appetizer, I'll get both the mussels and bruschetta for myself and a plus one to share. This is a great combination to keep the social aspect of your dinner rolling. It does look like a lot of food, but it's lightweight and leaves plenty of room for the entré. For my entré, I've had both the mushroom garganelli and the angus beef tenderloin. The mushroom garganelli I've only had once, and it was a delicious and fresh pasta dish--nothing to rush and write home about in my opinion, but it was very filling and satisfying. The beef tenderloin is also a great option; I've gotten this dish many many times and it's one of the best beef dishes in memory for me from a flavor standpoint. The entré is usually where I fill up, and I never have room for dessert afterwards, but I still try to order a dish for takeout and eat it the next morning. The desserts are very unique and are definitely worth either trying to push through another course or taking it home. I'm sure you'll be left feeling like you've tried something new and upscale every time. Wrapping up, if you're looking for a modern Italian dining experience, Velvet Buffalo is a must try. Perfect for date night. My only negative with them is the service. My wait staff is never usually on top of their game. I don't know if it's because they're slammed or what--I hope this is the reason, because I can understand that. But if you're looking to have drinks, I recommend ordering a few at a time because I personally have only see wait staff come around to me when it's time to order food, deliver food, and deliver the check. Other than that, great ambiance, great food, great drinks, free parking, and hotel options are all things they have to offer!