Vivace

Came in with family for drinks and apps. Drinks came quickly and were right on target, enough said.
For food, we did calamari, bruschetta, pizza, and mussels. All were excellent, especially the mussels with a bit of a cayenne kick.
Look forward to making it back.

I’ve been here a half a dozen times and for the most part, have had an enjoyable experience. The food and ambiance are traditional Italian, which is what this place is all about.
As for the food: The picatta sauce is buttery, lemony and tangy, the marsala sauce tastes fresh, not pasty; the house tomato and bolognese sauces for pasta dishes are traditional and mildly spicy, but nothing that you can’t make at home.
As a consumer, I may sometimes have issues with how the meal is prepared, but there is NO excuse for bad service. Occasionally the service here can be slow and for whatever reason presumptuous. I’ve twice had the experience of bad service. Most recently of a waiter, who rushed me through meal orders, forgetting to provide fresh bread, nor personally presenting the salad or fresh pepper, nor even the meal itself (it was tabled by a kitchen worker).
He did, however, make the point to BE there to give me the check; but in all fairness, I tipped above 20%.
Still, it may awhile before I return. These days when I dine out, its a «celebration» and enjoyable experience. And there are too many other great restaurants in Charlottesville that appreciate my business. Not here. Not tonight. Not again.

Wow, what a night! We had the rustic Caesar, mussels, Chicken Marsala, and local aged strip steak on the large patio. Amazing Experience.

Recently moved to Charlottesville from California and have been looking for a good Italian restaurant. We’ve found it! I had the corn and crab soup, shared the bruschetta and then Shrimp Risotto for me and Strip steak for my husband. Could’ve licked the plates it was so good. Service was great! Sat outdoors and atmosphere along with faint music was wonderful. A magical date night!

Saw this place going to and coming home from work. Thought it looked cool from the outside, nice outside seating decided to take my wife for date night.
Food was excellent best we have had since moving here two months ago. (We have been to at least three other Italian places, here in C-​Ville). Prices were average for the food you get an overall great experience definitely coming back.

Love their food. Everything is delicious. Try a pizza appetizer. they make their own crust. I love shrimp scamp or try a dish with the house made sausage. The mussels appetizier is delicious (try dipping the sauce in their bread). Lattes are also so good here. Good wine selection. Amazing food. Cozy and inviting atmosphere.

It’s unfortunate there are so few reviews here. As more provide feed back, I’m sure the ratings will improve.
I found the food and service both to be good. The spaghetti carbonara, while traditionally not an upscale meal, was perfectly done. The pasta was a perfect al dente and the sauce expertly done. The bread was authentic and the service prompt.

I have friends that like this place, but for me dinner was disappointing. Food marginal and service was terrible. Won’t be going back anytime soon.

There is a really really horribly rude man taking reservations and takeout orders over the phone at Vivaces! I don’t know if he’s the owner, manager, or just a host… but he seems to think that the appropriate way to treat people on the phone is to be a complete jerk. I’ve had three recent incidents with him lately during a phone call to the restaurant. One time, he was rude to me on the phone when I was trying to make a reservation for my family and I, and cut me short before hanging up on me. Then another time I was trying to call for a takeout order. He didn’t answer the phone during normal business hours, and then hours later when he called me back (I had left a polite voicemail saying that I wanted to place a to-​go order, if they could call me back when they got a chance) he acted disgusted with me for telling him thank you but that I had placed my order elsewhere since I hadn’t heard back form them, he cut me short again and hung up on me mid sentence.
the third recent experience was actually my husbands. He called in a few weeks later asking to place a take out order (he was surprising me, as he knows it’s my favorite food and we were having an at-​home date night) and he was told by the same man that they were «too busy, and not doing take out orders tonight» (as though we weren’t a paying customer just like all of the people sitting in the actual restaurant) and he hung up on my husband again. Then my husband called back later and someone else picked up the phone who was more than happy to take the order. He picked it up 20 minutes later with no problem.
Now, if this man is the owner or manager, he should be ashamed and perhaps take some classes in customer service. If he is an employee, he deserves to be fired. This is not the way to have happy, returning customers. In our case you’ve lost a very regular guest, including my extended family whom we often met for dinner there.
I hope Vivace’s can solve this situation somehow, as we were huge fans of the restaurant for many years before this happened, and now we feel like we’ve been run out of there by this man’s attitude. Not good. I hope he isn’t the owner/​manager, because if he is, he needs to learn quickly that this isn’t the way to run a successful business, and he will be solely responsible for any negativity surrounding the reputation of this place.

Overpriced for food anyone can make at home. Vivace has a nice upscale feeling atmosphere but the food does not complement this. The bread they bring out is hard as a rock. I had the seafood pasta and my friend had some chicken or veal pasta. The seafood pasta was way over priced and I felt like I had more shells than the seafood or pasta itself. The sauce they used did have a nice hint of wine but anyone can pour wine in there bottle of ready made pasta. The chicken pasta tasted basic. It actually wasn’t too bad but I felt like they just threw ingredients onto a dish.
Service was great and, again, nice atmosphere. Come here if you’re over 40 and well off.

We picked this restaurant randomly off our GPS after visiting Monticello. We were very pleasantly surprised with our pick. The ambiance was great. Very cute, décor. Very quiet setting. Perfect for a date. The staff was extremely friendly. My husband had the chicken parm and loved it. I had the Fettuccini Alfredo and it was delicious. We also got these fried rice balls neither of us had had before which were great. We will definitely go here again if we’re in the area!

The pizza is really good. The crust is unlike any other. They start it with a sourdough base. They’re very creative with the toppings, as well. And the homemade sausage appetizer was fantastic– spicy and tasty.

This long-​running Charlottesville restaurant has seen some rough patches, but it appears to be «on-​the-​up», notably due to a more limited menu. Prices are still a bit high, and I would greatly prefer if they served any sort of house-​made pasta (particularly for the price), but they are getting there.
Service is still slow and a bit ungainly. They are slowly getting the staff and dining areas up to the 21^st century, but they have a ways to go.

Very cool ambience and décor. We just got a white pizza and some pasta, and we were happy. Price was very reasonable. I thought it would be much higher. Fine place. If you don’t eat here you’re being too pretentious.

I have been to Vivace years ago and loved it, we just left and I was very disappointed. The place seems run down, and had a nasty odor in the entrance and bar area. The whole, place needs a deep cleaning. Our server was not knowledgable on wine and very blasé on the whole. Salads were average, my pasta was bland, no parm. Or fresh pepper was offered. We drove 2 hours to meet friends there and I was embarrassed that I raved about it so much. We won’t be back.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THE SCAMPI!!! Sorry I had to get that out before I went any farther with this review. This place is amazing! As soon as you enter nothing falls short of a great dining experience. The staff is wonderful, the atmosphere and the food is delicious! I have family in Cville and every time I come to visit they know Vivace is on my list and if I get really lucky I dine more than once on my visit.
Living in Chicago I have a fair share of amazing dining experiences but I still put Vivace on it’s own pedestal; it’s that good.
During my last visit the bartender let me know the pics just aren’t random; they have a history to the owners. When you know the owners want to share part of themselves directly with you they aren’t going to give you a bad experience.

Recommended by a friend… I’m sorry but I was NOT impressed. Ambiance at first seem cool but staff attitude quickly turned that into «meh» at best. I agree with Kat, it does have a musty smell in the air and don’t expect energetic service. Food was subpar at best. Nothing you couldn’t buy at Kroger and microwave yourself. Not worth a second chance.

I came to Vivace to meet a friend for drinks the other week. The moment I walked in, I felt like Chef Robert Irvine stepping into a restaurant that needed to be rescued. There was a foul smell in the air; it definitely wasn’t the smell of food nor did it make me want to order food. The bar was sticky and right before I ordered a drink, I observed the bartender coughing (without covering his mouth in any way shape or form) as he prepared someone’s mint julep. Looking over the bar, it was absolutely filthy. If they can’t clean the outer areas, I don’t want to imagine how filthy their kitchen is.

In a word, disappointed. Family get together in Charlottesville from three states. Charlottesville, an oasis of restaurant culture and choices. This looked like a good bet for a large group. Unfortunately, they couldn’t handle it. Very slow service, combined with an unfriendly waiter who knew he was guaranteed is 20 percent tip – many mistakes, forgotten drinks and even meal orders. We were reminded more than once that another party was coming soon, so we had to pick up the pace to make up for their slowness. Amazing. Frustrating, since it was the service that was slow, not us. Worst of all, my 23 dollar plate of pasta and halibut was appetizer sized… I left hungry. I don’t like to leave hungry, and never when I’ve just dropped lots of money.

Eh?
I went to college in Charlottesville, VA. Now, we like to eat down in cville. I was back in town for a wedding and the rehearsal dinner was there.
Let me start with the good stuff.
–Service: They have good service. They cleared plates and filled drinks fast. They were attentive but not overly hovering. We had a big group of people but the food came out fairly quick.
–Cost: Eh. a little more pricier than most. But, not bad. I’m not sure how much the food actually lives up the place though.
Oh. wait i’m already going into the bad stuff:
–Food: Dude, seriously the most important thing. I ordered… Piccata di Pollo con Limone. aka. Chicken Piccata. It comes with spaghetti in a similar sauce. Honestly, the chicken part of the dish was really good. However… God, I hate spaghetti. It tasted like plain spaghetti. Vitello alla Parmigiana aka Veal Parmagean… ditto. meat good. bad pasta.
The salads were okay. You really have to be stupid to mess up salad.
The ice-​cream dessert was okay. Ditto on the stupid thing.
The appetizers… calamari was good. Not overly greasy. And the bruschetta appetizer was pretty good as well.
I feel… they fall short. They have a decent atmosphere… you can watch movies outside and eat dinner, good tablescape and dishes, etc. The bathroom was so hot, I don’t know why they don’t have ac in there.
But, yes. back to the food. I feel like I’m avoiding it.
Here’s the gist:
If you are a poor college student or your car breaks down in front of the restaurant… then you can go. If not… go anywhere else. Go downtown … it’s only a few minutes away. Honestly… I’m a little unimpressed. apathetic, really… kind of place where you don’t take the leftovers home, but leave it there.
Sorry, Vivace, better luck next time.
I change my rating to a 1.