La Dolce Vita Ristorante Italiano

"This was our first time dining at this restaurant. We were greeted, staff was friendly. We ordered the dinner special for $42 for two. We chose the salad, which was nothing more than a cafeteria style salad. I ordered Italian dressing, expecting oil and balsamic vinegar and got something like 1000 island dressing. The main course was average. The marinara sauce tasted like something from a jar, let’s just say nothing tasted authentic Italian. I’d give the Tiramisu 5 ⭐️ After our food was served, we didn’t see the waiter at all, not even to refresh our drinks."

"La Dolce Vita Ristorante, a Provo institution since 1984, continues to impress with its authentic Italian flavors. The Dinner for 2 is a fantastic value, offering a glimpse into their culinary prowess with two entrees. I had the PASTA COMBO with Rigatoni (pasta baked in homemade meat sauce with ricotta, provolone, parmesan, and salame) and Pasta a Gratte (Penne pasta baked in our Alfredo sauce with provolone, parmesan, and salame) they were authentic master pieces. My wife had the POLLO ALLA PARMIGIANA, a breaded chicken breast topped with mozzarella and meat sauce, served with Pasta a Gratte, and was a savory delight. To cap off the experience, we split a dessert that came with the Dinner for 2 and chose the TIRAMISU, which was delicious, leaving a sweet and memorable taste. La Dolce Vita Ristorante's commitment to quality Italian cuisine shines through in every dish, making it a timeless dining destination in Provo."

"Excelente!!!! Legit Italian food, carefully and lovingly hand-made, served fresh and hot!! Reminded me of my time in Buenos Aries, Argentina, and how much I enjoyed the real Italian food there made from Italians that had immigrated there. Thank you for great service, too!"

"As you walk in your are hit with the smell of your grandmother's house, and as you look around you see it has the decor to match. We were then greeted by the waiter to seemed to have a thick Italian accent. Now these aren't bad things - they actually made me really excited for the food. I was expecting quaint home style Italian meals. Sadly, it wasn't so..... Lets start with the water - yes the water. Undrinkable. It had such a strong metallic taste - I'm pretty sure lead is leaking into their pipes or something.... Next the Gnocchi, the sauce was good but the actual pieces of gnocchi were awful. I think it was probably because it was boiled in said water (typically you boil gnocchi until it floats and then you take it out, add sauce and serve). I couldn't eat more than a few bites, my wife tried it and it was the same. Last was their white-sauce "house" noodle or something. I think it was supposed to be alfredo - but I've had microwaved dinners that were better. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually WAS a microwaved dinner. NOW - it wasn't all bad!! We got a pizza and it was really amazing. Dough had to be homemade, seasoning and cheese were perfectly proportioned, we loved it. We got a Capreese salad (mozerlla, tomato, bazil, with balsamic vinegar) and that was wonderful also. Really nice balsamic vinegar, not the cheap stuff. The Manacotti was INCREDIBLE and my Minestrone soup was pretty good too. So there are some REALLY good dishes in there, but so much of it just wasn't good....... I wouldn't be surprised if the water itself was to blame honestly. Oh - and they didn't have a 'kids menu' which was a bit of a pain. Oh - last thing was the parking. The sign said "Lots of parking in back" but we weren't really sure where..... We pulled into one of the stalls and say a sign that said "permit only" - so I guess we can't park there. There is a parking complex behind that seemed to be free, so we parked there."

"The food here is pretty dang awesome—I have been recommending this place to people since I ate here on July 3rd. We went here on a whim following our visit to Provo Freedom Festival because we saw a sign on the building that said “DINNER FOR TWO-$29”, I am glad we did! Here are the reasons why it was a 3-star experience for us. First, let’s talk the good—our meals were easily some of the best Italian food we have ever tasted. They were also very filling. We could talk that they were made with quality ingredients and not just warmed up in a microwave in the back (if you think Olive Garden is good Italian good you ought to wake up, it’s tastes okay, but it is average at best and all that is worth getting there is unlimited breadsticks with their soup/salad). I got the Chicken Alfredo and asked them to double the chicken so I could get more protein (it was great) and a Caesar Salad. I believe my wife got the Pasta Combo with Pasta A Grate & Gnocchi. Also delicious! My 7-year old got a spinach calzone—it was good but I’ll talk a bit more about it in the improvements section. The cost is also incredibly affordable (in terms of cost to give a baseline—you pay the same amount of joy more at Olive Garden for way crappier food). Here is where this place needs to improve: their bread that they serve pre-meal was crazy bland and honestly a bit greasy, they serve the bread with balsamic vinegar and oil, the balsamic vinegar and oil is fine but the bread is meh. The dinner for two deal that was advertised on the side of the building for $29 we found once we were seated in the restaurant that the meal deal had been changed to $37–they said it they changed it a long time ago, we felt a little bait-and-switched—after we left we looked at the sign outside and it looked like they tried to spray paint out the $29. Lame sauce. Another 3-star thing that happened was we were seated right near the entrance of the restaurant (which is fine with us) but it felt like we were somewhat forgotten by the staff—our waters never got refilled and it took forever for us to have our orders taken and our food delivered (not exactly what you want with 4 hungry kids). The final 3-star item was that we were given the menu to look at, which was fantastic but there were no kids options—after waiting forever to order we said we wanted to get pizza for our 3 year old and 5 year old—they essentially said, “do you want the kids pizza? We have a kids menu you can order from for them.” The answer to this question was of course yes, but it would’ve been nice to look over the kids menu before we had already been waiting around for 20 minutes. All of this really dropped our star rating from a 5 down to a 3. In summary, this is a fantastic tasting restaurant, 10/10 for the food (minus the pre-meal bread, so maybe 9/10)! The cost is very affordable! I would quickly and happily go here again despite the slightly slow service and poor communication on menu & pricing."