Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Vito's Cafe:

We went to Vito’s Cafe for a Hoperative Happening a month or two ago. We got a chance to try the offerings of the Red Ear Brewery, which are respectable. We also got a chance to check out Vito’s, whose style I would say is new and classic Italian and restaurant schtick is singing servers. Really, really good singing servers.

This isn’t like one of the national chains where songs crackle on over the loudspeaker and suddenly your server is begrudgingly dancing to a song they hear 6 times a shift in semi sync with other restaurant staff.

Vito’s has live music-- piano accompaniment to singing waiters-- who are often aspiring vocal and musical students. It’s certainly a unique concept.



As for the food, our recommendation is to get the chef’s tasting menu. At less than $40 a person, it is an excellent value. David and I both opted to get regular menu items, and it was a decision that we regretted— we felt his mussels were not as fresh as they could have been and my spaghetti and meatballs were overpriced for what came out of the kitchen. As a contrast, the dishes from the tasting menu came out beautifully presented. Everyone loved the dishes and the portions were just right.








disappointing mussels

We do want to mention that Vito’s seems a to be a bit preoccupied with the singing part of the singing servers, and we feel that it contributed to some time and service issues. Most notably, the regular menu items that David and I made the error of ordering came out with the final course of the tasting menu. We received our dishes after watching our table mates enjoy not one or two, but several courses. We felt rushed to finish our meal, and cranky after watching everyone else ohh an ah over their tasty dishes for almost an hour. I would have ordered another cocktail as well while we waited, but our server went MIA for a very long time, making it impossible to do that either.


there's a reason that this limoncello martini comes in a small glass--it's insanely strong and potent

Other than the tasting menu, one of the things we enjoyed most about Vito’s? This impressive, flaming, tasty cocktail, known as the flaming skipperino. Pricey, but worth it. See the video below:






Vito's Cafe on Urbanspoon

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