Vivace-Charlottesville

“Excellent experience for dinner on Father's Day. The bread is really delicious -- almost worth going there just for the bread! Fried oysters and the mussels were first-class. Even though the place was crowded, noisy and busy, our server was very attentive.”

“The food, service, and atmosphere was fantastic! Dreama was very helpful with getting everything set up beautifully for my son and daughter-in-law's rehearsal dinner. The upstairs area was very charming and perfect for our party of 18. Our two servers were absolutely amazing and the food was delicious! The whole staff was incredible. My son and daughter-in-law had their rehearsal dinner in August 2025. Thanks for making the celebration even more special!”

“Delightful yummy place! I loved the atmosphere and really loved the food. Very great place for a special homey meal. If I didn’t live out of state I would come here often.”

“This was my first time here. We went for my mother's birthday. The service was amazing. The atmosphere was great but a bit noisy. I can understand that as there were almost no empty tables but it did make my family feel like we had to shout at each to carry on a conversation. The service was fantastic. Every staff member I saw was courteous and professional. Our server checked on us regularly and followed up after bringing anything new to the table. The food was fantastic overall. Our table started with a wedge salad and arancini. My brother had the wedge salad and he said it was great. We split the arancini. They didnt taste that great to me. I have had them at several places and they never seem to deliver on my expectations. Maybe I just dont like the dish in general. Take that as you may. The marinara sauce they were served on was terrific. Our entrees consisted of spaghetti carbonate with chicken, eggplant parmesan, and their oreganata. My brother had the carbonara. It was fantastic. He said adding the chicken was a great choice. He ate as much as he could and still has enough for a meal tomorrow. We all do actually. You definitely get your money's worth. My mom had the eggplant. She said it was the perfect thickness, not thick and spongy. Again the red sauce stood strong in this dish. I had the oreganata. The house made sausage was spicy and plentiful. There were well over a dozen clams. And the mixture of flavors in the sauce gave a pleasant lemon tang that paired beautifully with the tomato. After we ate as much as we could we decided to try a dessert to celbrate the birthday. (We almost never tell the servers at any restaurant about a birthday dinner just to avoid whatever birthday celebration they do.) We split a serving of Tiramisu. After thr first spoonful we just sat back and smiled at each other. This was one of the best things we had ever tasted. We played nice and let Mom have her fill then my brother and I devoured what was left. We will definitely be coming back. This is now my number one Italian place in Charlottesville. The quality and quantity of the food surpasses any of the others I've tried. The best quality and value for the money.”

“I was looking for a place to celebrate my 23rd wedding anniversary, and as we both love Italian food, this seemed to fit the bill. Our introduction to the business was the strange parking, as I drove around the building twice and settled on parking near the street. I walked up the hill to the not entrance, and there was a sign on the not entrance door that said not to park in the spots for the shops or the Sentara lot, as you would be towed. Given there was no parking available in the back of the restaurant, I parked in Sentara and was later told by our server that parking in Sentara was okay. Nothing confusing about that. Perhaps some signage would help. We were quickly seated, and our server came and took our drink order. It is a cozy restaurant with open seating, and the noise levels were reasonable. We had an early reservation at 5:30 (that's early to us), and as the night went on and it got busier, we noticed the two servers were a bit overwhelmed. The table next to ours asked rather curtly if one of them would take our order. Our server was trying to keep up, and when I asked her if they were understaffed, she said no. Hmmm. Okay, the food. We started with wdge sald for me and a hpuse special salad for my qife, and they were good. My wife ordered the chicken piccata and a Montepulciano to drink. The chicken was tasty and tender, and the freshly baked bread was the highlight of my meal. I ordered spaghetti aglio with a side of sausage and a side of meatballs, as I was looking for something light, a little spicy, and we both love meatballs. What I got instead was a dish that was overpowered with garlic and basically inedible. I tried four forkfuls, and then had my wife try it to see if I was being overly sensitive. She couldn't eat it either. Same result with one of my daughters the next day, and the other daughter, the garlic queen, said it was good, although it was a lot of garlic for her. Prices were average for C'Ville. Big disappointment for the 23rd! I would not recommend this restaurant.”