We had an excellent time at Vito's Cafe! Vito and Mary greeted us at the door and made us feel like their own personal guests. The singing waiters, the amazing crab cake appetizer, the fabulous ravioli entree and the to-die-for vanilla bread pudding for dessert are some of the wonderful things that will definitely keep us coming back to Vito's for years to come!! Thank you Vito and Mary for a most memorable evening!! We can't wait to come back!!
Review Source:Two co-workers and I were referred to Vito's by another co-worker who knew we were heading to the Cinci area.
I must say, I simply do not understand a 3.5 overall rating. This place should be 4 minimum, and if Yelp let me give 4.5 stars that would have been an easy decision.
Great food from my, and my two coworkers, opinion from the appetizers we had in the bar pre-dinner, all the way through the dessert (ps - get the bread pudding dessert).
On top of that, you have waiters, and Vito himself, singing to piano every 5-10 minutes. The atmosphere is something I've only seen in movies.
Anyone in the area looking for a great place with Italian character, local feel, and somewhere you can't get elsewhere... You need to stop in.
I will find time to stop and see Vito anytime I'm in the area. Â I wish we had a joint like this back home in Pittsburgh.
We came here with a large group of 11 and the restaurant was awesome at accomodating us with no problem. We sat in the bar and tried some truly amazing cocktails until we all arrived and they sat us down.
The menu is small but we had no problem finding stuff we all liked. They were also great with our group's dietary restrictions and made a few dishes special just for them. The best part? All the wait staff are professional singers! We had the pleasure of watching our waiter sing twice that night inbetween serving us our food. There were show tunes, broadway musical songs, classice piano and I think a little opera thrown in there too. Everyone was so great!
A short drive from downtown Cinci, easy to find and lots of parking in the lot. We loved it here and can't wait to go back.
WOW! How have I not been there yet!??! The service - excellent. The food - I will continue to have dreams of the bolognese lasagna. The entertainment - surprising and delightful. The prices - worth every last penny!
I'm so pleased that we have another good Italian option here in the area. PLEASE skip the chains...they don't hold a candle to Vito's Cafe. I got there early and waited at the bar for my friends...yummy drink selection, cozy atmosphere and friendly bar starff. Mary and Vito will greet you at the door! How often do you get that?!?
The food was hearty, hot and delicious. I can't wait to go back and try other dishes. The fun part is that the wait staff are very talented singers. Once they have you all squared away with your meal, they'll join the pianist and sing you a song!! I love it!
One word: go. That is all.
Great place for a special occasion night out. My wife and I had a spectacular rehearsal dinner here - it was immensely enjoyable. We also celebrated our one year anniversary here and plan to continue that tradition as long as we are in town. Vito and his wife are excellent hosts. The service can vary but has never been bad - all the wait staff are CCM students and sometimes it shows that their talents lean more towards singing and entertaining than towards waiting. I highly recommend Vito's - it is a truly unique restaurant in an unexpected location. This is where we take our friends and family when we want to show off our great little town of Fort Thomas.
Review Source:We ended up at Vito's Cafe after reading Polly Campbell's review... I realized I had never been, and always wanted to. Â We made reservations for Friday night, and had a great experience. Â Pleasant welcome at the front door, great table off to the side (and not right up front, so we could quietly talk during the music without feeling rude), and yummy food. Â
Our server was brand new (her first night!), and seriously opened her first bottle of wine EVER at our table. Â She did a great job, so I'm assuming she had practiced in training and just didn't mention it. Â :-) Â She was sweet and did a good job for her first night serving. Â
The food was slow - we were there for almost 3 hours - apparently there was a large party in the back, and it was slowing down the kitchen. Â Perhaps at another restaurant, we would have been annoyed - but at Vito's, it was kind of great. Â It was a pleasure to sit, drink wine, eat slowly as the courses came out, and enjoy the music. Â It reminded us of our recent honeymoon in Italy. Â
Bottom line - we had a great time, the food was delicious, and we'll be back.
I am amazed that so many people who reviewed this place either dislike show tunes or were unaware of the concept of the restaurant.
I suppose it's not for everyone but I have been her several times and it's a blast especially with a large group. It's our mothers day tradition. My kids live putting in requests, as we are big broadway fans. Food is delicious and service has always been superb.
At half the price, Vito's would have been great. I hardly think any place can justify charging that much, but when you're serving Italian food one can get any number of more reasonable places it seems foolish to pay so much. Â The atmosphere consists close together tables and intermittent loud live music. Â This may appeal to some but for me and my girlfriend it meant an hour and a half where conversation was barely an option without leaning across the table and shouting. Please read other reviews and don't let me discourage you fully, but for me Vito's was far from worth the shell shock at the end of the night and an inconvenient place to have a romantic meal.
Review Source:We squandered $150 for a Christmas Eve dinner for four at Vito's. Despite the fact that we chose an early seating, we were put at an awkward table that left my son pinned against a wall and my husband jostled by every server and patron who passed by. There were plenty of other seats, but they did not offer to reseat us. Service was fine, but the food was not good. The selection on the alleged holiday buffet was sparse. We expected a good time in terms of entertainment, but someone made the bad decision to go with formal Christmas music that didn't sound very good; some fun, informal holiday music would have been a better choice. Â Clearly this was a disappointing experience.
Review Source:It's a wonder I don't go to Vito's more often. They have everything I expect from a good restaurant: quality Italian food, a clean, quiet space, and some of the best service in the metro area. I suppose they're a little bit on the pricey side, but some places have a right to charge more.
What I can't go without mentioning, though, is their habit of performing for you. There's a small stage in the main dining room, and while it sometimes features a quiet, unobtrusive piano player (who does take requests), it can often host a veritable cabaret of singing and performing. Much of it is done by the servers, most of whom are in training at CCM or some similar institution, and occasionally Vito himself (a rotund, back-slapping restaurant-owner cliche, and I mean that as the highest compliment) comes on to belt out a number or two.
Depending on your tastes and your patience, this can either be the place's greatest draw or its greatest drawback. Personally, I love the show; it can teeter towards amateurish, but for the most part the song choices are tasteful and the performances unoffensive if not downright fantastic. Vito isn't much of a singer, but hey, it's his prerogative to get up there and lean on his old standbys. If he's a little off-key, it's all part of the place's charm.
For those who prefer to eat in silence, you may or may not get your wish. It's something of a crap shoot. The food (desserts in particular) is good enough that you might want to take the risk, in my opinion. But if you don't mind the songs, you'll find little to complain about.
I don't understand all the complaints on here about this restaurant. Â Vito's is great! Â The food is good, the wine is good. Â The staff is friendly. Â And they sing! Â Yes there is a live piano player and singing. Â It does get a bit loud at times and the musical selections are heavy on Broadway tunes. Â And its great! Â And if it's your birthday, you won't mind having the waitstaff sing to you, because, they are actually good singers!
Review Source:Food was not great. Â Experience was weird. Â I seriously felt I was being held hostage for tips. Â Singing tended to be over dramatic, loud, and not always good. Â They asked for tips over and over and over and over again. Â Would and have refused to go back. Â Awkward and weird and LOUD.
Review Source:I found Vito's to be a rather weird experience.
The food is excellent, service is great and attentive, but the atmosphere just isn't my thing. We visited as part of restaurant week and had a really great meal, but I found the loud and not-always-good singing to be rather off-putting and too distracting. We also happened to be there a night where the local high school was showing off some of their tunes for their play the next night and I wasn't expecting to have to sit through a high school musical while I ate. Our food was served right as they started, so I wasn't sure if I was supposed to eat or watch them sing, and the stage was right behind my back which was just awkward.
I wouldn't mind trying it again, but I'd want to sit elsewhere and on a night where they don't have special guest singers standing behind me singing.
I really should have researched before I went to Vito's. I went of a drizzly Friday for Restaurant week because it was easy enough to get to from work. Had I researched I would have discovered the secret that I'm going to reveal. Everyone. Sings. Not that bad of a truth if you're prepared for it. I however was unprepared. Unprepared for all of the waiters and the owner to burst into song. The piano player started playing "The Girl from Ipanema" and I really thought that was kind of cheesy on it's own but then the owner began singing it. It was a little embarrassing and not to mention loud. Jesus was it loud, the kind of loudness that just drives words out of your skull as you're about to speak them. Anyways onto the food.
I had the garlic bread with gorgonzola. Very tasty bread, cheesy dipping sauce. Nothing mind blowing.
Ann had the mussels which she liked. They smelled very fresh. I haven't been brave enough to try mussels yet. Maybe someday soon. I heard that Nicholson's no longer carries them. Maybe Senate.
Cue "Start Spreadin' The News" complete with the servers doing a kick line a la the Rockettes.
We each had the wild mushroom soup which was delicious. Creamy and nutty flavor of mushroom with a balsamic vinegar garnish.
Cue "Old Man River"
We each also had the braised short rib canneloni. This was a hearty portion of 2 canneloni with broccoli. Fortunately for the singing staff it was delicious. If any of this food tasted the slightest bit bad I would have gotten up and left. The food made me stay. I think that if I had a couple glasses of wine in me I wouldn't have minded the singing.
Cue "Moon River".
Not only was it a dining experience but it was a meal with a soundtrack. Not a soundtrack I would have chosen, but there it is. I'm sure there are a lot of people that this concept appeals to, I am not one of them. I did however really enjoy the food. Pretty certain I'm not going back just for the singing.
Since this place has survived for so long, I can only imagine that our experience was not the norm. Â However, after being seated at 7:15 (when our reservation was scheduled) we waited, and waited, and finally asked the busboy if a server was coming anytime soon. Â 20 minutes later after being seated we met our waitress who was surprised our party had been seated. Â
After taking our drink (and our meal order, we had plenty of time to study the menu) she disappeared. Â
We waiting another 20 minutes and still had not received our drinks, or bread, or anything.
So at 8 PM we walked out. Â I saw my server as we left and told her we would try again another night, but that was a lie. I won't be back.
If you do decide to visit, I hope your experience will be better.
UPDATE 3/13
I must write again to say that I received a call this afternoon from the owner (Vito) who apologized for our experience. Â Took responsibility, and offered us the chance to come back and make it right. Â Which I find extremely impressive that he would take the time to do.
So I definitely will try it again and let you know my experience. But very impressed by this level of customer service.
was there on Valentine's Day. Â Overpriced and portions are not what I had expected for the amount I was spending. Â The service is 5-star, the ambience is 5 star. Vito lives in his own world that is Vito's Cafe, and needs to be told to not push the tip jar when auto gratuity is the standard. Â The overall exprience was OK, if it wasn't for the service and environment I would slam this place, cause 3 asparagus a small portion of potatoes and a 4 oz filet just doesn't get me to the point of coming back. Â No salad either. Â I mean c'mon, and the dessert was one piece of drenched chocolate cake. Â Forgettable, and $$$.
Review Source:My husband and I love to go have a local beer and when I found out Vito's Cafe makes its own brew, Red Ear, I was pumped. Â Scott had shorts on and I threw on flip flops and we headed out the door. Â When we parked our car I was a little hesitant to go in when I saw men with jackets going in the front door. We were greeted at the door with "do you have a reservation"? Â "No worries, you never need them". Â
We were led to a front row table in front of a gleaming black grand piano. Â
I am feeling really under dressed (not a feeling anyone enjoys) as a server lays a cloth napkin on my lap. Â (We came for beer, remember) Â
Then a lively man in a bowler hat sits down at the piano and begins to play. Â "Any requests?" Â Wow! Â Requests start flying (many from me) and customers begin to engage in the experience that is Vito's. Â
My husband and I look at each other in disbelief. Â
We have not been back as of yet, partly due to thinking that we can not recreated that first experience. Â Give it a try and see if you can.
This place is great. Say hello to Mary and Vito they own the place. They are so nice and you will feel like you have known them forever. All the food is tasty and the portions are well worth the price. The bar is fun, so you can just hang there and have a Martini! The BEST part is the staff sing to ya while you dine! You can even make a request! Â My FAV is " Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and when Vito sings his version of "If I Were a Rich Man".....well, he brings down the house!
PLEASE try this place, you will LOVE it!
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