Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante

I dined here months ago… before they made the announcement about closing down, + I still don’t fully understand why it had so many disappointing reviews. My friend + I came to this dimly lit hotspot on a Monday night during one of their 50% off promotions, + had a nice fine dining experience at a good price to match!
We ordered a farfalle pasta w/​sun-​dried tomatoes, fried calamari + shrimp plate, chocolate crunch cake + a Dolce Flirt drink — a perfect amount of food since neither of us were overly hungry. I guess there’s no point now in giving an opinion about each plate since no one will ever be able to try them again… but we definitely liked the food + said we would have interest in returning on another 50% off Monday again. So much for that.
The service was fine with plenty of waiters to accommodate how busy the restaurant was that evening. The only mishap was when our waiter temporarily forgot about my drink after placing the order with bar. I saw the drink on the service counter… + was tempted to get up to get it, but then the waiter remembered + actually had the bartender make me a whole new drink so that it would be freshly made for me. Personally, I think that’s great customer service. Sure, he made a mistake, but then he made up for it right away without me having to ask + plus apologized for the delay.
Later by the end of our meal, it got a little noisy as a DJ started setting up + blasting heavier beats, but we didn’t mind too much. It suited the mostly-​young crowd that night + wasn’t anything obnoxious. I really liked the dark wood, contemporary décor as well, very tasteful + appropriate for a date or a nice dinner with friends. The large fire behind the bar was a really cool touch, too, that cast a nice glow over the small dining room.
I suppose it was just the fact that there’s too many similar places like it in this part of LA + nothing particularly remarkable about this one (aside from it’s owner being Ashton Kutcher) that led to its eventual closing. It would definitely have come back for another meal like this at a little over $ 30 total… but I would think twice about coming for the real price of about $ 60.
Oh well…

Last call at Dolce Enoteca — brought a couple friends to celebrate the very last night of the little corner.
No hollywood elite that I could see — our reservation was at 8:45 though so maybe they were couchie showing elsewhere. For all the excitement in the last night, I really thought there would be a bigger party, a bigger ta-​da, but not really.
The service wasn’t bad — the girl I had saved me from ordering a licorice flavored drink, and the food was a little slow, but not much slower than other Hollywood whatevers. Had the chicken parma — I’d show you pictures, but they would just come up as big blocks of black (lights anywhere? anybody? got some light up in this joint?) Chicken parma was good, bruschetta good, and everyone at my table liked their food. So there’s that.
I think the light issue got to me the most — the space was nice, but geezus now I know how Ray Charles felt. This place was totally dark, I guess to highlight the bar that was on fire, nothin like vodka that will give you third degree burns. That’s the stuff I want. But seriously, it would be a good place for some groping attention… wanted or not. You could definitely go here with someone you’re not suppose to be with because it would be too dark for anyone to notice you, but it would also be dark enough for you to accidentally go home with someone else you’re not suppose to be with.
Goodnight Dolce Enoteca, and goodluck.

I don’t know why I’m writing a review when today or tomorrow is their last day open – but all I can say is that I’m glad the food was 50% off b/​c it definitely was not worth full price. I went there yesterday, the décor was nice but I thought it was interesting how the main dining room was all dark but the extra section was extremely light/​white. I liked the flames surrounding the alcohol bottles at the bar. The place was a bit loud– I was sure there was going to be chatter but even the music had a pretty high volume.
I started off with the lobster bisque– the lobster chucks were pretty good and there was a good amount of it included but the soup itself was bleh. Something about the taste that didn’t seem right. I had the Seared Tuna for my entrée and first off the presentation was like I was eating a family style Chinese dish. The veggies and sauce were on top of the tuna, in no visual appealing manner. The tuna was a bit too cooked– wished it was a bit more on the raw side. The mashed potatoes were good. Veggies were ok, not over cooked. Sauce was tasty but seemed to overpower the dish.
Service was bleh. Our server only came back to us once, I think when he asked if we wanted dessert. He acknowledged that he hadn’t come back but didn’t apologize. My friend brought up a good point in not wanting to see the dessert menu– why bother if the dishes aren’t so good then what makes her think the desserts will be? BTW– my friend had the Veal. She said it was OK but the sauce overpowered the dish as well.
Adiós Dolce! Hopefully something better will take its place.

Went here last Friday night as I heard it was closing and the menu was 50% off. After reading other reviews saying that the service was bad because the employees are bitter they are losing their jobs, I found the opposite to be true. Our server could not have been better. She was friendly, gave the perfect amount of attention, and took care of us.
We arrived 15 miuntes early (they are strict about holding reservations for 10 minutes only) for our 7:45pm reservation and waited in the bar for about 10 minutes before our table was ready. The tables were spaced very close together and it was packed. We could definitely follow our neighbors conversation had we so chose.
The food was average at best. The tuna tartar and carpaccio were excellent. We got the pesto gnocchi that tasted like it came from a box. I had the veal marsala which was quite a bit of food, but very bland. My wife had the Pumpkin Ravioli which she said she had had better elsewhere.
All in all a good night with the 50% discount, but would not come here for full price. You only have one more day to go as they are closing forever on June 30, 2009!

Way to go out with a whimper instead of a bang…
Considering this is a neighborhood joint that I’ve enjoyed in the past it seemed like a good enough idea to enjoy one last meal here before they close their doors for the last time this week.
Sure, you expect the worst of Hollywood obnox here but tonight it was jam packed with the dregs of the Z list… and that was the high point.
Service has gone through the floor. Outside of one Brit waitress who happened to be sweet as English toffee, it was absolute shite. Our primary server was indifferent and downright unhelpful. A couple of times he bumped our chairs so hard they actually moved (with us in them) and didn’t even bother with an apology. It was a good thing we were seated so uncomfortably close to the wait station because it meant I could at least reach to refill my own water. Three times. Missing utensils? Who cares. Food on the table? So what. It was b-​a-​d bad.
The food has also gone south to the point of being more miss than hit. Our tuna tartare and beef carpaccio starters were quite good, especially the latter. Almost good enough to make me forget they were out of my favorite burata. We opted to do a little surf and turf with a NY steak ($ 39) and the lobster ($ 55) and that’s when things really went to hell. Both were overcooked to the point of being dry, stringy and inedible. My guess is the kitchen just doesn’t give a f’ck since there’s no way otherwise that would have left a kitchen. The manager’s response was to take them away (as he put it, let’s get these outta sight) and offer some dessert we, needless to say, weren’t really interested in after such a seriously disappointing meal. Comped dessert we didn’t order aside, both barely touched entreés were on the tab. Meh.
Sorry to say it, but after tonight, adiós Dolce. Don’t let the door hit ya on the ass on the way out.

It seems a bit pointless to write a review for a place closing within a few days but oh well…
+1 Based on reviews, it seems like diners’ experiences are either hit or miss. Ours was hit, due to the half-​price menu (drinks not included)
+1 Food and drinks were decent — we got the Hollywood salad, pesto gnocchi, mojito, martini, and 2 desserts (chocolate lava and banana with coconut gelato) — all good.
+1 Nice atmosphere inside and I love how the 2-​person tables are not directly adjacent to one another (as they often are at other places and make conversations awkard)
Other than that, service was fine. I would have never visited this place with a regular (aka over-​priced) menu, but it was an above average experience overall with the half-​price menu. A few more days to take advantage…

They say water seeks its own level. This true for Dolce Enoteca. The place is closing and rightly so. It’s such a waste of a dining experience and it’s only fitting that it goes down.
But hey, what’s a sinking ship without some looters. If you’re up for terrible service, piss poor food quality and a general experience of being hip for being somewhere simply because you’re seen there, then you can take advantage of the 50% off sale that they have on their menu.
But since this is a sinking ship, you should expect the same sort of loyalty from the crew members in that you’re not going to get any service really.
Hell, when it was still going strong the place suffered from the terrible service. What do you think those same servers will do when they realize they’ll be out of a job in a couple of days? Yeah. not going to help you out. That’s for sure.
Sale runs till june 30^th, then this sucker gets put out of its misery. Seriously, not a good place at all. Thankfully I don’t have to warn people about how bad this place is for much longer.
Edit: I also got a response by the owners of this fine… ok, piss poor establishments. My response:
If this place is not closing, then perhaps the PR workers for the company should correct all the press going out. For example, LAist and other websites are reporting that this place is CLOSING. No mention of ownership change.
Forget about being sold or closing. Fact remains that the place has terrible service. The last time I visited the wait staff was god awful. Looking at others who helped review the establishment, they also agree.
Hell, even a comment on the LAist site shows that people are getting poor service. As for my elite status, it has no baring in this matter. As a business owner you should, perhaps train your staff to do a better job or you’ll see the establishment close… Oh wait, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Reviews for this restaurant are certainly some of the most polarizing I’ve seen on Unilocal.I’m going against the grain and say this place is really right along the middle. Actually, if Unilocal had a 3.5… I would put this place there.
Service– attentative and good. Amittedly, our server looked like he’s been an aspiring actor who’s been around LA too long and have had way too many visits to the tanning parlor.
Ambiance– dark, poppy background music, trendy. I gotta admit the clear plastic chairs in the patio did feel cheap and not the most comfy as mentioned by a previous part.
Food– hit or miss depending on what you ordered… Gnocchi was tasty, but a little too tough/​doughy. Tuna tartar was well made and flavorful. Good crisp texture on the fried wonton skin. My veal saltimbocca (sp?) was way salty; even for my hypertensive diet. K’s seared scallops with the lobster mashed potatoes were really good though. I’d order that next time for sure.
Price– this is the key maker/​breaker here. At the published price; I probably wouldn’t come here again. On 50% Mondays… it’s actually not a bad bargain. I would considering visiting again for a different Monday night occasion.

This is definitely a romantic place to take your honey or have a nice quiet girls night out!
The lighting was dim like most fancy places, but the fireplace like wall behind the bar gave it such a warm feeling. I ordered a cocktail and sampled my parties’ orders and thought it was ok.
However, the food was great. Ordered calamari as appetizer and it was perfectly done. As entrée, ordered the filet mignon (perfectly medium rare) that was very tender. Along with the fresh porcini mushroom sauce with mash and veggies made it an amazing dish. My lil sis, who usually don’t eat steak, thought it was so good that she is now attempting to have it more often. That says a lot coming from someone who only eats steaks that is well done. My party also had a great bottle of riesling along with our delicious meal, which I thought was the perfect way to start and end our meal.
The experience and the food was great. Didn’t think it was too pricey for the food and the surrounding. Will definitely bring the bf back for a romantic date!

This place was a little smaller than I expected it to be. This is going to be hard to explain, but I was just so attracted to the alcohol on the wall (because behind it were flames!!!) it was just truly amazing, such little detail made me really happy, haha.
So the food was good, I had a glass of wine and for dinner I ordered the lobster ravioli ($ 23) good deal since I couldn’t even finish the meal. There were peas that came with it, and i don’t know what they did to chose peas but i couldn’t stop eating them!
I also had the fresh and crispy calamari/​shrimp/​zucchini combination ($ 13) and that was awesome (shared with my date).
IN ADDITION, they gave us bread, and some cheese and meats.
it was my turn to pay so everything came out to under $ 80! i’m sorry but i had an amazing meal and i’m definitely coming back, plus my waiter was awesome.

Even though this is one of those celebrity places, the food is really good. I usually get the gnocci pesto app and the pumpkin ravioli. Both are solid.
The décor and flame bar are also a plus.
I’ve always had good service here (and I’ve been at least 10 times) but I’ve actually witnessed asshole patrons giving lots o’ ‘tude…that must be hard to take…
This place is great for dates and bringing those oh so easy to impress out of towners somewhere swanky. They can go back to Worthington, Ohio bragging that they ate at Aston Kutcher’s place.

There’s something to be said about pimping and being pimped in that all too often you get bent over whether you like it or not. Dolce is one of those «hit or miss» places and they seem to be more of the latter with their pretentious atmosphere and «bend over and get it in the ass» kind of hostesses who doesn’t even have the common decency to give you a reach around.
My clients picked a late night rendezvous at Dolce. One, a Parisian girl spilling out of her dress and the other a gold digging Asian girl with her fake British accent. They knew I was picking up the tab for the night and so they drank like Sorority girls during rush week and ordered more dishes than their anorexic bodies would have allowed them to eat. With dishes a plenty, this gave me an opportunity to try several of the dishes on the menu and I’ll share with you that Al dente isn’t in Dolce’s vocabulary as the pastas came out overcooked, the salads wilted and dangerously over dressed, and the fish well it smelled like fish.
The girls chose to sit in the darker part of the restaurant, perhaps a bit too far of a walk for our waitress as the drinks came out slow, the food even slower, but I’ll tell you what the damn bill came out pretty fast at just over $ 395 not including tip. Having just been pimped, I guess I should have at least pimped the girl with the fake British accent, leaving me to take the French girl out for some real food and drinks.

I went to Dolce for restaurant week. For me, it seems like the point of restaurant week is for a restaurant to showcase their menu in hopes that people will want to at some point return. I guess Dolce didn’t get that memo.
The tuna tartar was alright, and the tortini was pretty tasty. However, the main course (shrimp linguini) was the blandest meal I have ever been served in a restaurant. It was supposed to be in a white wine sauce, and I did notice some sort of liquid at the bottom of the plate, but there was definitely no sauce on the pasta. Basically I was served a small helping of plain linguini out of a box, with a few steamed shrimp and few pieces of steamed asparagus on top. Ick.
The service was okay, which is why I gave two stars instead of one.
Needless to say, I’ve had my Dolce experience, and once is good enough for me.

I’ve been wanting to come here for some time, and finally did today. The food was delicious. Calamari, tuna tartar, linguini, pumpkin ravioli, and the dessert, were also exceptional.
It has a cool bar (with a fire behind it) and two different dining areas. One of darker and more old fashioned, while the other is much brighter and more modern. We sat in the second (more modern room) which suited me just fine (aside from the plastic chairs) since it was much less crowded.
However, the service was absolutely horrible. The way I see it, we’re paying extra for quality food and great service. The food was there, but the service was the opposite. The hostess at the front was, for lack of a better term, a complete b*tch. While our waitress was fairly nice, everything took way too long, including the check. We just left with the feeling that we weren’t wanted.

Lookie here. I’m a mid-​twenties female, born in LA, raised in affluent suburbia, and a current resident in the ghetto-​est ‘hood of the OC (Anaheim, Anacrime, whatever). Of course I love me a good dose of pretension and hipster-​ness every now and then (or often)!
And when the urge hits to go somewhere «more posh,» «more hip,» and of course, «more expensive,» I wind up in cruising through the City of Angels headed for Melrose. Okay, so Melrose isn’t exactly «posh,» but it’s definitely more «hip» than anywhere in the OC, that’s for sure. And I’m not exactly a geriatric female out for a decadent experience. I just want to stare at some hot waiters, sip on some trendy drink, and rub shoulders with the occasional celeb, okay?
On a few of those occasions, I ended up at Dolce. The first time I ever went, I was sightly impressed by the décor. It didn’t have a «wow» factor, but it definitely was hip enough. The waiters were cute enough. And the food was decent enough.
Last year, we celebrated a close friend’ birthday here. You know, the traditional ladies-​only birthday dinner? Yeah. Our main reason for dining here was that (a) no one else had been before, (b) some of the girls had seen it on The Hills and wanted to try it out (no joke, I swear!) and © it was close to the Improv (we had planned to see a show).
First thing’s first. The valet service is quick and on point. Good job, dudes in vests. I’ll tip you.
We all stepped inside, and the girls, too, were semi-​impressed by the décor. It would make for nice pictures, at any rate, which we as young Asian chicks are BOUND to take millions of.
Here’s the catch. We all lagged like crazy. The show was to start at 10pm, so we had reservations for 8pm. Unfortunately (or. as expected), we all lagged like crazy and didn’t get to the restaurant until about 9pm. Shoot, we had just one hour to eat and BOUNCE!
As soon as the hostess showed us to the table, our waiter sidled up to take our drink orders. Mm, cute guy. Extra tip for you, since you’re probably a starving actor. Before we even ordered, we told him, «Look, we have a show to catch in less than an hour, and we need to make this QUICK.»
Starving actor boy was not exactly dumb. In fact, he was goshdarned brilliant! «Okay,» boy said. «Would you like to look through the menu, or should I just recommend for you?»
«Recommend, please.»
«Blah blah blah blah blah.» Quick, efficient, rattling.
We ordered, and no kidding, fifteen minutes later, he brought two other waiters to fly our plates to our table. We didn’t talk. We just ate. Except for the occasional, «Hey, this is kind of good!» we just stuffed our mouths as fast as we could.
Waiter boy comes back around just as we’re licking the last morsels off our plate (yes, the food really was good, surprisingly), and he already has the bill in hand. «I don’t mean to be rude, but you did say you were in a hurry, so I brought you your check. It seemed you were almost done.»
Let the angels sing at this boy’s foresight! *glorious singing* Quickly, one girl threw down her plastic, agreeing that we’ll all just split it later, and after adding a hefty tip to the tab (dude, Starving Actor Boy totally deserved it), we ran out of there.
And whoa! The valet brought us our car pronto! Nice work, gentlemen!
What’s funny is… thanks to the great service and promptness at Dolce, we actually made it to the Improv a few minutes EARLY! Okay, granted, it’s just down the street, but… less than an hour to order, eat, and pay for a meal? In HOLLYWOOOD? Never had that sort of experience before.
Thumbs up to Dolce. Two thumbs up to Dolce. If I had three, I’d give them three, but that would just make me a mutant, now, wouldn’t it?

You know when you meet that incredibly gorgeous guy or girl? You say to yourself, «Wow, (s/​he) is really too good to be true». Then after conversing for a bit you realize that the hot person in front of you is totally boring. So boring and unispiring you would rather watch paint dry rather than continuing the conversation? This is the best way I could describe Dolce.
Dolce’s ambiance is amazing but the food, the food is blah. The menu was a good idea in theory. Coincidentally, Hilter also thought he had good theory and we all know how well that turned out.
This is where I smash all of Dolce’s wine glasses and say, «Kristallnacht! Never Again!» and run out of Dolce as fast as I can.

Love it. Love it. Love it.
Dolce is my kind of restaurant. It has a young and cool vibe, has great décor, friendly staff and fantastic food. I ate at Dolce on July 9^th and July 12^th. Of all the restaurants I dined at while in LA last week, I felt the most comfortable and at home at Dolce. There is no pretense or snobbery that I detected at other area restaurants — just real people and wonderful food. I admit I was first attracted to Dolce last year because of it’s celebrity owner connections, but that matters none to me now, the place speaks for itself. I love the lit candles in the windows, fire behind the bar and the cool indoor dining atrium.
I have twice had the Pesto Gnocchi appetizer ($ 10) and the Forest risotto entrée ($ 18). Both are amazing. Simple, yet flavorful and delicious. The prices are extremely reasonable in comparison with other area restaurants. I don’t know why people complain about the prices here — try Cut, that place is expensive. One of my friends had the risotto special with absolutely huge king shrimp legs from Africa. There were two on the plate and had a wonderful grilled, smokey flavor.
The other entrée I had was the Chicken Gnocchi ($ 17). It is similar to the appetizer but has wonderful grilled chicken and a thicker pesto sauce. This is bar none the best pesto I have had. The price is amazing for what you get. I also had the Hollywood Dolce salad ($ 13) which came with a creamy and delicious disc of goat cheese. My only nit is that the salad could have used a more flavorful dressing. The chocolate crunch cake is a perfect dessert to end the meal.
For one of our visits we had the good fortune that Aaron was our server. He was our server when we dined there last year and actually remembered us, as I did him. Aside from his excellent and friendly service, he also provided us with a fantastic recommendation for breakfast and lunch. He works at Dusty’s in Silver Lake on the weekends and recommended that we give it a try. We did, and it was perfect. I have a separate review on Dusty’s as well. Our second visit, Ian was our server and was wonderful as well. He gave us another recommendation for lunch called The Park in Echo Park, but regretfully we were unable to give it a try.
Dolce has other locations, including one in Reno (why?) but none close to me. I am a huge fan of this restaurant and will recommend it to anyone. I will always go there when I am in town. This is my favorite LA restaurant — period.

I was actually surprised to see all the low ratings for Dolce here on Unilocal because I had a really amazing time when I went there almost two years ago. My impressions of the place are likely a little dated, as it sounds like the service has gone down hill and the restaurant isn’t the hot spot that it once was, but I still think I can speak on the restaurant decently.
This might make me seem like not the classiest guy in the whole world, but my night at Dolce was probably the most dressed up I’ve ever gotten for a restaurant in L.A. Since the ambiance is very upscale (and very dim!), I was all done up to go there since we had a reservation at a table, which was very hard to get a couple years ago but sounds like it’s not the case anymore. I had the lobster ravioli and really enjoyed it. My dates (I’m not a pimp, I just gave them hard to get football tickets, so this was my thank you from them) really enjoyed their pasta dishes as well. We had great meats and cheeses before our dinner and the restaurant had a very extensive wine list that I knew nothing about, but luckily the dates took care of that.
Since we were at one of the most prominent tables in the restaurant, we got excellent service — food, wine, our overpriced VOSS water, everything. We were treated as well as anyone in the place, but there weren’t any celebrities there that night, so I could see that changing depending on who’s there. Again, this is my impression from two years ago, but it was still a really good impression at the time.
Inside, the restaurant is VERY hip. While Yamashiro boasts beautiful views, Dolce boasts an ambiance that seems much more upscale and definitely has a feeling of «I’m going to spend a crapload of money on you» if you go there on a date. Considering that with food, wine, salad, and appetizers, our bill for 3 was right around $ 200, it’s not just a feeling, but a reality. It’s really dark, but the seating and bar area is just gorgeous. I’ve been to a lot of nice hotels and such in my life, but Dolce really made me feel like I had money, but I was grateful that I wasn’t paying.
I do remember that the portions were very small, kind of like that Citibank credit card commercial where they go to the expensive restaurant and they get one buffalo wing, only to pig out on Doritos at 7-​Eleven later on. The portions were so small that if you let someone sample your stuff, you had better be sampling theirs, otherwise you were going to be left hungry. However, unlike many of the Unilocalers, I didn’t find my food to be bland or subpar by any means. I actually really loved it! I will admit that I was taken by the classy ambiance and I did go there at the height of its time as the «it» place in L.A., so my impressions had to be influenced by that.
It was really good a couple years ago, I can say that. However, Dolce is really expensive, very upscale, and perhaps more visually stunning once you get inside than a lot of other restaurants. If you want to be all serious, classy, and let the girl know that you make decent cheese, Dolce could be your spot. However, it’s not necessary a «fun» date spot, unless you’re dating vampires who like darkness and moody ambiance. Small portions, but visually an experience that you won’t forget. I enjoyed it, but it sounds like it’s going down hill.

My first impression was, damn, I can’t see anything! It’s super dark in there.
But, I quickly got over that with the first round of martinis. Order the Dolce Sin, its quite sinful, yet tasty. And beware, drinks here are über strong. I had 3 and I was pretty drunk.
We came here last nite, so 50% off on all food! What a deal. I had the scallop scampi and it was huge. Came with 5 big scallops, along with mashed potatoes and some veggies. Yum.
My friends had fish dishes which were quite good as well.
The bread was INSANELY yummy. and it came with a plate of cheese and pastrami.
We were outside in the patio with the heaters above our heads, so it got quite hot. Just tell the waiter to turn it off.
Headed to the bar after dinner and got hooked up with a round of drinks. The fire behind the bar wasn’t that bad. It was pretty cool. Had to get seating at the bar though, so if you are wearing heels, you might be a bit uncomfortable.
I would def come back here again, on a Monday.

Does anyone really even still go here? I mean I am a fan of calling things so (insert year here) but seriously, this place is sooooo ’03!
When it first opened it was «the» place because a guy in a trucker hat who wears polyester on a tv show was either the main owner or part owner. My friend and I fed into the hype and took full advantage of her Geffen corporate card and went here and ate it up. It was okay, but I can’t for the life of me remember what I ate, which should tell you something considering I LOVE EATING and talking about FOOD. I do remember having an okay Kettle One Cosmo (again, those were sooo ’03 for me, hee hee) but other than that, meh.
I’ve driven by it since and I kinda feel bad for the place. Like the once cool kid in school who pissed the leader of the A crowd off because they didn’t give a scrunchie back and now they are forced to sit on the other side of the quad and watch life move on without them.