Vivoli Café & Trattoria

The sleezey-​bag owner Nunzio has Magnum bottles in the back office to refill the alchohol bottles! Highly illegal in nevada. 18% auto-​grat per every customer… ok…would be fair if it went to my hard working server, but instead it goes to a man that looks like one of those shiesty car insurance guys, THATS RIGHT FOLKS TO THE HOUSE! WHAT A GENIUS WAY TO RAISE THE PRICES AYE? But it’s ok, he makes up for it by taking underage employees out on fun dates to bars! THIS PLACE NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN PEOPLE!

Really nice waiters and service. We came down from Seattle on a Groupon. We were in a bit of a hurry and had to make a plane. Went in at 5pm and out by 6pm. Excellent food — I had Veal Scallopini and my husband had Salmon Penne — enough for two meals. The Veal — so tender — yum. The waiter even baked some fresh bread for us to take home with us! Didn’t mind the mandatory tip of 18%. We usually tip 20% so it was a no brainer. Would definitely come back.

I love the food here. I’m not sure why people are complaining about the mandatory tip. I’ve never had an issue with the service and I’m not a tightwad. The staff has always been deserving of 18% if not more.

I too heard horror stories of the mandatory included 18% tip and bad service, but I remembered the food was very good and I pretty much tip 20−25% standard anyway.
The service was wonderful with a staff of 3 rotating duties and my water glass was refilled without prompting several times. Certainly deserving of at least 18% tip (hopefully the tips are distributed among the staff fairly).
I will say Vivoli is not cheap, but honestly not that much more expensive than Olive Garden and a heck of a lot more authentic and fresh quality instead of reheated and oversalted that you’d get from a chain.
This was a celebratory lunch so we did splurge, but they have very affordable lunch options of $ 10 and a midweek dinner special that includes a starter, entrée, dessert, and wine for $ 19.95.
We shared the Carpaccio starter and it was perfect because I wanted a salad and it’s heaped with beautifully dressed arugula. paper thin buttery slices of marbled beef layered with capers, shaved parmesean, and peppery arugula. Squeeze the lemon and add a little drizzle of olive oil and it’s perfect. I like to eat it layered on their delicious foccacia. I had the chicken ravioli because I’m a creature of habit and the al dente pouches of minced chicken in vodka sauce is so good I’ve ordered it almost everytime I’ve been here. Appetizer portion is a large filling 3 ravioli, the entrée portion is 6. Get the entrée only if you are sharing or have a very hearty appetite. My partner got the Salmon with mushroom and tomatoes with a side of perfectly tendercrisp vegetables. The white wine sauce on top of the Salmon had slices of garlic studding the sauce, but it was mellowed out by cooking. The house white was an unremarkable Pinot Grigio that was priced a little high for $ 7 but paired decent with the fish.
Overall a pretty expensive meal @ $ 72 with tax and tip, but every element of it was fresh, perfectly cooked, and delicious. I have leftovers for dinner and will be back both to try the bargain priced specials and also to splurge on more special occasion dinners.

With all due respect to Vivoli they DID give us a discount that equaled to about half of the 18% gratuity but we were never «reimbursed» the tip we gave to the waitress nor did we even ask for it back. Our review was from about 4 months ago but wasn’t posted till just last week and since then I understand that they have been under new management for the past 3 months and «gotten better» according to a recent Unilocal post.
As far as having the auto-​gratuity displayed on the menu it probably is written on every page but if it was Nancy and I both never saw it.

Ok. I really need to write a review for this place. We have been coming here off and on almost from when they first opened and I really like it. We have eaten here both for lunch and dinner and have never been disappointed either by the service or the food.
The last time my husband and I met a friend for lunch. We all had salads, each was different, and all were delicious.
The ingredients were fresh and nary a brown tinge in any of the lettuce. The protein was grilled and hot. This is a nice complement to the crispy cool crunchiness of the greens and vegetables. The dressings were flavorful but did not overwhelm the rest of the dish.
Service was efficient and friendly throughout.
Definitely no house of horrors here!

Last night marked my first and last time at Vivoli.
From start to finish it was a horrible experience. The hostess/​waitress had an incredibly poor attitude, the food took FOREVER to arrive and when it did, one of the orders was wrong. We saw our server ONCE — when she took the order. When we had to get up to ask for the glass of wine we ordered, she gave more attitude and slammed the glass on the table.
And to top it all off, there’s an 18% gratuity charge added to EVERY meal, regardless of group size or worst of all, service.
When we surfaced our complaints to the manager, he rattled off excuses, stating they were understaffed due a catering event gone wrong. It would’ve been better had the staff let us know AHEAD of time, instead of waiting for us to surface our concerns/​complaints.
I will never eat here again.

I’m embarrassed for this establishment. Poor service, long wait for food, cold pasta, overly dressed carpaccio drowning in salt and lemon & small portions.
Our dirty plates marinated for ten minutes while other customers were complaining.
Then to top it all off, they stick you with an automatic 18% gratuity.
Newsflash: A gratuity is a customer’s sole decision to reward or punish. To pay yourselves automatically is beyond insulting.
We’ll be back soon!

Just one meal here but I don’t see myself returning so I’m going to go with a two-​star review.
I had to go to AAA so I decided to give Vivoli a try. I got there about 4 p.m. and I was the only customer in the restaurant. There was lots on the menu I wanted to try. I asked the waitress what the best thing was on the menu and she recommended the pork loin with strawberries and a balsamic reduction. I also got a penne pasta with marinara sauce.
I wanted to get a salad, but the Caprese salad was $ 9. I saw nothing else that was affordable.
The waitress started me off with bread. Others have said on Unilocal how much they liked the bread but it did nothing for me. I was hungry so I ate all in the first basket and they did bring a second basket that was just out of the oven, but again it wasn’t that good.
The entrée arrived and I was underwhelmed by the pork. First off, the pork itself didn’t seem tender or flavorful. The biggest problem was the sauce. I’ve had similar dishes before and it works when the sauce has some delicacy and complexity. I remember one time it was served with lamb and a pesto and it was delicious. If this sauce were a wine, I’d call it monolithic. Just one loud, dull flavor. And it wasn’t like it was applied delicately. It was like it was used to smother the meat. I don’t know if this was prepared as the original creator of the recipe envisioned, but my best guess is that the balsamic reduction was not prepared for my meal but was something that had been pre-​made and was laying around for God knows how long.
The penne with marinara was the best part of the meal, but it also seemed routine.
I also got a lemonade, which the waitress refilled. My bill came to $ 31.01. I’ll admit it. I’m cheap. While I’m eating this meal I’m thinking about how I could get such a better meal for the same money at LaVecchia.
For high-​end wine, they have Giacosa. I didn’t recognize any of the lower-​priced Italian wines. A bunch of cabernet sauvignon and a couple of merlots made up most of the domestic red wine list. The white wines included Rombauer chardonnay. This reflects the buying habits of the Reno market. A Château St. Michelle riesling that sells for $ 8 at Total Wine & More is $ 30 on their wine list.
Service was good, but the value just isn’t there to bring me back to Vivoli.

I’m sorry but any place that adds a mandatory 18% «service fee» assuming that service could not possibly worse than 18% is not only presumptuous but asinine. Staff can be on cruise control. Most people may get 20% so they’re thinking, I could care less, and I still get 18%. That’s not right. And oh btw, we’re in America!!! And this not only applies to large parties but a single person.
With that said, is the food good? Sure, decent old fashioned Olive Garden Italian. Nothing special here except maybe filet mignon carpaccio. Service? Hi how are you, then they all disappear leaving me all alone to eat in an empty bar. Nice touch. No more wine, no dessert, just, hope you enjoy your meal, I’ll be back when we close. This place is absurd, and that 18% mandatory service fee is the most bizarre restaurant gimmick I’ve ever encountered. Go to Campo or even Mario’s and forget this place or Famiglia. And the wine menu sucks too.

Figuring out todays lunch was a very long, painful and arduous process… eventually we decided upon Vivoli Café. Why? Because we had us a coupon! We had heard the horror stories of the tip included checks! The under cooked pasta!!! The indifferent servers!!! Oh the horrors!
Man if this WAS a house of horrors… it would surely disappoint. Because all we had was a pleasant experience. Wife, daughter and I were seated at a booth near the kitchen. Which isn’t an issue in this establishment. No effect on our dining experience at all. The room is nice, comfortable, slightly modern and seemed clean.
We knew we had a coupon so we decided to go a little heavy on the order. Full portions of Lasagna, Chicken Parm, Carpaccio, and Caprese salads. The pasta dishes don’t come with a salad so we decided to just spend the extra money and get what we really wanted to try. The Chicken Parm was top end! Pounded breast with all fresh ingredients. My wife isn’t fond of Italian in general because it seems that it’s just all too salty. Well she couldn’t say enough about how this was NOT too salty. My Lasagna was also perfect. Not all cheesy death where after two bites you are full and want to take the rest home. Carpaccio was something my wife will come back for, and the Caprese was a very good salad. All ingredients were fresh and the tomato actually tasted like a tomato.
We also finished with the triamisu. Ugh… like ugh I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. Again they do light, flavorful and still satisfying here in the dishes we had.
We will return. I hear they have a weeknight special for $ 20 you can get a 4 course meal including wine per person. Uh really? And get this kind of quality? Yeah we will be back and expect some of our friends to be there too.
A few notes… as has been stated before. The tip included part is true BUT it was well worth it the time that we went. Our waitress Becky was professional, busy, friendly, helpful and a TOTAL pleasure to be served by.
The prices for lunch aren’t for the faint of heart. I’m curious how the dinner menu looks. We will see soon.
They do not cater towards children with a child menu. So take that into consideration if you have children. You will be either sharing or ordering a full price meal to serve to your children. That being said… my VERY picky daughter did enjoy the penne with marinara.
So have you been avoiding this place like me? Don’t wanna go and be forced to give a realistic tip? Please… don’t let that stop you from experiencing this nice place.

Went back here, after having a terrible experience in the past. I have to say, they honestly seem to care about fixing their problems.
First, the good. They have a promotion for Sunday to Thursday you can get an appetizer, and entrée, and a dessert for $ 20. Supposedly it also comes with a glass of house wine, which we were not offered, but we don’t drink alcohol regularly, so we likely would have turned it down anyways. Overall, this is a really good deal, so I would suggest trying this place out during the week, and see if it’s something you’re interested in.
We were seated promptly into an empty restaurant, and had attentive service through the ordering process. We received a basket of focaccia bread and their olive tapenade which is deserving of the rave reviews. I ordered the bruchetta ragu carne for my app, and the sauce was pretty decent. There was plenty of meat in the sauce, and the cheese was melted perfectly. Unfortunately the bread underneath the sauce seemed like it wasn’t toasted at all. It was served over mixed greens on a chilled plate, so I’m not sure if some water made it into the bread, but I ate the majority of it with a knife and fork. My wife had the broccoli soup, which she felt was merely ok.
Out come the entrees, 20 – 25 minutes after we ordered to start, so the kitchen is doing a timely job. My pollo alla parmigiana was well seasoned, well cooked, and came with an adequate amount of sauce. It was also a large portion, enough for some decent leftovers. The mixed vegetables seemed fine, cooked in some olive oil and garlic, which was a nice change. My wife’s pollo limon was also fine.
We then had the wait. Keep in mind, it’s just the two of us, and one other large party. After waiting 10 minutes or so the comes and collects our food to box it to-​go. Our dessert comes out within 5 minutes or so after we receive our doggie bag. The tiramisu is flavorful, without the overbearing alcoholic flavor that some recipes have. It comes with a strawberry sauce that is also nice. We wait another 5 – 10 minutes after we’re done eating till the server comes over and begins to clear the table, and process the check.
To sum it up, the food is improved, but not perfect. The service has also improved, but needs more work. I’m not going to ramble on about the topic of forced tips, but the required 18% gratuity seems to be at fault here. There needs to be an incentive to be attentive, and making a customer wait extensive periods of time at the end of the meal will likely affect your take home pay pretty quickly. I hope they change this policy quickly as I feel it will improve their restaurant measurably, and would likely raise this review to 4 stars. If the staff complains about low tips, then perhaps it’s time to hire new staff.
If you have a long-​lost friend to get caught up with, then the waits probably won’t bother you. If you’re simply looking to eat, then it will drag on at the end of the meal, just like the last time we were here.

I went earlier this week and was really happy with the experience. I got the pasta with vodka sauce. My friend got the chicken caesar. We were both pleased with the food. Service was a little slow — especially for lunch, service overall was average, but we tipped 20% anyway and walked away satisfied.
I went back today with two other colleagues and ordered the chicken caesar. It did not taste the same as when my friend had it. The dressing was much heavier than I remembered and the lettuce was nearing room temperature. My colleagues were so-​so on their meals as well.
The service was again slow and not all that friendly. Today I actually took note of the bill and they added 18% gratuity automatically! I was livid. I did not notice that the other day and it is NOT very noticeable on their huge menu where each page contains probably 20 items. I’m having a hard enough time deciding an entrée let alone looking to see if I’m going to be auto-​gratted on a party of 2 or 3.
No wonder their staff isn’t all that motivated to hussle or smile. They’re getting an automatic 18 percent and most people will not realize that and tip more.
I will not be going back. I worked as a server for 3 years and you need to earn your tips. Big parties… ok, I understand that, but for a table of 2?! No way.

OMG! Give me a break! Prices are ridiculous, mediocre food and the worst service you can imagine.
We tried this place recently on a Saturday night. We had an 8:00 reservation. There were four in our party. We were taken to a table two different times. Both times we were sent back to wait by the door as the tables were «already reserved». That should have been our first clue!
About 10 minutes went by and then we were finally seated at a table by the kitchen door. That’s okay; we thought we can deal with it. After about another 10 minutes one of the staff (not the waitress) asked if we would like a something to drink. That came quickly, but still no waitress.
Finally I asked someone passing by if there was anyone serving our table. He apologized and said she would be right there. Again, 10 minutes or more before she arrived. She asked if we were ready to order or if we needed more time… I let that go. We ordered, now it is 8:30.
We never saw her again until around 9:00 when I stopped and asked if she had forgotten to put our order in. The panic look on her face said it all. Next we have one of the cooks come out an apologized and that our meals would be right out.
It was almost 9:30 when three of our meals arrived. Mine followed just as the others were finishing up. As if the service wasn’t enough to write this place off the food was mediocre at best and mine was cold! Yes, that’s correct cold veal. Not only later than everyone else’s but cold! I ask to see the manager. That was a waste of time as no one ever showed up.
It was now after 10:00 and left what we thought would could cover the cost of our meals (yes, no check either) and vowed never to return.
If you want good food, good service, and folks that appreciate your business, go to Mario’s Portofino Ristorante Italiano. Stay away from Vivoli. This is one chain that it is best not to visit.

We went to eat tonight, and it was just okay. The proportions are more than enough for one sitting, but thats about it for myself and my wife who are pretty good eaters. We did not require a box at the end of the meal. I don’t know if its worth paying as much as we did for the quality of food we received.
Dinner meals do not come with a salad, just bread, so that is extra.
The quality was good, but certainly not amazing. The bread was great of course, and the olive dip that came with it was excellent.
The food is par for the course, but if we didn’t use a coupon, I probably would not feel justified in coming here again.

Let me join the parade of mediocre reviews. Food was pretty good, not great. Definitely overpriced (come on, $ 28 for a steak at a restaurant in a shopping center!). Service was actually OK, but maybe a little too familiar. The most irritating thing, though, is the built-​in 18% tip. When I mentioned it to my server, I was told that «the owner is European and that’s how they do it there.» Gosh, where do you begin. First, Europe is not a monolith and they do it differently in different places. Second, more commonly in Europe (at least in my experience in 5 or 6 countries), there is no tipping at all unless you think the service was exceptional and then you add something (of course, the server’s decent pay is included in the price of the food you order in that instance – not snuck in at the end). Third, how about expressing a little concern and a promise to talk to the owner?
There are too many really good options to eat for me to consider returning to this one.

My father and I (a party of two) stopped by on the way to the Aces game two nights ago, and, as a result, we won’t be back. The food was fine, the service was fine, but my problem is that they built the tip into the check. My father doesn’t review the checks, and he was going to tip on top of the tip that was already built in, and that is just wrong.
When we told them about our concern, one young lady told me that I could absolutely tip more if I wanted to. Unfortunately, that won’t happen, nor will I be back.
In my mind the tip is at the discretion of the customer, and, having been in the tip industry, I understand that they are a motivational tool for the employee to be doing the very best job possible.
This is a policy that I understand for big groups, but I fail to understand for a party of two.
So, when you go, the food will be good, the service will be adequate, but expect to have your tip included in the check, which I suggest you review carefully.
Also, you won’t see me.

I bought a LivingSocial deal for Vivoli and booked an early table on Friday night. The place was empty at first, then slowly filled. We had a few glasses of wine, split a caprese salad, two entrees (my wife had the gnocchi and I a pizza). The food was very good, the service pleasant and not overbearing. The 18% tip doesn’t bother me if the service deserves it, i threw in a few more dollars. If the service was poor, i would’ve been unhappy with the forced gratuity. My wife loved her food and my pizza was the best i’ve had in Reno so far, well done! The prices are fair and there is live jazz later in the evening. One thing that struck me as odd: rather than let bar patrons eat and drink in comfort, there are slot machines built into the bar surface… very strange if you ask me. I know gambling is necessary here, but built into the bar of an upscale restaurant???

The complimentary spread that comes with the bread is exceptional. The calamari was mediocre. I had the penne vodka dish, not as good as homemade. Another person at my table ordered fettucuni Alfredo and he said was that it was better than the Olive Graden’s so better than medicore I guess. The prices are similar or a little higher than the olive garden’s. 18% gratuity automatically added to the bill. The service does not warrant 18%.
*Full disclosure, I am very critical of italian restaurants and only la vecchia in Reno is the only one that ever gotten 5 stars from me.

On a recommendation from my friend Philip, I decided to take my family to the Vivoli Café. It had great ambiance, great service and good food. We All tried several different things from pasta to soups, salads to dinners and of course desserts. Everyone loved the food, and we even got to talk with Chef Donato Partipillo, who described how he made the Zuppa di Mare.
We will most likely add this to our favorite restaurant list, and hope to visit here again soon.
See the photos area for a sampling of what we tried.