Houston food, restaurants and dining review. Urban living, travel, thoughts and other randomness.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Dolce Vita !

500 Westheimer Road
713.520.8222

All you really need to know about Dolce Vita is that Marco Wiles, owner of Da Marco's, owns Dolce Vita. That means you get first rate Italian yumminess. Since it opened, I've been here four times.

The restaurant is located where Marakesh used to be. It's not that Marakesh was bad (in fact I really enjoyed dining there), but Dolce Vita is so much better. Houston has been waiting for a restaurant like this for a long time. It's the sort of place where you can come in and have a variety of dishes without breaking the bank. Think of it as Mi Luna with Italian food.

I especially enjoyed the Bacalao, cod. The problem is that I tried it three times and on one occasion it was old. I've had the pizza. It could be so good, but the fresh tomato sauce seeps into the crust making it a bit soggy. I enjoyed the hollow pasta. I enjoyed the salad. I enjoyed the ambiance. I enjoyed the rest of the menu, but would rather you discover it for yourself. I enjoyed the whole darn experience--including the iced tea.

What did I not enjoy? Complimentary valet parking. I admit there is no room for a parking lot, but it still kills me that I have to tip a valet guy to hand me keys to my car sitting literally five steps away.

9 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Incredibly negative experience – 3 of us arrived at 7:30pm on a Friday eve, were told to wait 40 minutes for the table. So we had a glass of wine by the bar. 1 hour later we went to ask when we would have had a table, and were told soon. So we bought a bottle of wine in the mean time. 1/2 hour later we enquired again about the table and were told literally “people are not moving so we don’t know what to do”. At that point I mentioned to the entrance waitress that she should not be there as she doesn’t know her job, and we asked to talk to the manager. He showed up after 15 minutes, no apologies, told us that a table was being freed. In the end we sat down at 9:55 for a pizza. We were out of the place at 11:00. The dinner ? At this stage it doesn’t matter anymore; In 20 years of eating out this was the worst experience, I advise you not to go there.

August 15, 2006

 
Anonymous said...

Not a fair complaint above. They have no control over how long people stay over dinner and its not a huge dining room. I'm interested in the food... The fact that they were so busy is a good sign. Like any great restaurant, go early or prepare to wait.

September 06, 2006

 
benjy said...

I've always found that the best way to get what you want is to suggest that people don't know how to do their job. Especially on a busy night at a popular restaurant.

I couldn't disagree with this comment more. Dolce vita is great. There are so many restaurants in Houston that are all about the scene serving overpriced mediocre food. Dolce Vita is a refreshing addition to the Houston fine dining scene. Great food in a nice atmosphere at reasonable prices. Houston needs more restaurants like this.

September 16, 2006

 
Shawn said...

We arrived at 6:00 and were told 15-20 minutes for a table. We checked in several times and left an hour and a half later after watching groups ahead of us being seated. Never an apology or an explanation.

June 21, 2007

 
Anonymous said...

The best pizza in town, without reservation. Getting it to go enhances the experience since you don't have people literally sitting on your elbows and chatting in your ears. This has to be the least private dining ever.

July 06, 2007

 
Free Ringtones said...

nice blog!

September 02, 2007

 
buy viagra said...

nice blog!Nice information

September 03, 2007

 
Levitra said...

:-) ochen\' zaebatyj blog!

September 04, 2007

 
Anonymous said...

Keep up the great work. It very impressive. Enjoyed the visit!

September 09, 2007

 

Post a Comment

<< Home

 
Copyright Huan Le 2005 - Powered by blogger
Les spreads sur Forex forex nous sommes des commercants de forex nous large eventail de plates-formes de negociation