I would give this place 0 stars out of 5. My wife and I went here a few nights ago. The place was not busy and we were seated immediately. During the first 10 minutes of our wait, not one person stopped at our table; no water, no drink order, not even a menu. After 15 minutes and no service we got up and walked out. One of the staff actually said thank you as we walked by the front counter. Thanks for nothing. We then proceeded to Tutta Pasta several blocks away where we had drinks, salads and pizza all within 10-15 minutes. The service at Villa Dolce was inexcusable. Had a waiter even stopped by to take our drink order or bring some water I would have been satisfied. Two thumbs way down on this poor exude for a restaurant. read more

My friend and I decided to catch up over dinner at Villa Dolce. Overall, the food was decent. We ordered a cheese board which came with three types of cubed cheese, almonds, a fig spread, and crackers that probably came from Costco. My seafood pasta only had two shrimp and two scallops. I guess was expecting a bit more after reading the description. Anyway, staff was friendly until my friend and I were asked to leave after paying the check to accommodate other guests. The waitress said and I quote "Ladies, would you mind?" - gesturing for us to leave - and followed with "we have other guests waiting to be seated." Since the dining room is tucked away behind the entrance, there was no way for us to know that they had such a wait. From a customer service perspective, I was super disappointed and left pretty displeased. There's not really a nice way to ask folks to leave, but she can certainly work on her tactfulness if this situation happens in the future. To add another detail, there was another slightly older couple sitting right behind us who had been there longer and also finished paying the check. To close, it's a cute place with good variety and gluten free options on the menu. Just try to avoid going on a busy night. You may be "politely" asked to leave/make room for others. read more

Very good food, but not as good as it should be for the price... -Tomato in the caprese salad was unripe and a bit mealy - this is totally unforgivable as tomato is 1/3 of this dish's ingredients. -'Sauce' on the ahi pasts dish was extremely oily and almost totally flavorless. -Wild mushroom ravioli was outstanding. -Gelato is almost as good as real Italian gelato, delicious. -Servers are a bit pretentious, but not outright rude. -Good wine menu. -Dinner for two with a bottle of wine, no dessert, one appetizer: $95 read more

This is for sure one of my favorite restaurants in the Madison area. I really can't believe the negative comments on the staff and service - everytime I have went (~30+ times!) the staff has been super friendly - many of them recognizing us and commenting so. Service is always excellent. The couple that stopped by and didn't get served for 10 minutes - definitely a fluke mistake. And no clue how anyone could describe the entryway as a gawdy ice cream parlor. Ridiculous. We've hung out there many times eating dessert, drinking wine, and enjoying gelato. They've also just redone their outdoor seating area. Several times we've walked there with our dogs, and enjoyed an excellent meal outside. We often pop in just for the gelato, which is excellent. Authentic flavors like pistachio (which the hubby gets every single time, cuz it reminds him of our vacay in Italy) and donatella (super rich chocolate - my fav, usually in combo with a fruit flavored one). Occasionally they'll mix in an Americanized flavor like oreo. Other desserts are really good as well, though we usually stick with the gelato because it is soooo yummy. The pizza is fantastic. I have no qualms about saying that it is the best in Madison. A previous reviewer described the crust exactly as I would so here it is again: The crust here is perfect. it's that authentic chewy, elastic yet crunchy crust. The hubs is a meat eater, I am not, so we usually are at odds when sharing a pizza. Not so here. The Margherita every time. Soooo good. When we have gone with other peeps, we have also partaken of several other of their pizzas, which have all been delicious. My fav is the Misto. Last time we were there, we shared the arugula and spinach salad which was really amazingly good! A must try, for sure. The balsamic marinated onions went so well on the salad! We've had them before on the antipasto tray (another winner, by the way!). This is not your typical Americanized fast food restaurant. This is a cool, authentic Italian place. Simple, delicious food. Friendly, laid back staff. If you want deep dish pepperoni za, and cookie dough ice cream with candy in it, by all means, please stay far away from my favorite local joint. read more

We came here for a dinner with friends on a summer Saturday evening after a day on canoes, and our experience was very nice. Best parts: menu options, food taste/presentation, and atmosphere in their cute little outdoor patio area! Seriously, though... the food... soooo delicious. Vegetarian options were plentiful. Everyone at the table loved their meal from pasta to pizza to apps to salads. I had the waitress surprise me because I couldn't decide, and it didn't disappoint. Two less than stellar parts about our experience were a very weird version of a strawberry margarita (had to send back and bartender admitted they didn't have the right ingredients for it) and average service. Timely and accurate, but zero charm or personality. Overall a nice experience! We'll go back next time we're in town. read more

My mom and I went here Monday night for dinner and it was delicious. Seated promptly, very clean, and friendly service. Had the shrimp pizza - so good I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing! My mom had the eggplant Parmesan - lots of cheese but she enjoyed it. read more

For a summer out door siting experience I give it 5 stars. But the food is ok for the price, but if you're bringing NYC pizza prices to WI you better bring some serious pizza. The one we had was ok, not terrible but not brilliant. I'm sure the ingredients are fine but it just didn't blow our socks off. I thought these were going to be a bit thinner crust as they are billed as "euro" style pizza's. They are a cross between New York style and something with fun toppings. If I want a thin crust pizza in the future and don't really care about sitting outside I'll look at Pizza Bruta first. We also had the Caprese Salad which was ok. To make a really good caprese salad you need three things. A really fresh tomato, really fresh mozzarella and basil. The tomato was clearly not fresh (probably from CA or Mexico) and it affected the taste. The gelato we had was pretty good and we will probably come back to get gelato and walk around Middleton or sit outside and people watch. Overall I wanted to love this place more than I did. Pizza just ok, caprese was not with a ripe tomato (its late June, there are fresh and ripe tomatoes to be had) and the gelato was pretty good. Loved the outdoor seating, waitress was just ok. We will be back, but we're not running back. read more

Out for another week of new restaurants for Madison's Restaurant Week. Truly, I had hoped that this experience would have been far better. Very little was up to par, especially for a higher price locale like this. So let down that I'm not fully sure where to begin, so I'll just go through each aspect. SERVICE (0 of 5): It started out well. But during the 15+ minute wait between our appetizers and our food, things went downhill fast. My girlfriend's soda was empty long before the main dish arrived, yet the server didn't offer any refills of it until after the dessert had came. When the dessert did come, we were only halfway through our entree, leaving the desserts to sit at our table for 10 minutes, rushing us. When we finally started on our desserts, the server came back to refill our waters. Without warning, she just reached over my girlfriend's plate and grabbed her glass while she was eating. In addition, our server's lack of attentiveness prevented us from trying to rectify many of the issues that we had. FOOD (1 of 5): The Salmon Mousse and Butternut Squash soup were both incredibly good. With a decent selection of wine, things started off very good. It made the lengthy wait between the appetizer and the entree more bearable. However, when the main dish came (we both had the grilled Wild Salmon), things changed dramatically. It was served with rice and asparagus, both completely cold, and then the salmon with a nice hollandaise sauce. My salmon was also only half cooked, medium-rare by fish standards. For dessert, we had a Black Forest Crepe and a Flour-less Chocolate Torte. Both were very good. Though, after staring at them for ten minutes and having just had such a poor main course, their splendor was much less than I would have believed them to be. MANAGEMENT (0 of 5): As our server was not attentive and could not simply just leave this, I found the MOD after our meal. I explained the poor service, including the desserts being brought extremely early, and how our food was cold and not fully cooked. Her response was a simple, "Thanks for telling me." Now, I had already paid, resolved to not go back, and as such, didn't seek anything free or a discount. But I have to say, after working in food service for over 13 years, I was in awe that she did not even try to resolve the issue. Nothing so much as offering an apology. That lack of customer service speaks volumes for the place as a whole. For if the leaders are not concerned with customer satisfaction, why should the rest of the staff be? Overall, if you're just looking for a quick dessert, this could be great. But any place that doesn't put the customer first is not a place that will inspire you to return. I know I won't be. read more

I've been here twice now, once with my family and a couple of family friends, and once on a date night. This place is good for both, I would just recommend making a reservation, cause it can get pretty busy for dinners. My sister and I shared a calzone the first time. Portions were big, and we were pretty full by the end of it. But of course, we had to order dessert. Now, at most restaurants, desserts end up tinier than you expect. Or maybe it's just me and my huge sweet tooth. So, everybody ordered a dessert for themselves. When the desserts got to our table, I'm sure all our eyes popped out of our heads; they were XL sized desserts! Because I was the only one in my family that lives in Madison, I got to take all the leftovers home. Dessert for breakfast is always okay in my opinion! The flourless chocolate cake was extremely dense, in a good way. But it was also very filling and would have been best shared between two or even three people. The nutella crepes were delicious, but then again, nutella on just about anything would have been delicious. The creme brulee was also really good. The second time I went there, I ordered the Shrimp and Scallop pasta, and my boyfriend had the Butternut Squash Ravioli. Mine was really good, except I wish they would have seared the scallops, and been a little more generous with the seafood. I only had two pieces of medium-sized scallops, and 3 pieces of shrimp. The ravioli was delicious, albeit the portion size for this was also a little small. Or again, maybe I just have a big appetite and I like to "share" from our plates a lot. For the smaller portion sizes in my dish and his dish, I removed a star. Overall, pretty good restaurant and I will be returning again for sure. Next time, maybe I'll try their pizzas, and I'm definitely coming back for the dessert. One for myself, of course. read more

Finally got to return to this place and eat outside on a beautiful night. We had two small pizzas this time time and they were as good as it gets. They were not salty like so many are and very full of flavor. I had one with a bolognese base and my partner had a margarita. Both were excellent. We shared a salad that was a big mix of stuff like swiss cheese, garbanzo beans, olives and two kinds of lettuce. No iceberg and no onions which I hate in salads as well as everything else. Great dressing as well. I know this looks like an ice cream shop when you first walk in but it is much more. This is a serious restaurant with serious Italian food. Don't miss it. read more

What a nice place. Want dessert the ice cream is so decadent an yummy. Drinks only, absolutely. Dinner was delicious. Calamari was so tender an good. Waldorf salad fresh. Martini and an after dinner drink were really nice suggestions . I've done all of it at different times this past summer. The staff was always friendly when we stopped. We leave wanting more. read more

In my first experience, this place was wonderful. Unfortunately due to their limited hours, I have not been able to return until today. After immediately being seated, I did not have a server acknowledge my presence for a minimum of 13 minutes (yes, I timed it) however the 4-top that sat down next to me was immediately acknowledged and given water to drink. Rather than continue to wait I decided to get up and leave. There were a great number of servers present, the majority of whom walked past my corner table and doing nothing with the fact that I was there unattended to. Admittedly, it isn't their job to attend to me as it would only be the job of the server assigned to my section. After getting up I approached the manager to let her know that I was leaving and I thought I was unattended to for such a long amount of time. She offered to have me seated again and attended to immediately however I simply said that I was too upset to bother with it anymore. Having been a manager at a restaurant before, I know I would've offered a free meal if this would've happened. Very disappointing as I was very much looking forward to the wonderful pizza at this restaurant. read more

Had a girls-day-out that started with lunch at Villa Dolce. It was the perfect place to sit back and chat while noshing on great food. I tried the eggplant pizza, and she went for the farfalle pasta. My pizza was incredible. The crust here is perfect. it's that authentic chewy, elastic yet crunchy crust. The combo of the eggplant and ricotta was great. I was surprised and somewhat ashamed that I ate my whole pizza--even the lunch size was quite filling. She felt the same about the pasta. It looked creamy and delicious, with chicken and veggies in a lemony cheese sauce. I just love the decor, it's fun and bright in that new-retro way(okayyy, it's trendy enough to make it bad, but I like it!) As I said in my last review, though...skip the gelato. Although, they did have a few other desserts that looked nice. read more

Enjoyed the seafood angel hair pasta special and it was incredible with shrimp and scallops. The calamari was very good as well.

I just had lunch there today and it was so tasty! I had the villa panini which had salami, cappicola ham, brie cheese, mozzarella, dijon mayo, and roasted red peppers. So tasty! I also ordered the chocolate explosion and what an awesome dessert! Chocolate cake with cheesecake pieces. mmmmm! read more

Average quality Italian food but prices reflected higher quality food. Delicious , warm Italian bread with oil and balsamic is standard at a restaurant with these prices, not an appetizer. . Service was poor. Server was inattentive. Tables too close together which made it impassable in places. Would be a good value with 30% lower prices. read more

Whenever I visit my dad and brother and sister in Wisconsin , I like to go to Villa Dolce! Indigo came with me this last time and we all went for some lunch and coffee. My dining companions had the salmon salad, pizza, and a sandwich and they all looked (and I was told) tasted great! Now, I can't for the life of me remember what I had for lunch. I do know what I had for dessert however, tiramisu! It was fantastic! And the mocha, was very good! Not overly sweet. Only docked one star due to the fact that the salmon was requested on the side and not on the salad (it wasn't my salad but I am allergic to fish so it would have been very important if I had ordered it with the fish separate) and because you order your food at the counter. Ordering at the counter (which is characteristic of a grab and go quick lunch restaurant) seems awkward and counter intuitive for a place where you can linger and chat for awhile over fine food, coffee, and tiramisu. Indigo gives this place 15 stars for the fabulous ambiance! read more

This place was a bit slow getting our dessert to go and it was a bit pricy. That being said I had an awesome dessert with a chocolate covered strawberry and a fresh raspberry. I also had the roasted red pepper, fresh mozzarella sandwich. Very tasty. A nice lunch with two desserts was about $40. Without dessert about $20. read more

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Farfalle and mushroom in a sauce of deliciousness! Heard a lot of crunching down the end of the table with everyone's thin pizza crust smothered in gooey cheese deliciousness! Very pleased. Good wine selection and definitely not over priced at all! Good luck for our celebration! read more

Villa Dolce Cafe - Italian Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Love the food and service. Ambiance is also very quaint. Their pizza is great and they have a nice variety of other dishes.

A cute little gellato (Italian ice cream) and pizza parlor with interesting pizza toppings and lots of creative gellato flavors. Service is friendly but can be pretty slow, so don't come here if you're in a rush. We sat at the outdoor tables on a beautiful evening. Our kids had a couple Italian sodas, we shared the wild mushroom flatbread appetizer (delicious) and a shrimp and goat cheese pizza -- all very good. read more

I got the flourless chocolate torte dessert, not great. Cheap ingredients for $10. No thanks.

We have always been impressed by the quality of food served here. Wonderful, friendly and attentive staff. Great bartender!!

Found this corner restaurant by chance and was extremely satisfied with the service and the quality of the food. The tables outside and the great weather made it very pleasant to enjoy a nice glass of wine and a really good pasta. Both the pappardelle Bolognese and the wild mushroom ravioli were great. Wrap it up with a nice gelato inside their restaurant. My favorite flavor is the stracciatella. read more

Villa Dolce Cafe - Pappardelle Bolognese! The bread is awesome. - Italian Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

9/10/13 My wife and I stopped in at Villa Dolce for a drink. We had no idea they had been in business for 7 years. We initially sat at their cozy bar, but had to switch to their window seats because they had these really bright string lights blinding us. We mentioned it to the bartender, but she didn't seem to understand the constructive criticism. That said we enjoyed our drinks. My wife had a negroni the size of a small pool. I had a mixed berry gin lemonade (fresh blueberries & raspberries). Why haven't I been making these at home?!?! ;-) The pizzas, salads, and desserts being served looked delicious. read more

Very good pizza, no soggy crust here. My office came here for a team lunch. We ordered pizza ahead of time and service was prompt for such a large group. Save room for gelato or dessert. read more

My husband and I came here for a Friday date night. The food was delicious as were the cocktails, the service was great too. My pasta had butternut squash in it and my husband got the Bolognese. I would highly recommend either. The ambiance was cozy but nice. We will definitely be coming back. read more

Great authentic tasting Italian food. I ordered a classic margarita pizza and Caesar salad, I asked for the dressing on the side, which was forgotten. The desserts are delicious and I enjoyed a cannoli served with a chocolate dipped strawberry and other fresh berries and cream. Service is very slow and the restaurant becomes busy by 6:30. So I would make a reservation if you plan on eating around then or after. This is not a child friendly restaurant.. 2/5 dinning experience on a week night. read more

We carried out shrimp & scallops with linguini. Delicious! The pasta is heavenly. And the accompanying bread is absolutely marvelous. Villa Dolce has yet to disappoint us. We'll be back! read more

I've always loved Villa Dolce but last night they exceeded themselves. We had a birthday surprise party for my boyfriend and they accommodated 12 people in such great style. The food was impeccable and the servers, as always, were a delight. The desserts menu was incredible, we were so comfortable after dinner but we could not say no to their sweets - gluttony at its best on our part. Super nice people. The drinks were so yummy and nothing took too long of a wait. Such a cozy venue, very beautiful interior decor. It was a perfect night, big success! We are coming back for sure! read more

Villa Dolce Cafe - So much fun! Delicious foods and drinks and service and all - Italian Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

After having lunch at Villa Dolce a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go there for dinner with my girlfriend. I was surprised at the prices, but decided to stay. My girlfriend is gluten intolerant and asked the waitress which dishes were gluten-free. The waitress said they don't do gluten-free pizzas, but can make any of the other dishes gluten-free. My girlfriend ordered Shrimp and Scallops and I ordered Pasta Farfalle. We asked the waitress to make both dishes gluten-free so we could share. Her dish was mostly pasta with a few shrimps and scallops. Mine was pasta, as advertised, with a small amount of vegetables. Her dish tasted pretty good, but mine was too sour (too much lemon sauce). We did not order any wine or beer. We had no starters and no dessert. Just for the two bowls of medium-sized pasta (with a few shrimps and scallops thrown in), our bill came to $46, which meant that the total with tip was over $50. (Our waitress did not inform us that there is a $1.50 surcharge for gluten-free dishes). The bottom line is that we thought the food was pretty good, but to pay over $50 for two bowls of pasta was outrageous! (Please note that the menu prices shown on Yelp.com are no longer current. Check the restaurant's website for current prices.) read more

This place has TERRIBLE customer service. They overcharged our credit card bill $23 and offered us 1 gelato to make up for it!!! When we indicated we did not want gelato, our waitress indicated that gelato was our only option as they would not refund our $23. The next business day, I called to talke to the owner, Tony Lumani, had the waitress talk to me - and he refused to care for the problem. DO NOT go to this facility - not only because the food is tasteless and the gelato is not even close to the real thing, but because the staff and owners are incredibly rude. read more

Very good pizzas and stromboli. Great place to go for either lunch or dinner. The pizza toppings are unique and delicious - I'd love to try all of their specialties. read more

This is a nice little restaurant in Middleton. Since I was by myself I was seated at the bar; the bartender was cool, while it was slow he chatted with me and made my experience better. For dinner I had the Mushroom Ravioli. This was good, not the best I had ever had but something I would get again. I didn't get a pizza since there was just me, but they looked good. Overall, a nice spot to go to for a relaxed yet nice meal, but I would say make a reservation or get there early because they seem to fill up fast. read more

Incredible place. One of the best restaurants I've been to while in Madison. The pasta farefalle dish was unlike anything I have had before. The lemon saffron sauce just made it. The restaurant felt like a little secret place. Beautiful simple decor. You can tell the owners of his place really thought about whole dining experience making sure the food was the focus. Sometimes you go to a restaurant and they invest so much in the decor and the ambiance you'd think they are trying to compensate for mediocre food. Not this place. They in no way shy away from putting all the focus on their food. The owner was there and walking around checking with customers at there tables. I can't remember the last time I was in restaurant. Thank you for the memorable meal. I'll be back. read more

What a disappointment. Stay next door at the Staybridge on business often. Came over 2 or 3 times with colleagues for dinner. Food was just not good. The bread they start out with is the most flavorless bread I've ever had. The rest of the food is poorly seasoned and prepared. Won't ever willingly go back. read more

They serve Cool Whip on their deserts and say it is whipped cream on their menu. If you enjoy eating real food, and only real food, I don't recommend going here. (How hard can it be to whip cream?) If you don't mind eating some fake foods - because the main entrees are actually delicious like the Bolognese pasta dish and the salmon special that they served over black rice - then by all means go and eat some of the fake foods, including their fake dinner rolls that is not bread. (Why would you serve refrigerator rolls at a restaurant?? Italians do not eat refrigerator rolls.) Service was fantastic! Also, do not recommend the flourless chocolate cake - we are not sure what that was. It was so dense, you could barely slice into it and it is not on par with other flourless chocolate cakes. read more

So, yet another Restaurant Week post. Short answer: Don't go here. I was incredibly disappointed in this place. I had the truffle fries, pizza, and crepe. The truffle fries were good but also had a cheese sauce on them I wasn't expecting. I received maybe 8 fries so the portion was very small. The pizza was terrible. It was so bad I only ate one piece and I was gagging it down. I tried to mention it to the waiter but he just walked off and then didn't ask again for the rest of the night. I tried to talk to a manager but she was VERY rude and dismissive and just said "nope, that's how it's supposed to be made" and took it to box it up. Honestly, it was so bad I didn't even want to take it home and ended up just throwing it away before I even left. To think that it was $20 for a 12 inch pizza on the regular menu is disturbing because it was seriously the worst pizza I have ever had in my life. I will never go back. I understand if it comes out wrong, or just isn't good but in the very rare situation that it is actually so bad that I am willing to say something I expect that they will do SOMETHING to make up for it, either make it again or do a substitution. At the very least I expect to be listened to and not just blamed and then walked away from. The crepe was a disaster. It was under cooked and very dough-y. On top of that it was cold and tasted like they had just premade a bunch in the morning and then let them sit. This place is extremely overpriced and the quality doesn't even come close to making up for it. The staff is rude and acts like you are inconveniencing them. read more

I had a small Misto pizza delivered to my hotel room while I was in town. It was awesome! Since I didn't eat in I can't say anything about the service or the restaurant itself. My food was great so I'll try them again; maybe I'll eat-in next time! read more

"Strollin' Middleton" brought us here. Most restaurants were packed. Villa Dolce was too, but they still had a few outdoor tables available. I do thing they were a little understaffed that night. It took a while to get a waitress. After the menus came, we got a little nervous because this restaurant is a little expensive. Entrees cost around $20-$28 dollars depending on what you get. Their pizzas and appetizers are a little more reasonably priced. Since we were kind of in a hurry, we decided to go with the truffle fries and a 14" pizza ("maria's pizza"). The fries did take a while to come out, but they were amazing. The fries are covered in this truffle rosemary cheese sauce that is just so good. Definitely the best french fry dish I've ever had. The pizza was a huge surprise to me. All of the ingredients were so fresh, and they all seemed to work together. I have had so many pizzas like this were it just felt like they threw random toppings on. This is a very good pizza. I will be back to try the entrees. This place is definitely worth the price. read more