SERVICE Rolled in on a late night for a spontaneous date and was told the wait would be about 45 minutes since we didn't have a reservation. About a few minutes after purring our names down, we were told it could be shorter since some parties cancelled their reservation! AMBIANCE We were seated upstairs in a small table in the middle of the dining room. It was a cute candlelit and homey and cozy spot...the booths upstairs seemed to be able to fit 6 or so and it was somewhat loud later in the night due to some nearby folks on their second or third round of drinks. Once seated our waitress served us water and bread which was slightly warmed. We decided to each order a salad and try the pasta dishes but no sides to save room for dessert! FOOD Our salads came pretty quickly and were good portioned for the price in this economy. The spinach salad with goat cheese, beets and the walnut candied crunch were quite tasty and the Caesar was solid too. Nothing amazing but served as fresh appetizer/starters for us. 10-15 minutes later our pasta dishes arrived. The spaghetti bowl was massive and the bolognese was also a huge portion! The meatballs were hefty and well seasoned. While a bit oily for my taste and in leftover form, the bolognese dish was delicious! Loved the house made tagliatelle with the thick handmade bounce texture and beefy tomato sauce. Definitely too much food for us so we got a takeout box and took half home. The tiramisu was well portioned, fluffy and airy and the ladyfingers were not oversoaked and there wasn't as bold of an espresso flavor as I liked but definitely one of the better spots in this area. OVERALL Totally would return for next date night and way better valued than Tavola. Loved the pasta dishes way more here and the tiramisu was at least much more authentic in my opinion. Only taking off a star since our service was definitely way slower than expected after asking for more water and the check. But overall cute and solid through and though. read more

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Disappointed in the decline in service and quality. We've been a patron of Vivace for a long time, but have really seen a significant fall off in the last year or so - especially regarding service. Our most recent dinner there was slow and inattentive. Dishes were forgotten and did not arrive, and the ones that came were lukewarm at best. No one cleared plates and no one checked on our satisfaction with our meals. Expect an experience that leans heavily on the long time reputation of the place and less on the current quality of the food and service. read more

This is a cute Italian spot with very decent Italian food - the lasagne in particular is great! We had a a 7:45 reservation and were seated right away, but didn't receive our food until after 8:50. It was busy with a few large parties that evening, and our server was working hard to accommodate everyone. Unfortunately, we never received one of the drinks we ordered. The portions are large if that's your thing. I probably wouldn't return, but we did get a discount for the long wait which I did appreciate! Maybe they were short staffed this Friday evening. read more

Vivace - Tour of Italy dish - lasagne, spaghetti, meatball & sausage - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Arrived at 5pm on a Saturday (party of two). We didn't have a reservation but hoped they would have some tables available. We waited at the host stand for about five minutes for a restaurant employee. The restaurant looked mostly empty at the time, with only a few people at the bar. When the hostess appeared, she told us we could sit at the bar or a high top table in the lounge, adjacent to the bar. We opted for the high top table. We sat down at the table, and the hostess appeared again a moment later to tell us another party had the table at 6:45. Not once had she welcomed us to the restaurant, and before we could even look at the menu, it felt like she was telling us we needed to leave. (And we almost did.) Fortunately, our waitress, Albina, redeemed the restaurant and our experience. She provided excellent service and we didn't feel rushed at all, or unwelcome. (We were done eating by 6pm, plenty of time for the other party to have their reserved table.) As far as the food, my husband had the veal piccata and I had the rockfish. All very good. Would I eat here again? It wouldn't be my first, or even my second, choice. read more

Vivace - Rockfish with butternut risotto - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Where to start this review???...... "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start" as sung by Julie Andrews in the song "Do-Re-Mi" in the Sound of Music. The restaurant is stunning but be prepared to climb some stairs. We climbed stairs to get the entrance and also to our table. The service usually lacks when you are above the main dinner area but that didn't happen here. Our server was attentive, kind, had great wine recommendations and on top of it the entire dining experience. Now the food. The menu didn't wow me as at looked like standard Italian fare you could get at Olive Garden or Maggiano's...... This was nothing of the sort. The bread and olive oil: warm, spongy crusty bread with olive oil that had a flavor that I can't describe beyond the fact you knew it was very good olive oil and not some olive oil from the store. It was really good. The appetizers we got were calamari and cheese garlic bread.....I'm a complete calamari snob and I have had perfectly cooked calamari 2 times in my life 2016 cocoa beach and today. So Tender and crispy. Absolutely delicious. My only "suggestion" is to place the sauces on the side as it snacked on it through the meal and it got a little soggy from the sauce and one other minor suggestion: consider a pepperocini aioli as a dipping sauce. But just the plain calamari with a spray of lemon juice was Spectacular! The cheesy garlic bread was exactly what you think of: cheesy, garlicky, crispy and on the same bread as the bread basket. Now only the Entrees: chicken parm With a side of meatballs: I cannot speak to the chicken parm except to say my son loved it. I did get taste of the meatballs. Truly homemade tender balls of joy swimming in a delicious sauce... I can not recommend more getting these as side to any dish. Now, my shrimp scampi risotto. So I don't know who has seen on a social media a blurb from a tv show where a woman forces her dining partner to try her dish and he exclaims an swear word followed by "that's better than mine" and the partner so so excited cause they can talk about it on the way home. That is literally what happened. I forced my son to try my shrimp Scampi risotto and he will be getting the next time (just FYI I asked the cherry tomatoes be left out as I don't think the sweetness or the acidity would have been good for the dish) Lastly, dessert: stunning classic tiramisu and chocolate cake. Will absolutely return and recommend to friends. read more

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I was looking for a place to celebrate my 23rd wedding anniversary, and as we both love Italian food, this seemed to fit the bill. Our introduction to the business was the strange parking, as I drove around the building twice and settled on parking near the street. I walked up the hill to the not entrance, and there was a sign on the not entrance door that said not to park in the spots for the shops or the Sentara lot, as you would be towed. Given there was no parking available in the back of the restaurant, I parked in Sentara and was later told by our server that parking in Sentara was okay. Nothing confusing about that. Perhaps some signage would help. We were quickly seated, and our server came and took our drink order. It is a cozy restaurant with open seating, and the noise levels were reasonable. We had an early reservation at 5:30 (that's early to us), and as the night went on and it got busier, we noticed the two servers were a bit overwhelmed. The table next to ours asked rather curtly if one of them would take our order. Our server was trying to keep up, and when I asked her if they were understaffed, she said no. Hmmm. Okay, the food. We started with wdge sald for me and a hpuse special salad for my qife, and they were good. My wife ordered the chicken piccata and a Montepulciano to drink. The chicken was tasty and tender, and the freshly baked bread was the highlight of my meal. I ordered spaghetti aglio with a side of sausage and a side of meatballs, as I was looking for something light, a little spicy, and we both love meatballs. What I got instead was a dish that was overpowered with garlic and basically inedible. I tried four forkfuls, and then had my wife try it to see if I was being overly sensitive. She couldn't eat it either. Same result with one of my daughters the next day, and the other daughter, the garlic queen, said it was good, although it was a lot of garlic for her. Prices were average for C'Ville. Big disappointment for the 23rd! I would not recommend this restaurant. read more

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Ummm... TFW you have a random Wedge Salad moment? Just crunchy enough to satisfy our every crazy craving, this salad made the night. Between the amazing ambiance and the kind, wonderful staff, I completely understand why locals call this spot the "Jewel" of Cville. C got Pasta and I got the Shrimp Risotto with a lemon reduction and a glass of Chianti hold the Fava Beans. If you know you know lol. The entire night was born from stardust and by the end of the meal I really did believe that the darkness lodged in my mind would truly one day be overpowered by The Light. I'm just so so tired of hiding. Thank you chef, thank you C, thank you Vivace. But then again, why am I surprised? That's amoré, after all. read more

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Absolutely delicious! Great service, lovely atmosphere, and good food. Can't ask for much more.

My husband and I had two great experiences at Vivace. This was our third visit and it was a disaster. We had a guest from out of town and were excited about taking her here. Our waitress never smiled.. she muttered the specials and then asked about drinks. We hadn't decided.. she said she'd be back. At least 15 minutes passed. She returned with the same frown- my friend ordered a glass of Chianti and she hurried away. She took our orders with an attitude. Another long wait- she passed by and my friend asked about her wine- the waitress barked at her.." I just checked and it's not ready!" Well all righty then. A server appeared with a salad and appetizer not sure who it went to. Another server showed up with repeat salad and appetizer that did not belong to us. Our food then arrived via another server not knowing who ordered what. This was not any measure of a dining experience.. worse than Denny's. The wine came. No checking on us. No offer of grated cheese for our pasta. She finally appeared at the end of our meal and asked if we wanted dessert. What about a box? The check came. High price food which was only ok... and the service was abominable. I was embarrassed having brought a guest here! Never to return. Annemarie Neubecker 843-415-3436 read more

Visiting my UVA student on a Sunday and looking for a nice restaurant for dinner. One thing you may notice is many Cville restaurants are not open on Sunday which leaves you with narrower options. Well, we decided on Italian and went with Vivace...and we were glad we did. Seems like there are many refurbished homes that are remodeled as a restaurant and Vivace has followed that strategy. Makes for a nice quaint, homey experience which is good. We are greeted by the waitress and we order a few drinks. The menu has many of the typical home style italian dishes like Chicken Or Veal Parm. Marsala, Piccata, fra diavolo, etc. The table orders the arancini. We also order our standby Chicken Parm, the crab cake special, and the Bolognese. We are very pleased. The red sauce is legit and we truly enjoy our dinner. Very happy we tried Vivace...and to top it off the prices are fairly reasonable especially when compared to a few of the 'fancier' options in Cville. If you are looking for tasty Italian in Cville go to Vivace. read more

I probably have a bit of bias associated towards this place. I usually go here to celebrate something small without breaking the bank. The food is very good but not mind blowing. Last time I went the spaghetti and meatballs was a bit underwhelming. Every other dish I have gotten here has been quite tasty though. Would recommend the Taste of Italy and Carbonara. Ambiance is that or a fine dining place without the usual fireworks you get at a place like that (and price tag). I would highly recommend giving this place a shot. read more

Visited Denver for a soccer tournament and stayed in an Airbnb down the street from Vivance. Thank goodness we got there when they opened because there was a line to get in! Definitely make a reservation. Unfortunately since we didn't have a reservation, we had to sit outside on the patio instead of enjoying the amazing ambiance of the restaurant. The patio was fine though. They had fans with mist blowing since it was like 95 degrees. The waiter was good and took care of us. I had the chicken piccata and honestly the chicken was a little dry and overcooked. But everyone else really enjoyed their meals of manicotti, fettuccini Alfredo and gnocchi. I would come back for sure but only to dine inside. read more

It's needs improvement in all areas. We weren't happy with the ambiance, the service or yhe food.

Yeah vivace has kinda fallen downhill since the last time I was in and I probably wouldn't be back at this point. All of my coworkers and friends agree. It was good a few years ago but is nowhere near what it used to be. TLDR: expect really basic kinda boring Italian food for twice as much as you should pay. First thing is the ambiance in here is great - the building is really cool and the decor inside is great. They have started storing extra kitchen boxes in the foyer, which was a little weird, but overall the ambiance is nice. This is probably the best part of the experience here. Service wise, not so great. Most of the staff I saw were either high schoolers or early college and act aloof like they're too good to talk to you or act bothered that they have to do their job. Their foyer is basically an intersection with a ton of other paths and the servers/staff will literally run into you while you're waiting at the host stand. Overall really rude. Staff was also walking around in pairs/groups chatting and it felt like I was eating in a cliquey high school cafeteria lol. Top it off with our rude server who joked that he had to check IDs because we "look like a bunch of babies in a trench coat" (were all in our mid-late twenties) and then continued to just make backhanded jokes to us the rest of the evening? Yeah. Not great. Then there's the food. The arancini we got was actually pretty solid. The entrees were not. My ravioli was bland at best, pretty much plain cheese ravioli with vodka sauce. My boyfriends chicken picatta was so boring. Plain breaded chicken with plain spaghetti in what tasted like just straight lemon juice. Ugh Everyone else at our table said the fettuccini Alfredo and the pasta primavera were similarly boring and bland. This place used to be good but is now a robbery. They are audacious charging as much as they do for some of the most boring Italian I've ever had. Overall with the combination of our awful service and terrible food we would not be back. Would not recommend you give it a try. Cville is full of great restaurants and this is no longer one of them. read more

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We were looking for a restaurant that offered entrees at @$22.00. So we read the online menu on their web site. We were disappointed to find when we got there to order that all the entrees were greatly increased in price. Some were as much as $10.00 more. I feel it is dishonest to advertise one price, and then charge another price. This makes me hesitant to depend on their advertising. read more

I joined 8 old friends for dinner at Vivace on the evening of Nov 12, 2025. The service was excellent and the food was delicious. We had fried calamari, fried oysters, fresh rockfish, orecchiette, chicken marsala, caprese salad, tiramisu, cheesecake and chocolate cake. We are already planning a return trip. Donald W. read more

Went here for dinner on a Friday night and were seated for two with no wait. We sat upstairs which had plenty of tables. The decor felt like you were in your Italian aunt's 2010 McMansion kitchen and the staff even bickered a little bit to go with it, but I can't complain when the food was amazing. The bread was fresh and warm and both of our entrees, the chicken piccata and baked ziti bolognese, were incredible. Will definitely be visiting here again soon read more

Vivace - chicken piccata - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Visiting from Tucson, Arizona, my daughter, and I gave this place a try. From start to finish, a very pleasant experience. Perhaps a local favorite, as I easily engaged in conversations with three separate couples, all of whom spoke very highly of this restaurant, the service, and the food. They were not wrong. I had the chicken Parmesan, and my daughter had a small plate of fettuccine Alfredo and a Margherita pizza. All three entrées were cooked to perfection! Megan, our bartender, was super friendly and accommodating. I highly recommend keeping this place a try if you are in the area. read more

Vivace - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

I came here for birthday dinner with my girlfriends and we made a reservation. We got seated upstairs and our waitress was kind. I like this place because it can be dressy or casual. There's an outdoor seating area that's nice. They brought bread for the table which was yummy sourdough type. With the olive oil it was delicious. For drinks, I did the peach bellini which was yummy and then we did calamari as the appetizer which was good. I got the spaghetti bolognese and it was yummy and big portion size. For dessert, we split the tiramisu and it was outstanding! read more

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Might want to get a reservation. Gets crowded quickly. Food and service were okay. Not bad, but definitely better Italian options in town.

We had dinner here a couple of months ago, the food is absolutely delicious, the atmosphere is very cozy and relaxed, the staff is great. It was very busy and we still had exceptional service read more

Vivace - spaghetti and meatballs - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Food, Service and ambiance all to be enjoyed here in Vivace! Always reliable. Great for family dining or date night.

Wednesday's Vivace experience was way different than the first time I came here. The bread was good and the white bean soup was fine (although I wish we were told there was meat in it). However, the marinara sauce was so acidic that it gave me the worst heartburn of my life, and my boyfriend said something tasted 'off' in the oricchiette dish. There was a bitter taste to it. The biggest issue was that they need to clean their ice machine or wherever the ice is stored. The water tasted like it was going to make us sick. I'm not sure what happened! It wasn't like this a few months ago. read more

Can only speak on the carry-out experience, as we did not sit at a table. However I think it's worth mentioning when I was inside, I regretted NOT sitting down to enjoy the warm ambience. Food was delicious, especially for the moderately sized order we made only about 60 minutes before closing. Highly recommend when you're in the mood for Italian! read more

It was perfect Spring weather so my friend and I ate outside on the terrace. We shared their special salad of mixed greens, strawberries, pecans and goat cheese. It was delightful and refreshing. My friend ordered the fish (Halibut ) special and I ordered the Shrimp and Risotto. Both were melt in your mouth delicious. For dessert we took out a wonderful chocolate mousse cake and Tiramisu. Yum yum. The serve was also excellent . I highly recommend this restaurant when visiting Charlottesville. read more

We took Dad for his 85th birthday, our first time here and with my other family members and had fantastic experience and meal! The atmosphere/decor is great, food, and portions terrific, and our server Linda was outstanding (hang onto her)! Based on this experience, would definitely recommend and return again. read more

Great family restaurant Good food, great staff, cozy atmosphere The personal pizza is excellent Worth the trip read more

Nice outdoor seating with fans to circulate the air. Our waitress was very good. Stopped by frequently and just so friendly. She recited the nights specials in detail. Our waitress brought out some fresh warm bread with butter and oil to start. One person in our group ordered the gluten free pasta and really enjoyed it. We split the burrata that came with some greens and was very good. Also split a special salad that had fresh fruit, nectarine and blueberries, really tasty and fresh. The Gamberi Fra Diablo was a good size meal and shrimp was cooked perfectly but the sauce was not real spicy could use some more spice. Others enjoyed the Chicken Parmigiana and Gnocchi. read more

YUP! Everything about Vivace was so good. The service was excellent. I forgot her name, but our waitress was so sweet, funny, and attentive. We got wine, which I enjoyed. The ambiance was great for a date night. I believe I got the Ragu alla bolognese, which I really enjoyed. However, my partner got the pasta alla vivace which was DELICIOUS. The Marsala cream sauce was just incredible. I'm not even the biggest fan of mushrooms or tomatoes, but I would definitely recommend trying this out. We will definitely be back. read more

Vivace - Ragu alla bolognese (I think) and pasta alla vivace - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Sat outside on patio for dinner. Had burrata special as an appetizer which was tasty and rather large. The bread they give is amazing - warm and fresh. Had the baked penne bolognese as an entree and added sausage. Was tasty and enough food to split. Solid Italian food and nice outdoor patio. We never went inside so can't comment on inside vibe. Recommend if looking for good Italian at a reasonable price. read more

Had an amazing time sitting outside under a tree. We had the off menu hummus which was ridiculously tasty. I had the homemade pasta with bolognese and you can taste that it is actually homemade. Our server was also the bartender and we were kinda high maintenance but service was perfect. This place is huge and has a lot of personality. The staff are are really friendly and the food is great so I highly recommend. read more

This place has gluten free pasta, which was our reason for checking it out. The only pasta that's GF is their penne. I wish they had more GF varieties. However, the penne primavera was super good! We added shrimp (it came with 4) to it. Definitely a good portion. Very splittable. The sauce was amazing. It does seem like they use local veggies. The mushrooms in this dish were huge and delightful. The service was a little odd. The server brought our entree and we had to ask for silverware when she was like "Anything else you all need?" She was nice and knew all the specials, so the service was overall pretty okay. Good vibes in this restaurant. I'd recommend a reservation. We went on a Saturday evening, pretty much 15 mins after they opened and the place was packed! Seems like they do well. read more

My favorite Charlottesville restaurant! Too excited to take a picture before the first few bites read more

Vivace - Ravioli rosati - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Pretty disappointed. After living in C'ville for 30 years I was excited to finally experience this long standing restaurant. However, shortly before leaving for our reservation I saw a few negative reviews and was concerned that my plan for a nice holiday dinner with my family was going to to be a disappointment. And it was. The service was terrible, no other way to say it. We were there for 2 hrs but only because it took forever to get anything, including attention from the waitress. It probably took 20 min or more to get our first and only drink order and I believe the bread also took additional time. Thankfully we didn't order appetizers because that would only have prolonged the night. Once we received our dinners the waitress never returned to ask how we were doing, didn't even ask if we wanted additional drinks. One of the side dishes we ordered never arrived but we weren't able to tell the waitress because as I say, she never came to check on us. By the time we were ready for the check we watched our waitress walk past a few times without eye contact and we eventually had to waive her down. I should also add that we had an early reservation so the restaurant was not yet full when we got there, though admittedly quite full by the time we left, but in my opinion service should've been spot on initially. As for the food? The bread was lovely and our meals were good but could I get it elsewhere with a better overall experience? Yes. Nothing to right home about. I was also very disappointed in our seating. We were tucked in the furthest corner in a high back booth that blocked all view of the restaurant and had a table too small for the space. It just wasn't impressive, gave the impression of low class and poor attention to detail, I'm sorry to say. read more

We went for dinner here on a Sunday night, about an hour before close. The bread served was good, tasted crusty and fresh and worked really well with the olive oil. We ordered three entrees, the gnocchi, carbonara, and the pizza margherita. The pizza was the best of our entrees, it had a great crisp and char that tasted really authentic, if we come back that'll definitely be ordered again. The gnocchi was solid but not excellent, the spinach cream sauce was a very liquid-y cream sauce with some cooked spinach in it. The carbonara had the same problem of very liquid-y sauce. The pastas still tasted pretty good, just weren't the texture we were expecting from the descriptions in the menu. The staff was not particularly kind to us when we entered, we asked for a table for three and the staff asked us to wait a moment (which is more than fine), and while we waited they talked amongst themselves. We tried a few times to ask quick questions and were ignored and eventually told to seat ourselves. After we sat down most of the staff sat at the bar and we were able to hear them speaking negatively about customers who had just left the restaurant, which created an uncomfortable atmosphere. This really affected the course of our meal, and made me feel uncomfortable at the idea of returning. I would like to go back another day and hopefully have a different experience. read more

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Came here on a first date and got lost trying to find them upstairs! The inside is very spacious. The outside is cute would be nice in warmer weather. Did not like the Flirtini cocktail that I ordered-- too sweet! Tiramisu was good. Orchiette was good but not amazing. The Pesce was cooked well. A cute spot but not my favorite Italian restaurant in the area. read more

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We have dined here occasionally and always were pleased. During our last visit service was particularly slow. We were seated for an unacceptable period of time before approached by a server. When presented with the specials we selected one assuming it would be priced consistent with other menu items. It wasn't. Suggest the servers mention the price when describing the specials. Food and wine were excellent. read more

Busy Sunday late afternoon. Reservation on the patio. Could use a bit of a revamp on tables, chairs and the plastic screening that surrounds but, still, not bad. Food was good. Eggplant Parm, Chicken Marsala (huge portion), and Bolognese were tasty and well prepared. Wine list is somewhat short but adequate and fairly priced. Challenge was service. Was clear the restaurant was understaffed. Wait for drinks extended to 20 minutes. Wait for meals an additional 30 minutes after ordering. Even paying took about 20 minutes. Seemed like there was one member of the wait staff servicing tables on the patio, the bar, and tables inside as well. Perhaps a Sunday night isn't the best time to visit or maybe the restaurant has staffing issues? Regardless, if you're patient with a potential for slow service then you'll be happy you came to Vivace. read more

I absolutely love Vivace, and after dozens of great experiences here, I finally owe them a review. The ambiance here is amazing, inside and out (inside is a cozy house-like feel, and outside is more spacious). The bread and olive oil are delicious. I highly highly recommend the Pasta Alla Vivace with their homemade tagliatelle - it's just amazing, and I haven't found a dish like this anywhere else. It's creamy, somewhat sweet, and the homemade pasta is perfection. I have told so many of my friends and family to order this when they've joined me for dinner, and no one has ever been disappointed. But whatever you get, I recommend subbing the homemade tagliatelle for a few extra dollars. I always try to get reservations here ahead of time, and note that dinner can sometimes be slow... but it's always worth it! read more

Vivace - Pasta alla vivace with homemade tagliatelle. 10/10 - Italian Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Great food and atmosphere. Uniquely quirky and a bit of Charlottesville's past preserved. The crab soup, salad and halibut special were fantastic. Love all the searing options. Our waitress was great. We'll be back. read more