La Dolce Vita Ristorante Italiano

We should have left when they brought out the bread. The bread honestly tasted like gluten free bread. The balsamic was cheap and the oil was CLEAR. I don't know if it was soybean oil or maybe avocado oil, but it was NOT olive oil. My wife's bowl of minestrone was almost bereft of any ingredients. Hardly any pasta, mostly broth. No beans. Weird. My "lasagna?" noodles cheese, hamburger and canned sauce. NO seasoning. NO garlic, onion, oregano, basil, parsley, etc. Not even salt or pepper. And they covered the plate in sauce!! I was dumfounded after the first bite, so I passed it to my wife. So bland I couldn't finish. When the waiter came to check on the food, I told him it was terrible and, pointing to my plate, I said "that's not lasagna." My wife's Caesar salad had decently seasoned chicken and the veg was fresh. So there was that. And while I actually like tomatoes in my salad, large slices of beefsteak tomatoes doesn't scream Italian. The italian dressing was canned. One step up from cafeteria salad. They didn't charge me for the lasagna. So there is that. But you know the bad Mexican restaurants that rely on cheese for flavor? This reminded me of that only worse. I wasn't expecting Cucina Toscana. Now that is a restaurant! I expected more of a family style Americanized Italian restaurant. But good. It wasn't. Nothing tasted unhealthy. It's just not a restaurant. There is nothing Dolce about this place. Steer clear. I almost never send food back or write reviews. But these people shouldn't be running a restaurant. How it got 4.3 or how it got awards I just don't know.

Loved the food and loved the friendly staff and the great atmosphere! It's a HUGE Plus that they had a gluten free option for me!