Vivace

The owners have retired and the restaurant is closed. It’s too bad that they didn’t sell the place to someone else!

We enjoyed a very pleasing pasta dinner. My wife thought my rigatoni was under cooked, I thought it was fine, so check against your definition of al dente. The bread and oil was delicious. The spicy sausage was nicely spicy.

I was stoked to find a good Italian joint in my neighborhood. For some reason I always walked past it, but never thought to eat here until I was showing some friends around town.
They can even cook a steak! We shared everything we ordered and there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t want to stuff my face with.
The trout stuffed raviolis was one of the most flavorful pastas ever.
Our waitress was super sweet and very attentive. I will become a regular here…

I have been a fan of this restaurant for over a decade. I hadn’t been to Vivace in a while, and was pleased as punch with my visit last week. If you are looking for an Olive Garden experience, don’t eat at Vivace. However, if you like a quaint, local restaurant with killer gnocchi and a fantastic wine list, give Vivace a try. Their food tastes fresh, the service is nice, the setting is romantic, and it’s fun to people watch as all the Nob Hill hipsters cruise by. I have had many a birthday and date nights at this locally owned restaurant, and will continue to do so.

Vivace has quality Italians foods in huge proportions without the huge price tag of another Italian restaurant just a few blocks away.
Living in Nob Hill means I’ve tried literally every restaurant in the area, and Vivace is one of the great finds from this method. While it looks non-​descript next to comic shops and piercing studio, the food is excellent.
While Vivace may not have the cache of other Italian restaurants (cough :Scalo’s:) or the wine and cocktail list, the pasta dishes are excellent and well priced. I’m a huge gnocchi fan, and they have delicious gnocchi with cream sauce. I like to add chicken as well in case I need extra protein. I had the duck ravioli as well, which was rich and delicious. I can’t have shellfish, but my boyfriend loved the cioppino which was totally bursting to the brim with fish, squid, clams, and mussels. While the wine list is… small, you can generally find something that suits your style. What’s the one negative? If you’re not wanting pasta, the menu is limited in terms of other options, and the food is basically your traditional Italian. Nothing you haven’t seen somewhere else, but it’s all very good.
Overall, the best part is that a meal and an appetizer are about $ 20 a person — a good deal if you consider the Nob Hill location and quality of the food. Service is normally pretty prompt. The interior design leaves something to be desired… I’m all for plastic tableclothes, but it could be a little more upscale without too much work.
Vivace is a good place when you’re craving that traditional Italian meal without a huge outlay of cash.

We hadn’t been here in a while, but it used to be a favorite. Maybe it was a bad night. The food piled up – salad delivered before we were half done with appetizer, main course on the table before we’d finished either of them.. . plates cleared within 45 minutes from when we walked in the door, and it’s not like there was a line of people waiting for tables. Pasta was nowhere near so good as I remembered.

This quaint Italian trattoria in Nob Hill served perhaps the best restaurant meal I’ve had since visiting Albuquerque (my second trip out ending just a few days ago) from Atlanta. Service for our rather cumbersome party (8 adults, a child and toddler) was well managed and the staff both generous and kind — the accordionist came to the table and provided our ears entertainment while we perused the menu. The sectioned rooms provided a bit of intimacy with for-​sale artwork and photos adorning the walls. Only a few partook of the various wines (I tasted the house Chianti which was above-​average for house). I went with the Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale to sample the local brew — also quite good.
We started with a flat bread appetizer course then various pasta dishes — my mother-​in-​law had the fish (don’t remember if it was grouper or sea bass), lightly pan seared, served in a bowl with roasted potatoes and veggies for an entrée, plus an asparagus salad to start — she indicated that both were quite good. We opted to split both a Caesar salad and a fettuccine con pesto with chicken that was very good (glad we split as the portions are very generous and it left us room for dessert). We ended the meal with tiramisu and gelato. In all a very satisfying experience.
Vivace would do well in Atlanta, known for its abundance of good eateries.

I’ve come here twice now when visiting NM (from SF) and have enjoyed both meals here. They have pasta and meat, which my family enjoys, as well as some lighter dishes with lots of veggies for me to enjoy! The service has always been spot on. The main room can get a little noisy, so if/​when we make it back we may ask to be seated in the «back» room where it looks like they have carpeting, so that may be a little quieter. The noise, BTW, didn’t bother me at all, as I am accustomed to loud SF restaurants. I had a glass of wine and the selection looks pretty good.
Oh, and the first time we came, they had live music in the bar area.

For Itailian with slightly more than casual ambiance in Nob Hill this is a good option. I have enjoyed my dinners here. While here with family we found the server to be attentive. My dad and brother had the Farafelle pasta with smoked salmon, mom ordered the cannelloni and ordered the pasta Putanesca. Mom and I shared the arugula salad which was simple and flavorful, dad decided to start his meal with the ceasar salad.
They were very generous with the bread which was fresh and baked with herbs. The cannelloni was tough and bland, disapointed. My pasta putanesca was tasty and satisfied my pasta craving. The farafelle with smoked salmon was the hit of the evening. The smoked flavor was light but just enough to accentuate this dish very well.
If you are looking for a good place to take family, friends or have a nice but casual first date come here, portions are average to above average and the pricing is on the high side but fair.

Uh uh! ‘fraid not. Only two pastas are in-​house made, the canneloni (which was tough and more like a tortilla than a delicate pasta dough) and the ravioli, which was sort of like a dim sum item. The salad, wild mushroom, arugula, shaved parmigiano reggiano, was way underdressed and although the ingredients were nice, it never «popped» the way a good salad should. The bread was lousy. The sauce on the ravioli was primarily chunky tomatoes and did not match the shape of the pasta at all. The canneloni was dry and without any kind of sauce, or if there was some, it was forgettable. I cannot complain about the service and the place has a nice ambiance but as for food, I don’t think so and I don’t plan to be back.

GREAT ITALIAN FOOD! I will be back again and again.

I was dying for a great bowl of pasta after watching a movie at the Italian Film Festival last weekend so I decided to take a walk down Central Avenue. I walked past Vivace and decided to try it out. It turned out to be a great idea. The restaurant is «no frills» with a very comfortable atmosphere. The staff was very attentive and it was a short wait from seating to eating. The menu had great options and the prices were very reasonable. I decided on an Insalata Cesare to start which tasted very good and was the perfect size. I had to look at the $ 3.00 price a couple of times because I can’t remember the last time I paid that low of a price for just about anything at a good restaurant. I chose Rigatoni alla Bolognese as an entrée since it’s one of my favorites. The serving was generous and very delicious. The sauce was great too. It had plenty of meat in it, which I love, and was nice and subtle. The Rigatoni was served just right, nice and firm. I enjoyed my meal with a glass of Chianti which wrapped the meal nicely. My waiter checked on me regularly throughout the meal and made sure that my water glass was full. The meal was the perfect end to my evening! The servings were generous and tasty and with a final bill at a little over $ 20 it was an exceptional value. I will absolutely be going back to Vivace and recommend that you give it a try if you love delicious Italian food at very reasonable prices.

Great service! Staff is friendly and attentive but not overbearing. The food is fresh and excellent! The prices are great for the quality of food. I will definitely return when I want good Italian food at a good price!

Charming little place. Good service, surprisingly great Italian food without any hint of snobbery, very reasonable prices for the quality level of the food.
The ambiance could use some work, though I find their somewhat haphazard attempt at «pleasant wine bar» décor adds to the overall charm. It certainly contrasts strongly with the fantastic food.

Great staff and wonderful food. Prices are reasonable. One of the more consistent restaurants in Albuquerque I’ve never had a bad meal here. In Nob Hill but far enough from Kelly’s that you can still find parking. What else do you need?

I have been going here since the opening and even when I was living in AZ and this place will always be at the top of my list. The place is charming and the food is incredible with the wait staff always being pleasant. I always make sure to let anyone know that this is a must if you are new to ABQ.

Pasta should be fresh
Dried food is for dogs and cats
You aren’t one are you
(This is a charming little Italian place. With their reasonable prices, it is always a joy to go there.)

This is absolutely one of my favorite places to eat here in Albuquerque. My fiancée and I go here a lot (at least relatively) and it never disappoints. It’s unpretentious but wonderful Italian food, with a new wine bar and great wine selection. The prices are just as unpretentious, though of course you can spend a good bit on wine if you want. They also have a series of cooking demonstration/​classes and wine dinners. The staff is great, and the chefs are fun during the classes.
I love Vivace, and I think that it’s a great deal compared to many of the more «upscale» but overpriced Italian options around.