La Dolce Vita

Met some friends there on a whim for dinner. It was great. The place has a warm Italian décor. The staff is very welcoming, and friendly for a Monday night. The service was excellent, the food was fantastic. Garlic knots were hot, soft, and garlicky. Everyone enjoyed their meal! The Italian wine and beer was very good! We have it on our list of ‘must return!’

Being from the East Coast and having so many amazing Italian restaurants to choose from up and down the coast, after almost two decades of living here, I have found that Colorado’s Italian dining is definitely lacking.
We tried La Dolce Vita in the summertime and sat outside on the covered patio area. For appetizers, I had a house salad and my father had the minestrone soup.
I had the Penne Rustica, and my father had the Veal Marsala. The servers were friendly and the food was good, but not something I need to run back for. This is a nice local restaurant if you are interested in Italian food in this area.
There is a big cheese factor though, and I am not talking good Italian cheese!
The old world décor is a bit cheesy and outdated, and the roving singer was a bit strange. She had a song list for requests that she handed out to each table. However, I was glad that we did not make a request, as she would stand close to the table who requested the song and sing to them, which seemed distracting as they were not able to enjoy her singing and their own conversation at the same time.

We are never disappointed with the food at La Dolce Vita. From the garlic knots which are complimentary to the salads, wine list and entrees, everything we have tried has been excellent. The prices are a bit high but the quantity and quality of the food justifies a slightly higher price point. I recommend the shreaded chicken and sausage penne and almost any of their specials. Compliments to the chef.

The food was very good. Service was great. The atmosphere was nice, however the live singer was way to load. She had a nice voice and good song list, but she was so loud that you could not hsve a conversation. I had a bad headache so we asked to move to the other room because it was so loud. They moved us with no problem and turned down the speaker it that room which we appreciated, but even doing that it was still loud.
Overall good experience and will def go again cause food was unique and delicious. Service great. We may do take out in stead though

Food was above average, but didn’t seem 100% homemade. Let’s say Cisco or US Foods probably has a big hand in their entrees. Very busy night. Service was good and we got a table quickly. Frankly, more annoying than anything was the «roving singer», Reagan. Sorry, Reagan. You are an ok singer, but I felt like I was on a Disney cruise. It was awkward and annoying. Kind of wrecked the ambiance!!! Lastly, the bathroom floors are slimy and slippery and smells really disgusting. A weird chemical, musty, funky smell! Made me want to gag or barf!

Quick service and friendly staff. Food is about the quality of Olive Garden, but more limited menu and more expensive. I haven’t explored the menu too much, not sure I’ll be going back to try anything else though.

this restaurant is a treasure in castlepines. what makes it worthwhile is the friendly staff who knows you and call your name. you dont have to travell to to italy to get there. you dont have to go very
is nestled in castlepines behind the pinetrees and the beautifull treasures of colorado. it is entreating to the neighborhood and the curious. the food is always upbeat so is the music played. a place for a party or for an intimate appointment. so please make your reservation and you wont be dissappointed. also it is a place to conduct a business meeting. many guests think of la dolcevita when it they think of holidayparties, graduations. rehearsaldinners or a neighbirhood getting together.

I have been dining at La Dolce Vita for 14 years. It is the best kept secret in Castle Pines. Sam treats every customer like a personal friend. The food is consistently outstanding. The atmosphere is warm and comfortable. I highly recommend it!

The ambience is so Italian and the food is truly delicious! Personal service with a wonderful menu makes this place special. Happy hour from 4 – 6:30 in the bar with $ 5, $ 6, & $ 7 appetizers. Ask for Sam — he’s a super waiter! The perfect place for a special occasion.

Average in my opinion. The place feels a little worn down, worn out and in need of a good cleaning. Smells kind of funny. The first time I went there a year or so ago, I thought it was pretty good. The last two times, not so much. I had a trio special and the sauce on the steak was weird tasting and the fish way was over cooked. Food just did not taste fresh. Service was good. Waiter was friendly and on top of things. But… the food — it’s just Meh. I know some people do not like chains, but I’ve had much better food and atmosphere at Maggianos and Brio Tuscan Grille.

Scallop and shrimp appetizers were really good. Blackened shrimp and scallop entrée was OK. Would not order again. Overall great food and really good pricing.
Will be back.

The service was great inside this cute little local gem. Garlic knots were really good and although we asked for some marinara sauce for dipping they didn’t need it. We split three courses. First, the mussels which arrived quickly and were good, but the sauce had a slight lemon-​ish aftertaste. Then we went for the creamy tomato basil soup that was again good, not out of this world. but a solid soup that begged the remaining garlic knots to go for a swim. I obliged and enjoyed. Last, but not least we had carbonara with blackened shrimp. It was a suggested special request by our server. Again, good and we ate each bite. The blackening was the best part. We had hoped by splitting everything that we might have room for dessert, but that didn’t happen. All in all it was a good meal (with a super nice server and great music playing in the background — Ray Charles, Etta James, etc) and probably one of the best you will find in Castle Pines -= short of the country club.

It’s with a heavy heart that I have decided to leave this review. I came here because a fellow Unilocaler Charmaine K, had an amazing review and we came here to celebrate her fiancée’s birthday.
We got here 3 mins before noon on a Saturday, the open sign was on but there was no one at the door. My family walked in with me and waited patiently at the front door to have someone to come greet us and take us to our table.
A middle-​aged Italian/​Latino waiter came and greeted us, saying that he was busy getting the restaurant started and that he was not ready for us. I informed him that we are patient and we can wait. (Thinking to myself, if you aren’t ready, why is your OPEN sign on?) He definitely has that «you’re bothering me face»…
We got to our table, the rest of our party showed up a few minutes later and we ordered our food. The service was ok, the food was decent, hence the 2 stars. He was slightly bothered that we decided to not order any alcoholic beverages as he rolled his eyes when he removed our wine glasses.
We got the so-​called amazing garlic knots… cold and oily. The seafood pasta was really yummy with a good flavor. The salad was bland and a little wilted…
At the end when we were trying to check out, I did not appreciate the way the waiter tried to «connect» with us, by making fun of our last names into a song after he brought back our credit cards. We all have Asian last names… I felt that maybe he is just not socially/​racially smart, but ching/​ching/​kong/​kong is not a way to connect with customers, and in turn, making me feel very prejudiced against. I will never be back, the food is good, but not that great… and the service. Wow, it could not have been worse. If there is a way to report to the racial police, this guy would be locked up. No thanks!!!

Decent meal if you are in the area. I wouldn’t go out of my way though.
Atmosphere is fun, kids liked it.
Wine list is a little weak.
Veal Piccata was actually really good, but the pasta, meatballs, and garlic knots were just average.
Service was excellent.
I will give it another shot, but will probably stick with the chefs specials or mains other than the typical pastas.
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I wish I felt the same way about the food as most of the other people on here. The décor inside the restaurant is awesome, a little cramped for my liking but still pretty cool. The food I have tried twice, both times got it to go. First time I tried the lasagna, which was several months ago and it was not very good. Then tonight I decided to give them one more shot and went for a classic, Chicken Alfredo, it also was not very good. Unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend eating here.

My family and I love this place. Good food, great atmosphere, terrific service. What’s not to love? Also — very important — they take great care of my kids here. They treat them with respect and interest. A rare quality indeed (I almost never seen this and we live at restaurants). Highly recommended.

The ambiance is really fun Not at all what you would expect from the outside ! The pasta was delicious as was the margarita pizza. Hands down the best turtle cheese cake I’ve ever had !
Great service this is a local gem in castle pines

One of the best overall Italian restaurants anywhere in Denver and always pleasant and a great dinner date location if you don’t want to go far. Great food, great service not too loud atmosphere.

The best Italian restaurant in Denver. The staff is always courteous, the food is always exceptional and the ambiance is awesome. This is my wifes favorite restaurant, and if I have to eat italian, I enjoy this place. (Im not a huge italian food eater) We like this place so much we had our rehearsal dinner here for our wedding, It was an awesome event and the treated us like royalty. This is a great place and I hope everyone north oc castle rock take notice and come and try it.

⁷⁄₄ we went down to Castle Rock outlet for some shopping to celebrate (like I need an excuse) and afterwards we decided to eat somewhere down south instead of heading back to Denver. Most places were closed in Castle Rock, and the one place that was opened (Siena at the Courtyard) didn’t make us feel like we’re very welcomed, so we ended up Unilocaling for a place and La Dolce Vita just so happened to be opened on that day.
As we drove up, we were a little skeptical… strip mall Italian with no outside seating. But we were hungry and this was our best bet. When we walked in, we were quickly greeted and seated. Granted there was only a couple of tables at the time, but it’s still nice to be enthusiastically greeted. We took a look at the menu and was glad to see the wide range of options. My bf doesn’t eat meat and there are plenty of seafood options for him. I ended up choosing the chicken marsala and he had the ahi tuna of the day special. He ordered with the fish barely cooked, replacing pasta with steamed veggie. I ordered mine with olio instead of marinara sauce on my angel hair. Throughout, the waiter was very patient with our questions and accommodating with our requests.
The bread came. We opened the napkin, damn, those weren’t bread, those were garlic knots! We asked for some marinara on the side, which came heated, and then the feast began. The food arrived and it is EXACTLY how we envisioned them. No forgotten substitutions, no wrong sauce, everything was perfect. The portions were generous as well. We started chowing down and it wasn’t until we were all done that we realized we didn’t talk throughout the whole meal. It was so good that we were just too busy eating, no time to talk!
After we stuffed ourselves, we were asked if we wanted dessert. Didn’t think we did until we saw the list. We ordered ourselves crème burlee, and it was perfect as well. It’s not ice cold but just the right temperature, with just the right amount and thickness of burnt sugar on top. Not too burnt that it’s too bitter and that’s all you can taste, but just right.
All in all, I think it’s pretty good value for the price they charge. Ample portions, good food, great service, good menu options, fun atmosphere. This has just become our new favorite Italian place in Colorado. This will now be our sure stop when we go to Castle Rock outlet mall again.