Vesuvio

Went there with some friends for dinner around 5:30 on a Friday night and we got seated promptly.
Their homemade bread is SO GOOD ! Hot out of the oven, crispy and crusty, with soft, warm, moist core… it is one of the best bread baskets I’ve had in a long time. They bring butter, olive oil, red hot peppers and parmesan cheese to the table as well.
My friends ordered pasta dishes and they loved it… the seafood special and the baked scrod. I ordered the Sole Franchese and it was just OK. The fish was bland and it almost tasted like it came out of the freezer 5 minutes before. The sauce was light and buttery, but again, not stellar. My BF got the Eggplant parmigiana and it was good, but not as good as others we have had before. The pasta side he got was delicious.
Overall, good, it was OK, but nothing to rush back to. It seems like a lot of regulars come, since we could hear lots of local conversations about families and friends between waitstaff and patrons.

My friends and I threw a bridal shower for our friend here on a Sunday afternoon after Christmas. Steve and Lori were really accommodating and thoughtful. I called them quite a bit since it had to be booked 10 months in advance and they were helpful every time we spoke, even when I asked questions they already answered :)
The food was delicious, prices affordable and the staff was really hard working and pleasant, especially Lori. We had the whole half the restaurant to ourselves and the space was better in person than I had imagined. They let us set up all our decorations and helped us clean up after as well. I would have another party here any time.

We came because out of town friends heard this place served great Italian. Me? Sienna’s in EG is the best, but why not try some place new? Well, I will tell you why not. It started with the rather surly host who seated us. Not a welcome or smile. After 20 minutes, one of our guests went to him to ask why no one had come to our table so we could order drinks. Please know that the place at 6:30 had plenty of empty tables. He actually came to our table asking why we would complain after «4 minutes». I merely smiled, not wanting to challenge him back. But what host does that? Really, challenge a guest who merely asked if we could see a waiter for drinks after 20 minutes at the very least? Another 10 minutes later our waiter arrived and we ordered drinks. 20 minutes later we had our drinks. Ok — we had to ask for bread. Still, many tables free. I mean MANY. I believe our poor waiter was the only one there. Food? Fair at best. Nothing out of the ordinary. Very very limited menu. That’s ok — but make sure you have great service and great food. I asked for the veggie instead of pasta. I received a huge bowl of sliced carrots like my mom would make for a family of four — but my mom would have added a pop of butter, salt, perhaps thyme. This — plain washed out, undercooked, unseasoned sliced carrots. Look, a great restaurant starts with the host — he failed. Waiter — he did the best he could, but could not muster one apology for late service — even if not his fault I apologize for any delay — does a lot. Chef — do better. My vote — go to Sienna’s for an Italian experience.

One of RI’s best kept secrets! This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Vesuvio’s is known for their fresh provimi veal and it never disappoints me. Can’t beat their daily luncheon specials… Offering a wide selection of salads, sandwiches, main entrees. The bar itself is small, but the bar area has a few high top tables which I prefer over the main dining area. Very neat and clean establishment. Staff is always efficient, pleasant and courteous. Kudos to the owners for running such a great restaurant! Don’t miss their special Wine tasting events, normally hosted on a Wednesday night!

We arrived at 6:30 on a Saturday night. We thought for sure that we would have to wait for a table. Although the restaurant was busy there were open tables and we were able to sit.
The server greeted us in a timely manner and took our drink order. When she returned with the drinks she went over the specials and we placed our food order. Another server then brought us fresh baked bread and butter. A while later the server delivered our meals. The dishes were served fresh out of the oven piping hot the way I expected.
The food was excellent along with the service. The wait time for the meal was acceptable. I didn’t give it a 5 star only because I didn’t say WOW. I would definitely go back again.

Went here to celebrate my Anniversary and again. the food and service were amazing. You feel like family when your dining here and I love that.

We were looking for a place to eat on a Saturday afternoon and noticed this place looked open. When we entered, we were told they were closed to a private party. And to their defense, their hours posted did read they weren’t opened for another few hours… However, their manger, graciously let us sit down and eat from the dinner menu. They were attentive and nice, and dinner was excellent. I had the veal parm expecting the same ol over fired, over cheesed glob, and was pleasantly surprised to bite into a tender lightly breaded and sauteed piece of veal with a delicate marinara sauce. The prices are very reasonable and worth it. Recommended!

Delicious food! Gail is a fabulous bartender! Best espresso martinis ever!!! The appetizer special with wild mushrooms was amazing!

As I read others’ reviews of Vesuvio, I can understand their comments on the service because I have in the past thought similarly. The food was always very good, but the service was less than that. With this said, as I waited to pick up my take-​out order of Chicken Parmesan tonight, it was clear that Vesuvio is conscious of past complaints and is attempting to remedy the situation.
The food, as always, was delicious. Their sauce is perfect and I love how the chicken is cut extremely thin. Vesuvio is definitely my Italian take-​out of choice with the portion size (3 pieces of chicken), presentation (nice containers!), salad dressing (try the Honey Lime), and the warm loaf of Italian bread!

Post Funeral lunch today. Sadly I must agree with most of the other reviewers. Food is amazing, service sucks. When I went in on Saturday to arrange, I was very clear that I wanted some appetizers on the table when we arrived. Not done. We were sitting for 15 mins before anyone got anything to eat. Not good. Then everytime someone asked for anything: other drink, dessert… Major attitude… Then the kicker was I go up to settle the bill and I was not told about a 20% tip… Whatever… Unfortunately the food is really good, so I will probably be back. Just not in a situation where I can not tip appropriately

So good we went for a funeral and the service and food were amazing. Love the veal chicken and scrod so awesome. Definitely will be returning.

This was the first time I’ve ever been to Vesuvio and will definitely be the LAST. Worst service I’ve ever had. We waited about 5 minutes for someone to even acknowledge that we waiting to be seated in a restaurant half full of empty tables. 10 – 15 minutes for someone to take our drink order. Then, our waitress starts took our food and drink order and left in the middle because she was being paged (Is this a hospital or a restaurant?). Finally, we waited 15 minutes for a handwritten bill that was $ 40 more than it should have been.
The food was definitely NOT worth the wait. Everything tastes watered down. Watery salad dressing, watery red sauce, watery meat sauce, watery cream sauce (sensing a trend?). Even my sister’s water was bad! The «lemon slice» was more of a lemon rind. She said that all she could taste was the peel.
I understand that people make mistakes but this was just ridiculous.
Someone needs to call Gordon Ramsey.

Wait staff needs refresher/​friendliness training. Food is good. Wont return because of unpersonable waitstaff. I regret leaving 15 percent tip.
Also slow service: Our party had to wait 45 minutes before placing order. Drinks took forever, and good luck getting the waitress over to your table, as she was nowhere to be found. Manager came over after a 20 minute absence from our waitress. She bought my friend a beer, acknowled the poor service and said «This beer is on us so you can stop whining.»

Atmosphere: lends itself to an older clientele. Service: overall feeling of inconvenienced by us and slow. Took 25 min for a drink refill that was noticed, not by the waitress, but by the hostess. Food: salad was in desperate need of more lettuce. Took an hour and a half for main course. The gnocchi was hand made and good but the sauce was bland and tasted like spagettios. Chicken saltambucca was decent. 4 cheese fetticini was a little wattery. Overall: will not go again.

Went there a couple Mother’s Days ago and was not that satisfied. I know it was a holiday but once we arrived, our table was not ready and we had to wait 10 minutes before sitting down. I ran out of water a few times and I hate having to ask for water. That should be an automatic thing to get refills. The food was good but I was not impressed with the service. Probably would not go back.

Decent atmosphere. Pretty consistent food. Chicken escarole soup was very good but Caesar salad was drenched in dressing could be made much better with a lighter, more lemony dressing, large shaved Romano cheese instead of grated and the option of fresh cracked black pepper. Good service at lunchtime.

ordered the fettuccine carbonara, it was fantastic. also ordered a salad which was good but i wasn’t fond of the dressing. service was colorful and friendly. portions are huge!

Vesuvio is the place where you spend 20 plus per meat dish and still get to dine while playing keno. I had the veal parm which tasted like fried McDonald’s. The sauce was ok for the veal but was god awful on the penne. The bread was good. You have to pay 2 bucks per glass of soda — I hate that. Overall I think you should only go here if you are desperate.

The food is consistently excellent and I should know — I’ve been coming to Steve & Lori Vota’s restaurants (previously it was Olerio’s) for almost 20 years and if it wasn’t they’d have never seen me again as there’s no shortage of Italian restaurants in RI, that’s for sure… The fresh baked hard crust Italian bread that comes with dinner is to die for. Prices are right in line and the ambience is nice too.
The other reviewer, JR, is obviously an arrogant SOB who expects to have his ass kissed and his feet washed when he dines out and must have caught an inexperienced waitress, which can happen to anybody, anywhere. Poor service is a total turn off to me too, but to make those kind of comments is uncalled for. His profile comment especially, in addition to the condescending, snotty tone of his many other reviews tells you all you should need to know about his «reviews».
With the way restaurants come and go like the seasons, especially Italian, and especially in Rhode Island, the fact that this restuarant and it’s predecessor that is run by the same couple is still thriving after being in business for so long is a testament to the quality of the dining experience and especially the food.

Came last week for dinner, party of 8, Thursday night. Wasn’t very busy.
Once again, a restaurant opened by someone who doesn’t know how to run a restaurant. The waitress we had, had absolutely no clue about the menu or drinks that were available. You work here, you should know the menu and the bar like the back of your hand.
Glenmorangie, in a snifter neat, side of rocks. She unfortunately couldn’t comprehend what that meant, as she came back to the table 2x to see verify what I wanted to drink.
Being indecisive, I ordered either the scallop dish, or the cioppino. She didn’t want to «surprise» me, but I insisted that I trusted her judgement. Well, when the dinner came, I had a plate of chicken in front of me with roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, etc.
I don’t blame her. her manager should have said «take this menu home and memorize it before you take any orders» How the hell do you not know what Cioppino is? Its italian, and its on the goddamn menu!
The food was what I expected, typical crappy barely homemade italian fare. I had a bit of everyone’s dish and I hate to rag on the place, but the only dish that was executed well was the Veal Francese. Crispy light batter, fresh lemon butter wine flavor, I was thouroughly impressed. As for everything else that I tried.
Sole Francese — Pudding, soaking wet, decent flavor but diluted compared to the veal.
Baked Stuffed Shrimp — Breading on it was identical to frozen stuffies, had the consistency of puddy. Come on. crush up some ritz cracker and toss a little butter in, its as simple as that.
Chicken Capriano (which was given to me instead of Cioppino) — was ok. I ate it, but nothing outstanding. Tough to love a dish that has chicken and a crap load of veggies in a white wine reduction.
Shrimp Cocktail — Lukewarm with crappy jarred cocktail sauce that tasted more like salsa then cocktail sauce.
The bread was very good, they gave little sicilian loafs big enough for 4 which were delicious.
Prices for drinks were bad at all, i didn’t have one, but Johnny Blue for $ 26… thats the lowest I’ve every seen it by a long shot.
I really hate writing reviews like this, considering I am all for supporting local family owned restaurants around RI, but I can’t condone fake italian food, and also the lack of management and structure in this restaurant. Please bring your staff up to date, and if you can freshen up the ingredients.
Quote from their website
Here the Italian people were known for their simplistic style of cooking — Fresh ingredients and seasonings to enhance not disguise the true flavors and an ability to make wonderful dishes that have been passed along for many generations. And now the splendor and traditions of this region are reborn at Vesuvio
Jesus Christ how full of shit could you possibly be? Fresh ingredients my ass, canned artichokes, canned olives, canned everything.
Ok now I don’t feel so bad… there is a reason there were 4 parties in the restaurant the entire time we were there, get your shit together.