La Dolce Vita of Lemont

Fantastic place. Great atmosphere, great food, attention to detail is evident. One of my favorite local restaurants that puts more expensive, pretentious Italian places to shame. Best calamari app ever. The only nitpick I can find is some bottles of red are chilled which is a huge NO in my book, but otherwise excellent in all aspects.

I am not big on reviews but I would want someone to point me to this restaurant. This restaurant was excellent. The chicken parmesan was excellent. The chicken was the most tender I have ever had. The meatballs were great. Everyone loved their meal. Alfredo sauce was excellent. Raviolis were wonderful. If you are anywhere near and want Italian, eat here.

I tried La Dolce Vita for the first time the other night with a friend. We both enjoyed our food. The salad had a really good flavor to it and we both enjoyed our entrees. I had ravioli and she had cavatelli al forno. I felt the portions that were given to us were a good size, but it was still a little bit more in price than I would expect to pay, which is why I deducted one star. The martinis are excellent but are $ 11. It would be nice if they had days with drink specials (perhaps feature one of their martinis at a lower price). I also deducted another star because not all of the pastas are made in house, which is just a personal preference of mine. The pasta that was featured in the special was made in house, so my recommendation would be to try the specials of the day. The service is slower, which I did not mind because my friend and I enjoyed good conversation. However, it was quite noisy in there so we had to speak really loud to hear each other. I have also heard the sausage is good. I will probably return to try other things and update my review accordingly.

This is a very classy little restaurant tucked away in downtown Lemont. I really like the romantic atmosphere and the high-​quality Italian food that they serve. It’s a nice place to celebrate a birthday or take out a significant other on a romantic date.
My boyfriend and I came here for our Valentine’s day dinner, and our server was very nice and attentive. The drink selection is very good, including a long list of wines! I had the pomegranate martini, which I would highly recommend if you love fruity drinks! I ordered the lemon chicken special with angel hair pasta, which was very good! My boyfriend had some delicious cheese ravioli with marinara sauce. We ended the night with lemon shaved ice, which was also very good! The manager asked us how our experience was, and we were very satisfied with our time there.
The prices were as expected for the quality of food, but it was worth it! I would come here again for future dates! I highly recommend coming here if you live in the area!
***They DO take reservations by the way! It says on the Unilocal page that they don’t, but I was able to call and make a reservation for us.

Last night, after catching an early movie at Loews 18, my friend and I decided to sample the cuisine of this delightful eatery. Located in downtown Lemont, across the street from the legendary Tom’s Place Bar, this cross between fine and casual dining offers a wide assortment of traditional Italian Cuisine. Since I hadn’t had it in a while, I jumped at the chance to enjoy one of my favorites, Chicken Vesuvio while my friend had Orange Roughy. Both dishes were done to perfection although the Vesuvio lacked the serving of green peas… oh well. Now the bad parts: the server did not know the menu well, I alway order a beer on tap and the first beer (Peroni) was flat. So second was a Sam Adams and it was just ok., my guest said the wine selection was just pedestrian («I can buy this wine $ 9 a bottle at Osco») and finally… no substitutions! What? You mean I can’t substitute Broccoli for that lousy pasta, even if I pay extra for the veg? So, we ordered the broccoli as a side and was served the pasta (to go) even though the server knew we were throwing it away. What a waste! So, because the service was lousy: 3 stars. The food and ambience were excellent but these folks need to review their customer friendliness. By the way, the Vesuvio gravy possessed a richness I hunger for. So: Go to enjoy the food but you’ll have to fight the staff to do it

My husband and I came here with some friends and we all agree, food was very good. Drinks are high priced and service was awful but in all fairness, it was a very busy night. We will return for another try because of the food but they really, really need to work on the rest.

Always worth the wait. Read the most recent one star review. The reviewer seems to have an aversion to garlic and a knack for bringing out the worst in people. Several of his reviews are one star. Maybe the restaurants he frequents are all sub par or …

Ive been here many times and its never been anything short of excellent. The portion sizes on food and drinks are huge. The place is small and cozy. Prices are fair. Service is great. The food is amazing every time. Definitely a hidden gem

Dinner was good, but slightly too noisy. I had the chicken marsala which was very tasty with a nice salad and wine. The glass of wine was generous, something you don’t see too often. My boyfriend had chicken vesuvio which he enjoyed too. I would visit again, because there is a nice selection, but hopefully iwe will get a quieter table.

I give this cozy 5 stars because we had great food. The calamari were very delicious and tender. Best I ever had in along time. I order linguini di mare boy it had huge shrimp, calamari, clams, mussels, in a light tomato sauce. My cappuccino was delicious with a dash of cinnamon and a cookie.

For purposes of transparency, I’ll note that my son was a former employee of La Dolce Vita and was left off the schedule for reasons unknown. «Joe» the manager apparently not having the guts to confront a sixteen year-​old kid.
Due to this situation, we decided to never give the restaurant any more of our cash. The problem was that we lived only a few blocks away and their food was actually pretty good. So after a few months we found ourselves stopping in again as a convenience.
La Dolce Vita’s kitchen was always very accommodating. Their chefs could actually make any dish with little or no garlic on request. Yes, as amazing as it might seem to those of you who love garlic, a dish can actually be made without the use of toxic plants and still be well presented, appealing and flavorful.
We recently stopped in on a busy Friday night at about 9PM. The hostess, who was obviously overwhelmed, scribbled our name down on a pad of paper. I say scribbled because her pad had no ordered list of customers. She was literally scribbling names on the pad, apparently thinking she would remember the order.
My wife took the only seat available at the bar and I stood. We got a couple of drinks after waiting 15 minutes for a bartender and then an additional half hour before checking with the hostess. «You’re three down on the list» she said. After about 25 minutes more I checked back. Now responding with a more vacant, «I don’t want to be here» look, she said «ah, you’re fifth in line». Right. «How is it that possible when 25 minutes ago I was third in line?» She said «I had to seat other people» and walked away.
I’d now been standing at the bar for an hour and 10 minutes and we’d had only one drink. La Dolce Vita is a relatively small restaurant with seating for about 45 people and room at the bar for maybe 15 more. There were two bartenders and yet no one had the time to ask if we needed another drink. The hostess never checked on us or updated her progress.
When I went to check on the reservation, my wife opted to go to the washroom. Prior to that we noticed a couple who’d come in about ten minutes before standing behind us. As I walked back to the bar, the couple that had been sitting next to my wife got up and the other couple grabbed the two chairs. It was obvious to anyone in the immediate area that I’d been waiting for a chair and that we hadn’t left. Any reasonably mannered person would have asked my permission first. Needless to say, they rudely pushed their way in. Not wanting to be a prick, I let it go. THAT was a mistake.
When my wife got back, she saw the new couple at the bar. I think her reaction was «what the hell is this?!» Then she asked about the table.
After working a full week at a tough job, you don’t keep my wife waiting, without food and one martini on her stomach for more than an hour. She tends to get verbal. A cute, demure, normally soft spoken blonde that turns into a WWF fighter when denied food by vacuous, slow-​motion moron posing as a food service professional.
My wife made it abundantly clear that she was not at all happy with the situation. The people around us took notice. The bartender finally came over to see what the problem was. She explained that we were now over an hour and twenty minutes wait time. That the halfwit hostess had completely forgotten about us. That there were now several empty tables on the other side of the bar wall. That we were offered no drinks. That entitled, suburbanite AH’s had taken the seats we’d been waiting on.
The bartender said that the hostess had a history of bad service. That she was in fact an idiot and that she «does this all the time». He apologized and said that he’d get us a table right away. He offered to buy us a free drink.
In full support of my wife and realizing that I’d neglected to take up the mantle of the infuriated consumer, I said «no, I appreciate the offer but we’re out of here». I said that we’d been regulars for most of the past two years and that we’d never be back. I said that they’d completely ignored us and that they should honestly get rid of the idiot at the door — «she’s running your business.» He apologized again and comped our first round. Not wanting any favors, I left $ 10 on the bar anyway.
On our way out the idiot said, «I have your table for you.» We both said, «forget it — too little too late — you majorly screwed up» and walked out. Believe it or not she actually walked out after us yelling that she hadn’t done anything and that we were the ones in the wrong. We simultaneously told her what we thought of her as she yelled back at us «F-​U… DON’T COME BACK».
In one sense she was right, she did NOTHING. La Dolce Vita has hard working, talented chefs, unbelievably lousy management and an idiot at the door. My suggestion is to buy a monkey and give him a note pad. He’d keep the customers amused and would certainly be an improvement over your current hostess.

Quaint, romantic setting, serving outstanding rustic Italian food.
Joe is a great host and Debbie is one of my all time favorite bartenders, making great drinks and lively conversation.
Plus, they have a really good wine list with prices well below what you’d expect to pay at a restaurant!

Our party of 9 got together Sunday for my sister-​in law’s birthday and the restaurant was rocking and not cramped because I’ve heard they reorganized the seating. Three of us showed up first and they seated us immediately which I’m happy since Jameson’s Charhouse refuses to seat you till all your party arrives regardless if you have seniors using walkers etc. But this is La Dolce and they were taking care of us. Danni is our server and she was great & very helpful. We ordered an Italian Chardonnay to start as the rest of our party arrived. We ordered stuffed mushrooms & calamari apps which were tasty.
We ordered the Tortellini stuffed w veal & proscuittto, Linguini w clams in red sauce, Veal Parm, stuffed Eggplant, Chicken Vesuvio, Chick Portobello, and Chick Griglia and everyone was happy and we took our leftovers home. The salad was good & chilled and the bread was nice w a little salt was on the crust. They ran out of the cream of asparagus soup which I was eyeballing so I can’t say anything on that. We had 2 more bottles of Chianti w dinner and it just topped off a great meal. Joe the owner came around and I expressed how happy we were and he is a nice man. The tortellini came in a nice cream sauce, the grilled veg that came w the chick Griglia were sweet. Oh, and the Pink Passion Martini was delish I am told.

Best Italian food I’ve had in a long time. The burrata was so good. I think I will dream about that dish. I travel to this area frequently and I will be back!!! Service was a bit slow, but the food is worth it. If slow service bothers you, then this is not your place. Sit back, have some wine and enjoy!!!

Old school Italian done right. We had a party of 8 on our first visit last night and everyone seemed pleased. The place is on smaller size, and it was crowded, loud and bustling– but in a good way! We did not order appetizers. Great bread and I must say I like when a restaurant says they’ve run out of a special– in this case one of the soups– you do get house salad served family style with entrees. My Vesuvio was yummy but missing peas. My friends filet was De-​lish and cut like butter. Portions good but not disgustingly large. Service good– all our entrees came out at same time with out mistakes. Lemon ice and cappuccino very tasty. Drink specials and I’m told decent wine selection.
I really enjoyed everything here– is not a hipster haven but worth the drive. If you can take Archer Road to Main Street into town– you will feel like you’re on a road trip

The décor is inviting and the service is outstanding; however, the main feature (i.e., the food) is bland. At times, my wife and I thought things were being seasoned for the senior crowd. I ordered the special of spinach and scallops. The spinach, unfortunately, was the star of the dish. The sauce was tasteless and pasta not quite al dente. The scallops were small and overcooked. Frankly, this was just not worth the $ 25 price tag.
My wife ordered the risotto bolognese. Simply, it just wasn’t very good. The rice was undercooked and the dish was clumpy. The sauce was overly sweet and salty — I assume to mask the «blah-​ness» of the mushrooms. It was very disappointing; however that being said, I have no doubt that the server would have tried to correct it if we had voiced our displeasure.
The wine was outstanding for the price (2012 Primitivo Tormaresca) and if we ever go back, we will definitely order the mussels in red sauce again. They tasted very fresh; however, there were two that weren’t opened all the way.
We may go back. The menu has some interesting dishes listed, but we won’t hurry back to drop $ 100 on a dinner that was simply «meh, not worth it.»

All I can say is three words… pork chop milanese. Delicious and served ONLY every other Wednesday. The portion is huge. I always love their house salad and warm bread.
I also enjoy Debbie’s cocktails, the bartender there on Wed’s. There is always a cocktail special. Her fresh pineapple martini… yummmmm.
Seating is tight and crowd can be sometimes loud but never a deterrent to come and enjoy their food.

We landed here for a couples dinner on a Saturday Night. I had never been but the couple we were with loved the place.
It was very quaint and small. Small in that the Maximum occupancy sign says 65 people. The tables feel incredibly close and it can get very loud in here. If you are looking for a quiet, romantic dinner, this is definitely not the place.
The food, however, is something that would bring me back. Every meal comes with the house salad and meats come with a pasta side. I, personally, was not a fan of the house salad because of the dressing. I thought it was too vinegarry but my boyfriend loved it. The meals were absolutely phenomenal! I went with the chicken Parmesan. It was two huge breasts of lightly breaded chicken in a light bed of tomato sauce. They were perfectly moist and delicious.
On the side, I got mostacolli with their vodka sauce. The vodka sauce was absolutely phenomenal.
The service was a little bit slow; however, they were fairly busy on a Saturday night.
TIP: Parking can be difficult behind the building since Pollyanna’s went in. Do not be fooled by the parking immediately in front of Pollyanna’s. Most of it is 15 minute customer parking.

Food: Solid. Service: Slow.
Out to dinner with the family!
The restaurant itself is pretty small and tight, the kitchen is also really tiny! It is well decorated and the ambiance was nice.
We ordered the polenta and lobster arancini appetizers. The polenta was huge and in my opinion just okay, but my parents love it. I particularly enjoyed the lobster arancini balls, pretty small portion and high price but they exceeded expectations. My mother got a soup, I don’t remember which one, minestrone maybe, and said it was just fair.
They give the entire table a large bowl of house salad because most of the entrees come with one. I really liked this approach to serving salad, and the salad itself was also pretty tasty.
For our entrees my brother had the cavatelli vodka which were very tasty, cooked to pillow-​y perfection with a nice creamy vodka sauce. My parents split a chicken dish that was on special which was in like a basil wine sauce which they said was pretty good. My dinner was the veal piccata (or picante, maybe?) which I thought was also pretty good. The sauce was a really tangy wine sauce that had some bite to it, but was really soupy, still not half bad!
The service was very slow. My family does like to take our time ordering and eating, but this was even slow by our standards. We sat down around 6:30 and did not leave until about 8:30. I was getting very impatient and concluded that the place is pretty understaffed in terms of servers and maybe even cooks. Our waitress was nice and pretty accommodating but was really busy and almost overwhelmed with other tables. She did bring everything we needed, although we had to ask for more bread about 3 times before receiving it.
In summary, the food was pretty good for a suburban Italian restaurant. The location was also really good and the price/​quality was definitely there or really close. Nobody left hungry and nobody thought anything was bad. I just think the service could be faster and potentially more attentive.
We had a fun time and the food was good, overall experience was a ³⁄₅.

The house salad was fresh, especially noting the black olives and house dressing. Many other reviews include complaints about the noise and tight space but neither bothered us. The noise level fluctuated and was not distracting. We leaned close to talk and that was that. The wait staff flowed from table to table like a scene from the Matrix, twisting their shoulders and moving around from patron to patron. You can tell that they are use to the space. Now to the main course, Rigatoni Alla Anthony (made without chicken stock) for me and Ravioli with meat sauce for him… kudos to Flo our very attentive waitress. In a word… Freak-​N-​DELICIOUS! Tender pasta, properly cooked veggies, plenty to share or for leftovers (I smashed so none left), and everything was FRESH. He said, the meat was a good texture, not lumpy. He had none left either, ha ha ha. No room for dessert this time… yep, already planning the 30 minute drive back. A warm and friendly environment and not so overwhelming on a Friday night… YUM! Not affiliated with the one in Frankfort. This location had the original chef… again, YUM!