Dolce Vita Italian Bistro & Restaurant — Restaurant in Aurora

My parents and I visited Dolce Vita Italian Bistro on a Tuesday evening, eager to see what this new spot had to offer. While the experience wasn’t without its bright moments, it’s fair to say the restaurant still feels like a work in progress.

First, a PSA: don’t arrive expecting the comforting ritual of complimentary breadsticks or focaccia. None are offered. If you like to nibble while you wait (as most of us do), you’ll want to order an antipasto or salad to fill that gap.

We sampled three dishes: the Scallops al Limone e Peperoncini from the Chef’s Special Menu, the Lasagna Bolognese, and the Pizza Burrata & Prosciutto.

The Lasagna Bolognese was, hands down, the standout of the evening. Comforting, layered, and full of rich flavor—it is a dish we would not hesitate to order again.

The Scallops al Limone e Peperoncini started promisingly with perfectly al dente fettuccine, but quickly lost its charm. The pasta, scallops, and shrimp arrived swimming in a thin, lemony broth that leaned more toward soup than sauce. It was bright and flavorful, yes, but the watery consistency made it feel unfinished.

The Pizza Burrata & Prosciutto was the real heartbreaker. Advertised as having burrata, prosciutto, arugula, and Parmesan, what arrived at the table looked more like a heavy-handed ham and cheese pizza. A mountain of mozzarella smothered the crust, leaving it soggy, and when paired with the burrata, the effect was simply overkill. The prosciutto, baked into the pizza, became tough and salty, while the promised arugula never made an appearance. Only after asking did we learn the restaurant was out of arugula that night—a detail I would have appreciated knowing before ordering.

And then there was the Parmesan. One expects freshly grated cheese—the snowy flourish of authenticity. Instead, we were handed a plastic to-go container filled with the unmistakable flavor of “straight from the shaker” powdered Parmesan. Not exactly the Dolce Vita.

To their credit, the restaurant is still new, and growing pains are expected. But until the kinks are smoothed out and the attention to detail sharpens, we’ll likely wait before giving Dolce Vita...

Overall, everything was overpriced for bland, inauthentic italian food.

The burrata pizza looked impressive with a huge mound of burrata and a good portion of prosciutto, but the pizza sauce had no seasoning/flavor, the crust was undercooked and the whole thing was soggy. Husband had to eat it with a fork and knife.

My fettucine carbonara had no taste or other sign of any actual egg in the sauce. It was basically unseasoned fettucini alfredo with frozen peas and a good portion of prosciutto mixed in.

Caesar salad was average.

4 year old loved the $9 buttered noodles that came with a kid's drink.

Lava cake with pistachio gelatto was very good.

Tiramisu was ok.

Limoncello cake was ok.

$7 Cappucino looked like it was nescafe powdered mix with steamed milk, and tasted that way. When I ordered it, I was asked what flavor I wanted... huh? I had to choose a flavor, could not get plain. I chose chocolate out of the choices (chocolate, vanilla or caramel), and got a white milk drink with foam on top that reminded me of 711 machine cappucinos. I don't know how they can legally say they have espresso on the menu.

The server was very nice.

I don't think this restaurant will stay open for long, so visit it now if you want to try it.

Edit after reading the owner's response:

Defamation is the act of damaging someone's reputation through false statements. It includes both libel (written) and slander (spoken). To be considered defamation, the statement must be false, communicated to a third party, and cause harm to the plaintiff's reputation. The statement must be submitted as a fact, and not an opinion.

Reviews are for stating opinions. The above is mine. Don't threaten me with legal recourse for giving you a negative review for refusing to use salt or herbs or real espresso and for stating that I don't believe your business will last if you continue to serve mediocre food.

Have...

Overall, it's okay. I would keep coming for the tiramisu and lasagna bolognese, but stay away from more difficult things like pork and fish and the "school cafeteria"-style fettucine

Starting with the positives, the tiramisu and lasagna bolognese are great! Enough to bump this up from 1 star to 2 or maybe even 2.5 stars. The pasta was also always cooked through but not mushy, so that was good! The meatballs were also okay. The prices are somewhat average to above average, so that's not bad either.

But moving on to the negatives, I got the "molten lava cake", but it was simply a failed lava cake that was very thick and tough to finish from how rich those thick layers were. The fettucine pasta feels like what we would get in school cafeterias. I'm not saying pasta should always be hand-made, but maybe something better than that too-thick, almost plastic-like pasta that takes us back to days of eating food from school trays. All of the other Italian places I've had fettucine at seem to be able to use nicer quality pasta

And finally, the absolutely terrible part... they can't cook pork and can barely cook salmon. One time, I got the Marsala Pork Medallions "chef's special" and the pork medallions were SO overcooked. I could barely eat half of one and I ended up throwing the rest away. It was incredibly dry and overcooked, and I just couldn't push through finishing the rest of it. That's saying a lot because I usually finish everything even if it's just okay. Another time, I got the fettucine alfredo and added a salmon to it. The thinner part of the salmon was overcooked while the rest of it was luckily still barely edible. Normally, you can press against the salmon and it just flakes apart. But I had to cut this salmon with a knife because it was cooked for too long. Barely edible salmon still isn't...