La Dolce Vita — Restaurant in Cleveland

Located in the Little Italy neighborhood in Cleveland, this establishment served pasta that offered great flavor and an abundant amount of meat. My partner and I were very satisfied with the food quality, and my rating of 4 would mostly be referring to a few other factors outside food quality, which by itself would be closer to 4.5 in my opinion.

First, I have to say that the scallops were amazing, as they had flavorful crust on the outside and were very easy to cut to get to the soft texture on the inside, and still remained flavorful. It wouldn't be exaggeration for me to say that those scallops might have been some of the best I have ever had. Along with veggies and polenta, the entire special dish was a very good experience. Then the other special dish, lobster linguini, had a good amount of lobster, to the point that at certain times, it felt like the pasta wasn't the main star, which I was fine with. The sauce had a lot of flavor, but because it was a bit liquidy, it didn't really mesh with the pasta, and I think that was its only area of improvement. The cacio e pepe was different from what I have had before, as it used farfelle. For that dish, I wasn't sure if it had Parmigiano reggiano cheese, as I could only taste pecorino romano cheese, and it didn't contain a lot of liquid texture. The cheese was there, and they definitely didn't overcook the dish to the point of cheese becoming strings, but the texture still felt a bit like just pasta with cheese, rather than specifically cacio e pepe, if that makes sense.

We ordered the spumoni bomba for dessert, which was a pretty classic Italian gelato dessert, and it tasted as good as we had expected. The amount of chocolate, and how it posed a textural juxtaposition with the gelato, made it a very pleasurable experience.

My feedback about the special dishes is not about the food but about price transparency. When our server introduced the special dishes, we were not told about their prices, so knowing what the prices looked like on the regular menu, we assumed the special dishes would have similar price ranges, if not a bit more, but not to the point of costing $50 (scallops polenta) and $45 (lobster linguini), and as much as I knew that if we had asked, we would be given the price, I don't think I would be the only one relying on my assumption, and maybe letting other customers know about the prices, especially because of how drastically different they were from the dishes on the menu, would be nice.

So overall, special dishes were fire, the cacio e pepe had some room of improvement, the spumoni bomba was fire, and I would definitely recommend people visiting this restaurant if they visit Cleveland, and specifically Little Italy. My partner and I also talked about coming back here in the future, and I look forward to trying more of their...

Tonight's trip to little Italy was outstanding!! We chose LA Dolce Vita, and if I could say we were impressed, that would be an understatement.

Our server was Oliver, he knew the menu extensively and gave fantastic recommendations. He was extremely polite yet felt like a long-time friend at the same time. He took the time to explain some menu choices, and boy, was he right! It was a busy night, and he was spot on, definitely a great asset to the restaurant.

We decided on the molto meatballs for an appetizer, super flavorful. The veal really shines though and was seasoned perfectly! Our server reccomend the fettuccine Fellini with pancetta for my fiance, and I chose the Abruzze.

WOW!!!!

My fiance absolutely loved her dish, The fettuccine was so tender, perfectly cooked, and the flavor of the pasta was delicious. The perfect balance of creamy tomatoe sauce and the pancetta really brought through the savory salty notes.

My Abruzze was a thief, lol. I would say it stole the show. The veal and ground beef were definitely quality and the absolute perfect ratio. The blend of herbs and seasonings couldn't be better. Normally, i would add salt and pepper to any dish, I would smack myself if I even thought of adding anything. (Ok... so maybe some red pepper flakes, but I love anything and everything spicy)

Dessert is normally not something we go for, but the tiramisu was some, if not the absolute best I have ever had. The owner, Terry, stopped by and introduced himself and offered us a sample of the Cacio e pepe. It was delicious, and I would highly recommend it for any creamy Alfredo type sauce lovers.

Terry is a great guy, loves his customers, and makes sure the Italian family ways are shared with everyone. We are from the Youngstown area, we found out he was old friends with my fiancé's poppa and spoke great things about him. The good guys always stick together, and the bad guys...well their just on their own. I love that motto, sir.

Lastly, maybe should be firstly, hats off to the chefs and kitchen staff. You guys knocked it out of the park, and we owe you a round from the bar next time we're in. We look forward to another visit very soon, and we will be bringing some friends and family as well. This place is way too good not to share.

For all those who wonder. Stop in and give "the sweet life" a try. You won't be...

Just moved here to Cleveland 5 months ago from San Diego, CA. Was super excited to experience the Little Italy Feast for the first time. I went with my 76 year old mother, and my two young songs. Age 5 and 12 months. We had the worst encounter with I believe was the owner. Mind you there were tons and tons of people in the street, being that I had 2 young children and an older woman, we were trying to find some seating. We see a small available table at La Dolce Vita so I claim it, have my 5 year old sit down. There is a larger party just to the let of us who is leaving, so we stand to take their table. Mind you the table fit about 6-8 people proper, there were about 12-15 chairs at this table. So naturally my mother and I start moving the chairs to gain access to the table. Then moments later this man start yelling at us "NO NO NO YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!". Very rude, very disrespectful. I calmly told him we are just trying to make room and that there are way too may chairs for this area to begin with. He continues to ignore what I am trying to explain. I by no way was trying to block the entrance, (the seating was outside in the patio area) if anything I was trying to help CLEAR THE WALK WAY, because again, there were way too many chairs to begin with. I've worked as a hostess, I know the front needs to be clear. At this time however, there was no hostess assigning seats, it was first come first serve. He continued to yell close to my face, rude, absurdly angry for the situation, not trying to be accommodating or just decent mannered. We were just trying to sit down and enjoy some food and people watch! I have never experienced a man, let alone a business owner, treat me or witness to such rude inappropriate behavior. Two women and two children, UNBELIEVABLE!!! I will never eat or support this business and I will be telling all my new Cleveland friends and collogues about my horrible experience. I work for people who are staples in the Little Italy community and I will make sure this is brought to...