Vita Bella Italian Kitchen and Market — Restaurant in Frankfort

Vita Bella is one fantastic Italian restaurant. I am having trouble expressing the perfect words in this review to explain how fantastic this place truly is. Also, my mouth is watering as I’m writing this review.

I’m going to start off by saying that the owners of this establishment are some of the kindest and nicest people you’ll ever meet. The first time we dined here, my Fiancée “Hannah” and I just got engaged. We were greeted by one of the owners named Megan. Once we told her we were newly engaged, she was super excited for us, and she gave us some of the best service we ever received in any restaurant ever. She made us feel like family and she made our first night being newly engaged a very memorable one. Shortly after meeting Megan, she introduced us to her husband Ed. These owners truly have created a culinary Italian masterpiece in Michigan!

I absolutely love to cook in my free time, so I have really educated myself on different cuisines, including authentic Italian food. So I am definitely what you would call a food snob. Finding good Italian food in Michigan is super difficult. After dining at Vita Bella restaurant multiple times now, we truly found a hidden gem in northern Michigan. Vita Bella has some of those authentic Italian food I’ve had ever had in Michigan. After learning about true Italian food, I can tell you from tasting many of the items on their menu, they make everything fresh and with the best quality ingredients; they also make their food the authentic way. If you want a real Roman Carbonara, you definitely need to go here. Every Italian restaurant I’ve tried in Michigan does not make carbonara the correct way. Except for Vita Bella ☺️☺️! My test for every Italian restaurant is to see if they know how to make carbonara the correct way ☺️!

Also their, “Penne A La Rico” it’s to die for. They truly made their gorgonzola cream sauce the correct way, and it was absolutely packed full of flavor. I honestly had to prevent myself from licking the plate when I was done eating this dish. This is our favorite dish on the menu so far.

The next item that we have tried is most of their pizzas. Their pizzas are absolutely amazing and made with the best ingredients. We plan on trying every single one on the menu in the very near future. They also have specialty pizzas on special every so often. I have all the pieces I’ve tried so far my favorite is the funghi.

We have also tried many of their amazing appetizers. The ones we have tried are the garlic bread with mozzarella cheese on top. We’ve also tried their toasted ravioli; we’ve also tried there Burrata and Volcano Shrimp.

We still plan on trying many more dishes. Our goal is to try the whole menu.

Also…. almost forgot to mention the amazing tiramisu for dessert. It was perfectly moist with a beautiful espresso, mascarpone cheese and cream flavor, and a hint of dark chocolate. They layered the flavors perfectly. This dish is slightly sweet with a beautiful espresso and chocolate flavor. That’s the correct way to make tiramisu.

Thank you so very much for so many wonderful experiences. My fiancée and I will be moving to Frankfort permanently hopefully in the next couple years. Can’t wait to have this place right in my backyard to enjoy any day of the week.

God Bless, Brandon...

After watching the sunset at the beach I decided to grab some dinner and chose the Lobster Tortelloni. I ordered for takeout and when I walked in the bartender was busy but a sweet girl walking by on her way to deliver food to a table downstairs asked me if I needed to be helped. She made sure I was good and then proceeded to complete her mission. The bartender was kind and efficient getting my order out to me. The service was great for the short time I was inside. The atmosphere seemed bubbly but not too loud…looked like a great place to go with friends and have fun!

The Lobster Tortelloni was very yummy but I was extremely disappointed in the amount of food I received for $30. You are basically paying $5 per tortelloni because you only get 6 of them. I understand that lobster is an expensive ingredient but still…the portion size was sad. I also feel that the brandy parmesan cream sauce was barely there. There was enough of it to get the gist of the flavor but it truly needed more sauce. I tried one in the car so that I could have a better idea of how it tastes fresh but by the time I got to my hotel (12 mins away) it was really dry. The sauce was barely noticeable. When filling to-go orders that involve pasta sauce of any kind restaurants should really add a little extra so it’s not dried out by the time the customer gets home. A lot of places don’t realize this or care…but they should.

So while I will say that the fresh one I ate in the car was very good…the rest that I had at home were a little lackluster. I would never order this again because the value for what you get is just not enough. I did see a lot of yummy sounding pizzas on the menu and that’s probably a better bang for your buck! I would still return but just pick...

I would rate this place somewhere between 3.35 to 3.75 STARS.

PROS: -AWESOME LOCATION (all the shops in Frankfort MI are in a strip and are ALL awesome locations). -First time visiting the city of Frankfort, MI and LOVED IT, their downtown has a ton of shops in a row and along the water so beautiful views. -Free parking in front, great Job city of Frankfort! -After dining I highly recommend driving all the way down to the end of the road until you hit the beach, park and ENJOY, its stunningly beautiful! Restaurant is nice and qwaint, its has good vibes when you walk in. Back of the restaurant faces the water.

CONS: Pricing is OK, a little high but to be expected during COVID times. Server was knowledgeable but not overly polite (kind of felt like the server was a bit in different, very possible I may have asked too many questions and maybe the person had a lot on their mind, but was NOT perfect service by any means and like I always say the food tastes a lot better with great service). (We ordered a lot so that was not the issue here, not really sure the reason for the attitude under the surface). Food was OK, better then a lot of Italian restaurants I have been to but not close to the best. Did not have a stand out dish in my opinion.

Conclusion: I LOVE the city of Frankfort MI, would I go back: Sure, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the server had a lot on their mind (server did have good knowledge). I would recommend trying this place and I think most people would like it and rate them around 4 stars, give it a try and form your...