Le Virtù — Restaurant in Philadelphia

We had a pretty great meal here. Just a few things that were kind of “off.” We had been seated inside due to limited seating outdoors, which was fine since we were walk-ins. However, inside lighting is super dim, I had to lean towards the doorway to see the menu. Not a big deal.

As we were looking over the menu I overheard another table complain about the service being slow and the meal being disappointing from start to finish. I felt bad for the waitress because my fiancé and I have both worked in the dining industry before so we get it, off days happen.

We had ordered the sausage (very good, might have been raw inside but couldn’t tell because of it being dark) and the duck ragu pasta (also very good, a little under seasoned but to each their own). I like how they make all their pasta in house.

We also orders the bread service that included sour dough and focaccia (bread used to be included but as people kept asking for more they decided to charge for it, makes sense). We received the sour dough which was a bit burnt on the crust and cold as it had been sitting out in a chest of some sort in the dining room just open to air. I had asked if it could be heated up, the waitress said they don’t do that here since it’s made in the mornings and served all day. We did receive olive oil with the bread but it was pretty bland so we just dipped the bread in the entree sauces.

We ended up finishing our meal still waiting for the focaccia to come and never did. So we asked the bus girl (very loud at cleaning up the plates by the way) who gave us the sour dough if we were still going to get our focaccia. She looked confused and said that they don’t have anymore and that we can have another helping of regular bread instead.

The waitress quickly came over and clarified that they are out of focaccia. She did not offer to take it off our bill so we had to ask to which she took off the entire bread service. Not only did she not tell us that there was no focaccia but was going to charge us for it, claiming that the sour dough was excellent enough even though it was cold and burnt.

Overall the meal was good, but it was definitely an interesting experience. We still tipped her well because we did feel that she may have been having an off day and we didn’t want to make it...

I made a reservation for le virtu for my wife and I for last night and had a disappointing experience. On the reservation I stated that it was our 1 year wedding anniversary and checked the box that resy provided. When we arrived we changed our seating choice from indoors to outdoors because of the lovely weather. Once seated it took us half an hour for our drinks to arrive (a bottle of wine). We ordered entrees and I was informed that the item I wanted was no longer available (not a big issue). Our server told us that they would bring us complimentary bread, but it never came. We waited while all the other tables were served bread around us. Our appetizer was underwhelming. Our entrees were fine. We ordered tiramisu and espresso martinis for dessert, but by the time our drinks came out we had already finished our food. All in all this took about 2 hours and we left feeling neglected by the staff.

As someone who has worked in the food and beverage industry for 10+ years I understand that there are busy nights and sometimes things fall through the cracks. It seemed like there was only one server scheduled that night, but it still wasn’t very busy. No one mentioned our anniversary, service took way too long, and we never got the bread like everyone else in...

Homey Italian restaurant with lots of natural sunlight and a garden dining area. Le Virtù highlights regional specialties from the Abruzzo region, including imported cured meats and cheeses, wines, and dishes you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere such as scrippelle and parrozzo, both of which I recommend.

The flavors lean traditional and old-fashioned, which is a good thing as we get to learn about local cultures. Le Virtù relies on comfort and rusticity rather than the bold explosive flavors favored by modern cuisines.

The scrippelle is a slow-cooked tomato-less ragu blanketed by soft crepe that is baked and then served with broth. The edges brown like the crispy part of a lasagna. It’s a comfort food that does not feel heavy.

The parrozzo is a chocolate-covered orange semolina cake with the added kick of saffron. It’s traditionally served for Christmas but people eat it year round. People don’t want to wait a year to have this treat!

My only feedback is to let customers try a sip of the wine before they commit to a full glass. Wine preferences are so personal. The Montepulciano was wonderfully dark and smoky, but the Orvieto was a glass I’d have declined if I got to try a sip first. It’s a small nitpick as the staff were wonderfully attentive and...