Vita — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Disappointed. Behind That Red Door

I guess I can start at the beginning which was in June, when we made these reservations for dinner in July. (table of 4) Afterall, this is a very "special" place. (NOT) You need to make reservations one month in advance. Starting with the bar. It's obvious the bartenders are too busy making "pretty" drinks instead of good drinks. We ordered dirty martinis, they were served in what looked like an Aperitif glass, they were clear and not dirty, with no taste at all. $15+ each. We asked to have them made dirtier and they came back the same way. We watched as each bartender meticulously measured each pour of liquor into all of the drinks they were making. We think the drinks were watered down, because we couldn't even taste the vodka. Tasteless. Served without a cocktail napkin. Strike 1. Dinner. We sat in the front dining room which was unusually bright for such a "special" place. My friend asked if the lights could be turned down, and after someone said they had to ask, they were eventually turned down, I believe it was the owner who did that. When we sat down we asked our server to please take our unfinished drinks away because we did not like them. (We paid for all drinks at the bar). We all ordered wine, and placed an order for appetizers to start. 1 order of Arancini, Stracciatella, and Meatballs. The Arancini was room temp, the meatballs were dry and room temp. The Stracciatella, looked like a dish of a freshly mowed lawn with leaves thrown on top. The cheese was under the greens with peas, and no hint of a dressing, not even a drizzle. We did not finish any of them. Strike 2. For dinner we ordered 2 Vodka Rigatoni, 1 Cacia e Pepe, and sides of Broccolini, Asparagus and Zucchini Chips, along with bread. The food was brought out and placed on the very small table where we were seated. The dishes were cool to the touch and the actual food was room temperature. We all took some of the main dishes and put some food in our own plate to taste. Aside from being served room temperature food, it was all bland, no taste, they even served us burnt bread. It was awful, and we were so very hungry. Needless to say we did not eat the food, we asked them to take it all back. We expressed our extreme disappointment, and that we were very upset, after all we waited and looked forward to having dinner there for a month now. Then we were presented with the check. In the amount of $250.00, in full, no courtesy of a discount. One of my friends asked if they can do anything about the amount of check since we did not eat the food, (we tasted the food). We were then approached by a person (who I believer to be the owner) who spoke to us and we described our experience from when we arrived there. He apologized, and said he could not comp an entire meal, after it was all eaten. Well....when he said that I think all of our mouths dropped open. Firstly, we did not expect that type of comment, let alone a full comp on the entire check. Secondly, the food was tasted, not fully eaten. We explained we were not looking for a free meal. We were there to have a good meal with all expectations of paying for it, isn't that what most people do when they make dinner reserves? What a complete insult. We understand you are a new business, we get it. We know you need to make money. The bill was adjusted, and he hopes we will come back, I told him "that's not going to happen" Strike 3 FYI - as we advised the owner of this establishment - we didn't come here because of all the "hype" on social media. We didn't choose to go there to take a picture of the "red door". We didn't choose to go there to "take pictures of the food" and selfies to show everybody where we were. We wanted a good meal. We walked in hungry and walked out starving and aggravated. All I can say to those of you who live on and by social media...is this....DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE. We are definitely sharing this experience with everybody we know. PS. our server was great so this has no...

I wish this restaurant had a separate page for their restaurant and their gelato shop. We had dinner at Vita and I was EXTREMELY underwhelmed. Please do not fall for what you see on social media. We were hoping to have a nice meal, in a dim, moody setting. Somewhere we could come back to, and invite people from out of town. Unfortunately, what we walked into was the complete opposite. For starters, we waited 6 weeks for our reservation because they only open them on the first day of the month, the month before. Immediately, it seemed like all the reservations sold out and we got one of the last ones. Fast forward to the night we went, and there were so many open tables. We were in Center City an hour before dinner and emailed them (couldn’t call because there’s no phone #) to see if we could come have a drink at the bar. They said we could, and when we walked in there were so many open tables, we actually had the option to sit immediately. Ref flag #1. We opted for a drink at the bar and then take our seats. The drinks are below average, which was the second red flag. When we finally got to our seats, we walked into, what seemed like a bright warehouse. So bad, I had asked them to turn down the lights. Red flag #3. Our group ordered a ton of food (meatballs, stracciatella, rice balls, two orders of rigatoni, cacio e Pepe, and other items I can’t remember). Everything was wrong. Meatballs were small, cold and dry, rigatoni was hard (not al dente, hard) and cold, cacio e Pepe barely had sauce and was room temp, and don’t get me started on the rabbit food they put on top of the stracciatella. I’m not sure what that plate was. I wish I had photos, but I’m not one to take photos of my food. The server, who was SO nice knew of everything, and some food was sent back. He kept apologizing, and we ensured him it was certainly not his fault. When we got our bill, we were charged for everything, but barely ate a thing. The arrogant owner came over telling us he couldn’t comp the entire bill and that we clearly ate (there were a few of us and each of us tried something. The food might not have been on its original serving plate, but it was certainly still on all of our dinner plates. It’s not like we’re getting huge servings here). Anyway, that was the last straw. They may know how to make gelato (I wouldn’t know because we never got dessert), but they certainly don’t know how to run a formal...

Excellent gelato, the best I've had in the states. Well priced; I am always satisfied with a small (make sure to get two flavors). The owners are incredibly nice and passionate about what they do, and they make Vita a welcoming, fun experience. A must-go for any Philly dwellers and those visiting.

When "behind the door," expect an interesting, speakeasy-esque entrance and very good food. I took a seat with friends a few days after they first opened the restaurant. We have all been following Vita for some time, and we were excited to finally see what was behind one of the most prominent features of the gelateria: the huge red fridge door. Since the opening was fairly recent, we grounded our expectations as such.

High points were the stracciatella, arancini, pollo al mattone, and triple gelato. We could not stop talking about these dishes, and we were blown away at how flavorful and well-balanced everything was. As expected, the gelato dessert was wonderful and ended the dinner on a high note. It cannot be understated how well the flavors of the gelato worked with each other and stand on their own. Moreover, our meal with four courses came out to be around 60 per person, with alcohol, so it was a fairly good value! I would say they pretty much nailed the food part of our experience.

Low points were service and a bit of the atmosphere. Everyone we talked to was super nice and courteous, but the bussing and times food came out felt a little disorganized. Exchanging plates for incoming food felt awkward, as we sometimes had to push for some of our empty plates to be carried away. The time between our appetizers and first course was fairly small, so the first course got cold with all the food on the table (which was disappointing since we did order carbonara). In terms of atmosphere, the decor and bar was quite nice, but the lighting felt cold and flat. We were also seated in a particularly bright spot towards the back with unflattering lighting.

The low points did not make a huge impact on the food, and I expect the issues mentioned to be ironed out with time. I'm truly excited to see the place grow and define itself in the Philly...