Jimmy V's Osteria & Bar — Restaurant in Raleigh

A friend and I went to dinner at Jimmy V's last night before a show at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. When we walked in the entrance off of Fayetteville Street, we weren't sure where the hostess desk was - there were a lot of people standing around the bar area, and after weaving through some people we found the hostess and she took us to our table. The people who were standing around the bar area were there just for the bar, and there were enough people that they had to gather around the entrance, which meant there were people standing around/near our table for some of the meal. It's a little annoying, but it wasn't the end of the world.

I ordered a Dark & Stormier, which was a great drink and very spicy and gingery. The service was a little slow - it took about 10-15 minutes for us to get bread, but it was freshly baked and right out of the oven. After putting in our orders, it took a good bit of time, I'd say maybe 20-25 minutes for our entrees to come out. That's not a crazy long wait, but they didn't seem incredibly busy. Our waitress came by at one point and apologized for the wait, that they were just finishing cooking up a big party and ours was right after that.

For food, I ordered the gnocchi and my friend ordered the seafood risotto. Both were pretty fantastic! The gnocchi was very buttery and crispy on the outside, and pillowy and soft on the inside. It was served with some mushrooms and a pesto sauce, with some shaved parmesan. It was very good, but the pesto overpowered the gnocchi a little and there was a lot left on my plate at the end. The seafood risotto was very well-seasoned and came with some huge shrimp and scallops. Again, it was cooked very well - the scallops were crispy and seared on the outside but not overcooked.

The actual space is very open and has high ceilings, which makes it a little difficult to talk/hear if you're having a conversation. But I'm a loud person so I didn't have that hard of a time.

I'm definitely going back to Jimmy V's for dinner, and really want to try some of the less expensive lunches (they post $10 lunch specials on their Facebook page that...

My experience was so/so. I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant. Classy yet comfortable. & Very spacious. They did however have a low A (94), but the place looked clean. The menu was over priced to say the least. I was also a little disappointed that the menu was just a printed sheet of paper that someone made copies of from their computer. There wasn't a wide variety of choices entree wise either. It was one of those, whatcha see is whatcha get type of places. I'm suspecting that they are so raved about in the Raleigh area because of it's well known influence for NCSU deceased coach Jimmy V. Hence the name on the building. They also donate a percentage of their profit to a foundation charity made in his honor, so thats nice too. Service was ok, our server Rick was accommodating & polite as well. I ordered the Spaghetti & meatballs for $18, which is definitely a reach because pasta should never go over $15 in my opinion. I have to say, I was not pleased. Meatballs we're good but the sauce was bland & soupy like. Lacked spice & seasoning. Literally tasted like Campbell's tomato soup. My Company ordered pizza & calamari. They LOVED the pizza, weren't huge fans of the squid. I had a cocktail, 'Sugar spice berry berry nice mule' to be exact. Not much liquor in it, ginger beer was flat. No fruits or garnish. My in laws ordered Mai Tais, a very easy, typical fruit drink served everywhere... It was missing fruit, grendine, & tasted like a screwdriver. So maybe the bartender needs some training or a cheat sheet behind the bar. That pretty much wraps up my experience at this establishment, I give it a C+. Won't be returning but not completely regretting giving it a try. If you found this helpful...

We decided to stop here for an early dinner because we saw the menu outside with a gluten free pizza option that looked delicious. We sat out on the patio with our dog and each had a beer. The patio is completely covered and had a nice breeze coming from inside the restaurant, which helped on this really hot day.

I ordered an Omission beer, which is gluten reduced. I was happy to see that they had a few gluten free/gluten reduced options for me to choose from.

The pizza we so fell in love with and wanted to try (Funky Pizza) was apparently not available for another 30 minutes until their dinner hour started. So instead we ordered the Three Cheese White pizza and added mushrooms.

However, when it came out the crust looked much too fluffy to be gluten free (the first pizza picture). The server had disappeared, so I had to go back in to find her. When I asked her if the pizza was actually gluten free, even though it was labeled as "V" & "GF" she told me it wasn't unless I specifically asked. She was quick to get another pizza ordered for us that was actually gluten free (the second pizza pictured).

But as someone who's been in the service industry for over 20 years, if I see someone order a drink that's specifically gluten free, I always inquire as to whether their meal needs to be as well. Apparently, that's not common practice here and you have to be extra clear and specify everything. A little disappointing for 2 people who've been in the industry for so long because it should just be common sense.

Either way, the pizza itself was really good and the atmosphere was nice. We'll probably go back again in the future. But now we know that we have to clarify everything before...