La Dolce Vita Pizzeria — Restaurant in Sanford

We came in to celebrate the birthday of a friend on a Thursday evening. The restaurant was mostly empty (3 small tables were seated, and the one large group table was seated). We asked to get a table so we could decorate for our friend - denied. Not until your entire party is present. 4 of our 5 attendees were present - meaning we would be at the same size table regardless. Our friend hosting the party offered a $50 nonrefundable deposit, in case we didn't spend at least $50, if we could get the table and decorate - denied. Ok, seems odd when your restaurant is nearly empty to decline guaranteed business. Queue next issue: ladies ordered a bottle of wine at the bar. The bottle is opened, a glass is poured, but the wine is corked (gone bad). When we informed the young man who was (managing?) in charge that night, he initially refused to take the bottle back and stated that - "the wine starts aging once you open it." No, sir - the wine starts to oxidize once it's opened! It's already aged.... he then proceeded to pour himself some of the wine from our bottle, taste it, and then tell us: "I assure you there is nothing wrong with this wine." hmmmmmm odd way to handle that situation, but ok. One of the ladies in our party asked if they had the same bottle already open behind the bar to serve for by-the-glass sales - yes! Let's compare them... TOTALLY different taste, and the young man had no choice but to concede that our bottle was indeed BAD. We asked yet again about being seated so we could decorate - denied. Our friend hosting the party at this point said - "I'd gladly pay for steaks at [enter name of local steak restaurant nearby] just to not spend any more money here!" I told her to call the other restaurant - which was more than happy to seat us immediately and allow us to decorate (without offering a table deposit!) So we paid for our bottle of mediocre wine and took our business elsewhere. We ended up having a great meal, and a great time, with several rounds of drinks... and spent nearly $500 at a competitor location. Our waitress also made a $100 tip that night. In addition to missing out on having that money spent at La Dolce Vita, none of us will be wasting our time or money in this restaurant again because of the rudeness and ridiculous seating rules. Additionally, we have told, and will continue to tell, everyone who will listen. Arrivederci,...

*Updated review: It’s been about a year since I last visited until last night. I came with a friend and we sat at the bar. I ordered the Alfredo with chicken, carrots, and pea pasta and it was just so, so bad. The bowtie pasta was so overcooked that it was falling apart. The sauce itself had no flavor and the chicken was reminiscent of chunks you would find in a can of cream of chicken soup. It was more like a flavorless deconstructed chicken pot pie thrown atop waaay overcooked pasta.

Our server was nice but when she brought the check, she included two copies of the receipt where you can add the tip. I found that odd since I hadn’t paid yet, and usually that’s what you get after paying. So I filled it out with the tip and then gave her my card. But she didn’t run the card to include the tip, so I’m not sure what that was about.

They have way too many staff working for a place that does not warrant it, considering there were only a few tables on a Thursday night.

The focaccia was good and the pizza my friend ordered looked good as well. Despite this, I likely won’t be back.

Today was my second experience dining at La Dolce Vita. The first time, I visited with my husband a little over a month ago, and everything was wonderful. Our server, Adrienne(?) was very friendly and the food was fantastic. Prices are a little on the high side but the quality generally warrants it. The atmosphere is very unique, considering the building used to be a post office.

Today however, my experience was not as great. I came alone and sat at the bar, ready to enjoy the slice & soda lunch special. Three servers were working, and by the end of it, all three had attended to me in some form or fashion. No biggie, but it’s worth mentioning that the staff is very young - likely still in high school. With that, of course, comes a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to customer service. One of the servers could not get it straight whether the lunch special came with one or two slices (turns out it’s two) and generally seemed to need a refresher on the menu. Overall my dining experience was a bit awkward and underwhelming.

Again, not a big deal but I would highly recommend to management that additional, more experienced staff be hired and/or additional training be administered to the existing staff. Looking forward to coming...

Updating this now. Hours after my experience.

I have dined at La Dolce Vita for years now and today I received the worst service. It's such a disgrace that the good food was tarnished by such a rude waitress...Again, great food! I am always a huge fan of what I order.

First, the waitress did not know the menu and responded with a deep attitude anytime a questioned was asked. For example, our table asked if jalapeños could be added to a sandwich, and the response was "no" which we thought was strange but was later resolved. Should we have been treated with an attitude over asking if a topping could be added? We dismissed it as "she's new" and practiced extra patience. No one was mean, no foul language or even attitude. Later, one member of our party received their order late (most of the group was nearly finished when their food came out) and the waitress rolled her eyes when it was addressed that the order was brought out late and wrong. By that point the extra toppings weren't wanted, we simply did not want to be charged for toppings that were not received.The food was not ate, but was a sandwich packed in a to go box (refer to cameras if it's an option, she shows the sandwich to the manager in the box). This was not a matter of complaining to receive free food, we were more than willing to pay for the incorrectly made sandwich. (Payment was out in the open. Refer to the cameras for this too if that is an option.) All that was wanted was at least the right charges on the receipt for the food that was received, since it did not come out on time. After checking the menu, it was also come to the conclusion that not only did the sandwich lack its added topping, but was also missing toppings that the sandwich is initially supposed to have on it already (mushroom). I could leave her name but I won’t. Management did handle it well though and we were grateful to have his assistance. Surprising that management, who has stellar waitresses chose someone with such capacity for mistreatment. In our experience the Manager and Host who assisted us at gelato were both great.

If Management or Owners read this and would like to speak to me about my experience, I would be more than glad to offer input on my end.

Typically our group tips on top of the fee for a party-size (20%) BUT we did...