Vinotta Restaurant — Restaurant in Waltham

If I could give this restaurant a 2.5 stars I would.

Pros:

Food was very good and it came out relatively quickly, which sometimes can be a challenge with Italian food. Drinks were also good. Server was friendly and personable.

Cons: Hostess at the hostess stand when you first walk in was incredibly unfriendly. She did not create a welcoming feel or vibe at all. (Server was much better!) For the portions, food was waaay overpriced. I was with a group of people and we were celebrating a birthday. We ordered several appetizers. I only ate the grilled octopus. I didn't try the others. Octopus was good, but the portion was small. Two, smallish pieces. For my entrée, I had the seabass. It was the smallest, skimpiest portion of food I have ever seen in an Italian restaurant. It wasn't the the seabass, but thin slices of it. Shocking! I have never seen seabass served like this before. Usually you get a decent amount/cut of the fish. The vegetables on the plate were spread around the fish and there were literally three small fingerling type potatoes, three very small pieces of cauliflower and three sliced pieces of carrots! Not even a baby carrot, but a sliced, round of the carrot. I still can't get over it. I left hungry and ate something when we got home! Wished I took pictures of the food so I could share them on here. For the prices they are charging and the measly portions of the food, they need to be in the North End OR serve larger portions. It can't be both! Our bill worked out to be about $95 pp and there weren't any crazy heavy drinkers within the group and there were only a few desserts ordered. Décor was just okay. I agree with another review I read, which is nice linens and fresh flowers go a long way!

Needless to say, we won't be going back. Overall, disappointing experience.

*Addendum to my initial review. The owner's response states they were unable to verify that we actually were there based on reservations, but the reservations were made by me, under my name. Unsure why the owner wasn't able to verify this. We were in...

My wife and I had dinner at Vinotta recently and loved it! We had reservations and were seated right away at a high top in the bar area, which was very nice. Our server and other wait staff were very friendly and attentive. For appetizers, we had the Ahi Tuna Crudo and Shrimp Al Cognac. Both were very good, but the shrimp dish was not that special as the name and description led me to believe, but it was still good. My wife had the Frutti de Mare, which she said was delicious but she would have liked it to have more garlic. I had the Carbonara that was extremely delicious with the pasta cooked perfectly! I hadn't had Carbonara in years, and this meal made me wish I had it every day. The Spumoni Bomb for dessert was also a big hit.

I should note that the server for the customers seated at the high top next us was extremely professional in the way he dealt with the female diner at that table as she was a very demanding and high maintenance individual. If I had been that server, I would have thrown in the towel with this high maintenance customer, but the server held his tongue and was tolerant of the female diner's demands even though my wife and I could tell he wished he were waiting on another table with different customers! It was funny and sad at the same time to watch,

Overall, a wonderful dining experience, and we'll be back. I took one star away as we were not able to book a dining table via the online system when I made reservations as it stated online that dining table seating was not available for the time slot I reserved (~ 6pm). However, upon our arrival at the restaurant there were plenty of empty tables as only 3 tables had customers and there were no more than 10 customers in total when we arrived. There was plenty of staff standing around so no excuse if they said it was due to bring short-staffed. Thus, I am unsure why we were not able to reserve a table for dinner?? Make sure to get reservations early in the week to...

We went to La Vinotta as walk-ins on 9/4, patio seating for dinner service. We left the restaurant underwhelmed and disappointed.

The server was great, but was spread too thin across tables and reliant on a kitchen that is simply not equipped to handle the volume of tables the restaurant has set up (sloppy execution on the food reflects this issue, but more to follow on that). We weren't alone thinking this - every diner around us was commenting on the painfully slow pace of service.

The food was mediocre at best, and way overpriced (~$250 bill post-tip). Highlight was the tenderloin, and not because of the steak itself - which was still mooing in the middle and well done in the top/bottom quarter (did the steak go straight from the freezer to the pan?) - but b/c the two bite-sized raviolis and port wine sauce that accompanied it were delicious. The $57 seafood special (they don't mention the price before you order, btw, which is 20% more than the highest-priced menu entrée) was a sloppy mess of gummy scallops/shrimp and overcooked pappardelle (I would guess ten minutes past al dente, maybe forgotten in the pot by the overworked kitchen?). The carpaccio lacked flavor and was plated oddly with a single caper per slice like beady eye-balls. The meatballs were passing but were served swimming in an unseasoned tomato sauce that reminded me of a chef boyardee ravioli sauce that had been left out too long.

We really wanted to love this place, and maybe it was just a bad night in the kitchen with last second staff call-outs, I don't know. But I haven't felt so swindled by a restaurant in a long time. Would strongly encourage exploring other Italian options before breaking the bank at Vinotta (we personally love Giulia in Cambridge and La Campania...