VIVO Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in West Hollywood

Universal Studios is like Barnum & Bailey’s Circus—just loads of fun and laughter meant for everyone of all ages! But after all that roller coasting riding afterwards a definite bite to eat comes to mind. City Walk offers visitors a greater number of eateries, family friendly restaurants and cafes than are within the general park area. The prices are fairly moderate or above average and the selection of Italian fare is very good here. Between the wine list, beers, and cocktails, pairing seems almost slight of hand yet pricier. Some drawbacks were encountered with the ambiance and marbled surface being situated by the bar. Noting having called upon the General Manager [Jonathan] to address this visibly thin film spread all over the marbled surfaces covering its bar seating, it was morbid to the touch. A tacky stickiness that was repellent. He moved me at once over to the other end of the bar, then proceeded to wipe down the marble with another cotton or cloth like tissue with something. Of course it did not improve the surfaced film in the opinion it needed to be dried afterwards with a dry cloth or buffed. This was not well taken. Dispensing the dialogue due to other pressing matters, the Manager was firmly not interested whatsoever with this discussion. The Manager left after redoing the rest of the bar using the same technique that created the film to begin with. To attend unfinished business meeting with the Owner who later came by to discuss the restaurant’s business accounts today, as they spoke behind me while eating. Nonetheless the food here was really quite outstanding. Yet the cooks behind the wood stoves were pretty adamant about openly conversing in common speak about the patrons nearby. With things about them they liked and disliked like a couple of bad-mouthed New Yorkers. Very loutish and abrasive having overheard most every word—and phrase like “No big deal?” Right? … ruining a perfectly decent day with a good time sensing everyone else without a flat out culinary crash course in “low-talking” — chefs. Yuck!! Who let the dogs out Man?? But in any event classy places like this the patrons deserve a bit better than shleppy sloppiness whenever dining. Seriously such a great venue but its poorer attention on details made that dining experience less than superb. If it wasn’t so-so, we’ll perhaps a 5-star would’ve been excellent in the beginning. But between the GM’s fussing over the countertops and the chefs bantering behind the wood stoves—no wonder why they lose business. Good food....

After spending a full day at Universal Studios, it seemed to be most convenient to have dinner there before making a trip back to Orange County. The service was absolutely horrendous. The host at the front of the restaurant just stared at us as if why were we there. He did not greet us, and I overheard him with the people in front of us say that he was new, and he did not know exactly what to do. Once we were seated, we sat for about 10 minutes before anyone showed up to the table to take drink orders. The waitress we had also seemed to be tending the bar adjacent to our table. Once the food was delivered, we never saw the waitress at our table again until we got our check. No one checked on our drinks, no one asked us if the food was okay....nothing. (BTW - the food was actually good, it was the service that ruined this experience). The part that caused me to fume is that we had been finished with our food for about 15 minutes, and no one came by to clear the table. I got the attention of the waitress behind the bar to let her know we were ready. She nodded her head, and then proceeded to fill drink orders for her other tables. She then had someone walk up to the bar, and she spent another 5 minutes with them taking their drink order. Waiting...Waiting...Waiting... She finally came over to the table to thank us for our patience, which by then had run out, and I asked for the bill. I went to ask her where the bathroom was, but she had already turned around and walked away. It was now a joke at this point. I don't think I've ever had that bad of service at a restaurant. I would not recommend this restaurant based...

Vivo Italian Kitchen is a fine dining Italian establishment that serves mains, pastas, salads and pizza. We had a family trip there including locals and out of towners and for the most part we all enjoyed what we ordered.

My wife especially appreciated that they had gluten free pasta available which she thought was good, though the side of broccoli she ordered was a bit over cooked. (You need a little bit of crunch left in your vegetables.)

I had the Margherita Pizza made with fresh mozzarella and “grandma’s sauce” which was described by our waiter as made with more spices than regular marinara. In practice the pizza was good but I didn’t notice anything extra flavorful about the sauce and I’m wondering if our waiter didn’t have the best answer to my question. There was plenty of sauce though, which I always appreciate as many pizza joints get kind of skimpy on their pies, and the pizza was cooked perfectly with a nice, crispy, thin crust and the cheese perfectly cooked (with those little brown spots), not underdone as often happens with pizzas and fresh mozzarella.

I also enjoyed the red blend wine I ordered.

Their bread service was good too. It’s served with an olive oil / sun-dried tomato tapenade, and also with butter – Nice to get both since sometimes you don’t get butter when you want it.

There’s a good, well stocked bar and plenty to choose from on the cocktail...