La Dolce Vita

We eat at this place often as we live so close, and we are never disappointed! The atmosphere is great, food is delicious and while experience is wonderful. If you’re looking to have a date night this is a great place to do it!

Not very good food. Would not come back. The calamari had no flavor. The iced tea was horrible.

Visited on Friday, 3÷18÷2016. Cherry Drop Martini and House Salad are still very good. Bread was hard and stale. Overpriced special entrée (Shrimp and Scallops, $ 27.95 each) was cheaply made and overpriced. It would have been better with risotto instead of that bland/​fattening pasta. We barely ate about ¹⁄₈ of it because it was ⁷⁄₈ pasta. We had to order desserts because we were still hungry. We paid a total of $ 129.00 for two people, and received hand-​written bill like we were in a truck-​stop diner. The waitress, Julie, has the personality of a truck-​stop diner waitress – they should change the name of this restaurant to Mel’s Diner. I complimented the Salad, and she did not even acknowledge my compliments with a thank you. In between Salad and Entrée order, Julie was talking to another table for a long time (obviously, some locals), and then asked us in an unfriendly way, «Are you Ready» (referring to our entrée order), probably because we are not recognized locals. This is one of those restaurants where it is better to just order an appetizer, salad, soup, or drink and leave – stay away from entrees. This restaurant is basically a diner with fancy décor. I imagine the locals continue to patron this neighborhood restaurant because it is easy walking distance to their homes. Since none of the issues that I reported in the past have been improved upon, we will not spend our hard-​earned money at this fancy overpriced diner anymore.

We’ve been going here for about 12 or 13 years and we noticed a decline in food this and the last time we went here. The dish my wife had was not up to par from before. The eggplant I had was good. The waitress seem to pay attention to her other tables except us. Don’t know why, we treated her very well.

Perfection. The food was exceptional drinks generous and waitstaff awesome. A little loud with overhead music but definitely going back.

Located in the downtown area of Old Frankfort, quaint area in the summer months to visit. Ice cream shops, antiques and restaurants that are truly different. Come for a concert on the Green. Yes, there is a biker bar also. Been here, done that and have not been back. Parking, non existent, slow service, yes, when dining out one should be patient this is not fast food. We must have been in our seats for at least three hours. The bar was not busy, the tables are too close to one another and you feel like you cannot have a conversation without someone overhearing it. The food is par for the course for Italian. Do visit the area for some dining pleasures and do attend the Concerts on the Green. We will try the restaurant that is located in Lemont and see if there is a difference in the food and also the service.

Still waiting for management to contact me regarding a terrible experience.
Also, no response from the Lambardos (owner) after writing a letter explaining this experience.
I suppose if they treat enough people as poorly as they did for my 25^th wedding anniversary, they’ll get the idea when people stop going.

Unfortunately one of the worst dining experiences my wife and I had. And it was for our 25^th anniversary. Ordered an appetizer salad and they brought the wrong order twice. Sat for another hour and when they stopped twice again with someone else’s entrée but not ours, it was time to leave.
The location in Lemont never had this problem. We’ve now been to the Frankfort location and it’s never been good but this was the worst.
You’ve been warned!
And to top it off the manager had no comment or reason for the poor service.
This is obviously a top to bottom issue.
Poor service by waitress
Inexperienced cooking staff that messed up salad twice.
And manager that cared more about updating the picture on the wall than addressing the poor service. In fact, he sat at the bar picking his finger nails.

Located in a small plaza, i wasn’t expecting much but I wanted to try a new place. Dim lights, small dining room, cute & quaint. Salad & bread as starters was great, however my entrée was meh… very bland I ordered the shrimp scampi via sassli, it was bland no flavor, tasted like plain noodles that just came out boiling water. It was missing the scampi garlicky buttery flavor that most scampi dishes have. The shrimp tasted pretty fresh just had no flavor.

Excellence! The service and the food were impeccable. We were here visiting some family and the server did an excellent job of making sure we were well taken care of and not intruding or making us feel like we needed to hurry up. The ambience was beautiful. The whole little downtown historic district was beautiful. We really, really enjoyed it!

Went for the first time last night. Was very crowded, but we were seated right away which was a huge plus. Food was excellent, atmosphere was nice, but it was way to loud. I could barely converse with the person sitting across the table from me! Honestly don’t know if I would go back on a busy night due to this.

My favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. I have always had fantastic service, and the food is amazing!!!
This is my favorite place to go for my Birthday! Just wish they were open on Sundays.

Went to La Dolce Vita for the first time on Valentines Day. We were there to celebrate my bday and my sons with a party of 10. The restaurant was very crowded as it was a Saturday night and Valentines Day. We were seated pretty much right away. Our food and service was great. We will definitely be back.

Great service, fresh food, excellent taste.
Todd at the door always makes everyone feel special!
A little load when they are busy, but it adds to the atmosphere.

Great old school Italian here. Dinners come with a good mixed salad bowl. Everything is delicious and service is attentive. The arrabiata sauce is perfectly spicy. Prices are reasonable and portions are large. The food is so good that you’ll want to have the leftovers the next day.

My wife and I stopped at La Dolce Vita while doing some last minute Christmas shopping. We brought our two year old son and he was a bit of a terror so thank you server for being such a trooper.
Service was good, she was very attentive and friendly. The ambiance is pretty standard Italian restaurant.
The food was ok. For some reason it was just «adequate» for both my wife and I. Nothing specifically wrong with anything, but also nothing that was overly exciting. Sorry for the vague review, I just got a very «meh» feeling with everything.
Worth a visit to check it our for yourself tho!

This place is pretty good. I have been here several times with larger groups. Between that and having tried several different dishes I nor anyone had a complaint. The service is good. The place itself is not very big so I suggest a reservation. They also have a decent outside area to dine in. They have specials that are good as well. Have not been disappointed here.

We’ve been coming to La Dolce Vita for years but I somehow forgot to review them, so I’d better rectify that. This place does not deserve to be overlooked like that.
La Dolce Vita is everyone’s popular conception of an Italian restaurant. Located in the quaint downtown section of Frankfort, it’s small but in a cozy, not crowded, way. It also has the usual Italian-​style décor of landscape and villa murals on the walls, small tables with white tablecloths, dim lighting, a full bar with great martinis and a nice wine list, an al fresco dining area outside on the sidewalk (which is great for people-​watching in good weather), and background music like «Volare,» «O Sole Mio,» and «The Godfather.» (This last song is actually kind of ominous to hear if you happen to be the last ones in the restaurant. I guess I’ve watched that restaurant hit scene in the movie too many times.)
We’ve never had a bad meal here yet. The menu features all of the traditional Italian favorites such as spaghetti and meatballs, ravioli, Fettuccini Alfredo, calamari, eggplant parmigiana, sautéed sausage and peppers, Linguini del Mare, veal Marsala, and chicken Vesuvio. Their tiramisu is home-​made, not frozen and thawed out in a microwave like in some restaurants. They also have a nice Italian version of crab cakes that are mixed with risotto and come with a roasted tomato mayonnaise sauce instead of remoulade. All meals come with bread, olive oil, and family-​style salad with a great vinaigrette dressing and plenty of olives, the way I like it.
Don’t come here if you want a quick meal, however, because it ain’t gonna happen. The only drawback to La Dolce Vita, if you want to call it that, is that service always seems to be on the leisurely side. The last time we were here was on a Thursday night when it wasn’t all that crowded and we still had somewhat of a wait for our entrees. The place is always packed on Friday and Saturday nights (they don’t accept reservations except for groups of eight or more), so of course you’ll have more of a wait then.
Slow doesn’t always mean inefficient, though. Here it just means they take the time to prepare the food the way it should be prepared. And it just gives you more time to relax and socialize over your meal like real Italians do — although you may have to raise your voice to be heard because with all of those people in a small area, it also gets kind of loud in here (again, like a typical Italian restaurant).
Definitely worth lots of visits!

I love this place. I forgot how much I love the food here! They have all kinds of «secret» items that aren’t on the menu. A thinly pounded chicken breast in red sauce to name one.
The food is really good. I’ve never had a bad meal here. I always eat way too much here. The wine list is decent as well. The service has always been great. It can get crowded and loud in here though.

My husband and l were planning on going on a Saturday night and being worried about the wait l called to inquire about reservations. The gentleman on the phone was somewhat rude. I should have seen it coming as to the rest of the evening. We got there and the host was again somewhat rude and said,“l’ll see if l can find you something”. What? Don’t do me any favors! The waitress was so so. Never told us about specials or asked if we wanted another drink. It was extremely loud and we couldn’t hear each other. We noticed the busboys doing some questionable things as far as cleanliness.
I will say the food was excellent and the prices very reasonable but the employees need an attitude adjustment.