Vivo

02/12/05

Excellent food, but expensive

by johr at Citysearch

I was hoping for a romantic dinner with my husband and I was a little disappointed with the ambience. Although small, I didn't think the atmosphere was very romantic. The food was excellent; the beef tenderloin with cherry wine sauce was superb. However, for the price, the portions are quite small. I just found Vivo to be a little too expensive; for a couple expect to pay at least $100 (not including tip).

• Pros: excellent food, service
• Cons: expensive, small portions

02/16/09

Wonderful Dining Experience

by MFCB at Citysearch

The restaurant is cozy and comfortable, and the staff was helpful and friendly without being overwhelming. The food was amazing. We started dinner with two appetizers: a beef carpaccio and sauteed exotic mushrooms with chorizo and goat cheese. The beef is sliced to order and was drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt and truffle. The beef was so tender it literally melted in our mouths. It was perfectly seasoned - complimented but not overwhelmed. The mushroom dish was delicious as well, with the star of that dish being the goat cheese. It was fresh and creamy and mild. The pasta course (which comes with every meal) was served with a house-made sauce which was perfect. The fun of the pasta dish was that it was served with chili oil, which served as a nice addition to the sauce. For dinner, we ordered the lamb chops and the scallops. The lamb chops were grilled and served with an amazing honey truffle mustard. It was tender and flavorful. The scallops were the largest I have seen. They were pan seared absolutely perfectly and served over a sweet chili sauce. The vegetables for that day were cabbage with pears and butternut squash. Vivo serves their vegetables at room temperature, a prospect which was off-putting to hear but surprisingly good to eat. I am not usually a fan of cabbage, but this was some of the most tender and non-bitter cabbage I have had. Salad was served after dinner and was good but not noteworthy. However, the dessert was certainly something to write home about. We had the homemade "Heath" gelato, and mascarpone cheese with nutella, crushed amaretti cookies, and fresh berries. Both were excellent, but the mascarpone was exceptional. We made it out of there, full and happy, for $110. I think that is a very reasonable price for a five course meal of that caliber!

• Pros: fresh, quality ingredients, prepared well
• Cons: pasta is not house-made

04/04/08

Pathetic--not family friendly

by redcomet at Citysearch

I was part of a group who were mistreated by the staff. This is clearly NOT a family friendly place despite what they advertise or what others tell you. They have no realistic expectations of child behavior--should've been honest upfront and just say "we're not prepared to handle kids." How this restaurant get a "$$" for meal price is beyond me; there is no way in HELL that you can get a decent meal without spending at least $50+ per person. I am also terribly disappointed by one of the reviewers who stated that their experience were "ruined" by others' children. Blame the owners. You can only expect so much from toddlers. The reviewers or the staff probably never dealt with kids of their own. The WORST is how they felt necessary to single out the race of the alleged people at fault. In a city where a significant number of celebrities are Asian, I find it especially disappointing that people of different ethnic origin are still discriminated against, as if non-Caucasian people cannot appreciate fine dining in the United States or always appear uncivilized in public. Just beware of both the ownership as well as the clientele when you plan to visit Vivo.

02/28/08

All Around Wonderful

by adrianemartin at Citysearch

I took my three best friends to Vivo for Valentine's Day; it was the most perfect Valentine?s dinner ever! We arrived at 7:30 and did not leave till nearly 11. Not once did we feel rushed. The feel of the resturant was as if we were in Europe and we had all the time in the world. The server was friendly and the ambience was fantastic. The food, oh the food!! I had the salmon, which was one of the best pieces of salmon that I have ever had. Not over cooked not under cooked, just wonderful. Everything is al a carte, but worth it. Vivo is not a place that I will go every weekend, but for those special occasions it is number one on my list. Where else will the Chef come out to your table and talk to you about the food he has cooked?

• Pros: Food, Service, Ambience

02/14/08

Outstanding

by outerinn at Citysearch

First of all, if you have toddlers, please don't take them to Vivo. It's not that you won't be welcomed by the staff. It's that you'll ruin the evening of the other customers. People go to Vivo to experience unique ingredients, exotic tastes, a wonderful ambience, and good service. No toddler could appreciate what Vivo has to offer. And nobody who's about to shell out $125 for two dinners wants to hear your toddlers babble and whine. Yes, I have two toddlers of my own.

I've been to Vivo about fifteen times. The food at Vivo has, on about ten occasions, blown me away. It was merely very good a few times, and I was a bit disappointed once. I've been "blown away" by a restaurant no more than twenty times in my life, so Vivo's accomplishments in that regard are staggering.

I love their gelatos. I love their veal chops. I love their beef tenderloin (rare, oh rare). I love all the associated accoutrements -- the exotic mushrooms, the beans, grains, herbs, etc. It's all great.

If you're a foodie, pray tell where else in Pittsburgh one can regularly feast on new or unique cheeses, fish, beans, mushrooms, whatever -- and actually *learn* about food while you eat. Where else will the chef come out and explain (if you ask) the origins of each ingredient? Where else will the chef let you take a small sampling of the ingredients home? Where else do you get your vegetables at room temperature?

[Note: if you don't like vegetables at room temperature, arrive armed with a special request]

As for pricing, I agree that it's expensive. A dinner at Vivo may not always represent a good "value." But if I have to pay a premium of, say, $10 per plate to support the existence of a tiny and impossible-to-replace restaurant that I love, so be it. I only wish I had the same attitute before Roberto's Pizzeria left town for New Jersey.

That's worth it to me. Five stars to Vivo.

• Pros: Creative food, ease of parking, attentive service
• Cons: none

01/04/08

Regarding above review

by tlmaher at Citysearch

My finance and I were at vivo the night the folks below were there and they completely ruined dinner for everybody in the place. Their kids wouldn't stop shrieking and charging around the place, it was horrible. The waitress asked their 4 year old to keep seated about 2 times because she almost tripped over the little brat. The husband and wife were happy to destroy our romantic evening with their little monsters until the bill arrived when they started to get indignant about the price. I don't know how much an incredible dinner costs where they were from (korea) but in America 5 star dining is expensive. Bottom line, don't pay any attention to the above reviewers and god help you if you ever get stuck in a restaurant with them.

• Pros: Great food
• Cons: Stupid kids from above reviewer running around and screaming

11/26/07

Bring your kids and your appetite

by sewickleymom at Citysearch

Vivo is like going to your grand mother's for dinner. Nice friendly atmoshere great food and service.Best sauce in town, my daughter can't get enough of it. Loved the verbal menu thought it added to the charm and don't worry they are willing to repeat as many times as necessary. Contrary to another review Vivo is very child friendly, we frequent the restaurant as do some good friends of ours. We both have children and they have been going there since age 4 and are now 8 !!! Perhaps it was the specific behavior of the children of the other reviewer and not the restaurant or staff......food for thought . Bring your kids and your appetite to enjoy a warm atmosphere and great food!

• Pros: organic and fresh ingredients used
• Cons: none

11/14/07

Vivo

by abbyriley at Citysearch

I went to Vivo's at 8:30 pm on November 14. I received 3 expired soda's that were flat and was charged for it. The dish I ended up picking was a beef brisket dish. When I recieved the dish the bottom piece was burned to a crisp the sauce was very bitter and the mushrooms did not compiment the sauce. The salad ar the end was mixed greens with olive oil. No tast just bitter. This was the worst experience I have ever had at a so called classy place. I have eaten at Spago in LA and also some of the nicest places in Pittsburgh. I was extremly disappointed and would not reccomend this place to anybody. They charged me 92.00 for a meal that was not worth it. My husbands was satisfactory. He like the sauce but was not satisfied with the menue because he does not eat vegtables. They did not offer to make him something different. We payed the bill to be nice because other people were in the place however I will persue this matter with the owner.

• Pros: none
• Cons: alot

10/07/07

Best in the 'Burgh

by pum14 at Citysearch

My husband and I are frequent guests at Vivo's, as are several of our friends. We eat out elsewhere (Dish, Cafe Allegro) but find that Vivo always offers kind and helpful service, lovely and innovative food, a relaxing ambience, and fair pricing -- one gets a nice-sized entree with two or more vegetables on the plate, plus a side of pasta and a salad. Appetizers and dessert are separate, as are beverages; the cost is reasonable indeed for such good food. And they ARE child-friendly -- I have seen many well-behaved children enjoying their meals with their parents there.

• Pros: food quality and uniqueness
• Cons: only open Wed. -- Sat. nights

10/07/07

Unreasonably pricey + worst service of all

by eae2 at Citysearch

We were there to celebrate our gram's birthday. We called ahead to ask if we could bring kids (1Y and 4Y), and were told kids are welcome. In fact, even told to bring our own highchair. We have been to many top restaurants in Pittsburgh with our kids, including Bona Terra, Casbah, and we were fine. We started dinner at 5pm, and we were the only table there. My 4 yr old wanted to look at cars outside and walked hear the entrance, but we were told to keep him on his chair, which we did. Both my kids behaved ok, did not cry or throw tantrum, but my 1 yr old did squeak once in a while. The 2 waitresses gave us a look at the get go. When we were down to dessert course at 7pm when other tables started to fill, the hostess told us to take the kids outside. So we decided to skip dessert and go, and the waitress gave us another look. So, they expect us take our kids outside and have the rest of table to finish dessert? I reasoned w the hostess as she told us that kids are fine. She still insisted that VIVO is kids friendly and welcomes children ? yeah, kicking out kids = welcoming kids. The bill was horrific too. $400 for 6 adults w appetizers and entrees, no salad, no dessert. Verbal menu = not showing u the price = charge whatever. Even after we checked w. them the REAL price, the bill doesn't add up. I called that DISHONEST. Food is ok, but not good enough to charge $40+ for entree. Now I know why they are open only a few days a week, because they severely overcharge. They think they are Lutrec at Nemacolin Woodland, which they are nowhere in comparison, in terms of both food and service. If Vivo doesn?t like kids, just tell us when we make reservation that it is better to leave the kids at home, rather than telling us that we welcome kids, but kick them out. Would never go back again. Bona Terra in Sharpsburg offers better food with better price. Any of the big burrito group restaurants (Eleven, Casbah, Soba, Umi) offer better value as well.

• Pros: parking is easy. BYOB.
• Cons: All waitresses have attitude. Worst service ever rec'd. Unreasonably expensive.

07/15/06

best cuisine in Pittsburgh

by interleukin at Citysearch

the most imaginitive haute cuisine in pittsburgh. there is no standard menu; everything is fresh. it may cost around a $100 for two but you will not be disappointed particularly if you are a foodie