Vito’s

Based on the positive reviews I was expecting a good dining experience. That didn’t happen. Our server was also working the bar so he was less than attentive. We started with cocktails that were okay and the antipasti plate… mediocre cured meats but the pickled veggies were good. The grilled caesar salads had an odd dressing. And the sides of spinach reeked of garlic out of a jar. The entrees were all average. I asked the server if the scallops were fresh and he said yes and they were from Taylor Shellfish… when I later mentioned I didn’t think Taylor sold scallops he backed off saying he wasn’t really sure… I had already ordered them and they were good… but salty. The dining room was packed so clearly guests are enjoying the experience. I so wish I had.

So delicious! We walked from our hotel and was a bit apprehensive after the hostess was quite rude to us (no reservation on a Saturday how could we!) We ended up sitting in the bar and got some apps and drinks while we waited for a table — after about an hour we gave up and ate in the bar. I got the Bolognese and it was awesome! Definitely would get again. I loved the old school ambiance and the service was great. Definitely would go again.

Never again. Way too loud music, for those of us who actually enjoy having a «back & forth» conversation (oh, yeah… and hear each other, too.) The seared tuna was awful – tasted like 5-​day old fish or worse. The gluten free pasta I substituted was like card board (and there are great tasting GF pastas these days, such as Manini’s.) And the steak tartar was sub-​par (mostly greens and very little beef) – and not thinly cut as it should be. I am spoiled having dined at some of the finest Italian restaurants around the world – and authentic ones, too. Vito’s should decide if they want to concentrate on food or on music. It’s apparent they can’t do both well. And to stick an 18% gratuity automatically, only added insult to injury! Seattle truly has the worse Italian food I have tasted, though, so Vito’s is in good company.

Recently had a birthday dinner in the ‘Cougar Room’. Booking the room was a breeze. The room was amazing and we were able to put on our own music which really set the mood and created a unique experience catered to my friends.
Our server was deace. He definitely took control of our big group as I know from experience wrangling in 18 people who are drinking heavily can definitely be a headache. He was attentive enough without being annoying and we never had to wait too long for drinks. They were extremely busy that night as they had music going in the main room and he handled it well.
The food was better than I expected (except the beef carpaccio, the beef carpaccio was a joke) and everyone seemed very pleased with their meals.
It was my first time there even though I had known about it for a long time. I’m not sure what took me so long to check it out, but I will definitely be back.

Made a reservation for 4, walked in, slobbily dressed and impatient guy eventually walks over and says to one of us «show me ID”(i.e., not even «welcome») — our average age is 45. Then he grunts «go sit wherever you want.» Fifteen minutes later he impatiently takes a drink and appetizer order. Carpaccio is a plate full of massive piles of arugula with perhaps 3 ozs of dried beef hidden below … dreadful. Drinks are amateur and crappy. We pay and we leave. We go down the street and spend $ 500 on dinner at a place that deserves it.

Good food (I had the spaghetti bolognese, which had great flavors and came in a generous portion). The place had a decent happy hour and a fun vibe.

I love this place. I would come here every week if I could. Mushroom fettuccine is my go-​to, with the bread from Macrina Bakery! Pizza is also really good. Nice thin crust.
Tbh, I’m having a super crap day and all I want is Mushroom Fettuccini from Vitos and maybe some garlic bread. Which, by the way, you can get to go and wander across the street to the Hideout if you want to drown your sorrows in an even darker room with some seriously bizarre art.
One of my favorite servers from 6 Arms (before they upped the prices, cut the menu, and lowered the already just tolerable quality) works here now so that’s a plus!
Moving here from back east I should add that it’s not totally Italian supper club style, but pretty darn close. Music is fantastic but it does get crowded after 7-​ish. Highly recommend reservations if you want to eat after that time.
Highly recommend for the food, staff, and atmosphere. Also because I don’t want the building to be sold and torn down for yet another 7-​story apartment bldg with retail space on the ground floor and not enough parking.

This place is awesome — straight out of a movie, you feel like you’re in an old school New York Italian restaurant where you’d see Ray Liotta and crew hanging out in the corner. It’s dark and classy.
The food is traditional and hearty and delicious, I had a great fettuccine with chicken and mushroom cream sauce and my friend had spaghetti and meatballs — traditional dishes done very well. I also had the best cappuccino I’ve maybe ever had. Service was friendly and nice as well. I’d definitely recommend it for anyone who likes Italian food — and who doesn’t?

This review only pertains to the atmosphere and cocktails. I had one slice of the pizza from the bar menu, so I don’t feel comfortable rating the food.
Anyway.This place is so freaking cool. I was not expecting such a place in First Hill. You walk inside and you feel like you’re in a different time (1920’s) and a different place (NYC/​Chicago). The live music was EXCELLENT. (We were there Friday ¹¹⁄₂₇) I wanted to stay longer and listen but my date had to meet some friends.
I got the Jasmine cocktail which was delicious and adequately strong. The bartenders really looked like they knew what they were doing, which was reassuring.
Just want to note that this place would probably appeal to a slightly older crowd. I was probably the youngest one (in my early 20’s) in the whole place, but I still liked it and yea, like I said, the music was dope.

Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child…
My wife and I went to Vito’s on ¹⁰⁄₂₄ for our anniversary. Originally, we were going to go to Canlis, but Vito’s looked more like our kind of place. Dark wood paneling, red leather booths, candles, wine and pasta. We actually learned about this place from the owner of the b & b we were staying at.
:
We had an 8:30 reservation, but we arrived early to have a drinkipoo. The bar wasn’t full at this point. Just a few people here in there. It was a great place to people watch. A good mix of young and old, hipster and square. In fact, there was an older guy that walked in with a younger woman and I thought to myself, «Isn’t it nice of that man to take his grandaughter out to dinner?». Hehe
Moving on to dinner. We were seated at a table that faced the whole room so we could see the comings and goings. For an appetizer, we had the Gamberoni and Polenta. This consisted of shrimp, italian herbs, sriracha, and a grilled white polenta cake. The polenta was grilled perfectly and it didn’t get mushy from the sauce. Then we both had the grilled ceasar salad. This was a nice bridge to the rest of our meal. The lettuce was grilled perfectly and the parmesan combined with the ceasar dressing worked really well together. For our main course, I had the pork chop. This consisted of seared bone-​in pork chop, pickled peppers, shallot mashed potatoes, and seasonal vegetables. The pork chop was cooked perfectly. Nice and tender and the shallot mashed potatoes were really flavorful. My wife had the pan-​seared scallops with a spring pea purée, prosciutto crisps, cherry tomato, honeydew, mint chiffonade, and agro dolce. She said they were really good and flavorful. We had a bottle of the house wine, which changes daily and will run you $ 30.00. On this day it was a nice Barbera.
As we finished our dinner, we were too full to have desert, but luckily the music was starting. The singer was really good. She sang a lot of standards, which are my thing. By this time, the place was packed.
On the wall going into the bathroom, there are some old pictures from what looks like the 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s. It looks like there were a few indicments that used to frequent Vito’s. All I can say is that there is probably a lot of cement at the bottom of Puget Sound. lol Also, there is this room in the back called the Cougar Lounge. When I heard about this I imagined a bunch of ladies, nay Cougars, sitting in this room drinking martinis and sipping Compari while waiting for their young prey to come along. Sadly, the Cougar Lounge gets it’s name from from the stuffed cougar that is in a diorama at the back of the room.
If you want a great old school dining experience, go to Vito’s. Great food and service await you.
Cent’Anni!

Everything on the menu is fantastic along with the atmosphere. Vitos is incredible
Such a hidden gem

Hidden gem. This place literally makes me feel like a boss. I mean, I’m talking about Ray Liota in Goodfellas status (before he is coked out of his mind and paranoid).
Ambiance:
Yes, the place is dark. Get over it. Or don’t get over, and go to Olive Garden where you belong! Besides the dark atmosphere, I’ve fallen in love with the red plastic seating and unique bathroom décor… specifically the mens room!
Food:
Pasta as it should be. I’ve had the diablo, and the bolognese… both are delicious. The coolest thing about the pasta is you can do half orders, or split two on one plate. This is great if you’re an indecisive over-​indulger, such as myself.
The house salad is good, and not just a run of the mill style pile of rabbit food. Garlic bread? GET IT. Bruschetta? GET IT. The beverage selection is on point.
Tip:
If you have a group of 4 or more, request the Cougar Room. The giant stuff cougar is pretty awesome… PETA probably wants to shut this place down, but even they’d like the salad and plain pasta!

Based on the review posted on Unilocal,I walked there from my hotel. I wish I hadn’t. I am in Seattle on a weekly basis for work, and there is a lot of great restaurants here, but based on this experience, Vito’s isn’t one of those places. Yes, the ambiance is interesting (kind of like a dark east coast Italian joint), but it doesn’t make up for the terrible food that I had.
I ordered the bruschetta as a appetizer and the pork chop as an entrée. The bruschetta was drowned in so much balsamic vinaigrette, that I could hardly taste anything else. However, despite the overpowering flavor of the balsamic vinaigrette, I was able to taste a couple of things. First, the bruschetta had no cheese on it, which seemed odd, so I had to ask for it. Second, on at least one of the slices of bruschetta, the bread tasted old and stale, so much so, that I couldn’t eat it.
I was hopeful that the pork chop would redeem Vito’s and be amazing. Alas, this wasn’t the case. It was overcooked, and therefore it was on the dry side and a little tough. If it hadn’t been covered in oily sauteed peppers and some type of brownish gravy, it would have had little to no flavor whatsoever.
So, maybe I ordered the wrong items, and if you stick with the pasta, you’ll be fine. However, even though the service was decent, due to how bad the food was, I won’t be back to find out.

…walked in just after 9 on a warm Monday evening to darkness sprinkled with candles in small globes… a womans voice called through the romantically dim light and empty space «have a seat anywhere»…seemed like Dashiell Hammett was in the shadows… had a wonderful dinner at the bar… a few other patrons drifted in… a light night… Vito’s is old school lounge… absolutely incredible, unforgettable… will return…

Pros:
–Cheap happy hour drinks.
–Decent HH food. Caesar salad was really yummy and beautifully plated. Garlic bread was nice and crusty on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside. The marinara sauce it was served with was really good too.
–In addition to our HH drinks and food we grabbed dinner to-​go. My spaghetti Bolognese was FANTASTIC, The sauce was slightly creamy and not acidic in the least. The portion size was hearty. I really enjoyed it.
Cons:
–DARK. SO. DARK. I’m a big fan of dimly lit restaurants. This wasn’t «dimly lit.» It felt like I was dining in a cave. Just turn on a couple lights, for god’s sake!
–Tables were TINY. If you sit in the lounge and order more than drinks, good luck fitting everything on one table.
–Service was lackluster. Not terrible, but not great by any means.
–Some food was a little pricey. $ 6 for a small HH Caesar salad? Didn’t seem like much of a deal. Dinners don’t come with salad or anything else so adding one, even to split, definitely jumps the price up substantially.
–One of us got the lasagna and it was nothing special; she compared it to eating microwave lasagna.
–Difficult to find parking. But this is Seattle, so this can’t really be held against the restaurant.
Overall, probably not worth battling downtown traffic and parking to give it another try.

No questions, just go.
Please.
You won’t regret your decision.
The food is decent, the best I had in Seattle but not in general. The environment is one of a kind. Totally unique. They have a room you can reserve for parties with a taxidermy cougar in it.
The only downside is that it’s dark. It added to the atmosphere well but probably a downside if anyone has vision issues.

If you need a break from half hipster/​half 25 year-​old Amazon employees Capitol Hill, head on over to First Hill for a drink at Vito’s! First Hill is home to a couple «old school» spots like Vito’s, the Hunt Club and The Hideout and it’s a great escape.
It’s only a few blocks away but it feels like you’re transported into a different city! Vito’s is old school Italian, pitch dark, sometimes there’s a band, caters to an older crowd and drinks to boot! I had a custom-​made St. Germain cocktail here and we had a great, chill Friday evening!

Vito’s a ridiculous hidden gem of a restaurant.
I’ve been twice now and enjoyed both visits.
They were able to accommodate my party of 8 on a busy Saturday night (I called ahead for a reservation). The servers are friendly, funny, and informative.
My only nit to pick would be the portion size. I feel they’re a little small. But i have to remind myself that I don’t feel gross and stuffed when i leave (which is a good thing).
Their décor is amazing. I LOVE the gold-​veined mirrors and huge booths. It feels like you’ve gone back in time when you step in side Vito’s.

From the outside, yes, Vito’s looks a bit sketchy. From the inside your first impressions don’t really improve, but the food is worth it. Salads were great (don’t be surprised if the romaine comes out and you cut it yourself), and the chicken Parmesan is quite good.
The patrons are an eclectic bunch of locals, docs and nurses (Virginia mason is two blocks away), and family members of patients, so it’s not to crazy and lively earlier in the evening but I’m guessing that might be different as the night gets late…

I really like Vito’s! Never mind the fact that it’s also a short stumble from where I live.
Really, August here is my favorite time of the year. «Why?» you ask? Duh. $ 3 martinis! That’s what they lure you in with and then you just end up ordering a bunch of food after a few rounds anyways and that’s when they earn their profit. Doesn’t matter though. Their food is great. Whether you come for a few things off of their bar menu or do a full-​on pasta dish.
They also offer gluten-​free pasta. I want to say that they don’t even use flour in their alfredo sauce but I’d double check if that’s a concern of yours. The Farfalle Diavolo is by far my favorite. Very flavorful and not super spicy, but definitely has a little kick. I’ve also tried the Wild Mushroom Fettuccine and was a little disappointed that it didn’t have more of a sauce (it’s got a mushroom stock) but they heard me whine and brought out some marinara which made me happy, and also helped with the GF pasta! A few nights ago we ordered the almonds and olives app and, this is part new here: their olives were smoked and just divine!
There’s also a slew of live music acts that perform regularly. You never really know what you’re going to get but you’re certain to be entertained.
One last note is that I LOVE the atmosphere here. It’s dark, sultry and a bit mysterious, but all around cozy and inviting. Great for the young and hip and old and classy alike.