ViVA Bistro & Lounge

Possibly the slowest most inattentive bartenders at any bar I have ever been to. Sitting at the bar with about 12 people and they can’t keep up. Waited 25 mins to order food. Decided to just take the check.

This is a popular place in the Reading area for several reasons. First, it is conveniently located near Reading, West Reading, and Wyomissing, where there are various events occurring all year long. It’s also big, and there are diverse areas to sit for eating and drinking – intimate booths, tables, separate rooms for small gatherings, a long, curvy bar, outdoor dining, and a fireside lounge.
Unfortunately, there are two huge reasons why people avoid this place: service is slow, and often servers are not knowledgeable about the food or drink selections; and no attention is paid to the growing number of vegetarians who eat out. There are no vegetarian sandwiches, burgers, or wraps. Also, for the salads, servers ask, «would you like to add a protein to that?», but there is no choice for something like tofu or seitan to add to that salad. It’s sad that a funky atmosphere in a good location can’t include knowledgeable servers and just a little attention to vegetarian patrons. Fortunately, there are other nearby locations that have better service and tasty veggie burgers, so there’s no need to even consider Viva Bistro.

After our disastrous visit for my daughter’s 21^st birthday last year, where the server couldn’t handle splitting checks and had a complete meltdown on the service floor (it’s not that freaking hard to split checks… it really isn’t), I should have learned my lesson.
I’m a slow learner, it seems.
I decided to revist Viva a few months ago, give them another shot, let them try to win me back. After being made late for an appointment — waiting over 2 hours on a Tuesday afternoon for 2 entrees that came out lukewarm — I still thought that maybe it was just an off day and gave them the benefit of the doubt.
I’m a really, really slow learner.
Today was the last straw. I asked for a table on the patio because it was a gorgeous day. Been waiting for a day like this, I got to leave work early, lucky me, decided to drive 20 minutes out of my way for Viva. After waiting over five minutes for someone to even acknowledge me, two servers came out onto the patio, looked right at me, and then turned around and walked away. No greeting, no «oh, has your server been by to see you?» no «could I get your drink order while your server is busy?» no nothing. Just completely ignored me.
I’m sure losing out on a 1 top is not a big deal, but how big of a deal is it when I don’t come back with my party of 12 for our birthdays, graduations, and other get togethers, hmmm?

ViVa is a staple of the park road/​VF outlet Wyomissing area. It does well with above average food, a nice tapas lounge and a superb location. Most of the staff is A+ with a few who aren’t that impressive. No one tends to stay working here for very long tho I’ve noticed. I know the owner and he really is a great guy. I usually meet my clients here around lunch and have meetings in the tapas lounge.

Usually love my meal and drinks here but it was a weird night. We came in and were ignored until I went up to the hostess and asked if someone was helping us. Then ordered drinks and my margarita with Patron and Grand Marnier. The drink tasted really citrusy maybe even like the sour mix was bad. I’m not sure but it tasted funny and I get this drink most times at restaurants. I asked if I got the right drink and was told yes and then the server explained to me that he saw the bartender make it and stood there the whole time. He even went into what measurements each part of the drink was. I was fine with when he said we put some orange juice in. The food was great as usual. It was hard to believe that my to go part of our order had a ceasar salad and they ran out of the dressing. It was a weird evening. The server was pleasant. I wish that when we go here there wasn’t always something that they are out of.

When in Wyomissing VIVA is the spot to go. Great large room, fantastic service and a decent menu. I’ve must have enjoyed everything on the men. Nothing relaly stands out becasue everyhting is evenly good.

Slowest service on the planet. Our waiter never waited on us… someone else brought things, probably when we looked ready to walk. Awful.

My group of friends always celebrates our birthdays at Viva but that was the last time we will be back. The place is clean and we like the atmosphere but the service is always terrible every time. We were seated at 8:15 which is when our reservation was for, but our food didn’t come until 9:45. It took a half hour just to get drinks. They seated my party right near the door so we were cold the whole time. Soup was cold, steak was over cooked — and you don’t want to send any of it back because that will just take another half hour to get it back to the table. Our waiter was friendly but he was way over booked for tables for everything to take that long which isn’t his fault. I’ve been there in the lounge and the service was the same, half hour for drinks or anything else if you could ever find her to order anything. I’m a waitress too so I know what it’s like when you are overbooked on tables but viva is ALWAYS like this and has been for years. My friends and I will not be going back.

I decided to give this place another shot after months of not being there. Once again… disappointed. I came with a few friends because we were in the mood for a martini and you would assume Viva would be a good place to order that. We waited for about 10 minutes at the bar before even being acknowledged by anyone. After the bartender came over and confirmed 3 times that I wanted a dirty martini (they seemed confused) I was served an olive-​less martini. It just seemed like they weren’t trained at all on basic bar tending. I guess I should have been more specific and asked for an olive garnishing, but you assume it’s the norm. The shrimp was also terrible. It was a rubbery and breaded mess. I think this is my final straw with Viva.
Also, what happened to the app?!

I want to update to say that the manager reached out after reading my review and I find that to be a very invested gesture.

Service is always lousy and the have a bunch of good rats working there. I really hope they do more to make this place better. Manager did check on us to make things better. Thank goodness, server didn’t seem to care

While the food was fine and the waiter was very nice, we were unhappy about the wait. We had reservations for a specific time, but when we showed up we were told to wait another 15 minutes (and were given one of those hockey puck buzzers).
Once we were seated, it was at a table that had been open and set since we walked in the door. I wish they had just told us they couldn’t do reservations at that time. Or let us wait at the table they had set anyway.
(Again, the server was very nice and the food was fine.)

Won’t be going back
We figured we would give it another try and boy were we regretting that decision when we left. I’m not sure where their quality control went. Maybe it left when the good service left?
Started out ok. I ordered the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and broccoli and French Onion soup. The soup was packed with HUGE croutons and hardly any soup. Then we barely started on the soup when our meal was delivered. What sauce I actually did get tasted like just a cream sauce and no Alfredo. It really had no taste at all. My husbands chicken parm was subpar at best. The sauce tasted canned and my husband remarked it tasted like what I bring home from Aldi. I wanted to send it back but no one came to ask if it was ok. By the time someone finally came past, all we wanted to do was leave. We packed up the fettuccine hoping my 18 month old would like it but even she didn’t want to eat it!!!
After this place being our «go to» restaurant for years, we will not be going to this place anytime in the near future. What a shame

Nice spot. Both times I’ve been here they had a live guitarist performing. I had the herb chicken and started with the tomato bisque. Staff was friendly and wasn’t too long of a wait for food. Was less impressed with desert menu, but not a big deal.

The food is decent for this area. However, they rarely switch up their menu, which is a bit of a downer. They do have live music, which is good for the most part. Whoever, their service is unimpressive and keeps getting worse. It’s not so much the table service, but the bar service could be 10x better. There’s been multiple times I’ve gone to the bar and waited at least 10 minutes to be waited on.

We don’t go to to Viva often, but my wife and I do enjoy it on occasion… We really enjoy their chopped salad and typically get their pasta dishes, such as Penne Bravo a la Vodka or Chicken & Broccoli Fettucine Alfredo.
We’ve been there for brunch too, that’s always nice even if service seems to be slower… The free croissants served with brunch are quite delicious.

We have eaten at Viva quite a number of times since it opened, although not recently so I cannot comment on any significant menu changes or possible backsliding.
It’s basically a big noisy family oriented place without a lot of charm, almost on an industrial scale, like Applebee’s on the much bigger. However we have had some very enjoyable meals at Viva.
If you really want to impress a date with your sophistication, this is not the place. If you want to go out with a bunch of friends and have fun, make noise, drink, watch TV and enjoy decent food, Viva is fine.

I hadn’t been here in a few years, but my sister and brother in law were visiting from out of town and we were planning Sunday brunch. After looking at several menus for area restaurants online, we settled on Viva because of the variety of food offered on the brunch menu.
We got here around 10:45am and the place was surprisingly empty. We were seated promptly but after that the service slowed way down. It took about 30 minutes to even receive our drinks. We weren’t concerned because we were not in a rush and were enjoying each other’s company, but this may be a problem for some.
The food was phenomenal. I got eggs benedict with a side of Viva spring salad (so delicious). The roasted potatoes that accompanied had a great flavor. My sister got a Spanish omelet which she raved about, and my daughter the wood fired chicken which she said was great. All in all we had a great experience and I will definitely be back again.

My g/​f and I lived in Wyomissing 3 years ago. I would always meet her on Friday nights for a drink and their appetizers, which were amazing. We are in the area again and wanted to go back to reminisce and have a few drinks and apps.
We noticed the clientele was a bit different from what we remembered. First glance at the menu and it seems like it has changed a bit. I could not find the bacon wrapped bbq shrimp. I asked the waitress and she said there has been some changes with the food. My g/​f ordered a mudslide which used to be with real coffee beans. This time around, no coffee beans. I ordered the bruschetta, which came out not toasted, no basil, no spices and completely lifeless. I told my waitress that it was terrible and refused to pay for it.
I have to agree with some of the prior postings about Viva. It has gone down hill. For the fella that was playing acoustics, please practice before you book a show. Its obvious as to why there is free entertainment. As we were finishing up, a family came in with 3 boys under the ages of 10 with yo-yo’s and toy cars on a Saturday night at 6:30 in the bar area at the high tables where the guy pulled two circular tables together. Why management let him do this is beyond me!!! I would honestly compare this establishment to an Applebee’s. Even my waitress stated that she hears frequent complaints about the change.
Bottom line, don’t make the same mistake I did. There are plenty of good places to eat in West Reading.

Normally, when we’re in West Reading/​Wyomissing we head over to Delish for a Cuban sandwich, come dinner time. However, we were here on Christmas Eve. Businesses along Penn Avenue tend to close early — many even close around sundown. On Christmas eve, many didn’t even open and those that did closed way before sundown — I’m talking around 3 p.m. So… where to eat that was close by? While in the hotel lobby, we heard a group of people talking and say that Viva was closing at 7 p.m. Since it’s practically next door to the hotel and it was starting to snow… well…it wasn’t a difficult decision when it came to where to have dinner.
We got there around 5 p.m. and had a bit of a wait for a table. It seems that there might have been an event there as we saw a band packing up and leaving, along with many customers. So, it took a bit of time to clear off the tables.
Our server came to our table within a few minutes to take our drink orders. I was going to go for an iced tea until I saw the holiday specialty drink menu. So, I opted for an «Irish mint cookie», which consisted of kahlua, Bailey’s Irish cream and crème de menthe. This was a tasty drink with kahlua mainly predominating. I suspect that it wasn’t very well blended because toward the bottom, the crème de menthe flavoring showed up. My husband had a Stella Artois.
Viva’s menu is huge which can make coming to a decision somewhat difficult. They have a tapas menu as well as burgers, pizza, Italian entrees, soups, salads, appetizers, meat, chicken and fish main courses.
Each main course comes with your choice of soup or salad. We each chose a cup of French onion au gratin soup. This soup has gruyère cheese on it which was surprisingly strongly flavored. It was a decent, if not memorable, soup.
We were also given «Fresh baked French bread» which had some garlic butter on top. The bread was indeed fresh and the garlic flavoring came through.
I chose Simply grilled fish. You get a choice of tilapia, cod or salmon. My choice was tilapia. «Simply grilled» fish has «lemon, garlic, fresh herbs and olive oil» in it. It also comes with a side of sauteed Mediterranean vegetables. I think that the kitchen was confused as there is a similar fish dish on the menu which comes with a side of pineapple mango salsa. They must have thought I ordered that because I got it along with my meal. The fish was properly cooked and was moist. I could taste the lemon flavoring but not the garlic and «fresh herbs». The sauteed vegetables were very tasty.
My husband had «Meat loaf Wellington with Marsala mushroom sauce and garlic mashed potatoes». As its name suggests, the meatloaf was encased in crusty bread. My husband found the meat to be on the dry side even thought it appeared to have been prepared medium-​well. We suspect that a low fat ground beef was used. He thought his dish was decent and very filling.
Dinner cost $ 41 + change before the tip. Service was friendly if a bit uneven. The manager brought out our main courses and apologized because it wasn’t our server who was bringing us our food. We felt that an apology was unnecessary as the food arrived still hot.
Would we go again? Sure, it’s a good back-​up plan if we can’t have our Cuban sandwiches — or if the weather isn’t cooperating.