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    Cafe Dolce Vita

    4.6 (59 reviews)
    Closed 11:30 am - 2:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

    Cafe Dolce Vita Photos

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    CAFE DOLCE VITA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Intimate
    Romantic
    Classy
    Upscale

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    Recommended Reviews - Cafe Dolce Vita

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    Rui T.

    We had an amazing experience at Cafe Dolce Vita in Gilroy! From the moment we walked in, the atmosphere was warm and welcoming, the service was outstanding, and every dish was fresh and full of flavor. It's great to see another local restaurant delivering such a wonderful dining experience. If you're looking for a new place to enjoy a delicious meal, I highly recommend giving Cafe Dolce Vita a try. We'll definitely be back! #Gilroy #SupportLocal #CafeDolceVita #GreatFood #ExcellentService

    Salmon with vegetables.
    Tony A.

    A breath of fresh air to downtown Gilroy! When we walked in at 6:15 for a reservation for 8, we were promptly shown to our table. On our way to the table, Aldo stopped me, shook my hand, and welcomed us in! They have done a great job with the interior. It is very warm and welcoming. I had the veal scallopini with lemon sauce and capers. My honey had the salmon (which they blackened for her) that was a super large portion. The food was excellent. For dessert we shared the Spumoni Bomba, and it was the bomba! Lots of great stuff on the menu. We will be back to try other dishes. I know they just opened, but the service was a tad slow. But we will be back!!

    Eggplant pasta- delish!
    Devon F.

    I've been looking forward to the opening weekend f this restaurant. They seemed to have everything dialed in even though they are new. Great service and ambiance and the pasta was delicious. Will definitely be returning!

    Henry M.

    Do I remember this place? OH HECK YES!! A friend on mine recommended Cafe Dolce Vita to me today while I was TKB in Gilroy. Wifey and I stopped in about an hour before they closed (they close from 2 to 5pm then reopen at 5-9pm) As I walked in I was so impressed by decor of the restaurant and how they had everything laid out, simple beautiful. They have both table seating and booth/table seats. Wifey and I were handed a menu with the day's specials listed on the front, we were also handed a wine menu and bread was quickly delivered to our table with an olive oil / roasted garlic and herb dipping mixture. Ok now for the good part: I ordered the antipasto " prosciutto, mortadella, zucchini, Clemente, olives, salami, artichoke, a big ball of mozzarella, and more "$20" I honestly thought that was a typo when they brought us the large plate loaded with antipasto! And the flavor...OH... MY...GOSH!! My wifey was looking at me funny because I couldn't help myself as I was apparently make those mmmmm noises as I was eating. The flavors were just incredible, even the salami was buttery soft. Wifey ordered a double espresso and asked for cream on the side, they brought her warm frost milk! Who does that?!? Just incredible and the coffee was probably one of the best if not the best espresso's I've ever tasted. Wifey ordered their Blue cheese gnocchi in a white sauce "she loved it" how good was it really?? Well I don't like blue cheese at all and I actually like it. "Which says a lot" I ordered the the risotto De Mare special Comes with risotto, clams, shrimp, squid and other fruits of the sea. Now here is where it gets interesting, I have had this dish many times in many different places and it has always come with a red sauce. Not here, the used and olive oil base with wine "and who knows what else " all I got to say was the flavors were light and it was absolutely incredible "not heavy at all" super delicate and incredibly delicious Lastly for dessert we ordered the spumoni ice cream " chocolate, pistachio, and strawberry " with hard shell chocolate. Again soooooooo gooood! The service was also incredible!! Honestly the whole experience was a perfect 10!

    Antipasto- appetizer
    Letty F.

    We were very impressed by their dishes. Will definetly be back! Thank you for the great food, Cafe Dolce Vita!

    The end...profiteroles!
    Anna B.

    Ambience...gorgeous simple yet elegant. Service...from the moment they opened the door early to take a reservation for later in the evening, they set the tone for the welcoming experience. Our server, what an absolute gem. She was friendly, witty, engaging, and totally attentive. Food...exceeded expectations it was so delicious! I had the Vitello Al Limone, and it was absolutely the perfect dish! The fresh vegetables were just right, and I ordered a small side of pasta with olive oil and parmesan which made a wonderful accompaniment, along with my glass of Pinot Grigio of course. You must end the night with some profiteroles and a cappuccino! Molto Bene! Mangia e goditi il pasto!

    John g.

    Maybe one of the best dishes I have ever had. The salmon's special with an amazing sauce. Best of the best.

    The Best!
    Bilha D.

    As an Italian foodie, everything from host to waiters welcoming us in as we sat all the way to the back. Highly recommend making reservations- phone call only . Finally- A true Italian restaurant with great selections of real Italian wines like Barolo! Food - Wow ordered the Beets Salad (shared it) it was a big portion and lots of beet chunks. Delicious . Dinner: Lobster Ravioli's were homemade and exquisite. So creamy and well balanced. My husband had the Veal with Capers in wine sauce. If you like tangy lemon- this is ur plate. Everything was delicious and definitely coming back!!!

    Nancy B.

    My parents took us out to dinner tonight and we have been watching to try Café Dolce Vita for quite some time now. We entered in and the ambience right away is very inviting and bright and beautiful artwork on the walls. Everything looks fresh and clean. The staff is incredible. The owner Mr. Aldo was a blast to speak to and practice my Italian. He is a very kind man that you can tell loves what he does for a living and that is to serve others. He has built an incredible team of people that is running that restaurant like a well oil machine . Our service was incredible. Our servers name was Shelly and she was absolutely amazing Portuguese and Hawaiian right up our alley as we are also Portuguese in Italian she was attentive and was running around working so hard and being such a friendly face to all of her tables it was beautiful to see someone actually enjoy being at their job. Shelley definitely is an asset to this restaurant. We also got to run into an old friend David Leal that I grew up with and my dad hadn't seen him in over 30+ years and it was great to see a smile on my dad's face and have him light up when he saw David and spoke to David about old times and my grandmother. We all ordered delicious entrées. Our favorite was the tortellini with the ham and peas à la Tommaso I believe was delicious. Also, the Basa fish was very delicious and delicate the food menu here is extensive with so many options that are all equally delicious sounding. We ended the night with the cannoli we must have and try cannolis everywhere we go and this was a 10 out of 10 cannoli very authentic delicious and drizzled in Ghirardelli chocolate sauce was incredible. Highly recommend this spot for all of those who want to have a glass of wine speaking of wine. We had the watermelon seltzer. It was absolutely delicious from the bar. Beer and wine available and it was perfect thank you to the staff for making our dinner experience so exquisite. I'll give you my three language languages. I was speaking for thank you the first is my Portuguese roots, which is. "Obrigado" the second is my Italian root Grazie and my Hawaiian roots mahalo thank you in three languages lol

    Sal E.

    I met Aldo for the first time tonight here (even though we lived in Los Gatos 8 years, visited his original restaurant on Winchester Boulevard plus frequented Aldo's Cafe on N. Santa Cruz an abundance of times. Aldo was surprisingly friendly, cheerful, and welcoming (we frequently hear how intense the restaurant business is)!!! Ambiance was outstanding, Brandi was adorable, the food was on point (just as our favorite go to restaurant in the entire Bay Area - Aldo's Cafe is). I was able to get a photo of the appetizer and the dessert - sorry too hungry to take a photo of the entrées!! Wonderful overall experience, so thankful for this place being here. Would strongly recommend and will absolutely return (and will bring family and friends along in the future).

    The Gnocchi in a truffle sauce on the specials menu was very delicious !

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    4 months ago

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    4 months ago

    Best veal sacllopini I ever had in my whole life and I am no spring chicken. It was outstanding. There were 10 of us and we all loved it

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    7 months ago

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    6 months ago

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    4 months ago

    I have had numerous amazing meals. Aldo is great. So happy he brought his restaurant to Gilroy!!!

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    7 months ago

    Morning soufflés are excellent! Only available until 10:30 am. Sandwiches are also very good.

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    5 months ago

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    7 months ago

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    8 months ago

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    7 months ago

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    7 months ago

    Wonderful atmosphere! We just stopped in for lunch but have plans for dinner this week.

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    7 months ago

    I had the salmon which was cooked to perfection! fabulous desserts and great wine selection. Gilroy finally got an upgrade!

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    8 months ago

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    8 months ago

    This is a wonderful venue the food and the service top notch. I really want you to experience one of the best restaurants in Gilroy.

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    8 months ago

    Aldo is great! food and wine are exceptional! The lobster ravioli was incredible! I can't wait to go back to eat something else!

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    8 months ago

    Impressive overall. The service, food. ambiance, Aldo and his team offer a fine dining experience that doesn't disappoint.

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    Louies Lasagna

    Louies Lasagna

    4.5(43 reviews)
    1.0 mi

    It was amazing. We ordered the small pesto lasagna dinner. We had 6 people over for dinner and we…read moreactually had leftovers for one more meal. The meal came with sauteed vegetables, meatballs, salad and garlic bread. Well worth the cost. I don't know where else 6 people can have such a delightful meal for $100. It is going to be my new "go to" for family functions.

    I'll admit it: the cheap person in me almost talked me out of ordering…read more I looked online and saw around $100 for the small dinner, which said it fed 4-5 people. From what I was reading, I thought I was basically getting lasagna and a small salad. My immediate reaction was: "$100? I can buy a Stouffer's lasagna at the grocery store for like $15!" But everyone kept raving about how good the food was. And since I LOVE lasagna, I started shopping around online at other catering and take-home options for six people. That's when I realized $100 really wasn't a bad price after all. So I ignored my inner cheapskate and pulled the trigger. I ordered everything cold and picked it up around 3 PM Sunday to serve at 7 PM. They handed me a big bag full of food, I brought it home, put everything in the refrigerator and honestly didn't even pay much attention to what was actually in there. Around 6 PM, I started pulling everything out to heat it up. This is where I realized I had seriously misunderstood what I ordered. I thought I bought: Lasagna A small salad What I ACTUALLY got: Lasagna A tray of sausage in sauce A tray of garlic bread A tray of vegetables with green beans and peppers AND the salad of my choice, which for us was the cucumber tomato salad. Suddenly my cheap side got very quiet. We had six people for dinner, including ourselves. Remember, I ordered the SMALL dinner that supposedly feeds 4-5 people. Granted, I don't eat a ton and neither does my stepdaughter, but the six of us probably ate only about HALF of everything. Apparently "feeds 4-5" means "feeds 4-5 people, plus whoever happens to wander through the front door." One more thing worth mentioning: the service. Around 6 PM I called because the aluminum trays had aluminum lids and I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to leave them covered while heating them. I'm not exactly competing on Top Chef anytime soon. While the phone was ringing, I basically answered my own question, so I hung up without leaving a message. Within THREE MINUTES, they called me back. I explained why I had called anyway, they answered my question, and I was good to go. That kind of service definitely deserves a mention. So now for the reason you're probably actually reading this review: Was the food good? YES. The lasagna was excellent. Everything that came with it was good, there was WAY more food than I expected, and what originally looked expensive turned out to be a pretty darn good value. My inner cheapskate officially admitted defeat. Definitely recommended. And honestly, the biggest surprise was that the website made the meal sound much smaller than what actually showed up at my house.

    Photos
    Louies Lasagna
    Louies Lasagna - Grilled Veggies

    Grilled Veggies

    Louies Lasagna - Storefront

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    Storefront

    Maurizio's - Burrata con Prosciutto

    Maurizio's

    4.5(1k reviews)
    9.7 mi
    $$

    My husband and I decided to come here on a whim. We were staying in the area for the weekend and…read moredecided to try this place out based on the reviews and we were not disappointed.. well, my husband was with his steak but for me, my meal was absolute perfection! We got seated outside and immediately got the bread with garlic and olive oil. It was delicious! We ordered the calamari as an appetizer and the portion was decent. The sauces were both spicy which we loved! If you're not a spicy person, may not enjoy them. The calamari had an even ratio of rings and tentacles. The breading was light and the calamari tasted delicious and fresh. I decided to go with the Fettuccine al Pescatore and I was blown away by everything about this dish. The pasta was delicious and a very generous portion. The sauce was amazing with a spicy kick. The seafood was a generous amount and tasted fresh and cooked to perfection. As I was enjoying this meal, I looked to my husband and said "this is one of the best meals I've ever had!" My husband got the ribeye steak and it was over cooked. He didn't enjoy it and complained quite a bit as he ate it. I told him to send it back but he just ate it. It took a while to get the server to come back to give us the check. We had to chase him inside the restaurant to pay. Ambiance is very laid back. Small indoor seating space but felt stuffy. Outside seating space with heaters. Outdoor seating was nice especially with nice weather. Saw a lot of locals coming to the spot. I will be coming back to enjoy another delicious meal.

    Food was good, not great. Ordered the special which was a New York steak over penne pasta, and the…read moresteak was overcooked, when I asked for medium rare, I got medium well. Pasta has balsamic vinaigrette over the Gorgonzola cheese pasta, which made the pasta sweeter. Different but I don't prefer it. Bruschetta was ok, the bread was like a crostini, very crunchy! The Rotelle di Parma was very rich, with the abundant cheese. Service was ok. When mentioned a lobster ravioli may be out, it was already out awhile ago! Requested bread twice and was stingy with the garlic. Bummed they did not have aperol spritz. Sat outside which was not the best ambiance, highly recommend to eat inside. Not very elegant outside and no design or decorations to create that elegance appeal. NY Steak Penne Pasta Special $50 - 4/5 Rotelle di Parma $26 - 3/5

    Photos
    Maurizio's - Indoor decor

    Indoor decor

    Maurizio's - Calamari Fritti

    Calamari Fritti

    Maurizio's - Full body red wine  light, not bitter, slightly sweet.

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    Full body red wine light, not bitter, slightly sweet.

    Westside Grill - Fruit salad

    Westside Grill

    4.1(739 reviews)
    1.7 mi
    $$

    Tried this place for the first time on a Friday night. The restaurant was packed, but we were…read moreseated promptly, which was nice. I ordered the steak sandwich, which was a 10/10. My daughter ordered the Gilroy garlic pasta, which was also delicious. My son ordered the mac and cheese from the kids' menu, and my wife ordered the lettuce wraps. The food took a while to come out, but given how busy the restaurant was, that was understandable. Up until we received the bill, the evening was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, that's when things took a disappointing turn. The $19 lettuce wraps ended up costing us $31. During the ordering process, my wife asked our server, Jesus C., how the lettuce wraps came. He explained that she could choose chicken, salmon, or both, with 6 ounces of each. She chose both, not realizing that selecting those options would result in an additional charge. I take responsibility for not specifically asking whether there would be an extra charge. However, I also believe that when a menu item has a listed price and a customer is given additional protein options, the server should clearly explain that choosing those options will increase the price. Simply presenting them as available choices without mentioning an additional charge is misleading and creates an unpleasant surprise when the bill arrives. Unfortunately, a similar situation happened later in the meal. My 4-year-old son ate his mac and cheese very quickly. Jesus noticed and asked if he would like more. I agreed, again because no additional charge was mentioned. We expected to pay the $9 listed price for the kids' meal, only to find that we had been charged $18. I understand that restaurants charge for additional portions and upgrades, and I have no issue paying for something when the cost is clearly communicated beforehand. My concern is that, in both situations, we were not informed that additional charges would apply. Overall, this experience was disappointing. I left feeling like the pricing had not been communicated transparently, which unfortunately overshadowed what otherwise would have been an excellent meal. All that was needed was a simple statement such as, "There will be an additional charge for that." Moving forward, I will certainly make sure to ask about additional charges before agreeing to anything. However, I also believe the responsibility should be on the restaurant to clearly communicate pricing when customers are offered upgrades or additional portions. I will also be contacting Santa Clara County Weights and Measures to ask whether these pricing practices comply with applicable requirements. Update: After posting my review, the manager followed through and promptly contacted me regarding my concerns. We had a productive conversation, and the issue was resolved to our satisfaction. I appreciate the manager taking the time to personally reach out, listen to our concerns, and make things right. While our original experience was disappointing, I'm pleased with how the restaurant handled the situation afterward. That level of follow-through is appreciated and speaks positively to their commitment to their customers.

    Ella was our hostess and made us feel welcomed and brought a lot of positive energy and overall me…read moreand my family enjoyed her presence. The food and the environment was also very welcoming and made the family feel happy and relaxed. The food was outstanding and couldn't ask for anything better we will for sure come back.

    Photos
    Westside Grill - Inside, though we ate outside which was nice on a Sunday

    Inside, though we ate outside which was nice on a Sunday

    Westside Grill - BLACKENED SALMON:  Seared salmon filet, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, mixed greens, champagne vinaigrette Delicious!

    BLACKENED SALMON: Seared salmon filet, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, mixed greens, champagne vinaigrette Delicious!

    Westside Grill - Blueberry pancakes

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    Blueberry pancakes

    Mama Mia Italian Restaurant - Bread with olive oil and garlic

    Mama Mia Italian Restaurant

    3.3(459 reviews)
    9.3 mi
    $$

    We frequently go to mama Mia's, I took my wife there this past Sunday afternoon and we got seated…read moreby our favorite window in front dining room. Blaze was the server, he was excellent and very attentive. We also was fortunate to get the busser Kaiden, he complemented blaze by bringing us the bread and often came to the table to check up on us. Mama Mia's has excellent food but server must be at a higher level than the food. Good service makes the dining experience that much better. Great job Blaze and Kaiden....

    Beautiful! I came to…read moreMama Mia on a Saturday evening for a birthday party. The host booked the entire outside patio area, reserving about 15 tables, the back room for serving food, and space for a live singer and dancing. It was absolutely stunning. The restaurant allowed the host to set up a table for decorations and gifts, with custom decorations on each table too. There is a separate entrance for the outside patio that leads directly to the parking lot. This was nice because it made us feel separated from the rest of the restaurant. The patio area is gorgeous. There are grape leaves and vines covering the walls and ceiling. Even when it's sunny out, the plants provide a nice cover that keeps it shady and cool in there. There is also a pretty fountain where you can see birds taking a bath. It is very picturesque. The patio connects to the ballroom, bar, and restaurant if you need to access any of those things. For this event, the back banquet room was used for the food warmers for buffet-style serving. The entrees were pot roast, chicken marsala, and salmon Genovese. The sides were vegetables, mashed potatoes, sautéed mushrooms and bread. They had an employee carving the meat and serving it for the guests. I was unfortunately a bit disappointed with the food. To me, it all tasted quite bland and flavorless. The meat was tender, but lacked a distinct flavor. The vegetables seemed a little undercooked. There was also a spread of appetizers and drinks set out in the dining area (potstickers, teriyaki meatballs, iced tea, lemon water, and lemonade). I was also not pleased by these. The potstickers were alright - a little spicy and tangy. The meatballs were nice and plump, but I did not enjoy the sauce. The drinks were awful. The lemons used in the tea and water tasted almost rancid. The lemonade tasted like a lemon-scented cleaner. It was clearly made with some sort of powdered flavoring that tasted pretty nasty. For dessert, they served tiramisu and ice cream (spumoni maybe?). The tiramisu was delicious. It was incredibly soft and fluffy with a rich flavor. The service was very impressive here. Servers came frequently to clear dishes and bar glasses. They catered to requests well and brought the dessert plates quickly. They were friendly and served the large party of around 90 people efficiently. I would recommend Mama Mia as a party venue but with the caution that the food served (at least for this specific menu) could be improved.

    Photos
    Mama Mia Italian Restaurant - Ambience

    Ambience

    Mama Mia Italian Restaurant - Mama Mia Masterpiece Pizza

    Mama Mia Masterpiece Pizza

    Mama Mia Italian Restaurant - Ambience

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    Ambience

    Cafe Dolce Vita - italian - Updated September 2026

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