Cafe Vesuvio is a long standing Italian family tradition in Sanford. The shop was recently renovated and looks really nice inside! Last night we had a Cafe Vesuvio Special pizza as appetizer, two side salads, garlic knots, the special "MamaMia" chicken penne with vodka sauce and a bottle of Montepulciano wine. All was excellent!!! My wife and I spent several weeks in Italy this past fall and tried some amazing food that isn't served in most US Italian restaurants, so it's hard to make a good side by side comparison to Vesuvio's! The Vesuvio pizza is better than the majority of pies we had in Italy. The chicken Marsala and Sorrento are fantastic too. Our server, Brittany was friendly efficient and knew her product. She could actually talk about the food options, family who owns the restaurant (sweet friendly people) and the different wine offerings. It is amazing how much a competent and attentive server can impact a dining experience. Probably the only thing that we'd change about Cafe Vesuvio, would be a nice canopied outdoor dining area to take advantage the beautiful spring and fall weather we get in Sanford. But please don't let that keep you from giving Cafe Vesuvio a try. FYI we frequent Valenti's and La Dolce Vita and all three have standouts in their food and servers!!! We sit at the bar often... Cheyanne at Valenti's is a sweetheart and I think made the recommendation that we try Montepulciano wine for the first time. You should go visit her too!!! read more

Situated in an unassuming old strip mall, I wasn't sure what to expect. Cafe Vesuvio was a surprise! The interior was generic Italian restaurant with lots of comfortable booth seating. Service was friendly & efficient. Food was very good...reminded me of neighborhood places up in NY/ NJ with nonna cooking in the kitchen. This is a nice little gem in Sanford if you're in the hunt for Italian food. read more

Cafe Vesuvio - Gnocchi with meatballs - Italian Near Me - Sanford, North Carolina

See all

I've been here many times before and it's always been good. Today was a different story. We were quickly seated. Our waitress came right over took her drink order and then gave us a few minutes to decide on our order. We placed our order and food was brought out fairly quickly. The rolls she brought out had been sitting for a while before coming to our table. They were cold and tough. Everything on the plate had different temperatures. One vegetable was piping hot yet the food not evenly cooked. The other vegetable I got was the roasted potatoes. These on the other hand were lukewarm and did not have a good taste. They almost tasted like dirt. The other person in my party said the same thing about her food being lukewarm as well. I left over half of the food on my plate. The other person I was with dead as well. Our waitress never came back to check on us until after we had finished eating. There was no routine checks to see how the food was if we needed anything or if we needed refills. When she finally did come up, she did bring refills, at that point I just said check, please. Needless to say I paid $30 for two meals and I left hungry. Another important detail. The restaurant was not busy. Other than my table, there were two other tables that had guests. And those other two tables the waiter/waitress was there every few minutes it seemed like. But our waitress was off in the wind for all I know. read more

We like this place!! They have really great garlic knots. I usually get the fettuccini Alfredo with a Ceaser salad. Both are very good but the Ceaser salad stands out! Last night, my husband got pizza for the first time and we both agreed it's one of the better pizzas in Sanford. Service is good especially on a busy Saturday evening. read more

Cafe Vesuvio - Alfredo - Italian Near Me - Sanford, North Carolina

See all

First time I have ordered here. Was not impressed. I ordered the baked ravioli. There was no seasoning in the pasta or filling. Also the ravioli were really thick and had a gummy texture. read more

Cafe Vesuvio always prepares pasta and pizza that delights the tastebuds! Generally I satisfy my need for Italian food with their Chicken Marsala and actually I am not typically a fan of Marsala cream sauce, but I thought the write up on the special, Portobello mushroom ravioli with a Marsala cream sauce, inspired a mouth watering response so I went for it. It was amazing! The raviolis were tender and silky. The sauce was creamy and flavored better than many Marsala cream sauces that I've had. The carbonara was just as delicious as the times we've had before! Both dishes actually complemented the thee so we ended up sharing. Dinner is always better shared right? Mary took care of us. Well we requested her section as we always do if there's room in her area. She is one of the friendliest people in town! Environment is always great too. Jeremy sat us in a nice area where we could enjoy the evening! We recommend Cafe Vesuvio and always in our top picks when eating out. read more

Cafe Vesuvio - Portobello mushroom ravioli with Marsala Cream a sauce - special - Italian Near Me - Sanford, North Carolina

See all

We had a pizza, it was flavorful, crust was crisp, plenty of toppings. Best pizza we've had since moving to Sanford. Look forward to trying other things on there menu read more

We had not been in since covid, the Ambiance is better than it was. the updates are very nice. Its very family friendly. The food is fantastic!! just as good if not better than i remember! The pasta is my favorite! Service is always good. the hostess is eh read more

Food is always great and the staff is very friendly and helpful. If you are looking for pizza they are the best in town.

White pizza and zucchini fries are so good at this restaurant! Wings aren't bad either.

I have always had a good experience here. And the food is very good. You can tell it's made from scratch. I've been coming here for the last five years. I highly recommend it. read more

I was there today and waited to be seated, young lady came out of kitchen to seat me as the hostess was not at the stand. I was seated and waited, and waited. After 22 minutes and having 2 waitresses pass by me 3 times without a peep, a couple was seated parallel from me. A waitress came to their booth within 2 minutes and took their order. Meanwhile I sit and am ignored. I'm not from the area but have visited this restaurant twice in the last 2 years when in Sanford. We had great service and meals. Unfortunately after being completely ignored for over 30,minutes, I left without anyone saying anything as I walked past 2 employees at the hostess stand. Needless to say I will not return in the future! read more

In the area in the way to western NC and met an old family friend for dinner here. Well, won't do that again at this place. We were seated quickly, and that mostly ended the positives. Drinks were brought and the sweet tea was passable. Our server was great, and prolly keeps this from a one-star review. She let us know that the meals came with garlic knots, so to not order them as an app. She said she'd even bring ours out early as an app, which was perfect. The knots arrived, along with what they called marinara, and neither were good. Not much garlic on the knots, and the marinara was very runny and bland. I ordered the veal parm and mama went with the lobster ravioli. The veal was well-cooked but the tomato sauce was bland like the marinara and the cheese was excessive. Almost like they were trying to hide the veal. My pasta had the same marinara that was with the knots, and just as bland. Mama's ravioli was "OK, nothing special". Our friend is gluten intolerant, so she ordered the Chicken Vesuvio with GF penne, which came out having no flavor, with no seasoning on the chicken and very little in the Alfredo sauce. Luckily, they took that dish off our bill. Ambiance and decor is typical for an Italian restaurant. If we're in the area again, we'll be looking for a better dining option. read more

See all

I will say that the outside of this strip mall restaurant is not very appealing but I had heard the food was good so we tried it. I was with my daughter and two grandchildren (12 & 14). The interior was clean and spacious, but not fancy. Our server was quite nice and helpful, attentive but not hovering. Lots of choices on the menu! We shared three dinners for the four of us, Hawaiian Shrimp, Baked Ziti and Rigatoni Bella Dona, and still had enough for another meal at home! We all had our favorite, but all were really good. We will definitely be back! read more

If your looking for authentic this might not be your place. If your looking for something quick and relatively cheap. Pasta and salad wasn't great but what i expected for the area. Maybe the pizza would have been better. Very quiet, not many people in there on a week night. Service was good. read more

I think Cafe Vesuvio has the best Italian Food in Sanford. When Valenti's opened I tried their food. I still think Cafe Vesuvio beats them hands down. Also, Jeremy is our favorite server. He always anticipates our needs without asking us. I have been waitressing all my life and that's important to me. read more

THIS!!!!!! Cafe Vesuvio is by far the best Italian restaurant in Sanford they were really good before but now OMG!!!!! THEY HAVE STEPPED UP THIER GAME!!!!! TRUST A FAT MAN I WOULD NEVER STEER YA WRONG!!! Everything was on point service , Food omg! , atmosphere try it I do believe you're gonna like/love it! read more

Delicious!! I am from NJ, so I am very picky about my pizza. Great crust and awesome sauce! Loved the garlic knots and calzone as well!! We will be back! read more

Cafe Vesuvio - Italian Near Me - Sanford, North Carolina

Meals are cooked fresh and hot. Two things stand out, the staff is friendly and hard working and the prices are fair. There are not many restaurants in Sanford that stand out like Cafe Vesuvius. The restaurant in clean. Nice place to call your go to for dinner. Will return often read more

Awesome food. Waitress was great. Guy that was the host had the personality of a robot as well as the other male staff. No smiles. No personality. But food was yum. read more

Cafe Vesuvio - Shrimp rice bowl - Italian Near Me - Sanford, North Carolina

My family and I have gone here for as long as I can remember! We pretty much go here every week!!! The food is amazing! We love the pizza and pasta! We usually get pretty good service. Overall I think this is a great Italian restaurant to go when in Sanford! read more

See all

Such nice people and delicious food. Great pizza and great cheesesteaks. I would also highly recommend the chocolate cheese cake.

Only gets one star since I can't give it 0 stars. Went in for lunch today at 1:00, place was busy it seemed. Table behind us was getting service while we were ignored. Went to front counter to ask what was wrong and why they wouldn't take our order after sitting there for 35 minutes. The young lady said she didn't know, I asked her to send the manager but I guess that she either didn't want to help or the manager didn't care because he just walked up to the counter and leaned over like he had nothing better to do. It's ok to be busy and even understandable to be short staffed however, that's no excuse to ignore the people that chose to come to your restaurant to feed their family. read more

I ordered seafood pasta around March 2021 got it Doordash it was so good but me and my 5 year old son got food poison from. This place this restaurant been here for years I was born in this home town so I ate here at least 5 times in my life and that was the first time I have ever been sick from eating there it was so bad we was throwing up on the floor because we couldn't even get up from the toilet because it was coming out of both ends at the same time ...they have good food but be careful what you order read more

The food was sad sorry for you people in NC that thinks that this food is good. I travel a lot and have to eat out all the time but Sanford your restaurants need to improve. read more

Decently fresh salad but the tomato water that passed for marinara was barely edible. Glad there was red pepper on table to give it some flavor at least. Couldnt even get through half of the dinner. Wont go back read more

Great Sicilian pizza and one of the few places in Sanford with fresh mozzarella. Their eggplant parm is great too.

My husband and I have been eating at Cafe Vesuvio for years. He loves the Italian food (it's excellent by the way) and I love the chicken and salmon salads, but they have great subs too. We go at least once a week as they have a good variety of different items on the menu so it's easy to switch things up when we feel like it. I have to say this: If you like chicken noodle soup as much as I do, you have got to try Vesuvio's. It's the perfect comfort food and they make it homemade. It's the absolute best. A big bowl of chicken noodle soup and a salad is is often all I want and need. We not only enjoy the food there but we also enjoy the service. We have always gotten high-quality, consistent service and we have to thank the manager, Mary, for all her hard work. Her friendly, courteous, and professional manner and attitude get our respect every time we visit. The waitstaff is always friendly, respectful, helpful, and well-trained. Thank you, Mary, your efforts definitely don't go unnoticed. Cafe Vesuvio will always be one of our go-to places to eat. We highly recommend it. If you're disappointed with this restaurant, you just don't know when you have it good. read more

Wanting to eat pizza, we decided to stop here. I was taking back when I saw the outside of the building because it doesn't look inviting, but we decided to give it a try after reading so many good reviews. The inside of the restaurant could use some updating but over all it was pretty clean. Staff was friendly; The waitress who took care of us wasn't knowledgeable of the menu and wasn't able to give us a restaurant favorite (big turn off) so we stopped looking and ordered mozzarella sticks and a pizza. Dinner came in pretty fast and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food; mozzarella where good, marinara sauce was on point. Pizza was a perfect way to end our evening. Price was super affordable.We will be coming again! read more

Cafe Vesuvio - 14in Pizza - Italian Near Me - Sanford, North Carolina

I believe that I met the owner, at a social distance of course!! She was very courteous, kind and prompt!! I ordered through Yelp, my order was accurate, fresh, hot and exactly on time!! All of the food seasoned and cooked perfectly!! I got the large stromboli, it had exactly the right combination of meat to sauce ratio. It wasn't greasy or soggy like most seem to get. I was able to get three meals out of it! I ate it for supper that night, breakfast and lunch the next day. I wish this place was local to me but I was out of town for work when we ate here. It was recommended to me by a local when I asked "what was really good to eat around here" (in my best South Kakalaki country twang of course). It worked because I was pointed to this place and damn glad I was! read more

Cafe Vesuvio - Italian Near Me - Sanford, North Carolina

My girlfriend and I have ordered take from this place twice already. The food is delicious. The last time we ordered, I had the the baked spaghetti in meat sauce, she had the angel hair primavera and we shared the caprese. The meal was scrumptious and we even had left overs for the next day. We definitely recommend it if anyone is looking for Italian food in the area. read more

So we recently moved here from Clayton, not a culinary super spot and were having a horrible time finding good food. We are originally from South Jersey where good Italian food and pizza is everywhere. I rate this place with 5 stars because they know the basics of good Italian food. Good sauces and the right ovens are a must. Their regular pizza is good but their white pizza is great. I haven't tried all of their pasta dishes but everything with red sauce is very good including the lasagna. The place sits in a crappy food lion strip store lot and looks like a dump but is clean inside and has good service. I'm thankful to have this undercover gem close by. One more added bonus, the food is cheap. As far as the storefront, who cares? Some of the most famous places for good food look like dumps. I can name a hundred beautiful places that can't boil water right. Go-go Cafe Vesuvio read more

Ugh. This is a hard one to write. I'll start with the food. The food is great. Delicious and flavorful and I haven't had anything bad the two times I've been here. So if you want something delicious this is your place. Now on to what knocked it down ... The first time we went here we had STELLAR service by Anna. She was on top of everything and great with people and we LOVED her. We couldn't understand why the reviews for service were so low... Then we came by yesterday. And now we understand. I won't mention her name here, but the personality and the attention to details were just not there. We didn't even get plates with our pizza and had to use the plates that the appetizers came on due to it being too long before she came around. If we would've gotten this waitress the first time, I probably would've been apprehensive to make the 35 minute drive again. Next time we're back we're asking for Anna. read more

Bacon Cheese fries had an odd taste and fries was hard! Garlic knots was cold and hard! Pizza was ok.... My tea glass stayed empty the entire time I was there, was never checked on until we were ready to leave.... read more

Excellent pizza and calzones. It's our favorite when visiting the area. Closest to NY around.

Food was ok. Had a issue with my receipt, manager was very helpful and willing to give money back.

Wonderful place. Great for families, quality food and premium service. Pizza was incredible!

The food was good the service was good, however, in the middle of the meal the waitress brought the check. It felt like she was trying to push me out the door. When I took my last bite she was asking if I wanted a drink to go. I was not done. I wanted dessert. I replied, "I would actually like dessert." She obliged nicely. I just don't like to feel like I am being pushed out the door. There were 11 empty tables. read more

I have eaten at Cafe Vesuvio plenty of times when we visit my husband's grandmother. Most recently today -- our meal was delicious and the service was amazing. Cafe Vesuvio also catered our rehearsal dinner at Oakland Farm in Bear Creek. I've never had a bad experience and everything has always been delightful. My "old faithful" is the Farfalle Bella Donna (insanely good), but I've also had the chicken piccata and the fettuccine and they were great, too. We had lasagna, chicken piccata, chicken Parmesan, fettuccine, salad and garlic bread for our rehearsal dinner of 70 people and it was all fantastic (and people took leftovers!). This place will always be near and dear to our hearts and we look forward to our meals there every time we visit Sanford. read more

My favorite restaurant in Sanford. 1. The staff is always friendly. 2. Service is always prompt and never any mistakes with any orders. 3. My favorite is the spaghetti and meatballs. Most people like the rotisserie chicken but I'm not a huge fan of it. The Stromboli's and pizzas are pretty good, too. 4. Reasonably priced, my wife and I paid around $28 for 2 lunch entrees, two drinks and an appetizer. Highly recommended. read more