La Viola Bistro Restaurant in Philadelphia

Name: La Viola Bistro
Address: 253 S 16th St Ste A, Philadelphia, United States
Telephone: 12157358630
Rating: 4.0

Owner not registered

La Viola Bistro

Reviews

#2305 From 4285 in Philadelphia

8.0

442 Review

Ambience

8.0/10

Food

8.0/10

Interior

8.0/10

Prices

8.0/10

Service

8.0/10

More details

Price & Cuisine

$$ Italian

Establishment type

Restaurant

Dietary Restrictions

Vegetarian Friendly, Gluten Free

Information

+12157358630

253 S 16th St Ste A, Philadelphia, United States

Get direction

Website La Viola Bistro

About

After a walk around Romanian Folk Art Museum, many visitors stop by this restaurant. Immerse yourself in outstanding Italian cuisine here. At La Viola, you may order perfectly cooked grilled squid, garlic shrimps and lobster ravioli. Nothing can be better than tasting good gelato, tiramisu and chocolate cakes. Delicious marsala, white wine or liqueur will make your meal even more delicious and you'll certainly come back. It's time to degustate great chocolate frappe, cappuccino or tea. At this place, you can celebrate any event: a wedding, anniversary or birthday party. The creative staff works hard, stays positive and makes this place great. The spectacular service is something these restaurateurs care about. Prices at this spot claim to be fair. The beautiful decor and quiet atmosphere let clients feel relaxed here. 4.2 is what this restaurant received from the Google rating system.

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Katherine

Source:

4 months ago

FANTASTIC- this was the experience I’ve been looking for in Philly. Quaint restaurant with fantastic food, excellent service- owner came over to us multiple times to personally offer us help- and they let us hang out and talk at our table as long as we pleased. Did not feel rushed at all. BYOB!! We got the squid ink pasta with calamari and the NY strip steak special. Fantastic home cooked Italian meal. Adding this place to my list of favorites!!! Service Dine in Meal type Dinner Price per person $20–30 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5

Paula Taylor

3 months ago

Checked out this cozy BYOB for the first time. I immediately felt right at home. Our server Anthony was knowledgeable about the menu and was appropriately engaging. It was clear that each dish was made with fresh ingredients and great attention to detail. This restaurant is added to my short list of Philly favorites. Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5

Joaquin Delmar

A week ago

This is the worst restaurant in Philadelphia by quite some distance. The food is so beyond bad, it is criminal what they charge you for what you are eating. Please stop going here and giving this place business. The pasta is over-cooked. Sauces are splitting. The seafood isn’t fresh. The plates aren’t authentic. There is so much better Italian food in this great city. All of the desserts taste like they have been refrigerated for weeks. None of the salad are fresh. Seriously, do not go! Cancel your reservation. This place stinks. Food: 1 Service: 1 Atmosphere: 1

austin azcano

2 months ago

They charge $24 for TWO pieces of ravioli, couple pieces of gnocchi and couples pieces of pasta …. What a disgrace , stealing money from the people AND the food is very mediocre, nothing special. Portions are TINY and when you bring it up all they say is “want to add a side” … which is $8 by the way. I would NEVER come back . Service is good though. Service Dine in Meal type Dinner Price per person $20–30 Food: 2 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 2

John Meat

5 months ago

I had a delicious lunch here, it was restaurant week. Spinach gnocchi w salad. Bread. I tried two of my aunt and Uncle's dishes. Also very delicious. Broke diet in a big way with the tiramisu. Ate half my aunts tartuffo as well, she asked me. I couldn't let it just melt. Located in center city. I love how you can tell the building has been there. La Viola makes the spot cozy. I will miss the greater PHL area and this spot. Cheers. Service Dine in Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Recommended dishes Tiramisu Cake

Maralin Blistein

A month ago

We were here during restaurant week, knowing it was only a 4-out-of-5 star restaurant, but seriously, I could have made the arugula salad myself - it tasted like it fell out of a bag - and there was nothing special on it or in it, I couldn't taste any dressing. My steak did have a nice buttery flavor but was truly and unbearably tough; I could have sent it back, but wasn't confident anything else would they served would be an improvement. My husband's lobster ravioli lacked lobster, I would almost bet on it. It tasted like potato. I was grateful and relieved that the Tiramisu was exactly what I hoped it would be, nothing better, nothing worse. I don't know, maybe they shouldn't do Restaurant Week. I never think about leaving bad reviews, but unfortunately I couldn't let this one go. Service Dine in Meal type Dinner Price per person $30–50 Food: 2 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Recommended dishes Tiramisu Cake

Matt Perry

The hostess rudely asked us to leave only 5 minutes after we received our check, because there were other guests waiting. We still were finishing our glasses of wine. At that point it was 6:28 PM, less than one hour after our 5:30 PM reservation time. I could understand if we had been there for a long time (90+ minutes) but one hour is reasonable. It was very frustrating to feel rushed and unwelcome. The food was just ok - nothing spectacular and not worth the loud atmosphere or poor service. I won’t be back. Service Dine in Price per person $20–30 Food: 3 Service: 1 Atmosphere: 1

hiba hamid

A year ago

Terrible experience, with racial and religious discrimination! I went with a group of my friends (all hijabis) and we were placed in a separate room, that was closed off from the rest of the restaurant. I specifically had booked a reservation for La Viola West, but only after we had all finished our meal, we were told that we were in La Viola East, which only accepted cash. We were not informed of this beforehand. Additionally, the food did not taste good (except for the dessert) and we felt very hurt by the entire experience. Do better!!! Service Dine in Meal type Lunch Price per person $30–50

Ryan Diehl

I had a mostly positive experience but a few things left me feeling put off. I'll start with the positive... the food was good (not amazing), basic in it's preparation, presentation and flavors. But I find that often, simple food can be some of the best. The service was good (not great), ample but not particularly personal, special or friendly, very robotic. The issue that was very off-putting to me was an atmosphere and booking issue. I looked at pics of both locations (across the street from each other) online and specifically chose and made a RESERVATION for La Viola WEST because of the atmosphere and ambience as compared to the Bistro. When arriving at La Viola West we found a sign on the door that said "we are open across the street". So instead of sitting in a charming restaurant, we were sat in what reminded me of my grandparent's living room. See pics of the difference below. The restaurant should not give the option or illusion that you're able to choose a location if you are not, it's misleading. And we were given no explanation or apology. The tiramisu was really good. Service Dine in Meal type Dinner Price per person $30–50

Rana Seoudi

RACIALLY MOTIVATED TREATMENT AND BAD FOOD. Me and my friends went to lunch for restaurant week that we had reservations for. As soon as we walked in (a group of hijabis), the host said we were getting seated somewhere else. We had to walk out and into another dining room that was completely empty and we were sat in the very back. Mind you, the main dining room had plenty of room to seat us, and our reservation was made days in advance. This is supposed to be a nice fancy restaurant, the area we were sat at had folding chairs and tables with a table cloth on top. Aside from the treatment, the food was very bland and the texture was weird. If I could give them 0 stars, I would. Service Dine in