640537 Wed Jul 29 19:24:24 -0700 2009 1 14 Washington DC & Baltimore Area 0 4902044 My friend and I are in town for a conference being held at the Fair Oaks Marriott this week. We hopped in the car tonight, pulled up restaurants for the Fairfax on the navigation system of the car, and came across Dolce Vita as a listing. In hind sight, we should have eaten at Five Guys down the street and called it a day. Our service was HORRIBLE (I'm not one to normally type in all caps but in this situation it is warranted). The bread that was brought to the table initially seemed stale b/c it was really hard on the outside to the point that it started to hurt my jaw while chewing. When I asked the waiter to bring another batch of bread out b/c of this, he looked offended and then annoyed and tried to argue with me. I smiled and insisted upon a new loaf. The next one was much better, fresh out of the oven and much softer. I asked him if there was olive oil to dip in the bread instead of the pre-packaged butter packets that were already on the table before we were seated. He again looked offended, brought over a bottle of oil, wanted to pour it directly on the loaf of bread. When I asked for a plate, he rolled his eyes, walked to the back, and then got another bread plate. At this point, my friend and I should have just walked out of the restaurant. The food was mediocre at best. We ordered an antipasto type appetizer. What came out was a pre-arranged and refrigerated plate of grapes (yes, you read correctly), 4 tiny kamalata type olives, 3 huge green olives, huge wedges of low quality parmasan, some slivers of stale provolone, 1 half slice of proscuitto, and 2 thin slices of salami-esque meat. All this for 13$. We left over half of this small plate uneaten. For entrees we ordered spaghetti and meatballs and the cavatelli special w/aurora sauce. The cavatelli came and I swear it looked just like Chef Boyardee's Beefaroni. There were maybe 5 small nuggets of 'ground veal and beef'. It was cooked al dente but after a few bites, it hurt my jaw to chew it (notice a theme?) I actually would have preferred to open a can of pre-processed pasta in a generic tomato sauce to the $15 dish that was presented in front of me. My friend did enjoy her spaghetti and meatballs though. I would high recommend AVOIDING this place. Our meal, including 2 glasses of wine, was over $60 and we couldn't leave there fast enough. The server along w/the over-priced and very mediocre food both left a bad taste in our mouths. Wed Jul 29 19:24:24 -0700 2009 27873 gyp7318 1 4902735 This place is very popular but I've never been a big fan. Seems too expensive for what you get and it's not the most comfortable place to dine either. I'd rather get old-school Italian down the road at The Esposito's. Thu Jul 30 06:32:29 -0700 2009 4902044 12829 Bob W