Reviews Vito's Restaurant Clarens

Great Italian restaurant in Clarens. Beautiful view and it is nice and cosy sitting close to the fire on cold winter evenings. Can be difficult to get a reservation over the weekend, but you can go around 5 and finish by 7 then everyone is happy.

Had a quick lunch here after visiting the Golden Gate park. There were 10 of us at the table. Service was friendly, efficient and fast and everyone was happy with their meals. The ambiance was 60s 70s theme, very pleasant. It was a cold day outside but inside, the fireplace kept us nice and cozy. I highly recommend this place.

Food was well presented and delicious. It was prepared in a considerable amount of time.

Inside is pleasant surprise. Best Pasta I have had in a long time. Great meal from the Prawn starter to the prawn and chicken pasta in a delicious tomato based sauce. Keep up the good work guys

As you are all aware there are a lot of restaurants in Claren's finding a good one is very easy, but let me tell you the staff at Vito's they really know how to make one welcome. And the food was of a good standard. I will only be telling two people about Vito's, the people I know and the people I don't know.

We had a lovely time at Vito's. Our pizzas were excellent and the service was quick and efficient. I had a local craft beer which was really good.

Friday night, 26 February, was the night before the Clarens Beer festival and the town was heaving. In fact it was more than heaving. It was beyond full. We arrived in town a little after 8pm. Late, as we'd been detained at our guest house longer than we'd anticipated. No problem, Clarens is used to managing a full crowd"", we thought. "we'll just walk around the square until we find a restaurant with a empty table"Well we didn't for a while anyway. And when we did we'd first be assured we could sit, only to be told ten minutes later that they weren't taking any more bookings. Clearly most joints don't cope with a busy night. Or prepare for it. By chance we came across Vito's Ristorante. They were heaving but, both the waiter on the pavement and then the manager behind the bar, despite both being overly rushed and pressured, smiled and said Ït will be a wait but come in and have a drink and we will find you a table and we'll take your order if you wait an hour or so". Honest, upfront, welcoming and specific. What more could one ask for? As it happened we were given a table for four almost immediately, drinks were forthcoming and we got through at least three lovely bottles of red while we waited. And a couple of drafts. But so what? We were comfortable, enjoying the buzz and content to wait the time out. Miriam, our waitress, was lovely. We did wait over an hour before we ordered, but that was exactly the time frame we'd been given so no complaints there. The food was lovely: focaccia to nibble on while we waited and despite the kitchen being super busy, carpaccio and the steaks especially so - fillet and the sirloin perfectly cooked as ordered - and the Jack Daniel sauce (and the specifically requested mustard) especially so! The point of all this is that restaurants CAN make a difference, even when they're so busy that they're splitting at the sides. If they really want to. Too many places we visited in Clarens seem to have got arrogant and disdainful of visitors. As if they're busy enough thank you and don't need any further inconvenience. If that's so then why advertise Clarens as a tourist destination? Vito's Ristorante had absolutely none of that "Can't you see we're full?"attitude or "Go away, we're too busy for you"disdain that we found at the earlier three locations. They pulled out the stops, were realistic and honest about expectations AND delivered. To the waiter who first used his initiative on the pavement, to the manager - harassed but ready to help - to our wonderful waitress: Well done! We enjoyed spending a LOT of money with you on Friday night. We'll be back. PS - besides the warm welcome and superb service, their food's pretty damn good too! Did I mention that? ;-)

Very friendly staff, food was nice although the kitchen service was a tad slow, but then again, it's Clarens and who is rushing :)