Buona Vita

Physical Facilities: It's a beautiful building with a lot of potential, but the lack of ambience was definitely a distraction. Several of us thought some booths, and candles could cozy it up a bit. I felt a bit exposed b/c it's such a large space with such high ceilings and we were just sitting there in the open. The views were nice enough, with the exception of those horrid SunCrest McMansion monopoly houses purposely stuck so rudely on top of the mountain.

Service: Can we just say "disinterested third party"? Slurping the small amounts of water that melted off my ice cubes every few minutes as the only way to quench my parched throat was certainly not enjoyable for me, nor for the people sitting next to me. Sorry gals! There were only two other tables there during the excruciating amount of time, two hours, we spent there so the excuse is not that they were super busy. I too felt that they would have been perfectly happy for us to all walk out the door and let them get back to whatever it was they were doing that was so much more pressing than...their jobs.

Food: OK. I am not a gourmet chef by any stretch of the imagination. Occasionally I will make a zippy meal like roast in the crock pot, or I'll get all fancy and make BBQ meatloaf or Poppyseed Chicken. Most of the time it's Mac-n-Cheese, Quesadillas, stuff my kids can also make etc. So, when I do go out, I expect to get something of a little higher quality than a dish my 10 year old can throw together, which is exactly what I got at Buona Vita. Spaghetti, mushrooms, peas and a little cream sauce with not a lot of flavor. The dessert was so memorable that I have already forgotten what it was.

Music: The finale of every song became at least 50 decibels louder than the previous sections and had us bursting into fits of laughter every few minutes as our conversations would halt mid-comment while we waited out the 48-measure baritone vibrato song ending.

That being said, perhaps it's just growing pains and I will give them a second chance several months from now when they've had some time to work out the kinks.

Company: I love my friends! We have a fantastic time regardless of ambience, service, or music, and it's always a delight to spend time with them. I can't wait for next month-Ginza, here we come!

Bueno Vita

I was so excited to try this restaurant. I am always on a lookout for a good Italian restaurant; especially in Draper. I have to say my hopes were dashed. My dish was okay, but nothing to write home about. I typically don't salt and pepper my food, but I had to this time to get any flavor out of the dish. The dessert was good, but not good enough to make a special trip.

The service was terrible. The server didn't check on us at all even though we were pretty much the only show in town. I kind of picture all the workers in the back of the restaurant kickin' it and wishing we would get the heck out of there so they could go home. "Maybe if we deprive them of water, they will leave!" Well their ploy worked. We did eventually leave, and we may never come back!

Bueno Vita

Our first venture out as a Diner Club was this week to a new restaurant in Draper called Bueno Vita. My initital thoughts - good bone structure, but needs a lot of work.


I was very excited to try this restaurant. Draper just doesn't seem to have many nice date night restaurants (hopefully as we progress through them with our dinner club I'll be proven wrong). I was very surprised at the lack of ambiance. It's a big open space with no booths, plants, any privacy screens at all.

Food - Some people seemed to like theirs. I had the Gnocchi Bolognese or something like that. The waitress recommended it. Very unimpressive. No special flavors. I could have made it at home with a pound of ground beef and a can of stewed tomatoes. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but I was disappointed. I did LOVE the chocolate cake dessert. I'd stop in and get that to go. Yum.

Service - Wow, this was the biggest problem. My immediate impression is she had to be a relative or friend of the owner. No talent for this at all. Water wasn't filled. Even thought the restaurant was empty except for our table she barely checked in on us.

Birthdays? - A strange funny little quirk of the night. This was my birthday and the ladies were so sweet to inform the waitress. She apparently told them they could do something for my birthday, like a dessert. So as the waitress gives me my check which includes the price of the chocolate cake she simply says "Happy Birthday". That's it. No candle in the cake. Nothing. It was strange.

Interestingly after eating here I had someone else talk to me about their experience and they remarked on the awful service. In there case it was a teenage boy. He told me they had actually remarked that he must be the son of the owner.

All in all, an OK FAMILY restaurant, but definately not the place to take your next date for a romantic little get away.