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.