Vivante Restaurant & Bar

Great tacos Friendly staffNice dining area Prices are pretty good tooI recommend you try Pavo taco

My boyfriend received a call with great news so we decided on an impromptu celebratory date night, I've had Vivante bookmarked for a while and it's right down the street from my place so it was an obvious choice. We did make a reservation and noticed that they have a $50 cancelation fee (yikes!) but it didn't matter b/c we didn't plan on canceling!Vivante is located in the bottom of the beautiful Carmichael hotel, we did not see anyone at the host stand so we started to walk in where we were promptly "stopped" by Noelle with a, "Can I help you?". Yes, that was the first thing out of her mouth - not a "Welcome to Vivante!", not a "Table for 2?", it's a Thursday night and the establishment was pretty empty besides someone at the bar and two taken tables - that interaction, very much worried me we would have a poor experience but nonetheless, we advised her we had a reservation. She asked us if we had a seating preference and lead us to a nice window spot. Our server Aimee, was nice and attentive to our needs, and staff made rounds clearing tables of empty plates/glassware throughout our visit.We were provided a complementary chilled shrimp to clear our pallets, it had a spicy dipping sauce that paired well.I had a Black Manhattan that I'm sure caused a hair to grow on my chest and my boyfriend had a Lazy River. For our entrees, he went with the NY Strip and since I have a smaller appetite, I decided on combining the Crab Cakes and Brussels Sprouts appetizers. Our food was absolutely delicious! A huge compliment to the kitchen, we were very impressed!

Had lunch here with a girlfriend and it was delicious. We both got the Power Bowl with no onion and I did get the egg scrambled. The Mrs Claus cocktail was so good and is only available in this restaurant in the hotel. (Seasonal). The food was fresh and had a nice presentation. It's a quiet and relaxing space with an area to sit at the bar.The hostess was very sweet and our waitress was pulling double duty with servicing and make our drinks.

We came here for dinner before a concert at the Palladium. The outdoor patio was lovely. Everything else was really just okay. Nothing was terrible, but for the price, it was a bit disappointing.Our server raved about the Caesar salad and said it was so popular that they only had 4 left. I like to trust server recommendations, so we went for the Caesar salad. It was a totally average Caesar salad. Then I thought about the fact that we were there at 5:15 on a Thursday. They literally just opened. Why did they only have 4 Caesar salads available for the rest of the night? My husband said, "Oh, do your food deliveries come on Fridays?" And the server said yes. So we felt sort of conned into ordering the last of their oldest salad. For entrees, I ordered the scallops and my husband ordered the duck. Both came with risotto, and both risottos were in desperate need of salt. My husband's duck was okay, but not great. The skin was fatty & chewy, not crispy. I was a bit concerned about my scallops because they were super fishy-smelling, but they tasted fine. The description mentioned a chili oil, which I had thought would be a drizzle, rather than the puddle of oil that was drowning my risotto. I had a simple question about one of the dessert drinks (What is the seasonal "cello"?) but the server didn't know, and it took so long for her to come back with the answer that we no longer had time for anything else because we needed to get to the show. This restaurant reminded me of a wannabe Provision (down by Ironworks). The food seemed similar, and similarly priced, but not nearly as good. I would come back here for drinks before a show (They had really unique & tasty cocktails.), but not for a full "upscale" dining experience. This last point will not matter to most people, but I do expect upscale restaurants not to have blatant punctuation errors on their menus. Misused apostrophes are a huge pet peeve of mine, and there was an unnecessary apostrophe on the menu. (Yes, I'm an absolute nerd, but I know I'm not the only one. Stop using apostrophes in plurals!)

Me and my fiancé came to celebrate 365 days till our wedding which is at Hotel Carmichael so had to try out vivante. We loved how small and quiet the atmosphere was. I started with their famous lady Ella cocktail and loved it. My fiancé said their old fashion was very good.The crab cakes were amazing and paired well with the sauce.I asked the server if she recommend the salmon or scallop dish and she recommended the salmon dish because you get more bang for your buck which I appreciated her being honest about.The salmon dish they had this month was paired with the asparagus risotto which was refreshing. My second cocktail I got was the red Astaire which I liked at first but it did not pair well with the salmon. My fiancé tried it and said it reminded him of a jolly rancher which ruined my appetite for it.The desert was amazing also. We were going to the theatre nearby for a show after dinner so asked for the check 30 minutes before the show started and it took them 20-25 mins to finally get us the check because they had a big private party.

Vivante is located on the first floor (or bottom level) of the Carmichael. I'd recommend parking in one of the garages and walking over. A fair warning if you're unsure about the dress code - the ambiance is extremely nice. It's quiet and sophisticated and definitely tailors to a higher class audience. It was pretty empty for a Friday night. The live music outside was a nice touch and I'd love to go back to enjoy the patio, but it was too windy on this day. The service was great and she was super professional and poised. I had a glass of rose and the halibut with asparagus. The rose was smooth and slightly sweet - loved it. The halibut was AMAZING. The dish mixed chickpeas and cauliflower and tomatoey broth with a perfectly cooked piece of fish. I'd get it again and recommend it to anyone that goes. Overall this is a very nice restaurant with an older clientele ambiance just from how upper scale it is. Great food and service!

Always an excellent breakfast at Vivante located on the bottom floor of the Hotel Carmichael. You have the choice of sitting inside or outside and both are comfortable. We've visited this hotel restaurant several times and I always order the same thing - lemon ricotta crepes. The full brunch menu also includes traditional egg dishes, plus lunch menu.

This is my second time coming here to eat brunch--the first was the morning after staying in the Hotel Carmichael for a wedding. The food wasn't great, not super flavorful but I was also hungover so I gave it a second chance. The second time coming here was over a year later and the service was terrible--honestly we were treated like we didn't belong there and waited forever for service (with reservations). The staff didn't seem educated on their menu and the food was very bland. Of course, the dining area is stunning, but I probably won't come back. The price was as expected, but the food and service for the price wasn't worth it. We also didn't have an actual server and whoever was available came by which just made the experience even worse. Honestly if you're in the area, I'd recommend trying somewhere else, even if staying in the hotel.

We had the best dinner at Vivante at the Carmicheal hotel Friday night! The food was great. The serve was excellent. Brooke, Gabrielle, Aimee, and Olivia went out of their way to make sure we had an enjoyable evening!!! They get 5 Stars out of 5 from us.

Brought out wrong food, took forever to serve us. The food was not great & overpriced. But they had good drinks and dessert!