Your Restaurant Review, LaVolta

As you know, as your Downtown Raleigh Tour Guide, I do my best to keep you fed and updated on all the good menus in the downtown area! On that note: A few friends of mine traveled in from the Apex area for a night of celebration as Chip was about to turn 40, and a celebratory dinner and possible bar crawl was in order. The travelers stayed at the Raleigh Marriott City Center hotel (a review for anther time). I suggested that we meet at LaVolta Restaurant just across the street from the Marriott for a few appetizers before hitting the crawl. Boy am I glad I did. We sat in the bar area with about 10 of us. We ordered appetizers and drank the special drink which was Sangria. This was bit pricy at 8 clams a glass, but the glass was big and concoction was fabulous. I personally only had one and had to switch to Bud Light drafts to keep my wits about me. This Italian restaurant reminded me of something you would find in NY or Chicago, a very warm and comfortable feeling. The owner, who I believe is from NY made you feel right at home and came to the bar area and said hello. The staff was great given my 9 rowdy friends. Food was fantastic (we only had apps.) and the Meatballs ($5.95, two gigantic homemade meatballs) and Bruschetta ($6.95) were to die for. As a tip to you from your Tour Guide, make sure you ask for some bread when ordering the meatballs, you will thank me latter. All in all, this was a fabuous place to start or possibly finish a great night out with friends.

http://lavoltarestaurant.com/menus.html