PORTAGE PARK — La Dolce Vita Cucina wants to bring the sweet life to Portage Park.
The Italian restaurant will offer fine-dining, live jazz and homemade gelato. It is taking over the former Foundation Tavern & Grille building, 5007 W. Irving Park Road, which has been empty since February 2023.
David Roa, one of the restaurant’s owners, said the crew hopes to open in early October.
“There isn’t really anything like this in the neighborhood,” Roa said. “We wanted to bring something new to the area.”
La Dolce Vita Cucina owners David Roa, Left and Gumaro Rivera, right. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club ChicagoThe Sweet Life
Roa has been dreaming about La Dolce Vita for years.
Roa met his co-owners — Fernando Cruz, Gumaro Rivera and Robert Munoz Ramos — through his work as a banker. Cruz, Rivera and Munoz Ramos all worked at an Italian restaurant Downtown, and Cruz and Rivera were Roa’s clients.
“One day, I mentioned that it’s always been a dream of mine to own a restaurant,” Roa said.
The four men first started talking about opening their own restaurant four years ago, but their search took a pause when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Roa said. Earlier this year Cruz, who lives nearby, saw the “for lease”‘” sign on the West Irving Park Road storefront.
The building came equipped with an impressive bar, a stage and ample seating.
La Dolce Vita Cucina as seen on Sept. 20, 2024. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
Cruz has worked in restaurants since he was a teen, starting as a dishwasher and working his way up to the kitchen. Cruz and Rivera will be La Dolce’s chefs. The menu will include steak, seafood, fresh pasta, salads, tiramisu and more.
Roa has ample business experience, and Munoz Ramos is the expert behind the bar. La Dulce Vita will offer an array of wines, draft beers, house-made sangria and signature cocktails, including a drink called the Coco Jerry, which features a gelato sorbet, Munoz Ramos said.
La Dolce Vita’s pasta and gelato will be made in-house, and the owners plan on stationing a gelato cart outside the restaurant. Kids 10 and younger will get free gelato, Roa said.
Roa plans on using the stage to host live jazz and said the space will be available for rentals.
“We want to create a nice, family-friendly ambiance with good food and good drinks,” Roa said.
For Cruz, La Dolce Vita, which means “the sweet life,” is just that. After working in restaurants for two decades, Cruz is excited to have his own place, he said.
“I just have a passion and a love for food,” he said.
La Dolce Vita Cucina’s owners hope to turn the backyard into a landscaped patio. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
Eventually, the team wants to transform the restaurant’s backyard into a landscaped patio with grapevines and a small water fountain, Roa said.
La Dolce Vita will be open 11 a.m.-10 p.m Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. Sundays.
To contact the business, email info@ladulcevitacucina.net.
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