La Vite Ristorante is a great restaurant with even bigger goals.
“I want this Italian restaurant to be in Pittsburgh,” said McCandless owner Eric Capuzzi, 56. “I want everyone to come and have fun and have fun.”
Capuzzi said La Vite, which is located in the No Offseason Sports Complex at 942 Little Deer Creek Valley Road in Russellton, opened April 18 and has begun operations.
Capuzzi said checking the comments and messages on the restaurant’s Facebook page tells the story of how well things went.
“We didn’t have any negative comments,” he added.
The restaurant serves mostly Italian food with a few American style dishes. It also features a full service bar and banquet hall.
“The service is there with the food,” said Capuzzi. Usually, you get one or the other.
“People love it.”
Menu items include pasta, pizza, flatbreads, salads, seafood, hearty burgers and other specialties, such as lasagna and chicken Milanese.
La Vite can seat 384 people, and Capuzzi attributes the restaurant’s early success to its staff, which now numbers 75.
“It’s a great group of people,” he said. “They all work well together, and they all work very hard together.”
No Offseason Sports was looking for a restaurant as a tenant at their West Deer location, and La Vite fit the bill.
Joe Voloch, director of operations for No Offseason Sports, said opening La Vite at the sports complex is a “game changer.” Other tenants in the building include The Barnyard Coffee & Creamery and Precision Physical Therapy and Performance.
No Offseason Sports boasts baseball and soccer fields, and a concert venue is on its way next summer.
“What Eric’s offers is space and atmosphere. The food is great, but we can also cater to people who want chicken fingers,” said Voloch.
“It’s all here.”
Capozzi is a seasoned veteran when it comes to the food service and hospitality industry. He grew up in Canonsburg, and his first job was a dishwasher at Sarris Candies.
His career then took him to various organizations and leadership positions in the restaurant business in New York and New Jersey. “It’s been a crazy ride, and it’s worth it,” Capuzzi said.
“It was really an amazing blessing,” he said.
La Vite is open from 4-10pm from Tuesday to Thursday, from 11am-10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 11am-9pm on Sundays.
Kellen Stabler is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Kellen via email at kstepler@triblive.com or via Twitter .