Volare - Restaurant in Norman - 315 White St, USA

Ordered via Door Dash. Great dasher, but the vegan pizza came with almost nothing on it. A little bit of zucchini and a lot of fresh arugula and that was about it. Ridiculous for $18!!! The Big Stick is great but the vegan pizza is a joke!

We were excited for an authentic wood fired Neapolitan pizza. Searched that and found Volare. So disappointed. The crust was everything you are not looking for in a pizza crust. It is heavy and soggy. The opposite of what Neapolitan pizza is supposed to be light and crispy with a slight chew. It was just awful. The sauce was not good and the toppings were overly salty. It makes me wonder if anyone here actually cares to taste the pizza they are producing. Norman really needs a great wood fired pizza place. If you are looking for a great pizza save yourself the bad experience and pass on Volare. We had some left over and brought it home to my teenage son. He took one bite and said “man that’s awful”. That is saying a lot because this kid will eat dominos.

Volare has a lot of potential, it really does. The atmosphere was great on a weekday night, everyone on staff was very friendly and the menu looked good with some "gluten friendly" and vegetarian options as well. I could see this being a great place for an intimate date on a weeknight or a fun experience on a game day, but, unfortunately, I found the food and drinks really underwhelming. 

We started with a drink and the Crack Fries, without parmesan to keep them vegan. The fries were good, except they were very thinly sliced and about halfway down the basket, we were just left with hard pieces and crumbs. I had a mojito and it was refreshing, but it felt like it was non-alcoholic. I had another cocktail and it was the same way, very, very light. 

On to the pizza. I ordered the vegan arugula pizza because, well, it was the only vegan option. Based on the description, it could have been great. When the pizza came out, it looked like a pizza crust with a ton of arugula thrown on top and a random shake or two of nutritional yeast. When you picked up a slice, the toppings just slid off the pizza. I struggled to take a bite, as everything fell off the slice. There wasn't much sauce, there was no cheese and the few toppings that were hidden under the arugula were sparse. We're talking like one strip of eggplant, a couple of small mushrooms and yeah. Vegan doesn't have to be boring and I just didn't quite know what they tried to do with this pizza. The dough was good, but it was put together very poorly. 

I do want to reiterate, the atmosphere here was great. Our waitress was very friendly. I just can't see myself coming back since they only have one vegan pizza option that was very underwhelming and the alcoholic drinks were far too light for my liking.

Highly disappointed with how we were greeted at the door. The hostess was rude and acted like we put her out by even being there. She, along with the waitstaff all looked like they rolled out of bed wearing their sloppy sweatpants and t-shirts. I have been to Volare before and had a wonderful experience but last night I was rather embarrassed to have brought my out of town guest here. We had drinks and then left.

I’m going to give this place 3 stars based on the food alone. I wish I could give it 5 because the food is fantastic but let me tell you why they get 3… I’ve gone in 2 different Friday evenings and was told both times it’s about a 2 hour wait. Okay, no problem, there’s plenty of stuff around to keep us busy. We went this past Friday night and decided to again wait the 2 hours. About an hour and a half later we went in and just curiously asked if they had an idea of how much longer, we were told oh after we get the next table clean we should be able to seat you. Great. Go next door to listen to music and enjoy a drink. Go back in about 30 minutes later, several empty tables but also two spots at the bar. We ended up setting at the bar because we still hadn’t got a call. By the time we finished eating it had been 3 hours since we checked in, no phone call that we are going to be seated but all of these empty tables…. It is incredibly frustrating to love a restaurant but the service be so bad.

Fun casual atmosphere. Amazing pizza. Great place to hang out with friends or family in Campus Corner. We split the Gusti pizza. Crust was amazing!

Great aesthetics. Special day deals made it even better! More adult decor and not necessarily a family restaurant. But have thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor patio when the weather's nice up on the 5th floor. The food was delicious and unique in this genre. Service was amazing and super helpful! This is a great local restaurant and amazing staff!

Have not been back since the last time we picked up an order of my favorite pizza, except it was so so salty that we could not eat it. Called them to just replace it. Was talked to as if I was lying to them! Won't be back.