Vittorio De Roma

After many years, this place recently closed. It will be replaced by another Italian restaurant around the end of November called Luigi’s.

Great jazz music! The time I went there they had a man taking song requests. I heard they have musicians often. It’s a very casual low key kind of place. Great ambiance for a casual Sunday night outing.

We loved this place — my daughter had her high school graduation dinner here — but… V de R just closed up shop…

Shock! They just announced they are closing down this week — a great loss to the NW suburban Italian Restaurant scene

I decided to try this restaurant based on Unilocal’s reviews and it steered me wrong. 4 out 5 stars is very misleading. The atmosphere is definitely middle aged people still trying to party. I was confused by it. Wasn’t sure if I was at a restaurant or middle aged bar. There was no place to sit where you can actually talk or hear the people at your table. The menu was the most basic menu I’ve ever seen. I felt like anyone can cook any of this at home. Nothing special. Which would’ve been fine if it were delicious. First off how can a real Italian restaurant have horrible bread? The bread is such an important part. It was horrible. A dish like gnocchi with vodka sauce, which I requested because just with marinara sauce, I could do at home. I’m no chef, but they served the soggiest gnocchi ever. I barely touched it. And the waitress was just weird. Hard to explain. She wasn’t we’ll put together and all she said was that she was sorry I didn’t like it as she handed us the check. Needless to say, I’ll never return or recommend this place. unless you’re middle aged and feel like checking out the bar. But not for good or service. I think Olive Garden has better taste, in all areas. Food, presentation, service, portions and class.

My husband and I live in the neighborhood and we planned on eating here for a while. So, after reading the good reviews we finally decided to try it. The truth is, it’s gonna be a one time experience.
First of all, the ‘welcome’ could be way nicer. I don’t need confetti when i’m entering a restaurant, but seriously a smile is not too much to ask for… The waiter, Herman, was ok, but that’s all. Even if previous reviews lauded the service so much, we can’t confirm that at all. Smiling is obviously not a big thing in there. The food was good. Not outstanding, but decent.
The environment is sad and outdated. .
My conclusion is: if we gonna spend as much money on a nice Saturday dinner, we’ll go somewhere we’ll be appreciated and nicely welcomed, combined with a pretty surrounding and great food. No need to spend the money at this place…

So here I am, a city dweller forced to head out to the suburbs for the night to see a friend in town. As we all do so often, I turned to my fellow Unilocalers for guidance. As evidenced by my 4 star review, they did not steer me wrong. The food was delicious and not too heavy and the service was excellent. Stay away from the chains and try this place out!

This is a little hidden gem in the Palatine area. The food is delicious. Ask them about some of their special entrees as those are always something exceptional. I always end up eating a third and taking the rest home as the portions are really large.

Descent Italian place … Descent food … Good service… Overall nice place for dinner events…

Great bread with oil. All four of our dinners were flavorful and a good value. Friendly, knowledgeable service. The owner stopped by to check on us.
A nice friendly place, with good food and tasteful décor.

Booked a room here for my friend’s engagement party, and could not have asked for a better combination of service, great food and accomodations. The ambiance was perfect for the occasion– warmly lit, and they provided a U-​shaped table setup which was what I wanted. The server did a great job throughout the whole night and was very patient with us. I reserved the place sight unseen and based purely on reviews and pictures, and have no regrets whatsoever.

I used to think my favorite local Italian place was Francescas, but this place is less crowded, better food, better prices. Can’t wait to return!

Dined here for the first time tonight. I am used to Italian food such as RoSal’s on Taylor and Carmine’s on Rush and have to say I was very impressed with this place.
— Most of the menu, if not all, seems to be made in house: dressings, breads, pastas… I love that.
— The Foccacia bread is AMAZING!!! They use FRESH grated cheese as their condiments… which is not as powdery (think Kraft Parm) and also tastes great!
— Fully stocked bar and Espresso drinks
— we were here before the dinner rush and the staff was attentive and answered any questions we had
What we ordered:
Sausage and Peppers: full of flavor (thinly sliced of garlic, chopped basil, medley of green and red peppers) — I was surprised to see the peppers and sausage already chopped, but the taste was great.
Chicken Parm in Vodka sauce — boyfriend seemed to enjoy it
Chicken Marsala — Mushrooms were thinly sliced, sauce had good flavor, it didn’t look like they dredged the chicken in flour and fried it before cooking it in the sauce, but overall good. Comes with a side of veggies and pasta
Kids size pasta alfredo with shrimp — My daughter LOVED this.
Dessert tray looked fantastic, but I was too full to even try anything.
I wouldn’t mind coming back to try out their cocktails.

We went for dinner today. Asked for outdoor seating. They sat up a table right at the front by the sidewalk facing the parking lot. Not a great location or a view. But love the fact that we were able to enjoy the lovely weather.
Food was average but service was excellent. Very friendly.

The service was amazing. The staff was attentive, friendly and informative. Our waitress, Dawn, had a vast knowledge of not only the food menu, but the wines as well. We came with friends and all 4 of us loved our food.
This place seemed to get a lot of mixed reviews on Unilocal,but do yourself a favor and check this place out.

Three stars and here is why:
I really liked this place and would certainly come back, hands down. There were just a few things that led me to rate the way I did.
First of all the food is very, very good. We had fettuccini Alfredo with spinach pasta and ziti with carbonara and accidentally began scarfing when the food came. Certain dishes feature pasta made in house (like the fettucini) which I think is very cool.
We also ordered a nice Chianti off their wine list.
Our server was funny, polite and knowledgeable, he certainly had a rehearsed spiel but we we’re glad to have him. It seemed to be only him for a while which was a bit peculiar. We dined in the back room which somewhat felt like the dining room of someone’s house, which may or may not be a bad thing, it depends on what you’re into. I guess this is why I docked a star, I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was for me, perhaps it was just the set up of our table; I was looking out at other diners and my gf was staring at a wall, although she did have the best view of all facing me (I had to).
The only other reason I dropped a star was for the dishes. The first few plates never got cleared until the entres arrived and then it was an awkward shuffle to make room. I guess there was an issue with the busser (busboy?) so that might be an item they are already addressing.
Overall, I had a very nice time, drank a good wine and had an excellent dinner (and lunch the next day) we’re both looking forward to the day to come back and bring our relatives.
And if you have read some of my other reviews, we had a groupon here too so keep your eyes peeled for those.

Decent menu offerings, but the execution in cooking steak and lamb is lacking.
Wine list and cocktail offers are also lacking in quality and creativity.
Your appetite, wallet and time is best spent elsewhere.

We’ve talked about trying Vittorio de Roma several times (because we learned they make many of their own pastas) but just never got around to it. So a Groupon happened to pop up the other day and my husband and I figured what the heck? We tried it last night and I was pleasantly surprised! We started with the carnevale italiano (prosciutto, mozzarella, and roasted peppers) which was yummy. I wished there were some roasted tomatoes along with the peppers though! My husband then had a salad with balsamic vinaigrette which he said was nice, and I had the minestrone. I think that was my only misstep with the meal as the soup was pretty flavorless.
For our entrees we had the four cheese ravioli and the fettuccine, both of which have house made pasta. I was really happy with my fettuccine which had a light cream sauce, peas, and prosciutto. It was so satisfying and the pasta was well cooked. I honestly can’t wait to eat it for leftovers today. I tried a bit of the ravioli and was happy I ordered the fettuccine, but my husband really loved it. We were too stuffed for dessert, but it definitely looked good.
We will definitely be back!

I just want to preface this review by saying that the food is great. Really I haven’t found any Italian place that has been able to rival the quality of food they put out. The quality of service on the other hand, was a bit lacking.
My boyfriend and I, in our mid-​20s, came here on a Friday night with a reservation. We were seated immediately, but our table was basically in the middle of a doorway. The restaurant is split into 3 rooms, one being the bar and the other 2 are basically a main dining room split in two by french doors. I’m sure they do private parties and end up closing the doors but when there are no parties I don’t see why they would think to put a table in a doorway, it’s just plain uncomfortable.
Our server also waited on the table next to us which was a group of middle-​aged women and I would say that he spent three times as much time with them as he did with us. Granted there were more of them but in general he seemed to have a sunnier disposition with them while we seemed to be a thorn in his side.
I ordered the caprese salad, which is still the best caprese I’ve ever tasted and the steak. My meat was well seasoned and cooked perfectly and the vegetables were incredibly cooked as well. The quality of food made the less than wonderful service, at the very least, tolerable.

F@%#KING AMAZING!!! I can’t even stress how awesome our meal was. My wife and I lived about 3 minutes from VDR for 3 years and never went. Always talked about it, but it just never happened for whatever reason. We knew as soon as we decided that this was the night that we would have regretted not going for the last few years, but I digress.
The other night I wanted a hole-​in-​the-​wall Italian joynt that I could rock some oil, parm and bread and just kick back, glass of wine, etc. Our waitress was unbelievable. I’m spacing on her name, but just the best. My wife and I were both torn between a couple things and the waitress gave her opinion, we followed and seriously I had one of the best 3 meals in my entire life.
We started with the calamari. Felt like a safe choice, which it is, but also hits the spot. Calamari was perfect. So soft as I bit through. Not heavily fried or breaded. Nice and light. Cocktail sauce was rocking. Solid starter. From there it went as followed.
Seared scallops w/​roasted red peppers in a white wine, garlic, olive oil herb sauce. Side of veggies and mashed potatoes. Let me just say that the first bite was just out of this world. I really couldn’t believe it. I enjoyed my entire plate probably as much as any one meal I’ve ever had. There are a few that stick out, L-​Woods, Malnati’s that first time in a little while. Anyways, my wife was steered towards the spinach fettuccine alfredo w/​capers and peas i believe. The fettuccine was fresh made spinach pasta. It really just melted in my mouth. Like, «Holy Crap, I can’t believe we haven’t been coming here for years» melt in my mouth.
Even the broccoli was cooked perfectly. Just the right amount of crisp. Like unbelievable. I was just more astonished as we went along.
Our fantastic waitress brought out the dessert tray. We’re normally not dessert-​type people, but it had all just been so good. She then recommended this apple pie puff pastry with french vanilla ice cream. Seemed simple enough. I mean, how hard could it be to make this pretty decent? Well, let me just say that the first bite and I’m really not exaggerating here as this has only happened to me twice before in my life. Once was Malnati’s and the other was this amazing Sara Lee Chocolate Chip muffin in my second year of college. Long story. So, first bite was as follows; cut the pastry with my fork making sure to get enough apple filling along with pastry, then took about half a teaspoon of the ice cream, placed it on top of the pastry pie and it felt as if I was eating God’s tears at that very moment. The single best bite of any one thing at any one point in time I’d ever had in my entire life. It was just phenomenal in every sense of the word. I wish I could do it justice with my words. We left very happy.
I don’t think I have to say much more at this point, but I would like you to go and don’t wait like we did. Unquestionably my biggest regret in my three and a half years living here. Don’t be swayed by shopping strip malls or outside looks (not that it looks bad). Sometimes these are the best of all places.
P. S. Don’t be a wuss and get chicken or veal parm.