Ventura’s Restaurant

My mom and I ate the Veal Francais and creamy blue cheese dressing/​salad for our lunch. Delicious. Staff polite and attentive. Great for groups. Cannot wait to return. Check out the signed photos on the wall. Italian food at its best. Their Ventura Marinara Sauce available for purchase. We were casual dress, however, others were more dressed up.

This gem in the city is owned by a very wonderful family. It was opened in 1943 and is still going strong.
Ventura’s takes pride in their business and this is shown by the cleanliness and friendly atmosphere. Nice table linens candles on table, etc.
The food is always delicious and the sauce is the best in Utica. The Chicken Francaise
is my favorite and my husband loves their Veal dishes. We love this place and it is one of our favorites.
The ambiance is what we really enjoy and although we don’t go there a lot and usually for special occasions we are always treated so nice and feel so welcomed.
It’s an older establishment and many people don’t realize how wonderful this place is. If you never have been there or haven’t been there for awhile please give it a try.
Many famous NY Yankees have passed through their door and one can enjoy seeing photos of DiMaggio, Berra and many more.
787 Lansing St Utica NY 315 732‑8381

Ok… The place could use a little a TLC but it wouldn’t be as original and authentic if they did a total revamp of the place. We were the first ones to come in for lunch and the quiet setting threw me off but within minutes the music started along with the good times. Enjoy the photos on the wall and enjoy your meal… I sure did

This restaurant desperately needs a makeover or some kind of drastic update. One gets the sense that it was probably a really happening and popular spot 25 years ago; nowadays, it was practically empty, the menu is vast but uninspired, and the food was uneven and mediocre. The vodka riggies had a nice sauce and the table bread was tasty, but the calamari were served with a cocktail sauce (what!!!), and the veal was freezer-​burned or had some kind of strange chemical aftertaste, while the salad was way too overdressed with vinegar. The service was okay and the neighborhood seemed a bit rough around the edges. There’s probably some hope left for the place, but they really need an injection of energy and freshness.

While the menu has many Italian classics, I was here for the central New York-​specific Utica greens and chicken riggies.
The greens honor the line from Beavis and Butt-​Head line, «we need something with a lot of ingredients.» It contains escarole, cheese, hot peppers, a small amount of some kind of meat. I’m not sure what else but you must try this unusual combination.
The chicken riggies were less exotic but the sauce worked well. I got the combination of hot and sweet peppers and the spice level accelerated gradually.
This was far pricier than my other recent upstate food excursions. I didn’t like the small size of the $ 2.50 paid-​refill cokes, or the $ 2.50 charge for blue cheese dressing. However, the food is abundant, as entrees come with bread and salad.

Chicken riggies were excellent. The bread was hit fresh and very tasty. My wife had cheese ravioli that she said was good.
My only complaint is they charged us for each glass of tea. Really? How much does tea cost?

Unilocal did not let us down. Phenomenal greens, wheat pasta hats, chicken cacciatore, lasagna, sausage, and funny enough, the best meatball pizza I have ever eaten. Marinara is superb and owner gave us a complementary jar on way out. App, 4 entrees, 6 drinks for $ 126. Very fair esp. given the large portions. Had lunch next day with leftovers. Easy 5 stars. Clean and great service.

I’m partial to locally owned restaurants and this place was exactly what I was looking for. Great ambiance and the food was very, very good… don’t eat too much of their outstanding bread or you won’t have room for dinner. Reasonably priced. Would have been 5 stars if they would have had better creamer for their coffee.
They made Chicken Picatta for me which is not on their menu. The Picatta sauce was 1 word… YUM.

**This was a To-​Go order**
The staff was super nice. Bartender was an attractive young man with a totally sexy scar… ;) I think the owner was there and he was also super nice.
Food was superbly wrapped up; no spills possible, which is a relief!
The greens were tasty but SUPER spicy. Definitely the best I’ve had so far.
Chicken Alla Francaise was amazing. The cut of chicken was great: no fat, no sinew, all meat. The buttery, lemony sauce was ridiculously good!
The meal also came with, like, a whole loaf of what looked like homemade bread and had butter and cheese on it. It also was very good.
This place rocks. I will be going again before I leave and I’m taking my friends with me. Everyone needs to come here for the amazing food and incredible staff!

After reading the Unilocal reviews for this place, we headed here for a late lunch on a Sunday afternoon when passing through the area. I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I’d be, but I wasn’t dismayed either. We got the chicken riggies (mix of sweet and spicy), fettuccine Alfredo, fried calamari, and the greens. It was all good, but not spectacular. The salad was small and overly drenched in dressing. The Alfredo sauce was on the oily and bland side. The calamari was okay, but the dipping sauce was a shrimp cocktail sauce heavy on the horseradish. I’m used to a nice spicy marinara for dipping, and I wasn’t thrilled with the cocktail sauce. The portion of the riggies was impressive. Not so with the fettuccine. The waitress was a little stiff in the beginning, but she warmed up after a bit and became downright friendly and borderline delightful. The owner greeted us pleasantly in the beginning, but ignored us on the way out (and there was only one other table occupied in the whole restaurant at that time). The prices weren’t great, but not bad. The price of a soda, however – ridiculous! For a diet coke it was $ 2.50 for a small glass overfilled with ice. AND – no free refills. So two tiny sodas cost $ 5. The atmosphere was quaint by some people’s standards. I found it outdated and dingy. Four tables were filled when we arrived, all with senior citizens. We were a family of four: my partner and myself, our 7 year-​old, and our 4 year-​old. It definitely didn’t feel like a family-​oriented restaurant on any level, which even my 7 year-​old daughter noted aloud. But with a little guidance, our waitress met us halfway as best she could. The background music ranged from 70s disco to Frank Sinatra. It was an interesting experience.

What a great find. Shocked with my experience here. We ate lunch here today and are still talking about it. My family lives in Johnstown and we drove to Utica to visit Bass Pro. Afterwards, we couldn’t find the restaurant a friend recommended and ended up using Unilocal to locate a nearby Italian joint. Arriving at 1pm we were the only people in this massive place and the service was great.
Everything we ate was fabulous, extremely affordable and the portions were large. In fact, if this place was in NYC our bill (which came to $ 33) would have been $ 130. Value is a 5-​star alone here.
We started with the garlic bread which came warm and had a ton of flavor. Then the antipasto arrived (we ordered a small and it fed two men and could have fed another) and was filled with cheese and meats that tasted like they had just come from a local Italian deli. The veggies were fresh (even in the brutal Upstate NY winter) and the house dressing was very good.
Personally, I went with the haddock marinara and my uncle had the fried haddock. Both came in enormous portions (each enough for two) and were well cooked and packed with flavor. The side of pasta served was very good — as was the sauce.
For the value alone this is a go-​to spot regardless of where you’re from. We came during lunch and can’t comment on dinner. However, the place is huge and breeds flavor. Give it a try.

Super old-​school Italian joint. The B&W celeb pics on the walls are worth the trip alone! The best greens in Utica, and that’s saying a lot. Chicken riggies come spicy or sweet, and definitely no skimping on the chicken. Cocktails were well-​mixed (maybe a little too well-​mixed; thankfully my Mom was driving).
The neighborhood has changed but this place has not. Recommended.

As we sat down for our meal we were given olive oil and butter but no bread until we asked for it. The Anchovies Pizza had more anchovies per bite than most entire pizzas making it quite unappetizing. I also had the first fettuccini Alfredo in my life that lacked cheese. Overall our dining experience was below par at best. I would not reccomend this place to anyone.

Always great, love the atmosphere. The owner and staff are always welcoming and friendly.
This and Grimaldi’s were always my favorite east Utica joints.
Unfortunately Grimaldi’s has closed :(

Best Italian in Utica.

I know this is a controversial topic, but Ventura’s has the best greens in the city. That statement alone is probably sufficient for a five star review, but there’s a lot of other stuff that I also like. I tried the riggies for the first time there despite having been to Ventura’s for everything from my first communion to my grandparents’ 50^th anniversary and they were delicious. There were halves of cherry peppers, the sauce was delicious, and the pasta was perfectly cooked.
This is my favorite Italian restaurant in Utica and competition is stiff. It is worth the visit, even if you’re just passing through on the thruway.