Vinci Restaurant — Restaurant in Chicago

Some dear friends hosted us for dinner for our 8th anniversary this week. The food and company were wonderful so you might imagine the night would have ended on a high note. Not so!

Our server took every opportunity to upsell to us and we mostly indulged him. Unfortunately, he also mistimed our food and the kitchen threw it in an oven to warm. I'm a longtime industry person. I know this kind of thing happens. The thing is, it was a SLOW night. We arrived at 7 pm to four idle staff members doing the Slow Night Slouch. I would not be surprised if we weren't our guy's only table for dinner. Given the tempo of the restaurant that night, I would have appreciated him asking the kitchen to freshen up the sauces so they didn't arrive at the table with skins on them.

More egregiously, our server didn't bother to let us know that we were approaching close (Note to other patrons: it's slightly earlier on Thursday nights. Thursday may be the new Friday in our hometown of Boston, but your mileage may vary much more in Chicago we are discovering). We realized this when the bartender turned the lights off over our alcove! For the bar's part, drinks were executed ably, but it's 2024 and the non-drinkers at our table expected more than Heineken Zero. Maybe even offer to compose something NA cocktailwise?

Coming back to our last moments at Vinci, I don't think I'm out of line to expect a gentle word from the staff in advance of close. We thought it was a power outage at first; when you spend over $100 per person, you don't deserve to have the lights killed like it's a dive bar.

"Sorry!" the bartender said as we left.

He was not sorry.

But we were!

-- Four stars for food (lovely arancini, polenta looked fluffy and appetizing, second the recommendation for the pappardelle , and the crème brûlée was one of the best I've ever had).

A generous 2 stars for service. GM, if you care, I am happy to reach out with details...

Yum! First time coming. Say outside because it was beautiful out. They being fresh bread to the table. You have to ask for olive oil which is weird and that comes on a plate. No biggie though but weird.

Ordered caprese salad to start and share with my friend. It was delicious. Very fresh. It was a mix of olive oil and balsamic. Perfect flavoring.

Wanted to try something different. I got Hand-made Fazzoletto which I never heard of. Hand-made Fazzoletto with mussels, shrimp, calamari, octopus, zucchini, tomato pesto sauce. YUM!! It was so interesting but delicious. It had pasta on the bottom that looked like a sheet. Then the toppings inside. Then another sheet of pasta on the top. The pasta was good and the seafood was perfectly cooked. I think I would have likes it even more with a white sauce instead. The red sauce wasn't amazing. Kind of...

Vinci has been providing consistently great food for decades, an important point for the many people--like us--who have pre/post Steppenwolf Theater dinner here. The portions are substantial, well-priced, and full of flavor. Pork chops are a favorite as is the seafood linguine. The ravioli pasta dish was delicious and substantial. Beware: pace yourself! It's hard to resist the complimentary bread. And, save room for the desserts, though I had to skip the Tiramasu this time. Staff and service are incredible. From the time you enter the place until you leave, you are a special guest, no matter how busy they get. And, the kitchen staff deserves kudos for providing so many fabulous meals to a full house geared up for theater. Don't even think about coming here without a...