Vinny's Italian Grill & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Harrisonburg

Can I give them 10 stars? Do not miss Vinny's! This is the best Italian food in Harrisonburg. I bemoan the fact that we haven't tried them before. We tried the big chain once it finally got here and it was only average after the monumental wait. We loved Agrodulce but it's gone. We constantly complain about not having a good Italian spot in town.

I woke up today needing Italian so we read some reviews and chose Vinny's. Best.Decision. Ever. First of all, the facade hides the charming interior, with has great photos, cute bike items, adorable colander lamps and gorgeous hand blown glass lamp shades.

The menu was impressive, with non standard dishes, like braised beef and tagliatelle. We chose to start with the pot of gold sampler as an appetizer. It was a fried bread bowl filled with fried ravioli, fried fresh mozzarella sticks, fried canelloni, and gorgeous, thick homemade potato chips. They must have the frymaster General in the kitchen because everything was crisp, golden, absolutely perfectly fried with - seriously - not a drop of grease. Even the fried bread bowl was beautiful, golden and flaky, not greasy. It came with homemade marinara and ranch. I could drink the marinara by the glass, it is THAT good. And they sell their sauces there! Can't wait to buy some! And the ranch tasted like it was homemade as well, creamy and flavorful!

My husband got the lasagna, and proclaimed it better than Agrodulce's, which he has held as the standard for all lasagnas. I had the eggplant parm and it was thin, perfectly fried and had a gorgeous, crispy edge and was without exaggeration The best eggplant parm I've ever had. The sauce and cheese created a symphony of deliciousness...this is exactly what I was dreaming of when I woke up! We got a pizza to bring home for our boys and had a taste - The crust was crispy with that lovely fermented chew and marriage of sauce and cheese was exquisite! My favorite pizza in the world is Mack's in Wilwood, NJ. No one comes close....except Vinny's - not even just close, but neck and neck. And one other note...It's all in the details...I would swear that the parm in the shaker was hand grated REAL parm. It was not flavorless powder, it was irregularly shaped small chunks that actually melted on our food and had had that great umami..

The service was cheerful, friendly, attentive and accommodating, like we were dining with friends. Our family has a new, authentic Italian restaurant in the burg. We are full and oh so...

Check your bill to make sure you are not overcharged. I moved to Harrisonburg a year ago and Vinnys was my go to place for to go orders. The food is good. The problem is I discovered during my last order that they overcharge the full menu price for the item if you don't say, "I want it as a side," when you order a specialty and a soup or salad to go with it. The menu clearly states that with the specialty items that if you also order a soup or salad the cost of the soup or salad is $2.49. A house salad normally costs $5.99. Soup normally costs $3.99. My last visit I questioned my bill because is was more than the cost of the specialty item and $2.49 for the soup. That is when I was told I was charged the full price for the soup because I did not specifically state that I "wanted it as a side (there is nowhere on the menu stating you have to order with this wording). I complained and the cashier/manager then changed my soup price to $2.49. That night I considered how many times I've ordered to go, a specialty item with a salad and how much that overcharge (in the case of a salad its an overcharge of $3.50 and with soup the overcharge is $1.50) added up to over the past year. I also tip the cashier handsomely for these to go items. I called to speak with the manager about it. She said she was busy and would call back in 30 minutes. Two hours passed and I called again, I was told she was out of the store and would call me later that night. It is three days later and no return call. I tried to find the Vinny's corporate headquarters to complain and could find none. I did find one of the owners lawyers phone number on the state of Viriginia website, asked the lawyers office to request the owner to call me, he has not called. I called other Vinny's stores and they told me it is customary to charge $2.49 when a specialty item is ordered and you don't have to say you want it as a side item. Consequently this store on Burgess Road is overcharging their customers, obviously to increase their sales, and if you don't check your reciept you will not see you are being charged $3.50 more for that house salad and $1.50 for the soup than you should have. And, worst of all, the manager avoids you when you want to address this with them. I will never step foot in that...

Everyone has always said nothing but good things about Vinny’s so I wanted to check it out. I grabbed dinner with a friend and we decided to dine in, but long story short, we BOTH got FOOD POISONING. I’m not one to complain and I’ve never written negative reviews or any reviews for that matter, but I felt like I should warn others because I got seriously sick. I’m sure it was the chicken that was the cause, because while we both got separate entrees we both had meals with chicken in it. Nonetheless, as soon as my meal ended my stomach was extremely upset. Once I got home I instantly started throwing up and couldn’t fall asleep until the pain subsided a few hours later. My stomach was a mess for a whole day after that, but luckily it eventually passed. I promise you all I was very very sick for the first couple of hours and to think it all settled in so quickly was absolutely insane. The next morning my friend called me and said she had been sick too, only confirming the food we had the night before was contaminated. She only had a bit of chicken in her pasta which likely explains why she didn’t have it as bad, but please if you see this do not eat here!!! I really wanted to like this place, but it is not worth getting sick, even if you’ve had good experiences...