Vasili's — Restaurant in Naperville

Indoor seating at Vasili’s is almost exclusively high top tables, which neither my wife or I find very comfortable. She asked for a low top but was denied since they are reserved for parties of four or more. My wife initially ordered a bottle of Assyrtiko, but after reviewing the menu options further promptly canceled this and instead ordered a bottle of sparkling rose. Our waiter arrived and we ordered the muscles and the pork belly to share. He told us the special was the Santorini lobster pasta. Given that one of the best lobster pasta dishes we ever had was actually in Santorini we decided to give this a try. After a short wait the sparkling wine arrived followed by the muscles. The muscles were phenomenal. I’m not generally a huge fan of muscles but these were amazing. Cooked perfectly, very tender in a fabulous white sauce. They came with some type of crispy chips which after soaking up the sauce were incredible. Next came the pork belly which was inedible. Pork belly should be very tender and should almost melt in your mouth. This was overcooked, dry and chewy. The sauce pairing for the pork belly was also not good. After some time our waiter returned and asked if we were finished with the pork belly. We explained to him that we did not like it and that he could remove it. He took the pork belly off of the bill so that was handled very well. Then we waited some more. While waiting I noticed that the manager in the grey suit spent most of his time bussing tables and making drinks behind the bar. Just my opinion but I think spending more time actually talking to the guests and ensuring that they are having a pleasant evening out would be more beneficial. More time passed and eventually our waiter returned and asked if we were ready to order. “Well, we ordered the lobster pasta, right?” I said. I could see that he completely forgot to put in the order. He left and we waited at least another fifteen minutes before the lobster pasta arrived. This dish was slightly less than okay. The grilled lobster had a slight taste of lamb, which is the predominant meat grilled at this restaurant. The pasta was a bit too al dente for my taste. When the bill arrived we saw that we had been charged for the bottle of Assyrtiko which was canceled way before ever coming to our table. The manager in the grey suit corrected the error and apologized but never once asked about our dining experience at his restaurant. If I ever do return, I’ll sit outside at a normal table and stick to...

I typically leave reviews for places I want to recommend vs places like Vasili’s that I will never return to. In the future, this restaurant will not be up for consideration when we eat dinner in Naperville.

We ordered an appetizer, 2 entrees and a side dish and the food was pretty tasty. Problems were literally served with the food, however.

Chicken kebabs were served on stainless steel skewers and the pasta was served in a piping hot stainless steel baking dish.

As the server placed everything on our table - we were seated on the patio on a 80+ degree day - we were told the dishes were hot. While reaching for a ceramic dish behind the pasta, my forearm caught the large raised handles of the hot baking dish, unexpectedly burning me and leaving a painful mark.

Our waitress was understanding and brought me ice in a towel and told me the manager would stop by our table.

As we ended our meal- which already was negatively impacted by feeling the burn- the manager arrived with a piece of paper to record my personal information apparently for insurance purposes. Clearly getting this information from me was his highest priority. Owning up to the fact that I was leaving his restaurant with a painful new burn on my forearm was no a priority at all.

The manager’s attitude prompted me to ask if he was going to compensate me in some way for being burned by a serving dish at his restaurant? I reminded him that I did not go there expecting something for free, but neither did I come to be burned, literally or figuratively.

In response, he asked if we were eating dessert (we were not) but did not directly offer us desserts. Instead, he offered his card and said to contact him when we came back next time.

I expressed sympathy for this person who was unequipped and disempowered as a manager to help a customer in any way who was just burned by a hot baking dish at his restaurant.

Before leaving, I requested my personal info back from the manager, paid full price for my meal and generously tipped our kind server.

After being told at the reservation stand that they did not have a card for the manager’s manager, we received a callback in the car with a different manager’s name and number.

I left with the manager’s card but will not be taking him up on the offer for a return visit.

There will not be a return visit to...

Edit 11/6: management reached out to me and offered for us to return with a gift card. This is much appreciated and I'm updating my review to reflect this kind gesture.

Positives: The place is beautiful and the service was nice, drinks were ok. I love Greek food and was really excited to come here. My partner had driven past here in the summer and thought it would be a great place to go for our anniversary dinner. I have also been to many Greek restaurants as well as traveled to Greece, so I have experience with Greek food tastes and traditions.

Negatives: There were several people with reservations waiting in the lobby, which is frustrating. We made our reservation well in advance knowing it would be a Saturday night, so it was disappointing to come in and still wait 25 minutes to get seated. Also the place is a bit smaller and we were seated near the entrance high tops, which wasn't as pleasant with the door opening and closing constantly behind us.

When it comes to the food, it's not worth the price. The crudo fish plate had a slightly off kilter smell. The loukoumades had an old oil smell. A loukoumades dish is usually made with sesame seeds, honey, and nuts. Their dish had a little honey but no sesame seeds, and powdered sugar instead which totally overwhelmed the honey.

And I understand that the menu is more contemporary, but it would have been cool to see more Greek creative influence on the cocktails, for example using Ouzo.

Saganaki was nice, I enjoyed that. We also ordered From The Hearth, which we were told those dishes have a smokey flavor as they are cooked in white oak. The lamb kleftiko had no smokey flavor at all. Our server also must have not heard we wanted the lamb kleftiko for an entree. They decided to bring everything we ordered all at once, including the entree, which overcrowded our table. I am familiar with mezze style,but by bringing the entree out earlier it messed with the flow of our meal enjoyment. I also decided to try a traditional dry martini for the first time, and realize now that they made it with vodka instead of gin ☹️. Overall I really wish we could have had a better experience and I was completely underwhelmed and disappointed by...