Gaetano's Vault — Restaurant in Streator

My wife and I decided to dine here tonight. Let me start off by saying this is one of the most impressive looking restaurants I've been in. There is a large vault at the back of the restaurant and there are even a couple 5-6 tops in there so you can dine inside the vault! There is also an upstairs dinning area where my wife and I decided to sit. It's cozy and quiet and there is even a smaller bar upstairs with a limited selection although you still have full access to everything downstairs.

We started the evening off with some fried calamari. It was excellent! Super crispy and tender with three sauces to dip in (buffalo, marinara, and some sweet and sour). We also got some starter dishes with our entrées. I got clam chowder, which was excellent. It had large chunks of clam and red potatoes. My wife ordered the Cesar salad and it was good.

For our entrées my wife ordered the lasagna. It was disappointingly middle of the road. You get a 26 dollar portion but you don't get 26 dollar quality. It wasn't very flavorful, the sauce was a bit on the sweet side and the center was warm at best, but certainly not hot. I'm worried Chef Mike (the microwave) heated up the lasagna. When it arrived she was offered parmesan cheese to put on top. My wife accepted and when our server returned I was expecting a wedge of parmesan with a grater. What she had was glass shaker with the stuff you get at the store or a pizza shop. With the prices on the menu it was a bit surprising to see what was essentially Kraft parmesan in a glass jar. Even Olive Garden, the Great Value of Italian restaurants, does fresh parmesan.

I ordered the brick chicken. In the menu it was priced at 27 dollars and advertised as half a chicken cooked in a pan with some other wording. It made no mention of a brick in the description but I felt it was probably self evident. If you've ever had a brick chicken before it's typically half of or a whole chicken seared off in a pan until the skin is crispy and then a preheated brick is placed on the non skin side so it can be finished off in the oven. It's a delicious dish, I love it! What I got was not brick chicken, nor was it half a chicken. I received what appeared to be a breast cutlet with skin and a deboned thigh with skin. The skin was crispy-ish and the chicken had been marinated in something sweet. It was served on a rice pilaf with some sauteed spinach. It was good, but it certainly wasn't 27 dollars worth of chicken or flavor. I do want to compliment the rice, that was killer. I would order just that next time.

The service was adequate, but nothing outstanding. I observed our server attempt to open a bottle of wine for a table while she was behind the bar. She drilled the wine key all the way through the cork and neglected to cut off the outer seal. This prevented her from being able to lever the cork out of the bottle. She had to take the bottle down stairs for help. It's not her fault, but it showed me that training isn't prioritized at this restaurant and for the prices they are charging I expect a well trained staff.

EDIT: I was reading some other middling/negative reviews. The owner responds to these with unprofessional fervor that reminds me Amy's Bakery (IYKYK). I won't be back. If You're in the restaurant business and you can't take criticism with grace, you're probably in the...

Shows potential yet misses the mark

Unique restaurant interior. Big old bank vault with well decorated booths inside creates a neat speakeasy style space for the main dinning room. Note: additional $25 charge to dine within the vault.

Lovely staff. Everyone we interacted with had a great personality. Our waiter even took some photos for us as we stood near the vault. Food and drinks came out well timed. However we did run out of water multiple times.

Good sized drinks menu. Some interesting cocktails I haven’t seen before. Bar menu is the standout here, everything falls apart after this.

We had a party of six and none of us thought the dishes were worth the price.

Ravs and Broth soup which has the description of Tortellini in a homemade chicken broth. Just want to call out that ravioli and tortellini are different types of pasta. I can forgive that though because it’s in the description. The problem is when it comes out at room temperature and terribly over-salted.

Lasagna and Chicken Parm were both large portions, but were not stand outs in flavor. Simple to bland. Also, confused by why either of them would be served in a bowl, made using a knife and fork difficult.

The Grilled Pork Rack is a bone in pork chop with sweet potato purée and green beans. Of the table this one was the most visually pleasing plating. However, again, flavor was just meh. Not bad at all, but nothing worth noting.

This next dish is written in the menu as; “Pan Seared Salmon “Spaghetti, vegetables & tomato basil sauce.” Sure sounds like salmon with spaghetti, veggies, and sauce right? Nope! The vegetables are the “spaghetti” by being a bed of julienned bell peppers tossed in an unnoticeable tomato basil sauce. Not exaggerating when I say that $29 for a single flank of salmon and some bell peppers is the most egregious overpricing I’ve ever seen served at a restaurant.

This place seems like a cool space to get good drinks. But...

My very first experience here was amazing. I took my mother for her birthday and we ate in vault. At the time the vault was a bit hot, but they were still in the works. The food was amazing, and unique. Some things were new to me but I loved trying them. The deserts were AMAZING. The key lime pie was my favorite. They display them beautifully.

The staff and service was great. Fondly became close with Jamal through our multiple experience and the new years event they held. He’s a great server, and great with his attitude and work ethic. I love having him as our waiter every time we come in.

The place itself was clean and beautiful. The stunning decor and set up. They really put time and thought into how they set the place up. Tables were clean, plating was clean.

Each experience has been unique, some waits longer than other but overall they are very good at keeping you updated and have given me great service every time. As to the waiting time I was completely fine with it because it gave time to socialize at the table. Everyone is so use to ordering and getting food right away but when you sit down at a place like this I believe you must take it in with those you are their with.

I think it’s very exciting and different that they have movie dine-in nights and with live music now and then.

Overall recommend trying the place out and giving them a try with an...