Vinny Vanucchi's 'Little Italy' - Galena
From the moment you enter Vinny Vanucchi’s ‘Little Italy’ in Galena, IL, we’ll welcome you with open arms and make you feel like part of the familia. Perched halfway up a cobblestone street, Vinny’s charming Galena location is complete with an Old World Deli and Import Store, artifacts, signs and vintage family portraits, and four distinctive dining areas. Each dining room has the feel of an authentic trattoria with native wood, Galena brick and checkered tablecloths.
You’ll find Vinny’s ambiance is, at once, both casual and elegant.
• Family Recipes Passed Down 5 Generations
• Pasta Bowls and Baked & Stuffed Pastas
• Chicken and Veal Specialties
• Extensive Wine List
• Outdoor Cappuccino Garden
Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
Popular dishes
Garlic Bread
17 reviews
Soup, Salad & Garlic Bread
2 reviews
Pasta Ala Vinny
Linguine Pasta in our Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic and Hot Sauce tossed with Shrimp, Scallops and Real Crabmeat
10 reviews
Delicious portobello mushroom ravioli ❤️
Garlic bread, salad out❤️
Food was very good! They even did not charge for desert for my husband's birthday. Would definitely come again
Been there many times, food is excellent, atmosphere is very nice, very old world Italian decor (except for the dusty vines and “greenery” above our heads; decor would be very nice without those!) food is excellent, garlic bread and salad excellent, they just don’t give you enough time to eat though, we were still eating our salad and the server brought our meals! (We noticed that happened at other tables, and it had happened to us before there; that’s why we stopped ordering soup or an appetizer, not enough time to eat it) other than that a nice meal.
We have always enjoyed eating here when we visited Galena because the food and service were always very good. This was NOT our experience the other day. First, we had to walk to the entrance with people smoking directly outside the front door. I don’t have a problem with smokers but it shouldn’t be allowed where people have to walk through smoke
to enter the restaurant especially for people with asthma, etc. Upon entering, we told the gentleman that we had a reservation and we were taken back outside to another room in the building. It was very simple and didn’t have the ambiance that you come to Vinny’s for. The waitress took forever to even acknowledge us as she walked around waiting on her other 1 other table. Just a hello and I’ll be with you in a minute...nothing. Service was very slow and she was just there to do her job, no more, no less. The food arrived and it was terrible! The sauce on the manicotti and the alfredo was so bland! We were actually shocked because it was very good in the past. The waitress never asked if our food was ok, nothing. Just a bad experience overall. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will be returning next time we visit Galena. There are many other restaurants offering great food and service so we will patronize those going forward.
It was very delicious. I got engaged here! This place will always be soecial because of that.
Everything was great. Our server Meghan was fantastic, her service really made the experience top rate.
Great garlic bread and chicken parm! We were very happy with our meal and everything came out very quickly.
We were greeted by the owner and seated by the hostess with our reservation ahead of time. Greeted by our server immediately with water and menus and he also took our drink orders. Server came back with our drinks in a timely fashion and took our dinner orders and returned with our salad and bread promptly. Food arrived with perfect timing even though they were busy. Great food and service overall.
Valentines day
Frequent guest of Vinnies . Past trips- years worth- always excellent. disappointed in this trip. Food Luke warm( waitress needed to carry out food from one bldg to other-) although only a couple seconds. Cover it??? 😃. Anyway won’t judge vinnies with this trip- will go again and look forward to it
Great stop in Galena - if you're from Chicago keep in mind small town dining is a lot different!
Great date night with good food. Soup was on point and loved it.
I typically love this place and tell lots of people/tourists to come here. However this it started with no one greeted me. There was 1 server working with 3 tables and gave no personalized service. On the reservation I even said it was our anniversary. My food was so cold so I took most of it home. So disappointing!
Very good food and service. Neat decor. We go every time we are in Galena.
Another amazing visit! We always have a wonderful time dining at Vinny Vanucchi's! Our feel and the service was amazing! Highly recommend!
First time there...I will book Fried Green Tomatoes next time. But thank you!
Friday night dinner for 6 was great. Sat in what I think was a newer or remodeled area with plenty of space to accommodate Covid guidelines. Food was good as always and love that dinners come with salad and very tasty garlic bread. Got a variety of dishes across our party but thing the pasta a la Vinny which is a spicy sauce was the winner.
Never disappoints and will continue to return.
Everything was absolutely amazing!!! The food, the service, the atmosphere!
Very disappointed in food taste and service. Have been here before and have had a very good meal.
Food was amazing and the service was fantastic!
Vinnie's is a must do whenever we visit Galena!
Very good, comfort Italian food and great selection of wine.
We went for our anniversary dinner. Food was outstanding. I’m all Italian and my grandmother would have enjoyed the meal.
Fantastic food, great atmosphere. But what stood out to us was the service, absolutely world class. And you have to try the garlic bread. 5 stars hands down!!
Great expérience when visiting Galena !
The food was mediocre for the price we paid. I was hoping for something out of the ordinary
Have been to Galena many times and never made it here until now. Staff was very nice and service was fine but the food was so bland, no flavor at all. The chicken in my dish was seasoned and tender but the sauce had no flavor it was suppose to be a tomato cream sauce yet tasted like tomato juice, very watery. My husband had an Alfredo dish and sauce was as thin as water with no flavor. He enjoyed the garlic bread but I thought it was a little dry. I wish it was better but unfortunately it was not. It was my husbands birthday and we noted on reservation but I guess they don’t do anything for birthdays so I can’t comment on how their desserts would have been.
We had such high hopes for this place and have heard many good things about it. But the service was as bad as any we have ever experienced. It completely ruined the experience. And bluntly when the service is awful, there is no value to pay the kind of prices they charge. I will not recommend this place to anyone.
The staff and food was amazing. Quick turn around on food and drinks. Cindie was absolutely a pro and was so professional.
I always enjoy coming to eat here! My only complaint this time was that I ha do ordered a raspberry tea and every time my drink was refilled the waitress brought back just regular tea.
The food was amazing and we received wonderful service from the staff.
Food as always was great
Where to start off, well my wife and I order the stuffed seafood mushrooms. The came out load with cheese and tastes like they were frozen. The wife order the seafood fettuccine the fettuccine was not cooked in season water and was over cooked. The shrimp was not great and the scallops did not have a nice rich butter sweet taste and the crap came out of a can.
Great atmosphere. Food was ok. In the past the food was absolutely amazing. Maybe different chef cooking that day?
One of our favorite places to eat when we visit Galena each year. Amazing food and the staff is always nice.
Nice ambience, food was okay, but service was terrible, the waitresses need to learn the menu and wine list.
Always enjoyable good food in great atmosphere, great job with covid. Generous spacing of tables
Our service was great, but it didn’t make up for the food. The eggplant Parmesan tasted like paste, everyone (7 of us) was very disappointed in the food. I won’t be back.
Our service was good however our food was not. We were a group of seven. We felt the eggplant special was tasteless and oily. The lasagna was good but the other meals were mediocre. The dinners were too pricy for what we got. This experience was not good but we will try it again in the future. Maybe due to covid they were having an off night.
The food was good, however one of the meals was incorrect from what was ordered and the waiter didn't seem to want to correct it. We were able to get in corrected close to what was ordered. We had 6 people in our party and it would have been nice for them to bring out two salads as we had to share one for all six people, so we all had a very small salad. The atmosphere was lovely and the noise level was quiet, we sat outside and enjoyed a lovely evening.
Wanted a short getaway for my husband's birthday, but wanted to do it as safely as possible. Made a reservation at Vinny's and they were wonderful. We had a table in a little nook by a window. My husband even got a couple of "Happy Birthday" wishes from your staff. Everything was delicious and perfectly timed. We never felt rushed. We've been to Vinny's before and have always had a good experience.
FAQs
Vinny Vanucchi's 'Little Italy' - Galena offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (815) 777-8100.
Vinny Vanucchi's 'Little Italy' - Galena is rated 4.3 stars by 1744 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.