This place is spectacular! I went there for a group event, which meant there were a lot of people in attendance and STILL everything was top-notch! The bruschette alone was to die for, and it took a force of will to stop eating it so I could move on to the rest of the meal. With the quality of the food, the friendly service and the amazing prices, this is a destination restaurant, whether you live in Des Plaines or not. Go here! read more

I went here a week ago with my dad when we were looking for a quick bite to eat. The service wasn't all that fast, but the food made up for it. Our waitress was super attentive and the food we got was great. They served bread with olive oil and parmesan to start out and the olive oil was GREAT. Not some cheapy grocery store stuff. My dad got a caprese salad which was about a 7/10 and I had pumpkin ravioli. 8/10. Overall, much better than I was expecting for a little place in Des Plaines and I would definitely go back. The only thing was that we forgot the wine- BYOB! read more

My new favorite for Italian food! Great food , service and you can BYOB ! Grab your favorite wine and go there

This is the best Italian food in the area. The service is fantastic. I feel like I am part of their family. Great people and the best food.

We found this authentic Italian restaurant in the area when we are looking for a place to eat. We are kind of famished that time that is why immediately decided to eat in here when we first see it and it is also the closest place that we can find. I am grateful that it is not packed and nor busy we were able to seat and order right away. The staff in here are warm and friendly. The place looks nice a bit simple because I did not see much decorations inside but the ambiance is fine and the whole place is clean. Food was served fast while we are enjoying their fresh and good complementary bread. We got different pasta for ourselves and mine was spaghetti carbonara which I really love. I could taste every ingredient in the pasta, the pasta is well-cooked too and overall, it was really delicious. I just hope that we brought a wine with us because I learned that the place is bring your own bottle because the wine would definitely be a perfect pair for their pasta. I highly recommend this nice place and make sure to bring your own bottle! read more

Great potential but service missing the mark. Food was good. Scampi had great flavor and the gnocchi was also a nice dish. Bruschetta pieces were too thick and chewy. Toppings were good but difficult to enjoy with bread thickness. Very noisy on a Saturday evening and service was very slow! Manager tried to get us to accept the slow service as a product of being busy. If you can't staff for a crowd, rethink what you're doing. Service detracted from the night for the two of us. We won't be rushing back. Better service at Italian restaurants in the NW suburbs. read more

Villa Roma is a hidden gem in Des Plaines. On my frequent business trips to Chicago I was make a point to eat here. The shrimp risotto is one of the best risottos I have had. Great food and service! read more

Eat here for a great price and even better food for what you pay. My girlfriend and I ate there for lunch today (they are only open from 10:30-3 pm for lunch M-Sun). We started with an appetizer of bruchetta and were intially served some bread with oil and parmesean cheese. The plentiful house salad was next, which was garnished with house italian vinagrette, cucumbers, and wedges of tomatos on a bed of spring greens. Our main course was spinach and cheese raviolis with a cheese sauce, and a spicy penne arrabiatta (perfectly spiced). Everything was great. I cannot comment on the dessert, since we didn't have any, but it was offered to us (gelatto, tiramisu, cafe). By the way, it's BYOB too! And the wait staff are all very friendly and give a warm Italian welcome. You can't beat this downtown Des Plaines gem. I highly recommend it. read more

The worst dinner ever.. We ordered 2 dishes and waited for an hour. Other customers who came after us were all served first. Rice in our risotto was not fully cooked. The manager apologized and gave us 2 free desserts but our waitress's service was poor AND they made a mistake on our check caclulation.. we literally spent 2 hours there... what a waste of time and money.. read more

The new location is not an improvement. It was a disappointment. It is still BYOB, which is fine. The food is eh. Not much meat. You pay for carbs. Food quality has declined quite a bit. The sound is atrocious. You can't hear the waiter/waitress or the person you are with. The sound is beyond obnoxious. I'd skip this place and choose another place. It also closed Sunday's & Monday's read more

The place is good love the Burrata special and the Nutella dessert however the fact that the pasta isn't made fresh is pretty unacceptable especially for $20 a plate. Definitely conflicted I like the atmosphere the BYOB concept the apps and desserts but i absolutely can't stop thinking about how fake it is to have an 'authentic' Italian restaurant where the menu is in mostly Italian not have fresh pasta then have the nerve to charge $20 a plate for what turns out to be reheated prepackaged 'noodles' I guess if I went back we would just get apps to share, oh well this could have been the real deal the search continues. read more

AMAZING pasta - perfect texture, perfectly good, delicious sauces. The seafood in the special linguine pescatora (shrimp, clams, muscles) was delicious and fresh. My friend got the special soup, which was unfortunately a bit heavy on the salt - the owner was incredibly sweet and understanding, and even took if off our bill (which was unnecessary!!). The prices are great, and we loved being able to BYOB. I can't wait to come back and try more of their delicious dishes! read more

What an amazing little place! We were a bit concerned with the crowded look of the place and getting sat in the only table left between a mess of kids... But our fears were quickly banished when we met our funny and wonderful waitress. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli and it was to die for! Simply amazing! The staff and food were excellent. I would defiantly go back! read more

A great find in Des Plaines. Good for an upscale business lunch. Be aware of the hours for dinner ( it doesnt open for dinner Mon-Wed). Be sure to bring your own wine, because the authentic Italian menu requires a nice glass to complement the meal. Our tastings ranged from the pumpkin ravioli to the shrimp risotto, as well as some red sauce dishes. All were perfectly seasoned and portioned. read more

A true treasure of downtown Des Plaines! Excellent Italian food, and BYOB is a real plus. Almost everyone brings a bottle of wine with them. The staff is friendly and new menu options always are delicious. The dining room is small so come early if you don't want to wait. read more

Can't wait to go back, I LOVE this place!! Went here today with my Dad for lunch. What a warm and friendly local Italian cafe!! We were greeted by Lisa the owner and Alessandro the chef and we sat at a cozy window table. The restaurant was filled with locals who seamed to be regulars calling Lisa by name. We started with great crusty bread, olive oil and parmesan - delicious! Then onto fresh tomato basil bruschetta and polenta with a tomato cream mushroom sauce. Both were terrific! Our entrees were the homemade spinach fettucini with peas and prosciutto and the homemade spinach ravioli. The pastas were fantastic and the serving size was perfect. There are lots of Italian restaurants out there but it's rare to find one with homemade pasta. We didn't really have room but could not resist ordering dessert, we had the cannoli gelato and a cannoli. Both were delicious and the cannoli was made to order. I'm Italian so I like to think I know what good Italian food should taste like!! This is it! The prices are great too. I believe the most expensive entree was $8.50. I highly recommend Via Roma, looking forward to my next visit!! read more

got the chicken parm, tasty but nothing too special, went for lunch and got a pretty big portion of noodles with it. great price for lunch + BYOB. it's pretty small, street parking and additional parking in the back. read more

We came here the other night before a show at Zanie's Comedy Club. They have lots of unique and fancy items on the menu for a fair price. We started with the grilled calamari which came out with 6 huge pieces. Soo good! Then I had the stuffed sea scallops. They came in the half shell which I've never seen before. Very good as well. Last recommendation, when they bring the bread/oil/parmesan in the beginning, ask for the balsamic reduction and mix it in. Delicious!! Hope you try it! read more

after calling three times i was finally able to speak with someone to make reservations for 8 of us. the lady on the phone was a bit abrupt. we arrive for our 6pm reservations on a friday night. they had our table set and waiting for us. the lady who greeted us (i believe the same one we spoke with) again very abrupt and not very friendly. i dont think she even said hello. our waitress was excellent. however their specials were on a chalkboard that was hard to see and not descriptive, no paper copies. our table kept needing the specials repeating because we forgot what came w/what. a printout of specials is pretty easy...not sure why they dont do that. when we were placing our order our waitress looked a little distressed while taking our order. i asked her if everything was ok she said "its just that you all are ordering so differently and we only have 6 burners so everything might not come out at the same time". that is a direct quote. ummm...what?? lol very bizarre...why would you say this? and we all "ordered so differently?" very strange comment.....at a restaurant. our food all did come out together in fact, everything piping hot . everyone's dish was good. not excellent. but good. we ordered dessert and towards the end i was feeling a little rushed by the staff. and the bus boy started collecting our glasses by asking us "can you pass me your glass" instead of walking around the table and picking them up. didnt think that was the best etiquitte. my mom and I went to use the washroom, when i got back the remaining guests at our table told us the staff (we believe it was manager/owner again) asked if we had any more wine to drink (we had just finished) and if we didnt that she had told me on the phone (when i made a reservations) that we only had the table for 90 minutes and its already been two hours. (For the record she never mentioned to me once about any time limit on our table when booking our reservation). Our party told her we were just leaving anyhow. everyone at our table felt a little put off by this comment and thought it lacked good taste and manners. we were not lingering. we had just finished dessert, my mom and I were using the washroom and we were about to leave. so i left feeling i would go back because dinner service was good, prices were great and i love the BYOB aspect. but some of the hiccups throughout our experience leaves me with only giving three stars. its unfortunate that the owner/manager has no tact and lacks professionalism. read more

Excellent, great Italian place! Please keep everything the same. BYOB. Bring a good bottle of wine, & enjoy one of the finest Italian places in the burbs read more

To be fair, I've lived half my life in Italy and only recently returned to the States. The lasagna that I had was some of the best that I ever had. Light, not too much cheese or ricotta to cover the taste of the tomatoes (diced, not tomato paste) and the pasta was al dente. The tiramisu was good, but I've had better (only in Italy though). Pompi in Rome pretty much ruined tiramisu for me, theirs was more or less perfection. Price wise, you get a lot of quality for the dollar. Highly recommended. read more

Gotta try this gem. Delicious food. Reasonable prices. Byob. Small, don't take reservations. Guaint.

Really good ...... Hard to believe I hadn't been there before ...... Very friendly staff and awesome food .... Ambience is similar to an episode of Sopranos read more

The food here is incredible! The service is exceptional very friendly and attentive. Don't forget to bring your bottle of wine.

I came here to celebrate a birthday, and wasn't disappointed. I love the cozy atmosphere and the small place, with the excellent food and patio. Service was amazing too, and everyone was super nice. My favorite part is the bread with the olive oil. I personally couldn't stop eating that! The carbonara is definitely a dish I would recommend as well, for it's really good. Overall, I had a great experience and I'm definitely coming back again. read more

Via Roma - Spaghetti Carbonara - Italian Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

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Been here few times since we've moved in the area and the food is amazing every time. Very consistent, friendly service, excellent choice. Thank you read more

Very good food and service. This was the first time to Via Roma and did not know what to expect. What we found was a real gem in Des Plaines. We had a group of eight and all loved the specials. It is a bit tight around the tables but I can understand as they want to accommodate as many customers as possible. Lastly with it being a BYOB establishment you could enjoy your favorite beverage with a great meal. read more

Friends brought me here over the weekend. Since they are regulars, they knew what to order, but everything was fantastic. Pizza was thin and hot with the right amount of sauce and cheese. Veal dish was fantastic. Dessert--limoncello cake--was sublime. I would gladly go back here again and again. Very nice outdoor seating area, too. read more

We were in town for a concert and found this gem thanks to Yelp. The staff was friendly and the food was very good! We ordered... Muscles for an Appetizer in white sauce Veal and Lasagna for Entree Tiramisu and cannoli for dessert Its BYOB with no corking fee and our bill was around $90 for the two of us which was very reasonable. The place was very cozy and we highly recommend it. If we are ever in the area again we will be returning. read more

Via Roma is a terrific little restaurant that serves traditional Italian cuisine. My wife and I come here often and bring friends and family and they all rave about the food and service. It is a small family run business so come early on Friday or Saturdays otherwise you could wait for a table. Also, BYOB so you can enjoy that great bottle of wine with a terrific meal. read more

I have never had a bad or decent meal here, I have had nothing but excellent meals here. I have been happy that they are now changing up the menu a little more often than before but in the end you can't go wrong with their vodka shrimp risotto or rigatoni bolognese. Looking forward to being able to indulge on some phenomenal comfort food this winter. read more

Great food and customer service. Been here 4 times. It never disappoints. The byob is great. In the summer the patio is nice a nice place for a meal. Will return soon. read more

Amazing Italian food. Really busy place and can get crowded on weekends but love the food and so the wait is worth it. Have been here a hand-full of times and each time I left from there I was more satisfied than the time before. If you're looking for some delicious authentic Italian dishes, check this place out. read more

The service was fantastic..Waitstaff was attentive. Food was great. Huge portions. Delightful atmosphere.Highly recommend for great food.

Great little BYOB Italian restaurant. Great prices. Friendly owners that get to know you. Perfect prices and portions. It can get quite crowded but that's because its so delicious! read more

Stands up to Italian food anywhere in the city. Fantastic food and incredibly friendly people. Love that it's a BYOB. One quick suggestion, always gets the specials. The regular menu is great, but letting the Chef do his thing for random daily specials is the way to go. read more

Such a great experience! We have eaten here several times (old location) but this was our best experience yet. Our waitress (Nicki?) was fantastic. We ate outside in the little patio area the traffic and trains from NW highway were loud but it was very nice anyway... This was the best meal we've had there- the wild cod in tomato/pesto sauce was amazing! Big perfectly cooked fish filets with a unique fresh tomato sauce. The truffle and artichoke ravioli was rich and delicious. The mussels appetizer was perfection - the sauce was definitely worth soaking up with bread. We brought our own wine and the whole meal was great. Highly recommend! read more

I was really looking forward to coming here, especially after seeing reviews that they had good vegetarian options. However, it was a disappointing first outing for me. There were only 4 vegetarian options on the menu, a mushroom risotto, mushroom ravioli in cream sauce, fettuccine in butter sauce with pepper, and baked rigatoni. I was looking forward to something in vodka sauce or just a simple marina sauce, an eggplant dish, or something with a variety of vegetables, but none of these were on the menu. Everyone I was with loved their food - risottos, seafood dishes, and the mushroom ravioli were all favorites. Via Roma is a great place for you if you eat seafood, love risotto, or are a fan of mushroom. My husband had the veal parmigiana, and I ate his side of linguine marinara - it was very good. Wish I could have had that as an entree. My other reason for giving only three stars is the lack of ambiance - plain laminate table tops with no linens, silverware rolled in chintzy paper napkins, and they seemed to have a problem with a shortage of glassware?! Glasses were getting to our table in a scattered fashion as quickly as they could be washed. We were jammed into a hallway next to the kitchen, and servers and staff struggled to get past our table and into the kitchen all night. Having said all of that, I would absolutely give Via Roma another try. I'm certain the food is good - it just wasn't a fit with what I wanted to have. Perhaps in the winter when I want a heavier dish? The server was top-notch, a real pro. The chef seems like a very nice guy - visiting tables and checking in - and he has a devoted following. The BYOB (as everyone mentions) is a big plus. Parking is plentiful with a number of parking options available. Everyone in my party enjoyed it very much; hopefully, I will too on my next visit. read more

The place is cute and the wait staff was friendly. We enjoyed the BYOB with no cork fee. Now for the food...it certainly was not bad but it wasn't that good either. Nothing special and I certainly wouldn't go back. My husband and I are foodies and we went with my sister and her husband before a show at Rosemont Theater. I had high hopes with all the positive reviews but everyone in my party thought the food was just "okay". I hate how misleading Yelp can be...foiled again! read more

This is a nice little gem in Des Plaines. We have been going here for several years. 2 or 3 times a year and we've always had a nice experience. We love the home/ cafe kinda feel to the place. It's not a big place with most tables being for 2 or 4 people. There's a nice little patio in the back that is great for spring or summer nights. The food in my opinion is great. It's not fancy fare. It's more like an Italian home style which I love. I love their pasta dishes the most. Spaghetti carbonara is divine as well as the lasagna whenever they have it. Definitely try those. The bonus for me is the BYOB. Overall just a cute, quaint, Italian restaurant with nice people running it and serving yummy Italian food. read more