Delicious food! I like the BYOB aspect. I wish they would take reservations! The restaurant is relatively small and therefore being able to make a reservation, especially during peak dining hours, would make me more likely to go there. read more

They are open again! They opened yesterday, Friday, June 28th. They are right across the street from the Cumberland Metra stop now. Love this place. read more

Another great Italian restaurant. Highly recommended. Give them a try. All food is fresh on the whiteboard daily.

Awesome food, cozy atmosphere and byob. Servers are great and outdoor seating in the summer

Amazing food and amazing staff. The drinks were strong. I look forward to coming here again. Highly recommended! read more

Love this place . Good food and you can bring your own bottle of wine . Had appetizer and fairly expensive with olives,fresh mozzarella,red peppers and artichokes . Great yet artichokes tasted bland , actually no taste. The owner came by table as she always does and I stated the fact that there was no taste. She went back and tasted them and said they taste ok and she could scrap them off the plate. Found that odd since I worked in food service for years usually you try to add to customers experience. We left them and didn't eat them. Other then that I love this place and will come back just won't order a 26 dollar appetizer and be disappointed. read more

We were fortunate went around 8:30 on a Saturday , parked on Lee street. Walked in to a galley shaped restaurant a large armoire with small tables scattered around the dining room walked to the middle of the room and there were two employees talking to each other looked at us and resumed there conversation. After a couple of Mintues one of them helped us and sat us down. For some reason upon sitting us down she didn't give us a menu. We sat there awhile wondering if this service was going to continue. After awhile a server walked by and I had to ask for menus. Was rather hard to get her attention. Very loud in here. Upon seating they poured 2 plates of olive oil and gave us Parmesan . But weren't sure I where the bread was. So waited and finally our waiter walked by and asked for bread and he said I'm warming it up. So when dinner arrived so did the dry slightly warm bread . My thought are yay my 700 plus bookmarks are diminishing. Would I return most likely not. They were very busy and have very high reviews but I personally didn't see it. I ordered Manila clams with an addition of squid over fettuccini. The sick was excellent the pasta was not al denote a little mushy. I would guess they precook the pasta and warm it up. read more

Via Roma - Italian Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

See all

This place needs to work out some tweaks but is really close to getting a full 5 stars from me. The food was good- a bit on the expensive side for a largely pasta and risotto menu but overall they made up for the prices in the quality of the food. We sat on the patio which was really nice for a nice summer night- a bit loud every once in awhile because of the Metra train but not enough to ruin the meal. BYOB with no corkage fee was a plus. The biggest downfall of this place was that we waited for 35 minutes and over the course of our wait we noticed that tables were taking 10-15 minutes to be turned over for the next customer. Overall, we had a good meal and a nice time so we will be back. It's great to have a gem like this in the neighborhood and I hope they continue to do well and improve. read more

See all

Last night we went to grab a bite to eat and ended up waiting outside (canopy) in the cold for about 45 minutes. We were told the wait would be 30 minutes. Not good. The food is great at this place but it's about time Via Roma starts taking reservations, or expands to a bigger restaurant. It's getting ridiculous. People stuffing their faces and sitting in the restaurant for hours as well. Eat your food and Leave! read more

Outstanding food in a small quaint setting. Service, while welcoming and friendly, was a little slow due to a lunch rush creating an understaffed feeling. However the meal was well worth the wait read more

My first visit to this restaurant. It was an absolute joy. The atmosphere is so warm and cozy and the staff were friendly and accommodating. The food was delicious. All hand made pasta I would say this was the very best Italian food I've had. It's a must visit place read more

I love this place. A hidden gem. I like that it's BYOB and Spaghetti Cabonara is really there specialty. Good atmosphere, I like take visiting friends/ family here. Downside Tried bite of kids pepperoni pizza and it was not good. Also they were out of several desserts I asked about but not big deal. read more

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

Fabulous food and service. Definitely a great restaurant and BYOB no cork fee. I'll be back soon!

Wow Via Roma! The food is amazing! You can taste the love, care and passion that goes into there dish. Not only is the taste authentic the portions are also decent. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. The ambiance is like sitting in a dining room with a large family. My wife ordered the Penne Arrabiatta she loved it. I ordered the Spaghetti carbonara it was amazing. The Pancetta was nice and crispy pasta was cooked perfect Al dente overall amazing flavors. There olive oil is top notch as well with super fresh bread to dip. Definitely will be back to try other dishes! 100% recommend! read more

See all

Outstanding! Loved everything about my experience. Food was great as was the service. True Italian at its finest.

Just went for the first time we celebrated Valentine's Day. Amazing the food was so delicious and byob. Definitely making this a go to restaurant Also staff was so attentive made recommendations that were spot on My husband is very picky and he cleaned his plate. Shrimp risotto Gnocchi Limoncello cake Highly recommend read more

Best authentic Italian food hands down! Enough said! My favorite dish: $21 Risotto Crema Di Scampi read more

Bravissimo!! Definitely coming back wonderful petite BYOB with incredible food. The homemade pastas and seafood is outstanding. The best calamari I have had in the USA hands down incredible. Salads are huge and no cork fee is a plus. This is an all around 6 star for food portions and quality. read more

No frills, but none are necessary when you serve outstanding, reasonably priced food. Everything I've tried here tastes homemade... if my mom was an even better cook than she was. The only unfortunate part about this place is trying to decide what to order. read more

The food is delicious here! I came here for lunch with friends and it was extremely packed and the service was a little slow then what I am used to at lunch time at other restaurants. Not sure if the service is normally like this or if it was because it was packed. The food is reasonable priced and the best part about this place is that it's BYOB! Yay! I had their butternut squash ravioli which was yum! Via Roma is one of those places you probably would not find unless you knew about it or lived in the area. It's honestly a "gem" It is a really small restaurant and the sitting is a little congested but overall great! read more

Via Roma - B.Y.O.B. no cork fee! - Italian Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

We just had the best lunch. The service was impeccable. José is wonderful. And the food was great. And you can't beat the price. And it's BYOB! Need I say more? read more

Had Valentine's Day dinner here the other night, and I'm so glad we did! The owner is so accommodating, and so quick in replying to emails! The food is phenomenal and so is the service! Will definitely come back again! read more

We love Via Roma so much! It's our go to Italian spot! Incredible hospitality and even greater food! The Vodka Rigatoni (not on the menu) is our favorite! Lisa is a gem! Highly recommend!! read more

Just had another OUTSTANDING lunch. Just spectacular. Can't recommend this place enough The only issue I had with the new place was the sound. It used to be kinda loud. They fixed this. Great food great service read more

A surprise hidden gem in Des Plaines with some high quality Italian food. My wife is a huge fan of pasta, so much that she names various accounts after pasta. I thought we'd have to drive to the city to satisfy my wife's random pasta cravings, so I'm thankful that the wonderful owners of Via Roma decided on Des Plaines. Otherwise, I would have to face the treacherous Chicago traffic each time my wife announces that it's pasta time. On a more serious note, this place is the full package. The service here is great and the food is delicious. Even the bread and olive oil served while we waited to order was delicious. We had the Bruschetta Rucola, Spaghetti Carbonara, and Risotto Crema Di Scampi. Highly recommend all of them. We went on a non-Friday weeknight and were seated right away. We were also able to sit outside on a nice warm day (there's outdoor seating in the back), which added to the experience. read more

See all

First time at this restaurant and I'm pleased for the most part considering restaurants are still at outside seating during COVID. Paper menu's, plastic over the bread bowl, and salt/pepper shakers to keep things clean. You get real utensils too. I wish they would give you more napkins from the start without having to ask, but overall not bad food. Husband ordered the special mahi-mahi, he's not a fan of Italian food so he always orders fish and he wasn't a big fan of the sauce they used and would rather have mashed potatoes but that's him. He still ate his entire plate as fish is always going to be good. My pasta fish which I had customized as I'm a picky eater was just pasta with Alfredo and chicken. It was delicious. Chicken wasn't rubbery like many places I go and the Alfredo sauce was light and not this gooey thick substance. I annoyed my meal. I really wish they served liquor, that's what was missing and I totally forgot to bring booze with me as they're byob. Can I bring a 6 back of beer? Lol I hate wine- Lastly we were sitting between the buildings which was rather windy and our things kept blowing off, would be nice to have a weight stopper so I don't have to use my glass. Also location as I saw someone else talking about is crappy in my opinion. Not that busy here, yeah theirs a train station but how many people get off the train at Cumberland?? Parking is crappy too as you have to park in the back and see super ugly area, dumpsters, etc. Overall 7/10, I'll be back to sit inside when things open up before i update my review. read more

Great Family owned Bussiness nice size portions! Best part about Via Roma is its a BYOB that saves big $$$ on drinks! It's beer or Wine BYOB! Vino goes with Everything on the menu! read more

FOOD WAS A 5. However it was Valentine's Day and our reservations were at 6 and we did not get seated until 7:15. Crazy. Not only were they an hour and 15 min late, they were so packed u had to wait outside in the freezing cold. The kitchen was backed up and food was taking 45 minutes. I could not feel my toes until halfway through dinner. The food was great, the service was good, but I just think it was unacceptable to have managed Valentine's Day so poorly that reservations weren't getting sat until over an hour after the time and food was taking 45 minutes read more

See all

Fantastic Italian food. The espresso is nice, too. If I'm carrying out I usually get the carbonara, but always get one of their chalk board specials when dining in. All and all you can't go wrong. read more

We tried this place for a carryout dinner. There is a big convenient lot right in the rear and it's a popular BYOB place. Friday evening at 6:30pm, was bustling, packed, and loud for the relatively small space, and there were a lot of BYOB'ers. We had the linguine with white sauce and 50/50 calamari and clams ($19) and their spaghetti carbonara ($15). The quality of both dishes was top notch, fresh, and delicious, but our portions seemed a bit small compared to photos of their dine-in entrees. read more

See all

Service was awesome, food was great and restaurant ambiance was cozy. I had the lobster ravioli with shrimp , I forgot the actual name of the meal, but it was awesome. read more

They have a very interesting business model going on at Via Roma: 1) create a charming bistro in the middle of an old, tired, suburban location lacking good restaurants across from the Metra, 2) allow people to bring in their own bottles of wine without a charge, which allows them to get tipsy to a point of not caring about the quality of the food (sloppy pasta with miserly portions of protein), 3) kick-out the last remaining guests by blasting the a/c in winter. Everything was going well in the beginning when I called and spoke to a friendly but hurried hostess before planning to give this place a try. I called to ask for a last minute reservation (they are reservation-free by the way) and was advised to come in after 7:30. We arrived around 8:15 and waited about 5-10 minutes for a table. The staff were friendly and the place looked great. It all started off well but gradually it all went down the drain. We were seated in a center location of the restaurant and we were unable to hear each other speaking. It was loud! We had to shout to hear each other. Kind of strange I thought, but just wrote it down to the BYOB ambiance, and people getting blitzed/drunk because it's Christmas and everyone is off for the holidays, I don't know. Service was a little slow but the bread kept being replaced and the waiter poured individual servings of oil on small plates for each guest. This is another business model: save money on oil by limiting the portion, removing the bottle from the table, and creating the illusion of personalized service. Now, to the food. The menu was really heavy on meatless and carby heavy pastas, not much goin on in the steak department here. I thought the price for a basic risotto with mushrooms was a bit spicy for $22 so decided to go with the other risotto that had shrimp, for $21 since at least there's the mention of a little meat in that. The shrimp risotto however was over-sauced, flat and contained literally 3 of those medium tail-free rubbery shrimp you expect at a Midwest cheap diner-type place. Now, the others at my table seemed to be semi-pleased with their plates of their red-sauced cheesy gnocchi and such, so at least I felt better about my decision to try this place out. Now here's what really irritated me about the experience, as we were finishing up around 10 or so and the place was clearing out, they turned down the temp and started a fan that dropped the temp and my eyes started to water, forcing us to finish the last sips of wine as we waited for our waiter to return the change for the bill. It blew my mind that they would treat guests like this at a "family" Italian restaurant. No mention was made that they the staff was m getting anxious to leave. It reminded me of my college drinking days when people were drunk and slow to exit the bar. You know, they would blast on the lights, and turn off the music to get people to leave? Kind of like that song from the 90s/early 2000s. In summary, we probably won't return unless management apologizes for blasting us with cold air, changes up the menu and improves the cooking. I mean, I understand that they have a business to run and the profit margins are pretty slim if they're not serving liquor or corkage fees, but c'mon man, don't treat your guests like that. read more

For food I would give them a 4. Solid Italian food and good portions. I dined there about two weeks ago and none of the employees were wearing masks. Our server had the sniffles and was congested. Who knows if she only had a cold or Covid. We put our entire order in at one time so she wouldn't have to come back to our table. Will not be coming back to this establishment until Covid is under control or staff follows state mandates. read more

This place has no business being in Des Plaines. Outshines most places on Taylor Street in the city. Came in with a group of seven and was seated reasonably quickly. Service was incredible, and the food was somehow even better. Carobonara is amongst the best I have had anywhere. I absolutely recommend this place and BYOB is a huge perk. Parking is easy on the street or the lot in the back. Walking distance from the metra as well if you're in the city. Prices are down right cheap for the quality. Seriously, this place is fantastic. A+ all around! read more

Via Roma - Italian Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

I love eating outside in the spring, summer and fall. I love their ravioli dish with the bread. I enjoy that I'm able to bring my bottle of wine. read more

I have to say after the move the food quality has definitely gone down. The new building is not equipped for noise and you can hardly hear a person talk when a large group comes in. Last time we ordered dinner there was very little taste to it it was bland and cold. It's a shame because this was one of the best restaurants that Des Plaines had homemade Italian food. read more

They have great food, no cork fees, and they treat you like you are family. I love the outdoor area when it is warm outside.

After living in central Pennsylvania for the last two years, we were overwhelmed with the number of restaurants on Yelp with superior reviews. Via Roma was the closest to us at the time, and we had faith in what others had to say. Everything about this restaurant is worthy of a five star rating from the friendly staff to the authentic meals. My daughter had from the menu the Ravioli Ricotta Spinaci (seen below) and the potions were adequate for an adult. I had a special of the day, which was a seafood ravioli in a tomato cream sauce that was delicious. My wife was please with the special she picked, which was risotto with chicken. Again, two years of central Pennsylvania is hell when it comes to dining; thank God we left! Downside: parking was packed in the back lot, but we easily found parking in the front of the restaurant. Even if we had to walk, downtown Des Plaines is a very calm and there are other lots easily in walking distance. read more

Via Roma - Italian Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

Delicious food. Plenty of it too. The male server was less than helpful, in fact we wondered if he was ignoring us purposely but the female waitress was apologetic and very helpful and accommodating. read more

I have always loved this restaurant. Tonight I had the lasagna for the first time and it was amazing. It held together, the sauce was remarkable. The ambience incredible but more importantly the service is impeccable. read more