This charming restaurant in Dubuque is just a 20-minute drive from downtown Galena. We visited on Valentine's Day and were able to get in and out swiftly. I'm a big fan of table service, and the staff here was friendly and attentive. The food arrived promptly, and it was all incredibly flavorful. I highly recommend the chicken parmigiana; it was a standout dish. The dessert was equally delightful, especially the cannoli. The prices are reasonable considering the generous portions. The restaurant is also very clean, and there's ample parking available in the front and a large lot on the side. read more

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The atmosphere is definitely old town Italian. They had old family pictures, actual grape vines, bottles of wine and large cans of sauce and peppers. The red checkered table clothes were a nice addition and the music was perfect. Food: I heard Vinny's magic is the recipes handed down over 5 generations. I must say it was absolutely awesome. This by far is the best tasting Italian I had in years. The sauce was wonderful and drive the over all great flavor. Even their Italian salad dressing was awesome. We finished with spumoni ice cream - it was the best I ever had. Service: ok, average. The waitresses and hostess could do better in a place that has great atmosphere and awesome food. That is the only reason I did not score them a 5. I am going back for sure. read more

Vinny Vanucchi's - Spumoni ice cream - Italian Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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We absolutely loved Vinny's! We were traveling through Dubuque and wanted some good Italian food. We were enthralled with the food, the decor and excellent service. My hubby's chicken Alfredo got top reviews from him and my spaghetti and meatballs were perfectly seasoned and very good. We will definitely return next year on our way to Oshkosh. read more

We were so excited to try this restaurant. The decor and the reviews are what caught my eye. Well the decor was the best part and that is where it ends. The staff was friendly and attentive but the food had no taste and the pasta was overcooked. Being from NY/NJ I'm pretty picky and this place was not good. read more

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Food was very good, and what we were expecting. Unfortunately we had a server that took our order and then BROUGHT ALL OF OUR FOOD AT ONCE. Salads and bread arrived a step ahead of the appy. And a minute later our entrees arrived. I didn't think we had to ask her to pace our meal, so maybe a new employee? Who knows. We will return again, but will be more specific about our plans for eating our dinner meal. read more

May I first start by saying this was a recommended restaurant. So I brought a group of customers tonight. Atmosphere was very nice, unfortunately the service and food did NOT meet the expectations. Calamari cold, drinks choices could not be met, food was auctioned off, my # 1 pet peeve and We felt rushed . Very unfortunate that you spend $500 and get what we received. read more

Came for late lunch with my elderly parents who are tough to please. Excellent waitress,Mia, who was very attentive, patient and kind. Spaghetti and meatballs delicious, then chocolate cake with spumoni ice cream yum. Nice ambiance, not too loud like some places. We'll be back for sure. Thanks Mia! read more

Vinny Vanucchi's - Italian Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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Great place amazing salads and can't go wrong with anything on the menus. Their tiramisu is to die for. Also at lunch when I have time they do a great endless salad and soup read more

Food Was Amazing If You Are Ever In The Area Ask For Brittany She Is A Delight Of A Server

The gluten free chicken Parmesan was excellent. The service was great and the setting was pleasant. I couldn't eat the bread but my family loved it. The salad was delicious. read more

My boyfriend decided to call and reserve a spot at this Vinny Vanucchi's, they said the last available spot they had was at 9pm so we took it (he made the reservation 3 days prior). 1 hour before our reservation they text him that they moved our reservation to 7:30 (he didn't notice the notification until 1 hour prior the reservation). When we didn't show up they moved it to 8:30. My boyfriend texted them and asked if it could be moved to 8:40, they said yes. We're rushing to get ready and out the door, very stressful. We get to the restaurant and the host is asking what time we booked, boyfriend explains the situation with a bit of attitude and also looking for an explanation as to why they moved our BOOKED time. She ignored us and asked for the name it was booked under, so we get our table. The entire time we were there we felt rushed. The waitress was nice, but would only check on us if we just had taken a bite out of our food, or had a drink... the food was good but right when we got it the staff started cleaning up around us, which is fine. Except they started taking dishes that were on our table. At some point my boyfriend was using the small dishes they give you at the beginning to eat salad with and took it from him without asking! He was still using it! Wth! At this point I'm pissed so we take our food to go, and ask for an extra salad to go as-well. We leave with a frown on our face by the treatment we were given on Valentine's Day. This is our first one together might I add... I'm sitting here eating the extra salad and there is no onions in it, bland as fuck. Safe to say I am never going there again. I hope the rest of you love birds don't either, Valentine's Day is supposed to be stress free and a lovely relaxed time with your one and only.. if you want that, go anyplace else, just not here. read more

Vinny Vanucchi's - The only thing I looked forward to when eating here;( - Italian Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

No reservation but got seated easily. Salad and garlic bread was wonderful. My son and I had veal marsala which was excellent. My husband had veal parmrsan, also excellent. My SIL had ravioli which was excellent as well. Great service. Loved the atmosphere and the Italian music. We walked from Hotel Jullien. My husband is in a wheelchair and the entrance was very easy. read more

This place was fantastic and authentic Italian food! We arrived without reservation and had to wait about 20 minutes- I suggest making a reservation. We were happy they were able tog eat us In so quickly. Service was excellent and food was even better. There's a an extra charge for splitting plates , we split the Alfredo. Otherwise food was good and drinks were as well. read more

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Food is less consistent than Vinny's in Galena. So, it's hit or miss . Ambiance is comfortable and relative. My main gripe is the policy that the wait staff won't split up the checks. That makes it uncomfortable when with individuals. Why not do it like they do in Italy ? Every body orders and pays for their individual order. Simple! Also , it's really tacky for a twenty something waiter to call a 73 year old "honey or hon or dear". Clue the staff in. read more

If you are looking for an authentic Italian dining experience, this is the place in Dubuque and the Tri-State area! Tucked away on the Mississippi River (east) side of Main Street in downtown Dubuque, and literally a half-block from the iconic Julien Hotel, Vinny's is an old school visit. Outstanding service, cool surroundings, tables spaced well, and fairly priced. They'll deliver bread to your table to open the meal, then you have to sift through a wonderful collection of options. Love their salads, plentiful and tasty. I've had a number of quality main dishes, with a couple of my favorites being their lasagna and the baked penne dish. Vinny's is one of my GoTo stops when I am in Dubuque, and it never disappoints, whether it is business, family, or on my own. read more

Vinny Vanucchi's - Italian Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

Normally I'm chill when it comes to receiving a mediocre dining experience, but this would barely qualify. The food was shockingly terrible. The pasta was severely uncooked where it was hard and my chicken Marsala tasted like they put an entire bottle of wine in my dish. It tasted like straight booze. Freaking terrible. You've been warned. Or if you have no taste buds or standards then enjoy! I will say the garlic bread was amazing. Literally the only edible part of the meal was bread. Really sad. read more

Really hate to give a bad review to a place I really liked in the past. But tonight's meal was a real let down! Haven't been in Dubuque for a while and was excited to come back to Vinny's. In the past I've had the Veal, Chicken and the Pizza. All were great! Tonight however, Yelp led me astray... I was set on the Veal, but read a review about the Seafood Pasta being the "best meal on their table". So of course, I had to try it! Well tonight's Seafood Pasta was not good. The best way to describe it would be tasteless and mushy. The dish came with shrimp, scallops and crab over linguine. The shrimp were plentiful but were on the small side, as were the scallops. The crabmeat seemed to have melted into the pasta and sauce, because you could not actually pick a piece up with your fork. I could taste the crab, but the shrimp and scallops had very little flavor. The menu said the meal comes with a salad and hot garlic bread. Salad was good, garlic bread was not hot or warm and a bit on the dry side. Got a second order of bread and it was much better. The mushy consistency of the Seafood Pasta was really unappealing and changed my opinion of this restaurant. I'm going to stick to the pizza or go back to the Veal if I'm back. read more

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I wish I had better things to say, however I felt an honest review was necessary. This feedback was also shared with the manager. My husband and I are visiting to celebrate our anniversary; this was our first time trying Vinny's, and we were excited to try it based on recommendations from our friends who have visited and online reviews. We made a reservation, and when we arrived, we noticed the restaurant was very empty for a Friday night--not a great sign. When we entered the man at the host stand (who we found out later was the manager) was on his phone. Once seated, It took our server nearly 10 min to greet us. My husband ordered the tortellini carborana, and I had the seafood pasta. We also ordered calamari for an appetizer. While the salad, garlic bread and seafood pasta was fine, nothing better than that, my husband's tortellini dish looked and tasted horrendous. Honestly, it's slightly insulting that the restaurant found it appropriate to serve this to a customer. We advised the server of our concerns with the tortellini dish, and she got the manager. In comes the man from the host stand who listened to our concerns and was willing to remove it from our bill, however he flat out agreed with us that the dish in his words, "doesn't look right". It felt like he didn't care too much, which is fine, but the prices of the meal are insanely expensive for the portions and quality of the food. Below are pictures from our dinner. Please make note that the tortellini dish is $24.95. Not an amazing experience tonight, and if we come back to Galena and Debuque, we will not come back here. read more

Vinny Vanucchi's - Italian Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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We've been to the Vinny Vanucchi's in Galena, IL and the one in Dubuque, IA. Both are great! Delicious food and great ambience! We will definitely be back! read more

We enjoyed our dinner at VV's. While driving all around town, looking for the right balance at something nice and also something with outdoor seating, I'm so happy we landed on Vinny Vanucchi's. The best way to explain it is probably a regional chain that's similar to Olive Garden. We noticed they had one in Galena as well, so there must be a few. The outdoor patio out back was nice and distant. Our waitress was really good as well. As soon as we ordered, they came out with salad and garlic bread. Both were amazing and probably the highlight of the meal. Awesome crispy, garlicky, bread. So good. And the salad was also fresh and comes with a vinaigrette-based house dressing. The eggplant parm was great. The other pasta items were OK. The pizza I order was... kind of meh. Undercooked crust, for sure. But they had me at hello with the salad and bread. :) Definitely recommend Vinny's if you're in the area and looking for decent Italian fare. read more

We've been here a few times since moving to the area a few months ago, and each time the experience has been worse. First visit- seated immediately in nice dining area with great ambience, attentive waitstaff, excellent food. The next time, all the way back to the banquet room. Bright lights, kids, guys in ballcaps-no ambience at all-definitely no nice Italian restaurant vibe- more like Cracker Barrel. Server was hit or miss (mostly miss) and when she did reappear, she reeked of weed & still forgot to bring water we already asked for twice. Food was room temp, marginal & for some reason, this place serves toasted (buns?bread) instead of fresh bread‍. Gave it one more try last week & experience was the same as 2nd visit, except the weed smell hit us as soon as we walked in the door- before we were again seated in banquet hall. For the life of me, I don't know why the nicer area goes unused. Again with the toast, but this time we asked for fresh bread. After giving us a vapid look, server brought us a cold sub bun. In addition, each visit after the first felt like we got the bums rush. Server can say "no hurry" all they want, but very rushed is how it felt. That'll probably be it for us. We are both from areas of the country that have excellent Italian restaurants & really hoped this would be better. read more

Delicious. Fun. Great service. The penne romano chicken- delightful!!! And the salad - I could've licked the bowl. Don't miss the speakeasy downstairs! read more

We were in from out of town and trying to find dinner last minute. Everywhere else had a 45+ minute wait, so we called Vinny's and asked if they had availability. We were told they're not taking walk ins, but there was a reservation for like 15 minutes from our call time on Open Table, so we just made the reservation. The menu looked decent. We put in our orders and then the waiter told us their daily specials. I had originally ordered lasagna, but asked if the special was better. We kind of got a resigned "we've been selling a lot of them." I switched to the bruschetta pasta, and the people I was with ordered baked penne and the ragu. We also ordered the ricotta prosciutto crostini for an appetizer. I will say, they have a fantastic salad. It was also the best thing we ate that night. The prosciutto on the crostini did not taste like prosciutto. My bruschetta was a giant bowl of penne with some chicken, chunks of mozzarella, and basil sitting in a vat of herbed olive oil that had absolutely zero flavor. It was about $25. The baked penne was a little larger than a kid's serving, and it was just penne in red sauce that had basically been sprinkled with a very underwhelming amount of cheese. That was around $21. We had to stop for tacos after dinner because it was not in any way enough food, especially for that price point. The waiter came around once to check on us, but didn't come back again until we were all finished eating. We were never offered refills on our drinks, and the restaurant did not appear to be so busy that refills would be hard to keep up with. I can't recommend this for anyone who wants anything remotely resembling Italian food...or food with flavor...or great service. Honestly, just go to Olive Garden, it is better. read more

I'm afraid I wouldn't even consider this mediocre food at best and definitely not authentic Italian food. Spaghetti and meatballs had a school lunch/chef boyardee taste and it was served barely warm. Room was cold and chairs were wobbly. We we're seated immediately but waited over 10 minutes for a waitress- not even water read more

I didn't even make it home yet to review how awesome this place was!! We grabbed a cab and asked where the best place in town was for dinner. We got here and had great drinks to start. We got the fried ravioli as an appetizer, which was wonderful and described as spicy. The salad and garlic bread were amazing!! I got the chicken Parmesan and the husband got spaghetti and meatballs for entrees. Everything was so so good!!! read more

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Vinny's is a quaint place in the middle of downtown Dubuque. The food was okay, but not memorable. I had Dee Dee's Tortellini Carbonara which is served with garlic bread and a house salad. The house salad dressing was delicious (and also available for purchase for take home!). The garlic bread had a lot of grated Parmesan that overpowered the garlic flavor. It's worth one visit to experience the classic interior of the restaurant but I didn't feel a second visit was warranted. read more

We were hangry after exploring Galena IL and Aquarium all day. Staying at Hotel Julien and not much appealed to us. I at first ordered Spaghetti Olio but sent it back as it was flavorless and bland. It was spaghetti with olive oil, basil, and tomatoes. The salad and garlic bread were really good. My replaced dish was spaghetti and marinara and was much better. The sauce was robust with flavor. The service was really good and waitress said they were training a new cook. Brought some of it back to Minnesota. read more

I love the ambience! We ordered FETTUCCINE SEAFOOD $25.95 and FATHER GIOVANNI'S thin crust pizza $18.95, TIRAMISU. The food was just okay... but the ambience and the service were great. Food: average Service: good Ambiance: great Price: high read more

A great Italian restaurant located on the south end of Dubuque. Large indoor seating area. I had spagetti and meatballs. A very nice portion and tasty. Plenty of salad and garlic bread. The wait staff very friendly. We had a party of 8 and did not have to wait to be seated and served. If you are looking for Italian food in Dubuque, Vinny's is highly recommended. read more

Our go to Italian Resturant when in Dubuque and Galena. Love the salad, especially the dressing and the bread. Our go to pasta is the pasta alla Vinny. The service has always been top notch. We never go away hungry. read more

American Italian style food. The veal on the menu said lightly breaded. It was heavily breaded. A little greasy you could hardly taste the veal. Pasta and sauce good, could have had more garlic and oregano. read more

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Everything was splendid! We had desserts and drinks here. Ordered their bestseller Tiramisu which was delicious. Of course our personal favorite was the Limoncello cake. The lemon cocktail was likewise delicious. By the end of the night, the owner approached and entertained our table and we had a lovely chat! Ambience here was also very romantic. Soft lighted table and mellow music. The service is amazing. Would definitely recommend the whole place read more

The food here was really great! A old school Italian restaurant with a family feel. The service is what makes this place what it is. Very friendly young ladies and gentlemen working hard to make your experience a good one. We had a great dinner. Great service in a real nice atmosphere. read more

Very fast service, attentive staff and great food. I understand vinyl tablecloths are practical, but they do take away from the ambiance.

Really great food and atmosphere. It's located right downtown. The outside of the building looked a little dated (the sign in particular) compared to the other buildings but the inside is BEAUTIFUL. read more

Vinny Vanucchi's - Auntie Gracie 's Sausage Ragu - Italian Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

Stopped by today on a last minute decision after another last minute decision to hit an auto swap meet. One of those kinda days. The Fried Ravioli appetizers were pretty good...not the best I've ever had but the spicy sauce made up for any inadequacies. The Veal Parmigiano was very good as well, the veal a tad on the too much done side for perfection though. The Mrs had the Uncle Pauli's Baked Penne which she said was very tasty. The decor and ambience was very nicely done with old pics and wine bottles covering the walls. read more

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Nice place for large party or romantic dinner. Big portions. Meatballs as big as my head.

I have never walked away from a meal feeling robbed until tonight. Dollar per dollar one of the worst dining experiences I have had. The staff was friendly and it is a cool setting, but it was essentially twice the price of a spaghetti works with worse food. The garlic bread was cold and each bite felt like a waste of calories. The salad was the best part of the meal, but still nothing special. My girlfriend and I ordered two entrees off the pasta menu and they were served to us in less than 5 minutes - which tells us that all the ingredients are just sitting in the back under warmers, and that's exactly what it tasted like. Every pasta dish is $20-25. You can get AMAZING meals in Iowa for $25 and at Vinny's you'll get mushy pre-cooked pasta. read more

Vinny's Dubuque location was really struggling for food quality and service a few years back. The good news is that it's a bit better, but still not great. Their prices are high for the quality of what you get for both food and service. The portions are decent but the flavor and presentation are just ok. We do stop in occasionally and I find it quite telling that they always have tables available when other area restaurants don't. Even so, the servers always seem to be struggling. I gave given up on the pasta Ala Vinny because the experience is wildly inconsistent with the dish. We stick to the basics and it's ok enough to go back when you have a craving for Italian food but don't feel like cooking. read more

AMAZING SERVICE!!! Our waiter came in a timely manner and checked in just the right amount of times! The food and drinks were great! Vinny Vanucchi's never disappoints! read more