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Vinny Vanucchi's

3.4 (218 reviews)
ModerateItalian
Open 4:00 pm - 9:00 PM

Vinny Vanucchi's Photos

Business Info

VINNY VANUCCHI'S ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Vinny Vanucchi's

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Reviews With Photos

Kara M.

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!

The only thing I looked forward to when eating here;(

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.

Andrea W.

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.

Daniel E.

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.

Garlic Bread - Very Good!
John F.

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.

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.

Spaghetti And Meatball

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6 years ago

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7 years ago

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5 years ago

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7 years ago

Good atmosphere and character. Calamari was delicious, pasta and gravy was good. Overall decent Italian restaurant.

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7 years ago

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4 years ago

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8 years ago

Lovely atmosphere with great pasta. I'll come back to try more items on the menu. A very wide variety of food.

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6 years ago

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15 years ago

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7 years ago

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14 years ago

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8 years ago

Basic Italian, but can you really go wrong there? I absolutely love the back patio seating, especially when flowers are in bloom.

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5 years ago

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9 years ago

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15 years ago

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13 years ago

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12 years ago

Yummy food! Great location and friendly staff (when we were there). The location in Galena is fun, too!

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8 years ago

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15 years ago

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10 years ago

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9 years ago

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5 years ago

Atmosphere was great, food was just okay. I had the chicken parm. The chicken was only warm. The garlic bread and salad were delish.

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5 years ago

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5 years ago

This place is super yummy except they take a long time to serve your food but it is still yummy!

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11 years ago

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Vinny Vanucchi's - italian - Updated June 2026

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