Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Viaggio

psss. I have a secret to tell you. Some Italian food is better than others. And Viaggo is some of the best. Like maybe they put crack in the sauce good. Like using my finger to get every last drop of sauce out of the take out container good. Like you should probably go eat there tomorrow good.

Neill and I had dinner at Viaggio on Friday night with three friends. We got a reservation for 8:00 and after a bit of a wait we were seated in their cozy dining room. I was a wee bit testy at first because as I've mentioned before, I really hate to wait. I'm kind of annoying like that. But, after a glass of wine and seeing the menu I was in a much better mood.

We ordered three appetizers for the table--the meatballs with romaine salad, stuffed artichokes, and fromage fritti. I know what you are thinking - any restaurant that offers a salad with meatballs is probably pretty freaking awesome. And you would be right. And lemme tell you. The Meatballs. Oh The Meatballs. They were ridiculously good.

For the main course I ordered spaghetti carbonara and the people sitting to my right and left both ordered the rigatoni with sunday pork gravy. This is notable because I'm a big fan of stealing bites off other people's plates when they aren't looking. It was a win for me that night because both dishes were complete standouts. My carbonara was rich and a bit smokey and the rigatoni came with big hunks of tender slow cooked pork with a big ol' scoop of ricotta cheese on top.

Damn. It was bomb.

I wish I could tell you about dessert, but we skipped it with the plan to hit up Black Dog Gelato on the way home. Unfortunately, it was closed. But, no worries. We topped the night off with a 99 cent cone from McDonalds. ha. Aren't we classy?

Anyways, I really do think I need to try Viaggo again. By the end of the night we had gone through a few bottles of wine so I want to make sure the food is actually as good as I remember it. But mainly, I want to get my hands on some more of those meatballs.

8 comments:

  1. Hmm... pasta. :)

    Once we went to Bravo! for our anniversary. We'd never been, but I guess it is *kind of* a chain restaurant, but there aren't a ton of them. But I had the most amazing cheese ravioli with afredo and pesto sauce. Hmm... and the bread/oil is... awesome!

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  2. glad I'm not the only who who loves pasta!!! I just looked up Bravo! and it looks like there are two locations just out side of Chicago. Thanks for the recommendation!

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  3. The dish I mentioned above is actually an appetizer, but I get it as my meal. The one I went to in Tennessee was really good, but I don't know how consistent the quality is across the different locations... so if you try it, I hope it delicious!

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  4. The next time we're in Chicago I'm making Jus take me there! Sounds delish!
    Oh, and I love that you sneakily steal bites, Jus hates eating with me because after he's had his first bite I always ask if I can try his food and he'd rather not share!

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  5. Neill is the same way! He really doesn't like to share his food - which is why I have to be sneaky! Sometimes I'm truly devilish and I'll take the last bite of something yummy. Come to think of it, I'm pretty lucky people still agree to go out to eat with me!

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  6. I've heard great things about Viaggio! We never get to go out to eat anymore because money's so crazy tight, but I'll put this on my list of places to try.

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  7. That sounds delicious! One of the restaurants that I miss since I moved back to Michigan is Buona Terra in Logan Square. Their spaghetti al gamberetti is amazing. They also bring crushed garlic in olive oil to your table with bread. Soooo good. The cannolis were pretty damn good too! Oh I'm hungry now...

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  8. ooo great suggestion! I love shrimp :) I just looked it up and it's less than two miles away from me - I will definitely be checking it out.

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Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Every comment brings a smile to my face!