The Village

"The Italian Village, open since 1927, boasts that it’s Chicago's oldest Italian restaurant, though it’s actually three restaurants that share one kitchen. La Cantina, the steakhouse, and Vivere, the contemporary option, are still temporarily closed, but the oldest of the three, The Village, is open once again and serving pizza, pasta, Parmesans, and other red-sauce classics in a dining room that looks like a stage set of a Tuscan village." - Ashok Selvam, aimee.levitt

"Third-generation restaurant owner Gina Capitanini experienced this firsthand. Capitanini, whose two children work with her at the 94-year-old Italian Village in the Loop, obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to keep her family business alive as crowds diminished downtown, crushing sales." - Ari Bendersky

"If you check the kitchens at many of the country's legendary Italian-American joints, from Rao’s in Manhattan to Italian Village in Chicago to Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood, you’re almost guaranteed to find it." - ByBobby Finger

"Jeff Ruby checks out iconic Italian Village and has a mostly positive experience. The longstanding venue houses three separate restaurants, each with varying levels of success. Downstairs in the basement, La Cantina “feels dusty and slapdash.” The bread is “stale,” the fettuccine is “gloppy,” and a “tired-looking” antipasto plate feels like “the kind of lowbrow platter [Ruby’s] mom would have hastily assembled for a graduation party in 1983.” Things are much better at the Village, where chef José Torres “hit[s] the mark more often.” The toato sauce manages to “strike the sugar-acid equilibrium that eludes many pomodoros” while the chicken rotolini sits in a “punchy” mushroom-sherry sauce. And a prime steak sandwich with caramelized onions and melted mozzarella is “no frills, all flavor.” The clear standout, though, is contemporary eatery Vivere. Emily Phillip’s dishes are “precise, often winkingly clever.” The flavors on grilled octopus, dressed in port wine and nestled with purple potatoes on purple garlic aioli, “bounce and snap.” Pan-seared, oven-roasted black cod flakes off in “buttery hunks between a chunky tapenade and a soft layer of red quinoa with toasted pine nuts.” Overall, Italian Village is “in a good place” and Ruby thinks Vivere “could take its place among Chicago’s best Italian restaurants if Phillips is in for the long haul.”" - Jeffy Mai

"Italian Village, one of Chicago’s oldest restaurants, is marking the passing of its second-generation owner Frank Capitanini at 85." - Daniel Gerzina