Verucchi’s Ristorante

Don’t know what all the hype is about this place. Average overpriced Italian food.

Someone bought us a gift certificate to this place, so we were inevitably going to go. Even though we «had» to go it was well worth it. The place feels like a family owned, well maintained place. The service was great. Furthermore, the food was out of this world. It was not only filling, but bursting with flavor and taste. The mozzarella sticks seemed homemade. Our waitress was very attentive and on top of everything. The cherry on top was this place was open for over 100 years. I can see why.

Best Italian food around. Service is excellent, relaxing atmosphere, menu a tad pricy but worth it.

I can understand why this place has been in business 100 years.
They do Italian food right!
We had a table of 8 and were greeted and asked for our drink orders as soon as we sat down.
Our waitress (I wish I had gotten her name) was a superstar! Fast friendly efficient. Great job!
As for the food? Tremendous. i ordered lasagna, it came out piping hot and very tasty. My wife had Veal Marsala which she was very impressed with.
Our entire dinner party was extremely satisfied with their dinners. I’m currently enjoying the cannoli I ordered to go. Fantastic!!!
My only complaint was its pretty noisy, hard to carry on a conversation. Other than that, no complaints.
I can see this place, if they keep on doing what they’re doing, celebrating 200 years in business…

Best fried chicken in the Illinois Valley!

I compare any Italian restaurant I dine at to Verruchi’s and with good reason. This is one of the best restaurants in the Illinois Valley and has been for decades. It’s also some of the best Italian food you’ll ever eat. I’ve never had a bad meal there, from steak to fish to pasta. Their fried chicken is some of the best I’ve ever eaten and is far, far better than Rips, which owns the fried chicken hype here for reasons that baffle me. My girlfriend, who is from Chicago, moved to the area with me and considers herself an Italian food aficionado. She instantly fell in love with Verucchi’s. If you eat there, you will to.

Decided wanted something different. So we came here and it was. worth the trip. Had the special of the day which was mama’s combo was fantastic.. garlic dressing on salad was excellent. .pricing was very reasonable..

Great intimate atmosphere. Food was very very fresh and the sauce is made twice weekly by the family matriarch, who is 90 years old. Such pride in their work and it was well worth the two hour drive to get here. Congratulations to the family for 100 years if proving amazing food and hope another 100 years to come.

Great food, great service. I had the Family Style Chicken Dinner, huge portions and excellent value. Nice menu with variety but I always want fried chicken (and I rarely eat fried chicken) when near this restaurant. Other members of our party of 12 tried several dishes and all were pleased with their selections.

Love love love this place! best food and best atmosphere! I really liked the linguini and clams and my husband absolutely loves the chicken parmesean… he won’t order anything else! the kids had chicken strips and tortellini and they licked their plates! :) friendly service and the hostess remembered us after only being there 2 times and greeted us very nicely. Felt like home.

Seriously waited for 10 minutes at the entrance by the hostess without anyone asking us if we have been helped even though we were in plain view. I was kinda shocked, never had that kind of experience where you feel like you are being ignored. I have been there before and the food was great but I think I will pass on this place from now on.

Best chicken in the Valley! Pastas are great & the prime rib melts in your mouth!

Fabulous fried chicken. The best, seriously! And they have kids eat free on Mondays. I don’t know why this place isn’t packed every nite of the week. Friendly staff, clean with a nice ambience. So glad we walked out of the other rude, hole in the wall place to find this gem!

Little pricey and dark inside but food makes up for it. Been here twice and been very satisfied both times. Good selection of beers too!

This is the second time I have been here, it’s wonderful. The food from start to finish is fantastic. I couldn’t decide between the Fried Chicken and the Lasagna, so I got both! I got a ¼ light chicken. The chicken is juicy and just delicious. It ranks up there amongst the best in the area. While I love Ripp’s this place is more comfortable, and most importantly not a hassle that Ripp’s can tend to be with the long lines and here you get the complete meal. On to the lasagna, very tasty. Nice blend of cheeses and their meat sauce is the best. I usually just get marinara sauce but I hat to get the meat sauce because it has such a great beefy taste! Hashbrowns are a good side.
Of course didn’t get to try dessert, took leftovers home. Can’t wait to did into those!
Highly recommended. They have been here 100 years next year, they are obviously doing something right!

Excellent food for the area. Unfortunately, however, even though everything comes off as being home-​made, the Tortellici is the ONLY pasta made in house!

Great old school place. Staff have always been great and is very welcoming for families with children or older adults. The Fried chicken is great. The polenta and zucchini appetizers are fantastic. Solid place.

I came here with my counterpart Dragon about a month ago and the food tasted fresh and delicious. Everything appears homemade, including the Bruschetta, which took my tongue to Naples and back. The Chicken Parm was solid and very filling, so pretty much the exact opposite of any movie with Nicholas Cage in it. My only knock was that for what appeared to be a nice restaurant, i saw people with no sleeves, baseball caps, and flip flops. Enforce a dress code so I can give you a 5!

It’s all about chicken family style.
We do not eat fried chicken at home, ever. No point. It’ll never be as good as Verucchi’s: fat, juicy, perfectly seasoned, crunchy, never greasy. Family style includes fries, pasta (spaghetti/​tortellini/​meat sauce), and salad (go for the oil/​vinegar). It’s a local institution.

«The Valley» is home to many great local restaurants and Verucchi’s is the first that comes to my mind. Family owned and operated, you’ll notice that many of the patrons are on a first name basis with their waiter/​waitress even though there are no name tags. Verucchi’s has a great selection of pasta dishes. As with many restaurants in the valley, Verucchi’s serves «ravs and broth,» which as you may expect, is small ravioli pasta in a chicken broth. I’d never seen that before, but it is a staple in the valley.
One of my favorite meals of all time was at Verucchi’s. It was a special – not on the menu, but if you see a risotto, sun dried tomato, mushroom and scallops special, you should definitely get it.