Specialties
A casual feel with great food, drink, and service! Family friendly, girls night out, date night and great for celebrations of any type. Twisted Italian inspired small plates and pastas, Neapolitan style wood-fired pizzas with 5-7 days aged housemate dough, delicious salads, innovative entree’s of steak, seafood, chicken and shellfish, full weekend lunch / brunch menu, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. Carefully chosen wine selection over 40 wines by the glass, creative Fresh Craft Cocktails and a well balanced craft beer list.
History
Established in 2018.
Family owned and operated with a long history of food, beverage and service experiences. VAI's came together as a small group of tight knit family and friends bringing a casual vibe with sophisticated hospitality to the area. High quality food, prepared in a scratch kitchen, a beverage program designed to excite you and all moderately priced and prepared with focus and passion in an inviting atmosphere.
Vai’s is one of my fave restaurants. Always good food and service with the personal touch of the owners stopping by to say hello. Our server Nicole was engaging and on top of everything. We went to dinner with another couple last night. We brought a couple bottles of our own wine, but Vai’s makes a tasty cocktail and does have a good wine list. The four of us shared three starters, the burrata, the wagyu carpaccio and the grilled octopus. The burrata was outstanding, creamy cheese on top of perfectly grilled bread. The carpaccio was good, could’ve done without the pickled onions. The octopus was a miss. Totally surprised as I order it most visits and it’s amazing. This time it was dry and chewy, however the crispy potatoes and haricot verts were perfect. For dinner, my husband had the short rib rigatoni. The pasta is made in-house and my husband loved the creamy sauce and meat tenderness. I had the grilled romaine salad and the asiago gnocchi appetizer. The salad is so tasty with the crispy pancetta and fried leeks. The gnocchi are “pillows of air,” as owner Pete described it. He was right - light as air! We were so surprised to receive two complimentary desserts at the end of our meal. That’s the kind of place this is, though. Customers are important to them! They brought us Sandy’s white wine cake and a salted caramel budino. That white wine cake was friggin’ amazing!! It’s Sandy (one if the owners’) family recipe. I wish she’d share!! It was a delicious evening! Highly recommend Vai’s.
We had such a great experience at Vai’s in Naperville this past weekend! We decided to try a new place for our anniversary, and we were so impressed! Our waitress was super attentive and made us feel really taken care of the whole night. They even surprised us with a complimentary dessert for our anniversary which was so kind. The food was delicious, and the cocktail I had was amazing. Yes, it’s a little on the pricier side, but honestly worth it for the quality and overall experience. Definitely a spot I’d recommend for a special night out, and we will for sure be back!
Wonderful Italian dining experience! We really enjoyed our visit to this Italian restaurant. The presentation of the dishes was beautiful—everything looked as good as it tasted. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, making it a perfect spot for a relaxed meal. The service overall was good, I’d rate it 8 out of 10. This rating is not because of our waiter, who was excellent, but because of the experience at the front desk. The hostesses took a long time to seat us, even though we had a reservation. We were left waiting in the foyer for quite a while, and two or three different staff members came over separately to ask if we had a reservation—without actually showing us to our table. Aside from that, it was a lovely experience that we’d be happy to repeat!
Maddie our waitress was the best. Very attentive and polite. The food was delicious. We started with the truffle fries, and the four cheese flatbread. Our entrées included the special blackened shrimp dish, roasted salmon, chicken marsala, Long Island steak, and pork. The only thing is I ordered my steak medium well, and would recommend instead ordering it just medium. The dessert was divine…the chocolate pecan cake. highly recommend this place.
Went earlier this week, had a wonderful experience. We were seated in their enclosed patio which is amongst the best seating areas I have been in, and the wait staff was incredibly thoughtful. We started with the whipped ricotta & honey appetizer along with the zucchini frittes. The whipped ricotta was great, and the zucchini fries were seriously otherworldly. If you could only get one thing at this restaurant, I would definitely suggest the frittes. For my main, I ordered a special; the bone marrow and beef tartare, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The beef was quality, and I loved the pop of acidity and saltiness that the pickled onions provided. I was not a huge fan of the bone marrow, but that's just a personal preference. The way they set it up to where you can customize each bite also made the meal somewhat of an experience, I had a lot of fun just trying different ways to eat my meal. I had a slice of the artichoke garlic pizza as well, and it was a really great slice.