R&V Italian Deli, Lake Forest

I went to post about lunch... and realized there's no post on this place that we've had an LTH event at.

R & V Italian Market & Deli
13801 Laurel Dr
Lake Forest, IL 60045
(847) 816-6468
http://www.randvdeli.com

This is a deli with hot and cold sandwiches, a couple pizzas, pastas and primi every day, served from cafeteria steam trays but with (as far as I've seen) very fast turnover keeping it fresh. They also have a nice selection of frozen pastas, a bakery with cookies and pretty good canoli, dry and canned goods, fresh sausages, and slice-to-order meats and cheeses and salads/antipasti. It's a side business to an Italian imports wholesaler, as far as I can tell.

Sort of a hidden place, it's in the middle of an industrial park south of 176 off 294. In some ways it reminds me of Boston Fish Market in Des Plaines: it's part of a warehouse block, not designed for foot traffic at all... but happens to be one of the closest restaurants to my current consulting gig (other than Costco's hot dog stand and a handful of places in the tollway oasis I'd have to pay 95c to get to).

When the North Lunch group visited, I split an Italian Sausage and an Italian Sub with someone, and was very pleased with both. I've since had their eggplant parm sandwich (tasty, but heavy on the breading making it a starch bomb) and today a repeat of the Italian Sausage (small points off for cold, congealed giardiniera served in a little plastic tub), and I think once more but I don't remember what I'd gotten.

The people are very friendly, the sandwiches enormous ($7-9 gets you a very generous hot or cold sub of about a foot in length -- that's a lot of sausage or beef or salami). There's a few outdoor tables for when the weather is nice (it wasn't today).

I'm astounded nobody posted pics from the LTH North Lunch group, I'll have to remedy that on a future visit.

JoelF wrote:I'm astounded nobody posted pics from the LTH North Lunch group, I'll have to remedy that on a future visit.

The LTH North Lunch Group prefers to keep a low profile - especially after our encounter with the Highland Park PD last summer.

Mrs Sweet Willie & I enjoyed a couple sandwiches in the evening a few weeks ago, about an hour before they close for the day.
It was nice & peaceful sitting on their large outdoor deck.

FYI, in the late afternoon/evening, the hot items (including hot sandwiches) are not served, only the cold varieties are. This data point was something I was not aware of.

Dave148 wrote:

JoelF wrote:I'm astounded nobody posted pics from the LTH North Lunch group, I'll have to remedy that on a future visit.

The LTH North Lunch Group prefers to keep a low profile - especially after our encounter with the Highland Park PD last summer.

2nd reference to an event ... are their links to the incident.

I don't want to get arrested on Thursday!

I think that it was long enough ago that it has been deleted from the police blotter.

-Will

I missed notice of the LTH North event at R&V, but instead found it thanks to a client in the area. Last week we were at our client's place of business and he suggested R&V for lunch.

We were pleased. The subs sounded delicious, but I couldn't resist ordering a beef / sausage combo. Staff were really nice; they were almost out of sausage -- only had a tiny piece left which they put on the sandwich, but only charged for a beef.

The sandwich was big. If I were sensible I would have eaten only half and saved the other part for lunch another day. But I wasn't sensible. I asked for it dipped and they carefully put a couple of full ladles of "gravy" on it. I thought the sausage was only so-so, but that might be because it was the last piece left. The beef was quite good. Not at the high level of Johnnie's, but well above the average beef stand.

A plus was the sweet peppers (red & green mix) which were nice and crisp, unlike most beef stands which let peppers sit in the gravy until they're soggy and bitter.

Wife Number One ordered lasagna which she pronounced excellent.

Because it was a business meeting we didn't have time to shop the deli. However, R&V is certainly worth returning for lunch and a shopping expedition.

In my hunt for a replacement venue for this month's LTHNLG date, I discovered that they are closed. Confirmed via Yelp.

Dave148 wrote:In my hunt for a replacement venue for this month's LTHNLG date, I discovered that they are closed. Confirmed via Yelp.

Bummer. The bridge over 294 being rebuilt made it difficult for me to get there. Guessing that was a major factor in this.