Vic's Steakhouse - helluva wine list

You know that place you have gone past for years and never quite stopped at? Something about it just does not quite speak to you, or something, and after a few years you almost stop noticing it. That has been Vic's, the reconcepted (slightly) Oak Brook Gianotti's whose praise Steve Drucker used to sing back a few years..

Well, I wanted Italian, old school and started to look, and Vic's came up. Okay, it was time to go.

It started well enough with their website with a menu that looked like it covered the right bases, ala Sabatino's, and a very promising looking wine list. Nice guy took the reservation, kept calling me Mister D, seemed a little hokey but in a nice way, $12 corkage a plus even though that wine list had already convinced me I was going to buy some from them.

Room was nice enough, a tiny bit faded and old school, recessed ceilings, sponge-painted with blue and gold, recessed lighting, that funny Italian restaurant combination of art - paintings of the kids, classic busts, and Italian landscapes. Lots of signed celebrity photos.

Our waiter was a bit of a hoot - a Mexican trying to do the Italian dandy. Probably would have liked him better if he had not needed to go off for extended parade and preen sessions, but he was pretty competent when he was around and nice enough.

Oh, and the food. A stuffed mushroom appetizer was regular button caps in a chafing dish of garlic butter with little cone-shaped sausage toppings. Needed a camera for this too, since it most put me in mind of, well a plate of sauteed tips (in a G-rated website, I really can say no more), ungarnished and unvarnished. The bride and son liked them well enough, but reprimanded me for my restrained comments on the presentation.

The salads were okay, a little too much iceberg to be better.

A massive bowl of perfectly al dente manicotti in a light vodka cream sauce was by far the best entree and a good deal at $10. The capellini with meat sauce was not bad either. My veal chop italian style was a bit too heavy on the vinegar, the veal had been sauteed with too much liquid and came out almost poached which is not good for me. And the roasted potatoes were sort of mushy.

But did I mention the wine list? This page says it for me. Great selection, at least 200 choices, at very reasonable markups, easily 30 I found scanning it briefly that I really want to sample at the price. We settled for the Dragon's Blood (2002 Sangue di Drago) that did manage to be both fresh, crisp and earthy on the finish. I was not surprised to see the place has earned a Wine Spectator award for its wine.

And I will go back for pasta, maybe a steak, and to try more of that wine. But could we take up a collection and get them a new chef? And maybe a little more hands-on management? Cause the place seems to be drifting a little.

Vic’s Classic Italian Steakhouse
17W400 22nd Street
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
630-833-2700