Vero Italiano - Peoria

I was very excited about celebrating my birthday here with husband in April 2021. I am also Italian American I might add. Businesses just opening up after pandemic. Wanted a nice romantic meal outside. Italian owner ? kept running outside back and forth and talking loudly on cell phone. We wanted a nice quiet meal but were disturbed by his actions. Bothered husband more than me. I guess he was watching us so that we would not walk out on expensive meal. Also outdoor heater did not have propane which he blamed on Junction City. This would be my last birthday celebration with Joe as he passed in September 2021. Have been to some good Italian restaurants in Chicago and beyond not to mention my Nonna's as child . Hello Is this restaurant still open?

Overall nice restaurant but not worth the price. The food was really good but the portions were rather small. Salmon was cooked perfectly. It’s a nice small restaurant and you can tell they make each order just for you, made in house, but know it will take time. The music was rather loud and even had some man talking which was rather distracting while trying to hold a conversation. Later the music was completely off and you could hear everyone’s conversation. Overall nice meal but not planning on visiting again.

First time going to Vero so this is our first impression on the quest for a very good authentic Italian restaurant. Unfortunately Vero did not hit the mark. First of all when an Italian restaurant puts butter on the table and grocery store bread it's the first strike against them. Where is the olive oil and good Italian bread? We ordered two appetizers fried calamari and rice balls. First the rice balls basically had no rice in them, was mostly mozzarella.. they should actually call them some type of mozzarella ball. The fried calamari, which the waitress said was home made, had no tentacles. Only parts of the squid body .. where is the rest of the squid? The two entrées we had were chicken Parm and Fra-Diavolo pasta with shrimp and scallops. I'll first start with the Fra-Diavolo dish. I think there were only two shrimp in the dish and as far as the scallops they had filleted them into thin slices like the size of a quarter. Why would you fillet a scallop when the whole idea of a sea scallop is to be plump and moist. Maybe they did it to make you think you were getting more scallops. I'd rather have one good scallop than four pieces that were not good. The fettuccine noodles in the dish to me were not homemade noodles. Disappointing since I think they claim to make their own pasta. When my wife ordered the chicken Parm the waitress asked if she would like a salad, said yes. We waited for the salad (thought it was a side dish). Then the entrées came and her chicken Parm came with the chicken and salad plopped on the side of it. Could be our mistake but she thought that it automatically came with pasta. Usually when the waitress is giving you a choice she will say would you like pasta or a salad. Since the waitress only said would you like a salad we thought the dish came with pasta. The chicken was tough dry and had almost no sauce on it. We we're really hoping to like this place but unfortunately our first impression was not good.. and at their price level. the quality is not there. I see some good reviews so give it a try if you want. I guess we will keep on searching for a good authentic Italian restaurant.

The food wasn't good. I'm pretty sure my panchetta was burnt and the sauce was watery. Fettuccine had no flavor dry sauce.

Awesome local restaurant. Fresh pasta, classic and creative dishes, friendly service. Get the dessert. It is absolutely worth it!