The Village at Italian Village

The Village at Italian Village is a family-style Italian-American restaurant on the second floor of 71 W. Monroe St. in the Loop. Alfredo Capitanini, an immigrant from Lucca in Tuscany, opened the restaurant on September 20, 1927, and the fourth generation of his family runs the business today. The menu covers chicken parmigiana, lasagne, chicken Vesuvio, fresh pasta and thin-crust pizza.

What to know

• The wine list won Wine Spectator’s Grand Award in 1984, according to the family.
• The dining room is reached by stairs only, since the historic building has no elevator.
• The same building holds a lower-level restaurant, a cocktail bar, a ground-floor espresso café and a private dining room.
• Chicken Vesuvio, a house specialty, takes 25 to 30 minutes to cook.
• The restaurant’s website calls The Village the oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago.