The Village is an American Dream.
An immigrant from a small town–nestled in the picturesque, rolling hills of Tuscany–Alfredo Capitanini came to Chicago in 1924 with little money, but big dreams. He knew nothing about restaurants but was eager to work, so he took a job as a dishwasher and began to build his ‘Sogno Americano’. Just a few years later, The Village was born.
Alfredo began his new American life as a dishwasher and ended up building a monumental restaurant paying homage to his Northern Italian roots with dishes inspired and adapted from his hometown of Lucca in the foothills of Tuscany. He found immediate success-opening his doors on September 20th, 1927 to a full house. Over the years, The Village constantly evolved, priding itself on always listening to the guests. Soon, the menu offered late-night fare and even breakfast omelets in addition to an encyclopedic array of traditional Northern Italian dishes such as manicotti, cannelloni, and chicken piccata, and eventually Southern Italian as well with chicken parmigiana, eggplant parmigiana, and chicken marsala.
Four generations of the la Famiglia Capitanini later, The Village still stands, against all odds, as a bastion of Italian-American tradition, exuberance, and la dolce vita.
The Village is an institution.
We serve Italian and Italian-American food. It's homecooked food that's meant to be shared with those around you; food that feeds the soul just as much as it fills the stomach. Food that goes well with a glass of red wine and old Italian tunes.
Our service style is 'old school' we take care of our guests as family. Over 90+ years, we have been fortunate to build connections with thousands of guests that span generations of Chicagoans. We proudly bring celebrations and traditions to life, whether they are everyday escapes or major milestones. And we are so grateful to play a small part in so many life stories.
If you're a new guest, we hope we have the opportunity to celebrate life with you, and if you've been coming for years, grazie mille!
“*Kindly Note* For good and for bad, we have an incredibly old building. Structurally there is nowhere we can add an elevator without demolishing a significant portion of our historic building and compromising its structural integrity. As such, The Village is only accessible via stairs. Please contact us with any questions."