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    VinnyD's

    4.7 (207 reviews)
    InexpensiveGelato, Shaved Ice, Hot Dogs
    Closed 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM
    Updated 3 months ago

    VinnyD's Photos

    VINNYD'S ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Classy
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - VinnyD's

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    Shaved ice
    AJ L.

    The place was great. It is a little hole in the wall and they had such thinly fine shaved ice. The flavors were also very good although since it was so hot it just melted into a sweet mess at there end. But I would definitely go here again on a hot day.

    Shaved Ice
    Angelica S.

    This was my second time here, I was craving a cold sweet treat! The mini size even though a small cup, still had a good portion size. They have different types of food and drink options on the menu. I haven't tried their food but maybe next time. The staff is very welcoming, and the service was somewhat quick depending on the time of day! It a little hidden but I like the lights they have and the outdoor seating!

    Curly fries
    Lakeisha H.

    Back at it again! Love this place such a cool spot in the summer. Best Italian Ice in the city. The entire family loves it and they always provide great service.

    Italian Beef.  Juicy hot style.
    Scott S.

    Vinny D's may well have the best Italian Beef in Chicago. I've been to dozens upon dozens, but these folks have created something truly special. Let's break it down: Beef Of course it's thinly sliced like you would expect, but the tenderness is melt-in-your-mouth. A quality meat is used that's clearly cooked at the right temp for the proper amount of time. Easily pulls apart with your fingers; never mushy. Certainly never chewy. Not a sliver of fat or gristle shows up. Juice The juice features the exact right amount and type of herbs and spices. Sitting at the bottom of your sandwich container will be exactly what you want to see in terms of the Juice: Not too watery; with tiny oil slicks floating on the top here and there. It's a perfect balance. Getting that right is no easy task. The Giardiniera (hot variety) I'm doubtful that the giardiniera is Vienna Beef brand, and that's a good thing. I love the Vienna style but it gets old. I need to ask these guys, but this could very well be home-made. There's little cubes of cauliflower in theirs which, while it's a small detail, provides an amazing little texture crunch and taste to the experience. Inspired Bread As far as I'm concerned, this is what sets apart the 'okay' level from the 'spectacular' category. They have absolutely nailed the bread. It's never stale and chewy like so many places. Oh no. It's packed full of flavor. Most importantly, and I cannot stress this enough, it HOLDS TOGETHER from beginning to end. I've even taken their Italian Beef sandwiches home to eat. 10min of walking later, I break out the sandwich. That bread is not only still in one piece, it maintains its structural integrity until the last bite. Listen, if you know about Italian Beef and the bread....you know that's a serious accomplishment. Many places lately the bread is positively falling apart after 2 bites. Not here. Consistency Lastly, and most importantly, let's talk about consistency. Anyone can get a great sandwich going at least some of the time. Only a handful can knock it out of the part most or all of the time, and these folks do it. I've eaten quite a few at Vinny Ds at this point, and it's been the exact same quality every single time. It takes real discipline to not get sleepy and lazy and sloppy when making something as simple as an Italian Beef sandwich, so a huge round of applause for the staff. Staff Always friendly. Always cool. Final Bravo, Vinny Ds. Bravo.

    Italian cookie gelato was amazing!!! Creamy and delicious

    I stopped by and Carlos was asking people to try free samples. He was sooo friendly and sweet. So I got the Italian cookie gelato. It's sooo good! Highly recommend stopping by this family owned spot!

    Lemonade "slushy" Cherry slushy  Root beer float

    Imma give them 4 stars even though I was really disappointed they handled my concern when I had a question. We stopped at Vinny's around 7:30 PM on Sunday evening when it was very hot. We ordered two slushy's lemonade and a cherry and a root beer float. There was no slushy in the lemonade, It was all drink. When I went back up to the counter to let them know I got lemonade the lady behind the counter went on a tangent for a good 30 seconds and I couldn't understand a word she said except for "do you want to give it back?" After all that I said no thank you and took my slushy back and drank my lemonade. The cherry slushy was fine. It had slush in it and the root beer float was good. I won't let their rude customer service or failure to give me a lemonade slushy stop me from going back cause if I'm being honest, the lemonade was actually fire!

    Italian Ice (Kiwi and Strawberry)

    Cute little shop with fun summer options as well as good food options. I went for Italian ice the one day it was warm in Chicago miraculously and it did not disappoint.

    Beef!

    Incredible service, and the best Italian beef I've ever had. Carlos and Mary are both amazing! I'll be returning as soon as we're back in town.

    Medium Oreo Gelato on Waffle Cone
    Mikei J.

    My family and I were walking up Division and stumbled upon VinnyD's. I'm glad we did. I'd never heard of it. The guys at the shop are super friendly. We were able to taste many different flavors prior to ordering. The Gelato is EPIC!! I hate to say that my husband got the chocolate milkshake and it was not good. None of us liked the milkshake but we all LOVED the Gelato. The shop being a walkup has a vintage feel and very welcoming. I definitely recommend.

    Italian Ice (kiwi strawberry + vanilla gelato)
    Julia Q.

    Lovely spot to try a variety of Chicago classics. We came here to try italian beef, but ended up ordering a scoop of Italian ice and a Chicago dog as well. The Chicago dog was by far my favorite item- great ratio of all the traditional toppings, great value for the price we paid. It may have been the best Chicago dog I've tried. The italian beef was also tasty, but the flavor was mostly coming from the giardiniera/pickled veggies rather than the meat itself (beware if you aren't a fan of spice! I am someone who loves spice and even I found myself picking out some of the jalapeños). The portion size was also pretty small. I would recommend ordering the Italian ice to enjoy out on their patio- make sure to add gelato (in my opinion, the best part!) Note: I went on a really nice Chicago summer day, and they only had patio seating available. The inside/restrooms seemed blocked off from customers.

    Supermam ice cream

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    10 months ago

    Always friendly and accommodating and the shaved ice is impeccable along with the mini tacos

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    3 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Service is always great. Italian ice and dipped beef with their homemade giardiniera is always spot on.

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    1 year ago

    Great Italian ice great food and great conversation with the owner and employees! I recommend the pistachio gelato best I ever had!

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    2 years ago

    OMG, YUM! I forgot to take a picture before I ate it all! Coming back for Italian Ice very soon! Nice people, great service!

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    Page 1 of 6

    Ask the Community - VinnyD's

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    now *this* is great okonomiyaki…read more coming from seattle and very recently having a disastrous experience at the only okonomiyaki spot in our area (you can read my past reviews for that), my two friends, my partner, and i were looking forward to having great okonomiyaki. thankfully, gaijin delivered! we came by on a friday night, and it was fairly busy. we wouldn't have been surprised if we were turned away since we didn't have a reservation. they ended up making space for us thankfully and we didn't even have to wait long at all. the inside of the place isn't that big, but it's not so tiny that it's cramped. when you sit down, if you are in a large enough party, you sit down in front of a flat stovetop to keep your okonomiyaki warm when the waiter brings it out to you. we started with some drinks. they were all very good - next time i'm trying that espresso goma-tini! i did get a lychee martini though, and it was a little strong of a pour but i still really enjoyed it. onto the okonomiyaki. we all ordered different ones so we could try them. every single one of them were delicious. i got the tofu osaka-style, my partner got the beef osaka-style, one of my friends got the fried shrimp osaka-style, and my other friend got the traditional hiroshima-style. each okonomiyaki is prepared perfectly, not too thick and not overly saucy (so it doesn't get soggy). the flavours are quite rich but also really nicely umami. sometimes, too rich of a sauce kind of overwhelms me, but the ratios are well-balanced. overall, truly recommend this place. probably some of the best okonomiyaki i've had. next time i'm in chicago, i'd love to go again. there's so many options to choose from and i want to try them all!

    I've been wanting to try Okonomiyaki for a long time, so when I saw that they had it I had to stop…read moreby! It's really cool in here because you can watch them make the Okonomiyaki in front of you! They had like a set meal going on which included soup and okonomiyaki and dessert, which was mochi donuts. The soup was pretty good, standard. The Okonomiyaki was such a big portion. I loved the little tempura bits on top and they were generous with the amount of shrimp. It's like a yummy savory pancake. I will say I didn't really enjoy the mochi donuts but I was so full I couldn't eat them until later so it may have been because they weren't as fresh and got hard. If you've been wanting to try Okonomiyaki you should check this place out!

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    This is a cute little walk-up window tucked behind Duck Duck Goat. You order at the window and grab…read morea seat outside while they bring your dessert over. The staff was super friendly and I loved the chill summer vibes. The Chocolate Sesame was definitely unique. The soft serve had a coconut-like flavor and wasn't very sweet. I don't get impressed by ice cream & soft serve very easily, and I felt like the ice cream itself wasn't anything crazy. 5/10. The best part was everything on top. I loved how the chocolate sauce hardened into a shell, the chocolate-sesame crunch added great texture, and the chocolate shaved ice mixed with the crunch so I hardly noticed it was there. 8/10. Overall, I'd give it a 6.5/10. The sesame-chocolate flavor combination was unique and delicious, but for $17.50 it's definitely a little expensive.

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    Came to Ramen San on an impromptu date after our original plans fell through, and it ended up being…read morea really good choice. I loved the indoor outdoor feel of the space with the open windows, and they also have a nice outdoor seating area. The atmosphere is casual but cute, with a mix of bar, high top, and bench seating. We tried a few cocktails, which were good, and our server was friendly, patient, and gave great recommendations. But the absolute STAR of the meal was the crab rangoon dumplings. OMG. I already love crab rangoon, but these took it to another level. They were easily my favorite thing we ordered, and I would go back just for those. I'm not usually a big ramen person, but I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful the ramen was. We ordered a spicy option with fried chicken, and while I wasn't a fan of the fried chicken getting soggy in the broth, the ramen itself was delicious...honestly, the flavors were even better the next day after everything had soaked in. Overall, I really enjoyed it and would definitely come back to try another ramen. But those crab rangoon dumplings? I could go back for those RIGHT NOW.

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    Crying Tiger - Pork Belly (very good and flavorful)

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    The food was amazing, the drinks were to die forrrr. Joseph was an absolute angel and delivered…read moreexceptional service. Visited from CA with the cousins and I'll definitely be going back for the crying tiger dessert. Also Wu Tang was blasting over the speakers, music was 10/10. THANK U CRYING TIGER AND THANK U JOSEPHHHH

    Hey friends! It's been minute. Sorry, I've been socializing but here's the deets!…read more This is my first time coming to this restaurant and I'm quite happy to say it went very well. Now, as always these are my opinions and I think you should still try dishes I do not favor; tastebuds vary. App: Wagyu beef & Crudo. 20/10 so amazing. Wagyu beef is served warmed with mint and other greens. Crudo had the perfect crunch and spice. The Wagyu appetizer was so delicious I made it a meal with rice. Very filling. The sticky rice I originally ordered was very burnt. I understand "that's how it's made" but Sunda would never. Basically, I've had sticky rice that was burned and tasted so. Not a favorite at all. I swapped the sticky rice for Jasmin rice and it was fabulous. The espresso martini had a sweet licorice taste. I sent it back for the milk punch! The milk punch is delicious. Not milt but a smooth filtered creamy taste. It's not milt at all it's actually clear. 20/10 There's a slo a Resiling we had a the table. It was very delicious! I had 2 lol. Overall, I'd go back and plan to. The ambiance was fabulous. I'd recommend yellows, greens, blues, blacks, blush, jeweled tones for your outfit colors. I chose black bodysuit, jean, scarf, leather jacket, and gold shoes paired with a studded leather clutch. 20/10 experience. Follow me for more . Grab my look on SHEIN EXQ4M use my code: W8USdamnthosesteaktacos3760 Follow me @damnthosesteaktacos on socials

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    We're so happy we came here after not wanting to wait over an hour for tables elsewhere because the…read morefood and drinks here were so good. At 9pm there was no wait for a table or bar seating. This was our second time here after over a year but we didn't really get food the last time. It's a speakeasy located down an alleyway behind Frontera Grill and Xoco, or you can walk through Frontera Grill and get to the entrance through there. They'll give you a massive "bible" and it's basically a dictionary of all the liquors they have. Every one of them comes from Mexico. We sat at the bar and our bartender was really friendly. To drink, we chose two off the featured cocktail menu. They were doing a tomatillo theme. We ordered the Roasted Tomatillo Jam Sour and Tomatillo-Serrano Herbal Margarita. My favorite was the margarita because it was a little savory. I also got the milk punch which was so good! Probably one of the best I've had. To eat, we ordered the fire fried chicken, late night smash burger, and side of yucca fries. Everything was delicious. The burger is definitely a hidden gem! It was amazing. And the chicken was fried perfectly crispy. For dessert, we got both options: the chocolate strawberry sundae and the coconut tres leches. Both were great and I had difficultly choosing my favorite!

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    VinnyD's - gelato - Updated September 2026

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