viaggio ristorante & lounge.

chicago is chock full of amazing italian restaurants.

i recently ventured to the west loop to viaggio ristorante & lounge looking for just that: some amazing italian food.

their menu has plenty of vegan (and vegetarian) options. 
hold the cheese (and meat) on some of the salads and stay away from any housemade pastas (they've got egg in them)... and you're good to go.

here's what i had:

broccoli & tomato salad :

broccoli, tomatoes, kalamata olives and fresh garlic
with imported olive oil and a red wine vinaigrette. 
presentation was lacking, as you can see. this is exactly as it came to me! i thought it was tasty... but again, i'm a vegan. i enjoy veggies. it was extremely basic, but good nonetheless.

 rigatoni in a garlic & olive oil sauce with sauteed rapini :

again, very basic. literally just rigatoni in olive oil with some garlic tossed in. i thought the rapini was a bit overcooked, but it's one of my favorite veggies and i don't eat it very often. so again, i enjoyed it. i also added a bit of salt and covered it with crushed red pepper (i really do like my spice!), which added to my liking.

is viaggio the best italian food i've ever had? ... no.

is it a good place for vegans looking for some simple italian? ... yes.