Restaurants near Odeum Expo Center

Food is excellent. Tables are too close together. Diners next to us were 1 foot apart from us—uncomfortably close for conversation. (And they had children who were unhappy.) Noise level grows with the crowd so go early or deal with it. Service is the same—starts out great and then wanes as the crowd grows. But food is great so I’ll keep going back.

Our servers were attentive, friendly and did not hurry us. The queen cut prime rib was wonderfully flavorful and cooked to perfection. As soon as we sat down our server asked if my husband and I were celebrating anything special. When it was time for dessert our server brought us a complimentary dessert to celebrate my husband's birthday. Glad to see there are restaurants out there that still cater to the customer's satisfaction and happiness.

From beginning to end, it was a great dinner. We arrived early for our reservation so found seats at the bar. Cocktails were all very good. They had a great list of mock tails too. Violi has a really cool vibe, but the conversation is loud if that bothers you. Great service. Plates are designed to share and all 6 of us did. We liked everything we tried from the lamb shank to branzino and the mousaka. Will definitely return !

From sitting down to receiving the bill it was a wonderful experience. The peach bellini was refreshing, sweet and tasty. The bread they give with the giardinera was amazing. We ate and didn’t get full because the bread was so light and airy. The giradinera with the olive oil was amazing. So flavorful. The appetizer: beef carpaccio was delightful. It wasn’t heavy so it was the perfect appetizer. The rigatoni wasn’t spicy but it was flavorful. I added the chicken milanesa for protein and it was fried perfectly. They have two breasts if chicken on top of the rigatoni. The whitefish that my husband received was good. It was smaller than the one our neighboring table received, but besides that, it was a complete meal with yummy smashed potatoes and spinach. I enjoyed the olive oil cake, surprisingly. The description does not do the dessert justice. The chocolate budino wasn’t spicy VERY rich. Not to my liking, but it was decent. It seemed to be a flourless chocolate cake. The service was decent, despite being extremely busy. Overall, a nice way to spend a chilly evening in Oak Brook after winning at the Great Big Game Show.

West coast oysters were terrific. Crabmeat avocado was delicious. The fillet was excellent as was the WR cut and a lobster tail for the table. We were celebrating Moms 97th birthday and server Diana was very gracious and give the table two walnut chocolate chip cookies topped with vanilla ice cream whipped cream and chocolate sauce. It was an excellent topper to a terrific evening.