27 Best Italian Restaurants near Peoria Heights

“Dined in last night, 12/22/2023 with a party of 3, was greeted by a delightful hostess that was charming along with a superb server who catered to our every need which included coming 6 times to give me delicious Peoria water. I commend the chef with the best veal parmigiana I have had in Illinois! Tender lightly breaded veal smothered with a delicious marinara accompanied with a delicious a la carte sauteed fresh zucchini. The ambiance is delightful not like other restaurants in the area where you feel like your crammed in like sardines and can't have a nice conversation like Rizzi's on Sheridan in Peoria. Make sure and call after 12 noon to make your reservations at Paparazzi's for a most delightful and delicious dinner. I can't wait to return and try out their Eggplant parmesan.“

“Awesome food and good service.“

“Michael's Italian Feast is really an adventure for the eyes and a vibe that I have never seen round here.

The food is good and pretty fairly priced, tho perhaps a squidge more than I like to pay. That said, the portions were very generous. Further, these people believe in real cheese. If American is on the menu at all it was hidden cleverly and almost everything was made with real muenster!

However, the food-again good, was the least impressive part of the restaurant. I went for an open mic and found a really nice, old-fashioned sing along. Felt a little like going to church and the audience ranged from literal children to folks I would suppose were over 80. We all had a darn good time.

The restaurant was staffed by a lot of younger (high school aged?) workers who knew their stuff. They were knowledgeable about the menu, incredibly friendly and checked on their guests regularly.

I guess for me it was the incredible over the top decor that did it. It was like sitting under Juliet's balcony on a warm Italian day. You could look up at the ceiling while listening to music and see the heavens.

I'd pay $10 more to eat bad food if I could do it here. There is a little bit of a Christian overtone, which sometimes scares me, but it was in the lovely generous way so few people seem to promote now adays.

While I can't say I know this for a fact, being served by young people, in a fully muraled dining room, listening to live, local musicians at no additional charge makes me think that this business supports the arts and the community they are a part of.

I can spend a lot of money on that. Michael's Italian Feast is pretty far off my beaten path, but it's well worth a quick trip out of Peoria. I look forward to visiting again.

Parking: Park in the lot, silly

Kid-friendliness: Kids all over, laughing, playing, having fun

Wheelchair accessibility: Accessible as it gets. Walking or riding you'll have no trouble getting around.“

“I no longer even live in Illinois. But I always make it a point to go to a Michael's and get some subs, garlic bread, and some of their amazing cinnamon bread. You just don't find the bread density and sweetness anywhere else. That combined with pretty decent ingredients. Makes for something that I always seek every single time I make my way into Illinois again. Good deals and decent prices also definitely help. Everybody also loves their bucket of spaghetti which always comes out great and is always a good staple whenever we order the family feasts“

“Their pizzas are the best around. I order one every time I’m in town. Every time.“

“Sooooooo good, definitely will be back“

“A little slow, but it feels like slow of dining in Italy. Any sangria you get is amazing (I’ve had multiple seasonal flavors). Everything is good. Highlights: Chicken parm, baked tortellini, Cajun shrimp, fried chicken.

Dietary restrictions: They have gluten free cheese ravioli

Parking: If the place is packed, parking is hard

Kid-friendliness: Kids were present, not sure of a kids menu, but who doesn’t love noodles and free bread basket?

Wheelchair accessibility: Ramps to get in“

“I dined with a party of 3 and we were extremely impressed with the service we received from Dallas Brown. Friendly, willingness to adapt dishes to our preferences, efficient and continual checks with all of us are a few of the qualities that describe her service. She definitely makes me want to come back again! Thank you!“

“Avanti's is a Midwest icon and for good reason, it's dependable. Everything is always decent, not gourmet but always good. A plain iceberg lettuce salad is just as described on the menu. Truth in advertising! They're not trying to be anything but themselves. I appreciate that. The lasagna noodles were a little past soft and kind of disintegrated into the sauce. But again, it tasted really good. I ate every bit of it and I'll go again when I'm in town because I can depend on it.“

“Wonderful food (Delmonico Steak is to die for!) Atmosphere is elegant and relaxed. A great dining experience.“

“I will say the food is always good! The spaghetti fest bucket could be filled up more instead of half way but other then that I love this places food.On the other hand. No matter how many times me or my boyfriend or both of us go in the girls working are always extremely rude or disrespectful. I try to be understanding and smile at them but there customer service skills are very poor but as I said I'm understanding.It's 2023 no one wants to work or everyone's under staffed. So it's hard having good employees!I am extremely happy with how close these guys are to me!I'm 36 weeks pregnant and this place has been my biggest pregnancy cravings plus it's probably one of the only foods I can keep down!“

“Friendly wait staff. Food is always good and reasonably priced. Wide variety of menu options to choose from. Ive been coming to this restaurant since the 80's and this is my favorite with the current owners.“

“Update:

Mark the owner called me and was amazing. He offered to absolutely make up for everything even though it was Doordash's fault. This restaurant has wonderful customer service and will definitely have our business from here on out. Thank you Mark, and thank you to your lovely wife as well.

Old review:

I don't even know where to start... This review is mostly about their delivery partner.

I just moved to Peoria, and yesterday, after 8 hours of lugging heavy boxes and furniture up 2 flights of stairs into our apartment, we decided to treat ourselves with a local pizza place.

So I called for delivery because we're sweaty and exhausted, and the employee tells me they only deliver through Doordash.

Crap. I hate Doordash. Nine times out of ten, there's an issue with the delivery. I picked a pizza place, because they usually hire their own drivers.

But we're too tired to find somewhere else to order, so I bite the bullet.

My Doordash order gets here, and of course, there's a whole pizza missing from the order. Typical Doordash. I called the restaurant and he confirmed that the pizza was still sitting there. He offered to call Doordash for a re-delivery, and I said sure, thank you.

Well, 7 phone calls back and forth with Doordash customer service, they told me 1) They'd re-deliver, 2) Oops, they couldn't reach the driver 3) Do you want a refund? 4) Oops, we can't process a refund 5) I'll ask my supervisor for a re-delivery again 6) This time I had to call, and they told me they had to "escalate the issue" 7) It is now the next day, and they tell me they have to "escalate it" again to a different team.

So now it's the next day and I'm still without my refund and without my pizza.

2 stars for the food, because what we did receive was very tasty, but after the day we had and the added stress from Doordash, I don't know if we'll ever order here again. Maybe we'll try a carryout order, but between us working crazy First Responder hours, I don't know if we'll have the time.

So, yeah, very tired, very disappointed...“

“I was very impressed!!! I really enjoyed the privacy curtains. The food was very good cooked perfectly! the service was perfect as well very polite and checked in frequently to be sure everything was good and we had everything we needed. I will be back and recommend to all my friends! If I had 1 complaint I guess I'd say the prices but in reality you get what you pay for all around here. It's worth it to me! I do not recommend this as a restaurant for kids. ☆☆☆☆☆“

“Great pizza! Friendly staff.“

“Fast, friendly service and the food was great!“

“Per my 4 year olds request we had her birthday party here. She loves their pizza and I agree its the best. The service was awesome. Our server Amanda was very timely to our needs for a party of 14 and made my kids feel special. She was wonderful as is the food!“

“So we came in friday night and even thou she was busy Lily did a fantastic job!!. We never had to ask for anything. Dhe was friendly and very knowledgable about the menu. The chix dish was fantastic and the crab tots were to die for. Easily one of our new favorite places!!“

“I don't think I've been here in 30 years; (I actually had my 1st baby shower there 30 years ago ? )but the food, service, prices, and scenery are still AWESOME! There's a gorgeous stained glass mural there now that you have to see! ? I got the family feast to take home which was reasonably priced and delicious! The gentleman that took my order was nice and helpful by writing down what he was saying for me because I'm deaf! The rest of the staff was friendly and smiling while working hard to get everyone's meals ready! I definitely recommend this place and will be back much, much sooner the next time! ? Very clean too! ? Thanks for a great meal and making my day better! ?????“

“Gondola sandwiches are delicious!! A must have at least once in your life. Dinner salad is wonderful! Linguine Carbonara is so good! Great Italian food! I still say the old Avanti's on Main and University back in 1980 was the best ever!“

“Eli says 5 out of 5 stars: good prices, fast service l and delicious food. I had the build your own pasta with linguine, Alfredo sauce and bacon. I was feeling adventurous and I think I'll order it a lot more often. Even though I was eligible for a kids menu they treated me with respect and I ordered from the main menu. The whole table thoroughly their mess as well. The French fries were of the highest quality!“

“The service was very good!? Baily did a great job and was informative about our senior and military discount as well as the coupon. Then the pizza, I regret that I have not been there in some time . . . But this pizza was off the chart. Thin crust, extra crispy edges and flavorful topping. (Chicken bacon ranch). Top notch. I will not be waiting this long to hit them up again!“

“I visit Monicals once during the week for lunch with some of my colleagues from work. The store is well managed and the woman who works lunch taking orders and bringing the food and drinks out to the tables is friendly and has come to know our faces and what we typically order! We always have great service and definitely come back weekly for the atmosphere, speediness and quality!“

“We arrived around 6:00 p.m. on a Friday night. There were only 10 people in the restaurant. We were seated and got our drinks right way. We sat for 20 minutes before anyone took our order. We got two different waitresses. The first waitress gave us poor service. The other one at least tried. It took 1 half hours just to get served and paid. I usually leave a decent tip but after this experience I left $2.00. Our food was watery and had poor flavor. We will not be returning which is sad because we usually love the food and always had good service.“

“I had recently reserved a table for 14. The staff was helpful and accommodating! Day of I was also able to call in the food order before we arrived. It was a great location for a lunch gathering and food was delicious as always!“

“Ordered online and when I got there the price was almost $8 lower than I was expecting, apparently they utilized a couple of coupons I didn't know were available.
That my friends is what I call
Customer Service ??
So I paid the same amount as I planned and told the gentleman thanks and to keep the change as a tip. ?“