Vincenzo's Ristorante Omaha

Years ago I was eating here and two tables over was Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. If they liked it, how couldn't I? One of the better OMA Italian restaurants...

I stopped in for a late lunch on a Monday in July. I was actually surprised they were open. I glanced over and saw cars in their parking lot and so decided to take a closer look. Sure enough, the "Open" sign was lit. This place has been on my list of restaurants to try for quite some time. I just didn't think with it being a Monday (so many private restaurants are closed on Mondays), it being in West O (there's not much of a weekday lunch crowd west of 156th), and it being a full service Italian restaurant (notorious for serving dinner only) that it would be open. I'm glad it was as I finally got to try it.

I walked in and there was no one at the host stand. There were also no visible employees anywhere to notice me standing there. After a couple of minutes one of the managers appears from the back and seated me. He was nice enough and I requested a booth and he happily complied. The host also took my drink order and brought me an iced tea.

I then proceeded to sit there for about 10 minutes before my waitress finally appeared. She didn't even apologize for the wait. The iced tea I had to keep me company during my wait tasted off. Hard to say why. I'm not sure if it was burnt somehow or perhaps whatever device they use for brewing it needs a thorough cleaning. I've tasted that exact same off taste at other restaurants. It's usually not a consistent problem and is just an off batch, but it can be quite unpleasant when you take a big gulp of what you're hoping is refreshing fresh brewed iced tea. A refill later on tasted fine.

I ordered the Salsiccia & Peppers (spicy Italian sausage link with roasted peppers and onions, tossed in marinara, and served over spaghetti). It was good. The sausage was good and not terribly spicy. The roasted peppers were a mixture of red and green bell peppers. I don't care for the green. Their color dulls when they're cooked and then they look unappetizing in food. They should just go with all red. The sauce did taste a little flat, but if you manage to get a bite of the sausage in every mouthful you hardly notice. The spaghetti seemed a bit dry. I would imagine that's because they were holding it poorly in the back.

My entrée came with a choice of soup or salad. The soup was Tomato Basil. I opted for a Caesar Salad (small up-charge). The salad was okay. Overall, a pretty average Caesar salad. They also serve complimentary bread rolls with butter. They were good, but typical of brown-n-serve rolls purchased from a wholesaler. There's no baking happening here. I was pleased they didn't offer me some olive oil and herb concoction. That has gotten to be quite gimmicky at Italian restaurants.

There was only one wait person working the entire restaurant. She had 6 tables when I got there and each table had 3 to 6 customers. You'd think the manager would come out of the back to help wait tables and to make sure the customers were getting the level of service they expected. Apparently not.

Overall, an okay restaurant. The food is nothing spectacular, but it's not bad either. Service could be improved. I might stop back to try something else, but I am in no hurry to do so.