Venice Italian Steakhouse

For quite some time, I've had a little newspaper clipping taped inside my computer armoire advertising a lunch buffet at Venice Italian Steakhouse in Dyer. Although it's been there a couple years now, it was just recently that I was finally introduced to Venice Steakhouse on a visit for the lunch. We had dinner plans to go there with some friends last year, but plans changed and we ended up at another place. And ever since, I've been wanting to head over and check it out.  

Although I love my salads and veggies and seafood, I am also a big steak lover, so I hope to return soon to try out a juicy steak, but I figured what better way to get acquainted with the place than by trying out the lunch buffet. Things are a little more casual and move a little faster and you get to sample several different items. 

So, I asked my friend Christa if she'd like to get together for lunch and gave her several options of where to eat that were located mid-way between her place and mine and she picked Venice. She was in training for the Chicago Marathon and said she was working a carb-filled lunch into the meal plan. Let me insert here how much I admire her dedication in running this marathon! She and her brother ran and finished the race with respectable times. She's my hero! :)

I met Christa and her adorable little daughter for a mid-week lunch and here's what was on the buffet that day: a green salad, bread, veal marsala, barbecue meatballs, cheese filled ravioli, rigatoni with meat sauce, scalloped potatoes, a wonderful veggie mix of zucchini, squash, carrots and LIMA beans - oh, how I LOVE lima beans!!! Everything was way above par for buffet food. The marsala sauce was delicious, the ravioli was creamy and savory, the vegetables were cooked to perfection. And I have to admit, I had three servings of those awesome potatoes. And at $9 per person for the buffet, it was a bargain for such an assortment of Italian specialties. I'll be back for sure, either to repeat the lunch buffet or to give a steak a try. If you're in the Dyer area, I'd definitely recommend it for a speedy weekday lunch.

Oh, and the best part of lunch was getting to enjoy it with Christa and her adorable little girl who was all dressed up for Halloween!

Oh, and how can I forget dessert? I actually didn't look it over too well and by the time we got around to dessert, the buffet was closing down, but I did get to try the canoli. And how was it, you ask? Holy canoli!!!!  It was hard to just eat one! Our sweet waitress also brought me a little scoop of tiramisu since they were cleaning up and didn't have much dessert left. I could never turn down tiramisu. I can't figure it out. I do not like coffee. I haven't had a cup since I tasted a sip of my mom's coffee when I was about 10-years-old. I must have really been turned off by the taste, because that was my first and last cup. I do, however, adore tiramisu!!! Whenver I eat at an Italian place, tiramisu is the usual dessert choice. Venice didn't dissapoint.

The place also has a charming throwback ambiance to the days of the rat pack, which is highlighted in the wall art. Take a look at the dining room. Don't you love it?

Venice Italian Steakhouse

275 Joliet Street 

Dyer, IN 46311

(219) 322-8565

veniceitaliansteakhouse.com