Victorio's Restaurant: Gem in a Strip Mall

I have a saying when it comes to restaurants: “Gems are found in a strip mall.”

I don’t and never need the finest of fine dining restaurants to satisfy me. That’s fine, if that’s what you want, and I have indeed indulged in the past. But give me a place that’s been around for a while, is affordable, has good food and is cute, and rest assured I’ll return again and again.

(69 Belleville Ave.) isn’t elaborate, but it doesn’t need to be. For me, it’s the spot that always satisfies. When it comes to holidays, and we’re thinking of nearby eateries big and small to reserve at, someone always says, “Why not Victorio’s?” 

You may not think of Victorio's when it comes to gourmet Italian cuisine, nor will you see fabulous, old world photos of Italy hanging up. This is a pizzeria with seating for 22 people in the front room, 26 in the back and a nicer dining area with artwork bearing French wording on its olive green, pale yellow and apricot colored walls.

What I will say is this: Victorio’s has never let me down, whether it be food service or comfort.

My wife Lucille and I visited on a recent weeknight and plenty of parking could be had in the front parking lot Victorio’s shares with other businesses in the Belleville Avenue shopping center. Even so, there is also parking around the back should the lot fill up.

Victorio’s, founded in 2002 by Victorio and Willy Pastuizaca, is a BYOB, so make sure if you like wine with your meal that you pick up a bottle or two of your favorite and, if given the choice, sit in the rear dining room. When in this tiny area, you forget that next you beyond the wall is actually a pizzeria setup.

A decent portion of piping hot bread was delivered to our table first; not enough to devour and fill us, but enough to enjoy while perusing the menu with our salad. The menu ensures a variety with standard soups, appetizers, salads, pastas, chicken, seafood, veal dishes, pizzas and sandwiches.

Lucille and I started our evening with the house salad that accompanied the entrées, which is iceberg lettuce, baby tomatoes, onions, red peppers, black olives and cucumbers, all dressed with a nice portion of the house balsamic dressing which “set alive the garden” on our plates. Also, combined with the tiny rings of onions, it made the salad so much better.

The entrées were excellent. My wife enjoyed the penne toscana, pasta with tiny rectangles of chicken, sun-dried tomatoes (which found their way onto my plate, thankfully), artichokes, diced zucchini and mushrooms in olive oil and garlic sauce. Nothing overwhelming, but just right.

My entrée, chicken saltimbocca, was one I’d had before at Victorio’s. The sliced chicken breast with layers of prosciutto, mozzarella with sherry wine sauce and served over a very generous amount of spinach once again did not disappoint. If you’re an iron fan, this meal - and its abundance of greens - is for you.

Our meal at a close, Lucille and I held hands and discussed the pink and red heart-shaped candles on the tables.

“You know,” she said, “this place always satisfied me.”

Me too.

Victorio's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
69 Belleville Ave.
Hours: Mon-Sat, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun, noon-10 p.m.
BYOB
973-748-4646