"We were thinking it would be a beautiful day to enjoy dinner overlooking water. Thus came the suggestion to return to Villago. Almost three months had passed since our first visit, we heard that the outdoor deck had been completed and there hadn't been any rain lately so the parking lot would not be muddy. At about 5 pm on a Sunday, the bar was mostly full, only one high top was available inside, but it wasn't even close to a view of the lake outside. We had noticed an empty table with an umbrella on the patio so we asked if we could be seated there. We were, and it offered a lovely view of the lake. Starting with pints of Goose Island Honkers Ale and Davidson Brothers IPA $5 each), we both agreed that the IPA had more flavor than the English style bitter. Two items of interest on the daily specials menu made it onto our order Squash Flowers stuffed with ricotta $12) as an appetizer, and Heirloom Tomato and Burrata Ravioli $17). I decided to order the 16 oz. Lasagna $14.99). There were three of the squash flowers filled, lightly coated with a batter, deep fried, and served with a marinara sauce for dipping. They were good, not greasy, and lots of ricotta oozed out when they were cut into. The ravioli were served in a red pepper pesto sauce with asparagus. Overall, it was a nice dish, but it seemed like it was missing something to give it some zip. A similar comment could be made about the huge, towering block of lasagna that was served to me. It seemed to lack some kind of exciting flavor. The pasta was extra thick, and maybe necessarily so to withstand the weight of the other ingredients. The mixture of ground beef and sausage had only the faintest flavor of Italian meatballs or Italian sausage. In a very rare action from both of us, we added a pinch of salt to both of our dishes and noticed an improvement. Half of my lasagna came home with me and the next day benefited from the addition of some oregano and Tuscan spice. Our service from Heather was very good, and the busboy kept everyone's water glasses filled and dirty dishes cleared. Considering the number of customers, the kitchen did an acceptable job of getting the orders out in a timely fashion. Had we not nursed our second pints of beer, we probably could have been gone in 90 minutes."
