Cafe Bionda pulled off a lovely Valentine's Day dinner service, including presenting a rose to each female guest. Super cheesy but I soooo loved it . First (and best!) thing about Cafe Bionda - they serve marinara sauce to dip your delicious Italian bread in. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is also offered, but who doesn't want amazing, parmesan cheese topped warm marinara sauce with bread?! I was completely sold on this restaurant after the bread and sauce was presented. The salad are more than enough for 2 people to share, which is great as long as you and your date can agree on a salad. Fortunately, the bf and I enjoy enough similar things and we settled on the arugula salad which was fresh and delicious. As for the second best thing about Cafe Bionda (close second to the bread & marinara) - their crumbled sausage. Order one of their pasta dishes with their crumbled Italian sausage and you will be able to die a happy person. It's that good. Particularly (and unexpectedly) delicious is the Orecchiette Sausage, which is presented with a garlic white wine/EVOO sauce and somehow manages to feel light even though it's pasta and Italian sausage. I tend to hate leftover pasta and this was even better the next day. The service at Cafe Bionda is a little bit spotty. If they could just improve this aspect a small amount, this would be a no questions asked 5 star restaurant.... but many small things added up to a somewhat odd service. Our server took our drink orders, and when he came back and presented our drinks, he took our salad order. A runner brought out our salad about 6-8 minutes later, which was nice (and speedy!). No one returned to take our entree order for about 20 minutes, which was weird/annoying. After we did place our entree orders, the dishes came out in about 12-15 minutes, so it was quite quick. So we weren't really waiting an egregious amount of time, the service just seemed a bit odd. The other glaring issues is that a bus boy/runner cleared my bread dish when I was clearly using it no less than 3 times. I literally had to ask a server for a new bread plate THREE TIMES, because it was snatched off the table before I could even get a peep out of my mouth. Again, that is just weird. My boyfriend has been a longtime lover of Cafe Bionda and he just may have converted me into a lifer at this establishment as well. Excellent date spot, and amazing food. This place is truly a southside gem, even taking the not quite perfect service into consideration. Grab a reservation on Open Table when your next Italian craving strikes! read more

We just finished an amazing meal here. Last minute reservations. Our server was fantastic!! Everything she recommended was spot on.. The Bi India salad was enough for the our if us for a starter., The wine was great. We had a merlot/zin blend . Every entree was wonderful. We had chicken piccata, chicken Melanese and chicken parm. Topped it off with a tiramisu for the table with 4 forks!! We all said we wanted to eat here again tomorrow!! Fantastic!! 5 stars!! read more

The mussels were fantastic. When you go in there request Whitney to be your server. She is a hoot!!

Wow, this place is really falling apart. After coming here for years, my last few trips have been disappointing and even a bit weird. The last time the hostess insisted that my Open Table reservation was for 2 not 4 and then tried to seat us in the bar next to the kitchen when the whole room was empty. Open Table sent me a notice the next day that I was a no show for my table for 4. One of my companions asked for his dish with no cheese - when it arrived laced with cheese he returned it and the waiter stormed off like he was being unreasonable. Food still good but every other aspect of the place a mess. read more

A lot of reviews that are totally off about this place. If you are looking for some great Italian food, this is the place to go. Great find. Prices might be a bit off but that is expected IMO with Italian food (ALL Italian food is overpriced). Never had bad service here. Ask for the server named Guy, he's great. The calamari is great, along with the sausages for apps. The salads are big and great to share. The Nanna's Gravy is my favorite pasta dish here, maybe in town. Love the pork roast on top and with the pasta is a great flavor and texture combo. I wanted more pasta! I really enjoy coming here and the expanded space looks beautiful. Parking lot in the back, lots of beer bottles to choose from. Will keep coming back! read more

The clam linguine was almost not edible. Contained four times the amount of salt necessary. The grouper was the same way. We didn't even finish our meals because of it... read more

The food at Cafe Bionda is out of this world, the drinks are strong, and the atmosphere is inviting. The size of the restaurant is quaint and perfect for the South Loop, something needed in the restaurant-starved neighborhood. Waitstaff needs to be re-evaluated. I was corrected twice by our waitress who clearly doesn't know that the customer is always right. We will be back because of the exceptional menu and of course, the atmosphere. read more

Food is great. Service leaves a lot to be desired. We had a party of 6. Called and made a reservation for 8:30pm. When we got to the resturant, they had no record off our reservation. We ended up sitting down at 10pm. Wait staff insinuated that they wanted to buy us a bottle of wine for our troubles. We were charged for the bottle. Good food. Poor service. read more

I am by no means a foody or a picky eater but this restaurant has a nice atmosphere and okay staff. I had the grouper Italiano and the fish was overcooked and stale. The potatoes that came with the dish were stale and seemed like they were previously frozen. My girlfriend got the gnocchi, and while it was tasty, it was overwhelming and the sauce too thick. Overall, the ambience is good but the food is overpriced for what it is. read more

My husband and I LOVE Cafe Bionda. What an extensive menu. Everything we've tried has been delicious and our server, Guy, MADE OUR NIGHT! Not only a great server, very attentive, friendly, but funny as f*ck too!! ha We'll definitely be going back, requesting Guy :) read more

Best marinara! Very tasty and robust with the right amount of kick. Loved the lasagna and the Italian sausage so good and flavorful in the pasta dishes. Broccoli salad was a nice treat. Thoroughly enjoyed our dinner here. Service very attentive and friendly. read more

Visited Cafe Bionda last couple weeks. The food was absolutely FABULOUS! Everything we tried was top shelf! The bread was so good it makes you cringe with delight! The spaghetti we tried was beyond anything we can get in MN. The meatballs were absolutely savory! The roasted sausages are to die for! All the way down the line, this place serves up Italian fare like few others! Even the decor is high-end! We can't imagine not going back many, many times! read more

We ordered two appetizers, a salad, three pasta dishes and a dessert. The appetizers and salad were great, but the pasta was overlooked and watery--the noodles had not cooked with the sauce, but were merely tossed. Forty minutes late to seat us and terribly, terribly slow service. Waiter seemed very disinterested in helping serve us throughout the evening. read more

We wanted Italian while in town and was recommended this place by a couple of locals. There were about 7 of us and they did a good job accommodating us. We decided to eat at the bar and the drinks were made perfectly by a very friendly bartender. Everyone liked their meal and mine was good, but I think I should have stuck with something from the menu and not the special. The seafood tasted fresh, but was a little pricey. For dessert I tried the tiramisu and it was very good. Next time I'd like to try one of the other dishes from the main menu. read more

Cafe Bionda - Italian Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Slow service which drops the stars but yummy rigatoni, crispy chicken, grilled calamari.

This is and forever will be my family's favorite spot! We were in last night for me and my husbands anniversary. We had a wonderful server Andrea. She interacted with our son and made our experience even better than usual. The food never disappoints! LOVE LOVE LOVE the restaurant! read more

One of the worst dinning experiences in my life. Terrible service and the food was marginal at best. Spoke to manager they didn't offer to comp anything. Disappointing to pay good money for such crap. Won't be returning. read more

Seriously amazing. My boyfriends father and his girlfriend took us here for Valentine's Day, and it exceeded all expectations. I forget our waitresses name, but she was outstanding. Very informative, friendly, and explained everything on the menu to us. The food was absolutely delcious. Wine was fantastic. And the customer service was excellent. Zero complaints, and I highly recommend! read more

One of my favorite restaurants! Best Italian food I have ever had! The atmosphere is excellent and the food is even better. Ask for Guy when you're in the restaurant, he's an awesome server! The hostesses and bartenders are always warm and welcoming. The Managers Paul and Blake often visit the tables to make sure things are running smoothly and are nothing short of wonderful. Highly recommend this restaurant! Visit and see what 5 star dining feels like! read more

Not sure how the food is here because no one ever came to my table to say a word to me. I sat and sat and sat. They did appear busy but two waitresses came outside to take orders for the other tables which had been seated and totally ignored me. I've lived in the neighborhood two years and finally decided to give this place a try. What a waste. read more

OMG love this place! On Atkins so could not get pasta or eat bread. I had the bacon cheeseburger with the salad and the grilled calamari, all were excellent! I can't wait to go back again and again, how did I not know this place was so close to me. read more

Ordered the stuffed shells based on raving reviews from before. They recommended adding sausage, which I did. It was way too much. I love cheese, but this was like pure calories without the amazing taste that comes with it. I am a big eater and I stretched 6 shells out to last a week- I could not eat any more than that at a time. Would have thrown it away, but that is alot of money to waste! Boyfriend got the spaghetti with sausage. Pathetic. It was bland and the sausage was an entire link, which was oddly colored and really badly cooked. Ice cream was good, but hey that comes from a box. Sauce with bread was a nice touch. We had waited a long time to finally try this place and we were very disappointed with our experience. Had great service, but the food was just not worth the ridiculous prices. read more

Drool. From the generous martinis to the 'grandma's quality' delicious Italian food, Cafe Bionda is one of my favorite places in the city. And I've recommended it to many friends who have discovered the same delicious qualities about them. read more

Let me start at the end: My wife and I, visiting Chicago for the new year's weekend, enjoyed our dinner quite a bit. She had the grilled calamari with fra diavolo sauce, and I had the stuffed shells -- with the fra diavolo sauce as well after the kitchen agreed to let me substitute that sauce for the vodka cream sauce. Our server (Mallory?) was friendly and attentive. It was nice for my gluten-free eating wife that they had GF pasta. So I can see why this is a very popular neighborhood place. I deduct one star, however, because of the way our visit began, which still sticks in my craw: we walk in at barely 6 pm, the place is not crowded yet, and the two young women at the front of the house ask if we have reservations. No, we say--oops. I would have, but my phone battery was under 10% so I wasn't able to. We came from the Field Museum in a cab on a sudden decision. I don't think we looked like slobs, but we were just met with disdain. We were initially offered (only) a "hightop" table in the bar area right by the front door. We resisted politely and so instead wound up at a table in the very back corner of the back dining room, which was nice--but the room was more than half empty at the time and for a while after that, so what was all that about on our entrance? Why did we have to negotiate for a respectable table? And the same front-door staff, on our way out, didn't thank us or anything like that. So, nice place, but because of the reception, we would not likely return. (We discovered upon leaving and subsequently from Yelp that there is a very popular Thai spot a few doors away.) Oh, PS, I would also deduct half a star if I could for the television in the back dining room. But this is a pet peeve of mine: what is it about restaurants anymore that they'll put so much attention into their menu, into their cooking, into the style of their place, and then dumb it down with a television (and usually with sports on it). OK, so there was an Illinois team in a bowl game, but no one was watching anyway. Is it a nice Italian restaurant or is it a sports bar? It detracted from the atmosphere. read more

Had nanas' gravy which was pot roast that taste like spaghettos' sauce was like it was out of a can was not happy at all after I read all the great reviews about this dish . It did have great service an nice setting for south loop read more

This place is a decent addition to South Loop. I had a recent date here and it was a charming little spot (sadly, more charming then the date was). The food was good although my portion was huge and I ended up taking half of it home. The interior was decent, service was decent. Nothing really stood out as spectacular, or spectacularly awful either. Kinda like the date, whose name I cannot remember to save my life. I wouldn't object to ended up here again at some point. read more

Our favorite placeGreat wine selection and dessert. Recommend the tiramisu. Oops Nana's Gravy first then the tiramisu

Visited from Arizona after reading Yelp reviews during the NRA, it was one of the best meals I have had away from home thanks Yelp friends.

Excellent service, great food. A wonderful neighborhood place to go have dinner with friends or family. The pasta dishes and sauces were fresh and hot. I had Nonna's gravy, it was like an Italian pot roast, and it was fabulous. read more

Cafe Bionda. At first....a year ago,-such an asset to the South Loop. We have been here four times, including a time we took family after a Bears game, and raved about it. However, this time it was a mistake, and we will not be going back. Our waitress was very rude. You could tell initially she wanted nothing to do with us. I ordered a pasta with shrimp on it, and (on top of a $3 upcharge for gorgonzola cheese on a salad and a $7 upcharge for a side of pasta on my husband's veal, plus a $2 upcharge for whole wheat pasta which we were not informed of-NO big deal, we understand upcharges here and there because we have worked in restaurants and frequently visit places), she charged us $12 dollars for 4 pieces of FROZEN SHRIMP on my $15 pasta. That is, like, an 80 % upcharge for TERRIBLE shrimp! Any other classy restaurant would have charged 3 or 4 dollars for the upcharge. The waitress was also very rude when questioned and the manager was even more out-of-line. We were buying alcohol at a quiet table of just two of us, minding our own business, so we expected classier service. For the manager to have the audacity to respond, "Oh, no one has ever complained about that price." Ummmm REALLY? It's $12 for four pieces of terrible shrimp, so terrible I could only choke down two! Like much of the South Loop, what started as "turnaround" and a good thing is hitting a wall. I highly recommend Rosebud, Sapori Trattoria, or other Italian options in the loop or Lincoln Park. It will be well-worth the extra cab ride, believe me! read more

Always a good experience, grilled calamari salad is my go to and delicious. Nice and friendly service.

Went to Cafe Bionda 6/20/19 ordered the grilled calamari it came out more sautéed than grilled had a bad smell ordered entrées steak special of the day 2 fillets medium with mozzarella cheese tomatoes and roasted potatoes when entree came out steak was well done and potatoes were very hard sent entree back 2nd time entree came out steak was still over done tomatoes were very hard could not cut through them and potatoes were again extremely hard not roasted at all over all very bad experience for the high price food heard the waitress tell the cooks that they had to get their stuff together won't be going back any time soon what a shame read more

I'm really torn between 3 and 4 stars here so I'll start the conservative route and hope to upgrade as time goes on. I live in the neighborhood so I've been here for lunch and dinner a few times only recently. Overall I agree the noise level is a bit crazy and the food is hit and miss but the service has been really great for me. The wine list isn't bad and the markup for bottles I recognized was slightly below 100%, which was nice. They don't have a lot by the glass but they had something labeled as a 'Baby Tuscan.' Since I never had heard of that, I of course had to get it and thought it was quite nice. Instead of the typical Italian restaurant bread with oil (which I love), they serve bread with a hearty tomato sauce with cheese on top. I think this is a great idea just because even though the bread and oil is good, in a city with so many Italian restaurants it doesn't hurt to distinguish yourself where you can. The best food I've had there was the calamari with calabrese peppers and garlic. You think you're going to miss the crispy fried portion of the calamari but you don't because the sauce is just so damn tasty. The calabrese peppers are nice and spicy and the sauce soaks into the batter but the calamari itself was not mushy and not chewy...very well done. They also are not scared of garlic and, as a garlic lover, I appreciate that. Also the sausage and peppers was really good. I tried the mussels in linguini. I really liked the linguini itself but the mussels were overcooked. Some friends have had their pasta dishes in red sauces and found the sauce to be too sweet for their liking. Nothing was bad, just not awesome. So I think their starters are really the star and their entrees are just okay for me...but the service has always been very good. I plan to keep going back and hoping to get some better entrees but the calamari is already top notch. read more

Nothing to really brag about. The place was okay and was convenient to where I lived. Husband and I were too lazy to cook after work on Friday and stopped by. I had the NY steak drenched in red wine demi glazed and the some seafood pasta. The steak was engulfed in the glazed (not a fan). When I have a steak I want to taste the meat. The pasta had a strong seafood smell. The calamari with calabrese was tasty. Otherwise I might come back only if I was craving Italian and didn't want to go far. Our dinner bill was about $80 for the 3 items. The atmosphere was okay, nothing fancy. read more

Amazing food! First time coming here. Came for my birthday and they were super friendly and took good care of us. Mussels were cooked perfectly, great serving sizes, and fresh veggies! The table bread could have been toasted a tad more but it was still delicious with their tomato parmesan dipping sauce. read more

I love Cafe Bionda. Love it! I've never had a bad meal or bad experience here. I like all of their plates so I can't pick and choose which one to talk about. What I really like is they give you bread & gravy right when you sit down and it's so delicious. The staff is always nice. They have now expanded their restaurant so it's so much more roomy and you don't feel boxed in or on top of each other. I really love the new layout. I love sitting at the bar top tables because everyone you know congregates at the bar and you're able to people watch and have a great time. read more

The food here is always delicious (think Stuffed Shells). If your appetite is anything less than ginormous, you should probably consider sharing a dish because the portions are huge (and who can resist the bread they bring you to start with?). Cafe Bionda is a little gem in the South Loop. read more

This place is great for a quiet dinner in the South Loop neighborhood. It is relatively cheap and serves good Italian food for the price. I especially like the grilled calamari. I would recommend driving because it's still tough to catch a cab by it. There is a free parking lot in the back of the place so skip the valet and street parking. In the summer there is outside seating and it's a really fun atmosphere. read more

Cafe Bionda was good, everything tasted good, not amazing but good. I would go back if I was in the area, the pricing was kind of high for the location and the size of dishes you get. I ordered a side of meat balls and they were pretty solid, good form and density, something they are not shaped and formed well, these were. read more

The food is great here but the service was a bit bellow par. The waiter only came to get drink order, forgot to get our meal orders and them only showed up later to get the tip. But again the food is great! So if you wanna try some thing different, this is a safe place. read more