Italian Kitchen is our family's favorite restaurant! The food is delicious and priced fairly. The staff always remembers us and treats us like family. It's a fun, casual, neighborhood gathering space! read more

Italian Kitchen is an excellent authentic Italian restaurant, awesome food, big portions, and great prices! I've been eating here for 5 years and I have yet to be disappointed. It's family owned and very cozy, they even decorate the place every single holiday! The menu has a nice wide variety of things, not just pasta dishes, but really good sandwiches and pizzas! I especially love that they have new dinner specials every week, so there's always a variety of new things to try! Their risotto with truffles is to die for, on one special they served it with Chilean seabass, another with pan-seared scallops. Around Thanksgiving they had the most delicious, buttery pumpkin ravioli I ever had! Also the daughter-in-law of the restaurant owner makes the most wonderful deserts! Around Christmas-time she made an almond tiramisu....soooo good! I don't have any setbacks to say about this place, although if you are into a fancy atmosphere to impress a date, this may not be the place for you. (Just your typical red and white checkered tablecloths and some hand painted pic of Italy on the wall) But, if you just want awesome Italian food in a cozy setting, go now! read more

I grew up on the North Shore just minutes from here and my first time eating here was last night. It's an easy place to miss, but I was definitely missing out. The menu was not huge, but they had some really nice specials. We ended up getting a few appetizers and a large pizza. Both were really good. The pizza was ultra thin and was loaded with fresh veggies. The baked clams and portabello topped with cheese was cooked to perfection. My only complaint was that our server was inattentive. He literally disappeared for fifteen minutes before our appetizers came. I had downed my water five minutes into his disappearance. It was still a great little place that I will be coming back to. read more

Wow, I'm kind of surprised Italian Kitchen doesn't have a higher rating. I guess some folks must have different expectations. For my money, this place is 4 stars because it usually exceeds my expectations. For starters, it has good authentic Italian food. Second, I don't know if it's family-run, but the service is very friendly and sure gives the impression the owner and family members are on site. Third, they have good portions and reasonable prices. Granted, this place is not fancy. (is that what other folks are basing their ratings on?), but it is a nice little place to go for a good lunch or dinner. read more

I go out of my way to make the trip to Deerfield, just to eat here. They make THE best minestrone soup I've ever had. I recommend bringing some home for later, if you can keep from eating it on the way home! I loved their home made filled pasta dishes and gnocchi. The arriabiata is excellent too. The owners are very nice people and will go out of their way to make sure you have a great meal. Fairly priced as well. read more

First the food is GREAT. I'm pretty generous in my ratings, so I'm reluctant to do this.. but... every time I've eaten in this place, its been a horrible experience because of the waiters. I don't know where they find these guys. Slow service every time - thats bad when you have little kids. Once I asked for more tomato bread and the waiter told me they were all out for the evening. Fine, but then a few minutes later another table got some. C'mon, lying to me about the bread? Because the food is so good we'll order in occasionally. And the owners are great. One holiday evening (Xmas or New Years, I forget) we wanted to order in and they took our order - even though they were closed (staff was there prepping for a big catering job). They just took the order like it was no big deal! The food still came out great. However, I can't stand eating in places where I feel like I can't leave a tip. Its been three years since we've eaten in their dining room. read more

Food was delicious! First came the bread basket and the garden salad with house vinaigrette. Nice way to start the meal. Had the lemon scallops. When it came to the table with only 3 scallops I was a bit disappointed, but that soon changed after I tasted them and the risotto below them. Was actually very filling. Didn't even have room for dessert. The other meal at the table was the salmon (don't remember what the specific name on the menu was) and my dining partner said it was the best salmon they had ever had. It was so good that we returned for a second helping during our business trip. I had the scallops again. One disappointment for my colleague is that they were out of the salmon the second night. He ended up having some sort of tilapia that was on that nights specials menu and he wasn't disappointed at all. Prices were about average (Lemon Scallops was $19.95, I think). Very casual crowd. Would definitely go back if I am in Deerfield again and would recommend to anyone that is in the area. read more

Ordered 2 pizzas today. The person who took the order via phone said 40 minutes. We ordered at 4:40, that means 5:20 pickup time. Still waiting for our pizza because they're LATE. They are always late with your order here and it's just not good business. Why quote an incorrect pickup time if it's not going to be done on time? I wonder if ownership changed, it never used to be this bad. Good food, but still. Quoting incorrect pickup times isn't okay read more

Came here with a group of 18 people on a Saturday night. Made the reservation a week in advance. They offered up their private room for $100, but I declined. We didn't need the special treatment. The service: As soon as we arrived (15 minutes BEFORE we were scheduled), the table was ready and they seated us. The rest of the party hadn't even arrived yet. Very pleased. Bread was out within five minutes of everyone arriving, and they took drink orders soon after. We had already previewed the menu to save time, so everyone knew what they wanted. After an interesting game of Charades with a waitress across the table, where I told her that we would not require menus, we ordered. The food: It came about 30 minutes later, extremely fast for that number of dishes. Granted, everyone either had pasta with sauce or chicken vesuvio, but still - that was a feat with that small of a kitchen. The general consensus was that the food was hot and tasty, and that everyone wanted to come back and try something more. The only point where they could have won that extra star was with a bit more attentiveness to the table. We finished eating, and it took half an hour for me to flag down the waiter, who seemed to be over-booked with tables across the two rooms (there wasn't an empty seat), to get the check. Otherwise, a great night and a great place for families, large groups, or just a small, nice dinner! read more

Just picked up Beet salad that was outstanding. Also the vegetarian lasagna & salmon that was great. Ordered on the phone and pickup was on time. Thanks for being open. read more

Awhile ago, we picked up a few trays of food for a family party. Everyone was pleased. They were very accommodating. Planning on doing it again this weekend! read more

O.M.G.!! What an awesome authentic delicious meal. The marinated octopus with micro cilantro is incredible. I had veal marsala and my gf had spinach lasagna, both were perfect. The burgundy house wine was a perfect match. Topped it off with a huge serving of tiramasu. Highly recommend this place, cozy, down to earth ambience with great servers. read more

Deerfield Italian Kitchen - Italian Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

I've lived in Deerfield for 8 years. I so, so wanted to like Italian Kitchen; it's a small, family run business right in town. My husband, who has lived on the North Shore his whole life, resisted as he had not had good experiences with IK but I insisted we give a local place a chance. The food is average - not fabulous, but not bad. Their bread isn't fresh or warm but my husband did love the fish that he had last week. The decor is tired, but they do try and spruce it up with little Italian lights and seasonal decorations. We have been there three times and this last visit (Aug 4) unfortunately has sealed the deal and we will not be going back. My milk allergic son was served a meatball (after I had specifically asked our server, Dana, if they used milk in their meatball preparation. She answered "no"). Luckily my son only picked at the meatball and did not eat it. The next day I called IK to finalize ordering food for my husband's birthday party. I had selected food for my party after browsing their on-line catering menu and speaking with Tatiana (888-CATER ME) several times about ingredients. After I nailed down what I wanted to serve including the Linguine Del Mar and the Fruit Cocktail (represented to me by Tatiana as "fresh, seasonal fruit") Tatiana told me I needed to talk to "Johnny" about the final order pricing. Before ordering the meatballs I also asked Johnny/John S. about the milk (just to be sure). He told me that they do use milk and that he was sorry his staff didn't check with anyone else about it when I asked. He said "I hate to say it but I can pay my staff to work but I cannot pay them to think". This comment was disturbing to me, but I was so focused on giving my business to the "little guy" that I overlooked it. John told me there was an up charge for the Linguine (not indicated on their on-line menu). I nicely pointed this out to him and he nicely told me he would get back to me after checking the price of seafood. He did call me back later that day and agreed to add some shrimp, mussels and chopped clams to the Linguine Del Mar at no extra charge; however, the fruit salad was an extra charge. Tatiana had told me that this was a fresh fruit salad but John indicated it was in fact canned fruit cocktail; if I wanted fresh fruit salad it would cost more. Again I pointed out that their on-line catering menu did not indicate this, nor did Tatiana even know this. At this point I decided this was not the place I wanted to use to cater my party - it didn't seem that one hand knew what the other was doing and I didn't want the food to be less than I expected for my guests. I nicely told John that I tried really hard to like them and give them extra chances but between the misinformation on the milk allergy and the prices being different than what they had on-line and the fact that I had to go back and forth over the phone between him and Tatiana, I was just going to go elsewhere. John became very irate and told me that he was "glad" I was taking my business elsewhere and that I had been trying to "nickle and dime" him by pointing out the pricing discrepancies on his on-line menu. He raised his voice, was very rude and the way he treated me was quite upsetting. Unfortunately, I had to end the call by hanging up on him. John did call me back yesterday, Aug 9, to apologize and for that I was appreciative. However, he has definitely lost me as a customer. There are many other small, family run businesses that would never think of treating a customer this way. I would rather give my business to them. read more

They made me a spicy seafood pasta dish in a cream sauce. I carried out and they put the food in a turkey pan to carry out Octopus,squid,shrimp,scallops,mussels and clams over a spicy red creme fettucini. it was enough to serve 4. The staff was wonderful excellent customer service. Good bread. Excellent blue cheese crumbles. I will definitely be back. read more

Don't know the per-person price since this was a private luncheon buffet, but I thought the choices were well-prepared and authentically Italian. They included salad, pizza slices, cheese ravioli, lasagna, chicken parmesan, fruit, and tiramasu (plus cookies). I wouldn't return to have the same buffet over and over, but if the Kitchen varies the fare, that's a worthy invitation to return. The service was prompt . Beverages and coffee were served. (Checking their dinner menu, they have surprisingly diverse choices that should encourage an evening out.) read more

Sometimes you weigh the rating of a place by the service, more so than the food. This happens to be one of those places. The food - in all honesty - I rank as 3.5 stars - but the Sevice is worth 7 stars... you do the math :) Everybody is so friendly and welcoming, and our server (Alex) was incredible. We ordered the chicken tag and a very decent bottle of table wine (Thursday's are live jazz nights with 50% off bottles of wine) and absolutely loved our experience there. We were seated outdoors and it was a gorgeous 72 degree evening... Perfect weeknight summer(ish) evening read more

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Been here twice. The individual dishes are pretty good. You can tell they make their own pastas and sauce, however, I went back to try the buffet and I was pretty disappointing in the quality of the food. Service is just ok. Try the eggplant. its the best thing I have had there. read more

Pretty decent local Italian eatery. It's got a nice small atmosphere, but still seems to maintain privacy for it's occupants. I always see the same chef (assuming head chef and apparently owner) walking around the front talking with customers and giving suggestions that usually end up on the spot. Their food may seem pricey, but their portions are pretty huge. So far everything I've ordered there has been delicious and their take out holds up really well too. read more

I've dined at Italian Kitchen about five times in the past two years that I've worked in the Deerfield area. I have tried a variety of dishes on the menu as well as the buffet and I just don't see what all the fuss is about. There hasn't been much flavor in the dishes I have ordered and tried on the buffet . I have my doubts about whether garlic was used in any of the dishes I have tried. I am not even exaggerating when I say that I have had Lean Cuisine pasta entrees that were more flavorful than the pasta dishes at Italian Kitchen. The portion sizes are large, I will give them that. I dined here again today with several co-workers to celebrate a birthday. Service today was slow, they were out of the food that two people wanted to order and the bus boy was kinda surly and acted like we were bothering him. The menus we were handed were carry-out menus--the kind you might find stuck under your windshield wiper. The waitress was nice, but did not return to fill our drinks or ask us if we needed anything else. Blah. I won't be sad if I don't have to eat here again for another year--until the next birthday of my co-worker who loves this place. read more

A chance at four stars blown by small portion of fish. We have always enjoyed Italian Kitchen and appreciate a local home cooking restaurant. All of our food was delicious and most portions were huge. The only thing knocking the Italian Kitchen down from four stars is the very tiny serving of whitefish for 16 bucks. Come on, whitefish usually is something that looks like a filet. This serving was smaller than a deck of cards. Veggies with the fish were excellent and it looked to me the large portion of them was trying to makeup for the size of the fish portion. It's too bad. Stick with the Pasta! read more

I have been here countless times and I will admit that sometimes service is extremely slow. However, we have loved all the food we have eaten here. The chicken tagliatelle is WONDERFUL as is the chicken parm. There is a group of us that go for their lunch buffet on a pretty regular basis and this has been hit or miss. I think the misses have been because we came later at the end of the buffet time when they don't repelenish. But that is to be expected. You can order off the menu if you don't want the buffe. Not one of us ever complained about the food. The food is great here! read more

This is a great place to eat and a very good date spot. I had pizza and it was very good. It was decent, but not amazing. Warning Do not eat too much bread, unless you will be full when you get your food. There food is decent like what I said. read more

Kinda pricey but it is a local business so that's nice But we never managed to put this place into the rotation. Coming back every once in awhile and leaving feeling full but a bit cheated made us go elsewhere when we go out to eat. I dunno maybe the north shore just can't hack it with Italian food read more

Italian Kitchen catered my daughter's bat mitzvah. I had been using another small Italian restaurant that -- 9 days before the event -- decided it didn't want to be bothered. Italian Kitchen stepped in and saved the day. The food was fantastic. People raved and raved about it. Their level of caring and concern were above and beyond. They made it so easy to work with them. But really it's all about the food. We served the eggplant parm, chicken marsala, tortelli, and roasted veggies. Top to bottom it was amazing. Thank you Italian Kitchen for a job well done! read more

This is a fave place to go for me and my guy. We like to come here if we're celebrating something, like a birthday, Valentines, or an anniversary. We usually get their spaghetti, fettuccine, wine, and of course the cannolis! Give this place a try if you haven't already. read more

Carry out large order for 12 eggplant lemon chicken Tortellini Salad... all very good....would do again. read more

Consistently good food, especially the pizza and minestrone! The staff is attentive and accommodating and the owners are so friendly. John, the owner, is always so nice, especially to our kids. Tonight he even noticed that we were putting hot peppers on our pizza, so he brought out a special house-made hot pepper mix. It was awesome! It is a great family-friendly restaurant. read more

Thank goodness for old school locally owned spots like this. Nothing fancy. Just a lot food at a great price. All quality made. Helpful service. Really appreciate how hard they work and the value they give. We all have to support spots line this. read more

When our caterer cancelled on us 1-week out from our Bat Mitzvah we were referred to Italian Kitchen by friends. Despite the fact that they were closed for Labor Day weekend, Emerald completely reassured us that they would help. John, owner & Chef, made beautiful food, worked with my catering team so they understood how he heats & lays out the food and even offered to help bring the menu to the venue when we couldn't fit all of the boxes in our car. Food, outstanding! Tortellacci is fabulous as is the chicken Marsala & Eggplant Parm. Presentation, outstanding! Service beyond belief! I look forward to eating in the dining room and experience the full menu very soon read more

My family and I moved to Deerfield a few years ago and I have been wanting to go to Italian Kitchen from almost day one. I really wanted it to be a great experience but I wasn't setting the bar too high - I just was looking for a nice restaurant that I can bring my family to now and again. Since I typically dine out with kids we arrived to the restaurant a few minutes before 5 last night. The dining room was empty but there were two people waiting for take-out with impatient looks on their faces. It took nearly 5 minutes before anyone actually acknowledged our presence. We were finally seated but every step of the way the service was extremely slow - even though there was hardly anyone in the dining room and it was only 5:30 in the evening. When the food finally came out the very last thing to arrive were two of the kids meals. Not great planning on the kitchen's part. The kids patience and mine were already stretched too far. And then the bill. We had a coupon that read, "Kids meals are free with an Adult Entree" (without any limit expressed on the coupon). We did get one kids meal off the bill but another three were still listed. The manager came over and very rudely told us that the word "an" meant that this was only for one meal off... even though no limit was on the coupon and the word Kids is clearly a plural pronoun. I don't think we were crazy thinking that this coupon was for more than one kids meal - it's not a big deal $ wise... but we felt like it was handled extremely rudely. To me I can excuse bland food (the food was actually OK - not great but what I expected... old school Italian fare, nothing fancy). But the experience left such a bad taste in my mouth that I don't think we'll ever head back and that's a shame - I really, really wanted it to be a great experience. Oh, and by the way, on our way out the dining room was nearly empty but there was probably 25 very angry looking people crowding the waiting room. If you want mediocre food, a long wait, have too much money in your wallet and want to be treated very rudely by management (our server was sweet) - this is your place!! read more

This is the best restaurant and the only one I feel safe to order from. The food is fantastic and they are so concerned with the safety of their customers. They are wonderful to deal with whether it is a family dinner or a catered affair. read more

From what I remember, Italian Kitchen used to be much more of a personal family-feel experience that had consistently great service. Tonight was a disappointment. I came here with my boyfriend for a 7:30 pm reservation and we were not seated until 8:05 pm. We did not end up getting our entrees until 9 pm. It was overall a very drawn out experience and took much longer than needed. I was dissatisfied with the lack of attention from the staff, especially given that the restaurant was not totally packed by any means. I will rethink returning here. read more

Stopped in yesterday for the lunch special--zucchini parmesan with pasta and salad. Everything was delicious! Fresh ingredients and large portions! Brought home half of the zucchini parmesan; refrigerated it; and later ate it cold that night. It was even better served cold! Friendly and attentive service. Lovely setting. Wonderful experience! read more

This place is hard to review because it's been such a staple for my family. We were pushing 3 decades of steady patronage, when it just became too much of a headache and stopped going. So why one star? This place is run by incompetent people. Food: 5/5. Excellent italian standards, very few frills but quality. Never been an issue. Service: 0/5. My god, the service here. Wow...it's pathetic. Wanna wait an hour for spaghetti? Wanna see a chef come out and apologize to a quarter full room because the wait times are pushing 90 minutes on a Tuesday? How about two hours for delivery? Boy have I got a place for you. You'll wait 2 hours but they'll probably comp your dessert or some token gesture. Attitude/Staff: 0/5. I've never been told I should expect bad service because they're too focused on their catering that night. Classy. Atmosphere: 0/5. It used to be a quaint throwback until you put two and two together and see they just don't care. This place makes me angry because the food is fantastic, it really is, it's just so poorly run it's not enjoyable to go. I hope this place closes, because the S*********** family needs to be shown how terrible a job they do. Go to Rosebud, it's not as good but at least they deserve patronage. I miss Tonnelli's... read more

Great Italian restaurant. I love coming here for lunch with my son. He can get very fussy when he is hungry, so the lunch buffet is key! This is not your typical lunch buffet. All of the food is made from scratch, is fresh, and high quality. They always have a great fish option. You also have the option of soup or salad. This is a great place to go for lunch or dinner if you are craving Italian food. read more

I've dined in and taken out dozens of times from Italian Kitchen, and I've never walked out disappointed or hungry. The food is great, the prices are reasonable, the staff is attentive, the portions are generous, their wine list is good, their desserts are fantastic, and they often have some great specials. I also very-much enjoy their thin crust pizzas and sandwiches. This has become a regular place for my friends and I to dine. read more

Took my coworkers here today in a group of 10 for lunch. Quality of food and portions was great.

My family and I ate dinner at this restaurant tonight and it was bad. When we arrived the person who greeted us seemed hurried and unexpecting of guests. However, he was polite and sat us with pleasure. Our server Selena was pleasant and attentive, but it all went downhill from there. The food was horrible! Tasteless to say the least. We ordered Bruscetta and Fried Calamare for appetizers. The Bruscetta was nothing more than pizza toast. We did not go there for pizza. They should stick to the more traditional Bruscetta. The Fried Calamare was too salty. The soup and salad course was nothing special. The Minestrone soup was average and our salads were soft. At this point, I did not hold too much hope for our main courses and I was right. My nieces both ordered pasta dishes with vodka cream sauce. The pasta was cooked right, "Al Dente." But the sauce was tasteless. It was like a watered down tomato sauce with a touch of cream in it. No vodka kick or flavor. We all tasted it too and agreed. My brother ordered the Eggplant Parmesan. It was too mushy and tasteless. I ordered the Shrimp Alfredo with mastacioll pasta. The shrimps were very small for the price ($19.99) and were not completely shelled. The Alfredo sauce was creamy the way it should be, but also flavorless. I could go on and on but you get the picture. Stay way from this restaurant! The owner should really take a good look around at other Italian restaurants for advice and recipes. They may be able to turn things around. I hope this review helps them. They really need it. read more

My husband and I love the Italian Kitchen in Deerfield. We've gone there for years and have never been disappointed. We were there this past Sunday. My husband got his go to favorite - Manicotti and I ordered Veal tenderloin with artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes. Both were excellent. The staff was very attentive. If your looking for traditional homemade Italian food I highly recommend! read more

Love this place! Great service and food! To start off my husband had escargot and I had the Brussel sprouts. They were both excellent, the sprouts had pine nuts, goat cheese, tomatoes and caramelized onions. Wow it was unbelievable! Out entrees were veal sambucca and salmon and both were excellent. Would most definitely recommend dinning here. read more