*DO NOT EAT HERE* Ok, hopefully you have picked up on my sarcasm as I rated this place 5 stars. I would give this place 10 out of 5 if I could... I don't want you to eat here because I would like to get a reservation when I want to. Which is definitely once or twice a week. I have been here 3 times in 3 weeks, with 3 different groups of people. The only way I can describe it is FOODPHOURIA... I was in such a state of euphoria after I had the bread, and salami, and pickled eggplant... who knew eggplants were pickleable ? (Not me) that each course after, Caesar salad... I don't even think Cesar himself ate a salad that good. The croutons... I have no words... ok, focusing, sorry for the digression! Each course after, had me dancing in my seat! The baked clams casino!?! Cha-Ching?! (See what I did there?!) I felt like the guy from Alice in wonderland. (Cartoon version) then, the angel hair scampi that we paired with the chicken parm?! Omg! Yes, I ate my weight in food... honestly I think in my 3 visits I've tried almost everything on the menu and I've gone home each time and had sugar plum dreams... that's what we get at Christmas... this place is Christmas... on a Wednesday at 9:15.. In your late 30's... anyhow, the staff is incredible, the food was incredible, the music was incredible... all in all a foodphouric experience I will try to get into any chance I have. 14/10 but again... *DO NOT COME HERE* so I don't have to wait 2 weeks to get a res, and I can come at 7:30, which is the time young puma's in their late 30's like to eat! read more

Elina's - The decor, but also me when I ate salad, bread, pasta and chicken! - Italian Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

New school take with an old school Italian mentality- Elina's definitely delivered a 5 star experience with delicious Italian eats. Their unique take on classic Italian dishes like chicken parm and rigatoni vodka is what elevates the meal to new heights. Everything from the chopped salad, to the table bread- pizza/garlic unreal combo, the meatballs, Chicken Parmesan and Rigatoni vodka are equally enjoyable. Will be back to this gem on Grand Ave. read more

One of the best trendy Italian spots in the city!! Vodka pasta has to be one of the best around, service was great, vibes were great!

I've been to Elina's twice now. Food is great. The Rigatoni is almost identical to Carbone's -- so so good. You can't go wrong with their Chicken Parmesan either. My last visit was quite disappointing (about two weeks ago). Service is sub-par at best. Service during my first visit was ok, waitress wasn't that friendly. During my second visit, we received our bill and noticed a $30 total corkage fee ($10 per person; we were a party of 3). We split a cheap bottle of wine, and if we knew there was a $10 per person fee, we would've stuck with water as we didn't need any alcohol with the meal. Our waiter did not mention this fee when opening our bottle. When receiving the bill, he argued with us that this fee is disclosed on the website. I pulled up Resy and the website and saw this fee nowhere (I tried to explain this to the waiter, but he constantly spoke over me stating it is disclosed everywhere). He comes back and says he was misinformed, it is in fact not on the website and he will remove the fee. I find it really dishonest to not disclose such a fee anywhere and surprise customers with it at the end of the meal (it looks like they have now made this change after I reached out to management 2 weeks ago). The food and ambiance is what saves this place. read more

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This may be the best rigatoni Alla vodka I've had in chicago yet. I finally made my way to Elina's which is an Italian-American restaurant in West Town. I had the Caesar salad that had an amazing edition of garlic bread croutons, if I had to live one salad, this caesar would be it. Finishing things off is the famous Rigatoni Alla Vodka with Calabrian bread crumbs, it had the right amounta sauce I felt like I could eat it all day, definitely make a reservation for their patio seating read more

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Elina's is one of (if not the) best Italian restaurants in Chicago. A rare combination of immaculate food AND immaculate vibes. I've eaten here at least 10 times since it opened so this review is long overdue. It never misses! It's a tiny restaurant, but it has a great ambiance and contemporary decor. The menu is also small, but it is impeccable. My three favorite dishes hands down are the spicy vodka rigatoni, the chicken parmesan, and the Italian chopped salad. This is THE best spicy vodka rigatoni in Chicago (it's obvious that the chef came from Carbone in New York City!) It's always served piping hot, and the flavors are impeccable; it has that classic vodka rigatoni taste without being too spicy. The chicken parm is also phenomenal; again, it's always served warm (one of my biggest pet peeves is when Italian food is lukewarm), it has just enough breading, and the sauce and cheese are delicious. The eggplant parm is also a winner. Service is always attentive, and this is definitely a restaurant that pays attention to the details. Like Carbone in NYC, Elina's serves complimentary homemade table bread, pickled eggplant, and cured meats at the start of the meal. It's a nice, elevated touch! I cannot recommend Elina's enough! I LOVE this place, and I definitely get cravings for that spicy vodka rigatoni. read more

5/5- we went here for our two year anniversary and it was such a cute little Italian place! Best food we have had in a long time. Get the Caesar, rigatoni vodka & chicken parm!! read more

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I was super excited to try this place, but it was a huge miss for me. We ordered a bottle of red wine which was recommended by the server, but she never mentioned it was chilled. Strange?? For appetizers we ordered the clams (way too much breading) and the caesar salad (tasted like Texas road house just more expensive). We also ordered the vodka rigatoni which was good but Trivoli's is better. The entire experience felt rushed. We had half a bottle of wine left and the server was already telling us we needed to leave because her next table was arriving. I could not believe that. Won't be back. Really impacted the experience but looking at the reviews now I guess they are known for rushing people out. read more

As a Chicagoan and a devout foodie, I don't say this lightly: this is my favorite restaurant in the city right now. And that's saying a lot because Chicago is filled with top-tier dining experiences. I've been three times now and the music, ambience, and service (special shout-out to Joseph!) is always delightful. I've tried most of the menu and it is all phenomenally executed Italian American staples. My favorite entree items include the crab angel hair scampi and branzino cioppino but you also can't go wrong with the more popular (and equally delicious) items like the rigatoni and chicken parmesan. Additionally, the complimentary bread basket, salami, and pickled eggplant is a beautiful opener to the meal. BYOB until their liquor license is approved so bring your favorite wine and anyone you want to impress with an incredible dinner! read more

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There is nothing like going into a restaurant... not knowing if it will be amazing or mediocre. Gambling on the menu with a $180 steak... and doubling down on $150 here & there- only to be met with a waitress letting us know we can finish our night "at the bar". Really- what a unique and unexpected experience. I don't recommend coming to Elina... unless you want to be moved around like you were in college read more

Pros: it's a BYOB (no corkage fee) and the service was great. Actually, the free appetizers were our favorite part of the meal, would gladly pay for those. The garlic bread and tomato bread were great, the salami was a nice starter, and there was a pickled eggplant which I've never had but it was interesting to try. Cons: the food. The calamari was undercooked and soggy, almost inedible. The meatballs were good, but I personally would have liked a little more sauce with them. They were listed in the entree section but no bread or pasta served with them. The chicken parm was ok, a little thin and dry and extremely smothered in cheese. The rigatoni a la vodka was ok, but a little chewy, not much sauce, and very salty... and I love salt. The fusilli bolognese was even more salty, and nothing near a traditional bolognese, even with the different description of a white sauce. Ambiance: the place was cute and romantic but way too packed in. I understand it's small and they are trying to make the most of the space, but the other guests table was exactly 2 inches from ours, and you actually had to move the tables to touch each other to get up from the other side where there were other tables. It was very loud and no where to put coats/purses. read more

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Delicious pasta, great service and complimentary bread service was awesome. Ambiance was great, small place but very cozy and loved the music playing. BYOB was an added plus. Very much enjoyed our meal! read more

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Second time having dinner here and everything was as excellent as the first time. And the owner and our server both welcomed us back after only attending once before! Top notch customer service and delicious food. This new gem will be our go to all winter long. Resos fill up quickly so do not sleep on this newcomer. Thank you chefs Ian and Eric and your amazing team! read more

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If I could go back in time and choose another place to have dinner on 8.25.24 I would go to McDonalds instead of Elina's. We are a party of 5 and had a reservation for 9pm and showed up and checked in with the hostess at 8:58pm who then informed us that it would take 15 minutes to get our table ready as there was a party still at our table. She informed us that we could wait at the bar if we wanted. We opted to walk around outside and we came back after 15 minutes, she then told us again that it will take a bit longer as they just gave that party the check and that they were still seated there, so we went out again and came back after 20 minutes ( 9:35pm now) and then the hostess ignored us and walked away so another person at the bar came by and asked us about our table and we told him that we've been waiting for over 30 minutes and then he checked our reservation again and then asked the other table to leave because we were waiting. He was rude to them, when they asked him if he wanted them to leave now he said " Straight up yes" which was rude, they all left then and they got our table ready. We then ordered, sat down and ordered our food. We ordered the Caesar salad, Mozzarella En Carozza, Rigatoni Ella vodka pasta and Chicken Parm. We got wine and coke to drink. The bread service was good, nothing extraordinary, the Mozzarella En Carozza was okay -Akin to a fancy grilled cheese, the Ceasar salad was okay - there was too much parmesan in my opinion. The Pasta was not cooked Al-dente and felt undercooked. The chicken parm was average. The highlight of the night was the coca-cola in a can, We asked them for straws for our drinks twice which were not brought. The service was 0/10. The hostess was the worst I've ever seen, she was disrespectful and rude, she straight us said there is no way we can reduce the volume of the music, we felt like we were at a concert which does not fit the vibe of the restaurant. She said there is no way they could do that, we then asked our waiter if he could reduce the volume and then he went to reduce it and it was down for a minute and then it was louder than before, he came by and apologized and said that the dial for sound was not working which I highly doubt is true when you have a state of the art sound system . After this, we were going to just leave but the appetizers arrived so we decided to stay. It was understood that after we asked different staff members about this that we could clearly see that the hostess was looking at our table and laughing at us which made us feel very uncomfortable. While our waiter did his best, the behavior of the hostess made us feel unwelcome and disappointed. I will never come back here, food is average at best, service is trash and ambience is sub par. I recommend you avoid this place. Chicago has a great food scene and you can find a better alternative with ease. To the restaurant - Your staff needs retraining and reassignments, you have the worst possible person to be a hostess. read more

Came here with a friend. Food was really Good. The ribs and rigatoni were delish. Really liked the ambience. Small and intimate. One thing that i was put off by was the unwelcoming staff. The front of the house seemed a bit rude and annoyed. But would come back again for the food. read more

This new restaurant is absolutely delicious. It is very reasonably priced with good sized portions. It is BYOB which we weren't aware of, but the restaurant across the street sold us some bottles to go. Overall, great, knowledgeable staff on service and the ambiance was beautiful. read more

Came in for a preview and was blown away! The chefs came out personally to suggest our order. For a party of four we got a variety of plates to share and each one was better than the last. We even doubled up on a few. This is a great addition to grand ave. and will definitely stand out in a neighborhood already full of great restaurants. read more

Elina's - Italian Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food is top notch classic Italian. Bread is to die for. Music/ambience are expertly curated. BYO so bring a bottle and enjoy a perfectly coursed dinner. Service was great too. Wish I tried desert. read more

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Second favorite restaurant in Chicago next to Avec. But this restaurant, paradoxically, I'm giving 5 stars unlike the 4 for Avec. That is because not only is the food outstanding but the service is good too. Food is fast, water is refilled without my even noticing, etc. One tiny nit is that the rigatoni (which I get every single time) tasted a little flat this last time. It just didn't wow me the way it has in the past. read more

Food was good but they are shady with their byob policy. We sat at the bar and the bartender Jonathan told us the corkage fee was $25 so we decided to open the bottle. However we were charged $40 for the corkage fee. He claimed he told us $40 but we never would have opened the wine if that was the case. He totally lied and tried to give us limoncello to make it right which we refused. read more

My wife and I were excited to score a reservation at Elina's, as it is listed as one of the top Italian restaurants to try in Chicago. We love Italian food, have been to all the hot spots, and the reviews we read gave the impression that this one was not to miss. So we invited our close friends to join. The service was abysmal and impacted the entire experience. There was no sense of hospitality and everyone's attitude was that we should feel lucky to be there. The meal started on an awkward note when bread service arrived. The rolls were all covered in butter. My wife, who has a dairy allergy, asked the server if they have any plain bread. The server shook his head. "They're all cooked in butter," he said and turned away from the table. That is odd, we all thought. Wouldn't he at least check in with the kitchen to see if there was anything they could do before dismissing the request outright - or at least convey it in a nice way & offer to help provide another option? In any event, cocktails arrived and the food followed. The Vieux Carre and Toronto were fine, though we've had better at other Italian restaurants in the city. We brought our own bottle of wine, knowing they assess a $40 corkage fee. Although the bottle was sitting on the table, our server failed to deliver wine glasses for about an hour after we sat down and only after we asked. We ordered the Caesar salad and shrimp cocktail as appetizers. The portions were large enough to be shared and they were perfectly fine; nothing to write home about, which was disappointing given our expectations. Then the Chicken Parmesan, angel hair pasta dish and filet mignon were served. All were shareable and rich. They were all adequately prepared, but none of the dishes distinguished themselves from the main courses at superior restaurants such as Ciccio Mio or Alla Vita. If the meal ended at this time, we would've walked away feeling fine with the experience, unlikely to return. But then the bill came and we dropped our credit cards to pay. The server returned and said flatly that the restaurant accepts only one card per table, which was frustrating since the restaurant's website makes no mention of this nor was this policy conveyed to our table when the bill arrived. Why wouldn't you mention this when you set the bill on the table with two couples instead of annoying guests after the fact? And on top of that, the restaurant assesses a 3% processing fee, effectively passing on the credit card cost to paying customers, which I have not seen in any other Chicago restaurant. Again, there was no mention of this before the bill came or reference to this on the website. I felt like I was being nickeled and dimed, and I wrote the same on the receipt. (The restaurant should impute this cost into the menu prices rather than passing it on to the customer.) Overall the restaurant made no effort to make its customers feel welcomed or valued. So we all left the restaurant with bad tastes in our mouths and vowed not to return to Elina's. There are too many fantastic Italian restaurants in Chicago with great food, transparent payment policies, and hospitable service where we would rather spend our dining dollars. Don't waste your time. read more

The table we were sat at was literally inches away from tables on either side of us. The food was average at best. We ordered our meal 5 mins before the table next to us who ordered the exact same meals as us. They were served well before we were. At some point in the night they decided rap music was appropriate for an intimate Italian dinner. The tiramisu dessert was very good. Will not be back. read more

Went to Elina's for a Valentine's Day dinner date and when I tell this place lives to the hype! The Ambiance screams romance which was perfect. The service was good and quick. The food, man when I tell you it was good. We ordered the chopped salad which was hands down one of my favorite salads I've ever had from a restaurant. The house bread with salami and pickled egg plant was delish. For entrees we order the rigatoni, ribs, and chicken parmigiana. I will say that the rigatoni was phenomenal but the star of the show were the ribs. They were savory with some sweet and enough acid to balance. We will definitely becoming back for those. I will say the chicken parm was a little overhyped in my opinion, it was good but nothing to write home about but everything else was beyond stellar. This place is a must try! read more

Great food, great service, and amazing vibes at Elina's. We came from Michigan to celebrate my 40th birthday on the recommendation of several friends who live in the area. We were not disappointed! We will definitely be back again soon. read more

Absolutely delicious!! First of all the garlic and cheesy bread given out before dinner was perrrfect!! I believe they also had a couple pieces of pepperoni/salami! Don't eat all lol. We had the Rigatoni the sauce was amazing really rich and flavorful. We also had the penne carbonara very light flavor however very pleasurable as well! Can't wait to go back and try more!! The place is so cute for a first date! read more

This is my favorite restaurant in the city of Chicago. I dream of the pasta every night. The first time we went we got the rigatoni and chicken Parmesan. Everything was cooked perfectly. The second time going I fully intended to get that same meal. But omg they added carbonara and a juicy pork!! So hard to cook a pork as perfectly as this. The second time around the noodles were still cooked perfectly Al dente. When I go back I don't know how I will decide on what to get because it is all so freakin good. The atmosphere is so cute, I love the emerald green and gold color combo. Hard to even think about that when you're eating the best meal of your life though!!! read more

Elina's - Carbonara - Italian Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I had read about Elina's for a while and was able to secure a reservation for our anniversary (I set an alarm for 12:01 AM 30 days before I wanted to go). To say I was excited was an understatement. We arrived and were promptly seated. My seat was directly next to a pole which would have upset me but I was too focused on trying the food that I didn't give it much thought. Elina's is on several lists (Thrillist, Infatuation, Eater) as both the best Italian and on Infatuation as best restaurants to BYO. So - we brought a Brunello we had been wanting to open for a special occasion only to be told that they changed their policy and the corkage fee would be $40. No apology - just the facts. We tried to be flexible and asked to taste some of their Italian reds but they didn't compare to what we brought. So we figured - what the hell - it's our anniversary so why not splurge on the corkage fee. These two events should have been a warning sign to leave. The restaurant was so hot, our food came out so quickly that we felt rushed, no one bothered to change our appetizer plates (we only noticed when the very close table next to us had their plates changed), and not ONE single person acknowledged our anniversary despite mentioning it at the start of the meal AND writing it on our reservation request. We didn't expect a free cannoli (like one reviewer wrote for her birthday) - just an acknowledgment that we chose THIS restaurant for the celebration. I understand that the restaurant industry is in crisis - that the prices of ingredients are rising and that it's difficult to secure servers/staff. That's why we specifically chose a smaller, neighborhood restaurant to celebrate our anniversary. But when the interactions are cold and dismissive, this makes us regret choosing a place like Elina's over a more established or recognized Italian restaurant like Alla Vita or Daisies or Monteverde. I cannot, in good faith, recommended Elina's (even though their chicken parm was one of the best in the city). read more

Every single item we ordered was absolute perfection. The service was so good. Everything made up for the fact that the tables are super close together. I'm from New York so I'm quite used to this. Get the chicken parm and the rigatoni. They are everything. I rarely write yelp reviews but had to run to write this after my birthday dinner last night. This place is incredible. read more

The fookd is great. The service is absolutely awful. The servers act like your doing them a favor eating there. We thought it was our server. But watched in disbelief as other patrons/customers were treated the same way. The food is great. The wine selection is good too but pricey. If you have to eat here........Get it to go read more

Excellent service by Alli. Great flavors way above average! Highly recommend this dark, narrow, hide away. read more

This was one of the best meals we have ever had on vacation. Perfect caesar salad and angel hair pasta dish was to die for. Tiramisu delicioso. Sat on patio. Friendly service. Definitely recommend! read more

This place is a joke. The food misses on every level. If you decide to offer your thoughts directly to the owner IAN. He gets butt hurt. Do Yourself a favor and stay away. The pastas are like baby food, you don't need teeth to eat it. The ribs are fried and so dry. The fried grilled cheese was like eating oil. Ewww. My guess is the so called chef came from Olive Garden. read more

If you're a foodie, it's worth the uncomfortably close tables. If you prefer intimacy & privacy, I do not recommend. Food was 10/10. Staff was friendly & service was efficient. They received their liquor license & now have a nice selection of wine & cocktails (was previously byob). Unfortunately it's a small venue & the tables for two were less than a foot apart on each side. It felt as though we were dining with strangers; elbows knocked & conversation was not private. We were in & out within one hour. read more

Elina's is divine! My husband, daughter and I keep coming back :) thus far we have tried FUSILLI ALLA NORCINA (incredible), BRANZINO "CIOPPINO" (yum-nation), CHERRY PEPPER RIBS (fantastique) & SILVIO'S MEATBALLS (fav soprano's character and fav meatballs!). They offer complimentary bread service with the BEST garlic bread and tomato foccacia w GABAGOOL - sighhhh :) would recommend. 10/10. read more

Favorite Italian in the city by far, not sure how I haven't heard of this place when it opened! Been back the second time in one month. We got the Caesar salad calamari meatball and the rigatoni vodka which all were to die for. The first time I went they were sold out of the meatball which our server said happens regularly so you got to go early! Service , food, atmosphere 10/10. Only thing I'd complain about is the restaurants really small so all the tables are on top each other, other than that I love this place. read more

Elina's - Rigatoni alla vodka - Italian Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Hands down the best rigatoni vodka sauce I've had in Chicago! The fried eggplant dish was also super good. Reservations aren't easy to come by but it's worth the wait! Can't wait to go back. read more

I really wanted to love this place after what I heard but it was so disappointing in so many ways. For some reason they only offer reservations at terrible times of days (5 PM and 1030 PM) but my Conceirge was able to get me a table at prime time on Friday night. We arrived at 7:30 for our 7:30 table and were told it would be a while and to take a walk. We came back and we're eventually seated at 7:50. Despite many open tables and seats at the bar. We sat down and we're given water and put in our appetizers right away. We were not offered drinks at all throughout the meal at any point. After 40 minutes our Salad came out followed by a bread basket 10 minutes and then our other appetizer later after that. Why is the bread served after appetizers...? We were told to put in our entrees before we even got our apps and that would be the last time we saw our water until we got the check....was when we ordered entrees. Service was Abysmal. I mean actually terrible with every table awkwardly waiting around for staff and looking to see why there was no food. For the actual food reviews: Cesaer Salad - decent salad, the croutons are the exact same bread as the bread basket. Not even baked differently. Mozzarella app -inedible. A piece of white bread with low quality mozzarella and pesto and jarred red sauce on it. A huge miss Rigatoni alavodka - this place claimed to be just like carbone and clearly tries to copy the menu. The rigatoni is decent but it's not any bit as good as carbone. Noodles didn't feel fresh at all. Felt boxed Chicken parm -average run of the mill chicken parm but extremely overpriced. Carbone offers a full chicken for their menu offering that blows you away. This leaves you wanting more Couldn't even think about dessert after crawling our way through a 2+ hour dinner with no refills on water. I can't reccomend this place unless they really fix the service. The prices are too high to justify it. They tried to be carbone but swung and missed and I'm not sure where it falls. Somewhere better than Olive Garden but not really competitive to solid Italian in the city like Monteverde. read more

Recently dined at Elina with my downtown living foodie children. . Limited menu, but great vibe, good music, excellent service, killer food and affordable prices.. Love the BOYB flexibility as well. Indeed, the lack of fake creativity is obvious. Dinner included Baked Clams Casino: Plump, fresh, sizzling & perfectly prepared. Fried Calamari: Fresh and cooked with the right oil that was still clean, a rarity. Eggplant Argodolce: Delicate and beyond delicious. Meatballs: Good, but Davanti Enoteca in Western Springs has the best. Penne Prosciutto In Creamy Parmesan Sauce with Peas: Substituted with Angel Hair, but a world class Paglia e Fieno application. Shrimp Scampi: Fresh, perfectly prepared & huge quantity. To maintain consistent high quality, limited menus have the edge, but would love to see Stuffed Baked Calamari, Arancini Stuffed Rice Balls (Eataly has the best), ground veal Manicotti, Rabbit, Eggplant Involtini and a Veal Chop added on a rotational basis. Would also suggest Polpo Ala Griglia with fresh lemon juice & balsamic, but nobody makes Grilled Octopus like the Greek Islands. Before the food hit the skids, Tuscany in Oakbrook, now closed, also killed it when they first opened. Indeed, they brought the charred baby octopus to the table, cut it up, put it over a bed of chopped Radicchio, squezed half a lemon on it and finished it with a shot of good balsamic. Wow! When they get their liquor license, we can only hope they will include some of the great whites from Campania rather than the junk distributors push on restaurants. The low cost whites from the region are fabulous, the expensive ones are not. They may not have it now, but Piccolo Sogno offered the wonderful Villa Matilde Falanghina as their house white wine. While not from Campania, the $20 Etna Bianco by Montafore (available at Eataly) is also a perfect Italian white. Price has nothing to do with what's in the bottle. Loving the BYOB availability, foodies should team up the Southern French Montrose Rose ($9), the Northeastern Emile Beyer Pinot Blanc ($16) and the 90+Cellars CA Pinot Noir ($9) with Elina's menu. All cheap, fabulous, available at Binny's and a punch in the gut to wine snobs. In short, good baked clams are almost impossible to get in Chicagoland now. The numerous articles on Chicago's best baked clams are all sadly misinformed. Fear not clam lovers, we can still get them at the newly opened Elina & Bella Notte. We also won't need a microscope to find them. This is exactly why I am happy to see the opening of Alina. They have the potential to fill some big old school Italian shoes that need filling. As fifty year Italian Foodie, sad to say that old school Italian restaurants in Chicagoland are dead or dying. The downtown Doro's and Marchetti's Como Inn are long gone. The food at the once fabulous Rosebud and Tuscany on Taylor is now borderline edible at best. Other than the octopus salad, the people watching Carmine's is also mediocre. Alfredo Capitanini did a fabulous job with the downtown Italian Village for decades and the second generation continued the run. Sadly, the last generation has turned it into a sad memory of its glorious past. While there is no longer a reason to dine in Little Italy on Taylor St, Sapori Trattoria, Eataly, Piccolo Sogno, Gibson's Italia and Topo Gigio are still noteworthy on a good night. Indeed, Gibson's Italia may be Chicago's top must dine destination restaurant. read more

What a gem! Quaint neighborhood place that emits such a warm feeling, starting with the gracious staff. We had the calamari/shrimp appetizer which was great and the Caesar salad which was exceptional as well. But the 4+ star part was the chicken parm, seriously the best I have ever had. Tender, flavorful chicken, just the right amount of cheese, and a wonderful crust. Ian and Eric are remarkably talented and if you love Bavette's like we do, another wonderful spot, Ian is largely responsible for their success. Don't miss Elina's read more

Amazing food, fantastic service but prepare for an intimate dinner with the tables next to you. Seriously the food was fantastic and would recommend every pasta dish on the menu, you cannot go wrong and also might as well have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Two notes... first, your table is about 6 inches from a table next to it (unless you're at a booth). I get it, it's a small space and the more tables, the more revenue but it's just too close. Two, they charge a 3% "processing fee" on your check, regardless of payment method. Now maybe they don't take cash, but seems interesting, also because they charge you tax on their fee (which makes me think it's a "service"). All in all, I'm all for supporting a living wage and am good with a service charge that goes to the staff but paying a non-descriptive "processing fee" seems unusual at best. Remove a table or two and clarify the 3% fee, then this is a 5 star restaurant. read more