From the very beginning of planning my family's bridal shower, I knew we wouldn't want to host this milestone anywhere else. The quality of the food and the beautiful private space made the occasion feel truly special. That said, it's the people who make this place exceptional. Ashley, Lindsay, Maria, Gianna, Odanys, Osmel, Eileen, Victor, and the entire kitchen team--Chef Oscar, Gloria, Laura, and Roberto--are the heart and soul of the experience. From start to finish, they asked thoughtful questions, anticipated every detail, and ensured everything ran seamlessly. They handled the heavy lifting so our family could focus on what mattered most: being together and celebrating. Each course was intentional and perfectly timed, and every guest felt genuinely cared for. Lastly, Nancy's impeccable attention to detail, professionalism, and thoughtfulness made the entire planning process not only smooth, but truly memorable. read more

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What a lovely restaurant with terrific staff and delish Italian cuisines. The vibe was nice where you can be casual or dress up. Linen cloth type of establishment. The food was good and the drinks were too. I totally recommend this place. Parking can be a chore, but well worth it. read more

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Always a great menu food was delicious and nice and hot very quick service and our waitress was very friendly

Just came here for the first time with my wife. We just moved to the area and are looking for our "go to" restaurant and may have found it with this place. The food was great (sausage and peppers, pork chop and lemon chicken). The sausage and peppers were fantastic! They don't come in a traditional red sauce which was odd to me but they may be the best sausage and peppers I've ever had! My wife's chicken breast was done well and my pork chop was cooked perfectly! The drinks were strong and well made. We sat right by the front glass which was nice as we were able to watch some college basketball on the TVs! The only negative I had was that our waiter went from handling our table to bartending which was very strange. We didn't order entrees until after an hour from being seated (probably because of this?) BUT we did tell him that we weren't in a rush so maybe it was intentional? Either way, our experience was a great one and we will be back! Prices are very reasonable as well! Our bill was $200 with an app and 7 drinks. read more

Francesca's Amici - Lemon chicken breast - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

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Food was the best. Dined with three other friends enjoying, eggplant parmigiana, pasta pillows with squash stuffing in brown butter, meatballs in red sauce. Taste was delicious. Waiter Edgarin(spelling) was top notch. Always attentive, friendly, caring. Pleasant surroundings, clean, well lit. Dined twice in 2 weeks, will definitely return. 10 read more

I planned a baby shower here in a private room, however, it was more like semi-private since the room was not closed off. Overall, the event went well. The room was spacious and the food was very good. We all had an enjoyable lunch. Lunch service took a bit of time to start, not sure if that was our fault for not asking it to start sooner or if the kitchen got backed up. The event coordinator was easy to work with and easy to get ahold of. I highly recommend this place for an event. read more

Was here for a post baptism party, the area was nice but not closed off. The food was good when it came out in separate courses. The service took a bit longer than usual to get everything requested done. read more

Been here several times and generally very good but last night was disappointing. Service felt rushed and food was not up to standard. Specials seemed a bit pricey but regular menu has a lot of good choices. read more

They check on you often to see how you are doing when you were eating which is definitely a plus read more

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Happy hour was fabulous. Long hours Great prices and delicious food & drink. We highly recommend this restaurant, right off the train line in Elmhurst. read more

Server started by saying "high top or low top?" She meant to ask if we'd like the bar or dining room but used less inviting restaurant lingo. She took us to a table in the dining room. Then she moved us to another table for an unknown reason. My mother has a hard time walking and sitting so it took a little time settling in and while she was struggling with her coat, server asked if she could get us drinks. We explained that we haven't sat down yet. Then after ten minutes, she never came back and had to wave someone else down for help. We placed our order with that same second person because the timing of our main server was absurdly ill-timed every time. While we were halfway through our salad, she brought our entrees. Again, not considering where we were at in our meal. Later, she took away my mothers food while she was chewing and had a fork in her hand. Then we couldn't get the bill to her. Oh and also just needed salt after she brought our food and instead helped four tables first. That would have taken ten seconds. Now the food...the cucumbers in the salad looked slimy and dull. Mom said she was disappointed by her scallopini not having many, well, scallops. Neither of our pastas had been boiled in salted water and so the pasta was totally bland. Lastly the prices for my bolognese was $26, which is as much as it would be at Musso & Frank in Los Angeles, which is a really expensive historic restaurant. Her pasta was $35! So we were rushed in and out, the food was expensive and inadequate. Just don't go here. Seriously. There are clueless kids running front of house and the food is below average. read more

Birthday gathering, Pollo Milanese was divine (Crispy chicken over vodka pasta and greens). But our server Gina made it magical. She asked A thoughtful question of the birthday friend- what will you embrace in the next year, and what will you leave behind. It prompted a lovely line of conversation. Gina thanks for making it an extra- special evening! read more

The food service and the ambiance were top notch. We shared a generously proportioned Caesar salad. I had the gluten free pasta with meet sauce and loved it! My son has the salmon and tiramisu. He enjoyed both. We highly recommend this venue. read more

After loyally enjoying Frsncesxa's for YEARS, two strikes ended their run. It's become that quintessential place where owners or managers have just given up. Food used to have interesting approaches to traditional Italian faire, fine balances, and great quality. Service used to be warm, welcoming and understated. That was then. This is now: Twice in a row, food was mediocre at best, yielding comments like "I cook better weeknight dinners". Tonight, as longstanding customers we had to sit by the cold loud window at the bar. Maître d said the dining room was booked. The dining room remained EMPTY throughout our dinner. We've been coming for years. It was embarrassing and uncomfortable and motivation to write a tough review. Summary; their storied run has ended. Elmhurst has lots of choices in this $30-$30 category. Previous visit was equally forgettable. We would overlook a single miss. There must be new owners or something. The young server support was fantastic... wish I could tip him better. read more

I've been here a couple times and this place consistently has delivered on there service and food. It's a very relaxed ambiance. Sat at the high top area watching people walk past on York St. No wait at all, even without a reservation. The servers were all pleasant. My girl wanted pizza and it showed up first on my list in the area. However it wasn't on the menu. Our server stated that their Flatbread is available everyday. She ordered it and it was excellent..mushrooms, and chicken toppings. I ordered chicken salad. Very good, however the spinach soup was phenomenal! Don't sleep on it. Creamy, fresh ingredients, cup was enough. Overall, splendid meal. A lil Pricey. Oh before I go, I asked the server for a nice red dry italian wine.......yes yes yes......best I've had in a while.... read more

Restaurant is clean and beautiful. Service is impeccable. Food is amazing with lots of options. I've been to other locations, and this was my first time at this particular location. It did not disappoint. Everything was spectacular!!!! If I lived locally still, I would come back all the time. read more

Francesca's Amici - Pistachio gelato - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

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I was very dissapointed. The quality of the food was very average--the was high--the service was poor. We ordered an appetizer. It was brought to the table at the same time as the main course. The food was barely lukewarm. The music was extremely loud--a patron had to ask that management turn down the volume. I asked the waiter for his recommendation concerning our entree. He gave two suggestions. I ordered one and my wife ordered the other. Neither one was more than very average if purchased at a low price restaurant. First and last time for this restaurant. I would give it a one star rating. read more

The service is mediocre. Set at an empty bar and no other guests, and no one was interested to greet or offer a drink. Bartender was busy having a conversation with the busser in Spanish. They carried on with their story with the rest of the team, maybe hostess, that just came to hang out at the bar. Finally got the drink ordered and got some food. The busser dropped some bread and "olive oil". You could have called that soybean oil. No taste at all for olive oil. Ordered mussels and meatballs. Meatballs were served with one teaspoon of ricotta cheese. They were tender though. Mussels were cooked right , but no wine juice on the plate at all. Very dry. Overall just a poor experience for so called "Italian Food" Would not recommend. read more

Sat at the bar for a quick bite and Francesca's never disappoints. Food and drinks were really tasty, hot, fast service!

Went in for Sunday afternoon lunch. Took about 5minutes for anyone to come seat us, they were somewhere in the back because there was two other tables already seated. This is right at noon, the floors were so dirty, I'm confused if they didn't clean the night before when we knew we were the only ones sitting upfront by bar. Our server was nice he was the bartender and server. Had the whitefish sandwich and the rigatoni with eggplant, both had no good flavor. The only good thing was the mussels in white wine, those were fresh. I would try again for dinner but not anytime soon. read more

Francesca's Amici - Whitefish sandwich and rigatoni with eggplant - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

I had a bridal shower here yesterday, and I can not express enough how amazing my event went. Nancy, the owner, helped me from start to finish she had us taste everything we had on our list of foods. The food was amazing. I had approximately 100 people here and had plenty of room. Her staff Maria, servers, &bar tenders were spot on amazing! They set up all our sweets and desplayed everything so beautiful. I can not say anything negative about this event. My guests are still talking about how beautiful everything was and how much they loved the food. Thank you, Nancy, for making the beginning memories so special for my son and soon to be bride. read more

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The worst experience we've had at a restaurant. We had 6:45 reservations for two. We got there at 6:30 and were told it would be a few minutes for our table. It took an hour to get seated. We stood in the small front desk area crammed with everyone else who was waiting to be seated. Waiters were having to work through the crowd carrying drinks and food. We finally hear our name at 7:40 to be seated. Excited to finally get to sit down and eat we worked our way to our table. We sat at our table. No one came to check on us or take an order for apps or drinks. Nothing. Finally a bus boy brought us water. After waiting 20 minutes and no waiter, the table next to us saw how annoyed we were and told us they had been waiting for 2 1/2 hours for their food. We decided to leave as no one was even making eye contact with us to see if we needed anything. So at 8:10 we left. Never got to eat, no drinks except the water. A completely ruined date night. I could've gotten past the long wait to be seated and given them another chance but the rest is just extremely poor service. I won't go back. read more

In the downtown Elmhurst area sits a great Italian staple in Chicago. While there are other Francesca's all over Chicago, this one caters to the Western Suburbs with the same care and quality as the others. During COVID, they have maintained social distancing guidelines, indoor and outdoor seating options, and even allows you to customize your food to your liking even with a limited menu. I had the Whitefish Limon with pasta on the side. It was cooked perfectly and was delicious to eat. The service was great and our server was attentive. The restaurant is clean and we enjoyed sitting in the bar area next to the floor to ceiling windows. read more

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Great food and service on New Years Eve. Thanks to the entire team of Amici. You offer the best seafood entrees in Chicago area.

We had a baby shower a couple weeks ago. The Staff was excellent, Nancy made everything so easy and the food was delicious. If you're considering an event, take it from someone who plans over 150 events and tradeshows - you don't need to look any further. You've found the right place. read more

I had forgotten that Francesca's dishes have a strange flavor to them. Bread was good and the part of the meatball appetizer that I tasted was okay, but I was shocked when my chicken Francese arrived looking more like schnitzel with a sauce that resembled thousand island dressing. One bite and back it went. Oh, and also know that they do not have meat sauce. My husband had the lasagna and needed to cut it with a knife ~ huh? And the portions were so small no one had any leftovers to take home. What Italian restaurant doesn't send you home with a doggie bag? Francesca's. Just not to my taste. Too expensive for the portion size. We felt rushed to leave because they were setting up for something on Sunday. Brunch? A private event? Don't know, they just moved all the tables around us. Also, the noise level was on the loud side. I could not hear everyone at our table for 6. So, in summary, it could have been better. read more

Came here for a quiet dinner on a week night. Started with a glass of wine at the bar and before heading to our table. Service here was great - friendly and attentive. Had the calamari, burrata, and filet mignon. The burrata and filet were excellent along with the accompanying flavors from the sauces and sides. I was not the biggest fan of the calamari - it was very lightly breaded, tender, and overall quite bland. Overall, enjoyed my dining experience at Francesca's and wouldn't hesitate to come back. If I lived in the area, would probably be here often for a dinner or even just a drink and appetizer. read more

My wife and I chose Francesca's for our 22nd wedding anniversary. We used to love it. The ambience is great, perfect spot in Elmhurst by the theater. Unfortunately, we had a very bad experience. First of all, we got seated, and our waiter did not bring us any bread, even though he said he was going to, we got the artichoke appetizer, which was very good. A nice start. When they took our plates, we still hadn't received any bread and when they did finally bring bread after we mentioned it we didn't get new plates for the bread. I must admit the lemon cello spritzes were very good. So when we placed our order, We went for the specials, which was a prime rib or ribeye as they called it, and here's what we got. The ribeye was $45. We got our food relatively quick,. The portions were pretty small and my ribeye was absolutely rotten. I mean the meat was rotten. I took one bite and I thought I was gonna throw up And my wife's was not so good. She ordered her medium rare and it was so fatty that she could not get one small lean bite out of the entire piece of meat. If I get sick tonight, I'll be calling the Board of Health. They took the ribeyes off of our tab and we ordered Bucatini . Although if we had more time I think we would've gotten up and gone somewhere else. The pasta was ok- just ok. nothing to rave about nothing fantastic just OK. I can't say enough about how disappointed I am in the new Francesca's. Everything about it except for the ambiance had changed. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. read more

Perfect atmosphere for a perfectly sunny day, bright, relaxing, clean. Food was predictably perfect, good quality ingredients and portion size adequate. Service was very good, attentive staff, incldg manager Erich! Patty Tipton read more

Francesca's has been around for quite some time but we never made our way there until recently and yummy! We sat outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and service was wonderful. Drinks were always cold and plates cleared as food arrived. I am in love with their Pizza Alla Calabrese! We've been back a few times just for this pizza. The fluffy crust with perfect balance of sauce and meat brings me back to Italy. Their ricotta ravioli is another winner with creamy ricotta and fresh pasta. Happy to see they have been busy the last few times we drove by as there are so many Italian restaurants in the area now but Francesca's will always be the original. read more

Francesca's Amici - Ricotta ravioli - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

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Stopped by for an early dinner to wait out the afternoon traffic. They have cute sidewalk seating and a more formal white-tablecloth dining room. The service was great and the food is ok, but in my opinion very heavy-handed with the salt. I really liked their herbed olive oil blend + parm to go with the bread on the table (this was ordinary, but toasted to warm it up). I ordered the gnocchi (mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, gorgonzola sauce). Unfortunately both the gnocchi and the sauce were quite salty to the point that I had trouble eating it. My dad enjoyed his wagyu sirloin however, which was cooked precisely to a medium rare as requested (I didn't try it). In summary it's worth a visit if you don't mind salty food. They did seem to fill up at dinner time. The area is nice as well. read more

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Honestly, I felt like the food here was trying to be a little too fancy and I didn't feel like my beef ravioli really hit the mark. The flavors were interesting but didn't have the hearty feel I was looking for. The atmosphere was pretty loud as well which is not my favorite but granted it was a Saturday night. The swordfish was really good but not filling enough for a meal for some. read more

Francesca's Amici - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

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The food was not good, they serve Parmesan from a jar not fresh, the service was ok but management was awful. Will not go back and that's sad read more

Kelsi was so friendly & helpful! She was very welcoming and gave us great recommendations. When we come to Chicago, we will definitely be back! The beef carpaccio was amazing. read more

ROACHES. Everything was going okay until I visited the restroom and on my way back to the private room there was a roach just hanging out on the carpet. When I approached the staff about it, there didn't seem to be any shock. I was simply told, "oh, sorry about that we'll take care of it." Unfortunately learned this near the end of our meal, wouldn't eat here and wouldn't recommend anyone else play Russian roulette with this slum of a restaurant. read more

Tonight we celebrated our 36th anniversary at Francesca's Amici in Elmhurst Park. The food was amazing and so delicious!! What a great way to celebrate a special occasion. Our Waiter, Esteban was Fantastic! Great customer service and made our special day so personal!!! The entire staff was so super friendly! Thank you to Manager Danny for being so cool and accommodating us! Come out for the evening and enjoy a classic Italian meal and enjoy the atmosphere. The Marinated Kitchen read more

Francesca's Amici - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

I came here with colleagues for a celebratory dinner. We were seven people. We were waiting on a couple of people, the server was very understanding of that and he did not rush us into ordering at all. A couple of us were vegetarians and he suggested us good options as well. We ordered fried calamari and bruschetta for appetizers. Both tasted great, I really loved the bruschetta - the bread was thin and crispy, with lots of cheese tomato and basil which makes for a perfect bite. I ordered gnocchi and other ordered ravioli, vegetable rigatoni, steak, halibut. The gnocchi was pillowy soft, and just melted in my mouth. The sauce with gnocchi was tomato and cheese based which was just right, not too tangy or too creamy and went so well with the gnocchi. Everyone really enjoyed their food. We also ordered a couple of desserts - and let me tell you, they have HUGE portions for some of the desserts like sloppy sundae - you could share it with 2 others minimum. I got a tiramisu which was very good. The ambience of the restaurant is causal, there was live music which is very enjoyable. Overall, a great experience, and amazing food, will definitely go again. read more

Back by popular demand - the long awaited "Chelly's Famous Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Pudding" and YES it was well worth the wait. Thank you for bringing back this national treasure and making my family oh-so-happy! read more

Francesca's Amici - Chelly's Famous Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Pudding - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

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Great service, amazing food and free parking, woot-woot! We all had such a great time, I didn't get to take pictures of the food (consider that a good sign!) There are a few of these sprinkled all throughout and it's great to see that there is consistency in service and food. We typically go to the one in Little Italy on Taylor St. The service here was just as great as the one on Taylor. Great restraunt! There was a group of 6 of us who came, we made reservations (Wednesday night) and we are glad we did, this place got busy, fast! All signs of a great establishment. This is very conveniently located within walking distance from the train (we came in from the city), maybe a 5-minute walk. The other guests drive and neither couple had an issue with parking. We started off with two appetizers, Carpaccio con Asparagi and Bruschette con Rucola both were delicious! Our server was great and helped us "correctly" pronounce each of the items. He even shared some family stories of his Italian grandmother, it was a nice touch. There are weekly specials here and on Wednesday it's $10 off a bottle and there were plenty of tables around us that were taking advantage of that offer. We all got different cocktails, all were fantastic. Two of us got pizzas, both were devoured, the cheese was fresh and the crust was light and buttery. One got the half chicken (easily had leftover), the crust was crispy and the meat was juicy! One got the Chicken Ceasar salad and it was perfect for a meal! Two of us got pasta dishes (again, easily had leftovers) and it was delicious, great sauce, the pasta was cooked perfectly and the combination of vegetables included was so flavorful. I highly coming here for a date night or just a great place to catch up. read more

Francesca's Amici - There's plenty of space and it did get filled up! - Italian Near Me - Elmhurst, Illinois

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Real good place to have a dinner grate service the waiter was so fast and nice thinking about going again