When I want Neapolitan-style pizza, Nella is for sure my go-to. They have a wide selection that means I can always try something new or go with a favorite of mine. The rest of their classic Italian dishes are all amazing, too. Their Contadina risotto is my absolute favorite thing on the menu, it's like a mushroom risotto which is already one of my favorite foods but with sausage and walnuts to take it to the next level. But no matter what you order here, it's sure to be incredible. Plus, the staff is super friendly and attentive, and the interior is very comforting and beautiful read more

It was delicious. I took my picture after I ate it. But the food and prices are heard to beat. The service was great the bartender was amazing. The restaurant was modern but homey. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - I had the Spaghetti Carbonara. It was so good. Good food good prices - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food is honestly good. HUGE ISSUE with the serivce. 1. The server came with the receipt and he pressed the 20% tip option without my consent. Immediately I was mad and I changed it to 15%. He waved his finger and asked me to change back to 20%. I was very offended so I insisted 15%. When I checked my credit card I was charged $60 more than I should have been. Like hello??? (I am all for tipping 20% or even more as long as the service is decent and friendly. But don't expect me to tip you any if you altered the charge yourself, and brutally force me to tip you 20%.) Nella, train your servers, shame on you. 2. Did not serve us bread and didn't ask us if we wanted it. Yet other tables were served the bread automatically. Like plz if you want your 20% tip so much at least act like you care. 3. Don't get me started with the Italian servers talk rude and dirty (making jokes on customers' butta*s and face behind my back. I thought Italians were all friendly and civilized..... I've been around Chicago for 4 years honestly there are just way too many better options if you crave Italian food: 0.2 miles from Nella there's Acione Bistro with the same price level but much larger table, nicer server, and much better vibe. If you wanted something more high-end there's Piccolo Sogno and Alla Vita in downtown with muuuuuuch better decor, server, and food quality I've visited Nella for 3 times and I finally posted it because the problems I described are enduring. Don't waste your time with Nella read more

Really cute place- service was really friendly and attentive but not pushy. The ambience is cute and they have a decent sized patio that looks nice. Got the arugula / prosciutto salad which was refreshing, burrata bruschetta was good too, caprese salad decent. The mushroom truffle pasta was creamy and just as good as I thought it would be. Perfect size too. read more

We came here after going to the Pompei exhibit at the museum of science and industry and LOVED our service, meal and ambiance. We got the focaccia and meatballs as an appetizer. The meatballs were some of the best I've ever had. Then we got a margarita pizza and chocolate mouse dessert. Reasonably priced and DELICIOUS! read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Chocolate Mousse Cake - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We came here for lunch after visiting the science museum. We got here close to open so seating was easy. We ordered the calamari to start and got the spinach pizza, the bolognese pasta, the chicken sandwich, and the provolone + prosciutto sandwich (for me) with a side salad. The pizza, the pasta, and my sandwich were very nice. I loved the simplicity of my salad. The pizza had a very nice dough and the simplicity of the pizza was nice. My in-laws shared the chicken sandwich and said it was a bit bland and a bit dry like it needed a pesto or a mayo to help it out. Our server was very nice and took care of us. Overall I had a nice experience and would come back. read more

Roux had a long line so we decided to give Nella a try. We were so pleased with our decision because the food and ambiance of this place were exactly what we were seeking - relaxed, friendly, and delicious. Everything exceeded our expectation. Will definitely come back back when visiting! read more

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Fell in love with this place way back when they opened. Ravioli Al Tartufo is my go-to. Quattro Formaggi Pizze if I'm getting a pizza. Everything is so fresh and the service has always been great. read more

The Margherita pizza is crispy and flavorful, and the pasta dishes are cooked well. I particularly enjoyed the Margherita pizza and also tried the Paccheri alla Boscaiola and the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina. The atmosphere of the restaurant is also enjoyable, with a lively and energetic vibe that's perfect for a night out with friends or a casual dinner with family. The outdoor patio is amazing during warmer months. The staff is friendly and welcoming, and the service is efficient. However, there were a few areas where Nella Pizza e Pasta fell short. The prices are a bit on the high side, especially given the portion sizes. Some of the dishes felt bland and lacking complexity. And while the restaurant is nicely decorated, the noise level can get a bit overwhelming at times. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Dropped a hundred bucks on three pizzas and still left hungry since these things wouldn't fully feed a lizard. The place looks nice, but so do spots that don't charge rent money for dinner. Mushrooms must be sliced with a Gillette razor, I honestly thought they forgot to put it in the pizza, and they don't even do half-and-half pizzas... who doesn't do halves? Is it that difficult? Honestly, you'll get fuller just looking at a picture of food than eating here. Automatic gratuity is crazy when the guy disappeared for half our visit and our food runner took better care of us. read more

Came back for dinner and this place is still as good as I remembered it!! Amazing Italian food! For the mushroom lovers, the ravioli al tartufo was absolutely KILLER! SO CREAMY AND DELISH! read more

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Phenomenal service - the staff was all very caring and welcoming! The food was delicious as well. read more

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Came here in 12 for brunch on a Sunday. Our food came relatively quickly considering there were so many of us. My burrata pizza was really good (neapolitan crust). Their carbonara seemed a bit overcooked (the egg) but I did not try it, so I wouldn't know. Definitely not cheap, but if you want a nice place for brunch, I highly recommend. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Pizza Carnivora - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Everything was AMAZING, from the bread (their dipping oil makes all the difference) to the pasta to the pizza. I went with a group of my girl friends and the waiters were super friendly too! read more

I heard this place serves really good escargot. Turns out they make it by pissing on it and then deep frying it. The service was good. The waiters were all extremely kind and tuff. The ambiance was horrible. It smelled like they rubbed cow poop all on the walls. They definitely didn't pass the health inspection. read more

Authentic Neapolitan pizza in Hyde Park? Yes, please! I am a huge fan Of Nella's on 55th, right by the University of Chicago campus, as it features super fresh and flavorful Italian dishes, for affordable prices. You immediately feel the warm Italian atmosphere as you walk in, as there are so many Italian objects serving as decor that line the walls and ceilings, from football (soccer) jerseys to Aperol to espresso moka pots. We ordered the Bianco Nero pizza (black truffle, mushroom, zucchini) and the Cavani pizza (sausage, salami) -- both were freshly made to order and came out hot from the oven. The black truffle on the Bianco Nero was especially good, and personally my favorite aspect of the meal. Can't wait to come back to try more! read more

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My partner and I went to dinner at around 7:30 on a Wed and were served by the very attentive Ciro! It was our first time here and were excited to try one of the only Bib Gourmand restaurants in Hyde Park. We ordered the polpette and the calamari fritti for appetizers. They were both fantastic starts to our meal! For the entrees we ordered the Amalfi Pizza and the PAPPARDELLE AL RAGÙ DI AGNELLO. We could tell the ingredients and preparation were done extremely well, however, next time we'll be trying different dishes. The lamb had a strong flavor and seemed to overpower the pasta, while the goat cheese also had a strong hold on the pizza. We still finished off both plates though, so I think that just comes down to personal flavor preferences. Will definitely return and try more things off the menu! read more

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Some things here are amazing and some of the best Italian food I've had, while other things are big sources of confusion and I won't order again. But overall this is a great place to have a nice dinner in Hyde Park. It is also one of the few places with extensive (and nice!) outdoor seating, though beware the wasps during the summer. I'm a big fan of the entrees here. The spaghetti al cartoccio is fantastic - I've gotten it about 4 times, and it is consistently delicious and fresh, with a rich seafood flavor that permeates the sauce. It's also packaged in a fun aluminum foil swan that seals in the flavor. The risottos here are also scrumptious and perfectly cooked. The pizzas have that great brick oven crunch to them. The food here overall is reminiscent of the lightness and ingredient-centric dishes that I've had in Italy, rather than the heavier flavors and textures of Italian American food. In our recent outing, there were some big question marks though. We got a focaccia appetizer and it was just an olive oil and truffle pizza - not the thick bouncy focaccia we were expecting! We then got the profiteroles for dessert and they were smothered in chocolate mousse, making them squishy and unappetizing. Not sure how both of these bakes were bombed so badly. But we will continue to go here for the amazing pasta, risotto, and pizza!! Just we will be cautious about apps and desserts. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Apparently this is focaccia - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Cute restaurant with a great vibe and good service. I think the pizza here is super solid pizza for America but the pasta is honestly tastes okay kind of boring. Great pizza though! 4.5 star pizza and 5 star experience, 1.5 star pasta. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The food here is very mediocre- I mean it's not bad but I feel like there are so many better Neapolitan style pizza in the city. The crust of the pizza is soggy and thicker than normal, but I do think their pizzas are better than the pastas. It's just not worth the price tag. read more

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Nella is a hyde park staple and one of my favorite Italian places in the area. The service here is great and the ambiance is nice and casual as well. The pizzas here are probably the best items here and you get great value with them. The sarracino is one of my favorite pastas- I love the truffle flavor. Definitely try this place if you want a nice reasonably priced restaurant in the Hyde park area! read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Sarracino - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Great restaurant! I went with two friends and we split the arancici, lobster risotti, Nella D.O.P, tiramisu and the pistachio cheesecake. It was all delicious. The staff was friendly and the service was good. Highly recommend this place. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Tiramisu & pistachio cheesecake - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Recommendation from some co-workers for an Italian meal in Hyde Park. Post-vaccine shot no. 2, met up with friend for a geriatric time dinner at 3pm. Felt like celebrating a little, so tried a few things. Food was good but not outstanding imho. About Maggiano's caliber with a upcharge on pricing. The menu didn't elaborate on a calamari dish I ordered. It was a handful of rings in overdone flat rigatoni drowning in arribiatta (Rao's is better) that tried camoflaging the 10% calamari to pasta ratio. Not worth $20. My tiramisu was again okay, the one bright star was the panna cotta. Didn't try anything else, this pal is new, can't pirate all the food like normal. Next time! read more

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My daughter and I stopped in without a reservation & were able to be seated at the bar. The pizza is very well done & authentic. Most def real Italian's are making the food. Everything was tasty & they have a nice wine list. Food was served very soon after being ordered, salad was fresh and perfect amount of dressing. Gnocchi was delish, well balanced sauce. Burrata was amazing! Beautiful yellow heirloom tomato's. And, the pizza crust was thin and perfectly baked with well balanced toppings that added dynamic flavors with the fresh greens. Absolutely love the family photos & flying Vespa too! read more

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Wow, new to Hyde park Chicago. Ordered for delivery because it was a cold winters evening. Never expected amazing food! Can't wait to dine in person read more

Food was phenomenal, from the bruschetta to the pizza, and all the way into the dessert with a pistachio cheesecake. My family and I came in with a toddler, who ended up having a tantrum.. was very grateful with how amazing the waiter and servers handled the situation. They made sure that I never felt bad for having a toddler throwing a fit while dining. Service was top notch as our table was getting cleared as the food was being devoured off of the plates. We ordered the Ortolana pizza which was made with fresh basil, and very tasteful egg plant, zucchini, and bell peppers. The ambiance is very inviting and warm. Definitely recommend and will be going back often! read more

I ordered some takeout for a work party--got several pizzas along with the pear salad. Overall things were pretty good, everyone seemed to like the offerings. The service was good and the delivery came on time. I will say that the pizzas were a bit pricey (~$20 each) and each one could basically feed one hungry person. The crust was also pretty wide and took up about 50% of the surface area of the pizza, so there wasn't as much topping as I was expecting. If you are going to order the pizza, I recommend the truffle pizza! That one was the best of the assortment I ordered. read more

Let me just start but saying parking is a bitch around here. Nothing against the restaurant, but something to be aware of. We came during a busy lunch time, but there were still a few tables available, so we were seated right away. It took a little longer than expected to get our order in, but once it was in, the food came out almost immediately. We ordered my go to Margherita Pizza and an order of their Paccheri alla Boscaiola. The Margherita pizzas was tasty and fresh out the oven. It had plenty of cheese and and basil to go with the tomato sauce. Only thing I would have preferred was for the crust to be a little bit more burnt. I'm actually surprised I ordered their Paccheri pasta because it came with mushrooms. And this dish came with a lot of mushrooms, but it was t a bad tasting dish. It came with a creamy sauce and also came with sausage. I would probably order another dish on my next visit. read more

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My first time I had Nella I had the margarita pizza which made me want to actually coke in and sit down. The decor is nice. It's a newer restaurant in Hyde Park. Our server Ricardo was nice but barely checked on us throughout our service. At times I wanted to order drink or an appetizer he took long to come back so I just said forget it all together. The pizza was ok but a little flimsy meaning it could've stayed in the oven just a dt bit longer. I love truffles and anything with them I want to try. When I saw the truffle ravioli my eyes lit up. It was disappointing, at $30 there were only maybe 5-6 pieces of Raviolli. It was hard to actually enjoy because the dish was overpowered with salt and garlic. It would've been better to sauté the garlic first opposed to adding it in afterwards. It made the dish too salty to consume and I left still wanting to go to another place for food. read more

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I stepped into Nella pretty late, about half an hour before closing. Regardless, the staff greeted me quickly and seated me in a timely manner. The gnocchi I ordered was yummy with a good amount of cheese and hearty marinara sauce! The staff was also quick to fill my water. Overall, pretty good service. read more

This place is so cute for a small group or date night spot. I came to check this place out with a friend and you are instantly hit with delicious smells once you walk through the door. We sat down and got the calamari and pere Gorgonzola salad which were the highlight of the meal. The calamari was cooked perfectly and the salad was a good portion and perfect pairing with the walnuts, Gorgonzola, pear, arugula (highly recommend) We decided to share a pizza so with a recommendation we got the stuffed pizza, Vesuvio. It was not my favorite, it was like a deflated calzone. The stuffing was delicious but steaming inside left the bottom not as crisp with lot much filling. I would recommend opting out of a stuffed pizza and getting a different one on the menu. I would recommend coming back here, hopefully to try another pizza or pasta dish! read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

So darn good. Everything from the Arancini to the calamari to the 5 different pizzas. Everything was delicious. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Arancini - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This is a disgusting and filthy restaurant and I do not recommend anyone eat here. First of all, coming in, we noticed that the tables were quite dirty. My family had to switch tables multiple times before we got to a spot we felt was comfortable. They brought out the appetizers and as we were eating, queen flies were landing on the food. We quickly finished what the flies did not touch and set the plate to the side to let them have the rest of the appetizer. We tried to ask for a replacement, but the waiter could not speak English well at all and we were having an extremely difficult time communicating with him, so we just put in the order for our entrees. As we were waiting, we saw what first looked like drops of water falling down from the ceiling. Some of the "drops of water" landed on the table and I saw it drop into our drinks as well, but it didn't register in my brain yet. As my family and I were about to take a sip of our drinks, we were startled by numerous live spiders in our drinks! It was horrendous! Some of the spiders were also crawling on the table... my family and I were so disturbed that we immediately decided to leave. However, after informing the waiter, we were still required to pay for the appetizers and drinks despite the horrendous situation and were told the manager was not available for complaints. This restaurant has a MAJOR pest problem, and I honestly feel that the restaurant should be shut down permanently. No one should ever have to go through anything like that... I would like a refund of what I paid in full for the horrific experience. It was extremely disturbing and the people who work there are completely oblivious and careless about the whole thing. read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - spiders in the food and drinks, flies landing on all the food... this is a horrible disgusting restaurant with poor management - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Outstanding authentic Italian restaurant on the south side of Chicago. Love the pizzas, pastas, calamari, and salads! Nice Italian ambiance. Great drinks (although I wish fresh ingredients were used rather than syrups in purées). Brunch special is exceptional. Staff is friendly, helpful, and very knowledgeable. It's one of our very favorite places in Chicago! read more

ITS THE BOMBE!!! the pizza bombe w prosciutto is great, as is the tiramisu and the weekend deals. the pizza burrito is massive, friend ordered tho i didn't try. the burrata pizza + black truffle is v umami and savory. the french toast looks bomb. margarita pizza was meh. then again i had it after it had sat out over an hour so you be the judge! TRY THIS SPOT! read more

I used to like this place because it is one of the better restaurants in Hyde park. However, I had a really bad food poisoning here dining here last night. We ordered the pizza Caricciosa and Spaghetti Cartoccio. Just within 1-1.5 hour after I had dinner here, I developed a really bad stomachache and everything I saw was spinning. I lost balance and could not walk or stand by myself. I went to the ER immediately and felt better after I threw up. I have reported the event to the public health department. I don't know what causes this, might be the shellfish in the pasta. I wanted to let people here know that if you are planning to go to the restaurant recently, please be careful. read more

7/13/18 Solid Italian restaurant by University of Chicago. I enjoyed all of the items below my group ordered. My favorite was the black truffle mussels pasta - mmmmm. I think you will want to try more pasta and pizza options after your first time! Afterwards, you can wash this all down with milk tea next door! 1. Sarracino - pappardelle * mussels * pecorino * black truffle * garlic oil * white wine 2. Spaghetti al Cartoccio - calamari * mussels * baby clams * tomato sauce * red pepper flakes * parsley 3. Ciotta Ciotta - prosciutto crudo di parma * prosciutto cotto * sausage * spicy salami * mozzarella * quattro formaggio * tomato sauce * basil read more

Nella Pizza e Pasta - Pizza Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Can I say "wow!"? I had the "Organica" pizza, no mushrooms, add prosciutto and it was SO GOOD. It was one of the best pizzas I've ever had. The crust was hand-made and cooked perfectly so it was still soft with just a little crisp. All the ingredients were fresh and delicious. I will be coming back again and again for the pizza alone. read more

Nah. ..Nella ain't it. I was hungry and looking for something in the area. Stopped in and ordered the CALAMARI FRITTI appetizer and the PAPPADELLE al RAGÙ di AGNELLO with braised lamb ragù and cherry tomato sauce. Sounds delicious right? Wrong. The calamari was serviceable, but the only good thing about the lamb dish was the pasta texture. The dish was greasy, yet somehow dry. The ragù lacked flavor and just wasn't good at all. I sent it back to the kitchen without reordering. The service was friendly and the waiter apologized, but I can't justify a return visit. read more

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In a city where "pizza" means a casserole you have to eat with a knife and fork, it is such a relief to find a place that uses hand-tossed crust, fresh ingredients, and a brick-oven to make what is rightfully, legitimately worthy of being called pizza. But not just pizza, great pizza. The kind that makes you want to keep bringing your friends and family back so you can cross your arms and smile saying, "Wasn't I right?" The only thing I would say is don't order anything with mushrooms--they taste tinny--but everything else is amazing. Great salads, pastas, and don't get me started on the risotto! This is the place to go when celebrating with family or when you want to have a casual glass of wine over great food that won't break the bank. Please bring Nella to the north side of Chicago...I would go every week if it didn't take an hour to get there from my house, but as it stands we will go here whenever we actually want pizza. read more