River North area Italian

Hi,

I'm looking for a recommendation for an upscale Italian restaurant in the River North area for some friends for this Saturday night. They'd thought about Spiaggia, but don't want Spiaggia prices if possible. They do have a car, so could drive a bit. Thanks!

Ann

The best Italian restaurant in River North is Coco Pazzo, IMHO. If they're considering Spiaggia - it's at the north end of Michigan Avenue, not exactly River North but not far - Cafe Spiaggia, its sister restaurant, is excellent as well, and mid-priced.

I suggest making reservations right away. I just checked on opentable.com, which accepts reservations for both these places, looking for a reservation for two people for this Saturday night. Cafe Spiaggia is showing nothing between 6:45 and 8:45, and Coco Pazzo nothing between 6:15 and 8:45. Coco Pazzo Cafe, the sister restaurant to Coco Pazzo (slightly less expensive and further east, off Michigan Avenue) has a bit more availability.

To throw out two more worthy possibilities nearby in the Loop, I like Vivere, in the Italian Village complex (NOT the other restaurants there) - 7:45 but nothing earlier - and Trattoria No. 10 - 8:00 but nothing earlier.

Sometimes when a restaurant appears booked in opentable.com, you can still make a reservation by calling them directly...

i love timo, formerly thyme, john bubala's italian restaurant on the corner of halsted and grand. there is even a free parking lot. you might be able to find a discount coupon on restaurant.com for timo, i used one last week. it's a quiet place, good for conversation. below is a link to the menu. justjoan

http://www.thymechicago.com/our_menu.htm

The Italian restaurant with the best food, ambiance & service combo in Chicago is La Scarola. It is a bit west of River North but just a bit and a wonderful place. You should strongly consider it.

Bster

I find Bella Notte to be a consistent pleaser. It's definitely more "down home" cooking than the others you've mentioned, but still very nice, white tablecloth dining. IIRC, they make several of their own pastas, and the wine list is realistically priced.

Bella Notte
1374 W. Grand
312-733-5136

Cafe Spiaggia is indeed excellent. I heartily recommend it. If they are willing to go a little further away, Merlo is another possibility. Merlo has two locations, both of which have the same menu. Merlo on Maple is closest to River North.

Cafe Spiaggia
980 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 280-2755

Merlo on Maple
16 W Maple St
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 335-8200
www.merlochicago.com

Merlo Ristorante & Enoteca Wine Bar
2638 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL
(773) 529-0747

Coco Pazzo
300 W Hubbard St
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 836-0900
www.cocopazzochicago.com

Darren72 wrote:Merlo has two locations, both of which have the same menu. Merlo on Maple is closest to River North.

As I just noted in response to another post, I love Merlo on Maple and the one on Maple is the one you should try. That's where you'll always find the husband and wife owners (and the wife is the chef).

Thanks for the link to your other post. Your thoughts are exactly what I love about Merlo on Maple. If I may quote from your post:

BR wrote:If you end up choosing Italian, I much prefer Merlo on Maple to Cafe Spiaggia (although I like CS). First, I love the setting. It's in a beautiful brownstone around State and Maple with three levels and lots of dark, old wood -- feels like you're eating in someone's home. The owners are a husband and wife from Bologna (she's the cook) and they're always there (and not in their more casual Lincoln Park location). All of the pastas are homemade and they are outstanding -- my favorites are the Tagliatelle Bolognese, the Taglioline paglia e fieno which has a veal and prosciutto ragu and is topped with white truffle oil, and perhaps my very favorite, the spinach and potato gnocchi in a parmesan sauce with shaved black truffles. The osso bucco and braised lamb shank are also fantastic.

The setting is fantastic, incredibly romantic. Excellent food.

Thank you all for your responses, they now have several possibilities to choose from. I appreciate the input, now I'm going to have to drive into the city to try all these places (life's rough...).

BR wrote:

Darren72 wrote:Merlo has two locations, both of which have the same menu. Merlo on Maple is closest to River North.

As I just noted in response to another post, I love Merlo on Maple and the one on Maple is the one you should try. That's where you'll always find the husband and wife owners (and the wife is the chef).

I didn't know they had 2 locations- I'll need to try the one in River North. The night myself and the soon to be Mrs. jpschust got engaged I had set up a dinner for both our families to attend away from where we were getting engaged. (We were getting engaged at Moto, I didn't want any traffic crossing paths whatsoever). Anyways- I set up the families to go to the Merlo off Rush Street. Well after we met up again my dad and I were talking privately about it. I've never heard such a rip of profanities come out of his mouth about the service and food quality. That said, I wasn't there, so I'm not qualified to judge, but just relaying my parent's experience.

jpschust wrote:I didn't know they had 2 locations- I'll need to try the one in River North.

Most people would consider the location of Merlo on Maple, a block north of Oak Street, to be in the Gold Coast rather than in River North, although it's walking distance from there. As Darren72 noted, it's closer to River North than the location of Merlo Ristorante, in Lincoln Park a few blocks north of the Biograph.