Italian in Old Town

Hi there,

A friend and I are going out for dinner in Old Town, and are thinking Italian. I know of Trattoria Dinotto and Trattoria Roma. Any other suggestions for Italian in the general vicinity of Old Town that would be good?

Thanks,
Katy

While it's not quite old town, the best Italian I've had in quite a long time is Riccardo Trattoria on Clark around Armitage. Just posted about it last week.

Riccardo Trattoria
2119 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60614
773-549-0038

Or, right smack dab in the middle of the Old Town commercial strip is Orso's, which admittedly owes much of its charm to an outdoor garden that probably won't be that useful this time of year. Nevertheless, good old-school standards, reasonably-priced and a nice historic feel, in or outdoors.

Also, Topo Gigio is right down the street.

Orso's
1401 N. Wells
312-787-6604

Topo Gigio
1516 N. Wells
312-266-9355

Topo Gigio has always been a favorite....great veal...

ParkLaBrea wrote:Topo Gigio has always been a favorite....great veal...

Always enjoyed my meals there. Tony, the sometimes grumpy host recently lost his battle with cancer. He was quite the prick until you got to know him. I slipped him a $20 once to skirt the 2 hour wait. He lightened up after that. RIP

I've had consistently excellent Italian food at Cafe Spiaggia.

Not exactly Old Town, but just a short walk away.

Depends. Caffe Spiaggia is likely more than a mile away. I don't consider that any great challenge, unless it's the middle of winter or something. Good call though. Vinci's not too far, either, and I've always had a soft spot for Topo Gigio It seems so old-fashioned, in a good way.

As always, I recommend Vinci, which although technically isn't in Old Town is in south Lincoln Park (Halsted and Willow). I also have enjoyed Topo Gigio.

I agree with the Orso's recommendation.
I had a wonderful meal there a while back,
and it was not in the outdoor garden, but rather indoors.
I don't even actually remember what we ate,
but I remember it being a fabulous meal.
...could it have had something to do with wonderful wine???

Another vote for Topo Gigio. Also a big fave with my Customary Dining Companion, as well as with his parents.

I about fell over when I saw Topo recommended. I work in the area and really like Topo......and the surly staff, however I have never found anyone else that raves like I do. It is one of the more consistent restaurants around.

I have only been to Topo Gigio twice, and only once in the last few months (the other visit was many years ago), but I was not so impressed. I found it pretty mediocre (a Caprese salad and a couple of pastas), although the simple roast chicken with white wine, lemon and roasted potatoes was done very nicely.

I had two good meals (one was a farfalle with salmon and red sauce) and one bleh meal at Orso's (a cut of chicken that looked & tasted like the kind you buy in big bulk freezer bags from CostCo, along with tasteless vegetables), although I love the decor and the pianoman on the weekends.

I have enjoyed every single visit to Trattoria Roma. It's one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Chicago because every time I've gone, my food has been great and the staff have been really chill, friendly and accommodating. They made a really good rosemary chicken, and I've enjoyed every pasta I've tried there. Our first time there, during the week, we got free limoncello at the end, which was pretty sweet!

I recently had a fairly nice meal at Topo. Service was excellent, btw, and I was quite pleased with the eggplant parmigiana, which was large enough for lunch and dinner.

A recent visit to Topo was mediocre for me as well. The food was fine, but sort-of "Bar Louie-ish".

We made it to Riccardo last week. The menu is fantastic--LOTS of stuff I want to try. The wine menu is pretty bad, with no vintages outside of the "captain's list" or whatever they call it.

The food was good, but *very* heavy. The burrata was great, but the mozz was so milky that I didn't finish it. Likewise with the short rib: tasty, but so fatty as to be a chore. My wife's veal chop was similar (and overpriced at $32 for literally just a piece of meat on a bare plate).

We're going to back, as I feel like it should have been better than it was, and I want to try the pastas.

Trattoria Roma used to be my go-to place for Italian in Old Town. But I hadn't been there in this century until going with friends around the holidays this year.

The food was fine, but not outstanding as I remembered, and the place seemed tired and run down around the edges, as if the owners and staff are running on autopilot, taking things for granted now. That could either be it, or me. I.e., TR might be exactly the same in every detail as it was, and my standards could be higher now--or my standards could be exactly what they always were, and the place has changed. I really don't know which. But in either case I was mildly disappointed.

riddlemay wrote:The food was fine, but not outstanding as I remembered, and the place seemed tired and run down around the edges, as if the owners and staff are running on autopilot, taking things for granted now.

Can you explain more what you mean? What was it like in the '90s? I didn't move to Chicago until 2003. I'm curious to know how you remember it being. Was the place recently opened then?

Trattoria Roma was around in the 1980s when I lived in Old Town. it was originally called Trattoria Pizzeria Roma, and it was the first place I ever remember having Roman-style pizza in Chicago. They were very successful at first, opening a second outpost in Lincoln Park, which didn't last. They then moved about 1/2 block south on Wells St. to the current location. It's been a while since I've been there, but I remember it as one of the better Italian options in Old Town. Topo Gigio was always average to my mind, especially when they were in their previous location across the street. I forget the name of the previous Italian place where Topo Gigio was, but if my memory is correct, it was better - I especially remember a great pasta carbonara there.