Tuscany, Wheeling IL

Tonight we dined with some out-of-town relatives at Tuscany in Wheeling (we were going to go to the restaurant my cousin is exec-chef at, but he's sick tonight, so we didn't go there).

Tuscany is one of several same-named locations run by Phil Stefani, also including Riva on Navy Pier. This one is a spot that once was an "East Side Mario's" -- very glad to see it recover from that debacle.

550 S. Milwaukee Ave.
Wheeling, IL 60090
Phone: 847.465.9988
Fax: 847.465.8446
http://www.stefanirestaurants.com/tuscany.htm

The food was outstanding -- on the slight upscale side of Italian food pricing, (entrees start at $13, up to about $30 for some of the veal and seafood, a la carte). Tables start with mashed roasted garlic and bread (oil and parm available for those wanting to indulge in cliche).

I started with the pasta e fagioli, which had no visible beans -- they were all pureed into the broth. Very rich and tasty.

MrsF had a sald that was a special of the day, and turned out to be basically a cobb salad -- arranged radially in a big bowl were tomatoes, corn, chicken, avocado, chicken... I forget what else. It was just right for her for post-Thanksgiving.

I ordered the gnocchi con gorgonzola e noci with spinach and walnuts in a cream sauce. Very tasty, but a bit heavy -- spinach was a big help for a plate of gnocchi which can often get very very heavy.

Others at the table ordered the risotto of the day featuring "assorted fish" and mussels, I had a taste and it was pretty good, but I'd prefer to know what kind of fish I'm getting. There's apparently a secret menu with one item: veal parmigiana. It's a huge veal chop, flatted while still on the bone, filling the plate and covered with cheese and a bit of sauce. Several were ordered at the table, and there will be several veal parm lunches tomorrow.

I've never dined at the Wheeling store and only once in the Highland Park restaurant (which was only OK), but I do frequent the Taylor Street location of Tuscany, which I believe was the original. And from an Italian person who is quite finicky about his 'macaroni', it's very, very good, especially for a quasi-chain.

My brother & I lunched there on Tuesday, and because of time constraints we had to be out of there in an hour. We made it with time to spare, and had a wonderful time. We split two entrees, the pennine al brivido--baby mostaccioli with garlic, hot peppers and basil; and the petti di pollo piccata--chicken piccata with lemon sauce & capers over baby green beans. Cooked to perfection on both counts, the baby penne had that great almost-burnt garlic taste that I love, with a fair amount of heat, and al dente to boot.

Tuscany on Taylor is one of my go-to's in the south Loop.

The husband and I dined with friends at Tuscany in Wheeling several weeks ago. The husband had been there for business dinners on several occasions, so he knew that we were in for a nice evening. I had some wonderful Dover sole sauteed in butter with lemon and capers. They even deboned it tableside which is a nice touch. I loved the spinach sauteed in garlic that was served alongside as it had nice flavor and texture and had not been cooked to death.

More than anything though, I think we were all impressed with the service. When the manager saw that there were four of us at a rather small table, he came by and pulled some additional leaves out so that we had more room to spread out. Our waiter did not appear right away and when we asked for him to be sent over, he was there in an instant, apologized profusely and continued to apologize throught the night.

A very good evening all the way around and I know we'll be back.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been more talk of this restaurant on this forum. We've been there numerous times and we have enjoyed everything that we've ordered-----We've had many of the pastas and also several of the fish/steak/chop selections.

It's great to see that this restaurant has been successful in this location, considering that Bob Chinn's is right down the block. It takes guts to invest in a site where other concepts have perished.

I disagree that Chinn's is a drawback to the location -- it should be a benefit of spillover: you see the lines around the building at Chinn's, you may decide against it, even though that line may only be 15 minutes. There's a lot on "retaurant row" from Hackney's and Golden Chef to Le Francais, and the businesses build on each other and on Wheeling's marketing it as a destination.

A few places have failed (Buona Sera just south of Dundee is now a pancake house, Tien Tsin became a teen hangout and looks to be failing again), but between RAM at the north and probably Tuscany/Golden Chef at the south there's a lot of choices at nearly every end of the spectrum except fast food, and that's available just a short way outside the corridor in just about any direction.

JoelF wrote: (Buona Sera just south of Dundee is now a pancake house

yea..Rise and Dine... haven't eaten there but just love that name. I think there is a franchise by that name as well. Not sure if that rest is part of that group.

Past RAM you also got Cy's Crabhouse and Pete Miller's. Webber Grill was there as well but has since closed.

Joe1F wrote:

>(oil and parm available for those wanting to indulge in cliche).

Do you mean this in a negative sense? I have always liked it, especially with a little ground pepper.

R.

JoelF wrote: There's apparently a secret menu with one item: veal parmigiana. It's a huge veal chop, flatted while still on the bone, filling the plate and covered with cheese and a bit of sauce. Several were ordered at the table, and there will be several veal parm lunches tomorrow.

After reading your review I went myself to try this! It was fantastic, but be warned it is $30+.

My husband and I had our first date at the Tuscany on Clark. We also held our rehearsal dinner there. We absolutely love the place. Unfortunately this location is bogged down by Cubs fans in the summer. We have always preferred to visit on non game days in the summer. Everything we have had there has always been delicious!

On a related side note, Rise and Dine has excellent food. I've been there 2 or 3 times and have been impressed every time. They squeeze their own juices and their hash browns are amazing!

I had a remarkably bad experience at Tuscany-Wheeling last night and cannot imagine ever returning there.

Our first course caesar salads and cavatelli were fine but nothing to write home about. Entrees which followed were absolutely horrible. Veal scallopini was room temperature and drowning in an overly-sweet sauce. The touted pork chops were served cold but also managed to be scorched and dry. Sending them back to the kitchen only amplified the second 2 issues. These chops were essentially doorstops which MacGyver might have been able to use as weapons.

Scampi were also served cold, sent back to the kitchen and returned to the table overcooked. Sausage and peppers were completely wrong. Sausages were overcooked to a dry and crumbly consistency and the crunchy strips of red and green bell pepper served with them were never roasted, more like sauteed briefly. It was the most pathetic and unsuccessful rendition of this dish I've ever been served.

The one bright note of the evening was our server, Sal, who did everything he could to take care of the problems. But, with a kitchen like this behind him, he had his work cut out for him. He did take the S&P off our bill, which we appreciated.

And one other very annoying element: valet parking. There is a huge parking lot of which about a third -- which was essentially empty -- gets separated off for valet. Meanwhile, the rest of the lot was full to the point where people were circling because no spots were available. After 5 minutes of looking for a spot, we gave in and paid the $3 for the valet. Of course, the money is not the point here. It's all one big parking lot and free parking should be provided to anyone who wants it. It's not like these valets have to drive around the neighborhood or to a remote lot to find spots. In fact, the spots closest to the entrance, which sat mostly empty, are the ones which are reserved for valet. This kind of artificially created situation is really annoying. I know this is not uncommon, especially in some suburban restaurants, but it represents such a complete disrespect of the clientele, I'm always baffled as to why people put up with it. I hate being nickeled and dimed but if the food had been palatable, I probably wouldn't have cared quite as much. No such luck.

=R=

Return to Tuscany
As one of the last chances to have a nice meal with both kids before Thing1 goes back to school, we set out to find some place nearby that (a) had a nice steak, and (b) has some pastas sans meat for his Kosher-keeping girlfriend.

At $29.95 for their steaks, we talked Things 1 & 2 into splitting one and a more reasonably-priced pasta, and as it is they took home 1/3 of the gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnuts (still awesome).

MrsF had a daily special of mezzaluna filled with chicken and topped with aa delicious creamy sauce and crumbles of goat cheese.

I had the ravioli pera, which, yes, is pear-and-ricotta-filled ravioli, with slices of pear, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped pine nuts and cashews. While tasty, it kind of felt like more of a brunchy kind of thing, given how sweet it was.

Service was just fine. Prices are a bit high for pretty ordinary ambiance (that $30 steak came with mashed spuds and roasted veggies, but soups and salads are another $4-8). Yes, there was live music in the bar, but at these prices I could just about have taken them to Osteria di Tramonto.

JoelF wrote: Yes, there was live music in the bar, but at these prices I could just about have taken them to Osteria di Tramonto.

Joel,

I have never eaten at any of the suburban brnachs of Tuscany, but judging by both the Taylor Street and Clark Street locations and the one meal I had at OdT, I'd say you probably got better food than you would have at OdT.

Has anyone been to both Bapi Ristorante and Tuscany and can give a comparative review of both? My mom's coming into town next week, and I'd like to take her out to one really nice restaurant while she's here.

Sharpie66, there is a review of Bapi in this thread: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=13231

I haven't seen any comparisons, though.

Had lunch at Tuscany today treated by my boss. Minestrone soup was good - nothing special. Appetizer portion of grilled baby octopus on radicchio with vinaigrette was very good as my main course. Perfectly grilled with crispy ends, the octopus with the vinegar was a tasty combination and a perfect size for lunch.

The runner brought the dishes out and served the two people with hot dishes first. He waited for the waitress who then came and cut up the octopus and combined it with the salad off to the side. I couldn't see everything - but it felt odd - as if my mom was cutting my steak up for me. I wondered if they thought customers might not be able to "handle" seeing the whole baby octopus?

My boss declared his eggplant parmagian mooshy and the meal came out slowly for lunch hour.

I enjoyed my meal, but for the whole table, it was a mixed experience. Soup plus octopus appetizer totaled about $14.

Just cannot be more enthusiastic about this place (and I am the most hard core Sabatinos fan pre-dating LTH forum by 20 years)....never had anything less than superlative here (and have sampled A LOT due to half price Wednesdays).

Prosciutto with mozz, pork shank with polenta, 4 cheese risotto with veal shank, bacon wrapped scallops, linquine with lamb,short ribs, amazing flat bread...great presentation....and IMPECCABLE service.....we have been so shocked at how many times we had passed on way home to city from work...and never stopped in until a few months ago during a snow storm...

A few years ago I had one of the worst meals ever. I have not been back. Maybe it's time for a return visit.