Francesco's Hole in the Wall

Had occasion to have a business dinner at this place in Northbrook earlier this week. Not bad for a business dinner. I know the place has been around for ever, and there are a few mentions of it on the Forum, but no thread, so I decided to start one.

Tiny place, no reservations, and pretty much everyone else there seemed to be regulars, since they all knew the staff, and each other. That worked out okay, as the couple at the next table adopted me and pointed me in the direction of the best choices. The wife of the couple was insistent on the fish options. Would not have been my choice, but she was insistent.

Menu written on a chalkboard on the wall - waitress tells us we can also order almost any Italian dish we want, plus there are a couple of things not on the board. We started with a sauteed prawn dish on garlic bread with roasted tomatoes. Massive, juicy shrimp, nice tang of garlic, juicy smoky tomatoes, this was damned good.

Antipasto salad was serviceable, nothing exceeded expectations, but nothing was bad either. The small salad was more than enough to share.

Then came the reason I am writing this post. Probably one of the best dishes I will have this year. Pan-roasted Chilean Sea Bass perfectly seasoned and nestled on a bed of spinach. Light, and perfect touch of garlic, salt, pepper, maybe a touch of vinegar highlighted the fish, but the preparation was the way every piece should be prepared forever. Beautiful brown crust over tender, juicy fish - pan roasting fish is a demanding technique rarely done well, but someone there has it down. Eaten all together with the spinach, the fish and pan juice it was bliss.

My companion went with a crab-stuffed pasta in some sort of tomato cream that was uninspiring. We exchanged tastes and his only comment was, "Man, that's good." Yup.

Finished with a decent banana chocolate cake in memory of Elvis, then moved up the road to drink, talk more business and watch baseball.

Man, that fish was good.

Francesco's Hole In The Wall
254 Skokie Blvd, Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 272-0155

This is a place that deserves it's own thread. They've been executing consistently good food for a long time.

A couple times a year I get a strong craving for their chicken vesuvio, which I believe is one of the best available.

Best,
Michael

It's been a few years ago now, but the husband and I took his somewhat cantakerous grandmother to this Francesca's outpost and had a really nice experience. I don't remember what he or I ate anymore, but I do recall that we both really enjoyed our entrees.

What stands out most in my mind though is that the grandmother insisted that she wanted spaghetti and meatballs, even though it wasn't on the menu. She was very old-school and to her Italian food = red sauce, checked tablecloths and a waiter with an exaggerated Italian accent. Anyway, the waitress took her order without blinking and assured us it wouldn't be a problem. Just as the waitress promised, Grandma got her pile of red-sauced spaghetti with rather gigantic meatballs, and raved about how great it was (an extremely rare compliment for her to ever give.)

I'm glad to hear that this restaurant seems to be sticking to it's mission of serving up good food. If I'm ever in the area again I would definitely go back.

Been going here for years and it's always been a fave of my family. Frank Gallo (aka Francesco) can really cook and while the food is fairly 'old skool,' it's very delicious and the ingredients used are top-notch.

I don't get here as often as I like -- even though it is very near my house -- because the wait can be a bit annoying. But if you're willing to line up for the first dinner seating (starts at 5 pm, they liine up about 4:30 or so), it's amost always a great dining experience. I also find that lunch is a much easier time to get seated.

EC, I definitely agree about their Chicken Vesuvio, which is just a fantastic rendition.

And remember, it's cash only!

=R=

My office used to be right up the street, so I had lunch there quite a bit. I too loved the sea bass, but the lunch version usually was done with a garlic and butter and maybe a tiny bit of breadcrumb crust, with grilled vegetables on the side. It was always cooked to perfection. the other thing that they do better than anyone else that I have tried is Osso Bucco. Their shanks are always center cut with a large and delicious lump of marrow, usually served over a risotto. I also love their bread.

-Will

SMT wrote:It's been a few years ago now, but the husband and I took his somewhat cantakerous grandmother to this Francesca's outpost and had a really nice experience.

I didn't realize that Francesco's Hole In The Wall was part of the Francesca's chain. Are you sure about that?

nr706 wrote:

SMT wrote:It's been a few years ago now, but the husband and I took his somewhat cantakerous grandmother to this Francesca's outpost and had a really nice experience.

I didn't realize that Francesco's Hole In The Wall was part of the Francesca's chain. Are you sure about that?

To my knowledge, Francesco's Hole in the Wall has no relation to the Francesca's chain.

One clue is the fact that Hole in the Wall serves good food.

eatchicago wrote:

nr706 wrote:

SMT wrote:It's been a few years ago now, but the husband and I took his somewhat cantakerous grandmother to this Francesca's outpost and had a really nice experience.

I didn't realize that Francesco's Hole In The Wall was part of the Francesca's chain. Are you sure about that?

To my knowledge, Francesco's Hole in the Wall has no relation to the Francesca's chain.

One clue is the fact that Hole in the Wall serves good food.

LOL! No, they're definitely not related in any way.

=R=

Sorry! I obviously misspoke. Although I still stand by my comments about Francesco's.

I ordered the whitefish almost every single time I went, which was often up to three years ago. Back then the Friday night wait was not too bad if you arrived by 6:15. I also got some pretty good gnocchi there, though it was not on the menu. If it's too long to wait, you can also try the Next Door restaurant next door. Last time I checked, Frank Gallo's daughter was the owner (or maybe just manager/chef???)

-Pam

Have gone in a handful of times over the past 8 years but, alas, we've just never managed to "get" HitW. Maybe cuz no regulars ever adopted us LOL. We've felt that if they don't know you, they just want to rush you out.

I have no desire to try again.

Ate there today. It truly is a hole in the wall. I was surprised how packed it was. This must all be locals who are keeping the secret of the place.
I had the ravioli stuffed with smoked chicken, asparagus and sun dried tomatoes. It was great. The sauce was perfect, not over powering a great compliment. The asparagus was crisp and flavorful.
My friend had the rigatoni stuffed with asiago with a wild mushroom red sauce. That was great. A hardier red sauce than mine. Also excellent in balance and flavor. Both were awesome and the portions and price were also great. I left full and satisfied thought not stuffed. Perfect for lunch. I am glad I checked out this place. I will definately be back.

I've been to Hole in the Wall a few times and generally have enjoyed the food. My only complaint is their winer list is abysmal, yet they don't allow corkage. For me, that would make the place a regular stop.

I had Valentines lunch there with my wife. We had to bring the infant son along so that made for a long wait(25min) since the seating is not favorable for a car seat

The food was excellent as always. We started with the baked clams which were great. I had the fettuccini pesto wife had the shells with mushrooms and spinach. Both were outstanding. This place really impresses me with the freshness of the pasta and the ingrediants.
The prices are reasonable as well. I have only done lunch there and really want to try a dinner at some point.

Led by Ronnie Suburban, a group of 11 LTHers had lunch yesterday at Francesco's Hole in the Wall. Francesco's has been around for quite some time and has achieved almost cult-like status mostly due to its small size and constant line of people waiting to get in. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I had just had a stellar meal at Riccardo Trattoriathe night before, but I felt the food, though very good and solid, fell short of my many-years-old memories (isn't that always the case). Of course, the atmosphere of the place and the great company went a long way toward making up for any slight shortcomings in the food dept.

Here's most of what we had in no particular order (except that the spinach bread was a starter):

Spinach Bread


Lobster Stuffed Capellachi


Chicken Vesuvio (I'm sure there is a better picture out there)


Sea Bass Vesuvio


Asparagus, Spinach & Porcini Ravioli


Gnocci With Artichokes & Goat Cheese


Veal Parmigiana


Eggplant Parmigiana


Banana Chocolate Cake


Thanks to Ronnie Suburban for putting this great lunch together. Your plan of arriving early was a mastestroke.

Francesco's Hole in the Wall
254 Skokie Blvd
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 272-0155

stevez wrote:Thanks to Ronnie Suburban for putting this great lunch together. Your plan of arriving early was a mastestroke.

Steve,

Agreement on all counts, arriving early with a group was very wise, company/conversation was the highlight and, while the food was good, nothing really popped for me, with the exception of a taste of Sea Bass Vesuvio which Helen kindly shared.

Thanks to Ronnie_Suburban for setting up an enjoyable outing.

Enjoy,
Gary

I just got home from dinner with the family at this restaurant. We were doing our annual pre-Passover shop across the street at Garden Fresh. The original plan was to meet the older daughter (who spent last night on the North Shore) at Garden Fresh, do our shopping and then head to Chinatown for dinner. However, since she showed up an hour and a half late, we ran across the street to see how long the wait was. While they told us a half hour, we were seated in 15 minutes and ordering not long afterwards.

As eatchicago mentions, the Chicken Vesuvio was stellar. I have more than half of it left for tomorrow's lunch. The rest of our party had pasta dishes and they were very good. My husband also liked the fried calamari -- it was not at all greasy and came with a really nice dipping sauce.

We had no room for dessert, but we would gladly stop here again when we make the pilgrimage to the north side.

Suzy

Just visited. Found this place mediocre at best. Nothing special, and the pasta i got was overdone and gummy.