Dinner near Cumberland and Lawrence

I need to attend a wake tomorrow evening and was going to meet some people for dinner before the wake. Does anyone have any suggestions for a place to get something good near Cumberland and Lawrence. We will be coming from the Brookfiled/Broadview area.

Thanks.

There is a new Italian restaurant in the strip mall at Lawrence & Cumberland. I have not eaten there yet, but the menu looks decent.

http://www.the3olives.com/home.html

If it is Cumberland Chapels where you are attending the wake, this is almost directly across the street.

Too bad Gianotti's is gone (sorry that's not helpful, but it was a great place!)

Rob

There are a few places to choose from, for good Italian, with good prices, Basilico. www.basilico.net. One of my favorite pizza places , Villa Napola
very good thin crust sausage pizza, a few tables and booths.
For Chinese , Hoa-My is always very good , great wonton soup and combo fried rice.


Basilico
4701 N. Cumberland
708-452-6400

Villa Napola Pizza
8546 W. Lawrence
708-456-5022

Hoa My
8528 w. Lawrence
708 - 453-5950

I would second the recommendation for Basillico (although, like VI said, if Gianotti's was still there, it would be a no brainer). I ate there a couple of times and even more often at its former sister restaurant, Pomodoro, when it was open in Lincoln Park. Here's my disclaimer: I have not eaten there is several years, but it used to be slightly above average red sauce Italian.

I just visited the webpage of Basilico and, after looking at the menu, noticed they claim to be a Venetian restaurant and, indeed, to be Chicagoland's only Venetian rastaurant. The menu does not, however, seem to lend much support to the claim and looks not terribly different from the menu of 3 Olives.

From a reliable source, I have learned that there was and perhaps still is to some degree an Abruzzese community centred on Cumberland and Irving Park and thus not far from the area of interest to the original poster in this thread. Are there any specifically Abruzzese places out there? Was Gianotti's Abruzzese by any chance?

I don't want to sidetrack the thread from its main purpose of helping KevinT get a useful recommendation but hope someone may know know something about any restaurants associated with 'Little Abruzzo'.

Antonius

Antonius wrote: Was Gianotti's Abruzzese by any chance?

No, Gianotti's fell into what I refer to the Italian Steak House genre. Lots of glad handing regualrs of a certain type (think Gene & Georgetti's). Really excellent freshly prepared Italian/American dishes and steaks.

stevez wrote:

Antonius wrote: Was Gianotti's Abruzzese by any chance?

No, Gianotti's fell into what I refer to the Italian Steak House genre. Lots of glad handing regualrs of a certain type (think Gene & Georgetti's). Really excellent freshly prepared Italian/American dishes and steaks.

Gianotti's still exists, I think it is now called Vic's Steakhouse or Vic's Italian Steakhouse. It is on 22nd, about a mile west of Oak Brook. I have not been since the re-naming, so I do not know if much has changed generally in the place. I did very much like the old version. Their Italian cheesecake is my favorite of that genre for sure. They also claim to have invented chicken vesuvio, but I think we had that discussion already.

The other thing is, the restaurant was in Forest Park before Lawrence and Cumberland, so I do not think it is specifically tied to any community on the NW side of Chicago.

Rob

hhmm, 3 Olives does have on their lounge menu something called Abruzzi Fries made with garlic, sage & rosemary. Work very close by, gotta try.

A-

Giannotti as VI noted, is a Chicago-Italian (Chitalian? maybe not) steak place.

A source for things Abruzzi might be Chicago Heights, a very Italian town that is mostly Marchegiano and Abruzzese. I believe that Jerry Colangelo (from Chicago Heights) might have an Abruzzese ancestry. (He's the fomer NBA coach/GM sports mogul for whom the Taylor St. Italian American sports hall of fame is named).

Villa Napoli is a sandwich and pizza place, really, so probably not what you're looking for (their pizza is pretty good and the owner is, alas, Barese). Cafe il Cortile across the street is Sicilian and makes some interesting stuff (especially panelle, chickpea fritters on semolina bread), but it's pretty casual, too. I don't care for Basilico. If you can drive a bit, il Pescatore at 3400 River Rd in Franklin Park has good fish, or Ristorante Agostino on Harlem, of course.

Thanks for the suggestions. It turned out that we went to an early dinner at Basilico and had a good time. The atmosphere needs a bit of updating, but the food was good.

The bread was warm and the soup average to above average. I was able to modify a tortellini dish that they had on the menu without a problem.

If I am in the area, I will stop back to this place.