Old School Italian Restaurants

I have friends coming in from Oregon and would like to take them out for a Chicago old school Italian Restaurant dinner. So far I have come up with Sabatino's, Tufano's, Danny's Cafe. Which one should I choose or feel free to offer other suggestions. Thank You

Sabatino's.

Between the great food, great prices, strolling musicians, and flaming desserts, I can't think of anything more Old School.

My old neighborhood haunt was Calo's on N. Clark in Andersonville. Good solid old school Italian. It felt more old school before their remodel about 7 years ago, but the food hasn't changed.

Calo Restaurant
5343 N. Clark
(773) 271-7725
http://www.calorestaurant.com

DClose wrote:Sabatino's.

Between the great food, great prices, strolling musicians, and flaming desserts, I can't think of anything more Old School.

Agree completely. I'll add that it's also a festive place and a good value.

Thirded for Sabatino's. See if you can reserve the special "nook" room. I love this place and everything is great. Save room for dessert and get the bananas foster and the brandy ice.

OMG...Sabatinos without question.....simply one of my favorite restaurants (of any genre) anywhere!

Only disagreement with last post would be the "nook room"...it's more for romantic couples, and is closed off from the rest of the restaurant. You'll want to experience to whole Sabatino's atmosphere!

ParkLaBrea wrote:OMG...Sabatinos without question.....simply one of my favorite restaurants (of any genre) anywhere!

Only disagreement with last post would be the "nook room"...it's more for romantic couples, and is closed off from the rest of the restaurant. You'll want to experience to whole Sabatino's atmosphere!

Gotta agree... half the fun of Sabatino's is people-watching.

ParkLaBrea wrote:Only disagreement with last post would be the "nook room"...it's more for romantic couples, and is closed off from the rest of the restaurant. You'll want to experience to whole Sabatino's atmosphere!

There's one more thing about the "nook" or "grotto."

All of you are prudes. I dig the nook. I stand by recommendation of requesting the nook room.

I am a fan of Rosals on Taylor street... small little hole in the wall family run Italian place.

I'm a fan of Sabatino's for the charm, but not as much for the food. I don't know what area you're looking to go to but Club Lucky, has the charm of old and better food, IMO. There's also Italian Village in the loop. There are plenty of old places, even Marie's Pizza, has the old banquet of red pleather, and wallpaper that hasn't been changed looks like ever, and seasoned staff. What criteria is the most important to you?

Club Lucky
1824 West Wabansia Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 227-2300
clubluckychicago.com

www.italianvillage-chicago.com
71 West Monroe Street
Chicago, IL 60603-4910
(312) 332-7005

I'd add Club Lago to the list as well. Very much an old-school red sauce, red checker table cloth kind of place. (That thread notes that they were closed due to damage to the building a while back, but they have been open agin for some time now.)

Club Lago
331 W. Superior St
Chicago, IL
(312) 951-2849
http://www.clublago.com/

Kim wrote:I have friends coming in from Oregon and would like to take them out for a Chicago old school Italian Restaurant dinner. So far I have come up with Sabatino's, Tufano's, Danny's Cafe.

Sabatino's is a terrific choice, Tufano's, which I love, maybe a bit too casual/frenetic, never been to Danny's Cafe. My pick for the oldest of old school Italian is Bruna's. There are a few other old school Italian in the same Oakley area, Bachannalia and Ignotz to name two.

Enjoy,
Gary

Bruna's Ristorante
2424 S Oakley Ave
Chicago, IL 60608
773-254-5550

I think there's a red-sauce rundown here somewhere, though it might pre-date LTH. Considering what OP is looking for, an old thread will be as useful as a new thread. I'm assuming faux old-school is not what OP is looking for. I like Club Lucky OK, but I think it opened in the mid-90's. Sabatino's, Bruna's, Lago, Bertucci's Corner, Village, Tufano's, and others are several decades older school.

[Edit: Jinx, GWiv]

I will add to the crowd voting for Sabatino's!
Italian Village is cute, too, but the food at Sabatino's is way better.
If you're in the burbs, another restaurant that was wonderful (recco by our own SteveZ)

Giacomo's
740 N. Wolf Road
Des Plaines, IL
847-390-7330

viewtopic.php?t=38&

You're correct Jeffb, I think it opened in 1990, but the bar area was restored exactly like it was in 1938. It has Sicilian food, and I just prefer it. I think the red sauce here is fresher and so much better than Sabatino's, which I find has an off taste.

In any case, the OP hasn't returned to offer any thoughts.

If we're talking OLD-school, as in age...

Sabatino's goes back to at least the 1970's.

Calo got started in 1963.

Bruna's opened in 1933. Wow.

I'd go to Sabatino's for the Chicken Vesuvio or Osso Buco, Calo for thin-crust pizza & their vodka sauce, and Bruna's for their stracciatella (egg/spinach soup) & their penne puttanesca (tomatoes, olives, onions, cayenne pepper).

jnm123, I've been to Sabatino's scores of times over the years but don't remember ever seeing osso buco on the menu. Maybe I'm just blinded by the need to order the zuppa di mare or a steak. But osso buco is one of my favorite dishes, too.

nicinchic, like I said, I like Club Lucky, especially the bar. Now that I think back, I've been going there myself since at least 1992, so I think you are right about the opening being earlier. They also do a good job with private events, and I've hosted a few there. All that said, it's not an especially old place by Chicago Italian resto standards, and lots of newer restaurants are in restored buildings. But you raise a point about old vs. old school -- for example, I'd say Bar DeVille is old school, even though its not old.

PS, I'm more of a "Sunday gravy"/cooked all day with meat red sauce fan. Freshness is a nobel attribute in some sauces, but for this kind of thing I like Sabatino's meat sauce (not the marinara) quite a bit.

PPS, the following entry (which reads like a lifted newspaper article) make a connection between our Sabatino's and the Sabatino's in SoCal I've heard about but not been to. The article pegs Sabatino's Chicago as being about 70 years old (I don't think that's right). At some point in the not-too-distant past, the twins from Pisa who run the place now bought it from the original owners, as I understand it.

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=17 ... 5498268790

Thank you all ! A lot of great suggestions. As long as the food and atmosphere is very good and comfortable I don't mind driving the distance. I love Sabatino's for its plenty (bread, soup, salad, pizza bread)and its flaming desserts but I can't remember having a dish there that gave me the WOW factor, am I missing something? I also put Tufano's on the list for family style platters and casual. And Dannys for neckbones and old school mom and pop feel. Thank You again , and keep them coming. It looks like I have some research and photos to look up on LTH.

Not sure I ever mentioned this, but the last time I was at Sab's, they had a grouper special that was really wonderful and the best fish prep I have had in Chicago in some time. Very simply prepared -- pan-seared, a light white wine based sauce, spring vegetables. I eat a lot of fish and dine out at "nicer" places for work frequently, and good fish dishes aren't flukes ( ) since you have to start with some great produce and know how not to f it up. I continue to think the kitchen is one that rises to the dish. A plate of pasta can be mediocre. The NY strip, veal chop, the fish specials, the zuppa di mare, those can all be great by any standard.

Let me add that when I took my parents,
the difficult and picky diners from H*ll out to Sabatino's my Dad asked if they could make him Cioppino,
which wasn't even on the menu!
They did, and they made a fabulous version of it!
I imagine it was a riff on the frutta di mare without pasta, but I was grateful AND impressed...

irisarbor wrote:Let me add that when I took my parents,
the difficult and picky diners from H*ll out to Sabatino's my Dad asked if they could make him Cioppino,
which wasn't even on the menu!
They did, and they made a fabulous version of it!
I imagine it was a riff on the frutta di mare without pasta, but I was grateful AND impressed...

To Kim's comment about not being wowed by anything at Sabatino's, I was just going to say that the Zuppa Di Mare I had there the last time was one of the best versions I've ever had of this dish. Very-fresh tasting and flavorful mollusks and shellfish, great sauce, wonderful pasta. But you kinda beat me to it.

JeffB wrote:jnm123, I've been to Sabatino's scores of times over the years but don't remember ever seeing osso buco on the menu. Maybe I'm just blinded by the need to order the zuppa di mare or a steak. But osso buco is one of my favorite dishes, too.

I may have misspoke a bit. They occasionally have veal shank as a special at lunchtime, and to my way of thinking, depending on what is served with da shank, it has tasted a whole lot like osso buco to me.

Myself and 2 of 3 of the girls ditched locavore eating last night for dinner at Al's in Cicero. For one thing we were going to need to be later that night in the southern part of Oak Park; for another reason who could pass up the Wednesday night special of all you could eat pasta with a sausage or meatball for $6.95*. These days, I need few reasons to hit Al's. It's one of my favorite restaurants. And I'm still thanking SteveZ for mentioning this place on this site. Proof that the sliest referral can be vastly appreciated.

Granted, it's been a few years since my last Sabatino visit, but from memory I'm finding the food at Al's much better. Such a deal too! The weekly specials, like the one mentioned above, really save you, but the day-in day out prices are not bad either. Beyond that, everywhere you turn you find little gems. In true LTH fashion, a lot of those gems are buried behind little secrets. I mean not a secret menu but there's a lot of "Al's Special Sauce" or "Sebastian Style" or such. I'm forgetting which is which, but there's a version of the fried calamari that comes with this sauce that's sweet then slightly hot but very greasy in a great way, like it comes from some kind of pan drippings. Another total LTH thing I've been meaning to try is the Bobby's Pizza. Look at the ingredients: double sausage, onions, jalapeno peppers,
green olives, pepperoni & bacon; served well done. Does that not sound like something Gwiv would whip up? I was talking about it one day to my family, saying that I would have to skip the onions--I really dislike onions on pizza--and one of the motherly waitresses overheard. She was like, "well it would not be Bobby's**." I'm waiting for the right Monday, when pizza's are 1/2 off.

This place has all the old school vibe. All the old school decor from the paintings of Venice to the soundtrack tha vacilates between arias and Sinatra. The menu is exactly right. For pete's sake one can still order chicken tettrazini. All these old school trapping would be meaningless if the food did not deliver, which it does.

I'm thinking it's high time for LTHers to visit Cicero. Maybe for Monday night pizza. If there's interest, I'll set something.

Al's
6050 West Cermak Road
Cicero, Illinois
http://www.alsrestaurant.com/als-restaurant.htm

*All you can eat, it's nigh impossible to finish one plate
**Imagine your most textbook Chicago accent possible

Vital Information wrote:I'm thinking it's high time for LTHers to visit Cicero. Maybe for Monday night pizza. If there's interest, I'll set something.

I'm always up for a visit to Al's "Over by Cicero", although a visit to Al's without ordering the veal parm is a wasted visit for me.

If I can add a suggestion, that definitely feels old school. Though I agree with the Sabatino's recommends, I enjoy this place as well.

Agostino's Ristorante
2817 North Harlem Avenue
Chicago, IL 60707-1638
(773) 745-6464

I'd go to Tufano's.