Italian catering portions that's better than Maggiano's...

and cheaper than Francesca's (pdf).

My wife's birthday is Sunday (9/12) and she'd like to have a buffet dinner with Italian dishes for 12 adults and 6 younger kids: a couple of large salads and pasts dishes should do it. To give you an idea of her tastes, her go-to restaurant is Coco Pazzo Cafe and she's always happy to eat at Vivere, Coco Pazzo or one of the Francesca's. I plan on picking it up, so don't need actual catering services, just some big portions of food.

We live east of the Loop, but I'll drive up to 1/2 hour if necessary. Any suggestions?

No idea how the catering/carryout translates, but we always love Pompeii.

http://www.pompeipizza.com/restaurant/taylor-street/

http://www.freddyspizza.com/menu-02-print.html

sujormik wrote:No idea how the catering/carryout translates, but we always love Pompeii.

http://www.pompeipizza.com/restaurant/taylor-street/

I searched the forum to see what was recommended there and found your rec of the Pompei's in Arlington Heights - http://www.pompeipizzapasta.com - which looks like a better bet except for the drive. But traffic is easy on a Sunday afternoon.

Mikey wrote:http://www.freddyspizza.com/menu-02-print.html

Thanks, but it's closed on Sundays.

Pompeii on Taylor Street (or Wellington I think) is NOT the same as the one in Arlington Heights. I have been to the one in AH once, but sidetrack to Taylor Street for carry out whenever I'm in the neighborhood downtown. Check that one out! And it also looks like there's one in Streeterville which I think is closer to you.

I wanted to followup. We ended up going with Artopolis at the suggestion of one of my wife's friends - so much for Italian. We were happy with them, ordering was simple, everything was ready on time and the food looked and tasted reasonably good. The only issue was our fault, we were skeptical of their serving size recommendations and ended up ordering far too much food. In fact, some of our friends came back tonight for a leftovers party and we still have half a pan of Yuvetsaki left.

Artopolis Catering