Good italian restaurants in down town ?

I like small italian places . Not necessarly fancy but small , original Italian restaurants ( like the whole in the wall in the suburbs ..)

Anybody has any leads ?

 

Sapori Trattoria on N. Halsted. Small, cozy, good food, good service, good but small wine selection.

It is right next to Alive one.

 

Lots of places,none of them any good really.
Best Italian in my book would be Giorgio Baldi (I go there every 3 months) in Santa Monica, California.
For excellent food in Chicago (not neccesarily Italian) go to Aigre Doux.
http://www.aigredouxchicago.com/

 

La Scarola on the south side of Grand Ave, about a block east of Halsted.

 

I love the Italian Village. Particularly the top floor with the theme park like Italian village setting. But then again I'm sucker for Epcot and Las Vegas.

Angelina's on Broadway and Addison is a lesser known neighbourhood Italian restaurant. Sicilan actually and serves fantastic food.

 

Looks cozy indeed ! Thanks , i ll try this one .

 

Don't forget Pizza D.O.C.

http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/001333.php

 

Mark,

Did you try the whole in the wall on Skokie bvd , North brook ? Very cozy and small , food is very nice !

The Aigre Doux looks like a very nice place . Interesting mix in the menu .

 

Went to that one and liked it a lot. The kind of restaurant i like .

 

The buffet at the Italian Village was very tasty ! Thanks for the tip on Angelina . Looks i have a full list of restaurant to try now ! They all correspond to what im looking for.

 

Italian Village ground floor is the best of the three foodwise.

Take a cab when going to Angelina's. No parking anywhere.

 

Thanks . I ll probably park the car somewhere and take a cab from the parking then .

 

The New York at 3660 N. LSD has public parking and is about 2 blocks away.

 

Used to be addicted to that place ,until got tired of it.
A good place for lunch though,owners are my neighbors...

 

this place is really hole in the wallish ive only met a few people that know it. its called freddies its a a store/resturaunt its really good its on 61&16th in cicero

 

Spiaggia Restaurant at 980 n. Michigan in the One Mag Mile building in one of the best restaurants in North America. One of the top five in Chicago. The dinning room part is very high end, beautiful and expensive, but the cafe part is much cheeper and just as good. They are known for their braised meat Gnocchi. Never a disappointment!

 

If any of you Italian food lovers finds a place in Chiago that actually serves Zaballone, let me know please.

IMHO the best dessert there is, yet few places make it because of some hysteria over eggs.

PS: I'm also still looking for a place that serves Tartar.

 

Andreas, I think you mean 'Zabaglione' also known as Sabayon.

I'd also like to find a place that serves 'Tartare'. I may just have to go back to Scandinavia for that.

If there are any places serving either of the above, I'm sure Billiam will know!

 

You beat me in the spelling, hands down.

Either dish was no problem to find in Switzerland, yet both of them are practically banned in the US. Bummer.

 

I know, in most of Europe it's no problem. I've had both many times and never got sick.

Here, it's hard to get a burger singed on the outside, and raw on the inside. That's how I like mine!

Of course, in the USofA, our government officials know what's best for us.

I hear that disease is running rampant in the countries that allow their citizens to eat the subject food!!

I wonder why Sushi isn't banned?

 

Off hand, I don't know about the sabayon, zabaglione or Tartar, but my fav along those lines is Carpaccio of beef or veal tenderloin... and yes... I could make a few suggestions. I had some Thursday before last.

 

There are some Polish Deli stores that still sell it (you have to spice it).

 

+1. I love that place.

 

One of my favorites, casual, quiet, easy parking and great food and service... Tutto Italiano, at Wells and Congress.

http://www.tuttostogo.com/dinner.html