Gioco

12/07/09

Nice Ambiance, great food

by DRomulous at Citysearch

Was visiting from out of town back in 2007 and was taken here by some good friends. The ambiance was nice, and the historic aspect of being a former speak-easy for the Al Capone crew created interest. Our guests ordered for us. We started with a plate of the bolognese. Outstanding, likely the best bolognese my wife and I have ever had. No joke. The secondi platter was a porter house steak, sliced up for the table. Veggies and such on the side. Again, the steak was unreal. One of the better meals I've ever had. A five star visit for sure. We visited again in 2008... however the restaurant didn't come close to delivering. Still, a 3-star, but the bolognese just didn't have the same flavor and the porter house was fatty. None-the-less, we're dropping the 4-star bomb on this place due to the great great experience from the first time around.

• Pros: amazing Bolognese and Excellent Porter House
• Cons: Didn't deliver the Five Stars on trip #2

09/12/08

Very tasteful food, very friendly service and alot of smoke from the kitchen

by bokworm at Citysearch

Last night, 7pm, we went to get pizzas, with no reservation and a convention in town, they were able to seat the two of us, very quickly I might add. No hassels from the hostess, just a friendly smile and the way to our table. Water, bread w/ super mellow olive oil and parmesan cheese quickly adored the table. Our waitstaffer told us about the specials of the day and was very nice. Watching her at other tables showed us she was very nice to everybody. Our carpacio salad was served to us very soon after we ordered. The salad was super!! The super thinly sliced rare beef was so soft it melted in your mouth. Crisp fresh 'rouggala' greens were nice and sweet. With the cheese,greens and sauce the salad came so nicely together. Well, the cappers were on the very salty side. But that was so minor because there probably were only 4 cappers on the plate. So far so good. Thin crust pizzas were next! Gee, what a bargin!! They had to be 12 inches across and the ingredients, the pizzas were created w/, fanatastic! One mushroom and one prosciutto, fresh everything, oh so good. They were very good. We each took 1/2 of our pies home. OK....the smoke from the kitchen. What's that about? Well we were seated on the level that the bar was and the kitchen was down one level, it is an open kitchen. The smoke from the cook staff, when they "flamed up" something in the pans overywhelmed the vent fans (I'm guessing) above the stoves which then rose up to the ceiling and then through the arched openings in the wall between the two levels to our level and filled the room. At times my eyes were watering from the smoke. You could see the smoke billowing from the kitchen it was that thick. The smoke did not have a bad smell to it, quite the contrary, a pleasent flavor of your backyard/deck grill. But still alot of smoke. Waitstaff was very attentive and nice. We'd definitely go back again. No we don't work there, we just live in the cily of Chicago. Enjoy as we did.

03/31/08

Didn't live up to its hype

by margolis at Citysearch

We read the reviews here, so we went in with high expectations. I get the feeling some of these may be false reviews. Friendly valet out front. Very unfriendly hostesses, though. They were too busy chatting to pay attention to us. Ugh! We requested a romantic table. When we got there, the joint was about a fourth full. They sat us in front of the open kitchen, next to a party of eight and a party of twenty. NOT ROMANTIC! Why did they seat us there when so many other tables were open, especially when we requested something quiet? We decided to make the most of it. The waitress was good, but wearing her purse over her shoulder. That was unprofessional. It made us feel like she would walk out the door at any moment, like we were holding her up from leaving. We had to ask for bread. Had to ask for more bread. They were good about keeping our glasses full, though. His dish looked, smelled, and tasted like hamburger helper. My filet was very rare, but I ordered medium. They insisted on taking it back. They had it so long he finished his dinner by the time they returned. I cut into it and they hadn't cooked it more at all. It was still rare. We gave up, had them pack my food, so I could nuke it later, and headed off to the ballet. This place is very average. For the money, I can think of about 100 other places with much better service and a lot better food. Don't bother!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Too many to list