Dave's Italian Kitchen

02/24/08

"Total waste of money" - our waiter

by danm900 at Citysearch

A few years ago we loved this basement Italian place in Evanston because of its college feel. Tonight we went there to find that the place has gone down. Our waiter told us, as he gave us the check, "total waste of money". He obviously wasn't a very good waiter -so that covers the service. My dinner was not good, I had the garlic scallops which had absolutely no garlic in the recipe. My date had the shrimp and scallops Alfredo and she was disappointed. I tried the alfredo and it was much better than the not-garlic scallops, but was thin in the flavor department. The wine of the day, a temprenillo was very good. As we tried to keep a positive attitude we struggled with a screaming baby at the next table. It is a bit cacophonous down there as evidenced by the spray-painted noise-reducing foam that is staple-gunned to the ceiling. (Enough people must have complained.) The bread wasn't good, and even the olive oil tasted funny. The same strange thinness that my dinner had, perhaps made from the same low-quality oil. You'd expect that an Italian restaurant of any caliber at least carry some decent olive oil. Overall, kind of bleh. I could make better pasta at home.

• Pros: Wine.
• Cons: Everything else.

08/15/07

Solid, inexpensive Italian

by alleniversonhandles at Citysearch

Not too shabby, does get a little loud at times as stated before. Have recently tried the calamari pasta and fettucini alfredo w/chicken, fair enough quality for the price and nice sized portions. Expect leftovers unless you are an overeater, then prepare to binge. College type crowd as joint is near Northwestern campus and student housing. Can do better as far as quality and schmancy atmosphere, but for come-as-you are dinner Dave's is a good value. I have yet to eat anything bad there yet.........

• Pros: Value
• Cons: Can be noisy : if your over 50 or an uptight person you may be offended at times :P

04/21/07

beware of flying food

by midder555 at Citysearch

As a long time (15+ years) of Dave?s, I?m saddened to write this account of my dinner there this evening. Four of us were seated at the back of the restaurant. The host then seated a party of six young, highly intoxicated college students at the table next to us, and we noticed immediately that the waiter served them bottles of wine. We were surprised both that the waiter did not ask for proof of identification/age and that he would serve a party that was already clearly drunk.

One of the guys in the party began shouting at the waiter to be served, followed by loud stadium cheers, disrupting conversations at all of the surrounding tables. We asked him to lower his voice. We then noticed that something was thrown onto our table, from the angle of where he was sitting. It turned out to be a clump of parmesan cheese that struck one of our dinner companions in the back of the head. She confronted him immediately, but he and his party denied that anything occurred.

We called for the manager, who came to our table with the restaurant owner. The manager apologized, but offered to do nothing. I suggested that the restaurant should stop serving alcohol to those who were yelling and throwing food, and that they should pay for our dinner.

Consulting with each other, the manager and owner said they could do nothing at the moment, but would provide us with a complementary dinner at some later date. When we paid for our bill, the manager said he would remove the cost of wine and dessert from our dinner tab, and that it should settle the issue.

I?m very disappointed that Dave?s management decided to continue serving the drunk patrons. I can only presume that they value their patronage of college students, as they should; however, it appears that they?re willing to forego patronage from others who do not wish to be assaulted with food, drunken outbursts and other abusive behaviors.

It?s no longer a place I would recommend to anyone as an enjoyable evening out.

Editorial Review

by Contributor at Citysearch

Southern Italian dishes like baked manicotti and veal Parmesan draw Northwestern students, couples and families alike.

10/13/03

Great food, great price

by lessa88 at Citysearch

For a college kid on a budget, Dave's is ideal. The portions are so large you can get at least 2 full meals out of one pasta dish! The new location provided more seating, better lighting and big booths for groups. It is good classic Italian cooking, what else could you desire?

• Pros: inexpensive, portions, great for groups
• Cons: the bread (sometimes)

12/13/02

Best Italian Cheap Eats in Evanston

by mkwiscgirl at Citysearch

while everything else in Evanston is going upscale and out of reach $$$ Dave's still provides great Italian food, great portions at a reasonable price. Miss the "hole in the wall" flavor of the old location but it is still one of my favorite "after the movie" joints.

• Pros: inexpensive, portions
• Cons: parking, loud

08/13/02

The Best Thin Crust ...BAR NONE

by Tyler_Durden1 at Citysearch

I've tried every type of Chicaga Pizza. Eduardo's, Giordanos' Pizzeria Uno, Pizzeria Duo, Armonds in Elmwood Park, Lou Malnati's etc and though all are very good none of them come close to Dave's Italian Kitchen thin crust pizza. I'm not sure what makes it stand out. Perhaps it's the crunchy crust or maybe its the fresh ingredients that spring to life with each bite. All I know is I've been enjoying it for 17 years and each one I have seems to taste better than the one before. To me, having a Dave's Italian Kitchen Pizza is equal to having a $75 surf and turf meal at a fancy restaurant. But what's even more amazing is the cost. A medium with three ingredients costs about $14.50 with tax included. I have yet to find a better tasting pizza.

07/06/02

Don't Bother

by fomoco at Citysearch

My girlfriend and I had not been to Dave's for at least 4 years. We had been to Dave's twice when it was on Church Street and didn't go back because of the mediocre food. I guess they recently moved to Chicago Street and we thought we'd give them a try. After all these years, we thought something must have changed. Unfortunately not. The food is really mediocre and I wasn't very impressed with the service. The cannoli was abominable. It was really the worst cannoli I've ever had - it almost tasted like the filling had gone bad. I really wanted to like this place but will never go back.