11/19/08

WOW- an amazing meal!!

by heather260

Truly great food, with an atmosphere to match! Our table ate family style and loved each course. We had a homemade pasta that night that was outstanding and cooked perfectly, with such amazing texture. One of my favorite Italian eats (and typically I am not that impressed by Italian). The atmosphere is also cool, although the location off the beaten track. My extremely hard to please foodie mother also thought it was great!

• Pros: Parking is easy, ambience, food

10/25/08

Great Atmosphere for 2 or a party of 10. Great food, great service.

by juiceny

Very happy when arriving, plenty of parking on the street. My only concern was that I thought we were underdressed, UNTIL... we walked in and anything from jeans to suits, sneakers to Bruno Magli. Your eyes immediately go to the colored glass lights hanging from the ceiling, pretty cool. The smells bring you in, as well as the wall of wine. Pizza, appetizers, salads and especially the dessert, all outstanding. We will definitely go back. It was only two of us but 1/2 the tables were easily 'date night', the other half were tables of 4 or more, just as comfortable and having just as much fun. Not intimate, per se, but two people can carry on a conversation. Service was great, everyone knows their duties - believe me, you'll end up tipping heavily. 5 stars.

• Pros: Parking, Service, Ambience, Food
• Cons: none that I can think of right now...

06/16/08

Love it!

by chloe01

Great food, Excellent Atmosphere! From the moment I walked in I was mesmorized! The staff was friendly I was promptly seated and I just had a wonderful time! If you want great food and excellent service this is definitely the place for you!

• Pros: Overall Just wonderful
• Cons: Don't think there were any

05/28/08

a must!

by marykile

this place is great for a first date. You feel as if you are at a bistro in Italy! Love the pasta dishes and the pizza is a must try!!! My new favorite spot!

04/21/08

All-around Fabulous Experience!

by TravelingFool

You name it - ambiance, service, wine list, food - it's all here & it's all fantastic. We shared the mussels & the mixed seafood grill appetizers - we all wanted more, but knew we had "good stuff" coming, so we held off! Four of us had 3 different dishes lamb (cooked to temperature perfection for both diners), tiger prawns (the biggest I'd ever had!), a seafood pasta (homemade pasta- oh my gosh!). Portions were generous & flavors of the FOOD stood out - no overpowering seasoning here! The wine list was not overpriced, and the waiter could have offered up something more expensive, but instead suggested the lowest-priced of 3 comparable bottles - & we went back for a second! We were celebrating a special event, so he also organized a dessert sampler, which was amazing. Oh - the cappuccino had the thickest foam I've ever encountered - it was awesome! We can't wait to go back!

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: Not one

03/09/08

great ambiance

by 60614ChiGirl

We dine out frequently and really enjoyed a Saturday night dinner at Macello. The service was excellent, food delicious, and prices were reasonable. The most outstanding feature of the restaurant is the ambiance and decor, hidden off the beaten track on Lake Street.

I would recommend the thin crust pizzas, the varied specials, and well-done desserts. We tried an eggplant starter that was very fresh. The eggplant was lightly fried and paired with creamy mozzerella. The tomatos were not as falvorfull as the rest of the ingrediants, however. The desserts were fantastic and the wine list was big enough and well priced.

• Pros: service ambiance

10/25/07

Italian ristorante makes use of its wood-burning oven in a 1920s slaughterhouse space.

by Contributor

The Scene
Tattooed twosomes to mainstream middle-agers populate this dramatic industrial-chic transformation of a 20's-era slaughterhouse. A white-tiled front market with meathooks and carcass photography (mercifully black and white) leads to a warm warehouse dining room with trestle ceiling and skylights, wine storage wall (for the primarily-Puglian collection), giant handpainted glass orbs and two wood-burning ovens.

The Food
A compact menu of Puglian (Southern Italian) cuisine includes pricey prime meats, whole-roasted market fish and seriously good, seriously thin pizzas. Sinful pizza barese is a creamy explosion of fresh mozzarella and burrata (fresh mozzarella with cream) paved with salty prosciutto crudo. Wood-roasting and simple seasoning unmask full-flavored chops and a hunky bone-in filet mignon. Enormous roasted prawns--a spectacular presentation drawing gasps from nearby tables--would benefit from a touch of sauce. Distinctive Italian cheese desserts include ricotta-raisin panzerotti (mini calzone) and mascarpone semifreddo with walnuts.

Hits: The setting is the star, though sublime pizzas and flavorful meats are close behind.
Misses: Food temperature issues and meat-is-murder decorative elements strike sour notes.

10/21/07

excellent food, beautiful decor, courteous staff

by katherinedonald

I have been here twice in the last 2 weeks, and both times I would I give it 5 stars.

The decor is like a beautiful home to die for (lovely exposed brick, gorgeous fireplaces, festive light coverings), and has some of the nicest lighting I have seen in a restaurant. The atmosphere and layout make it nice for a romantic evening if you want to have a private corner, but they seemed also very welcoming to families as well.

The staff were very helpful and accommodating--extra important since I have a small child. My son loved the attention and the food. Some of the dishes are spicy so as the waitstaff what they recommend for kids (pizza and the meat dishes to share are good choices).

The seafood was very fresh, and the pasta not overcooked. My second visit I had the "pork chop" with risotto and at first I thought I was brought a new york strip steak by mistake--it was so tender and delicious, one of the nicest cuts of pork I have had in this city. There was so much that even sharing with my son, we still had to bring a doggy bag home.

The meat dishes (steak or pork or lamb) are a bit more expensive as expected, but enough for two in some cases, and I think for a classy place, the portions are quite filling and large. This is important to me since many upscale restaurants the portions are too small...not here. Very generous.

There is a very nice bar area too if you want to chill before dinner.

sorbetto and gelato are good choices for dessert.

There are enough native Italian speakers that you can practice Italiano. Siamo felici e visiteremo ancora.

We will be back often.

• Pros: flavorful food, wide variety of food
• Cons: none that I can think of so far

10/13/07

Better Italian than this in Chicago

by jbeyer17

My wife and I went to Macello for her birthday, and expected a lot better. We arrived at Macello and were well received, had some good wine and a very good appetizer. Unfortunately it ended there. After the arrival Don King, the service and food took a big dip. We did not receive much attention from our waiter after this point as he was more interested in the boxing promoter's large party. The food was OK, but could not make up for the poor service. Our meals were average compared to other Italian dinners available in the city and the deserts failed in comparison to other Italian sweets served in the city.

Being a new restaurant, we could have excused the quality of the meal and given them another chance. However, the poor service can not be excused and we will not be going back. They should have valued the local patron over a celebrity that is likely to not return.

• Pros: Decent food
• Cons: Poor service, bad desert