Chicago Restaurant Week｜Monteverde's Menu is Truly Impressive 🍝

During Chicago Restaurant Week, I tried Monteverde’s lunch set today. Even in West Loop’s sea of restaurants, Monteverde is notoriously hard to book — they hardly need Restaurant Week to boost popularity. Yet their $30 lunch menu doesn’t cut corners with sandwiches! Appetizers include tomato-cheese soup and spicy sausage arancini, while the main courses offer a rich selection: beef, seafood, signature egg yolk ravioli, and traditional pasta. It’s the first Restaurant Week menu where I wanted to order all four mains! Maybe luck was on my side today — right after sitting down, the manager silently brought over a complimentary appetizer, complete with a theatrical “vinegar-drizzling ritual” 🎭. 🧀 Sausage with cheese is already a win, but with a touch of Italian balsamic vinegar and mint, the flavors were wonderfully balanced. The crispy breadsticks came in pepper-salt and cinnamon flavors — a perfect sweet-salty combo! ✨ Appetizer choice: ’Nduja Arancino A Sicilian fried rice ball stuffed with spicy ’Nduja sausage spread from Southern Italy. Inside the golden, crispy shell, melted Manchego cheese stretched beautifully. Served over tonnato (tuna mayo) sauce — a bit salty on its own but paired perfectly. Crispy outside, soft inside, layered with savory and creamy notes — a Monteverde signature! 🥩 Main course: Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek I was shocked they included Wagyu beef in a lunch special! The beef was incredibly tender 😭, and they didn’t skimp on the nuts. The crispy fried veggies paired well with the soft polenta, adding nice texture. Honestly though, Italian cuisine often loves tomato sauce a bit too much — by the second half, I felt thirsty, with half a plate of red sauce left. Give me some bread or pasta, and I’d clean that plate spotless! The bar faces the open kitchen, with mirrors reflecting the chefs at work. Watching the cooks knead soft, white dough was oddly soothing 🥟. ✨ Next time, I must try their Egg Yolk Raviolo — said to be a soul-food must-order! Imagine Ricotta cheese filling + runny egg yolk (optional truffle), rich and silky, with the yolk flowing out the moment you cut in… A legendary dish that feels straight out of a food anime 🤤. #ChicagoRestaurantWeek #Monteverde #WestLoopEats #ItalianFood #LunchSpecial #WagyuBeef