Adalina — Restaurant in Chicago

I've been mulling over whether or not to give Adalina 3-stars or 4-stars and I've come to conclusion of 3. Now, how I got to this rating is between ambiance, overall food and service. If rating on food and service alone, 4-stars; however, that's not the case. All restaurants need to be rated along with exterior and interior. The exterior, nothing to say. Didn't leave a good nor bad impression on me; however, I have a few thoughts about the interior. The design is not the issue, it's beautiful. Unfortunately, it's completely wasted by the fact that it's dim (almost to the point of being poorly lit). What's the point of having a beautiful interior if you can't show it off and have the lights so low that I almost needed to use my phone's flashlight to read the menu? I understand the theme but it takes so much away. There's generally one of two categories Italian restaurants fall under: 1) Lively or 2) Romantic. You can't have both or be in between. It's very hard to pull-off and Adalina doesn't do it. Moving onto food. Europeans aren't generally known for large portion sizes, regardless of which country you go to. So the fact that they had enough for everyone in my party (5 adults, 1 teenager) was surprising. Oysters, no harm, no foul. Simple, crisp, clean, great. Gnocco Fritto was definitely something that stayed with me. I would've ordered another round as my dessert but my stomach wouldn't allow it. The Charred Octopus was just okay, neither bad or good. It was cut up into smaller pieces, which I suppose makes sharing much simpler; however, it wasn't as aesthetically appealing to me. The next item up for review is their Burrata. I personally, couldn't really taste it underneath everything else. It might have been, so I won't say anything else. It's worth trying if you enjoy cheeses. Moving onto the key players for the evening: pasta and entrees. Firstly, the pastas: Bruco and Campanelle. If you plan on ordering a pasta for yourself as an entree, I want you to get that out of your head right now. If you didn't know, pastas are generally a side dish and the portions aren't very big. So with that being said, although tiny, both packed a lot of flavor. The hazelnuts in the Bruco gave a nice textural contrast with each bite. Entrees: Pork Loin, Lamb Rack, Veal Chop Parmigiana and Pan Seared Scallops. Pan Seared Scallops were cooked to perfection. They were seared on the outside and perfectly tender inside. Scallops can be quite finicky and taste a bit off, if undercooked (metallic) or overcooked (chewy). Bravo to the chef(s) who prepared the scallops. The rack of lambs sort of confused me. I'm 50/50 on whether or not I enjoyed it. I love lamb; however, the exterior seasoning was excessive and took away from the natural flavors of the meat. Although the description on the menu for the dish lists maple syrup, I didn't taste any sweetness in the dish. It was nothing but savory to me. Up next, the Veal Chop Parmigiana. One word, gigantic. It was literally the size of my head and admittedly, I don't have a small head. Taste profile was nothing extraordinary but still enjoyable. I'd order it again just for the sheer size and how full I would be after having it. Last and unfortunately, the least favorite dish from the evening, the Pork Loin. The pork itself wasn't the issue, it was the accompaniments. Although the dish is meant to be cohesively eaten together, along with everything else on the plate, one thing should not overpower another. Whatever was underneath the pork was overly salty and took away from the dish. The only saving grace...

We went here as a party of 16. They sat us at 2 separate tables. They were just next to each other, but they wouldn’t join them together because they were in 2 separate wait staff areas. So our one party had 2 different servers. 😒 Whatever!

It is not quick service. It was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday night. We had reservations for 7pm. We were sat immediately. The waiter brought water right away and then took our drink orders. It was a long wait before he came to ask us for our food orders.

I had looked at pictures on the reviews on Google maps to see what the food looked like. I was debating whether to get the salmon or the seared scallops. After looking at pictures, the salmon looked pretty small and the pictures of the scallops looked like there were 6-8 scallops. I ordered a truffle Cesar salad as my appetizer and the seared scallops. I also had a glass of Sauvignon blanc. The salad was ok. They did come over and grate truffle right onto my salad. That was a nice touch, however, the salad was very salty in a lot of places. It was almost 8pm at that point, so we were all pretty hungry. My husband got the cocktail shrimp. One of our friends got the oysters. They give a large portion of horseradish sauce with them. He took too much with his first bite and had to wait a while before he could continue eating. After finishing his oysters he started to feel ill. He had ordered the veal Parmesan. It’s a huge portion, but he was feeling so ill that he started having chills and cold sweats and left the restaurant early. I think the oysters may have been bad.

Our food finally shows up around 8:20pm. EVERY dish, ALL 16 of them were cold. Mine was barely lukewarm. Some of our party sent theirs back because they too cold. It was very, very disappointing. On top of that there were only TWO, 2, scallops?!? For $41?!? I’m a reasonable person. The vast majority of my reviews are 5 stars. But, HTH are two scallops $41??? AND they came out lukewarm?!? We should have gone to Gibson’s steak house. It was closer to our hotel. (We all walked from the Viceroy.) Another one of our party said that their waitress asked how they wanted their salmon cooked. They thought that was a good sign, and asked for it medium. However both of their salmons came out overcooked and dry.

Not one person in our party was happy with their meal. Not the temperature, the speed in which it arrived, the taste, texture, or price. If you get what you pay for, then we should have had an excellent meal with excellent service. If it hadn’t been a company meal I would have sent mine back.

A couple of the guys ordered 2 tiramisu for the table to share. I tried a bite and it tasted good. But most of it was left uneaten.

It was after 9pm by the time we left.

Our bill was over $2000.

We do not recommend wasting your money here. There’s plenty of other restaurants in town, even within walking distance of this place. Try...

Our reservation was for 6:30pm on a Saturday to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.

The first floor hostess greeted us by name and congratulated us on our anniversary as did the second floor hosts. Almost immediately after being seated the General Manager, Colin Hofer, stopped by our table to welcome us and chat for a few minutes.

The ambiance of main dining room includes high ceilings with softly lit ceiling coves, chandeliers, wall sconces and stylized Art Deco features. From our table at the window, we sat on the outer edge of a pleasant buzz of conversations by neighboring diners.

Our server/guide for the evening, Fatimah, was knowledgeable, attentive, inspired us to enjoy ourselves and treated us to an anniversary prosecco! She engaged us as we made our selections leading to a very memorable experience!

For our appetizers we had the bread service, gnocco fritto and fried green tomato caprese. Each was fantastic and complimented one another!

Our entrees were equally exceptional. I had roasted halibut with shellfish brodo, lemon aioli and charred fennel. My wife had the veal chop parmigiana with spicy tomato and crispy basil. Our son had the mezzi rigatoni with peperonata sauce, grana padano and peperoncini. All three were spectacular!

Not to be forgotten!!! For a vegetable we ordered the roasted carrots with cashews in a caramel sauce. Wow!!!

Desert was as special as the rest of the meal. Fatimah surprised us with an anniversary chocolate mousse tart which was delightful. The mango calamansi sorbet was like eating a soft frozen, amazingly sweet, mango!! The Adalina tiramisu has coffee, chocolate, Lady Finger crunch, amaretto gelato and a Bourbon sauce. This is one of the most intriguing items of the evening. Cutting into the tiramisu one can see and feel the spongy cake. Putting it in your mouth, everything just melts together. It's like there never was anything solid! The very last taste is a slight hint of the Bourbon sauce.

We topped off our incredible three hour meal with a cappuccino and made our short walk back home! What an evening!!!!

Reviewing the menu prior to our visit, we noticed the polenta with pistachio gremolata and mimolette cheese. Regrettably we forgot to order it...this time! During our meal we asked Fatimah if Chef Soo Ahn ever prepared Ossobuco as a special. A favorite entree from our wedding, this is a traditional Italian dish of veal shanks braised in broth, white wine, and vegetables. Our fingers are crossed that a certain squeaky wheel gets a call announcing an Ossobuco special!!!

For these and numerous other reasons, we have to return soon!!!! We strongly recommend the dining experience...