Dolce Arte — Restaurant in Chicago

FOOD I originally ordered the Avocado Toast with a poached egg, and a Lavender Matcha Latte with Oat Milk and a little ice. After I sat down I was told that dinner was now being served and that they could no longer serve the Avocado Toast, so I ordered the Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon Jam. Just a warning that they are cooked VERY WELL WELL roasted to brown and black. I kind of liked it but was left wondering whether the nutrients were pretty much cooked out of the sprouts lol! I liked the bits of bacon. The amount of bacon jam was perfect - not so much that it was too sweet.

SERVICE This is the kind of place where you can order your food at the counter or you can be seated at a table. The person who took my order seemed new but she was able to finally get my order into the system. My server’s name is Mike. Service was excellent - I myself ordered at the counter. I got my drink before my food, a little ice and oat milk just as I had ordered, the food came out quickly despite the item change due to the start of dinner hours, and the “How is everything?” question (2x). It’s also nice to sit at the bar because there is a lot of staff in this area so service is super quick.

As I sat at the bar, my server made sure to tell me that I could sit at the tables too if I wanted. I chose to stay at the bar, and asked where could access an outlet. Ends up that I sat in the perfect place at the bar to power up all my electronics while I ate and worked on my iPad.

ATMOSPHERE So the pictures of the main table area with the glass and utensils set makes it look a little more formal than it is. But as I am sitting here, it seems more casual. On Google I searched for coffee shops and this is one of the places that popped up, but when I check the vibe via the photos it doesn’t come off looking like a coffee shop. The sign outside says “restaurant” so I can see how people would be discouraged from bringing their laptops/iPads here. But I felt totally comfortable using one, at least at the bar. This place is inside the Morgan Arts Complex building so you have to walk up a short flight of stairs, through the glass doors and then it is located to the left. It’s got a display up front with pastries and shelves with some Italian food products and cold drinks. To the left of that is a bar (where I sat) and then the “restaurant” area with the tables.

Dolce Arte is located in a hidden gem of an area in Bridgeport where a lot of art studios and art events happen. (Open Studios are on 3rd Fridays at nearby Bridgeport and Zhou B Art Centers.) It’s a great place to hang out or eat or meet with friends before going to events...

I was looking forward to trying this place out for weeks. Well I finally came with my family and we had such a horrible experience, I’ve never gone to a cafe or restaurant and had such a bad experience as I did here. We went in and ordered drinks and pastries. We went to sit while we waited for our order. We ordered three lattes and they took about 20 minutes to come out. Once they came we waited a little while longer for our pastries, I asked the guy that took our order about our pastries and he just looked at me and walked away, basically ignored me. We started to feel uncomfortable so we started to get ourselves together to leave. I got to the register and asked a different worker about our pastries, he apologized and started boxing them for us. Once the first worker came out, I asked him “hey did you forget about our order or what happened?” He said “I’m annoyed” as if my family and I were annoying him. I was upset at how he left us waiting and waiting and how he never apologized for forgetting our items, so at this point I just asked for a refund. The second worker was very respectful, he offered us an apology for his other coworker’s lack of professionalism. I wasn’t going to bother writing a review but apart from all this, there was a third worker behind the counter who was just staring at us the whole time, further making us uncomfortable. And he saw how we were waiting and waiting and he could have came up to me and asked me if I needed help, but he was just standing there staring at us, watching everything unfold. It was a weird and uncomfortable experience. I’m truly disappointed at the lack of professionalism here, the only person who was professional and respectful was the 2nd worker , the gentlemen on the right, behind the cash register. The 1st worker was the man on the left behind the...

Food: Ordered pastries at the front desk to be brought to our table: the Sourdough Nutella, Raspberry Meringue, and the Lemon Italian Meringue. The Sourdough Nutella was my favorite, however it would have been better if it was warm and fresh. My sister ordered the American Breakfast and I ordered the Short Rib Eggs Benedict. My sister swapped her sausage patties for turkey patties which were surprisingly a well-seasoned turkey blend for a patty. While the potatoes in both of our plates were well seasoned and cooked, they were slightly stale and cold like they had been made in a huge batch and left out. Would be terrific if served fresh, my biggest qualm here. As for the Short Rib Benedict, the Short Rib was extremely tender. The berry spread and butter for the sourdough toast was a great compliment. The sauce on the Benedict was creamy and savory. I would order it again if I wasn't intrigued about trying a different dish. My sister ordered a lavender matcha latte which unfortunately tasted like milk with a hint of matcha. I ordered the Tiramisu latte which was slightly on the bitter end but I didn't mind it.

Service: Overall, prompt service. Our waitress checked on our table plenty enough. Had decent knowledge of the menu when questioned about it. Nothing bad but nothing memorable in particular.

Atmosphere: Extremely cozy atmosphere. Warm lighting. Thoughtful design. Neutral tones of browns and greens. Esthetically pleasing to the eye down to the seating and green...