Mario's Table — Restaurant in Chicago

This restaurant is NOT KIDS FRIENDLY at all. Don’t be fooled by the crayons, kids menu and a plastic cup with a lid. We arrived for dinner at 6:10 pm, quickly ordered our main entree and after finishing our dinner (right after receiving our bill) the owner came up to our table and hushed our 2 1/2 year old and said he had to keep it down because there were 2 guests sitting by our table (a father with his late teen or college age daughter). First of all, our son stayed seated in his high chair at all times, he was playing with his own toys and never made any sounds with his toys, the plates nor the utensils. He wasn’t squirmy. He wasn’t even watching videos on a phone nor iPad, which I think the background noise in those gadgets tend to be annoying to other people sometimes. The whole time we were there, he never made a mess with the food, never fussed and didn’t even cry. He was in a good mood and we were so proud of him for behaving so well and for eating his meal. After finishing his meal, he got excited and asked for candy (referring to the mints he saw by the entrance). He never screamed he just asked by raising his voice, but nothing louder compared to the chatter and music going on in the background. Do you think a 2 year old has a powerful voice? He wasn’t even having a tantrum... he was simply excited because we had promise him that if he ate he would get mints and he just asked for “candy” 2-3 times after finishing his plate. The people by our table never seemed to mind, they kept talking between themselves throughout the night without staring at us. But somehow, Mario the owner decided to leave a sour taste to our night by hushing our son and the telling us he had to keep it down. Mario, the bill was standing right in front of your face, we were about to leave anyways... do you really have to treat clients like that? That is rude and disrespectful. We were about to leave and you decide to make a scene over a little innocent and powerless voice that was just asking for candy? Ridiculous owner. He probably never had kids and if he did they probably didn’t even like him. If you do not believe me, please go ahead and read the other negative reviews written by families with kids and you will get a sense of what type of person Mario is. Bottom line: I DO NOT RECOMMEND this place to anyone that has CHILDREN. MARIO, if you don’t like kids, then do not offer kid’s menus nor crayons you STUCK UP. And please, don’t be a hypocrite and start greeting families when they come in, specially if they are accompanied by their children. We don’t need you to FAKE your intentions. All you want is the $ and when you are about to cash in the receipt, that is when your true colors come out....

Wow. What an amazing place. So glad to find a somewhat old school Italian joint without all the glitz and glamour and 'showy' spaces you have now a days. Just good people and good food.

Came across this joint by accident. As we entered right off the bat, I liked the feeling. The wait staff (God she looked like an angel) was just so sweet, polite and did not mind that we were 45 minutes early for our reservation. She accommodated us with a smile. The gentleman that took us to our table too was just so nice and lively.

Our server was really the sweetest. Very patient, not rushing us at all and took great care of us.

We had the special beet salad which was great. We also ordered a vegetarian pizza to share. Really liked their sauce; not super tart yet not too sweet. It had just the right balance. What was amazing was the crust; Mamma Mia; I LOVED it. The crispness without it being a hard cracker was just right. Wonderful.

The only thing that disappointed both of us (and sadly has resulted in our decision to not visit here again) was the fact that the owner practically ignored us (please, don't get me wrong. We don't seek attention but we also don't seek to be 'othered' out). The gentleman came to every table, greeted the guests, had a brief chat with all of them. He came next to our table, noticed us but ignored us completely. Normally this would not have felt a big deal at all. Owners come out once in a while and speak to certain guests (either they know them, etc.) but just felt very uncomfortable here that every table had the courtesy; not just one or two. Yet we felt singled out by not given the same courtesy. I'm from the service/hospitality industry so maybe am thinking too hard about this but there you have it.

Had it not been for this experience, I would have said this is probably going to be my go to Italian restaurant in Chicago; that's how much I loved the service, friendliness of the staff, the food and the old...

This is more than terrible service, they genuinely make you feel unwelcome.

The short-story: We have been many times, and yet when we sat down in a somewhat empty restaurant, the server giving the free water and bread basically berated us, saying we were bad parents and we need to do a better job looking after our 14 month old. Gobsmacked to say the least. When we complained to management... nothing. And we expect absolutely nothing to happen because even the owner, Mario, has made passive aggressive comments more than once about having our son with us.

The long(er) story Firstly, I should mention that we live near to Mario's Table and hoped to make it our regular spot. Especially through the Pandemic to help local restaurants. It was never bad, but there was always this underlying feeling that children are not welcome. I tried to give the benefit of the doubt that it is "family friendly" (as said specifically by them) and maybe when it's busy, they would just prefer no children. But this sealed the deal.  Secondly, we are aware a 14 month old in a high-chair can leave a mess. We absolutely do our best to clean it up. And yes, there may be remains but nothing a dustpan and brush can't solve in less than a minute (and that would be slow).

If you have children, don't go. If you enjoy great service, don't go (even though we have enjoyed some of our interaction with the staff). If you want to feel you're wanted by a restaurant, don't go. Otherwise,...