Zarella Pizzeria & Taverna — Restaurant in Chicago

Unfortunately we didn’t get to try this restaurant. I know this restaurant is difficult to get reservations for but knew some friends who had success with calling ahead / walking in, so I called ahead at 6 pm to ask for availability for two at 6:45. I was told that if I came within the next 20-30 minutes, I could put my name down and most likely be seated within the next 30-45 minutes. I arrived at about 6:30 and asked if my name could be put down for a table - my friend was on the way and I knew there was going to be a wait, so I was prepared to hang out until a table was ready. I was told that they were going to check downstairs and see if there was availability, so just to wait for a moment. In the meantime, many other people came in and were sat (assuming for reservations). The woman at the front seemed very flustered by the crowds coming in and when her associate came back from the downstairs area, she frustratingly asked “well did you find out if there was availability for two” which he responded with a yes. She then asked someone else to take me to the speakeasy area, so I followed her down the stairs. This woman opened the door for me, and when I turned around to inquire where I was supposed to sit (no one told me if I was sitting at the bar or at a table or otherwise), she was gone.

I meandered around for a moment and then asked another server if they knew what I was supposed to do. They said they would find out for me and when they returned, they told me to sit at the bar and once my friend arrives, someone would come get me and we would be sat together upstairs. I waited for my friend to arrive, and when she did, they told her to join me at the bar downstairs which by now had only one seat available, not two. Finally, we got a hold of a host to help us figure out where to sit. The original woman never took my name down, so they had no record of me in the system. Because of that, the host said if I put your name down now, it will now be a 1.5 hour wait, which makes sense as it was now 7:00 on a Friday night, vs 6:30. He said we could sit at the one seat at the bar and my friend could stand, which is not a positive dining experience at all. Frustrated, we just decided to leave and go elsewhere.

I wish I had just been told at the beginning that there was no availability so I didn’t waste my time, or had been clearly communicated that we were to sit at the bar downstairs. Communication between hosts is clearly lacking here and creating a frustrating experience for guests.

Really unfortunate that we didn’t get to try this restaurant because I’ve heard great things about the food, but the service here was abysmal. A restaurant only has to be good at a few things, and one of them is being able to keep track of and seat customers. I won’t be returning, even with a reservation. Go to Torchio Pasta Bar down the street - they’re...

Let me get the positive thing out the way first: the tavern style pizza is a quality contender in the spectrum of pizzas in Chicago. If you want to experience a reliable tavern style pizza, I would definitely rock with this. Now the bad parts, and why it's only a 3-star restaurant for me.

I'm born and raised in Chicago (south side, not the burbs), so pizza culture in Chicago is generally regarded as a working-class experience. The restaurant itself is not that old, so of course it's gonna have a modern flair to it. The issue for me is how this trend of aristocratic dining feels gaudy and contradictory to the true pizza base of Chicago.

I arrived to dine in and requested a table for one. The hostesses gave an involuntary reaction of putrid disgust that I would even dare ask for a table without a reservation, and quickly made it clear that the bar was my only possible option at that moment. This is a mere 30 minutes after opening by the way, so it wasn't exactly prime time.

Okay fine, so go to the bar, and like any bar most people will ever sit at in River North in the late afternoon, it's loud and surrounded by an army of obnoxious post-work, pre-gaming zillennials. The music is the typical playlist from the hip-and-trendy zeitgeist of today (Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter, etc), which is not really setting the mood for a true pizza experience.

I ordered the pizza, and the service was relatively fast, so that's another plus. I was offered a side of ranch, to which I was unaware that it was $2 extra. Not a big deal, but if I'm offered something, I didn't expect it to be at an upcharge. Meh, but the pizza was good, so that's what matters.

With all that being said, I doubt that I'll ever dine in this place again just so I can maintain my mental health, but perhaps for carry out/delivery, it's worth trying. The tavern style pizza is good, but it's not a true Chicago pizzeria dining experience. I would've considered ordering more food if I wasn't so crammed at a bar with 'Bros' and 'Becky's' surrounding me during my dining experience, but this is an in-and-out operation if you dine at the bar.

Pat's Pizzeria, Michael's, and the champion Vito & Nicks are all superior pizzeria dining experiences and capture the attitude of the Chicago spirit along with having quality tavern style pizza (plus they'll sit you at a table if you're solo).

If you're a snooty, white-collar type, this is definitely the place for you. Certain the type of place that would appeal to people who are from out of town, and also those who are afraid to go south of Roosevelt road for...

I live about two blocks away and was looking foward to trying this place out for the first time. I love Italian food and love, trying all the pizza places nearby. I walked over on a saturday eveing with my wife and daughter. I was unable to book a reservation, but was willing to wait for a table and just wanted to see how long of a wait a table for 3 would be. Unfortunately, I didn’t even get the opportunity to even ask. My rating is mostly based on the four hostess/workers who refused to acknowledge my presence. The place was pretty busy, so I understood I wasn’t going to be attended to immediately. The waiting area cleared out after a few minutes so I was confident with nobody waiting, I would be tended to, so I patiently stood in front of the hostess podium. The four hostess were talking among themselves and still seem pretty preoccupied, so again I had no issue waiting. A women walked in behind me and was greeted, she stood in waiting area for a bit then walked into the resturant. I figured, they would see I was still standing there and would acknowledge me, but still nothing. I waited a bit longer when a group of three or four gentlemen walked in. They are immediately greeted and seviced. It was at this point that I got annoyed, I figured it wasn’t worth forcing them to answer my inquiry when my business was clearly not wanted. I walked out of the restaurant and instead went to Pizzeria Portofino, and received excellent service and delicious pizza. With so many great Italian/pizza Restaurants in Chicago no need to waste your time at an establishment such as this. Plenty of options here in...