Dave's Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Evanston Township

My original post was 4* but I have to drop some stars. I last had Dave’s about 6 months ago (see below post)so I was looking forward to having it again tonight. I ordered the Pasta in oil and garlic and Romano with a side of meatball. It was so bad. SO BAD! I threw it out. It was cold. It was flavorless except for the raw chunks of garlic. The cheese was in clumps instead of hugging the pasta. It was also flavorless which I didn’t even know was possible for a Romano. The pappardella was flavorless, always salt your water when making pasta. The dish was oily, raw and flavorless. It was just so bad. The stars are for the mousse and the Caesar which was…different but the veggies were fresh. I was just so disappointed. Ruined my dinner.

Being new to the neighborhood we decided to taste the local fair. Dave (I’m guessing it’s Dave,) opened the door for us and bade us welcome. He was super sweet and helped us right away. The store is very welcoming and cozy. We ordered chicken parm and eggplant parm. Both were delicious! The eggplant were nice and thick and cooked to perfection but maybe a little too cheesy. The chicken parm was not dry and flavorful. Both entrees had generous portions. We will definitely be going back to try...

I remember asking my parents-- no BEGGING my parents to take me here for my birthday to celebrate my 14th or 15 birthday and actually Dave's used to be located in downtown Evanston on a completely different street and I recall the restaurant was huge with a set of stairs you took to a dimly lit downstairs section.

Now of course the restaurant is super tiny and cozy with a lot less seating but the portions and quality of food haven't changed nor the super friendly service you receive.

Last night 🌙 I had a craving for a traditional spaghetti 🍝 marinara in meat 🍖 sauce and I added a meatball in for good measure. They brought me a large portion of crusty bread 🍞 with butter and my large bowl of spaghetti came out quickly and was extremely delicious like something your mother might make from scratch if she happened to be a good chef. I mean literally you get that type of home cooked meal vibe here like a close family member cooked with great love and care.

For dessert 🍨 don't miss the chocolate mousse. It's only priced at $4 not $9 or higher like other places that break your piggie bank.

If you are craving a hot plate of pasta or a huge salad 🥗 that serves two the food here won't...

I use to go to Dave’s Italian Kitchen quite often when it was on Chicago Ave, but after they closed then reopened in the new location I simply forgot all about them. My friend reminded me of the Spinach Ricotta Pie, which is the only thing we use to get there because we didn’t have much luck with many of the other items on their menu and it was delicious. We went there this past Saturday and both ordered the dish. I’m not sure if the owners are the same, but I sure know the dish was not. It’s now served in a bowl with a thicker mushroom sauce, more like gravy, poured on top. The sauce was hot but both of our pies were cold in the center and barley lukewarm on the edges. I honestly think they just heated up the mushroom sauce and poured it on top of unheated pies. The pie was swimming in the sauce, which most time I’d be happy about. However, the sauce was SO lemony that I could barely eat it. I like lemon but this was really unbalanced. I think both of us ate about 1/4 pie. We asked for to-go boxes because the server was really nice and neither one of us wanted to make her feel bad. We both tossed it in the trash when we got home. Needless to say, we won’t...