Lauretta's Italian Bake Shop & Cafe — Restaurant in Gages Lake

Wow, I am almost lost for words. This place is absolutely fantastic. To be honest ever since I moved to this area I’ve noticed there is no good places to eat. The service is not good at most restaurants. Everything is overpriced for what it is, and nothing is really ever consistent. The orders are always screwed up, etc.

I did not experience any of those issues here in fact the food was extremely fresh and homemade. I tried a few different things ordered a Mediterranean salad with tuna of vegetable Panini and an eggplant Parmesan Panini one of the sandwiches had pita chips with spinach, hummus, and the other had Pasta salad. I also ordered a couple of different cookies and tiramisu as well as a slice of pistachio cake.

Everything was 10 out of 10. Probably some of the best big goods I have had in years. Something that you would get from a top notch restaurant. The Panini‘s were to die for whatever bread was used was absolutely fantastic. Very rich tasting, but without being heavy on the stomach. Everything was seasoned perfectly, was not overly salted Yet had amazing flavor. There is a lot of vegetarian options here. You will not be disappointed whatever your diet may be.

I travel to Indiana to visit my parents every now and again and I know for a fact, I will be bringing them lots of baked goodies from this place. And since it’s right on the way to the expressway, super convenient.

The service was lightning fast, which is usually not the case at most places!! The man that was helping me at the register was extremely nice and thorough explaining what I was purchasing and what came with the meal. Very nice man. Yes I will absolutely be coming back here time and time again. I hope they stay open and I hope the food and service stay consistent. Not going to lie it’s kind of dangerous that it’s so close to where I...

I want to preface this by saying that I think this new location is still getting their feet under them, so I will give them another chance at a later date! I think there is a lot of potential here, and things were only not perfect because they are not used to the volume of orders they're getting here in Grayslake. I think when they get the system down, now that they're trying to be a take-out place, they'll be very good.

I honestly felt bad when I went in to order, the workers were obviously harried. They said they were not answering the phone anymore because they were so behind. It was ringing off the hook. They obviously wanted to be doing a good job and were just overwhelmed, so I feel for them. They were still really nice to me even though things were crazy.

Had the Fig and Prosciutto sandwich -- there was an enormous amount of fig, but only a little bit of prosciutto and goat cheese. I had to scrape most of the fig off, there was a LOT of it. But the order was correct, and the idea was sound, so I give them credit for that. The bagel chips and dip were fine.

I had the tiramisu as well and it was very good!

I hope they figure out a system for being a take out place, and maybe hire some more kitchen staff. They are getting enough business here for it to...

5+5+5+5🌟 I love it! Lauretta's is absolutely authentic.

The delicious smell the decorum inside IE ambiance, the laughing and friendly banter. Reminds me of my great grandparents who are also from Sicily. The food was delicious! Muscles, the Italian sub sandwich, the antipasto, the pasta salad, the Mediterranean salad, the desserts, brought back a lot of memories. When my grandfather's acquaintances would sit down at my grandmother's table, 20 guys, eating off of big platters of mostaccioli and Italian sausage and meatballs and neck bones and gagouts and tomato onion cucumber salad and the real deal garlic bread, made with shaved garlic. And of course plenty of Chianti. I used love that so much. I was the oldest grandson so I was able to sit with the men. Numbers were the thing back then, and they would always be fighting with the drug pushers and pimps. A different time and a different world really.

A couple of more tidbits, I posted pictures of the bathroom, and man is it awesome! Spotless. Spotless bathrooms equal spotless kitchens! A lot of pride and work go into this everyday, these are folks that love their neighbors,...