Antonino's Ristorante — Restaurant in Lyons Township

Cozy, friendly, authentic Cucina Siciliana

Ten days ago we were going to meet friends who live in the Chicago Wicker Park neighborhood. Our plan was to meet at a favorite River North Italian restaurant. Since we live in La Grange Park and they're in the city we've met for cucina Italiana at this same spot several times over the years. But we ran into a problem, that Saturday night was the eve of the Chicago Marathon and there wasn't an open restaurant seat to be found. So, we pivoted. We asked our friends if they wouln't mind driving out to our home and we'd make a reservation at our La Grange "Go To" restaurant for Cucina Italiana, Antonino's.

We are so glad we pivoted. The meal and the evening at Antonino's was fantastic. Both the food and the atmosphere were amazingly impeccable. I'm Sicilian. The food at Antonino's could easily stand in for my nonna's (Italian for grandmother's) home cooking. In America spaghetti sauce is referred to as "gravy" (source: "The Soprano's). In northern Italy it's called "ragu". In southern italy, including Sicily it's called "sugo". Sweetness is the distinction found in Sicilian Sugo. Sweet Sugo is what was served at Sunday family meals when I was growing up. When eating at Antonino's, if I close my eyes and put a fork of pasta in my mouth, it's easy to imagine I'm 12 years old again eating at the family table. The sweetness of Antonino's sugo takes me back.

And, our (Irish) friends loved Antonino's as well. Rosalee commented that the eggplant parmigiana was the crispiest she's ever had. Frank and I both ordered the baked mostacolli and the sweet sauce covered with melted mozarella caused us both to agree that is was fantastic. My wife chose the spinach lasagna. She usually takes a leftover portion home but, didn't this night. This experience was topped off with mouth watering tirami su and a complimentary birthday gift cannolo (singular for cannoli) for our friend Frank.

The food was only half of the experience. Our waitress Nanette, was joyfull as she made us feel like we were the most important people in the universe. She was there when we needed her but never intrusive. Her mission was to serve us happiness, both through the wonderful food and incredible service. We learned that she and Sam are owners of Antonino's. They and their children make the food, serve the food, and create a charming ambiance as they do.

Antonino's is in a classic early 1900's era corner storefront complete with a cupulo. It's not fancy but really is charming. Having been to Italy it really does remind us of eateries we visited in Palermo, Rome, Milan and other locales. Funny how a corner building in La Grange can transport you back to Sicily.

Talking to our Chicago friends afterwards, they belive that we now have a new "regular" home from our Italian dining...

I am walking home from your restaurant now beyond disappointed and appalled at the experience I just received. My fiancé and I moved to the area 2 months ago and live within a 5 minute walking distance to your place. We got engaged two days ago and decided to try it out to celebrate.

All we ordered was a pepperoni pizza. After 40 minutes of waiting, our server came out to inform us there was a “miscommunication” with the system and the order had not been started. She asked what else she could do or get for us in the meantime. We asked if an appetizer could be out sooner as we had already waited too long. She said yes and put in an order for friend zucchini. It came out 10 minutes later. We then waited another 10 minutes and finally received our pizza.

We ate & asked for the check. The check was full price for everything and we were charged for the appetizer.

I then approached the counter very politely and said that I didn’t feel like I should be charged for the appetizer as the only reason we ordered it was due to our pizza taking too long to come out. The associate grabbed the manager.

When the manager came out he was extremely rude and disrespectful toward me. I did not receive one apology. I did, however, receive a “you got your pizza and appetizer didn’t you?”

He finally comped it after arguing with him. I hope to God he is not the owner. I was in complete disbelief by how he spoke to me. There were multiple issues all happening around us at the same time too. One table behind us was frustrated with the food, two parties were waiting a very excessive time for take-out orders, etc.

I hope no one else is ever disrespected like I just was by your manager. We will never be back which is extremely disappointing considering we live around the corner.

The only positive to this place was the waitress as she handled...

I am walking home from the restaurant now beyond disappointed and appalled at the experience I just received. My husband and I moved to the area 2 months ago and live within a 5-minute walk.

All we ordered was a pepperoni pizza. After 40 minutes of waiting, our server informed us there was a “miscommunication” with the system and the order had not been started. She asked what else she could do or get for us in the meantime. We asked if an appetizer could be out sooner as we had already waited too long. She said yes and put in an order. It came out 10 minutes later. We then waited another 10 minutes and finally received our pizza.

We ate & asked for the check. The check was full price for everything and we were charged for the appetizer.

I then approached the counter very politely and said that I didn’t feel like I should be charged for the appetizer as I only ordered it because our pizza took too long to come out. The associate grabbed the owner.

When the owner came out he was extremely rude and disrespectful toward me. I did not receive an apology. However, I received a “you got your pizza and appetizer, didn’t you?”

There were multiple issues happening around us at the same time, too. One table behind us was frustrated with the food, two parties were waiting a very excessive time for take-out orders, etc.

I hope no one else is ever disrespected like I just was by the owner. We will never be back, which is extremely disappointing considering we live around the corner.

To complete the experience, as we were walking home, someone from the restaurant was pouring a bucket of liquid into the village's stormwater drain. I don't think it was...