Maggiano's Little Italy — Restaurant in Naperville

I dined there on Christmas Eve. Had an 11:15am reservation. Let me start by saying I look forward to my Christmas Eve Feast of the 7 Fishes. "Emily" escorted me to my table, placed the menu in front of me. I looked at it & was immediately quite angry. I asked what is this. Emily said "this is our menu for today. The menu had ONE fish dish. Branzino..don't get me wrong Branzino is very good. I wanted my calamari, mussels, linguine di mare. As this was transpiring my waiter "Billy" stepped up & said everyone was called to let them know about the "family style menu". I said " No One called me or emailed me. " Trust me I have been in the restaurant industry & did not want to be "that person" on Christmas Eve. But I was so disappointed At this point I was a hostage since I had ordered food to go for family & friends with a pickup time of 12:30. Too late to go anywhere else or reserve some place that knows "Christmas Eve for Italians means we like to eat seafood. I had checked the website numerous times for a "special Christmas eve menu, the only thing i saw was "We suggest our family style for parties of 4 or more" Well i was a single diner , it seemed that would not work for me. And the other thing is THAT Family Style had CHOICES for Seafood. Not the menu in front of me. So I decided to make the best of a terrible situation. Billy, bless his heart could tell I was not happy. He took my drink order & brought back a delish Bloody Mary. Then he looked at me & said "Michelle" is going to take over for me. "I'm being called to a different part of the restaurant to work So Michelle came & took my order & was very nice & knowledgable. The Ceasar salad was delish. The cherry tomato pesto flatbread was the STAR of the day. I ordered the Branzino, ate one piece, the spinach & tomatoe was very good but I really didn't care for the fish. I ordered the other things that I wanted from the menu & had them boxed to take home since they all had meat & I wanted seafood.

Michelle got my orders to go from the Pickup area 2 orders or chk piccata & 2 orders or Rigatoni D & a half pan of Rigatoni D I was bringing to my cousins for Christmas.

I must say whoever made this decision for this menu on Christmas Eve..to me is an idiot. One fish choice???

Needless to say I will not be back for another Christmas Eve lunch or dinner there. I will go back to my places that have it together. No I am not a scrooge..but I look forward to this dinner ALL year.

The saving graces were Michelle & Billy they were the best. My bill came to 69.32 & I tipped 70.00. So I am not someone who loves to complain, but loves her seafood.

I hope to hear from management about who decided to do this on a day when most Italians or anybody else who wants seafood

We did do the Thanksgiving Bundle & it was oh so good, but this Christmas Eve Menu was a big big disappointment. I have been very very happy with previous visits but this was a big miss for...

I visited Maggiano's earlier in the year and it was satisfactory. When I visited recently, the experience was much different. Upon arrival, we were greeted by friendly staff, but that is the only positive going for this place. The initial table offered was not in a nice location, as it was bright and felt like being in a fishbowl. We requested to move to another area that reflected a darker, more cozy spot. First, we waited 45 minutes for a simple appetizer. Low and behold, we received our dinner first and then the appetizer arrived immediately afterwards. They realized this mix-up to their befuddlement and asked if they should return the dinner plates back to the kitchen to wait, while we had the appetizer. Why? So they can warm it up in the microwave, once again? It should have been heated up anyway, because the food arrived warm at best. It actually tasted like it was cooked in a microwave, but for only 20 seconds. The food was notably subpar and not like my experience the previous visit earlier in the year. The chicken was rubbery and the rolls were dry, and cold. The vodka pasta priced at $25.50, was just a typical pasta dish that one could have produced much better at home for $3.00. Adding rubbery chicken to it for an extra $7.50 was not ideal. The prices were incredibly high and did not match the quality. We could have complained there, but to me the best way to demonstrate displeasure with a restaurant is to never return. That is what I will be doing and passing it along that this place is not worth visiting. It went significantly downhill and I expect will continue down that trajectory, unless they return to normal cooking and higher food quality, for those crazy prices. The take home pasta deal disappeared as well, so I think the prices are a reflection of the money lost and how they are trying recoup that loss, by charging exorbitant prices to the current customers. Don't waste your time or money visiting this establishment unless food service microwaved...

Rosa was an amazing sever, very kind and helpful. Her food recommendations were on point. The ambiance was inviting with some old school rat pack playing. Our only hiccup was the manager on site seemed anxious and was challenging to communicate with. When we entered, she let us know they would close in an hour. We asked if she felt comfortable seating us, given the time constraints. She said it was fine, but sometimes people complain if the staff start cleaning and the lights come up while guests are present. We said it would be fine, we would order quickly so the kitchen could start clean up. We enjoyed our dishes, had a round of drinks, paid our tab and were packing our to go containers when the lights came up. The manager came over to say it was the end of the night and to apologize again for the lights. One of the guests said “that’s fine we don’t care”, indicating that she was not offending us by giving another heads up. At which point the managers tone changed “well I care about my staff and you need to head to the front asap”. Respecting staff time is crucial, I do not fault her for that. But at no point in time did she say that her expectation was that we had to leave immediately at an allotted time. What’s more the staff seemed open to letting us finish our cocktails while they cleaned the kitchen and bar, which we really appreciated. It seemed everyone was having a good experience except the manager and she wanted us all to feel the inconvenience. Aside from that, as I said the bar staff and Rosa were really kind even after that. So I hope the manager can find the support she needs to communicate more...