Tocco — Restaurant in New Trier Township

First and last time here...We'd been wanting to try this place since we moved to the area a year or so ago. So, we finally did. Sat outside. Lovely spaces, inside and out. Owner/manager very accommodating. Lovely hostesses. Unfortunately, our server was not very attentive and would disappear for long stretches. She knew ZERO about wine. She recited the specials and we selected a tuna tartare. She neglected to mention the soy sauce which I noticed too late as we were eating it. In fact, the entire preparation was Asian, not at all Italian. I would think it was a reasonable expectation on my part that no soy would be used in a tuna tartare at an upscale Italian restaurant. I actually am very sensitive to soy. Not allergic, but it tend to make me sick,. Soy sauce was all over this dish. Unbelievable that she wouldn't have mentioned that. My husband flagged her down, asked if there was soy and yes, she said there was and apologized for not mentioning it. She then offered me a salad, which I declined. We went on to have soups and pastas, both of which were very unremarkable and disappointing. The soup was ok. My pasta was beyond gloppy- almost inedible. I didn't taste any truffle- just cream and cheese. I couldn't even finish it. Our server wouldn't know because she disappeared. My husband ordered espresso, he said it was only ok. After all that, we skipped dessert. We did like our drinks. My wine was excellent and my husband liked his drink selections as well. They charged us $28 for the tuna tartare, which is highway robbery, even if I could eat soy. The whole menu is extremely overpriced for what it is. And what the hell is a $3 "service charge" at the top of the bill?? I've been to Italy and I have an Italian friend who owns a real Italian restaurant. This ain't it. Service gets one star, drinks get four, food would be a 1.5. We definitely...

Its extremely rare for me to write any reviews but I do feel compelled to warn folks to avoid this place. Its possibly the worst non-dinner (i.e. we did not even wind up eating there) we’ve had in years !

Booked a table for 7.30pm. Turned up at 7.28pm to be told that the table should just be a few mins. Enquired politely with the hostess about how our position on the list may be progressing at 7.45pm since a few people who came after us had been seated. She said it would just be a few more minutes. Around 8pm asked the manager how our table may be progressing as we now seemed to be the only people waiting and a number of folks who turned up after us had been seated. Instead of apologizing he decides he wants to explain to me that “he’s been running a restaurant for 20 years and people are seated in order” ! We get seated about 8.10pm and the hostess apologizes as she said they have messed up with the 3 hostesses seating patrons. We wait again only to be asked about what type of water around 8.20pm. When this finally arrives around 8.30pm we insist on ordering given we are now starving. The first two things we ask for on the menu are now not available and thus given the way service seems to be working around us we decide to depart to an alternative local restaurant.

Whilst I respect things can get busy, for a place that’s charging ~$30 for entrees I would expect far better service. Restaurants (or the service industry) is defined by how they handle unexpected situation and to have a waiting system that is clearly mismanaged, a manager / proprietor who is arrogant and then dire slow service can only lead to patrons leaving.

I only worry this had nothing to do with the color of our skin as we seem to have found ourselves in...

We dined at Tocco last night in Wilmette for the first time. We used to go to Tocco all the time when Bruno had his Fulton Market location. We used go about once every two-weeks. It's nice to see him continue on.

The atmosphere of the restaurant and their outdoor dining area was really nice. It was a beautiful evening and perfect for outdoor dining. The restaurant itself is very pretty. Modern, yet warm and welcoming, but obviously, we chose to sit outside.

The service was good. They were very busy, but our server and her staff were pretty much on point.

The food was pretty delicious. We had the Prosciutto/Buratta focaccia and the Braseola for our appetizer course. The focaccia was wonderful. In the middle, I had the salad of fennel and almonds in a lemon vinaigrette, which was amazing. The mains were also good, I had the carbonara with their homemade papardelle pasta. My wife and one of our friends had the Papardelle with sausage. Our other friend has the Branzino. All the mais were delicious.

I guess my biggest problem with Tocco were the prices. The wine and cocktail list is extremely expensive for what they were serving. $18 dollars for a negroni, especially when they aren't using a good vermouth is kind of rediculous. We paid $120/bottle for a nice white, but was not worth the cost. The rest of their list was nice but very expensive for anything interesting. The food is also expensive for what you get.

In my opinion, I think they are trying to charge Cipriani prices for nowhere near the quality and service of the aforementioned restaurant.

I will probably be back because of the location and the atmosphere is wonderful...