Fiori Italian — Restaurant in North Township

(Updated Review, Summer 2024)

Returned on Valentine's Day 2024, was disappointed by the quality of the fixed menu items. The food was cool or lukewarm, not hot--prepared in bulk ahead of time. The duck dish was dry and the glaze it was served with was overly sweet and overpowering. The risotto it sat upon was a solid mass, pasty, and flavorless. The quality control was disappointing.

Service was good, but I felt like my date and I were almost excessively being checked on. That made it feel rushed. I understand that it was busy for the occasion and they might have wanted to get another table open but it was borderline annoying.

Haven't been back since... Just not interested in going back for food that doesn't live up to a fraction of the cost. Made me value the power of home cooking!

Original review (Copied from Yelp)

Disclaimer: I'm a self-diagnosed foodie and have eaten at several high end restaurants, including Michelin Guide and Michelin Star dives in downtown Chicago and around the Chicagoland area as well as abroad from age 5 to 25. I like good food. A lot. A couple of things (my major critique is point number 1):

1. the appetizers are not a strong point. We tasted the crab cake special, calamari, and mussels, and none of the 3 truly wowed me. The ingredients were all quality, so I didn't feel " gypped," (the crab was succulent!) but there were flavors missing that nicked points from the overall experience. If money/value is such an issue (this seems to be a common theme in the more negative reviews), save your money and use it on a few of the delicious entrees and fantastic desserts.

2. The pennoni pasta was perfection and the favorite of the night. The pasta itself was perfectly al dente, and the braised beef atop it was buttery soft-- the tomato sauce was loose and brothy and an amazing accessory for the bread we received at our table. A close second was the veal shank stuffed with burrata and topped with sautéed mushrooms. It was tender and comforting and came atop a bed of smooth mashed potatoes. So addicting! Last, the orecchiette pasta was hearty and came with Italian sausage, bits of broccoli, black garlic, and chili flakes. The broccoli was unnecessary in my opinion: I'd rather take more pasta to sop up that flavor!

3. The lemon cake special was godly. It came with vanilla gelato and a couple of delightfully tart amarena cherries and a fantastic crust with tender almonds--they were somewhere in there. Their spin on the tiramisu, presented in an adorable espresso mug, was a nice touch. And it was custardy and rich--not too sweet--with a single ladyfinger projecting from its velvety depths! The crème brûlée, though simple, had a wonderful depth of flavor.

Overall, for its first month in service, Fiori impressed me. This is the only spot you should be eating Italian in NW Indiana. With a few tweaks (our server mentioned big changes on the horizon, including a broader menu), this place has room to stretch and grow and improve-- not that it needs much improvement! We'll be back ASAP.

Thank you for the lovely and attentive...

The restaurant is pretty. That’s about the only thing going for this place.

However, my mother insisted on trying it because it’s close to her house. We started off in the bar area. We had to flag a server down to take our drink order. Drinks were OK. Typical NWI drinks. Again, nothing special whatsoever. The wine selection was fine.

This is where it gets bad. We asked the server about the type of Italian food (we are Italian) that they serve there. He responded - “just Italian”. That was helpful (rolls eyes). No mention of regional style cuisine or interpretation of Italian food. As an Italian this was very embarrassing.

We started off with the burrata and the meatball. The burrata was OK, but it’s hard to mess this up. The meatball was overcooked and over-seasoned and very salty.

We ordered the lamb and the chicken. Both were disgusting. The bed of grease on the bottom of the plate wasn’t very appealing. I barely ate any of it and thought that for the price tag that it was a slap in the face of how they are trying to charge for something that clearly lacks basic culinary and presentation skills. My mom had the chicken and I tried some of hers. We both agreed it lacked flavor. I’ve had better chicken from a supermarket hot bar.

Last was dessert. We had the apple desert. We asked for two and they brought us one with two forks. When we asked where the second one was, they said “oh, are you sure you want two?” I didn’t even know how to respond to that. They weren’t good. The apple wasn’t baked thoroughly. The ice cream/whipped stuff would’ve been okay if it wasn’t melting on our plate already.

The staff were not pleasant to deal with here. From the bartenders to the server and even the hostess, nobody seemed happy to be there or happy to welcome us. The servers also need to learn professionalism as I heard them having unsavory conversations amongst themselves within earshot of guests.

I don’t think this restaurant is justified in charging the prices on their menu. It’s arrogant and the quality of the food isn’t there. They seem to be trying hard to level up with the great Chicago Italian restaurants, but they fall flat and are nowhere close to any of them.

Maybe they should reconsider their choice to open up an...

Where do I begin? A Sunday 4:45. Not busy. Seated quickly. Ordered a menu drink and a Titos on the rocks, dirty with olives. Perused the menu while we waited. Offered a bread basket. Bread gone. Still no cocktails. Waved her over to find out the hold up. She returns to ask, Do we want vermouth with the Titos? No. That would make it a martini. I'll say that is the bartenders fault. Drinks finally arrive along with a bad feeling. Easily a 10 minute wait. Promptly ordered appetizers. Shrimp cocktail and fried calamari. Average. Bus staff was efficient and attentive. We decided to split a Caesar salad. Great presentation and delish. Highly recommend. Ordered stuffed conchiglioni. A pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese, salmon and zucchini. And Cennelloni A'la Mode. We were told that was a favorite. We finished apps, table was cleared. We sipped our cocktails. Then waited an eternity. Waved her over to find out where our food was. She returns without our food to inform us they are out of cennelloni. We're just being informed of this NOW????? She asks if he'd like to order something else. Then stood there. GONNA NEED A MENU! She had to fetch one instead of coming prepared. Food comes. Conchiglioni is fishy tasting and lacked appeal. Don't bother. The clams and linguini has nice presentation. Think giant hershey kiss out of parchment and foil. Makes it difficult to eat. But good. She appears at our table while he is still eating and lays the bill down! Patience gone! I tell her to NEVER bring someone the bill while they are still eating their entre unless they've asked for it. Told her everything that ruined our dining experience. She informs us its her first day! You can't be serious?? I apologize and tell her the training program at Fiori sucks! She should be shadowed until she knows what she is doing. They comped us a Creme Brulee. I've had better. The That's Amore cocktail is fabulous. Should have cut our losses and left when the entres were delayed....