Alla Vita — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

We tried this place for the first time tonight, on NYE. Reservation: Open Table only showed pre-fixe dinner around 17:00 available; so, I emailed to see if there was a table at a later time. I received a response from Emery, the GM, explaining that they had bar and high tops available and the items on the pre-fixe menu could be purchased a la carte in those areas. This actually worked out perfectly for us.

Parking: We found hourly street parking out front.

Ambiance: This place is beautiful! I love the wood paneling, the hanging greenery, and the fabric design on the ceiling; it is all lovely.

Staff: Emery was very on top of emailing and answering any question I had. The host answered the phone quickly. The bus boys were polite and efficient. Emmanuel was friendly and had great recommendations.

Food: We ordered a la carte from the NYE Pre-Fixe menu; so, I’m not certain which items will also be on their main menu, but I hope they all are because they were fantastic!

~ Mora mora (non alcoholic/mocktail) $13 *3.5/5 : Lyre’s white cane, seedlip grove, blackberry, mint, soda The description is fruity, bright, and refreshing. I would agree. It was both sweet and sour. I believe it had some kind of citrus which helps round out the flavor profile. The mint was on top as a garnish, but I broke it apart and added it to the drink; I wanted it to be a stronger flavor in the drink.

~ Bluefin tuna crudo $23 * 5/5 : Winter citrus, castlevetrano olive, bottarga This was excellent. I wish it came with more because I could eat a platter of it. It came with 4 sashimi size slices, topped with a vinegary/creamy sauce, olive, basil, bottarga, and something that tasted like orange and looked like a small candied orange slice. It was citrusy, salty, and creamy. I wanted to lick up the sauce.

~ Arancini $15 * 5/5 : Scamorza cheese, ‘njuda aoli, fennel pollen This came with 4 arancini and a ramekin in the dipping sauce. The Arancini were cooked perfectly. The outside was crispy and had the wonderful fennel, while the inside was cheesy and gooey. The sauce was creamy mayo with a hint of spice (from the njuda).

~Tagliatelle $23 * 5/5 : Beef shank ragu, pecorino, Sicilian oregano I am a huge fan of pasta, and this did not disappoint. I asked Emmanuel which he would select between this, the vodka, or the ricotta dumplings, and he said although the latter two are house favs, he orders the ragu about twice a week. So, we went with that and it was delicious. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente and the ragu was super flavorful. The only thing i think they might have made a mistake on is the name of the pasta. I’m pretty sure they served us pappardelle, rather than tagliatelle. The pasta was very wide. I actually love pappardelle and think it works wonderful with a ragu; so, I am definitely NOT complaining.

~ Seared Scallops $40 ** 4.5/5 : Puntarelle, hazelnut, blood orange, agrodolce This came with 4 scallops, perfectly seared. This was popping with flavor. I have never had agrodolce before, but it kind of reminds me of cranberries; it has a sweet and sour flavor combination. I’ve also never had puntarelle before; it has a slightly bitter fennel taste, but prepared as it was it also seemed slightly sweet. The hazelnut added a nice nuttiness and crunch. The blood orange added the right amount of acidity… again both sweet and sour, which I love… which balanced the dish.

~ Chicken Parmigiana $34 : Fire roasted tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, basil This was my boyfriend’s entree, so I can’t rate it out of 5 for him, but he did say he liked it and he is a harsh critique of food. He actually liked everything we had here, which is rare!

~ Tiramisu $16 * 5/5 : Amaro vecchio del capo, malted marscapone,coffee The bottom layer was crisp; it reminds me of a ferrero roche. The layers were wonderful. The mascarpone and the whipped cream on top were lighter than any I’ve had before. And the chocolate shavings tasted of...

Dined here Sunday evening July 21st. Reservation was for 9:15pm. I do not think this review will surprise the Manager or our wait staff. I decided to bring my daughters (who were visiting from London) to this restaurant for what i was expecting to be a lovely Chicago dining experience. Service from the start was terrible. Server seemed like she did not want to be there. No chat, no conversation, did not tell us anything about the menu. Did not ask if we had been to the restaurant before, absolutely nothing.

We ordered wine. I tried to ask the waitress about a bottle of wine, she knew nothing about the wine. She was definitely inexperienced and I wonder if she was even a permanent member of staff as her knowledge of the food and wine was negligible. As we waited for the wine, empty wine glasses were placed on the table. Actual wine did not arrive till at least 15 minutes later in carafe container’s, which we were not impressed by at this point. We had sat at the table looking at empty wine glasses wondering where the wine was. No one in sight to whom we could ask.

What has surprised me is the rating on this place was quite high and that is one reason I chose it. The lack of care and service was astounding. I assume the waitress does not realise that good service generally results in good tips.

Anyway, food arrived and in fairness it was good. My daughter’s food was cold we returned it and it still came back cold. No one seemed to care. The waitress took the plate to replace it with no apology. It was almost like we were an inconvenience her.

We came to the restaurant for a dining experience and absolutely did not get that. I have scored low mainly for the service which then over rides the food. Manager on deck was not helpful and definitely not solution oriented however expectations by this point had dropped considerably. I would actually give this restaurant zero points on service.

When I asked for the manager to let him our experience, he simply asked me “what he should do about it”. I must admit i had to contain my laughter as surely he should be the solution architect, don’t put the guest on the spot like that, this is not why I came here to eat here. His apology came across insincere and very robotic with a poor text book response.

We ended the night laughing at the table about the disappointing night and left a couple of hundred dollars short.

The wait staff lets this place and the chef down. Manager definitely needs better training. I work for a large organisation in guest services and was appalled at the service. My London guests were unimpressed and wished we had gone somewhere else. McDonalds would have provided better service...

Ate here Jan 30, 2022 and my review reflects our meal experience at that time.

TL:DR, worth going the one time, don't think we will return.

Walking in feels extremely elevated without being stuffy, something I definitely appreciated. BOKA group restaurants tend to nail this right on the head, and this was no exception. I also noticed our service the entire time was fantastic from check in process to the changing of utensils and plates. Special shout out to our server, Joel, who was cordial, friendly, and professional.

We never felt rushed through our meal even though reservations currently are time-boxed. The food came out promptly and definitely was fresh, and presented well.

And now, here come the big letdown (IMO). Everything up to the first bite of food was fantastic, and got me very excited for the quality of the food. We ordered the bread service, roasted octopus, fritto misto, ricotta dumplings, as well as the tiramisu and apple ricotta cake.

The cake and the roasted octopus were our favorites, and done extremely, extremely well. Complex flavor profiles, not overbearing, and very fresh.

Bread service and fritto misto ranked next. I enjoyed the takes that the restaurant did on them, but your opinion will definitely fall on either the positive or negative as these dishes are a little more polarizing. The fritto misto are healthy servings of calamari and shrimp, lightly breaded that allows the seafood flavors to break through with a aioli that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, if you are someone that enjoys a heavier breading, this might not be for you. Also, with an Italian restaurant at this price, it feels like there should be bread served w/o ordering or extra cost.

Finally, the ricotta dumplings. I will say, that they were executed well for what the restaurant was trying to do. That being said, the ricotta was extremely overbearing and overwhelming. I am a cheese fan, and even I felt this was too much, notwithstanding the fact that it was served cacio e pepe style. This dish feels as though it would be better executed if the dumplings were an accent over a polenta or with a more savory complement.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal, the atmosphere, and service. The food feels a little on the pricey side for what you are getting, even factoring in what Chicagoans call the "west loop tax". If everything was $3-$5 cheaper, this would be a no brainer.

I can understand why this place is busy every night, but after the first time I think there are better Italian restaurants to return to for a special...