Ignotz's Ristorante — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Busy busy busy!! Make reservations!

We always go to Bruna's right next door but we decided to give this place a try.

Came on a Thursday evening and it was max capacity. The wait time was 15 minutes for a table but we didn't want to wait so we opted to eat at the bar. The bartender informed us that you need to call in to reserve bc I stated that I did not see reservations on the website and she said they don't have it online it's call in only. A suggestion for management would be to make that obvious on the website bc I checked online to see if I could make a RSVP and it wasn't listed. Had I known I would have called in to reserve a table.

The bartender was very professional and provided us with drinks right away and took our order promptly.

We ordered an ice tea and lemonade ($3 each and free refills). The ice tea was unsweetened and was just okay kind of just tasted like water but the lemonade was good and not overly sweet.

We received a loaf of warm bread with butter and roasted garlic to start off with and the roasted garlic with the warm soft bread was chefs kiss!!! I will say though I do prefer the crunchier harder bread at Bruna's but I do like that this bread was warm and came with that gooey roasted garlic which was sooo good slathered on the bread!! It's a matter of preference really, I prefer my Italian bread crunchier than softer. But it was still yummy.

For our appetizer we got baked clams, they were just okay but I actually prefer the baked clams at Bruna's ristorante which is right next door. Bruna's are more moist and flavored with lemon, butter, and Parm and have so much flavor! The baked clams here were sort of dry and I say sort of bc only the bread crumbs were moist but they lacked flavor overall. Didnt taste like butter, garlic, or lemon or anything really. I had to squeeze so much lemon on them and Parm cheese to get some flavor. I wouldn't order the baked clams again. They were okay but Bruna's are better.

For our main dish we ordered the chefs special which is the seafood linguini in a white wine sauce. It came with an option of soup or salad and we got the sausage lentil soup which was a smaller portion than expected it came in a small tea cup but it was very good. In terms of the actual linguini the white wine sauce was light and delicious and the seafood was perfectly cooked!

I ordered the fettuccine Alfredo and added shrimp ($6 extra) and had a Cesar salad on the side. The fettuccine was way better than Bruna's next door! This Alfredo has the perfect amount of flavor and was not overly salty or under seasoned. The sauce was extremely creamy and delicious! My shrimp were a bit chewy I think they overcooked in the sauce bc the dish was piping hott which I appreciated but the shrimp overcooked in the sauce making them have a firmer bite than I expected. I compared the shrimp from the seafood linguini to mine and it was the perfect texture. Mine for the fettuccine dish were too chewy which was disappointing given that I paid extra for it. Definitely overcooked.

A suggestion for the chef would be to add the shrimp at the very end when the dish is cooked and right before serving since shrimp only take a min to cook.

Overall, I would come back, the service was excellent and the food is great quality except for the overcooked shrimp I paid an extra $6 for which is why I could not give 5 stars otherwise I would have. Bummer.

We had one appetizer, a mini soup, small side salad, two large entrees, and two drinks all for $100 what a great value!

I would come back again but I'll probably check out the other Italian restaurants next door before I do. I recommend this place but suggest making...

My daughter searched for an Italian restaurant hoping to discover a new place for her pasta cravings. Found Ignotz as a highly reviewed and rated place so her and I gave it a shot! Being born and raised in Chicago and having a fair knowledge of its streets when my daughter gave me the address of the restaurant I must admit I had a negative misconception of the neighborhood it was located in. But to my surprise it is located in the heart of a very Italian neighborhood dotted with many Italian restaurants! I felt like I was in one of the trendy north side neighborhoods of Chicago not on the south side! Along with the look of the north side also came the lack of street parking! Luckily I found parking just across the street from the place! We saw that there were people inside the restaurant. Ignotz is actually divided into two buildings, but we tested the front doors of both buildings and both were locked. We were puzzled but my daughter saw a person with an Ignotz T-Shirt so she asked him if we were in the right place and he said yes but that the entrance was in the gangway between the two restaurant buildings! So remember that when you plan on coming here!

We were greeted by a friendly host and were directed towards our seats in a good sized dining room. The walls were adorned with what looked like nostalgic photos of the restaurant patrons and owners from what we could see. The photo frame above on the wall next to our table included, who my daughter identified as the owner, along with possibly his wife and the actor Frankie Avalon.

Our server came up to us and introduced herself as Sami and was so very friendly and attentive to us for the entire evening! She made us feel right at home! She gave some dinner suggestions and we started off with the fried calamari which came freshly prepared and was scrumptious as well as delicious! Didn’t take long either to come from the kitchen. The portion size was more than adequate! Some bread was also served, including very generously sized breadsticks and a pre-sliced sesame seed topped bread roll, which were all fresh, warm and soft! My daughter ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken and after inquiring to Sami about three dinner choices I had, she offered her recommendation which I finally chose the Chicken a la Tippi. I had the minestrone soup to start off my meal which was instantly identified as being homemade at the very first taste! So, so very good!! My daughter had a freshly tossed salad which also looked like care was taken in its preparation. My daughter said her Fettuccine dish was excellent and as for me, mine was equally outstanding, honestly some of the best Italian food we have ever had! Portion sizes were hearty requiring the need for take home containers! We finished off our wondrous meal with a chocolate gelato dessert (as I recall it was)! for my daughter and the cannoli for myself. Both perfect endings to our very satisfying dining experience.

I cannot express my feelings enough about the outstanding atmosphere , food and service that Ignotz offers! I wish I could add a sixth star to all of my five star ratings for such a memorable dining establishment! A definite return trip is in the future!

John H and Christine H...

Overall Thoughts: The service, hospitality, and personalized attentiveness in this spacious family-owned Italian restaurant are incredible. The owner Roger came out to greet each guest, our server was super sweet, and the whole experience came with complimentary bread and a small dessert. For just the warmth of the service and pleasant experience, I’d be down to come back. Food-wise, though some things were pretty good, there were overall more misses than hits. I’m more than willing to give other dishes on the menu a try though, as they look promising. The prices are reasonable, especially for the large, filling portion sizes. For a Friday night, there were a good amount of people, but there were still many empty tables in the restaurant.

Food I tried: Fried Calamari (3/5): Wasn’t a huge fan of this one. The calamari didn’t taste very fresh, and they were soggy.

3 Topping Pizza with spinach, mushroom, and sausage (4.1/5): Overall solid thin crust pizza, though I felt it was a little lacking in flavor.

Rope Pasta Special (4.2/5): This dish was one of the specials of the day— it was a bit overcooked / mushy and I wish the flavors popped out more (it was mostly just salty). The sausage and chicken were cooked really nicely and flavorfully though. Overall, it was not bad, but I would want to try a different (perhaps more sauce/cream-based) pasta dish next time.

Clam Chowder Soup (4.9/5): This was the soup of the day that came with our pasta order. The small bowl was delicious— rich, creamy, and full of flavor. Definitely a highlight.

Free bread service and frozen cherry treat (5/5): Always love to see complimentary bread and dessert. The bread was pretty fresh and tasty, and I especially enjoyed the full garlic head spread that came with it. The chocolate covered frozen cherry was a nice simple closing touch. —

Price (relative to peers): 4.3/5 Food: 4.1/5 Ambience: 4.8/5 Service: 5/5 Overall...