il Carciofo — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

For the price and the location, I didn’t find the food that special and I’d argue the service wasn’t great. I had their version of the arancini and it just tasted like salty, deep-fried dough. To be fair, I’ve never had arincini before so if it’s supposed to taste like that then I guess it’s just not my thing. I figured since it was a nicer restaurant they would elevate it somehow. It was made with pesto but the whole thing was just overly fried and salty. Their artichoke appetizer is also fried but at least the flavor of the artichoke was front and center, making it a nice dish.

I had the gnocchi dish which I swear was labeled as gnocchetti but was actually gnocchi. I don’t know, maybe those two are interchangeable but when you google what they put on the menu- gnocchetti- that comes up as a different pasta than gnocchi. I had to google a lot of what was on the menu as it’s in Italian and our original bartender (we were eating at the bar) seemed annoyed with us asking what things were. The portion was small but I don’t mind as it’s a pretty heavy dish. But that’s what I mean by the price… I’d expect something more fresh or interesting given price and portion.

My friend had the chicken which apparently was their first time serving it that night. I thought it was dry and the taste was “meh” at best. I think the ends were dryer than the middle- understandable- but for $40 I expected more. However my friend loved it so who knows, maybe I just got a bad bite. My other friend had the cacio e Pepe and that tasted fresh. It was good.

Perhaps I’m missing the plot here and you go to have Italian/roman staples and so they are doing what they should. But I’ve been to Italy before and the food there could be simple but also fresh and delicious. This place missed the mark for me.

The service was ok. Our original server/bartender wanted us to order everything all at once (I assume so it’s easier for him). It was like 5:30 on a Saturday in west loop and it wasn’t that busy. I’m sure he had stuff to do but he seemed annoyed at the questions we had about the menu (portions of it are in Italian only so unless you google it, you need someone to explain what it is so you know what you are ordering). I don’t mind that at all but then I guess I expect the servers and bartenders to be ok taking time to explain what things are if you ask them. I also think that if it’s not that busy you can just let people order a dish here and there with their drinks, vs having everything ordered all at once. Is this a thing now that restaurants do? I don’t know, but I was at Aba and Duck Duck Goat recently and we were never asked to do that. Granted we were seared at the bar here so I don’t know if it makes a difference but for me, it’s a turn off. I totally get if they are slammed and explain they want to help ensure we don’t have to wait long for food, but the guy just cut me off as I was asking about what things meant and asked me to just figure out everything we wanted first so we could order at once. Plus the place wasn’t THAT busy.

I wouldn’t go back and I can’t see this place lasting in...

Pretty unremarkable all around, there’s no real reason to return here. I know they’re still finding their footing but the equation just feels off. First of all we had an 8:45 reservation, not exactly prime time, and didn’t get seated until after 9.

It took a long time for our first drinks to come out, in the interim she asked to take a wine order, which was a bit weird, so at the time I kind of gently asked “we still have the cocktails coming right?” and she gave me a kind of “are you serious dude” yeah…they’re coming. I’m not used to someone asking what else I want to drink, before the first drink even arrives! For an 8:45 res we didn’t have drinks in hand until around 9:30, not a great start

Our server was generally nice but didn’t seem exceptionally knowledgeable about the menu. It’s basically all in Italian which doesn’t help either. It was also hard to hear her, her voice mixed in with the music. No som is totally fine, but when you ask about a wine and what it’s like, flipping through a book and reading whatever description in there is kind of pointless, I could’ve just looked that up.

The food was standard to below average, I wasn’t blown away by any of the bites. They say right at the beginning we deliberately make our pasta small so you can try multiple dishes! How convenient, too bad they’re priced like you get a portion for lunch tomorrow too. They’re also just not that good, the sauces aren’t anything special, mine had unnaturally large chunks of pepper in it that made for some unpleasant bites. The prices of the food did not match the vibe of the place or what the workers there where wearing $77 for a steak, that was pretty unremarkable, is basically Chicago top tier prices.

The potatos were foul. Seriously tasted like somebody just diced up potatos from Jewel and microwaved them with cheese that doesn’t melt very well on top. The swordfish dish the server recommended was insignificant and unimpressive.

I can’t think of anything at this place that would beat Italian handmade company a few blocks down in any facet. In its current form I would not recommend going to this restaurant. Try Viaggio on Madison, or Monteverde if...

We dined here 3 days after their opening, so if you're reading this months from now- please keep that in mind.

The food was all very good. We started with the artichokes, burrata, and lamb ribs. Next we moved on to the mortadella pizza and then we finished with two pastas, the carbonara and the oxtail tagliatelle.

The artichokes were amazing- and i don't normally eat artichokes. The burrata and parma ham was average, the bread which accompanied it was excellent. The lamb ribs- beautiful- i could have eaten those all night.

The mortadella pizza was really more of a sandwich of sorts- but i would come back just for that. it was great.

The oxtail pasta was probably the best thing we had that night. The carbonara was not my cup of tea. i found the pecorino being used to be a bit too funky for my liking. However- the dish was executed flawlessly, i just didn't care for the taste.

Chocolate gelato for dessert was great and the Cocchi Barolo Chinato is going to become a staple of my wine cellar.

Service was a bit hit and miss, but is to be expected with a restaurant which just opened 3 days earlier. It did seem like our server had way too many tables. We waited at times more than 15 minutes for our wine order/refills. The dessert wine showed up 10 minutes after gelato.

We asked that everything be coursed out but all three of our starters showed up at the same time, which on a tiny table, is my biggest pet peeve with restaurants today. I understand the need to get the whole order at once, but be realistic, there's not enough room on a two top for everything to show up at once. Also, the tables are extremely close together... like someone's ass is going to be in your face if they try to squeeze between the tables instead of walking around the row.

Overall though, it was a great meal and we will be returning for sure.

Street parking...