La Scarola — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

We made reservations for a special occasion. We had a party of ten. The host seated us before four of our guests, who were stuck in Chicago traffic, arrived. At no point did I hear anyone say anything to indicate that was an issue. If they said it, no one in our party heard them. Six of us were seated and we ordered appetizers and drinks for the table while we waited on the rest of our guests. I want to be clear here. When we go out, we spend a lot and tip well. We have impeccable manners, are punctual (except for the out of towners 😬) and gracious to staff. Without exception every single person there is accustomed to fine dining. We know how to behave. More importantly, we know what good customer service is. They did not provide basic customer service. The manager showed his temper. He was visibly angry. He stormed over and disassembled our table. The food hadn’t arrived but the drinks had. Because we are ethical, we paid our $300.00 tab. We didn’t eat a single bite. We didn’t finish our drinks. So we paid $300.00 to be embarrassed and insulted by an unprofessional manager and the owner who left. At this point our out of town guests arrived but the manager had taken the place settings and tablecloth off of the table. Thankfully, we have connections. We walked across the street to Picollo Sogno. Within ten minutes, all ten of us were seated in a beautiful outdoor space. The staff was attentive, the food was fresh, delicious and perfectly cooked. The outdoor space is hard to describe but it would make a perfect wedding venue. The best part was the waiter wasn’t angry and we were warmly welcomed. Even better than that we got to eat and drink as much as we wanted. We were encouraged to linger, have dessert and coffee. When I say we ordered one of every appetizer, I mean that literally. I won’t say what our tab was or what we tipped. I can say it is La Scarola’s loss and our gain. I had never been to La Scarola and even before the manager lost his temper, I wasn’t impressed. It was dirty, loud and crowded. I can’t comment on the food. We paid for it but was boxed up and left on the street. If the food was like the manager, it wouldn’t have been edible. If the food was like the dining space, it would have been filthy. I’d like to tell you about the party they were so rude to. One of the guests is a top trauma surgeon at a level one trauma center. One guest is a highly ranked restaurateur. Three guests were attorneys and one is the head of the bar association. Every single person at that table was well mannered and gracious even after their unprofessionalism. I normally try to leave positive reviews but unfortunately, I cannot do that for this restaurant. If you are looking for a great Italian restaurant, this is not that. However, across the street is Picollo Sogno. Not only will the food be perfectly prepared, you will also be treated respectfully. La Scarola was cramped, loud, dirty and the staff were incompetent and unprofessional. The owner clearly has no control over his restaurant staff. If La Scarola was appropriately managed, I wouldn’t have made this post. Had we been told there was an issue because four of the ten guests arrived a few minutes late, I would not make this post. If we hadn’t been seated and ordered, I wouldn’t make this post. The restaurant had several chances to earn a positive review and they failed every single time. We hold ourselves accountable. If we had been told there was a problem with our out or town guests being late, we would have understood. The issue is they didn’t say anything while we were seated. They didn’t say anything when we ordered. They did not communicate their policy. They did take our money for food that wasn’t eaten or served. It was boxed and left on the street. We left it for the rats. It came from rats and was left for rats so it seems appropriate. Want great Italian food and to be treated with respect? Walk across the street to Picolla Sogno and you will experience all of...

It’s really quite mind boggling to me that this place is so highly rated. Probably the worst Italian food I’ve had in recent memory.

Our evening meal started off poorly. We had a 9pm reservation and at 9pm people with 8:30pm reservations weren’t even being seated yet. A “reservation” here means “priority in the wait line”. They do not hold tables. The host told us to come back at 9:30pm and said he’d comp us something nice. That never happened and when we were seated at 10pm, we were annoyed. Then the food came out and it got worse.

To start, the Chianti wine: Chianti wines are graded by quality and have a little colored sticker on the bottle. Pink indicates the highest quality and generally those bottles in Italy can sell for under 10€. I asked the waiter about their Chianti wines and he was completely oblivious to this fact. We got a $45 bottle of a lower quality Chianti (he said they didn’t have any of the pink-labeled) and it was terrible. No one at our table even finished their wine.

The bruschetta tomatoes were very mealy and bland. Not surprising during winter, but it was clear the tomatoes were average food grade quality and for $8, I’d definitely pass.

The fagioli (a pasta soup) was okayish. I wouldn’t get again.

The ravioli main dish we got was appalling. It’s texture wasn’t uniform, alternating between mushy and firm. It was very bland and tasted like it had been frozen and microwaved.

The chicken and veal dishes we had were fine but not considering the price. The chicken breast, again was standard Cysco quality chicken (frozen breast that comes out thin and pretty tough).

The risotto was probably the worst I’ve ever had and was very dry and bland. Also broccoli shouldn’t be in risotto.

We wanted dessert but were so turned off by the food that we passed.

I really love Italian food and there are some great places. This place doesn’t come close to anything in Boston or NYC. And it’s not cheap. I rank all my reviews on a price adjusted basis and I’d probably give La Scarola 1.5. I will absolutely not return. If you’re looking for Italian food in Chicago I’d suggest...

Horrible experience waiter overcharged us for our meal and didn’t state that the spinach topping was an extra $12 charge! Will never return. Ugh really gross feeling in my mouth because of it :(

Additional Edit: So I was reading some of the other comments and noticed the rather large hunched Italian guy that doesn’t know English with an apron that just walks around the tables are stares you down. He was making us really uncomfortable the entire time I was thinking to myself, “dude, don’t you have something more useful to do around here?” 😅 Additionally when we were ordering our dishes we noticed there are 2 types of Raviolis one with marinara and one with spinach and cheese sauce. I wanted to customize mine so it’s marinara and spinach. To which he responded, “How bout we bring Spinach ON the side?” I said ok because it’d be like a topping. He didn’t mention it would be an additional $12 charge! After we got the bill he actually charged us that spinach as a “side dish” and insisted that he told me “Would you like spinach AS a side not ON the side” his words are very deceptive. Obviously I got mad and told him why didn’t you tell me it would be an additional $12 for a frikkin topping when it’s not even listed on the menu as a stupid “side dish”?! If I knew it was that much we wouldn’t have gotten it! He refused to listen to me and insisted that’s what I asked for. What a horrible and rude experience for him to behave this way in a “Customer Service” job! I also work in customs service and if I behaved like him I’d probably have something thrown at me! I’m glad we didn’t end up talking to the manager because I also read that the manager is equally rude and disrespectful towards customers. It’s really shameful they carry the Italian identity which such disrespect. I work with some Italians that hold on to their honor and loyalty. Just not these sleazebags. Oh well, Never again will I have to see their...