Peanut Park Trattoria — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

There are so many incredible dining establishments to choose from in Chicago but we chose Peanut Park because of sentimental ties to the area. Additionally, the photos on Instagram looked mouthwatering so we wanted to try it out. We were looking forward to a wonderful evening but to say we wasted our Valentine's Day here is an understatement. We sadly will not be returning.

Upon arriving for our 7:45 reservation, our table was not ready, which is totally fine, we grabbed two seats at the bar and grabbed some great drinks. When walking back to our table, I realized they had stuffed this place to the brim. We were squeezing between chairs and I felt rude having to ask almost every patron along the way to way to excuse me. We were seated around 8:00 and immediately placed our full order with the waitress. My husband was curious what was for dessert and was disappointed when we were told they only had Gelato and ran out of Tiramisu. He jokingly replied "but it's Valentine's Day" and the waitress said "you should have come earlier" 1. you sat us late 2. IT'S ONLY 8:00 PM - ON VALENTINE'S DAY! Upon taking our order she disappeared for the next hour.

During that hour we waited for her to return to take another drink order, which never happened. When our appetizer arrived, I had to eat with my fingers due to having no fork, plate, or napkin; it was now 9 pm and I was ravenous. My husband had to physically get up and ask someone for place settings. After an additional 30 minutes, we surveyed the room to see that quite literally no one was being served food. At 9:30 we made the decision to call it quits. I had to get up and seek out the waitress to let them we would just take the pasta, forget the half chicken and broccolini.

The pasta immediately came out. As my husband and I poked around the pasta, we joked that they must have run out of blue stone crab too because there was nothing in here. The pasta we were served was literally dry noodles! I am honestly laughing at what we were served versus the pictures on Instagram.

I'm honestly sad we went here. This was our first Valentine's Day as new parents, date night is far and few between. We have so many other places to choose from in the city and this was a...

I visited this place for the first time although I’ve been living in the area for awhile.

Initial thought:

The hostesses are sweet and welcoming which is something I’ve not been seeing as much in the city. Their attitude really brightened my mood and made me want to come in and dine. I seated myself at the bar but during busy times I’d recommend a reservation.

The ambience is really good. It is a local, modern trattoria, very similar to something you’d find in Rome in the contemporary areas.

The bar:

Bartender was personable. Good recommendations. Good conversation.

I started off with the Espresso Martini hold the Irish Cream. It was sweet enough without the cream and the flavor had good balance with the vanilla vodka and espresso. It was robust and refreshing and I barely tasted the vodka. A dangerously well made drink. 8.5/10

For an appetizer, I got the braised octopus and I thought the star of the dish was delicious! The octopus was cooked well, presented well, and spiced well. However, I felt that the tomato sauce seeped into the bed of focaccia bread and made the bread soggy. I’d prefer if the bread was toasted and crispy on the side or omitted completely, but that’s just my opinion. 7/10.

I got the pasta with mussels for entree. The mussels were delicious and the pasta was al dente. 8/10

I closed out the meal with the Homemade Tiramisu and I have to say. It was one of the most delicious tiramisus that I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. It was light, portioned well, had a masterful balance of sweet and bitterness. 11/10.

The Service was impeccable. Everyone was friendly and accommodating. Definitely will recommend to others.

4.5/5 leaning towards 5/5 experience!

I recommend for...

My boyfriend and I went to this restaurant for dinner two months ago. When Peter Park trattoria originally opened I had read reviews and was super excited to try the restaurant. Though my excitement dimmed after reading more recent reviews that were less complimentary.

When we arrived we were greeted immediately by the hostess and seated. Everyone in the restaurant was very cheerful.

We started off with the focaccia that they offer complimentary. We thought it was good, much better than I was expecting based on reading some of the reviews. We then ordered two pasta dishes for our meal. One of the dishes was good but the other was terrible.

It came out of the kitchen tasting like someone had dumped a bag of salt on it. When I complained to our waitress she offered to have it remade which I accepted. She later came back to the table and said the chef tasted the pasta and agreed it was far too salty to eat. I thought the pasta that was remade was quite good.

They did offer a comp drink or dessert for the trouble but I didn't really want to drink that night and my boyfriend and I don't like tiramisu which is really their only dessert. They then only offered a discount on the remade pasta, they were unwilling to comp the pasta fully or give a discount on the full bill.

Overall, salty pasta aside I thought this restaurant was good but there are so many wonderful Italian restaurants in the immediate area around the restaurant and in Chicago I probably...