Riccardo Osteria — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I’m surprised this place gets such high reviews. The food was not great, and between 4 of us, no one walked away with a meal that they thought was more than just okay. As a party of 4, we were seated at a table the same size as parties of 2. We were so squished and by the time we had an appetizer on the table, our drinks, and small plates, there was no room left for the other food we ordered. The wait staff was subpar, the guy who seated us was great but after that, it was a few different people coming around, some of which we couldn’t really understand because they were speaking so fast. The Happy Hour that is advertised out front is only available at the bar, which is not stated on the sign, so we ordered and were shocked when we got our final bill which did not include any of the happy hour pricing. I ordered the lentil soup and it was overwhelmingly salty, my husband got the special that looked like a pile of mushy noodles with very light sauce. Nothing looked that appetizing when it came out. We ended up spending a lot of money to eat half the appetizers, 1 bite of soup, and one third of the main dish. Chicago has plenty of amazing Italian restaurants, unfortunately this is not...

Nice Italian restaurant ~ I recommend the pasta dishes. They're fresh and I've never been disappointed by the sauce (i loved the carbonara even if I find they could do better with the bacon pieces). Outside the main plates, nothing crazy. It's good and fresh, but the presentation of the plates, the flavor/quality of the products, etc - everything could be better (if you want to be picky - because I've always had pleasure to eat there). The atmosphere is nice (not too much decor and even if I hate TV at restaurants (it's not a bar)) - I like the sober style. As an European lass I also like the fact that the waiters are not all over you and let you breath - a subtle touch of Italy in the manners - I like it!

Overall, the restaurant is a nice Italian/homemade-style cuisine and you pay the right price for a good quality of food and service. Chill dinner spot.

(Rating: 1/5 - horrible don't go // 2/5 - it's OK/fair, but won't go back/recommend // 3/5 - it's good, can do better, but give it a go // 4/5 - it's GOOD, you should try and I'd like to go back soon// 5/5 - I dream about it and praise this place to...

Restaurant Week 2024 Update:

I happened to come back here in Jan 2024. We didn’t order anything off the restaurant week menu but this wasn’t the same experience. The veal meatballs were dried up and much more generic than last time. I posted a picture to show just how different these dishes were.

Original:

Really authentic Italian experience here.

I loved the presence of veal on the menu.

We got bottles of red wine, some appetizers and some entrees to split. The veal meatballs were really tasty and you can use the bread provided to dip into the sauce. The beef carpaccio was also great, as well as the mozzarella. Of the appetizers, the veal was the most tasty.

For the entrees, we got a short rib ragu pasta and a veal au jus. Both of these hit the spot too. Meaty, flavorful, good quantity of food.

We really enjoyed dining here too - surprisingly, it was not very busy for a Saturday night but I think it’s a bit underrated. If you want something authentic, you should check...