Via Carducci La Sorella — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Just really let down and disappointed at how we were treated. Family came in from out of town, we could've taken them anywhere but we chose Via Carducci La Sorella on Division. We are a polite bunch, light hearted and always tip well and in cash. I'm sure everyone has had a disappointing experience eating out but this was borderline offensive, to me anyway. We ordered and then forgot to add a salad, the server was walking towards me as I signaled and called out, he just continued walking right past me while maintaining eye contact, lol, it was the weirdest thing. So ok, fine, after everyone comments on how obviously I was ignored i get up and find a menu, then another server who actually stopped added the salad.

Then, later, and we still kind of laugh about this but the guy (server) kind of somewhat snuck up on us at a weird moment and from another angle and literally yelled "HOW IS EVERYTHING?" I don't even know what to say. Not sure what we did to offend anyone, Maybe he was having a bad day, I honestly don't know.

So then finally after a few days I'm still thinking about this so I decide to call and let them know what happened. So I get on the phone with the owner and he starts questioning me, asking our names and what we ordered, then basically accuses me of lying. And then when I thought this whole thing couldn't be any more strange he tells me to come to the restaurant. I'm like why? And his reply was "So I can see who you are." I'm thoroughly confused at this point on top of upset. I don't know what he was getting at but the whole thing just creeped me out.

Maybe we were not sophisticated enough for this place don't know, I'm just bummed that my mother and father in law, who are the nicest, warmest and funniest people I know had to deal with that when we just wanted to have a nice dinner. They joke about it now and we keep it light but it does bother me still so much so that I'm writing this a little while after.

The food was not bad though, hopefully you will have a better experience than I if you decide to go here.

edit and we still left over 20% tip in cash besides the rudeness. Not going to screw anybody even if they're mean,...

I love old school Italian, the simplicity and fresh ingredients, it is all about the love that was put into the recipe from generation ago. You will find exactly that here. It is a cozy joint with cramped spaces, on a Saturday night before the Chicago Marathon, there were many large tables and loud noises in the main dining room, we were seated in the side room which was much more quieter. There was some confusion with the tables service but after the initial chaos, we started to get our orders. The service was actually quite fast considering how busy they were. We loved the Grilled Calamari Calabrese Style, I had very good grilled Calamari before, but this southern Italian variation puts in the additional veggies, garlic and the sauce was unbelievable. Although I didn't specially taste the Calabrian chili, maybe it was part of the sauce. The Peperone Ripieno is not something common that can be found in Italian joints anymore, the marinara sauce was one of the best that I have haf, and I loved the peas, everything was baked to perfection. The pizza was good, we had the Rustica, sweet and savory with figs and prosciutto, but the crust was just ok for me. I had high hopes for the pizza crust because of the pizza bread that we got in the beginning, but it was a little dry for me, no chew nor crispy, so it is not exactly Roman style nor Neapolitan style. The Seafood pasta was great, al dante noodles, the same awesome marinara sauce, plenty of seafood. The Carbonara was not what we have expected, I can't say that I like it and I can't say that I hate it, because there is, in my opinion, to much onion in it and it completely overwhelmed any of the creamy and cheesy flavor of the traditional dish. Also what happened to the yolk? The tiramitsu was OK, standard. But the Affogato was just WOW. The expresso was the best part of it, I really wanted to find out where they got the beans because it is definitely not the traditional illy or Lavazza, it is just like the ones that I had in Italy and definitely the best that I have ever had in...

My wife and I ate at Via Carducci last Saturday...or at least we tried to. We sat down and ordered drinks, and I started with a Caesar salad while we decided on our entrees. After eating the salad for about five minutes, I passed the plate to my wife so she could take a bite, and she immediately uncovered a massive, live cockroach on its back on the plate. It seemed injured because it didn't run away, but it was on its back and its legs were fully moving.

The chef was coming out to deliver dishes to other tables, so we flagged him down and showed him. I don't know if he was just shocked, but his response was to ask us if we wanted another salad. My wife went inside (we were seated on the sidewalk patio) and talked to the host, who sent the server out to offer us another round of drinks after she showed them the photo she took of the plate. Unfortunately I was driving, so I couldn't accept, and we left.

I don't think the servers handled the situation horribly — and I want to recognize it was a Saturday night and the place was really busy — but I was a little surprised they didn't take down our contact information so we could talk to management later on. I've been unlucky enough to get weird stuff in my food before, and I've seen places go above and beyond to make it right, enough that I have gone back to the restaurant again. But I don't think I'll be back to...