Diners' Choice: Italian restaurants in Chicago / Illinois

OpenTable

Updated December 05, 2024

Looking for restaurants with the best overall Italian cuisine in Chicago / Illinois? You’re in the right place. Each month OpenTable analyzes more than 400,000 new diner reviews. We sort the results by category to help you discover new favorites. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Gamba Ristorante

4.8

4.8 (1176)

$31 to $50

Italian

Merrillville, IN

About the restaurant

The former owners of the Venezia Bar & Grill and Café Venezia, Benito and Hilda Gamba, have combined their efforts into the Gamba Ristorante. Located in Merrillville, this restaurant is housed in an architectural masterpiece, which is hard to miss with its circular design and copper roof. Modeled after upscale restaurants in exotic European locations, the menu offers classic Italian cuisine. The wine room boasts storage space for 1,000 bottles. A banquet hall holds up to 175 people and looks out onto an open courtyard.

Top review

Thomas

Dined 3 days ago

This place is top-notch! My mother and I have been going here for just about a year, and every time, we walk away very satisfied. You are greeted by the bartender as you arrive. Walk through to the hostess station and give your name on the reservation. (I highly recommend you use the Open Table App to set your reservation. This place fills up quickly, and you want to make sure you have a table reserved so you are not waiting.) The waiter and employees are very nice and courteous to you and are very knowledgeable (the server) about the dishes on the menu. Almost always, you see the owner walking around and he engages with you about your food, wait staff, and server, as well as your overall experience there. He is very warm and kind and it makes the meal just that much better.

Rosario's Pizzeria and Ristorante

4.9

4.9 (143)

$30 and under

Italian

Roselle

About the restaurant

The Bucaro family has been proudly serving the Roselle, Schaumburg, Elk Grove, Medinah, Hoffman Estates, Itasca and Bloomingdale communities since 1976. Rosarios offers a variety of authentic Italian cuisine including pizza, pasta specialties, chicken entrees, veal, steaks and chops, seafood dishes, weekly chef specials and much more. Happy hour is available at the bar for select hours of the week, live entertainment two nights out of the month, and A&E Gaming slot machines are available for individuals 21 and up.

Top review

SandyVIP

Dined on Dec 13, 2024

Met friends at ROSARIOS and we had an awesome dinner. The pizza was perfect and our entrees were a generous portion with amazing flavor! Chicken Parm, Chicken Marsala, and Osso Bucco were delicious. Roberto, our server was great! The desserts are luscious as well. Tiramisu is homemade with great flavor We highly recommend ROSARIOS for their tasty options and authentic Italian cuisine. It’s a neighborhood gem.

Enzo and Lucia

4.8

4.8 (1434)

$31 to $50

Italian

Long Grove

About the restaurant

We invite you to enjoy a delicious and authentic Italian meal at Enzo and Lucia Ristorante. We use only fresh ingredients in our classic Italian dishes and cherished family recipes. Homemade Italian gourmet cappellacci stuffed with seasonal ingredients is the specialty at our Long Grove restaurant housed in a former and historic Victorian-style home erected in 1876.

Our outdoor patio gives dining “all’aperto” a whole new meaning, bordered by colorful flowers and foliage, the soothing sound of a fountain, and relaxing background music. Live music on the weekends.

Top review

GloriaVIP

Dined 4 days ago

Wonderful food! Waitress was also wonderful and very accommodating. My only complaint would be to offer a side salad with the entree. Even at an extra charge would be fine. The Cesear salad was wonderful but way too big for 2 people to share as a side salad.

Frankie's Since 1988

4.9

4.9 (3736)

$30 and under

Italian

Tinley Park

About the restaurant

The Santoro Family has been in the food service industry since 1988. We renovated AND re-branded almost one year ago in May of 2023. We created a NEW CONCEPT we call MODERN CASUAL CHIC...The new name is Frankie's Since 1988 as an ode to our original restaurant on the Southside of Chicago.

No longer a fine dining white tablecloth restaurant. Our new vibe is energetic music, vibrant craft cocktails homemade pastas, authentic Southern Italian style pizzas (from our new Marra Forni oven) and most popular dishes, such as Ciambotta (sausage & peppers), meatballs, Alaskan wild king salmon, Chicken "limone" with a lemon butter & capers sauce amongst others.

Our updated menu is a combination of old classics from the past 15 years in Tinley Park and new items with the same wonderful service guests have come to know and love from Frankie's.

Top review

Rick

Dined 2 days ago

The food was great. Our server was helpful and available. Great experience.

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4.8

4.8 (2614)

$30 and under

Italian

Orland Park

About the restaurant

You’ve never tasted Italian food like this before. Pasta made by hand every morning; fruits and vegetables sourced from a local farmer - just for us; fresh fish flown in daily and our meats aged to mouth-watering perfection. We have taken old school Italian and added a modern twist.

Top review

MelissaVIP

Dined 4 days ago

I went to dinner with my team from work for a Christmas dinner. We had a lovely evening with good food, conversation, and drinks. The wait staff was just attentive enough. The food came promptly so we lingered some afterward talking and never felt rushed.

Villa Verone

4.8

4.8 (2446)

$30 and under

Italian

Geneva

About the restaurant

For a taste of old Italy, head to Villa Verone Ristorante Italiano, housed in an 1849 historic stone home in downtown Geneva. For over 27 years, Villa Verone has embraced the values of authentic southern Italian cooking and an Italian family. Come and enjoy a delicious meal, great atmosphere and fabulous service. Celebrate your next special event with us. Private rooms available.

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Patty

Dined 3 days ago

I’ve dined here several times. Food, drinks and service are always great!

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Popular dish

Lasagna

Il Sogno

4.8

4.8 (1770)

$30 and under

Italian

Wheaton

About the restaurant

OUR GOAL IS NOT ONLY TO HAVE REPEATING CUSTOMERS BUT TO HAVE YOU AS PART OF OUR FRIENDS/FAMILY.

Top review

Brandon

Dined 6 days ago

Great food and atmosphere, very attentive staff and overall a wonderful dining experience!

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4.9

4.9 (1149)

$30 and under

Italian

Lincoln Park

About the restaurant

Riccardo Michi comes from a restaurant Family in Milan established since 1943 called Girarrosto, one of the first Tuscan restaurants in town and still operating.

After moving to the US, Riccardo opened Sonny Bono, IL Giardino Ristorante and Madeo Ristorante in Beverly Hills. In 1987 he helped his cousin Roberto Ruggeri open the first Bice restaurant in New York City. Since then, he has worked in the opening of many of the restaurants in the group. In 2002 Riccardo moved to Chicago with his wife Veronica to be the executive chef of Bice on Ontario.

Finally Riccardo and Veronica, also a chef, decided to open their own place and in 2006 called Riccardo Trattoria. Considered by many to be the top Italian restaurant in town, receiving the Bib Gourmand from Michelin in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Now, Riccardo and Veronica have opened Riccardo Enoteca, right across the street from Riccardo Trattoria on Clark.

Top review

Mark

Dined 1 day ago

great holiday dinner with our fam. everything was rock solid. great service.

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Popular dish

LASAGNA AL GRATIN

Taurasi

4.8

4.8 (658)

$31 to $50

Italian

Westmont

About the restaurant

Taurasi is a full bar casual sophisticated dining establishment serving traditional and modern Italian cuisine and steaks paired with fine wines.
At Taurasi almost everything is made at the moment and almost everything is made in house including noodles, dressings, sauces and desserts. Simple!
Taurasi is one of the few restaurants in the area operated by a second level certified wine Sommelier.

Top review

Bryan

Dined 6 days ago

Taurasi is truly a somewhat hidden gem in the Western Suburbs. Southern Italian cuisine at its finest. Prices are very reasonable for the offerings.

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Viaggio Ristorante and Lounge

4.8

4.8 (2548)

$30 and under

Italian

West Loop

About the restaurant

*PLEASE CALL TO SEE OTHER AVAILABLE RESERVATION TIMES*

An authentic Italian dining experience in the heart of Chicago's lively West Loop neighborhood

We offer an elegant and charming dining experience that keeps guests coming back again and again. Our large menu of regional Italian pastas, meats and fishes is rounded out by a selection of salads, soups, and decadent desserts. Popular staples like Rigatoni with Braised Pork Gravy and Eggplant Parmesan are served alongside Executive Chef Nicolas Biscaglio’s signature interpretations of classic Italian dishes. We use only the highest quality ingredients to ensure a deliciously memorable experience!

As a hospitality-driven establishment, it’s our goal to make every guest that walks through the door feel like family. At Viaggio, we invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy!

Top review

Richard

Dined 2 days ago

We had the rigatoni & lamb chops. Both meals were delicious. We also had a couple of the limoncello martinis which tasty!

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