My friend and I have been on a food mission. We had to travel to Chicago from central Florida on business so decided to hit every restaurant we could find. We have been called food snobs because we really enjoy great food and we are very pickyI try and do a review on yelp on each restaurant that we dine in. Especially some of the ones we have tried from triple D's which were very disappointing. Anyway back to the person who gave this place three stars when you haven't even stepped foot into the place is beyond me!!!! Yes this place is nothing to look at inside and out and it is true the food sure makes up for it. The other great thing about this place is that you can bring your own wine.
My friend ordered the chicken marsala that came with a salad and a side of pasta in a wonderful red sauce. The chicken was fork tender with mushrooms on top and the marsala sauce was a light sauce and not heavy or over powered by the marsala. The salad is just iceberg lettuce with some matchstick carrots. Nothing fancy but the salad dressing was not just straight up oil and vinegar but something they make up themselves. The bread they serve comes out of the oven nice and hot and real crusty. I could have eaten a whole loaf with the real butter they serve.
I ordered the eggplant parm that was outstanding. I usually like my eggplant breaded then stacked. This was not breaded but fantastic and the portion was out of control. You could easily split the dinner but of course not me. I also ordered a side dish of gnocchi that was covered in a red sauce and melted mozzarella on top. Now this dish was not on the dinner menu but I saw it on the lunch menu and asked Maria if I could get an order and she told me in her heavy Italian accent "but of course. I make you anything you want". Now this dish was enough for three people easy. Oh yeah. I also had the pasta fagioli soup that was out of this world. You can tell everything is home made. It is so nice to go into a family restaurant instead of a chain. Maria who cooks all day with her son and also takes your order and brings your food to the table with the help of her husband and what a joy to listen to the chatter in the back in Italian and the pounding of the chicken and veal and the huge pots in the kitchen that they must cook all the sauces in. We just couldn't bring ourselves to order dessert. I highly recommend this place and the prices are more than reasonable