headed here tonight . . .

http://monteverdechicago.com/

let me know how it is; we're going sunday night.

I really liked it. Went with a buddy from law school that was in from out of town. Had reservations at 6:00 p.m., and the place was already packed. The decor reminds me of a Restoration Hardware (I don't mean that in a bad way) -- everything was clean and streamlined, with some distressed wood. Even though there were a lot of people, it wasn't particularly noisy. All the pasta is handmade on site. There were 2 women making the pasta behind the bar; it was pretty cool because they had mirrors on the ceiling so you could watch what they were making. And the whole menu is all small plates. We had the Hamachi Crudo (really good), Arancini (probably the one miss of the night -- a little too salty), artichoke and sunchoke crostini (awesome), Arrabbiata (comes with whole shrimp -- by far the best dish of the night), pappardelle (really, really good), and a bottle of wine. All in all, I think the tab was $110, which wasn't horrible considering the wine.

I think you'll like it.

I really liked it. Went with a buddy from law school that was in from out of town. Had reservations at 6:00 p.m., and the place was already packed. The decor reminds me of a Restoration Hardware (I don't mean that in a bad way) -- everything was clean and streamlined, with some distressed wood. Even though there were a lot of people, it wasn't particularly noisy. All the pasta is handmade on site. There were 2 women making the pasta behind the bar; it was pretty cool because they had mirrors on the ceiling so you could watch what they were making. And the whole menu is all small plates. We had the Hamachi Crudo (really good), Arancini (probably the one miss of the night -- a little too salty), artichoke and sunchoke crostini (awesome), Arrabbiata (comes with whole shrimp -- by far the best dish of the night), pappardelle (really, really good), and a bottle of wine. All in all, I think the tab was $110, which wasn't horrible considering the wine.

I think you'll like it.

you should post this on chicago yelp

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard or GTFO!

I really liked it. Went with a buddy from law school that was in from out of town. Had reservations at 6:00 p.m., and the place was already packed. The decor reminds me of a Restoration Hardware (I don't mean that in a bad way) -- everything was clean and streamlined, with some distressed wood. Even though there were a lot of people, it wasn't particularly noisy. All the pasta is handmade on site. There were 2 women making the pasta behind the bar; it was pretty cool because they had mirrors on the ceiling so you could watch what they were making. And the whole menu is all small plates. We had the Hamachi Crudo (really good), Arancini (probably the one miss of the night -- a little too salty), artichoke and sunchoke crostini (awesome), Arrabbiata (comes with whole shrimp -- by far the best dish of the night), pappardelle (really, really good), and a bottle of wine. All in all, I think the tab was $110, which wasn't horrible considering the wine.

I think you'll like it.

this was really great; i think my wife liked it even more than me. we ordered the octopus spiedini, ocean trout, cannelloni saltimbocca, and the cacio whey pepe. the cacio whey pepe was the only misfire; it was very good, just sort of bland by nature after the other dishes.

we'll be back for the ragu alla napoletana; it was just too much food for two and we wanted to try an assortment of dishes. it looks amazing:

oh man, i really LOVE a good french-dipped sammich

Nice. I came here specifically hoping you'd post. How was the trout? I really wanted to try that.

have you ever had a chicago italian beef? i get that sucker with hot peppers and dipped. it's like the food of the gods.

what's your favorite beef place? i've only had al's and portillo's.

i've had a lot of them. but honestly, i'd still take a beef from portillo's over all of them. mr. beef is really overrated in my opinion (i like a good tasting giardiniera, and there's is a bland, oily mess with no olive or celery). al's is ok, but the beef is pretty mediocre. roma's in portage park is really good too.

why is everything so good at portillo's? it's amazing, really.

haha, my wife just emailed me that she's made another reservation at monteverde for next month. must've made quite the impression.