Il Porcellino - Chicago

I have decided to re-write my 4 year old review for Il Porcellino because this is literally how long ago I have visited this place. We simply wanted to come back to see if this place has changed much and the conclusion is............nope. The food isstill good and simple if my memory serves. Fast service at very reasonable prices. To us it is the middle of the road, if youjust want to have some simple and old school Italian food but not with the typical portions, this is a good choice. But if youwant date night, anniversary type of food and vibe, this is not it. There are a few other traditional Italian joints in thearea which are more memorable in terms of creativity and flavors. However maybe my judgement is a bit biased since I didn'tget to have my seafood pasta tonight and I forgot how they make it here. I also miss the balsamic on the Caprese and the muchneeded garlic flavor in the chicken vesuvio. It will be a while before we come back here, if we remember this place even thoughwe live only 3 blocks away. Hopefully it is not 4 years later.

Great downtown location. The place is always busy and even with reservations expect to wait a little once you check in. We had drinks here once before at the bar and this Saturday we came in for dinner. I had gnocchi and my wife had a shrimp scampi pastadish. I was disappointed about the quality of either one of these dishes. The presentation of specialty cocktails in standardthick wall glasses was average at best. The desert, tiramisu was delicious which is why I am adding an extra star to thereview. The bathrooms in this restaurant are not very clean which is why we will not be coming back. On the Saturday night wewere there paper towels were all over the bathroom floor. One of these papers got stock to the bottom of my shoes. Luckily, Ilooked down and realized what happened before getting back to the table.

They definitely deserve 5 stars. We didn?t have a reservation but they were so kind to get us in. Service was fast. Food was delicious. Their mushrooms were epic, I would love to know how they make it.

I came here for my birthday last year 2021) with my out-of-town) family and we all really enjoyed it. They even brought out our dessert with a candle on it. So I took my friend who was visiting here, since she had been complaining how disappointing thefood experience) in Chicago had been. We didn?t make a reservation did not have the best experience with the wait. Anyway,we got seated after ~45 minutes and ordered our food. We got Orecchiette, Spicy Scampi, Spaghetti, and Tiramisu. I liked thefood and I was really satisfied and as for my friend, she thought it was okay but better than the other places we had beento! I really liked the lights decoration inside the restaurant. The lighting was dark inside and the noise level was quiteloud; nevertheless, I had a great time with my friend and we both enjoyed the ambiance.

The place is very nice. Remembers the Italian restaurants of the past. we waited just a bit to get the table (the restaurant was very busy). the offer of food also reflects a somewhat dated Italian cuisine but overall the food was good. the burrata didn'tmake me crazy while the squid was really good. the staff was really friendly and nice and considering the position of therestaurant the price is more than fair. it was a nice evening