The West Loop Italian Restaurant Power Rankings

Published 1 day ago• 6 minute read

CHIGuide

The best and worst places to eat pasta near Hamburger University.

A fork lifting up some tagliatelle.

photo credit: Kim Kovacik

Italian food is a big deal in the West Loop. Restaurants serving spaghetti and pizzas even outnumber steakhouses and relatively safe pedestrian crosswalks. You could have a solid red sauce lunch at an old-school spot steps away from the city’s best cacio e pepe. But with so many options, it’s important to know which places to prioritize. That’s where our ranking of the West Loop's Italian restaurants comes in handy.

What Our Ratings Mean

Unrated: This is a restaurant we want to re-visit before rating, or it’s a coffee shop, bar, or dessert shop. We only rate spots where you can eat a full meal.

Monteverde is at the top of this list for one reason: it’s our favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago. They take less traditional approaches to classics, like a burrata and ham starter that becomes a DIY sandwich operation. Everything we’ve eaten here is fantastic, from the housemade pastas like cacio e pepe and tortelli di zucca to the ragu alla napoletana with precisely cooked pork shank, sausage, meatballs, and fusilli. Come on a date, with a group, or by yourself, and go heavy on pasta.

The regular dinner service is booked out for months, but they serve lunch Tuesday through Saturday, and your chances of getting a table go up exponentially if you look for a reservation then. The bar is first come, first served, so come here alone and plan to take up an absurd amount of space for you, your pastas, and your pork shank.

Matt Haas

A spread of pastas, pizzas, and appetizers on a table inside of a dark wooden dining room.

Il Carciofo is the newest spot on this list, and also one of the few restaurants to focus on Roman food. Many of the best dishes have just a handful of ingredients, like the creamy rigatoni alla carbonara that's al dente perfection. Or their namesake fried artichokes imported from Rome, which make us want to wait at O’Hare with a welcome sign.

Reservations are released a month out, so as long as you’re planning on eating about four weeks from now, you should be in the clear. If you want to eat there this week—well, hopefully you’re ok with sneaking out early from work or eating dinner right before bedtime. Most available slots (if there are any) are only from around 5pm or past 9pm.

Kim Kovacik

Fioretta image

This Italian steakhouse on the edge of Fulton Market goes hard in the mid-century glamour department, complete with bartenders in waistcoats, and a checkered marble floor. Fortunately, for people who enjoy loud and fun meals, the theme works well. Fioretta's menu has excellent steaks, as well as idyllic al dente pasta, and chicken parmesan and branzino that almost outshine the beef.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardmembers can unlock access to primetime reservations on OpenTable through the Visa Dining Collection. Find exclusive bookings here.

For a dinner that doesn’t compromise on food just because there are nine of you at the table, go to Alla Vita. The menu isn’t going to blow your mind with creativity, but the pizza has a chewy wood-fired crust, and the silky cacio e pepe ricotta dumplings will prompt someone at your table to wave a spoon in the air like a 2000s Yoplait commercial. Alla Vita’s gorgeous dining room is also roughly the size of Terminal 2 at O’Hare, so it can fit all of your friends from the pickleball court.

Reservations are released on Opentable 60 days in advance at 12:01am. Options for prime dinner times are few and far between, so plan on booking a month or so ahead of time. Or grab a seat at the bar or on the patio right when they open.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardmembers can unlock access to primetime reservations on OpenTable through the Visa Dining Collection. Find exclusive bookings here.

Mart Anthony's

Mart Anthony's Italian Restaurant image

If Mart Anthony’s looks like a typical neighborhood corner bar, well, that’s because it is. But it's also a pretty great Italian restaurant where the servers and bartenders will chat with you even if you’re not a regular. Get the braciole or the lasagna, both of which provide leftovers for about three days. We also like the thick chicken parmesan that’s almost like a deep dish doppelgänger.

Christina Slaton

Bar Siena image

Bar Siena is a casual, trendy Italian restaurant serving just fine small plates and solid pizza. It’s useful for groups who want loud music and the opportunity for West Loop people-watching before going out in the neighborhood, or for a date when you need to break the ice with a sighting of a former mayor.

Sandy Noto

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Viaggio has been around for more than 10 years, which is about 50 in West Loop years. It’s handy if you want the vibe of a neighborhood institution, but are content to eat dishes that won’t make any new West Loop residents. The food is exactly what you want it to be: tasty and comforting. Get the meatball salad. Yes, you read that correctly.

Gioia Ristorante E Pastificio image

If your in-laws suddenly appear at your doorstep, demanding fancy pasta dinner in the West Loop right now, go to Gioia. It’s busy, upscale, and has decent handmade pasta, like bucatini cacio e pepe, pici with ragu, and paccheri mancini prepared tableside. As a bonus, there’s a bar that doesn’t get too loud, in case you’d like to have a gentle post-dinner talk about boundaries.

Christina Slaton

The interior of Formento's.

We like Formento’s old-school classics well enough, like a chicken parmesan the size of a plate. But the serving-size-to-price-to-quality ratio is all over the place. So save Formento’s for a sleepy night out and take advantage of their dog-friendly outdoor tables on one of Randolph’s calmer stretches.

Derrick Koch

Gino & Marty's image

Gino & Marty’s is a busy Italian clubstaurant on Randolph. It’s also expensive, chaotic, and not very good. The cramped dining room overflows with people waiting 40 minutes past their reservation time. Once seated, you’ll have an uninspired meal that’ll take way longer than it should, filled with overdressed salads and mealy pasta. And if you love mixing Chubby Checker’s music with overcooked $72 steak, you’re in luck: you’ll probably hear “The Twist” in between some show tunes. Just book a table at Monteverde instead.