Caffe De Luca

Disclaimer: was here for an event so can’t really speak to price or service really.
Food: grilled calamari is LEGIT, chicken pesto pasta awesome, pizzas just ok, salad good too
Ambiance/​service: nice upstairs for events; bartenders were attentive; waiters quick to clear plates and refill drink orders
Parking: free street parking nearby if you can find it; some paid metered parking too

These are some wonderful folks – we held a baby shower there today, and they couldn’t have been nicer to work with. The food was delicious (pasta buffet), and the light in their party room is lovely – there’s an enormous skylight up there. We had a great time in the venue.

I visited for the first time more than 3 years ago on a second date and it continues to deliver quality food, ideal portions and great service. I am a fan of their gnocchi. On the other hand, their brunch offerings are underwhelming but decent.
The menu caters to pescatarians, those with gluten allergies and veggie lovers and an average meal costs $ 20-​$ 30 per person.
During warmer weather, the restaurant offers outdoor seating which is ideal given that it is a Madison St storefront near lots of other stores. Parking is metered during normal business hours, but free during the Christmas holidays.
It’s a perfect dining option for date night or a get together with friends.

My wife and I had pasta dishes, and they were excellent. The prices are fairly high (my pasta was $ 20) and everything is a-​la-​carte. When a meal starts getting into that price range, I anticipate an intimate dining experience and unobtrusive service. Unfortunately that was not really the case.

I absolutely adore this restaurant, from lunch to dinner. Delicious food, friendly staff and absolutely mouth watering grilled calamari! I highly recommend mandoria chicken sandwich with a side of salad for lunch, lamb for dinner and grilled calamari appetizer for anytime every time! Also, their key lime cheesecake that is only available on weekends is a secret gem! Yum!

Such a shame! We were going to have a small family gathering and talked to the manager who was helpful. He advised we could have the front three tables, that there would be no problem on the date and time we asked for. We talked to the manager today, and he said he couldn’t accommodate. He wouldn’t provide what he had promised. NEVER will return. Super expensive, the service doesn’t equal the high price.

The food here is very good but not happy with the manager. Last week we went in for lunch. We want to have a dinner party for our family. So I wanted her to see the place and try the food. She really like it and we spoke with the manager about reserving the front area for 9 people. He was very happy to help us and said that we’d have that front to ourselves for a 5:00 dinner. Today I call and now we can only have 2 tables for 9 people. Last week he said we could call the Day before to rsvp the area. No problem. I even stopped in after my call to try and see if he’d change his answer but he now said that we wouldn’t be able to have that front to ourselves. Good thing I didn’t wait to call the day before like he said. Well I can check off one place I won’t go back to.

interior and atmosphere is exactly what you look for on a cool Fall evening. Food matches up and delivers with great specials on most M and Tu nights.
This special included a taste of five apps/​mini entrees at 12 $, highlights were the grilled shrimp over arugula and the olive sampling.
We split the Cobb salad and the size tbh was family size and pretty tasty, ⁴⁄₅.
Homemade chicken noodle soup i’d come back for this on its own. Well done CDL.

Who doesn’t love good Italian food? What about a great weekend brunch with excellent $ 5 mimosas or Bloody Mary? That’s right, something for everyone.

Food… great!
Service… Fantastic!
Half off martini Thursdays… Priceless!!!
Been coming here for years for the food when they were in Bucktown. Moved to Forest park and this is our go to spot on a weekly basis for the delicious menu.
Jacinto is a wonderful bartender and makes you feel at home. Hats off to the entire staff!

Me and my boyfriend were looking for Sunday brunch place. We decided to stop by Caffe De Luca because I loved their outdoor seating.
Great atmosphere and very attentive staff. Food and my $ 5 Bloody Mary was great as well.
Definitely would come back and bring our friends.

We stopped in after another place was too full and had this place on our radar.
Initial impressions were that the décor is quite nice. It is among the nicer establishments on Madison St. Not too noisy, a good place for a date and some conversation. There is a full bar, but it does not dominate the restaurant like many other places.
I had the Linguini Dorsoduro and my wife had the Tortellacci Carbonara. I’m no Italian and felt like a moron trying to read my order to the waitress. Whatever, it is what they are going for with the Italian theme. My dish (the linguini) had a LOT of chicken and shrimp. This is perhaps the first time in my life that I’ve ordered a pasta dish and have had to look for the pasta. Greatly appreciated, since most places try to screw you on a pasta dish by giving you tons of cheap pasta. I do feel that both the chicken and shrimp were a bit overcooked and underflavored, but they were still tasty. The sauce was the best part of this dish. The tortellacci was pretty good. Could have been cheesier for only being stuffed with cheese. Again the cream sauce was the best part.
I feel that the prices were a bit high for what we got (~$ 23 a plate), but I would certainly come back. I appreciate a higher end restaurant on Madison. Three stars for high price/​quality ratio. I find myself longing for Mancini’s in OP…

We hosted my daughter’s engagement party here. The food was excellent and service terrific. From parties to quiet dinners this is a great place.

I enjoyed a nice brunch for 1 here last Saturday. The place was bustling so I parked myself at the bar. I love sitting up at the bar at restaurants because bartenders always do such a good job of taking care of you. My bartender on Sunday was no different. Coming from out of town, it was nice to interact w/​the friendly bartender throughout my meal. I ordered the eggs benedict and partook on their mimosa brunch special ($ 5). The mimosa was just ok… definitely tasted like it only cost $ 5. The eggs benedict came with a side of potatoes (needed more seasoning, it tasted a little bland) and a cup of fruit (can’t really mess that up). My ticket was a little under $ 25. I was expecting a bit more to my meal… the eggs benedict weren’t anything special and like I mentioned earlier, the potatoes were bland. I had to self-​season with salt/​pepper and hot sauce. I’m sure as far as brunch places on the street, this is one of the better options, but compared to other brunches I’ve experienced, it does not rate up there.

Outstanding food, location and service. Drinks were great and food presentation was great. A must visit. Definitely will be back.

My boyfriend and I love this place! It’s a Sunday ritual for brunch and bloody marys. Great food, great staff!

I liked this place. The tortellini carbonara was good, very rich and creamy. My husband liked his dish and was surprised at the heaping portions of high quality seafood. The service was good, very attentive. We went in winter and didn’t order any cocktails but we look forward to going back in the summer and having drinks on the patio. The prices are exactly what you would expect for a nice Italian restaurant.

This one on my favorite spots in dine out. The bartenders are awesome. The food never disappoints. The customers are friendly. Win, win, win.
This ain’t your momma’s Italian kitchen. So don’t go there expecting marinara sauce and meatballs. Instead you will find light broths, cream sauces a delicate flavors.
We like to start off with the ciccehetti and some cocktails. For those that don’t know the ciccehetti is 3 or 4 shareable appetizers served on a plank. Great presentation and tasty morsels. Then we might have a soup or share a salad. Our favs are the Chopped CDL and the Caprese DeLucca. For the main course you can’t go wrong with anything you pick. My current fav is the Scallops & Shrimp. Their seafood specials are also excellent and very fresh. I’d like to know who their supplier is. Oh, and believe it or not the pizza and hamburgers are delicious. Make sure to leave room for desserts and coffee. The Chocolate mousse pie is a fav in our circle.

Nice little non-​Irish gem on Madison St. (I love a good Irish joint, but feels like they dominate this street. Not a bad thing. Anyway…)
The ambiance is great inside or out — love that it’s somewhat dim and quiet inside (and the Moroccan lanterns — yes!) but that you can dine outside on their patio along Madison. Plus, they had a guy playing the accordion. Live. Was kind of awesome.
On to the libations: Tried the Canteloupe martini — tasty, not too sweet, not too strong. (This can be good or bad — in this case, good!) The mojito was solid — nothing special, but good.
The eats: They brought a basket of bread/​some kind of tortilla-​esque pita and some homemade hummus to the table before we ordered that was freaking amazing. I think we’d go back just for that!
Tried two entrees here — the tortellini carbonara and the eggplant parm. LOVED the tortellini (see pics of both in the listing) but even though it didn’t seem like an overly large serving at first, I couldn’t finish it. The eggplant parm was also large (but completely finished — apparently it was that good.)
Prices were a tad high (two drinks and two entrees with tip ran about $ 80) and the service was pretty slow, but the servers were friendly and the aforementioned ambiance was pretty great. So I’d probably go back.

A few years ago, I went to Caffe De Luca in Wicker Park for dinner. It was one of the best Italian dinners I had eaten in Chicago. I must have been a jinx because the Wicker Park location closed.
I recently went to the Forest Park location for Sunday brunch. I had the broccoli and cheddar quiche, which was quite nice. What really had a wow factor was the grilled shrimp and asparagus over salad. I haven’t been back for dinner and I think that’s where I’ll really get to see if Caffe De Luca Forest Park does true Italian any justice. In the meantime, the brunch was satisfying enough.