Basilico Ristorante

We found this on Unilocal and it did not disappoint! Authentic Italian atmosphere. Large food portions. Homemade sauce was exquisite-​especially their Basilico sauce and marinara. Best meatballs we have had! I ordered classic lasagna bolognese and it too, was delicious. Our entrees came out piping hot. Their menu is full of variety. Rafael (owner) came around to check on our experience, and that’s always a nice touch. Definitely will be back here for another excellent dinner.

Great Food, Great atmosphere, Great place for a party! What can I say, I love this place. The food is authentic Italian! Some of the best in Chicago, without the crazy prices. It’s old school comfortable, bring the family, and perfect for the Sunday dinner crowd. They have several areas for parties, my favorite being the atrium area. Service is excellent and I highly recommend the Eggplant Rotollo and the Sinatra Pasta! Chicken Parm is excellent too. Don’t forget the baked clams and the calamari!

Went there for lunch and was pleasantly surprised. My wife ordered the shrimp with Fettuccini. She loved it. The shrimp were from Mexico, not that China and/​or Thai crap. I had a baked mostacholi dish which was great. Will return.

I had the Zuppi de Mar which was average and my friend had the fettuccine Alfredo with jumbo shrimp which was better. I like the atmosphere and I’ve had better food there in the past. Maybe it was an off night tonight. The cannoli dessert was very good.

Was there for a funeral luncheon and the service wss ok. They took forever with refilling drinks and 20 minutes later they gave us more bread and fish. The meat was lukewarm and the pasta sauce tasted like it was store bought. The tiramisu tasted more like a mousse. The pina coladas tasted like it came out of a mix and very small wine selection. I’m not sure why people are raving about this place unless they never had good Italian food but if I said it was good it would be a disservice to my relatives.

I had lunch here today with a guest and it was fabulous!!! The food was marvelous, I had the Caprice salad and a stuffed artichoke for an appetizer. They have a nice selection of wines available that compliment the food. My guest had the special which was a nice tuna salad and shrimp cocktail. The shrimp cocktail was out of this world and I am not a huge seafood person. Apparently at this restaurant I am because I even tried my friends tuna which was terrific. We even had some cherries Jubilee which was very entertaining to watch the presentation at our table. I am not sure what was better the presentation or the cherries Jubilee because they were both great.
It’s a very cool vibe and the management was very friendly. We asked about the ceiling which are actually multiple pieces of art with nice lighting behind it. Pleasant music plays in the background and the other tables seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. There’s some really nice history to the place, great food, wonderful service, terrific management that makes you feel very much at home.
I totally recommend this place and we will be going back again very soon!

This is a very charming little Italian restaurant. You can’t help but smile at the décor. I’ve only been here once with a small group for lunch but enjoyed myself very much. The food is good, the prices are great, and the service is top notch. Our wait was minimal. Very pleasant experience!

We came here because of the one star review. Well really because of the owner’s reply to the only one star review, you should read it. It’s just so rare for a restaurant owner to take ownership of a bad day, but he delivered the most sincere apology I’ve seen anywhere on Unilocal.I just knew he meant it, and we needed a place for the Chief of Staff and I to have dinner before dropping her off at O’Hare for her fact-​finding mission in London. I think I prefer traditional Italian-​American to authentic regional Italian and I know I prefer both to trendy overpriced Italian-​inspired nonsense. This is a traditional Italian-​American place so Maria’s New York Strip and my ‘ghetti and meatballs in marinara were exactly as expected. Since I didn’t wear a white shirt I didn’t wear any home either. If you check in with Unilocal you get a free appetizer with two paid entrees, we tried the stuffed artichoke which was tasty after we figured out how to eat it. I made a mess but blamed it on Maria. The wine list has a fair choice of serviceable less expensive Italian reds at reasonable prices for a restaurant. The service was very attentive, maybe too attentive. The building is odd, but the restaurant itself is charming. The walls are adorned with Frank, Dean, and the Rat Pack, that’s also the soundtrack here, and if you don’t know who I’m talking about, maybe this isn’t the place for you. Even though this is not the sort of neighborhood where you would find people like me, this restaurant treated me like I was a neighbor — and I’m pretty sure everyone else here were regulars. They’ve got a Sinatra autograph on the wall, it looks real, which made me recall him saying «I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.»

This place is great! I went here for a birthday dinner a couple weeks ago with a group of 10, and we had no problem getting sat right away without a reservation. For starters, we ordered the fried calamari — noms!
For dinner, I ordered the salmon overtop angel hair in a garlic butter sauce (I don’t see it on the online menu). Huge serving of salmon! I had enough leftover for lunch the next day. I didn’t try anyone else’s food, but everyone seemed very content.
For dessert, they gave us a complimentary tiramisu for the birthday. So yummy! We enjoyed the dessert with coffee, and it was an overall lovely dinner. Great service!

I have been here a few times now and the experience has been great! Very good variety on the menu and reasonable prices.

Worst experience ever. Waited 45 minutes after our reservation to be seated. Finally got water and our drinks after another 30 minutes at the table. Received our salad and appetizers after another 30 minutes. Caesar «soup» not salad, raw calamari and dinner salads with rotten tomatoes. We finally got up and walked out after 2 plus hours — no food — no follow up. Waiters were overwhelmed but tried hard. Ours ended up quitting during the shift but caught us at the door to apologize. Total BUST!

Went here last night with my wife for the first time. We are huge fans of traditional Italian food with a décor that is dripping with Frank Sinatra, rat pack and throwback pictures of Italy. Marja our server was amazing and Rafael the owner was great from moment one. We had Veal Marsala and Chicken Parm. It ranked and I rate it, not quite as good as Carmine’s but for sure top tier. Didn’t have the meatballs this time, but will next.
It is in a weird building on Cumberland that takes a second to understand, but their experience makes up for it.

Enjoyed a meal with four friends Saturday night. Unilocal reservation process was very convenient. Service by Frank was excellent and very personable. Food quality was very good; portion size very generous. Great experience.

It’s one of my favorite places to go on the north side of Chicago for a great dinner service I have to give it 5 stars great place go and eat excellent Italian food

I have been going here for a very long time but hadnt gone in a while so my husband took me here for my birthday. When I checked in on Unilocal,i got a free appetizer so I showed our waiter when We sat down.
We ordered the grilled calamari … OMG the very BEST calamari I have ever had! I ordered the stuffed gnocchi and my husband had a shrimp pasta dish. The shrimp were HUGE and cooked perfectly and their gnocchi has always been my favorite. We ordered some wine and after the manager heard it was my birthday, he gave us more wine, which was very nice of him!
We realized while we were eating we never got our salad and soup, we told our waiter and he apologized over and over but we didnt worry about it bc we were eating plenty he offered to put them in to go and to give us a free dessert. We got carrot cake and espresso cheesecake. Both were amazing and fresh. When our bill came he apologized again and told me to save my
Coupon for next time and took the appetizer off our bill as well.
Glad i picked this place for my birthday. Fabulous food and the staff couldnt be nicer and went above and beyond to make up for the mistake. Cant wait to go back again!

I’ve eaten here probably over 35 times and every single time it has been just as perfect as the last! First off if you eat at the restaurant it’s so adorable! It’s pretty fancy white tablecloth with quiet Italian music in the background great service great ambiance! The food is great my favorite is the chicken breast vesuvio I also love their pasta dishes ! The bread with oil and cheese they bring to the table is so fresh and good! It’s hard to find a place with consistency, and here you get that ! I recommend everyone come here atleast once! The prices are average for that type of food and environment, they also do Togo orders which I have done and the food tasted just as good! If you want great Italian food and service this is the place to go!

Food was tastey, prices werent bad, service was great! The ambient was awesome (that old school italian) i would go back.

Salad was ok, but stuffed gnocchi was the best fluffy pillows of heaven I’ve ever had. Legit Italians speaking Italian at the table next to us. Totally approve.

This place was nothing what I expected and so wonderful. Our waitress Margie has worked here for 28 years and she’s a very special lady, friendly, helpful and has the best suggestions. They keep fresh baked bread and garlic olive oil on your table– heavenly. We had the Calamari Genovese, Different than any calamari We had ever eaten, it’s hard to describe but tender and flavorful with a side of marinara –wonderful. My husband had the shrimp & scallops with pasta– the shrimp was large, tender and tasty as was the scallops. Margie told me her favorite was the Filet Mignon with mushrooms in Marcella sauce and it would melt in your mouth! She didn’t lie, oh my goodness every bite would melt in your mouth! It came with potatoes that were again tasty and different than I’d ever eaten. I almost forgot the salad… We asked for blue cheese dressing and expected a creamy blue cheese and boy were we surprised… The dressing was a homemade Italian dressing with blue cheese and it was the best blue cheese dressing we’d ever eaten.
We passed this place up because it was in a shopping like center thinking it might be a cheap not so great place and boy were we surprised. I’m glad we looked at the Unilocal app and tried it. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a good Italian meal. Everyone was super nice and the food was amazing!

We made reservations for a Christmas Eve dinner at Basilico. Prior experiences were less than impressive but it had been a couple of years since our last visit so we thought we would try them again to see if any improvement had taken place. We were hopeful based on the current reviews but our hopes were quickly dashed.
Service was slow and our waiter seemed disinterested. He didn’t bother to mention any specials. When asked to describe the «Basilico» sauce choice, he responded «tomatoes». That’s it. Gee thanks for the help. I guess everyone should have surmised that was the answer. It was slow to get our meal and drinks were slow to be refilled. I did observe the table next to us which was seated a few minutes after us had a different waiter and they seemed to receive better service so perhaps our waiter was the underperformer of the litter.
The food was basic and the pasta dishes were unremarkable. My wife and I had pasta dishes while my Mom had the eggplant which she said was good. We also had the antipasto as an appetizer. That was a huge disappointment – some cold cuts which were fatty and poorly presented.
One last observation. The condition of the bathrooms can often be a harbinger of how the restaurant is maintained. My Mom, who is rarely critical of anything, commented the bathrooms were filthy. One wonders how well they maintain their kitchen after seeing that.
You’d be much better off heading to another restaurant in the Norridge area. I won’t be back.