Went there with a groupon. Thankfully I had the groupon because I would have been upset had I paid that much money for the food I received. :/. The people there were very nice and attentive so they get a three but due to the food I will not be returning there.
(2)
Jaison L.
Excellent!! Sat at the bar, had a great meal. Awesome bartender! Great people all around. I had veal lemon and wife had lasagna. Found our new dinner restaurant!
(5)
LOIS B.
It was okay, not the best, not the worst. We were promptly greeted when we walked in and shown to a nice table. Granted, it is in a strip mall and your view is of the parking lot, but it was a nice table, not on top of others but close to the next table. At least I could easily get out. In looking around the room, I think this might have been a Mexican restaurant in a previous life, just the feel of the room. You enter in the bar area and the dining room is separate. Sausage and peppers were way too spicy for me to eat. The bread was good, not warm, but fresh. We tried the chicken Florentine and the chicken Parmesan for our entrees. Since we are not fans of angel hair pasta or spaghetti, we did have a special request for rigatoni. The only choice was marinara sauce which has a whoooooooooooooole lot of tomatoes. I would have preferred the option of meat sauce and at least half of the tomatoes, but it was our first visit. It got crowded in a hurry because it is very small, about 20 tables. There is also outdoor seating, but again, you are sitting in the parking lot. Our server was excellent and very attentive.
(3)
Janine K.
A friend of mine used a restaurant.com voucher for us to dine here for dinner last week. It was on a Thursday night. She called in advance asking if we needed reservations and was told we'd be ok, and we were. We were given a bread basket for starters along with oil and fresh parmesan cheese. We also ordered two appetizers. They don't have a drinks menu, but we knew we'd have to hit $100 to use our voucher so we had a few glasses of wine to go with dinner. Two of us (myself included) ordered the 8 finger cavatelli with vodka sauce, I believe it's titled "8 finger vodka" on the menu, and the other two in our party ordered salmon. My dinner was delicious...no complaints from me! The service was decent too...all around nice place. I'd visit here again.
(4)
Elizabeth S.
Food was ok, they advertise gluten free but the waitress told me she had no clue what gluten was and the owner appeared to know just as much. Food was average, service was slow and we were passed up several times by the server. They brought out the wrong dish for my mother, never apologized just told her to wait longer. Good thing I had a groupon because paying full price would have sucked
(2)
TR M.
My main experience with La Notte Due is with their lunch buffet. It is always fresh, they change up the selections frequently and the service is almost always good. I've been here for dinner once or twice, and as I recall it was fine. I actually look forward to having business in the area so I have an excuse to eat here.
(4)
Jessica F.
The food was amazing! Had the chicken parmesan and the boyfriend had the cavaletti pasta. Might have spelled that wrong. Portions are huge! I even enjoyed the bread they put out it was so fresh and warm. The place is a small local dingy little spot but I did not care as I went there for food and was not disappointed! Service was a little slow but we never had to wait long for refills plus you have so much food to eat what more could you need from your server? I would recommend trying this spot out!
(5)
Tina N.
Delicious food & great service pretty much sum up this little gem. It is hidden in a little strip mall that I drove by almost every day...next to a bakery and a liquor store that I never noticed either! Of course, bread and oil with parmesan cheese start your meal This was our third or fourth visit & I have yet to be disappointed. This time, I ordered the pork oreganato and it was delish! It has this lemony yumminess ( I think I just made up that word ) that just speaks to you. Give them a try, I am sure you will not be disaapointed.
(4)
Al H.
This was a pleasant surprise. We tried it because we had a buy-one-dinner-get-one-free coupon, and it was simple, quiet and nice. I had the Marsala trio (veal, chicken and shrimp on angel hair pasta), and my wife had manicotti. Good and satisfying. And we ordered soup and salad separately because they weren't included with the entrees, but the manager (owner?) comped them to us for free! That was very nice of him. The location is nothing exciting (strip mall), but in some ways, the atmosphere is better than more popular restaurants that are louder and more crowded. And I like supporting mom and pop restaurants. Not busy or rushed, with a leisurely pace that still let us get to our show on time. And as we were leaving, the manager came running out to let me know I had forgotten my iPad! Bonus points for good customer service.
(4)
Sue S.
We had a fantastic meal there two weeks ago. The service was great and we didn't feel rushed. Very European feel. Food portions were very large and we each brought some home. After our waiter brought the bill, he served each of us a complementary Limoncello! WHAT a treat!
(5)
Laura K.
The Dude had a Groupon for La Notte Due, so we trekked over to Darien. We were there on a Saturday night and the place was busy, which was a good sign. The ambience was great, very intimate with lots of candlelight. Right off the bat, we experienced the cardinal sin of Italian restaurants - the bread wasn't homemade. It was just a sliced loaf of Italian bread, the stuff you can buy in the grocery store. What the what? Still, I wasn't ready to give up on the place. I ordered homemade eight-finger pasta with broccoli and Italian sausage. It was delicious and the portion was big, but not huge. I still had enough to take home for a second meal. The Dude had the eggplant parmigana and enjoyed it, but it wasn't his favorite. We also had two tiny shots of limoncello and almost had a heart attack when we saw on the bill that they they were $6 each! I shudder to think of what a limoncello on the rocks would have cost us. Overall, it was a nice dinner and the restaurant is lovely, but it doesn't really stand out in the crowded Italian restaurant market in Chicago.
(3)
Joseph P.
Really regret coming here and spending the amount of money that I did. The food was just decent but the service was awful. We had to wait a half hour just to order an appetizer which took and another half hour to arrive. Then another 45 minutes just to get dinner to the table. After eating the waiter was no where to be found to pay the bill and when I finally found him he was rude. I wasted way to much money and time going to this place and will never return again.
(1)
Shelly S.
The food was pretty good, but there was a sewer smell that was more than a little off-putting. I might consider going back for a 2d visit, but being that Darien is about a 30-minute drive from my home, it is unlikely.
(3)
Graham S.
Great food. The Chilean Seabass is good and reasonably priced. And ask the host if he knows any jokes he is hilarious. I will be back again.
(5)
Nick B.
Being 100% Italian and making my own food a lot.. I was concerned going there, after going there once, I've been back numerous times.. It's nice sometimes to not have to cook! Very good!
YUM!! I love finding a nice, new restaurant! I've seen this restaurant several times but never thought to go check it out because it's in such a dive strip mall!! The potholes alone are scary enough! This was a Mom & Pop store front location, very small, maybe only 25 tables? They have a full bar on the other side with some old men that look like they live there! Everything was homemade! The bread was fabulous served on the table with oil and cheese. We had their soup which came with the entree, also great! I had the Chicken Francese which was YUMMY!! I loved this place, it was a great find!
(5)
Cristina T.
I was given a gift certificate for La Notte Due so I went with my bf on a Friday night. Around 8 we were seated immediately and greeted by our server. Service was fast, not overly friendly but the environment was intimate and dark. We started with a Caesar salad that was simple but had great, flavorful dressing. I continued with the cavatelli that was baked with ricotta and marinara, topped with cheese. It was a large portion but delicious. We both ended up having lots of leftovers. I am not sure I would go to La Notte Due without a gift certificate as prices are pretty high for the suburbs. The food quality was great as well as the atmosphere.
(4)
Sharon r.
We tried this place because my husband bought the Groupon. Despite being in a strip mall, it is very intimate and nice inside and the wait staff is very attentive. We were there mid-afternoon on a Sunday, so it was a very quiet time, although it was Mother's Day. Also there at the time were 2 or 3 very big family groups, so you can tell that the place has some devoted regulars. I ordered a special of the day ($22!) linguine with shrimp, scallops and veggies. Way more veggies than shrimp and scallops (about 3 of each) and not much flavor. My daughter had spaghetti and meatballs and loved it. My son had a 3 cheese manicotti what was good, but kind of bland. My husband had the gnocchi, one of their signature dishes. It was a huge serving but the gnocchi was mushy and the sauce was kind of bland. Then they wouldn't accept our Groupon because it was "a holiday" on Mother's Day. Since we still have the groupon we' will probably go back and give it another try. but I'm not raving about it, except for the service. the people were all very nice and accommodating.
(2)
Murph K.
Beware!!!! I tried to use my Living Social Certificate and the owner would not accept it off of my IPhone. I showed him my certificate and said he would not accept it. To make the situation worse the food was fair at best!
(1)
David N.
The negative reviews almost scared of us out of dining here, but luckily we stopped in and discovered quite possibly our new favorite Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. Stopped in around 5:30pm and were seated immediately. Shortly after, ice water and bread were delivered to our table and drink orders were taken. Our host and subsequent server was very pleasant to speak with, had no issue with us using an Amazon coupon, and made sure we were waited on hand and foot throughout our service. Fresh bread and minestrone soup were solid. Ordered a few entrees which all came out together and in a very timely fashion. Every dish was hot, cooked properly, and tasted great with plenty of flavor. Between the Risotti Fungi (Mushroom), Manicotti Lanotte, and my Eggplant Rolatini, the fam can't decide what they enjoyed the most. Plenty of traditional entrees, appetizers, and drinks to order from, as well as their delectable desserts. Everyone was overstuffed by the end of dinner service, making dessert simply an afterthought. That was until, however, our server delivered some complimentary spumoni to the little one, putting the proverbial icing on the cake for our dinner tonight. One thing, it can get a little expensive dining here so bring your wallet, but you will definitely get you monies worth, as all of the portions seemed pretty big and left us with plenty to take home. Not sure why everyone else has been so unlucky dining here, but we found our new Italian fine dining spot in La Notte Due.
(5)
Rocky G.
I'm glad that I didn't read the reviews first or I wouldn't of bought the Groupon and gone there and had a had a great meal with my wife. The service was great the portions were so big we brought home half of our dinners, yes we will go back there again, next time I will save room for desert
(4)
Justine G.
I think we got lucky with tonights service. It wasn't super crowded and the service wasn't to bad. We got chicken noodle soup and minestrone soup, Sausage Giambotti & ChickenParmesan. They were served HOT! Like others said, free parking and in a weird strip mall location. But the food was pretty good. I would say a little expensive, but we had a coupon from restaurants.com , so that made the bill a little more manageable. After looking around I saw another table with the same coupon. Honestly, I forget about this place because of it's location. The food was pretty good tonight though. Check it out.
(4)
Brad C.
The only reason this place might not get 1 star is the wait staff was kind and was nice enough to comp the glass of wine we found the wine cork in... not some cork, the full damn rubber cork was submerged. That is the best thing you will read from me in this review. Appetizers were not good. Artichokes were ehhhh, grilled calamari is NOTHING compared to Claires and rather fishy tasting. Dinner portions were smaller than I expect at an Italian restaurant and all 3 of us left with minimal, if any leftovers. I would give the place 4 stars in a better location, at $10 a dish and able to provide basic, clean service. At $30 per adult, in a strip mall with a table that has a view of a parking lot, this is a 1 star place. The waiter being gracious to two loud toddlers and quickly comping us a glass of wine almost gets the 2nd star. OH OH OH, I forgot desert.... they were out of it. Seriously, we were there for a 5PM dinner on a weekday, No Tiramisu. The waiter offered, it was on the menu... but they were out of it. How the hell do you run out of deserts when we are one of three tables occupied EARLY, on a weekday. The questions reminded me.. Why were there plastic patio sets outside, do people actually come here and pay this much to eat in a parking lot? I'll call the ambiance classy & romantic as that is what they are going for with the decor but missing it in all around delivery. Thanks but I'll get from Salerno's a few doors down and eat in my car next time.
(1)
Anastasia T.
The food was good, the bartender attentive and kind. Now for the bad...we arrived around 6:45ish on a Saturday nite. Dining room was busy because of 2 large parties, so instead of waiting for 45min. we sat at the bar. The hostess was the most obnoxious women ever...loud, braying laugh, talking VERY loudly across the room to her friends at the bar. One of the patrons at the bar (who was a regular) had the most foul-mouth I had ever heard and NO ONE from the retaurant told him to knock it off! Then the hostess came and sat at the bar and proceeded to swear just as much as the other guy! Really!! Very, very dissappointed that the owners are ok with this type of atmosphere in their establishment. As good as the food was, we won't be going back.
(2)
Kathie H.
Love this place! Mike and Armand are wonderful generous hosts who always welcome you with a hug and the offer of a beverage. Specials are delicious and generous and the pastas lovely, filling, and comforting! Vodka sauce is fabulous! Desserts are great as well!
(5)
Lynn D.
My husband and I went there for dinner. What a horrible experience we had!!!! The wait staff brought over bread (French bread slices), but we had to ask for plates. After we ordered our food, we waited 45 minutes for the food to arrive. When they served it, my husband's dinner was wrong! So we had to start all over again waiting. The waiter kept apologizing, but unfortunately that didn't help when you are tired and hungry. He (the waiter) said that the dinner would be out in 2 minutes. Then after 5 minutes, he said a few more minutes. When it did finally arrive, it was cold. Not cool, but cold!! At that point we were done and just paid for the 2 glasses of wine and left. You would think that we could have been offered the wine at no charge or at least another complimentary glass of wine while we were waiting. So we just paid $19.00, yes, $19.00 for 2 glasses of wine and left. What a horrible experience!
Understated and underrated. Notte Due is our default Italian restaurant. These people understand good service, and the food is very good. Be careful not to over eat. The portions are big. We like their tilapia in particular. I like going here because there are no headaches. Summary: Fantastic service, very good food.
(5)
Jan S.
5 of us went here for an early Father's Day celebration on Saturday 6/15/13. The restaurant is beautiful and the staff is very friendly and attentive. We all had different items so we could taste several diferent dishes. The portions are huge - we all had plenty of left overs,. Although all the dishes were good - Meat lasagna, spaghetti w/meatballs, Alfredo and Tortellini - the Tortellini was the best YUMMY!!!!!!! The Tiramusu was a great finish to a great meal. We came in this first time using a Restaurant.com certificate and we will be returning.
(4)
Danielle O.
Recently my husband and I went there for our date night. We have been there before having both good and bad service, but we really had a taste for Italian and decided to give it one more try. Strike 1: Arrived at the end of dinner service so there were many tables opening up, but we got seated at a table in the far corner. We felt like a sardines. Strike #2: Due to our table being shoved in the corner our server kept forgetting about us. When we finally ordered our appetizers we finished them and sat for another 15-20 min. before our server came back to take our dinner order. Meanwhile our drinks had run out as did our water and bread. Strike#3: When our food finally did arrive it was luke warm, and the pasta was mushy. Once again our server was no where to be found. We get our check and pay, as we are exiting we see that had server had been at the bar socializing and watching the Bulls game. We will not be returning to La Notte Due again. The service was terrible, and our entrees were mediocre at best.
(1)
Nathan W.
La Notte Due is a great find in my mind. Their current location as part of a small strip mall might turn off some, but it behooves you to at least give this restaurant a try if not for the pedigree of service alone. Victor, one of the owners, remembers all of his frequent guests names and is one of the best I've ever seen about customer relations. While service is one part of this equation, the food itself is just as important, if not more. While I was waiting to finish my job at their location I opted to get some lunch. I decided on the pasta carbonara; if I remember correctly, it was reccommended by the host whose name escapes me right now. I was ever so pleasantly surprised by what I ate that afternoon. Here I am, a guy whose Italian grandmother saw to it that I never went hungry, and this single location, not necessarily run by Italians but Italian restaurant with a small but loyal client base just knocks one out of the park. My parent's live not too far from here, and I hope I'll remember next time I visit and we can stop in again. Definitely returning. Full disclosure: this was one of my clients at a previous job. Further disclosure: since it's a previous employer I can now say it was quite enjoyable making late night service calls here and getting hammered with Victor afterward.
(4)
Said T.
Great restaurant - free parking -- amazing grilled calamari. Good customer service... Highly recommended!
(4)
Steve S.
Great neighborhood Italian place. good food, good service , and a nice ambiance. I have taken several out of town visitors here. Why put up with the hassle of driving when you've got great food right here.
(4)
Faith M.
I have eaten here a couple times and I loved the meal served. I had the Tilapia over risotto and I had the chicken and spinach dish. Huge portions enought for two meals. And served hot and very tasty. But the last time I was there my friend ordered linguini with clam sauce. And in her meal she found a piece of wire. Like the wire from the metal pot scrubber for heavy duty cleaning. So this was disturbing. She sent back the meal and changed to a shrimp and vegtable dish. Which she said was very tasty. But after this wouldn't you think they would comp this meal or something? Nothing was comped. So that is why I only gave this place a 2 star. Bad managment and cleaning staff. But the food was good.
(2)
David S.
Please... you've got to be kidding... Maybe I'm a little spoiled after living in SF and NYC for so long, but come on... I went to La Notte Due for dinner with a group of 25 people, so we got some kind of prix fixe menu, which honestly did not impress me much: - the appetizers were actually the highlight of the meal: fried calamari was pretty good but a bit tough sometimes, bruscetta was tasty (but it's pretty hard to f*ck up). - the salad that came next was the lamest thing I ever ate at a restaurant: bagged (and not so fresh) lettuce tossed in balsamic vinegar... that's it... lame. - three entrees then followed: some salmon dish which was reasonable, some pasta dish which was boring and not great, some chicken which looked so unappetizing I did not even bother trying it. - dessert: one bite size piece of cheesecake (literally), tasty but tiny. We also had some wine: a red Tuscany that was suggested by one of the waiters and turned out alright, and a Pinot Grigiot that was pretty terrible. Honestly, I was more than ready to give this place 3 stars, until the check arrived: $45 per person?!?! Are you f-ing kidding me? There's 25 of us, the food was mediocre, and still you find a way to charge us $45 per person? Good lord. In NYC I'd have given this 1 star. And what's up with the lame music mix anyways?
(2)
Jen R.
My husband and I had dinner, on Friday night. The restuarant wasn't crowded, and the music wasn't loud, so you could hold a conversation and be heard. Service was excellent: timely, courteous, and welcoming. Our dinners were wonderful, and great portions. My husband had Tilapia with red peppers, artichokes, and asparagus. I had risotto with roasted vegetables. Both were hot and delicious. We also shared a bowl of cream of yellow squash soup--sound odd, but really good tasting. Granted, the restaurant is in an odd location , as others have noted. But it was clean, and well lit. Portions are expensive (ours were about $15 a piece), but the restaurant.com coupon offered us a break. I would go again, and recommend the restaurant to family/friends.
(4)
Susi D.
This is a great place. Their original restaurant opened in Berwyn a few years back and we went there all the time when we lived there. Delicious food, great service and killer tiramisu! :o) We went there the night we found out we were pregnant and the owner (at the time...he had known us thru our constant visits when he was running the berwyn location and had been waiting and waiting for us to get pregnant already!) was all excited and brought us free desserts. How sweet is that???
(4)
Ann V.
For dinner, I had the Sausage Giambotti and Pasta Fagiol. The soup was almost tasteless, the bread was unremarkable and the Sausage Giambotti tasted like heavy black pepper. The mushrooms in this dish tasted like they may have been sitting around for a few weeks - a bad taste ! Even the olive oil seemed off. I will not be going back.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Taeler H.
I was excited about trying a new Italian restaurant, we made a reservation (as the groupon asked us to) and came in after 8. We were seated right away which was very nice, and offered drinks. What I didn't like what that, for an Italian restaurant, their wine list was very limited. I chose the Riesling and my fiancé got Pinot noir. My wine was OK. We ordered our food at the same time we ordered the wine. It wasn't incredibly busy in there, meaning most of the other customers were already eating when we came in... But it seemed like our food took an eternity to be brought to us. I could see the kitchen from our seat and it wasn't like it was sitting there waiting to be brought out, it was just taking forever to be cooked. Idk if there's only one chef back there or what... Also, the service seemed to be very slow. People really take their time in here. I'm not sure if that's because it's seemed to be a family owned business or if it was because we came in later and everyone was tired. When we finally got our food we were not impressed. It looked better than it tasted. I ordered the chicken alfredo w/ broccoli, and he ordered eggplant Parmesan I think. His looked delicious.l, but he said it was decent. I liked that my pasta tasted like it was made from scratch and was cooked perfectly, what I didn't like was that the sauce and the chicken were not seasoned at all. I had to keep putting on salt and pepper throughout eating. Also, on top of the chicken being flavorless it didn't seem like good quality meat it was tough and just not good, if I return I won't order anything else with meat in it. Overall, the place has a nice atmosphere, but not a good selection of wine, and just OK food. Not really worth what they're charging for it, I'm guessing you're paying extra for them to make everything from scratch which would be ok if it was seasoned better.
(3)Tracy L.
Went there with a groupon. Thankfully I had the groupon because I would have been upset had I paid that much money for the food I received. :/. The people there were very nice and attentive so they get a three but due to the food I will not be returning there.
(2)Jaison L.
Excellent!! Sat at the bar, had a great meal. Awesome bartender! Great people all around. I had veal lemon and wife had lasagna. Found our new dinner restaurant!
(5)LOIS B.
It was okay, not the best, not the worst. We were promptly greeted when we walked in and shown to a nice table. Granted, it is in a strip mall and your view is of the parking lot, but it was a nice table, not on top of others but close to the next table. At least I could easily get out. In looking around the room, I think this might have been a Mexican restaurant in a previous life, just the feel of the room. You enter in the bar area and the dining room is separate. Sausage and peppers were way too spicy for me to eat. The bread was good, not warm, but fresh. We tried the chicken Florentine and the chicken Parmesan for our entrees. Since we are not fans of angel hair pasta or spaghetti, we did have a special request for rigatoni. The only choice was marinara sauce which has a whoooooooooooooole lot of tomatoes. I would have preferred the option of meat sauce and at least half of the tomatoes, but it was our first visit. It got crowded in a hurry because it is very small, about 20 tables. There is also outdoor seating, but again, you are sitting in the parking lot. Our server was excellent and very attentive.
(3)Janine K.
A friend of mine used a restaurant.com voucher for us to dine here for dinner last week. It was on a Thursday night. She called in advance asking if we needed reservations and was told we'd be ok, and we were. We were given a bread basket for starters along with oil and fresh parmesan cheese. We also ordered two appetizers. They don't have a drinks menu, but we knew we'd have to hit $100 to use our voucher so we had a few glasses of wine to go with dinner. Two of us (myself included) ordered the 8 finger cavatelli with vodka sauce, I believe it's titled "8 finger vodka" on the menu, and the other two in our party ordered salmon. My dinner was delicious...no complaints from me! The service was decent too...all around nice place. I'd visit here again.
(4)Elizabeth S.
Food was ok, they advertise gluten free but the waitress told me she had no clue what gluten was and the owner appeared to know just as much. Food was average, service was slow and we were passed up several times by the server. They brought out the wrong dish for my mother, never apologized just told her to wait longer. Good thing I had a groupon because paying full price would have sucked
(2)TR M.
My main experience with La Notte Due is with their lunch buffet. It is always fresh, they change up the selections frequently and the service is almost always good. I've been here for dinner once or twice, and as I recall it was fine. I actually look forward to having business in the area so I have an excuse to eat here.
(4)Jessica F.
The food was amazing! Had the chicken parmesan and the boyfriend had the cavaletti pasta. Might have spelled that wrong. Portions are huge! I even enjoyed the bread they put out it was so fresh and warm. The place is a small local dingy little spot but I did not care as I went there for food and was not disappointed! Service was a little slow but we never had to wait long for refills plus you have so much food to eat what more could you need from your server? I would recommend trying this spot out!
(5)Tina N.
Delicious food & great service pretty much sum up this little gem. It is hidden in a little strip mall that I drove by almost every day...next to a bakery and a liquor store that I never noticed either! Of course, bread and oil with parmesan cheese start your meal This was our third or fourth visit & I have yet to be disappointed. This time, I ordered the pork oreganato and it was delish! It has this lemony yumminess ( I think I just made up that word ) that just speaks to you. Give them a try, I am sure you will not be disaapointed.
(4)Al H.
This was a pleasant surprise. We tried it because we had a buy-one-dinner-get-one-free coupon, and it was simple, quiet and nice. I had the Marsala trio (veal, chicken and shrimp on angel hair pasta), and my wife had manicotti. Good and satisfying. And we ordered soup and salad separately because they weren't included with the entrees, but the manager (owner?) comped them to us for free! That was very nice of him. The location is nothing exciting (strip mall), but in some ways, the atmosphere is better than more popular restaurants that are louder and more crowded. And I like supporting mom and pop restaurants. Not busy or rushed, with a leisurely pace that still let us get to our show on time. And as we were leaving, the manager came running out to let me know I had forgotten my iPad! Bonus points for good customer service.
(4)Sue S.
We had a fantastic meal there two weeks ago. The service was great and we didn't feel rushed. Very European feel. Food portions were very large and we each brought some home. After our waiter brought the bill, he served each of us a complementary Limoncello! WHAT a treat!
(5)Laura K.
The Dude had a Groupon for La Notte Due, so we trekked over to Darien. We were there on a Saturday night and the place was busy, which was a good sign. The ambience was great, very intimate with lots of candlelight. Right off the bat, we experienced the cardinal sin of Italian restaurants - the bread wasn't homemade. It was just a sliced loaf of Italian bread, the stuff you can buy in the grocery store. What the what? Still, I wasn't ready to give up on the place. I ordered homemade eight-finger pasta with broccoli and Italian sausage. It was delicious and the portion was big, but not huge. I still had enough to take home for a second meal. The Dude had the eggplant parmigana and enjoyed it, but it wasn't his favorite. We also had two tiny shots of limoncello and almost had a heart attack when we saw on the bill that they they were $6 each! I shudder to think of what a limoncello on the rocks would have cost us. Overall, it was a nice dinner and the restaurant is lovely, but it doesn't really stand out in the crowded Italian restaurant market in Chicago.
(3)Joseph P.
Really regret coming here and spending the amount of money that I did. The food was just decent but the service was awful. We had to wait a half hour just to order an appetizer which took and another half hour to arrive. Then another 45 minutes just to get dinner to the table. After eating the waiter was no where to be found to pay the bill and when I finally found him he was rude. I wasted way to much money and time going to this place and will never return again.
(1)Shelly S.
The food was pretty good, but there was a sewer smell that was more than a little off-putting. I might consider going back for a 2d visit, but being that Darien is about a 30-minute drive from my home, it is unlikely.
(3)Graham S.
Great food. The Chilean Seabass is good and reasonably priced. And ask the host if he knows any jokes he is hilarious. I will be back again.
(5)Nick B.
Being 100% Italian and making my own food a lot.. I was concerned going there, after going there once, I've been back numerous times.. It's nice sometimes to not have to cook! Very good!
(5)Lu S.
It this was based on food only, I would give it 3.5 stars. The food is made like it's someones Nonna and you're at her home. You can feel the homemade and the tradition. But the atmosphere & the décor is so dated and played out. Catch an episode of Restaurant Impossible and grab some ideas to clean up and spruce up even while keeping your old world Italian style.
(2)Michelle I.
YUM!! I love finding a nice, new restaurant! I've seen this restaurant several times but never thought to go check it out because it's in such a dive strip mall!! The potholes alone are scary enough! This was a Mom & Pop store front location, very small, maybe only 25 tables? They have a full bar on the other side with some old men that look like they live there! Everything was homemade! The bread was fabulous served on the table with oil and cheese. We had their soup which came with the entree, also great! I had the Chicken Francese which was YUMMY!! I loved this place, it was a great find!
(5)Cristina T.
I was given a gift certificate for La Notte Due so I went with my bf on a Friday night. Around 8 we were seated immediately and greeted by our server. Service was fast, not overly friendly but the environment was intimate and dark. We started with a Caesar salad that was simple but had great, flavorful dressing. I continued with the cavatelli that was baked with ricotta and marinara, topped with cheese. It was a large portion but delicious. We both ended up having lots of leftovers. I am not sure I would go to La Notte Due without a gift certificate as prices are pretty high for the suburbs. The food quality was great as well as the atmosphere.
(4)Sharon r.
We tried this place because my husband bought the Groupon. Despite being in a strip mall, it is very intimate and nice inside and the wait staff is very attentive. We were there mid-afternoon on a Sunday, so it was a very quiet time, although it was Mother's Day. Also there at the time were 2 or 3 very big family groups, so you can tell that the place has some devoted regulars. I ordered a special of the day ($22!) linguine with shrimp, scallops and veggies. Way more veggies than shrimp and scallops (about 3 of each) and not much flavor. My daughter had spaghetti and meatballs and loved it. My son had a 3 cheese manicotti what was good, but kind of bland. My husband had the gnocchi, one of their signature dishes. It was a huge serving but the gnocchi was mushy and the sauce was kind of bland. Then they wouldn't accept our Groupon because it was "a holiday" on Mother's Day. Since we still have the groupon we' will probably go back and give it another try. but I'm not raving about it, except for the service. the people were all very nice and accommodating.
(2)Murph K.
Beware!!!! I tried to use my Living Social Certificate and the owner would not accept it off of my IPhone. I showed him my certificate and said he would not accept it. To make the situation worse the food was fair at best!
(1)David N.
The negative reviews almost scared of us out of dining here, but luckily we stopped in and discovered quite possibly our new favorite Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. Stopped in around 5:30pm and were seated immediately. Shortly after, ice water and bread were delivered to our table and drink orders were taken. Our host and subsequent server was very pleasant to speak with, had no issue with us using an Amazon coupon, and made sure we were waited on hand and foot throughout our service. Fresh bread and minestrone soup were solid. Ordered a few entrees which all came out together and in a very timely fashion. Every dish was hot, cooked properly, and tasted great with plenty of flavor. Between the Risotti Fungi (Mushroom), Manicotti Lanotte, and my Eggplant Rolatini, the fam can't decide what they enjoyed the most. Plenty of traditional entrees, appetizers, and drinks to order from, as well as their delectable desserts. Everyone was overstuffed by the end of dinner service, making dessert simply an afterthought. That was until, however, our server delivered some complimentary spumoni to the little one, putting the proverbial icing on the cake for our dinner tonight. One thing, it can get a little expensive dining here so bring your wallet, but you will definitely get you monies worth, as all of the portions seemed pretty big and left us with plenty to take home. Not sure why everyone else has been so unlucky dining here, but we found our new Italian fine dining spot in La Notte Due.
(5)Rocky G.
I'm glad that I didn't read the reviews first or I wouldn't of bought the Groupon and gone there and had a had a great meal with my wife. The service was great the portions were so big we brought home half of our dinners, yes we will go back there again, next time I will save room for desert
(4)Justine G.
I think we got lucky with tonights service. It wasn't super crowded and the service wasn't to bad. We got chicken noodle soup and minestrone soup, Sausage Giambotti & ChickenParmesan. They were served HOT! Like others said, free parking and in a weird strip mall location. But the food was pretty good. I would say a little expensive, but we had a coupon from restaurants.com , so that made the bill a little more manageable. After looking around I saw another table with the same coupon. Honestly, I forget about this place because of it's location. The food was pretty good tonight though. Check it out.
(4)Brad C.
The only reason this place might not get 1 star is the wait staff was kind and was nice enough to comp the glass of wine we found the wine cork in... not some cork, the full damn rubber cork was submerged. That is the best thing you will read from me in this review. Appetizers were not good. Artichokes were ehhhh, grilled calamari is NOTHING compared to Claires and rather fishy tasting. Dinner portions were smaller than I expect at an Italian restaurant and all 3 of us left with minimal, if any leftovers. I would give the place 4 stars in a better location, at $10 a dish and able to provide basic, clean service. At $30 per adult, in a strip mall with a table that has a view of a parking lot, this is a 1 star place. The waiter being gracious to two loud toddlers and quickly comping us a glass of wine almost gets the 2nd star. OH OH OH, I forgot desert.... they were out of it. Seriously, we were there for a 5PM dinner on a weekday, No Tiramisu. The waiter offered, it was on the menu... but they were out of it. How the hell do you run out of deserts when we are one of three tables occupied EARLY, on a weekday. The questions reminded me.. Why were there plastic patio sets outside, do people actually come here and pay this much to eat in a parking lot? I'll call the ambiance classy & romantic as that is what they are going for with the decor but missing it in all around delivery. Thanks but I'll get from Salerno's a few doors down and eat in my car next time.
(1)Anastasia T.
The food was good, the bartender attentive and kind. Now for the bad...we arrived around 6:45ish on a Saturday nite. Dining room was busy because of 2 large parties, so instead of waiting for 45min. we sat at the bar. The hostess was the most obnoxious women ever...loud, braying laugh, talking VERY loudly across the room to her friends at the bar. One of the patrons at the bar (who was a regular) had the most foul-mouth I had ever heard and NO ONE from the retaurant told him to knock it off! Then the hostess came and sat at the bar and proceeded to swear just as much as the other guy! Really!! Very, very dissappointed that the owners are ok with this type of atmosphere in their establishment. As good as the food was, we won't be going back.
(2)Kathie H.
Love this place! Mike and Armand are wonderful generous hosts who always welcome you with a hug and the offer of a beverage. Specials are delicious and generous and the pastas lovely, filling, and comforting! Vodka sauce is fabulous! Desserts are great as well!
(5)Lynn D.
My husband and I went there for dinner. What a horrible experience we had!!!! The wait staff brought over bread (French bread slices), but we had to ask for plates. After we ordered our food, we waited 45 minutes for the food to arrive. When they served it, my husband's dinner was wrong! So we had to start all over again waiting. The waiter kept apologizing, but unfortunately that didn't help when you are tired and hungry. He (the waiter) said that the dinner would be out in 2 minutes. Then after 5 minutes, he said a few more minutes. When it did finally arrive, it was cold. Not cool, but cold!! At that point we were done and just paid for the 2 glasses of wine and left. You would think that we could have been offered the wine at no charge or at least another complimentary glass of wine while we were waiting. So we just paid $19.00, yes, $19.00 for 2 glasses of wine and left. What a horrible experience!
(1)Elizabeth T.
My fiancé and I, his best friend, and his wife dined here for dinner on Feb. 20, 2010 Food - 4 out of 5! HUGE portions! Desserts were so so. Service - Top notch! 6 out of 5! Waters were refilled right away. Our bread was kept refilled. Busboy was on top of it when it came to clearing our plates and packing our food. Ambiance - 4 out of 5 Parking - free lot HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! GREAT FOOD, GREAT SERVICE, REASONABLE PRICES.
(4)Pat P.
Understated and underrated. Notte Due is our default Italian restaurant. These people understand good service, and the food is very good. Be careful not to over eat. The portions are big. We like their tilapia in particular. I like going here because there are no headaches. Summary: Fantastic service, very good food.
(5)Jan S.
5 of us went here for an early Father's Day celebration on Saturday 6/15/13. The restaurant is beautiful and the staff is very friendly and attentive. We all had different items so we could taste several diferent dishes. The portions are huge - we all had plenty of left overs,. Although all the dishes were good - Meat lasagna, spaghetti w/meatballs, Alfredo and Tortellini - the Tortellini was the best YUMMY!!!!!!! The Tiramusu was a great finish to a great meal. We came in this first time using a Restaurant.com certificate and we will be returning.
(4)Danielle O.
Recently my husband and I went there for our date night. We have been there before having both good and bad service, but we really had a taste for Italian and decided to give it one more try. Strike 1: Arrived at the end of dinner service so there were many tables opening up, but we got seated at a table in the far corner. We felt like a sardines. Strike #2: Due to our table being shoved in the corner our server kept forgetting about us. When we finally ordered our appetizers we finished them and sat for another 15-20 min. before our server came back to take our dinner order. Meanwhile our drinks had run out as did our water and bread. Strike#3: When our food finally did arrive it was luke warm, and the pasta was mushy. Once again our server was no where to be found. We get our check and pay, as we are exiting we see that had server had been at the bar socializing and watching the Bulls game. We will not be returning to La Notte Due again. The service was terrible, and our entrees were mediocre at best.
(1)Nathan W.
La Notte Due is a great find in my mind. Their current location as part of a small strip mall might turn off some, but it behooves you to at least give this restaurant a try if not for the pedigree of service alone. Victor, one of the owners, remembers all of his frequent guests names and is one of the best I've ever seen about customer relations. While service is one part of this equation, the food itself is just as important, if not more. While I was waiting to finish my job at their location I opted to get some lunch. I decided on the pasta carbonara; if I remember correctly, it was reccommended by the host whose name escapes me right now. I was ever so pleasantly surprised by what I ate that afternoon. Here I am, a guy whose Italian grandmother saw to it that I never went hungry, and this single location, not necessarily run by Italians but Italian restaurant with a small but loyal client base just knocks one out of the park. My parent's live not too far from here, and I hope I'll remember next time I visit and we can stop in again. Definitely returning. Full disclosure: this was one of my clients at a previous job. Further disclosure: since it's a previous employer I can now say it was quite enjoyable making late night service calls here and getting hammered with Victor afterward.
(4)Said T.
Great restaurant - free parking -- amazing grilled calamari. Good customer service... Highly recommended!
(4)Steve S.
Great neighborhood Italian place. good food, good service , and a nice ambiance. I have taken several out of town visitors here. Why put up with the hassle of driving when you've got great food right here.
(4)Faith M.
I have eaten here a couple times and I loved the meal served. I had the Tilapia over risotto and I had the chicken and spinach dish. Huge portions enought for two meals. And served hot and very tasty. But the last time I was there my friend ordered linguini with clam sauce. And in her meal she found a piece of wire. Like the wire from the metal pot scrubber for heavy duty cleaning. So this was disturbing. She sent back the meal and changed to a shrimp and vegtable dish. Which she said was very tasty. But after this wouldn't you think they would comp this meal or something? Nothing was comped. So that is why I only gave this place a 2 star. Bad managment and cleaning staff. But the food was good.
(2)David S.
Please... you've got to be kidding... Maybe I'm a little spoiled after living in SF and NYC for so long, but come on... I went to La Notte Due for dinner with a group of 25 people, so we got some kind of prix fixe menu, which honestly did not impress me much: - the appetizers were actually the highlight of the meal: fried calamari was pretty good but a bit tough sometimes, bruscetta was tasty (but it's pretty hard to f*ck up). - the salad that came next was the lamest thing I ever ate at a restaurant: bagged (and not so fresh) lettuce tossed in balsamic vinegar... that's it... lame. - three entrees then followed: some salmon dish which was reasonable, some pasta dish which was boring and not great, some chicken which looked so unappetizing I did not even bother trying it. - dessert: one bite size piece of cheesecake (literally), tasty but tiny. We also had some wine: a red Tuscany that was suggested by one of the waiters and turned out alright, and a Pinot Grigiot that was pretty terrible. Honestly, I was more than ready to give this place 3 stars, until the check arrived: $45 per person?!?! Are you f-ing kidding me? There's 25 of us, the food was mediocre, and still you find a way to charge us $45 per person? Good lord. In NYC I'd have given this 1 star. And what's up with the lame music mix anyways?
(2)Jen R.
My husband and I had dinner, on Friday night. The restuarant wasn't crowded, and the music wasn't loud, so you could hold a conversation and be heard. Service was excellent: timely, courteous, and welcoming. Our dinners were wonderful, and great portions. My husband had Tilapia with red peppers, artichokes, and asparagus. I had risotto with roasted vegetables. Both were hot and delicious. We also shared a bowl of cream of yellow squash soup--sound odd, but really good tasting. Granted, the restaurant is in an odd location , as others have noted. But it was clean, and well lit. Portions are expensive (ours were about $15 a piece), but the restaurant.com coupon offered us a break. I would go again, and recommend the restaurant to family/friends.
(4)Susi D.
This is a great place. Their original restaurant opened in Berwyn a few years back and we went there all the time when we lived there. Delicious food, great service and killer tiramisu! :o) We went there the night we found out we were pregnant and the owner (at the time...he had known us thru our constant visits when he was running the berwyn location and had been waiting and waiting for us to get pregnant already!) was all excited and brought us free desserts. How sweet is that???
(4)Ann V.
For dinner, I had the Sausage Giambotti and Pasta Fagiol. The soup was almost tasteless, the bread was unremarkable and the Sausage Giambotti tasted like heavy black pepper. The mushrooms in this dish tasted like they may have been sitting around for a few weeks - a bad taste ! Even the olive oil seemed off. I will not be going back.
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