Top 10 Best Italian Restaurants in Chicago 2020

American folks have been fond of Italian food for decades. In fact, arguably, the most popular food in the states, Pizza, is originated from Italy. This is not a surprise, though.

The exquisite and finger-licking taste of Italian food cannot be argued against. In Chicago, there are a lot of great Italian restaurants that offer the best Italian food in the states.

Today, keeping in mind your wildest cravings for Italian food and deterrence from the settlement without the best Italian food in Chicago, we have listed out the best Italian restaurants in Chicago.

These restaurants provide brilliant food, and you would most likely be eager to visit again right after walking out of their doors.

Before going forward, we would like to say that if you want to know which ones are the best spots for Indian or Chinese foods in NYC, you can check them out in the food section of our website.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Top Italian Restaurants in Chicago

Monteverde

Right off the top, in our opinion, this is the best Italian restaurant in Chicago. Every single dish offered here is super delicious, from the ragu alla Napoletana (with elegantly-cooked pro shank, fusilli, meatballs, and sausages) to the housemade pastas like tortelli di zucca and cacao e pepe.

In our opinion, if you want to settle for nothing but the best Italian food, Monteverde deserves to be on top of your wish-list.

Spiaggia

If you are looking for a fancy Italian meal, the Spiaggia is the spot for you. It is one of the oldest Italian restaurants in Chicago and has luckily gone through many changes in the past 35 years. The rapid renovations have made sure that the up-scale vibe of the place doesn’t diminish.

The food here is delicious, and if you want a place to celebrate with Italian food, Spiaggia can be a wise choice. It is pretty expensive, though (the eight-course tasting meal costs about $155).     

Riccardo Trattoria

The best way to get the feel of eating Italian food is by having a server that talks in an Italian accent. This is a small yet key thing that attracts most people to the Riccardo Trattoria.

This restaurant is located in Lincoln Park and is pretty nice for hosting a special occasion. The best dishes here are the pastas (the papparelle with Bolognese is our favorite). 

RPM Italian

This is the most Chicago-Esque Italian restaurants on this list. As typical with most Chicago restaurants, there is ample space here with a booth that can accommodate eight of your buddies at one table.

Despite being owned by E! Reality stars, RPM Italian offers some of the best Italian food in Chicago. If you are planning to try this spot out, we would recommend you to try the cavatelli and bucatini pomodoro, they are our favorite two pastas at RPM Italian.

Enoteca Roma Ristorante

This is a relatively smaller place located in Wicker Park that offers fantastic Italian bruschetta and pastas. You can commence with a bruschetta flight and a polenta board for the table. You can follow that with the penne arrabbiata or some other homemade specials.

During summer, the small place becomes huge, thanks to the huge secluded back patio. This is one of the top Italian restaurants in Chicago if you are looking for a decent costing yet delicious Italian meal.

Ciccio Mio

If you have tasted the Italian food offered by Bavette’s and Gilt, you must be aware of the honor and respect they rightfully provide to their pastas. Ciccio Mia is a spot from the same team, and the best part about this spot is the establishment.

The old-timey space gives us the vibe of a huge hall inside of an old mansion.  The menu of this place is very wide, which includes mains, pasta, antipasti, and everything from the crispy chicken parmesan to the lasagna with Bolognese is delicious.

La Storia

When compared with most  Italian restaurants in Chicago, La Stroia is fairly new. It was opened back in 2015 but has a vintage feel to it. Most importantly, the food served here is fantastic. Entrees like the chicken Milanese and housemade pastas are super delicious.

You might have noted that most restaurants in the Gold Coast are either super fancy and high-end or ultra-casual, La Storia, however, falls in the middle of that criteria. White tablecloth may give you a feel of luxury, but the pizzas here are conveniently ranged from $6-$18, making it a near-perfect spot for date-nights.

Mart Anthony’s Italian Restaurant

It is one of the most uniquely put together Italian restaurants on the list. It is an out-of-the-way spot located on the border of West Loop and West Town and may look like a usual neighborhood corner tavern. If you get past all that, you will come to know that it is actually one of the top Italian restaurants in Chicago.

Another great advantage of dining in a relatively minimal place like this is that the servers, bartenders, and even the owner would give you a warm welcome and make you feel like home even if you visit the place for the first time.

La Scarola

This is one of the most popular Italian restaurants that provide the best Italian food in Chicago. This place features old pics of various celebrities on the wall, while tablecloths, giant plates for pasta and last but certainly not the least, veal scallopini that is the size of the table.

If you are looking for a place to enjoy delicious Italian food with your friends over the weekend or a casual date night, or really anytime you crave for Italian dishes, this place is the one.

Gene & Georgetti

This place is technically a steakhouse. It was opened back in 1944 and is, In fact, one of the oldest steakhouses in Chicago. Regardless of these obvious technicalities, the spot deserves a place in this list as it offers great Italian food and was opened by two Italian guys. If you are craving a big steak or even larger bowl of delicious meatballs and spaghetti, this spot can be the perfect one for you.

Also Read: Top 10 Best Indian Restaurants in Chicago

Conclusion

Italian Restaurants have been around for the longest time in Chicago. And despite the fluctuations of demand for foreign food over the decades, the popularity of Italian food and restaurants has only risen. Today, we have listed the best Italian restaurants in Chicago that are crushing it right now due to their magnificent ambiance and delicious Italian food.

If you want to enjoy the best Italian food in Chicago, you must definitely pay a visit (and some money too) to these quality restaurants.

If you are a native Chicagoan and have tasted the food of certain Italian restaurants that, according to you, is even better the food served in these restaurants, you are more than welcome to drop the name of such restaurants to help us other folks out in finding the best Italian restaurants in Chicago.

Do let us know your thoughts and potential reviews using the comments section down below.