Caro Mio

I used to love this restaurant. I discovered it when I lived in Lincoln Park and continued to make the trek up there when I moved to River West. However, I was highly disappointed this evening when I went. I went with a group of seven, having raved about the food and ambiance prior to this. Ten minutes after our entire party arrived, we had to ask for one bowl of bread, which had one piece for each person. A refill was never offered. Moving past that, it then took another 20 minutes to get our order taken, with no offers of water refills in the middle. After receiving our food, the waiter did not come even once to ask how our food was and we had to request a water refill. We then requested boxes. We received our boxed food and the dessert menus. Three of the people in our group wanted desserts. However, after 15 minutes of waiting for anyone to take our order, we lost our appetite for any dessert. During this time, one of our party caught our waiters eye multiple times, however he continued to talk to his friends at the bar. We then had to ask the woman who was picking up our parmesean jars to ask the waiter to get us our checks. That then took us another ten minutes. We finally got our check and saw a 20%/automatically added tip, no wonder our waiter did not care at all. We will not be returning to this restaurant, which is disappointing as we used to come regularly and used to recommend it to friends.

Love this place– food is outstanding, Odd, this past summer they moved a couple doors to the west. It’s a BYOB, which I always like. Great service and food– best Italian food on the North Side.

So, so lovely. Fantastic atmosphere. Tiny and warm. Homemade pastas. BYOB. No corkage. No wait. Mi amor.

I keep going back and when I go to other restaurants I think about Caro Mio. Healthy portions, byob, good service and the bolognese sauce is great

I went with my girlfriend on Monday night, cold, snow all over but an slow night at Caro Mio, let me tell you that our waiter Jean Pierre did the best to make our night out the best, thank you :) food was excellent, we follow all the recommendations and at the end everything was great. We will come back, thank you

Came here with my boyfriend. It’s BYOB and a really cute little place. We got the calamari which was awesome, the sauce for it tasted really fresh. I got the gnocchi special which was filled with like spinach and cheese in a tomato sauce. So yummy. My boyfriend had chicken parm, he said it was awesome.
The portions are huge, definitely had leftovers.

I’ve gone here many times over the years but never bothered to review it. In the past, I’ve always enjoyed my meals at Caro Mio, but after dining there tonight with a group of 5, I feel like the quality has fallen off. I hope they were just having a bad night. I ordered the Chicken Piccata, and it was overly salty and had WAY too many capers. Another friend ordered the Chicken Parmigiana and she said the chicken was so tough it was basically inedible. Everyone else’s experience was along the same lines. We all basically agreed that if this is how it is now, that we won’t be coming back. Oh, the garlic bread and the green bean salad appetizer was yummy and the service was good… but the entrees were blah at best. I’d have given it a lower review for the meal tonight, but for my good experiences in the past.

This place is great. Portions are big. Food is delicious. Nice neighborhood Italian place. I’d go again for sure. It’s a small joint, so prepare to wait because they won’t take reservations for parties less than 5. I think we waited 25 minutes, but it was well worth it. BYOB no corkage fee. Can’t beat that.

I’d say lasagna is a pretty solid measuring stick for great Italian, and like a cranky nun at a Catholic school, Caro Mio goes the yard. That savory layer cake of pasta is pretty up there among the best I’ve ever had. The hearty meat, flavorful cheeses, handmade pasta, and robust sauce blend together boldly, beautifully, and barely-​able-​to-​finish-​ly.
Of our table of 6, we had one person able to finish an entrée, so it’s safe to say that regardless of what you order you’re going to have leftovers. This paired with the fact that they’re BYOB, and you’ve got yourself two meals and a solid buzz for a pretty reasonable price tag.
Service was a little slow and the lights above our table kept flickering, but for me that only kind of added to the authentic vibe. If you want a sure thing family dinner spot, Caro Mio is who to call.

We had an awesome dinner after a 10 year absence. First of all, the no corkage fee was fantastic. Let the food shine and it did. I had the linguini frutta di mare and it had a garlic sauce that was among the best and most flavorful that I had ever had. I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the menu close enough and thought I was getting the typical red sauce. I was at first not pleased at my error until I tasted this and it was so much better. light, flavorful and fantastic. I also substituted Rigatoni (special pasta of the night), which was homemade to perfection for the linguini. Not a problem for this place, which aims to please.
For dessert, we had the Chocolate Tartufo and the Sorbet Trio that was in the shell. Both desserts were great adding to what was a perfect night of dining and catching up with old friends. I will definitely not wait another 10 years to return again.

Food was mediocre. Polenta was bland. Bruschetta was decent. Gnocchi was mushy. Sauce was flavorless. Service was rude. Waiter gave us major attitude. The lights over our table kept dimming and brightening repeatedly. When I told the waiter about it he said «Umm ok, I’m not sure what I can do about it.» Really?! So incredibly rude & inconsiderate. We were all feeing really warm so I asked the manager to turn the AC up. He said he would but it never cooled down. Chicago has far better Italian restaurants.

So upon entering there was attitude from the person who sat us down. Puts a bitter taste in your mouth from the beginning. The caprese salad was ok… let’s hope the rest of the meal makes a better impression. Well… we walked out. After ordering and waiting… and waiting… we left $ 20…and walked out. Never will I even bother to go here again. There are plenty of other wonderful pasta places in Chicago for the same price (s)…Rosebud, Calo Ristorante… just to name a couple. Never to be recommended… never to be visited. Ever.

I walked by this place on accident once and wanted to give it a try. I’m so glad that I did! It’s BYOB, the pasta is handmade, and the portions are HUGE (split something with others or plan for leftovers). We tried a few different appetizers and entrees and all were delicious. A hidden gem in the neighborhood.
The atmosphere was cute and wait staff was very attentive.

We went on a Thursday night around 7:30 and it was not crowded. The dining room was about ¹⁄₃ full and it had a nice atmosphere. The host (owner?) was very friendly and we were seated right away. We brought a bottle of wine (it’s BYOB) and there is no corking fee.
We started with the bruschetta special, which was fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. It was good, but I didn’t care for the dried oregano which was sprinkled on top just before serving. Fresh oregano would have been much nicer.
I had the a special, homemade rigatoni with Bolognese sauce and topped with chicken parmesan. The pasta and sauce were amazing! The rigatoni was the best I have ever had, thicker than what you get in the store and cooked to perfection. The sauce was was total comfort food. The chicken parmesan was just OK for me. It was pounded very thin and was a little dry, but had good flavor.
My daughter had the pappardelle con porcini, which was italian porcini mushrooms sautéed with borolo red wine, parmesan cheese and cream. We all loved it! The sauce was very flavorful, but not heavy.
My sister got the pappardelle all arrabiatta con gamberi, which was a topped with shrimp and a spicy red sauce made with eggplant, onion, green and red peppers. It was tasty, but not as good as the other entrees.
We split the bill and it was around $ 30 each, including tip. Overall, it was a great experience and I highly recommend Caro Mio. I can’t wait to return and try something else from the menu.

The prices are high but the portions are huge. I’d rather have a smaller portion of pasta that wasn’t so gloppy and over sauced. I sincerely doubt it’s homemade pasta that they drown.
The fish soup was a bowl of tomato sauce, not enough fish or broth to call it a fish soup. The bread was spongy store bought. The place was packed a surprise to me given the mediocre food and the high prices. Glad I checked that one off the list.

The food was amazing. I tried the agnelotti rossini and it was fantastic. Perfect serving size too. Love any pasta with peas and prosciutto. I was eyeballing the cavatelli dish so that may be next up. The people I was dining with both had the pappardelle con porcini, which I tried and it was amazing as well.
BYOB with no corkage fee is awesome too.
Only knock I had on this place was that we sat for about 20 minutes waiting for our third person and they mostly ignored us and we never even got bread. But I have nothing but great things to say about our main server. He was great and friendly to us and even brought us a free dessert on him.
One of my favorite Italian places in the city. Good portions. Fair prices. Amazing food. Good service. BYOB.

Great place in the area. They are very accommodating and can do large parties with a heads up. Food portions are huge. I would give it 5 but the music was the odd and loud.
Service was great. Food was great. Portions are very very generous.

Absolutely LOVE Caro Mio. Service is usually excellent, but you don’t go to a restaurant strictly for service… you go for the FOOD. And trust me, Caro Mio has DELICIOUS food. Some of the best Italian coupled with BYOB (no corking fee!) make this a staple in my favorite restaurant list.
The Bruschetta is a huge winner. Some of the best I’ve ever had.
The Chicken Parm is also absolutely amazing. An absolute massive piece of chicken (clearly, it’s so big, the chicken must have been some Godzilla beast) smothered in mozzarella and marinara. Absolutely delicious. The side penne pasta they give on the side is mediocre, but its a side. It’s not listed that it comes with it in the menu, so I won’t complain about it.
Desserts are amazing too, but I’m usually too stuffed to order them. The one time I did, the Tiramisu was excellent.
Did I mention there’s no corking fee? Hellz yes.
One of my favs.

This place was definitely worth the wait, and the portions are huge!
We had a party of 4 and waited over an hour on a Saturday night, but I’m definitely glad we hung in there to enjoy their home made pasta. I ordered the Gnocchi, which was some of the best I’ve had. They baked cheese on top of the dish, but it was never too much to take away the flavor of the pasta. I tried the veal which was tender and simply delicious. I enjoyed the left overs the next day just as much.
This is definitely a great date spot or a place to go with a small group.
You can bring your own bottle of wine…
Fine dining and BYOB, try it!

We stumbled upon Caro Mio after trying to visit two other restaurants (one was closed, one was hopelessly crowded). It was raining and it was nearby, so we stopped in. And I’m very glad we did!
First of all, the spot is very cute, darkly lit with tables that are close, but not too close together. it’s BYO, which is also nice.
We tried some pasta dishes and bruscetta — everything was wonderfully delicious. The menu was pretty large, but I finally decided on the special of the day. It was fresh and delicious and also the largest portion ever! I think we took half of each meal home.
I thought it was pretty reasonably priced. Service was friendly and quite accommodating — especially considering we were late arrivals to the restaurant.