Formento’s

Had the most incredible dinner! They recently updated their menu. I liked it before, but love it now. Every single dish was outstanding. Some of the highlights included the tortellini and the paccheri pasta with blue crab. But, the clams and the crispy vegetables are a must try, as well. Can’t wait to go back!

I have mixed feelings about this review, because I have dined here before and had fine service and food, but this experience was just not right.
I brought my parents here for Mother’s Day brunch and had high expectations as my first experience went particularly well. Our reservation was set at noon, but requested for an earlier table since it didn’t seem busy and the staff was more than willing to accommodate. From here on out the dining experience went down hill. We were sat on the patio at what seemed to be a non-​peak hour, were not greeted by our server for about ten minutes. We finally placed our orders: avocado scramble, soft scramble, chicken parm sandwich, and Italian breakfast. All pretty simple meals.
Well twenty five — thirty minutes pass and two of our four meals come out. More time passes still no waitress and no other meals. Visibly irritated, I ask our waitress kindly what’s to come of our meal and explains it will be right up. Ten minutes Still no meal. More visibly irritated, staff finally address the hiccup and we have to wait another 15 minutes for our meal to come and partial wrong answer, but at this point we just want to leave. We had other, more exciting plans for the day. What should’ve been an hour lunch turned into a long, drawn out headache.
Food was okay but honestly a very poor experience from a place that comes highly rated for service. I’m more sad the staff didn’t do much thereafter other then a «sorry for the hiccup», I would rather go to one of the other many highly rated placed in the west loop. Would also recommend others to do the same.

Update-​part III:
So we decided to utilize the generous gift certificate sent to us by the restaurant manager to make up for our negative first experience. We were hoping for a better experience, especially since we were hosting another couple (close friends of ours visiting Chicago) and invited them to join us. I have to say, I was very impressed! The food was delicious, the service was great, and the ambiance was superb. Our first experience may have been an off day, but the second time around was delightful! Even our friends truly enjoyed the evening. I have a lot of respect for their amazing customer service and I highly recommend this place!

Well, I am in the middle of my dinner as I write this review.
I am about 1 hour and 30 minutes in on waiting for my dinner.
A solid 40% of the menu items were unavailable.
Who knows what I ordered? At this point, who cares?
Every time I tried to order something, our waiter told me they didn’t have it. I just gave up. The appetizers were decent, and I am sure the dinner will be fine. At this current juncture in time, I want this experience to end.
The wine is solid, but on an empty stomach it has gone to the dome piece.

We came here last night with some old friends. Started off with an Old Fashioned and it was quite tasty. The garlic bread sort of looks like the kind you make at home in the tinfoil sack, but it was quite good. We had the meatball appetizer which I could have turned into a meal. These are fairly similar to the kind of meatballs you get at RPM or Siena Tavern, which are both outstanding in their own right. For the entrée, we had the brick chicken, which was very flavorful and tender. The sommelier came over and recommended a couple of really good wines for the table. Everyone was quite pleased with the selections that came out.

Went to Formento’s on a Saturday evening for a family dinner with my in-​laws. We made a reservation for 5 people and were promptly seated a large corner table. The restaurant immediately gave off a typical Italian restaurant vibe with its décor and pretty much at every table there was an older parent or grandparent present. My husband and I definitely brought the average age down. Neither of these are knocks against the restaurant, but just something to keep in mind. The place is great for family dinners, I could even see a 40+ couple enjoying a date here or a group of guys at a more «adult» bachelor party dinner, but it is most definitely not a trendy restaurant if that’s what you’re looking for.
Anyway, our service was wonderful and the space inside is much larger than I expected. Food was also great with incredibly large portions. The chicken parmesan, in particular, could easily feed at least 2 people. The swordfish entrée as well as the quail were both particularly memorable. And the meatballs were fantastic! They also brought out a platter of garlic bread for the table that was sooooo good, but very garlicky so that’s your warning!

I came here last week while on a business trip. The garlic bread they put on the table to start was pretty good, but that was where it ended. I ordered the skirt steak which the waiter said the chef recommends medium well. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of a medium well steak, but decide to go with it since it was, «what the chef recommends». The steak ended up being dry due to it being medium well, and EXTREMELY salty. It was supposed to be with a pesto sauce I believe, but all I tasted was salt. Overall it was a below average experience.

Never had worse service in my life. I will not be returning.
Came in on a Friday night with a 7pm reservation. They brought us to a back room which was dimly lit and mostly full with diners. It took us 15 minutes just to get our menus. The drinks took an hour to come out — and they were totally messed up. Two of us ordered dirty martinis and they were filled with huge pieces of ice. Seriously, I’ve never seen that done before.
Our waitress told us at the start to put our entire order in at the beginning, as their kitchen is a ‘made from scratch kitchen.’ We did so dutifully, but that didn’t seem to help. The salads came out after 90 minutes. Pastas and entrees came out an hour after that. I’ve heard of spacing the meal out but, my god, what are you doing back there?
Oh but the kicker — after waiting 150 minutes for our food, half of the dishes came out cold. We told one of the managers — who rolled his eyes at us and told us that a dish called ‘charred snap peas’ were meant to be served at room temperature. LOL alrite dude. They sent them back to the kitchen and returned a warm pair of dishes 15 minutes later.
We were told there is a new chef (Stephen Wambach) at the restaurant, if so maybe he is messing everything up there. My friends brought us here because they had been several times before and really enjoyed it. None of us will be back.

Service was horrible, and when I spoke to a manager they were rude and not of any help. The food was great but the experience, overall, was horrendous.

Wish I could review based off an actual experience, but they made us 9:00 dinner reservations for my birthday dinner and proceeded to tell us on arrival that the kitchen closes as at 9:00. Maybe don’t offer 9:00 dinner reservations then.

Wife and I walked-​in on a Sat night and sat immediately at the bar. Bar tender was very knowledgeable of the kitchen/​food as well as whiskey and wines.
We split grilled calamari (off menu), the antipasta salad and 8 oz steak de burgo — all very good.
Next visit I’ll be diving face first into the pasta.

Had a nice experience here. Came for my daughters 3^rd birthday and the restaurant was extremely hospitable with top notch service. The food was fine, not great though. The buffalo mozz app was terrific and the carbonara pasta was good enough. It was eggy and creamy but perhaps could have used a little extra saltiness. The chicken parm, which was a huge portion, was disappointing. Prefer a more pounded cutlet which would have kept it from being dried out. Drinks were good and the chocolate cake was really tasty, making it very fun for my little one!

Mixed bag experience. The host, bartender were excellent, the negroni cocktail was perfect, love the old school glassware and the ice huge cube, great touch. Here is where it gets a little inconsistent. The Chicken Parmesan huge, great taste and presentation. The Pasta with gravy and a side of meatballs and sausage were just as I remember growing up as a child, I was full and could not stop eating, loved it. The Lamb Marsala was a miss, cold, tasteless not enough flavor. The Arancini was okay, I expected a much bigger version to reflect how it is traditionally made, a bit over cooked and hard. The prosciutto and burrata was amazing loved the presentation and apples, tasted great! The décor, atmosphere and music were all right on for the concept. I’m going back for more pasta.

We decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day last Wednesday to avoid the crowds.
We ordered shrimp cocktail and whipped ricotta on toast (the persimmon dish) for our apps. We enjoyed them quite a bit! Our drinks were also nice and strong. I noticed the wine list was HUGE for all you winos out there the toasted bread they give you is garlicy and buttery (and awesome).
The entrees were perfect portion. Hubs got the scallops, which were amazing in size and perfectly buttery. I got the rigatoni vodka and asked them to add fresh mozzarella cause why not?!? I found it to be a bit onion-​y but otherwise good.
The bombolini for dessert was how it sounds: the bomb. Just sayin. I don’t think I could strike out with a dessert.
The best part of the experience was probably the atmosphere and the service. The food didn’t blow me away. However, the manager kept checking in with us and our waiter wasn’t over the top. He was perfect in attending to us but wasn’t overly trying to be our friend (which I HATE).
I would go back. It’s a nice addition to the Randolph street vibe.

I came for restaurant week, which I thought would be a good way to try out a few dishes. Sadly, I’ll have to pass on coming back.
Salad — Frillman Farms Spinach, Winter Citrus, Creamy Fennel Dressing: I enjoyed it.
Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: It was barely lukewarm when it came out and had a slight oily coating on the pasta. Otherwise, the flavor was good. I’ve had THE BEST cacio e pepe in a local spot in Rome, Italy so it’s not fair to compare, but this dish could have at least been served hot. I mean, come on… it’s pasta!
Mussels in Bianco: Inedible. Like something was seriously wrong with the flavors. I tried a second one and was like nah… can’t do it… and I LOVE mussels. The waiter asked how everything was and I simply said it wasn’t good and he could take the bowl because I couldn’t eat it. He offered to bring the Chicken Parmesan instead, so I said okay. I did appreciate that later on he came back to see what specifically I didn’t like about the mussels so he could give feedback to the chef. Awful aftertaste, something I couldn’t pinpoint exactly but it almost made me gag.
Peperoni Chicken Parmesan: I took two bites just to be nice and packed it to go scratching my head at how I would make those leftovers taste better the next day… I couldn’t.
Tiramisu: I enjoyed it. What’s funny is that I don’t typically like tiramisu but this wasn’t your typical. For folks that like the traditional, you might be disappointed. For me, the entire composition of it was more like a layered cake served on its side. It wasn’t doused with coffee and cocoa, but rather highlighted the mascarpone more than anything.

Sometimes a restaurant goes beyond what’s expected, and when that happens, Had a nasty fall and ended up in a full leg brace. When I called and explained that to Formento’s, they said they would accommodate me. They weren’t kidding. The four of us got a table with an extra chair, so I could rest my leg. They made lots of room around the table for my walker. And when I took a bathroom break, they cleared the aisle for me. I was impressed.
Also impressed with the food and service. There were four of us. I ordered the Chicken Vesuvio, which was seasoned expertly and came with lots of juice. The potatoes, which are difficult to get right, were roasted perfectly.
One friend chose the Lasagna Siciliana, lots of layers including Mascarpone cheese (too rich for me but she devoured it). Another friend got the Linguine and Clams with extra garlic (I could smell the garlic across the table). And finally, the Eggplant Parmesan, which was large enough for two or three people to share. The eggplant was sliced really thin, one reason it was so tender.
None of us are big bread eaters, but we re-​ordered theirs three times!
I was on painkillers, so had to forego the liquor. But I could see that the pours were generous. Our server was almost always around, and when she wasn’t, someone else was at the table fussing (in a good way).
I really love the décor, rustic and modern at the same time. This will be my new favorite place to eat (as soon as I get out of this brace).

I have been here several times over the last year for dinner and brunch. Their chocolate cake dessert is one of the best I have ever had.
Love their varied brunch menu options and the fact that it is very spacious and only half full for brunch. For dinner, safer to make a reservation to guarantee your spot on the busy nights.

As a lover of all things carbs related, imagine my delight when my friend picked Formento’s for lunch the other day. It had been on my list to try and given it was a chilly Fall day, I knew I would be in for some comfort food.
We were seated promptly for our reservation. The place was pretty empty for lunch but was cute in a cozy, trattoria sort of way. If you are looking for a space to hold your next event, it looks like they have a variety of private rooms to host you which I also made a mental note of.
Back to lunch. Our server was a little slow. We sat and sat and sat (did I say it wasn’t busy?) and finally she came over to take our drink order. And then we sat some more. Lunch needs to be on it’s game as most people need to get back to work so I was beginning to wonder if this was a bad choice?
Our orders were taken. I had the meatball salad and the minestrone soup and my friend had the salmon toast and the burrata with apples.
A couple of things to note. The minestrone soup was like a meal unto itself as it was filled with cheese stuffed tortellini and was very rich and filling more like a chili than a soup consistency. I wish the server had said that before I also ordered a salad. And my friend ended up taking her salmon on toast home as her burrata was certainly shareable. The server could have been much more helpful as to portion sizes (or maybe we just looked REALLY hungry?)
And if you order the signature meatball salad, order the dressing on the side. Mine was swimming in dressing so much so that the lettuce was wilted. My mistake but I ended up leaving most of it.
The pricing was reasonable though, lunch entrees ran about $ 16 each.
Did we order the wrong things? Was our server having a bad day? I don’t know. All I know is I don’t have the time for this to be a lunch place. Looks like I am going to have to head back during dinner to see what all the hype on here is about!

Top notch service, yum food, huge wine list and upscale ambience. Perfect place for date nights. We started the night with artichoke and crab dip. The dip was not creamy and sweet but spicy and chunky, very distinct and yummy in its own way. I had the Fusilli Giovanni — basil pesto (nut free) and H drooled over his shrimp scampi. The pasta was fresh and very tasty.
Service was perfect, H finished his meal with tiramisu and loved it. Definitely going again!

I know there are so many different factors and variables that go into having a truly great dining experience, but all the stars must have aligned perfectly, because our dinner last night was amazing, memorable and I would recommend every aspect of our meal!
Service — our server, Andrew was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and all of his recommendations were spot on.
Appetizer — Shrimp Scampi, it was light and each bite was a burst of delicious flavors! The sauce it was served on was so citrusy and complex that I could have drank it.
Entrees — I ordered the Scallops. The portion size was on the smaller side, with three scallops, but I was thankful for this. The scallops were cooked to perfection and literally melted in your mouth. There was a variety of textures with some nuts and cucumbers and once again it was served on a well thought out sauce. Highly recommend!
My partner ordered the quail, which he states was one of the best meals he’s ever had. It’s no wonder why this dish has been with the restaurant since it had been open. The highlight of this meal was the smoked cauliflower (who would have thought?!), but it paired perfectly with the juicy meat and crispy prosciutto and made the meal!
Dessert — I’m not the biggest fan of sweets but even I had to admit that the chocolate cake was decadent and delicious. I’m all about texture and there was a nice crunchy component in a few layers which really brought it to the next level!
Drinks — Having recently come back from a trip to Singapore, it was a pleasant surprise to see a Singapore Sling on the menu! It is a great refreshing summer drink.
I think I’ve raved enough, but you really can’t go wrong with the shrimp scampi, scallops and quail