Kayla’s Ristorante

I picked up some food here with a buddy of mine for dinner last weekend. I drive by this place all the time, so I figured I should try it out. We sat in the Bar, and the place was seemingly dead, it kind of seems like it is stuck in a bad location, not much foot traffic, all drive by’s under an overpass. But the service was charming and the food was surprisingly great. The buffalo wings were crisp, and the sause was quite spicy. The calamari was perfect, in my book. Good portion for the price and the breading was light and crisp, delicious. The pizza was light and crispy and delicious as well, the italian sausage being on the spicy side as well. I hope this place does well. The had an good buy one get one deal on carryout pizza the other day. I will definately be back. Oh yeah beer was decent price as well.

PLEASE DON’T LET THIS PLACE GO OUT OF BUSINESS!
This restaurant is a true gem. I blame the neighborhood on the lack of business. The food is great and the price is right.
They now have a full bar available but you still may bring wine for a $ 6 corking fee.

I visited Kayla’s in celebration of a friend’s birthday, but left uninspired.
The food itself is good — not great. I much prefer Volare’s in River North. I choose the Spinach Ravioli, which had a lovely cheese sauce, but I though the pasta itself was bland.
The prices themselves were what you’d expect for a decent sit-​down dinner. Of course, the BYOB helps give the place a bit more value.
The evening was largely uneventful, but our waitress was very helpful and honest about the food.
I ended the evening splitting Tiramisu with someone, but also felt disappointed in it. It seemed like it was brought in from outside distributor rather than prepared in-​house. I know this is very common for desserts, but it didn’t bolster my experience at all.
Based on the price, location, and quality of food, I probably won’t be going back any time soon.

We just visited Kayla’s for the first time tonight. The owner, Junior, and Manager, Victor, were very friendly and very accommodating. I ordered the Tilapia al Forno and my boyfriend had the Chicken Diavola. The entrees were excellent. We all shared a tiramisu for dessert.
The ambiance is beautiful –a very classy establishment –exposed brick walls, elegant tables and booths, and a HUGE private party room. I’m actually excited to see what kind of parties or events I can organize to have there because it is such a beautiful space and such great food and service. Parking is pretty generous, too, along Diversey. I highly recommend checking it out!

Wow! Were we ever surprised! The food was fantastic. Every dish too!
I might even give it 4.25 stars! And that is rare for me.
PARKING — check
BYOB — check
Great Food — check, check, check
When we plan a gals night dinner, we are always a big fan of BYOB. Having driven by and seen the sign for Kayla’s so many times, I figured «why not». I was chastized by the girls by my odd choice. Kayla’s is in a weird location with not much near it. I joked back saying we should try it before it closes. Refering only to the fact that the location would probably be a huge suffering point for a fledgling restaraunt. No its not closing either. And thank GOD!
I never order chicken as I can generally make it better at home. I usually find chicken dishes to be uninspired and over cooked. After seeing the neighboring tables entrees I had to try the roasted chicken.
We started with the Goat Cheese Marinara appetizer… yum! For entrees, I of course ordered the Roasted Chicken Special with a spicy tomato cream sauce. We also had the gnocchi stuffed with gorgonzola ala tomato cream sauce with sundried tomatoes and the Seafood Linguine.
Deeee-​lish!!! Honestly, I woke up craving that roasted chicken. It was so flippin good. The owner was so kind and came by our table (I love that when dining. Someone truely interested in how patrons feeling about their dining experience) Earlier my friend send her meal was reminiscent of a great dish at Mia Francesca’s. When we did compliment the chefs cooking, the owner did inform us that the chef had worked at Mia’s. So funny and right on!
They will be getting their liquor license very soon and opening a huge bar on the other side of the restaraunt, but to be sad. The owner said he would continue to allow BYOB for wine. YEAH!!!
I will obviously be back soon. Very soon! I am salivating as I think of that yummy roasted chicken.
What a wonderful surprise!

Went for Valentine’s Day. It was nice. Diverse crowd. Mood-​setting music. Nice décor. BYOB and no corking fee. Reasonable pricing: we had soup, salad, two entrees for less than $ 50. Friendly host although we wish our waiter checked in at least once after the food was presented. We’ll definitely be back.

***2.5 stars***
This is one of the only places near me in walking distance here in Avondale. Since I live so close I decided to try take-​out and got the Rigatoni Giardinera. Here is what I thought:
+The staff is super friendly
+meal was prepared quickly
+Nice space
–Dish was VERY oily and a little bland
–Disappointed in portion size. It’s pasta and veggies, add just a little more please!
I wasn’t so disappointed that I wouldn’t give Kayla’s a second chance, but I’m not in any hurry to go back.

***3.5 stars***
We were recommended to this restaurant by some friends, and the Unilocal reviews backed it up. Expectations were a bit high as the reviews and friends raved about how great this place is. I’d have to say that I liked Kayla’s, but I’d probably assess it as a good, average Italian restaurant.
First, though, I should preface it by stating that since I’m Italian, it takes a lot for an Italian restaurant to knock me off my feet. Growing up eating gravy and pasta, and cooking Italian style dinners frequently at home makes me hold a restaurant to a bit higher standard — if it tastes like something I could make easily, I’m satisfied, but not raving.
Having said all this, Kayla’s is nice, intimate little Italian joynt — it’s a BYOB, which is probably what I liked best — we brought our own bottle of wine, so our total food bill was $ 62 — including appetizer, salad, two dinners, and a dessert! Not bad!
I liked the space — exposed brick, lofty warehouse feel to it. And I did appreciate the Sinatra music — fairly formulaic, but definitely puts you in the mood! Recommended dishes are the funghi gorgonzola — sauteed mushrooms with gorgonzola. Their arugula salad was tasty, with lemon and olive oil dressing.
I had pasta with ham and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce, which was pretty decent. My husband had a chicken dish, which he liked as well. All in all, the food was good, but not phenomenal.
Dessert — this was disappointing. We shared a profiterole, and the shells were pretty hard and crusty, even after being drenched with banana ice cream. They were covered in hershey’s syrup instead of some homemade chocolate. We also were very disappointed with the espresso, which was glorified strong coffee only.
Bottom line: if I lived in the neighborhood, I’d definitely frequent this place, as it’s good average Italian food. But I don’t know that I’d make a special trip to come back, with all the great Italian places in Chicago — unless I was looking to save some money!

The atmosphere is pleasant, the food is fantastic and the prices are more than reasonable. My wife and I have eaten here at least a dozen times and could not be happier that this place is just around the corner. Any time we have friends or family to visit we make a point to stop in to grab some Italian.
If you’ve found yourself passing this place on Diversey and wondering what the food was like, its totally worth trying out. Our favorite app is the Brushete with fresh Mozzarella and tomato, I have had all the chicken and pasta dishes and have not been dissapointed once.
Try it out!

one star just for the byob. love that. the room is beautiful, exposed brick, nice lighting and red velvet curtains. i like the booths and bench seating. these things are very important when one is preparing to consume mass quantities of pasta. the food was good, but not great — the balsamic vinaigrette was really red wine vinaigrette, the bread while warm and plentiful, was kind wonder-​bread texture, and the spinach ravioli was ungarnished, so just a pool of pink sauce. oh, and hersheys chocolate sauce on the profiteroles. not a fan.
the server was super sweet and attentive (okay there were two other tables on a sunday night so she may have just been lonely!)
i can imagine that this would be a great venue for a party — plenty of room and the kind of food that makes everyone happy.

Food is pretty good, service is pretty good. We enjoyed our appetizers, and the entrees were damned good as well. It was a slow night there, and the staff was attentive.
I’m still a bit sad about the space, howe

Food is pretty good, service is pretty good. We enjoyed our appetizers, and the entrees were damned good as well. It was a slow night there, and the staff was attentive.
I’m still a bit sad about the space, however. They need to do something with the «loft» area. It makes the place look too industrial, and not in a good way. I wish the interior felt a little warmer and cozier. And, there’s only so much Frank Sinatra I can stand. It’s has that «we’re really trying hard to be an Italian joynt» feel to it, and it’s overkill.
Great eats, maybe the space is better when there are more people?

BIG FAN! — Nice contemporary restaurant in Logan Square. Nice romantic, Italian cuisine. Can’t go wrong with BYOB. I went with a friend we started out with 3 appetizers, Shrimp cocktail, grilled calamari, and the basil, mozzarella, tomato salad. It was fantastic. The calamari is a must have. Then the entrée’ i had the Linguine TuteMare, my friend had the chicken picatta, She enjoyed it very much and my pasta was delicious. We got 2 deserts on the house the mango and lemon sorbet. They were yummy. They have specials also, which sounded very good. I am glad i went to try this restaurant and will put it in my list to frequent. The staff was very friendly. We were very impressed with the food and will be bringing our boyfriends for dinner.
Go visit Kayla’s and tell your friends.

I’m going to pile on. I was with Dan’s party last week. This place is AWESOME. Please go here and make sure they keep busy. It’s in a random area, but there’s plenty of parking and the 76 stops right beside it.

I went here last week with 3 of my friends. We brought 3 bottles of wine. The server was very friendly and offered to keep our wine chilled, but we ended up drinking the white first, so it wasn’t necessary. There is no corking fee, which I think has been mentioned.
The water never got more than half empty, they refilled it very quickly lol. We ordered the dinner salad to start out the meal. It was excellent. They use a balsamic vinaigrette which is pretty amazing. Also, their fresh baked bread is great and they gladly refill that as well.
For the main course, I had the tilapia which was delicious. My friends had the seafood linguine, the ravioli, and the sausage and mushroom pasta (I forget what kind it was).
At the end of the meal, the server brought us 4 different flavors of gelato on the house. Raspberry sorbet, vanilla, coffee, and pistachio.
I am gonna miss the byob once they get their license, but then again, I’m sure they will have some good wine picked out.

Agree with everyone else on here — this place was fantastic!
My boyfriend and I went here on Friday night and although it was fairly empty, we had a great experience!
We had the fried calamari as an appetizer and then they brought out the complimentary veggie appetizer as well — both delicious! My boyrfriend had the spicy linquini with clams, mussles, and shrimp — he said it was some of the best he’d ever had! I had the shells in a tomato cream sauce with peas, mushrooms and ham — so very tasty! We had comp italian ice for dessert — raspberry and lemon — both refreshing and delicious!
Our server was attentive and helpful and you can’t beat the BYOB right now (although the bar that’s being built looks great too). Not too many other places you can go in the city for around $ 35/​couple and actually have great food! Highly recommend it!

Awesome! My boyfriend and I just tied it out last night for the first time, its nice to have this sort of BYOB a block away from us.
I had the talapia and it was delicious. My boyfriend had a fantastic pork dish.
The waitstaff is very friendly, the décor is nice and they had some Frank playing in the background.
Good food, reasonable prices and friendly waitstaff. What more can you ask for in a neighborhood italian restaurant :)
Looking forward to the party room opening.

Absolutely superb!
The restaurant is romantic and very, very clean. Exposed brick walls, very nice paint on the remaining wall. Lots of tables and corner booths, which were nice for a date. The table service was very nice; great plates, flatware and wine glasses.
The service was absolutely amazing; our waiter was very attentive and brought each part of our meal at the perfect time. We brought our own rose wine, which the waiter chilled and served; a lot of BYOB restaurants don’t bother chilling white/​rose wine or putting beer in a fridge. The bread the waiter brought us was fresh from the oven; when he brought our second batch, we actually had to wait for a new loaf to come out of the oven! It was great. We ordered the shrimp cocktail with spicy cocktail sauce for our appetizer and it was delicious. The spicy cocktail sauce was great and homemade; it had onions, some garlic, and Worcestershire. We were also served a zucchini salad on the house that contained squash, zucchini and goat cheese — it was so good!
For the entrees, my boyfriend ordered the linguini tuta mare, which was a great al dente noodle in a light marinara sauce served with mussels, scallops, calamari and shrimp. He says «it was delicious!» I ordered the ravioli con spinaci and it was absolutely amazing. The ravioli had a great Palomino sauce, which was light and delicious. The ravioli itself was stuffed with fresh spinach and four cheese sauce, which was delicious.
For dessert, we were given complimentary gelato, which was amazing. It was served in two martini glasses, which is a plus for service and it was very refershing.
All in all, it was a great experience. The service was impeccable and very friendly. The food was great, fresh and mostly inexpensive. Also a great addition to a neighborhood very close to Logan Square; this restaurant is within walking distance of our apartment, so it’s nice that there’s a great restaurant we can go to that costs about $ 35 for two people.

Looking for that new gem in Chicago, look no further! I was turned on to this place by my Logan Square neighbors who mentioned this place was great and the chef came from a very well know restaurant in Chicago. Lived up to the hype and then some!!!
Met one of the owners, Junior and he was great. Right now it’s BYOB, they hope to get their liquor license in the next few months. I hope that everyone gets the chance to send their friends to this ristorante with amazing food, attentive service, and cozy décor.

Since we live within a short walk from this restaurant, we were very happy that we had such a great experience here tonight. The place that was in this spot before left a lot to be desired. We were going to order delivery but decided not to be lazy and check out the place in person. I am so glad we did.
The interior is very simple and comfortable– EXTREMELY clean. Exposed brick, wood floors and Italian vintage-​type posters create a casual but nice atmosphere.
The food and service were both excellent– and I am hoping this continues and that it isnt just because they are new. The server was very friendly and the timing of the meal was perfect.
We ordered Caprese salad and it was very refreshing. We, too, were served a free appetizer– only ours was a delicious mix of sauteed mushrooms, herbs and olive oil. It was so good! It wasnt clear to me if this was going to be the norm (free tasting) or if they were just trying out new recipes to get feedback. Anyway, it was a great surprise and I would go there just for the mushrooms.
My husband ordered the pasta tuttimare (sp?) — and really liked it. He ate the whole thing. I ordered the Margerita pizza and it was very good. Like another reviewer described– thin and crispy crust, light on the sauce which was very fresh and not heavy, great mozz and shredded basil. It was very good and I have a couple of pieces in the fridge calling my name.
They brought us each a sorbet and, again, I wasnt sure if this was going to be the norm or if it is just because they are new. It was great.
Our meal cost $ 36.00 plus tip. That is a bargain. I really recommend this place and hope they stay around.

this place replaces the Big Cheese as the only place in the neighborhood to get a small pizza that you can take down without any help from your friends. the pizza here is good, though distinctly different from the area’s dominant Chicago-​style and New York Style pizzas. they do a good job of the traditional italian style pizza– thin crust, just a trace amount of tomato sauce, and a fair bit of olive oil. i got the di andrea, which had a flavorful mix of fresh vegetables and sausage. they threw in a couple of small plastic containers of fresh parmesan.
the interior hasn’t changed much, sort of a semi-​elegant warehouse with exposed bricks, though it’s darker now.