Macello

I’m sure this place has other redeeming qualities, but this review is just for the pizza bianca that I got. It was very unsatisfying. The pizza comes with clumps of fresh mozzarella on top that are added after it’s cooked, and the arugula is added them too, so it results in the pizza just tasting cold. The crust was overdone and too crunchy. It had no sauce so was too dry, since the amount of cherry tomatoes they add is too scarce. My partner got the regular margarita and it looked really good — I had a lot of order envy!

I do not regret spending my money here. We came in on a Saturday night with no reservation, we got the pleasure of being seated in their outdoor area. Service was great, my wife and I split the salad and entrée specials. They arrived already split for us, no work necessary. All the food was delicious and most importantly PLENTIFUL! I saw some great looking food coming out to the tables around us, most noticeably the gnocchi. I can’t wait to come back and try some more!

Loved our dinner here! Cute, little place. Loved our wine selection, burrata, pizza, and laganella tartufata pasta. Brought out a homemade limoncello shot for dessert.

I went here with a group of friends for the first time and well, it was ok. I’m not sure about the second best pizza in Chicago though.
We made a reservation for 7:30, and ran into a traffic problem. They were more than happy to hold our table for us as it wasn’t a busy day.
The waiter was nice enough once they took our order, but they seemed to be annoyed that we were taking our time to order (most of us hadn’t seen each other in 2 years, so we were catching up). There was 2 waiters who were standing right at the foot of our table glaring and pointing at us.
I ordered the amaretto sour drink, and while it was ok, it wasn’t great. I wouldn’t order it again. They seemed to use a bottled sour mix which isn’t the same. The Italian wedding soup– while the meatballs were perfect the broth was bland and the cheese they put on it was kinda gloopy. I ordered the Pizza Barese, but instead received the Pizza Pugliese. Due to the group I was with I didn’t want to complain so I ate it. The mortadella was tasty, the burrata did not add to the pizza. It did not spread well and so when you reached that spot it sorta overwhelmed the rest of the pizza. The crust was very good. Everyone else seemed happy with their pizza’s. The waiter gave us some kind of lemon shot that was very good, and my friend got some ice cream and he liked it.
I might be willing to try them again for things other than their pizza, but overall I would say they are just kinda average. The parking is bad, but they do have a valet.

I first heard of Macello when it was listed as #2 among the city’s top pizza destinations by Chicago Magazine. While I differ with Chicago’s rating, I did enjoy a recent visit to Macello.
VIBE: Whimsical, rustic, funky: the large colored globes suspended from the lofted ceiling and the bold murals on some walls set the tone for comfort & fun.
SERVICE: Brisk and attentive.
GOOD: Pizza Pugliese, featuring very good mortadella (alas, no pistachios, though), burrata, and a light tomato sauce was delicious; the thin crust was perfectly cooked. Not Neapolitan, just an excellent thin crust pizza. On Wednesdays, selected bottles of wine are available for half price. (My suspicion is that these selected bottles are marked up since they don’t appear to be part of the standard wine list, and the listed prices are notably higher than most of the regular list. Whatever — we enjoyed the wine.)
NOT SO GOOD: Grilled octopus was a little chewy, but still tasty.
We’ll be back, for sure. The menu is appealing, the vibe is fun, and the service is good.

Tucked away under the L and distant neighbors to the trending fare on Randolph St, is Marcello. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but that is all part of this local Italian’s charm.
A great menu, awesome wine list and delicious fresh pastas are all just the perks to the gorgeous space that this restaurant is set in. Vaulted ceilings with glass skylights set the mood for this space, a wood burning oven built in the center of the room is dwarfed by the height of the ceilings and and there are so many tables I don’t know if you ever have to wait long to be seated. We were seated right away without a reservation at 7pm on a Friday. It was jut magical and I had a lovely Friday night date night with my honey this past weekend. I will be back.

The perfect place for dinner before heading to City Winery around the corner. Tonight we sat at the bar and had another great meal. Started with two glasses of cab and warm bread with oil and Parma were immediately placed in front of us. Michael at the bar took great care of us. He suggested a dish with roasted octopus, calamari and shrimp and it did not disappoint. My picture is missing the octopus because I gobbled it up ASAP as it was so delicately cooked and seasoned. My husband had a cucumber/​tomato salad served with rustic grilled bread.
Try it out! Head to the bar and be spoiled rotten by Michael. Wish we lived closer to this lovely restaurant.

Pizzas were very flavorful and the fried calamari was delicious. Would also recommend the house merlot.

My boyfriend and I recently went here after reading a rave review about their pizza. However, the pizza is a «C» at best. We started with mediocre salads and received our pizza less than 10 minutes after getting our salads. Our waiter noticed we were still eating, yet dropped off our pizzas without saying anything and left. Even though there was barely room on the table… By the time we got to the pizzas, the burrata cheese had melted on my Pugliese pizza and the pizza was lukewarm and flavorless.
For a $ 52 tab for two people (not including alcohol), I would skip this place entirely. I gave it 2 stars mostly because of the nice ambience and the burrata cheese was good.

Went here before a Blackhawk game. Glad we had a reservation. Had the lamb casserole, cooked in the wood-​burning oven. Terrific.
Won’t wait another three years to return.

Went here during Restaurant Week, so I’m not sure if my experience will be representative of the rest of the year.
We started with a Insalata Spinaci — baby spinach, mushrooms, pine nuts, goat cheese. Very small salad. Not really a fan, but I normally don’t do salad at restaurants.
For my pasta, I chose Trofiette con Pesto. I’ve had trofie with pesto in Italy, so this was a nice throwback. They’re tiny, twisted noodles. I would have preferred them more al dente, but I enjoyed the dish.
I followed that with Pollo Limone — They went hard core with the lemon flavor. Might need to dial that back a notch, guys. Still, it was pretty good, and the acidic lemon helped knock down the flavor of the grilled asparagus, which I liked.
For dessert, I went with the special of the day, a chocolate lava cake and an amazing scoop of vanilla gelato.
Service was fantastic. There are lots of servers and bussers to take plates as soon as you’re finished.
We also appreciated that they carry some Banfi wines. My fiancée and I stayed at Castello Banfi in Tuscany, so it’s always a nice romantic throwback whenever we can drink that stuff. A bottle of Banfi Centine (a crisp but smooth white) was $ 25.
The Restaurant Week dinner menu is $ 44/​person, so with wine and tip, our total was $ 150 for the two of us. Had we gone another time, we probably would’ve just done pizzas or something. The Restaurant Week menu is a ton of food. My fiancée took just one bite of her second course before boxing it up to eat later.
We’ll be back.

It’s been over 5 years since I’ve been to Macello — and now I remember why. We got there and for some reason the hostess had already seated another party under our reservation. There were a few tables open so normally this wouldn’t be an ordeal but we stood there for 10 minutes while she attempted to figure out the seating system on their computer — as opposed to just getting us a table and dealing with their tech logistics on her own time. Very strange way to start — unfortunately it was downhill.
It took another 10 minutes for anyone to come to our table with water or bread, take our order, etc. The busser who eventually did, turned out to be the only capable person in the restaurant and essentially saved us from walking out of the restaurant. He was the only person (aside from when the waiter finally took our order) to come by the table at all for the entire meal.
The food was pathetic. The calamari was edible but basic. The pizza (I can’t even be bothered to look up the one we had) was a giant sloppy mess. Over salted, burnt on one side, just, no. I’m not even going to bother.
If it’s another 5 years before I go back, that’ll be 5 years too soon.

Hi Reader
This place had me at entrance!!!
Let me tell you that first, the service is a must see. EVERY STAFF MEMBER made sure that every customer was well taken care of, a rarity these days.
Most important, I cannot begin to describe how my taste buds reacted when I tried the meal they prepared for us today. Of all things, one of their soups of the day was a mussel based broth with a variety of specially selected types of fish that made my pallet ask this; Really, this is a soup, this should be a meal at the least!!!
I highly recommend you to give it a try. As you enter, you can smell the authentic wood burning ovens mixed with the aromas from the Chefs creations. From their warmed hearth baked breads, appetizers, wood burning pizzas and oven baked meals to their dessert was amazing. In addition, the design and ambiance of this restaurant places you in a classy art deco atmosphere surrounded by wooden grazed ceilings and vaulted remnants of 100 years past!!!
Great outstanding recipes that had me already planning another visit.

I came in between lunch and dinner
Soup. Good
Pasta. Carbonara really good, rich
Pizza. Was really good
Sorbet. Extremely bad not being able to finish it, extremely Icy.
Espresso. Really good
Server. Very attentive
Manager. To busy in her computer didn’t even say thank you, bye., hello
Def we will come back for dinner.

Came here on a date and it was actually just ok. I only give this place an extra star because I know it’s better than the experience I had.
I blame my ok experience on my non-​adventurous date. We ordered the margarita pizza and a second pizza with red peppers and mushrooms. The pizzas were great but I know there are plenty of other highly recommended dishes that I would love to come back and try.
Over all the place is very nice and busy. The feel is homey but at the same time intimate at your table with dimly lit dining area and décor that makes you feel like you have entered a new world.
I will definitely recommend a reservation because they book up fast and would be a great location for a date, gathering or just a bite to eat with a friend.

Lovely place tucked away on Lake Street (perfect for dinner before a show at the City Winery around the corner). They have a fantastic gluten free menu, which includes, wait for it, more than one type of gluten free pasta! I had gnocchi, which was possibly the first time I’ve had it *years*. It was light and tasty. :)

ill be short and to the point. I came here thinking I was getting Neopolitan style pizza. Not the case at all. To pay 15 $ for a margarita pizza, that had very little flavor… I mean, the entire pie weighed about the size of a sheet of paper.
There are places whose neo pizza rocks. I don’t know what the food is like but certainly wouldn’t do pizza here again.

This place seems solid. Like a great neighborhood joint. The service is friendly and helpful. I found the space to be a little loud. They had sports on on the tvs, and its a big open room. So when people were talking they had to be loud to be heard. I think they had music on too. I tried one of their special cocktails. It was a little on the clear side for a bourbon drink but tasty. Nice fresh bread with olive oil and cheese is on the table. Thank goodness because I was starving! My boyfriend got the calzone which was great. My dad, stepmom, and I all had different pasta dishes. My stepmom had one with shrimp on it, my dad got the one with fava beans, and I had the one with arugula and buratta. All 3 were fresh and delicious. All 3 of us took some home with us.
I’d definitely come back before seeing a show at City Winery. If I lived in the hood then I would be a regular.

My boyfriend and I tried this place out last night. He had been once and raved about the pizza so we went back to check out the patio and their other food. I don’t think a lot of people realize this place has a patio as we were the only ones out there (yay!), but they do and it’s cute and perfect for Mon-​Wed ½ price wine specials. The train on Lake St. can tend to be a little loud, but it’s quick and didn’t bother me much. Let me emphasize the wine specials… ½ price on select bottles Monday-​Wednesday. Can’t beat it!
Now the food… it was excellent! They served french bread with parmesan cheese and olive oil (who doesn’t love that?). Then we had the prosciutto melone and Carpaccio dish for appetizers. They both had very generous amounts of meat and were deliciously prepared. My boyfriend had the cavatelli al forno and I couldn’t quite decide. There were so many excellent options. I told the server what I was looking for and he said they happily make dishes on request. They altered the Andoullie and Fava Bean Risotto to include mushroom instead of the beans and it was exceptional. The sausage had a great flavor and the risotto was cooked perfectly. My boyfriends dish was in a stone bowl/​pot and cooked in their wood fire oven. The cheese was fresh, pasta cooked al dente and the sauce was flavorful. I would definitely recommend both dishes.
This place is a little off the beaten path from West Loop but it’s definitely worth the try. I walked through the dining room fairly quickly so I can’t say too much about the interior but what I did see was fun and spacious and I’d definitely go back on days the patio might not be open. This is my new favorite go-​to.

Trying to find a place for 12 dudes to dine in the West Loop with a two-​hour time window on the night of my friend’s birthday was no easy task. Of course, being the Elite Unilocaler, I was tasked with finding a place. Half the group had already passed on Green Street Smoked Meats and Au Cheval due to the obscene wait times. Thankfully, Macello was our saving grace.
OpenTable allowed only 8 people, but the hostess was accommodating to more. There was a long wait at the bar, but it was no problem as the bartender proved to be surprisingly impressive and there was plenty of catching up to do. Bartenders at most Italian restaurants are competent, but not impressive. Excellent grasp of the Manhattan, and great beer knowledge. Loved the Cynar sweet vermouth substitute and Rossa beer recommendation.
Food was a bit pricy and took awhile, but the place was packed. I had the special, which was rack of lamb with lobster risotto. Excellently prepared. I also tried some of the brick oven pizza (margherita), which was delicious.
An unassuming store front, illuminated only by a cool lamp under the Green Line tracks. This place looks like it used to be a butcher or factory or something along those lines. A little off the beaten path, but definitely worth the trip! Especially considering they will usually have open rezzies when others in the hood are booked.