Trattoria Tonelli

Great waiter and atmosphere on a cold Saturday night. Amazing appetizers and desserts. I highly recommend the antipasto and burrata with prosciutto. Both are amazing! Entrees were –ok– a bit bland. We will try them again though!

This is a great place, small, unpretentious and delicious. I have been there a number of times and have yet to be disappointed.
The staff and owner are so welcoming and the ambience is so cozy. Hard to be disappointed here. Michigan City now has a higher bar to reach thanks to Tonelli!

Tonight was the first time I’ve been since August. I went for dinner there four times this summer and while the food was excellent, the menu was pared down and the front of the house service hadn’t been fully sorted out although everyone was always warm and inviting.
Tonight we arrived pretty early, before six with only one or two other seated tables. Our waiter, Cody, I recognized from earlier this summer but immediately saw the difference in his demeanor, delivery and confidence. The room was slightly different too, it was now «broken in» and looked and felt like a restaurant and I think the two larger tables in the back of the room were new additions as well.
When Cody brought the menu and wine list, I saw right away that those had changed too; more of everything. The wine list was much larger with some really nice selections along with some high end bottles and the menu was much larger as well, featuring at least twice the amount of choices but not an overwhelming amount, still concise and with a theme, real Italian food.
As our wine was brought out, so was a beautiful platter of breads, focaccia, and really tasty, high quality pit in olives. It was hard to not devour everything and totally spoil our dinner. A little plate of caponata (a spread of eggplant and other veggies) was delivered to our table as a little treat. Shortly afterwards, our first dish which I shared with both of my dining partners arrived, lobster and porcini risotto. ***full disclaimer, I’m a good cook and a risotto nut. This risotto was fantastic! Perfectly al dente risotto with large pieces of lobster swimming in a creamy, unctuous mixture; starchy, buttery and nice touch of acid from some wine, all seasoned to perfection. THIS was great, truly perfect risotto. The earthiness of the porcini mushrooms played well with the dish and was a nice contrast to the sweet lobster meat rice. I could go on and on about this dish alone, it was so toothsome, well balanced and perfectly cooked. Chapeau chef or should I say cappello? The service in the front of the house from cleaning tables to attentiveness to most importantly the timing was on point and everything ran very smoothly even as the room filled to capacity; Trattoria Tonelli is firing on all cylinders. This was perhaps the most noticeable difference and it was impressive.
I split my main dish, veal toscano with one of my dining partners while my other dining partner had orecchiette pasta with bolognese sauce and while I did’t try any, it looked great and it was a very generous serving. My veal toscana which I regrettably didn’t take a picture of was a beautiful dish, three scallops of veal with sautéed mushrooms, sautéed spinach and a white wine sauce. It was fantastic but I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t still on a high from that lobster risotto!
For dessert, the three of us split one of each of their homemade desserts, panacotta, tiramisu and a canoli. All three were great and obviously made in their own kitchen, no need to ask. The canoli had a great texture to it with a delicious filling, not overly sweet. The tiramisu, again, hit the mark, something that too many places just screw up. It was well saturated with coffee and booze (there is a reason it’s called a «pick me up!») and had a great mascarpone topping, again, not too sweet but just enough. Finally, the pans cotta, perhaps the best I’ve ever had. Cooked slowly and made with love and a special gelatin with just enough in it to hold it’s shape. It was peppered with vanilla, topped with honey and was just the perfect way to end a perfect dinner. That was it, we were done and tapping out, no coffee, no after dinner drink just a nice word with the great owner before we left explaining how pleased we were with our meal and how impressed we were with the progress and improvement that had been made since the last visit. That’s not to say the last visit wasn’t good, it was, it’s just now. That. Good. Great Job Cindy Tonelli, chef Giuseppe, Cody and the rest of Trattoria Tonelli!

We have eaten twice at this restaurant. First time, during the summer, was fine. Good wine, good service, food pretty good. Went back last Friday & it was quite crowded. There was 1 person working! This one person was seating patrons, bar tending, taking orders and delivering food. Upon entering he motioned us to a table for four very near the front door. We asked to be seated at a larger table in the back of the room but we’re told that table was held for parties of at least six. We sat at the front table, then waited 20 minutes before the wIter showed up to take our drink order. During our wait he was running all over taking orders, pouring wine, delivering food and checks to other tables. Also during that time the bar filled up with people waiting to be seated. As we sipped our drinks the owner finally showed up, and the first thing she did was seat a foursome at one of the back tables we were told were reserved for larger parties ! Since they were out of one of the best wines and had no lite beer– so we were drinking $ 18 worth of stuff we didn’t really want– and no one had ever come to take our dinner order, we left enough money on the table to cover the drinks and got up and left. No one noticed ! If I want Italian I’ll drive to LaPorte, Enzo’s is great !

I love this place! It is quiet and intimate. Service was prompt and friendly. The menu has something for everyone. I had the octopus appetizer and it was delicious! There is a full bar and a nice wine list by the glass or bottle. Can’t wait to go back.

I freakin’ love this place! So cozy, and the food was legit. My husband’s risotto was quite possibly the best I’ve ever had!

A fantastic find 1.5 miles from the casino on fun Franklin Street. My wife and i were visiting from Chicago for our first anniversary weekend. This restaurant was perfect for celebrating… cozy, cute, and delicious. She had the lasagna which was outstanding. I had the very good frutti di mare with clams, shrimp, and mussels in white wine sauce. A must try restaurant.

From the other Unilocal reviews it is apparent that this restaurant has wonderful food and great service. We, however, will never know if that is true because when we made a reservation through Unilocal and received an email confirmation and later a text message reminder of our confirmed dinner reservation for a party of five, we went to this restaurant with full confidence that we had a fabulous meal in store for us. Upon arrival we were turned away and told we had no reservation because the restaurant had enrolled in the Unilocal system under a previous manager who had failed to disclose the password to disable the system. «So sorry.» I suggested to the hostess, who was so very sorry, that she might consider asking someone how to disable this deceptive reservation system in order to save other victims like us the inconvenience of showing up at a restaurant with a confirmed reservation and being turned away. Lucky for us, Patrick’s Grill was open and we went there for a fabulous meal — great scallops, lobster bisque, steaks and a world class server, Rana, that was undoubtedly as good or better than anything Tonelli’s could have delivered.

Trattoria Tonelli is a small gem of a restaurant, with a seating for about under 40 people. Reservations are only available for parties of 6 or more, but this is a place that is worth the wait. Wood floors, exposed brick walls, and a high ceiling does mean that it can be noisy when the restaurant is full, but not painfully so. The owners and the servers are charming and very pleasant. The small bar has a very nice selection of excellent Italian reds and whites, as well as beers (no hard liquor license).
We had the antipasto of several cured meats plus small bites of cheese and olives in herbed olive oil. The breads served were nice Italian loaf slices and tomato foccaccia, served with an exceptional fruity Italian EVOO. Entrees come with a small house salad, which was made more balanced with the addition of some of the olive oil and parmesan.
J*** had the penne pesto with herbed chicken, which I thought was perfectly cooked, with just the right amount of a superb pesto sauce. A*** had the chicken marsala, which was excellent, but not as much of a stand-​out as the penne and my entrée. I had the linguine del mare, al dente liguine with manila clams, small PEI mussels, and three plump shrimps with a choice of red or white sauce. I had the white sauce; garlic, wine and broth, with the seafood perfectly done. When one considers that the kitchen was being stressed with the maximum of diners present, the fact that the dishes came so well prepared and executed is obviously the result of excellent ingredients cooked with flair, with the attention to detail that they deserve.
We had a blueberry panna cotta for dessert that was perfection!
This is a restaurant that deserves to have a loyal following, and great success. We will certainly look forward to many meals here.

Well known dishes done well. Good service. Nice wine selection (prosecco is dry and tasty and montepulciano is lovely). Shrimp was cooked to perfection. Cannoli could use chocolate chips and pistachios. We’ll definitely try it again.

Be aware, tho you can schedule a reservation on Unilocal at this restaurant, the restaurant owner knows nothing about it!

Only open one month, but far exceeded our expectations.
By far the best Italian spot in Michigan City. Nice tight concise menu, and good wine list. Burrata appetizer was suburb, only surpassed by the perfectly prepared pasta. All food made to order, and presented piping hot.
Try it. You can’t go wrong.

Overall it was a decent experience but the inconsistent service really made the entire experience below average. Things started off a bit rough when we entered and were greeted by never sat. I understand that tables needed to be cleaned to accommodate our reservation but the frustration occurred when the individual who was eventually to be our waiter was also the host and the bus boy. The guy was running around the whole time trying to clean tables and serve while a woman who seemed like the owner just sat and sipped on her wine.
An owner should be filling in every single position and assisting her staff out whenever needed but more importantly they should not be drinking at the bar during a dinner rush. Instead the owner was more invested in her wine drinking and the bar then her restaurant. Due to this our waiter was extremely overwhelmed and running around like crazy attempting to help just about everyone.
Our waiter was extremely nice but did not know much of anything about the menu or wines, which was a bit frustrating. After we worked out these kinks things turned out ok and the food was worth 4.5 stars. I have no complaints about the food at all and would love to return but not sure if we will due to the extremely disorganized staff and lackluster owner.
One other suggestion… stop hitting the bell when food is ready. It is annoying to customers and is all you need is for the servers to pay more attention.

As a part-​timer to the NW Indiana area from Chicago, it’s so refreshing to see such a great place like Trattoria Tonelli make their mark in Michigan City to give us another option for amazing food.
We had 6pm reservations on a Friday night and although there was not an empty chair in the restaurant otherwise, our table for two was ready for us right when we walked in.
We started with the Burrata and Prosciutto plate. This simple dish was popping with flavor. Next up were our salads which was lightly dressed and the lettuce tasted as if it was just picked off the farm at the perfect moment.
For our entrees, I had the lamb chops which were perfectly seasoned and cooked. Came with white asparagus and polenta. I’ll be ordering this again. My wife had one of the two specials, risotto with asparagus and shrimp. She loved it!
We’ll be back very soon.

Trattoria Tonelli — Dinner on May 12, 2015
What a lovely jewel box of a space! The old Sahara is beautifully redesigned to meet the expectations of a trattoria (an Italian restaurant serving simple food). The interiors are clean lines with a color palate that imbues kicking back and relaxing over a lovely dinner. And well done on the bathrooms!
Menu — in keeping with simple food is a simple menu. This is not Olive Garden folks (somehow, I’ve never eaten at one but still know it’s not Olive Garden). The current menu offers 5 Antipasti, 4 Pasta and 4 Secondi. Menu pricing is commensurate with the offering. The wine list has a red or white (including bubbles) for all taste buds.
The salads were perfectly dressed with an herby dressing on beautiful, fresh greens. The accompanying breads were perfect, especially the focaccia… yeasty with just enough sour bite to make it interesting. The way to my heart is always through a Bolognese and this one stole my heart! This meaty ragu sauce tasted like it slow cooked for a day or two. The leftovers made for a perfect lunch the next day. My dining companion Terri had the Chicken Marsala. Marsala is the way to my husband’s heart so I’m sure it will steal away his! A perfect blend of silky wine sauce with flawlessly cooked chicken. We finished off with the panna cotta. OMG. Run, don’t walk! The vanilla bean flakes are enough to know you are about to consume a little bite of heaven. It may wiggle and jiggle, but it certainly isn’t jello!
I wait with bated breath the next time we have the opportunity to eat here again. Our compliments to the chef and the lovely team behind Trattoria Tonelli.