Gussie's Handmade Italian

I TELL YA WHAT!!!Stop by here and get:A Pineapple whiskey sour!!!A Halibut Special!!!A Veal Special!!!! andA slice of Limoncello Pie!!!You will LITERALLY DIE of SATISFACTION.(Well not literally)Of all my years going to Chicago, I have not had better food!

The dirty martini was good and so was the garlic bread but the pasta was overcooked and the carbonara was very liquidy... as if there were cream in it, which then made the guanciale soggy :(.We felt like it was more of an Italian American joint and not authentic Italian restaurant. Service was adequate.

I love Gussie's!! We went for dinner before a Second City show and absolutely loved it! Our server Luke was great and super helpful, and the restaurant itself had a nice home-y vibe to it. We started by ordering the mussels which were so good and they also bring out a complimentary bread that is just to die for!!! I want to go back solely for that bread! I ordered the Brown Butter Honey Raviolis and thought they were delicious, but I especially liked the Salmon special they had that night served with green beans (which my mom ordered). My sister got the Lobster Ravioli special and loved that as well. Overall, it was a great dinner and a perfect spot to eat before a Second City show! Highly recommend & I will be back for that bread!

Go Hungry!hahahaha!The dishes are generous and it's likely you will fill up on the bread. We were going to a Second City show so I wanted to eat dinner beforehand somewhere nearby. This place is right across the street so super convenient.The service is very good. We wanted for nothing.We shared a salad.... and ordered 2 pasta dishes.The salad was a "chickpea" salad.... there were chickpeas in it but it really was a green salad with some chickpeas. Don't get me wrong.... it was a nice salad that was fresh and crisp!I had the linguine with walnut pesto shrimp and my mom had the tagliatelle with meatballs. In all honesty... we should have shared 1 pasta dish. I hate leaving leftovers when I can't take them home. In any case... both pasta dishes were excellent. The pasta was fabulous.My pesto sauce was probably the best pesto I've ever tried. And I love pesto... it was wasn't super oily nor super green tasting. It was balanced and fresh. Shrimp were cooked perfectly... still plump.Mom's meatballs were big and meaty... she got 4 of them. We thought she'd get 2 since they were not dinky. They were meaty and flavorful.If we make it back to Chicago to go to another Second City show... we will definitely be back.Note: the bread... I think the secret as to why it's so addicting is because the cream cheese that is melted in the middle makes is super rich with all the seasonings on it.

Loved visiting Gussie's with my partner on our last night in Chicago. Delicious Italian food with simple sauces where you can taste the ingredients. The complimentary garlic bread was quite a fun introduction to the food, but it was reallly oily and quite heavy. It's also got a huge wad of butter inside. Very heavy and something we ended up packing home. Even then, it was so soaked in oil, it was not really edible.I enjoyed the salad we ordered and the mussels. It was a comforting dish of mussels and the broth was so flavourful.The carbonara tasted so good. Authentic and perfectly al dente. I had ordered the lemon pasta with scallops. Scallops were cooked perfectly and the pasta was great. The best hint of lemony- sour flavour and also al dente. Service was fairly quick. One thing I found odd was that they take your credit card when you pay... They maybe want to consider mobile payment machines. They shouldn't be taking people's credit cards away from their sight for security sake.

We really enjoyed our time here. The house bread is delicious. The service was a bit inattentive but friendly. Very busy and loud. We had the Pesto di Basilico con Gamberon, Linguine Puttanesca & Jumbo Seared Scallops and Spaghetti all' Amatriciana. The Puttanesca was likely our favorite. Great homemade pasta.

I was pleasantly surprised by how great the service was. I also love how all the seating are booths, very cozy. The food was aight, the grilled octopus was fresh and tasty. My favorite was the complimentary bread, I recommend eating the bread together with the heirloom tomato and burrata salad. The burrata was excellent. The cod was mid, pretty dry, not too much flava. The spaghetti carbonara is also super mid. My favorite pasta was the fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp. The brown butter and honey ravioli was just aight too. The desserts were awesome, great tiramisu and cannoli. I came here w lowered expectations based on recent reviews, but had a lovely time actually. Parking near there is difficult so I'd say plan for that ahead of time.

My boyfriend and I have been wanting to try Gussies complimentary table bread for awhile now, so we finally stopped in for a few apps!!! We walked in on a Thursday night around 7:30 and had no problem getting a table. We only ordered 2 appetizers, but the service was quick -- we were in and out of there in 45 minutes. The inside was cute, definitely a good place for a date. The bread was absolutely incredible. Worth the hype for sure and will definitely be the reason I go back. We also got 2 appetizers that were very good. The octopus was our favorite. It looks kind of freaky when it comes out, but it was sooo good. WAY better than any calamari I've ever had. The gnudi was good too, but nothing to write home about. I was a really big fan of the brown butter sauce that came on it though. We didn't order any, but I noticed on their menu that their cocktails were very affordable too. Definitely recommend this place!

Gussies had a great vibe. The place was popping which I guess makes sense given it was a Friday night. Service was good and servers were friendly and helpful. The night started off hot with the table bread but really stopped there. Octopus was decent but nothing worth raving. Pasta was also just fine (pesto which is usually my favorite didn't really do it for me). So maybe stop by for a table bread + cocktail during happy hour but I'm not sure this is standout spot given Chicagos culinary prowess, especially in Italian food.

Fast and attentive service. Everything was so delicious, the grilled octopus appetizer was amazing! The cheesy table bread alone is reason enough to get here!