Il Culaccino

Food was great! The service was great (especially with Andrea). We were checked on often and lots of casual conversation! The 3-season room was comfortable and very pretty. My visit was during the late lunch-hours so it wasn't the busiest. But it created this feeling of having space to ourselves.

The outdoor space is really nice and perfect when the weather is nice. Service was a bit slow but the server was really nice and made sure to check on us as much as he could. The food wasn't bad. We started with the meatballs which were really tender and pretty flavorful. The dish of the night was definitely the gnocchi al forno with the melted cheese. Soooo good! The sauce was delicious and it's very cheesy for sure.The only disappointment was the pipette a la vodka. The sauce wasn't very flavorful and didn't taste like vodka sauce. Plus it was pretty dry. I would definitely skip this dish and order something else, it was pretty disappointing.There aren't too many Italian places in the neighborhood, that I'm aware of, and I would probably go back if I was craving Italian.

Our group of five dined at Culaccino in late February. The location from our hotel was ideal. The interior is impressive! Love the color scheme and open design. A female hostess seated us promptly in a booth. Our waitress was much better up front with service and then fizzled. My visit was on a weekday an hour prior to close and it was pretty busy. Our female server was great when present. She smiled and was even bubbly. Mains hit the table different times around 25 minutes or so after. Appetizers were quicker. My gnocchi dish was awful and not finished. It likely had been sitting and reheated, It was dry and lacked flavor. Our waitress did not follow up until I gave up with a complaint on the dish. Drink refills were sporadic by a water boy. Others at the table had better luck with their dishes. Close out of the check by our server was slow. Prices seemed fair. I would not return, nor recommend. 2.5 rounding up.

Considering that this place is very close to McCormick Center where I attended a conference, I wasn't expecting much. My Italian sausage sandwich was pretty tasty. And it was huge. I only ate have and boxed the rest. Luckily, my hotel room had a kitchen with a fridge. Service was fine. The biggest issue though was that it was extremely noisy. Lunch was served in the screened in patio area. The sound of the neighboring discussions seemed to get amplified by the glass walls. Verdict: good to eat, not so good to have a discussion during the meal.

Hidden gem in the heart of south loop. Walked in and was able to get a hightop table in the bar on a busy night with basketball and concerts going on across the street. A really nice patio with retractable glass roof. Our server Rob was friendly and made recommendations of what to order. We split the burrata salad which was phenomenal with pesto and grilled bread. For entrees the egg plan parm and chicken Milanese was cooked to perfection. Portions are shareable and filling. Overall great service and ambiance.

Stopped here for a quick lunch while at a conference at McCormick place and was thrilled with the enclosed patio seating and the speed of the meal - and important aspect for work lunches. I ordered the carbonara ravioli and the portion was big and the meal was flavorful. Definitely a great business lunch spot!

Had dinner here Monday evening with a group from work. They were sitting everyone outside, which gave major pandemic vibes, which was a bit disturbing, but since it was a nice day, I guess it was okay. I had the meatball salad and it was pretty good. Restaurant is very close to the Hyatt McCormick, which was convenient. Only about a five minute walk.

Good service at the bar. Linguini with clams was as expected and calamari was excellent but huge portion for one.

8/13/23It's been a minute since I was last in Chicago. After NY, this is one of the better cities to find home-cooked style Italian food. Not over the top fancy but a solid meal you miss from time to time. I was here for an event, and this was close to the Marriott Marquis.Not super busy for a Sunday night and the service was ok for sitting at the bar. My eggplant parmigiana was a solid 4, with enough pasta to satisfy but not make me overfull. ---------------------------------------Follow up 8/15/23I had a good experience the other night, and my friends were looking for dinner. It's a good mile+ from McCormick Place, and not everyone was able to walk the distance.The short, seven of us ordered a variety of dishes. The non-vegetarians (I'm veg) really enjoyed their dishes as well.We used DoorDash. I'm not taking points off for that, but Yelp, please help us out. The Dasher got lost (again - I helped another friend with dinner the night before) and was 30 minutes late with our food. It wasn't hot, but what choice did we have? They are supposed to know the area they are delivering to, and it felt like we were asking them to come to another city.Il Culaccino made a good impression on me to order for a lot of out-of-town friends so I'll be back.

My husband and I were fresh off the plane a hungry. This place was around the corner from our hotel and we were glad we found it. The food was amazing. The environment was chill and the service was excellent.