The Del Rio Restaurant

This is my favorite Italian-American restaurant in the world. It's got everything you'll want to enjoy a nice date night or for a dinner out with a group of old friends. Fresh warm bread with butter and cold drinks are always a good place to start!A mix of amazing entrees and pasta sides with fresh seafood and the best chicken parm you'll find. Oh, and get the gnocchi. It's so soft and pillowy... you'll eat the full side by yourself and realize that everyone out with you was hoping you'd notice their hungry eyes. You know, you're welcome to get your own? Yeah.Everything here is good. The service is incredibly friendly and helpful. They will make you feel right at home even if you just landed a couple hours ago and are still jetlagged. It's just the best.TL;DR: If you are thinking about going out for food North of Chicago, eat here. I promise you'll love the experience.

Came here for dinner while in North Chicago area. We were seated on the second floor of the restaurant. First, the service is absolutely wonderful. From the host to our waitress to the gentleman who checked on our table, it's the kind of hospitality you receive at family restaurants. My husband ordered baked ravioli, my son got the fettuccine Alfredo and I ordered the halibut dish with lemon and butter. The pasta dishes were delicious and heavy and rich. My fish was cooked perfectly but, alas, it lacked seasoning. I had to add so much salt and pepper to make it taste like something. So that was disappointing but the service was so nice, I couldn't bring myself to mention it to our waitress. Come here for the pasta and you won't be disappointed.

Perhaps the best Italian restaurant I have ever been to. The owner is very nice and he greets every guest. The DelRio will be celebrating their 100th year this year. Same restaurant, same location, same family. That doesn't just happen by accident.

I frankly don't see any value in this old resturant. Food was not good and they make too much on drinks. So many better choices in Highwood. Pass on this place

Had a very nice birthday dinner here for my wife. Six people and all we happy with the food. Were very busy when we arrived so it took a little time to get our order placed. Most of the dishes were very rich and filling. We shared a wonderful chocolate cake. Had two bottles of a nice reasonably priced wine. Server was very good and on top of things.

My husband and I recently dined at Del Rio after not going there for several years. Our reservation was for upstairs. I did not care for that level as much as the main room. Our server was friendly and competent but a bit familiar to my taste. At one point, he sat down at our table to chat. Hmmm.We both ordered the Chicken Parmesan which was good but not my favorite. It had a cinnamon flavor to it that I did not care for. The house salad was with a vinaigrette and topped with blue cheese crumbles. Yummy! The housemade cheesecake is made with mascarpone cheese and it was decadent!!Our total was $160 before the tip. (4 drinks, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert) It was good but several other great Italian restaurants nearby have equally good food for less money.Not sure that I am racing back there.

It has been years since we've been to Del Rio's and couldn't wait to go back. The ambiance is all that we remember, old school and very familial. The food was as good as I remember it so no disappointment there. All four of us were very pleased with the service and our meals. I guess the only downside is that it's very pricey. Our bill, with only 2 glasses of house wine was over $150 not including tip. 3 were pasta dishes over $20 each and 1 chicken parm. Pricing needed to be a mention.

Excellent all around! Cracker crust pizza = amazing! Pasta dishes were bomb! Service was great.

Like the low key atmosphere. Service was okay. But food wasn't up to par. I had eggplant and could not distinguish sauce from eggplant. Just mush. Disappointed.

Went 3 times, WILL NOT go back. :-(I so wanted to like this place. It's so old school and I love that. The patina has patina on it and you just don't find a lot of places like this.Last night was our third attempt. We were dining with a couple we only see twice each year so we really wanted to have a good time and catch up.The ambiance was terrible with super bright lights. That was okay. My side order of garlic bread didn't arrive at the table until I had already finished the meal. That was okay too. No big deal. The busboy who tried to pick up my friend's dish while it still had food on it and she still had the fork in her hand...I could live with that too. Every few minutes someone was trying to move something around our table or take it away...I could even live with that annoyance. But when the owner came by while dessert was still on the table and literally verbatim said to us..." I need you...to leave." That's the straw. He tried to pause to be funny but it was absolutely terrible. We were literally model diners trying to enjoy ourselves. It was just under two hours at the table. Felt rushed all night. Then he said, "There are people who've been waiting 35 minutes to get the table."As if his bad management skills are something we should accommodate for in our Saturday night dining experience. Our reservation started at 6:00-ish so we were on time. I guess I need to realize Saturday night dining is limited to 90 minutes even though we ordered appetizers right away and then entrees right away and ordered dessert before our entrees were finished. Just an awful experience. The second time we were there was during their opera week. So it was a limited menu. It was also kind of a hot mess as dining was limited to the upstairs tables. We cut them slack for all of this, and didn't want that to be our gauge of how good the restaurant could be. So we came back for a third try.I'm patient to a long point, but this was terrible.