Fausto’s Italian Kitchen and Catering

Awesome good! Everything is so fresh and the people who work here are super nice! Definitely will be having this more often!

We have gone here for many years, mainly just for the fresh baked bread. I recently bought lunch there, an Italian sub and a slice of pizza. When I returned home I noticed that the large woman there, Sherry, had charged me .99 for a semolina roll that I never purchased. When I contacted them to request reimbursement, they ignored me and did not respond to my email. I suppose she thought I would never notice the extra charge. Once a business shows itself to be unethical and dishonest, I never go back.
I highly recommend that no one patronize this shop. If you do, check your receipt very, very carefully before leaving.

Good homemade lasagna. Noodles are really thin and sauce is juicy. We tried spinach lasagna, meatball lasagna, and meat sauce lasagna. Meat sauce is the best. Arancinis are a must. It’s a fried rice ball w either meat, sweet peas and cheese inside, or spinach and cheese inside. Eat it w marinara sauce.

Loved it! Catered with them. Ordered the Italian beef, Vesuvius potatoes, and lasagna. Everyone loved it! Will definitely order from here again.

Although the place looked strange and smelled like a grocery store not a restaurant, they had amazingly good pizza. My husband ordered cheese and it was a good quality real thin crust with tons of cheese

I’ve worked in AH for a couple years and never thought to give Fausto’s a try until recently. Maybe it’s because their location is tucked back into parking lot, but I never really gave them much mind. Lately, though, I’ve gotten bored of the usual go-to’s and took a chance.
I’ve stopped in for lunch a couple times now and had good experiences every time; always did take-​out, and never thought to call ahead. The service was always quick, and friendly enough. The salads and soups have been tasty, and the hot subs piping hot. I don’t seem to be capable of getting out of there for less than $ 20, tho. Between paying extra for cheese and «oh, I’ll have to get some of THAT to take home!» damage is done…

I’ve been coming here for 15 years — Here’s how it breaks down:
The bread is 5 stars (more if possible). The food is 4 stars.
But, a great baker does not a great retailer or restauranteur make; nor do children (the most apt description of the young people often behind the counter).
Be prepared:
To pay the «food per pound price» for packaging — no taring out
(i.e $ 7.95 lb. or more per pound for plastic containers);
To pay a surcharge for using a credit card;
And if you call be prepared for them to answer and put you on hold indefinitely (literally).
Last caveat: The bread goes fast — get there early.
Buon Appetito!

Corkage fees are illegal in Illinois if the restaurant does not have a liquor License. I don’t know if Fausto’s does or not.

Very good gelato. Amazing pizza – only Little Villa is better in this area, though it is a bird of a different feather, with a crust that is thin and crispy compared to the slightly thicker and breadier crust here… This sauce is as good as any I have tasted. Nice service. I have to say that the Italian club music that blasted on the patio was saved only by its hilarity.

I don’t know how much I paid for my takeout items, but I don’t know that I care. Worth every penny! Fate brought me to Fausto’s.
Seriously, walking into this Italian deli (ironically having just come from the vegan Pure Juice Café across the parking lot), was a feast for the eyes. Everything in the case looked inviting and delicious. I think it was Sam that helped me (sorry if I am not remembering the correct name), and he was so friendly and helped me make my choices. I knew I was getting the stuffed peppers soup because earlier that morning, I got a shoe fitting at the running store, and one of the employees was eating that soup. It smelled so good I had to ask her and she happily filled me in on Fausto’s. Fate.
Sam recommended the meatballs with sauce, and also the sausage with onions and peppers, and further, mixing the two together. It was a great idea. I picked these up Thursday afternoon, and Saturday night reheated them in the oven for about 15 minutes on 400, soup on the stovetop. I also couldn’t resist the homemade rosemary and sea salt focaccia bread. We popped that in the oven right on the grate for 5 minutes, having cooked some dry pasta from our pantry to go with it all for our dinner. Perfect, like I had just freshly baked it! You can tell the sausage and meatballs are homemade, good flavors and soft textures. The meatball was particularly light, and I think it was baked not fried, bonus. I like a little more flavor punch, maybe more fennel, but these were no doubt delicious in their own rite. The sauce was good, but nothing spectacular. The soup, however, tasted amazing and just like my sister’s stuffed peppers but in soup form; savory, comforting and full of perfectly balanced flavors. And my favorite item was probably that buttery focaccia. I am definitely getting that again, maybe in the dangerous larger size next time. Maybe not, since it would be hard to not overindulge. Seriously, get the focaccia.
It’s impressive that 2 days later, everything tasted fresh and perfect, like I had just finished creating it with love in my kitchen, even the focaccia! Except, I’m pretty sure nothing this tasty was created in my kitchen. My takeout order was a quart of soup, a couple links with sausage and peppers, a couple meatballs with sauce, and a small round loaf of focaccia, and I think it was just under $ 20, feeding 2 – 3 people (including our own pasta). I have to say, I am going to do this more often for an inexpensive and delicious meal to whip up at home. Highly satisfying. I’m telling you, it was fate!

I’m going to start off admitting that I sometimes just want a quiet lunch at a family run place with polite and engaging counter help serving tasty food.
That is exactly what I found during my recent visit to Fausto’s. I tried a «slice» of their pizza– which seemed more like a quarter of a pie… not that I am complaining! The sauce was flavorful and the toppings were tasty and apparently fresh. I added a soda and it was just what I had in mind.
After I was finished with lunch, I bought a box of cookies to take home to have after dinner. (Thanks to Candace for the suggestion!) Counterman extraordinaire Sam suggested a couple other varieties of cookie, and it was fun to have a selection. We tried at least one of each of the three varieties that I purchased, and to be quite honest, I would have a hard time picking a favorite– each type had a certain character and texture that made them interesting and enjoyable.
As I said– this was a quick lunchtime visit, but based on the great food and excellent service, I will certainly be back for a second helping! I felt it was certainly worth the effort to seek out Fausto’s and I hope that you will pay them a visit too.

As I read all of these great reviews about this place, I can’t help but think they were having a bad day when I was in there in July 2013 (I know… I’m a little late). First of all, I felt like I walked into an episode of «What would you do?» The owner was yelling at an employee just behind the door to the kitchen. That same employee stormed out to the counter and abruptly asked me or my order. My bad… I wasn’t ready. He stormed back to the kitchen… more yelling… then he stormed out the front door. Then he stormed back in… more yelling… then the owner fired him.
Finally, a calm, friendly young man took my order. I ordered the very bland and pricey tuna sub for the dining room. He told me I could pay on the way out because I knew I would be ordering gelato to go. The owner had the nerve to come looking for me in the dining room… probably to make sure I didn’t do a dine and dash.
So, I go to pay for my sandwich and order my gelato, and the owner is all snarky with me. Well… welcome to Unilocal,Mr. Snarky. The gelato was good, hence the once star.

Located in a strip mall in Arlington Heights, the parking can be iffy depending on the time of day you come, based on the other businesses around. Either way, it’s definitely worth it to walk over to Fausto’s. It has 2 entrances but use the one on the west with the countertop for ordering.
They have a great selection of hot and cold sandwiches along with some prepared salads, pizzas, breads, and desserts. My friend had the italian beef pizza which had slices of italian beef and hot giardineira. I had a sicilian slice of their veggie pizza, which is something I normally don’t order but it was chock-​full of toppings. Mine had plenty of mushrooms, spinach, onions, peppers, zucchini, but most of all, it was really tasty. I tried the italian beef pizza and the spiciness really added to the italian beef and cheese along with the thin crust. When I was about to pay, I saw that their rosemary sea salt focaccia was quite cheap at $ 1.25. I took it home and made a great sandwich the next day with it. The staff was really cool with us and gave us a few goodies to take home since we came at the end of the night. Overall, a place I definitely want to return to when it’s busier to get a better feel for the ambience.

Alert: they now charge a corkage charge for BYOB. Total rip off. Been here many times but today was a first. Pretty shady to change, not post it somewhere in the restaurant and still insist on collecting it.
Here’s what you get for a corkage fee: a glass. Thats it. I brought not only my own wine, my own cork screw, opened my own bottle of wine and poured it as well.
We use to come her for the BYOB. When you take that away all you have is pizza and other items cooked at lunchtime and warmed up. Time to move on.

Go and try there new square pan pizza… its great I just got a slice for lunch… it has all sorts of roasted veg. On it. a great amount of cheese… and perfect amount of flavor… and let’s not even start on the crust… Lou malnaties crust doesn’t even come close! Great job guys… there is only one problem… this place is so good… and I work right across the street… my diet isn’t working… But Im ok with that for now…

My wife and recently moved back to the Chicago area from Charlotte, specifically Arlington Heights, and stumbled upon Fausto’s during our second week in town. Wife decided to look at some boutiques and I was obviously thrilled (sarcasm) with that idea, so I thought I would checkout this Italian deli nearby for a cannoli. The rest is history.
Over the last few months I’ve been a weekly visitor of Faustos. The treats are awesome, including the cannolis and my favorite, turtles! «Boom» on the turtles. My wife even asked for them for here baby shower at nearby Francesca’s…so good!
I’ve had their arancinis, the artichokes, their eggplant parm and my favorite… their pizza. We always get the pesto pizza, which comes with ricotta, tomatoes and onions. I love that they cut the pizza in squares too! I usually come in and order a pizza and grab something from the deli case to munch on while I wait.
With so many great local businesses in Arlington Heights, Faustos is definitely one Italian family-​owned business I’m happy to support (weekly in my case)!

My wife and I went to grab some dinner at Fausto’s after reading all the rave reviews, and were horribly disappointed. There are all sorts of potentially delicious entrees in a display case, but all of them looked like they had been cooked much earlier in the day and had been sitting out. You know how cheese looks after it’s been sitting around for hours? That’s everything there, including a whole pizza. I knew that if I ordered anything I could see, I would just be getting a reheated disappointment, so I went for the Italian beef sandwich and my wife ordered a margherita panini. Hard to mess those up, right?
Sadly, my Italian beef was extremely mediocre. I won’t say it was bad — it wasn’t — but it was the kind of thing I’d expect from a school lunch. I asked for cheese, they didn’t even bother to melt it on. And the quantity of beef was extremely small, maybe ½ inch of meat which seemed to have been put in a toaster oven for two minutes. The bread was fine, but nothing I can’t get at any grocery store. I can get a far better sandwich at Portillo’s, Buona Beef, or Potbelly for less money.
My wife’s panini was sadder. There wasn’t much cheese, and the basil? One small leaf (see the photo). That was insulting. I honestly could make a better sandwich at home, and I can barely fry an egg. We paid $ 6.99.
As if all that weren’t disappointing enough, our can of Coke was $ 1.49, and it was flat. How do you mess up a can of Coke? Fausto’s managed.
I debated whether this was a 1 or 2 star review, because when I give something 1 star, it has to be pretty bad. The food we had was certainly edible and did not taste horrible or make us sick. But ultimately I would never return, and I think that’s worth a single star.
I will allow for one possibility: this place might be far better at lunch time when I assume all of this food is fresh. But even if it were, I can’t help but think that what we received was effectively cafeteria food that is easily beaten by local fast food chains. I’m going to stop putting so much faith in Unilocal reviews after this.

Unilocal needs to add pizza, sub sandwiches and bakery to the description of this fine restaurant. I haven’t been here in a couple years and I was dying for one of their subs on their great bread and I couldn’t find it because I kept typing in sub sandwiches in the ‘search for’ box and this place never came up. Yes I forgot the name… that would have been too easy.

Yesterday Candice G got Fausto’d for the very first time. I can’t say yesterday was my first time with Fausto’s…we’ve been seeing each other for weeks now and I can finally come out and say how much I am in love with this place. Why? Let me count the ways…
1) Amazing food. Seriously — I have yet to eat anything I haven’t adored. Arancini, pizza slices as big as a toddler, ooey gooey (high addicting) turtle cookies, cannolis, homemade salads and more. It’s living in an Italian paradise and everything is homemade.
2) Super sweet service. It’s mostly family run from the cooking to the cashiers. They’ll let you sample and most certainly make you feel at home here whether you’re taking a slice to go, pop in every 4 days for turtle cookie (ahem, me) or grab a sandwich and have a seat in their casual dining room.
3) It’s affordable! CG and I split a piece of giant pizza, an arancini and a few turtles for $ 10. That’s a beautiful thing.
4) They deliver! I’m not sure of the area, but definitely check it out and give them a call if you’re looking for a homecooked meal.
Fausto’s, this is the start of a gorgeous relationship.

Well, I FINALLY got Fausto’d today.
And while I don’t want to give away too much (you really should experience it for yourself), I will say that I can’t wait to get F’d again! It was my first time in what will hopefully be frequent and habitual weekly F-​ings in the A (arlington Heights).
There’s just so much to choose from and everything looks like it’s been plucked from the heavens and escorted down by some Italian food angel (probably named Angelo) to this little kitchen and counter service shop that your old-​world Italian grandmother would surely approve of.
On my visit, I split a giant (and I do mean GIANT) slice of pizza and one of Fausto’s cheesy, gooey spinach arancini balls with public enemy (of my diet) #1 and pusher of all things habit forming, Nicole W. We both ate like kings for just a hair over $ 10 and topped everything off with what might be the greatest food invention ever. F*ck sliced bread, Italian turtle cookies are where. it’
. I was mid conversation, b*tching about my usual Candice problems when I took my first bite and had a very involuntary moment where my eyes just rolled into the back of my head in a state of pure bliss.
When you come here (and I know you will), don’t even bother ordering those turtle cookies by the single digit numbers unless you’re planning on following it up with the word ‘dozen’.
Example:
«Hi! I’d like to order 8 Italian turtle cookies to take home, please.» — WRONG!
«Hi! I’d like to order 8 dozen Italian turtle cookies to take home, please.» — Getting better.
«Hi! I’d like to order 8 dozen Italian turtle cookies that I’m going to pretend are to take home, but actually plan on eating in my car before I’m out of the parking lot.» — NOW we’re talking!
Take my advice: Get F’d!