Dolce Italian

Had the most wonderful, delicious night at Dolce Italian last night. At my request the hostess saved a spot on the patio for our party of 4 so we could enjoy the spectacular weather. Our waiter Paul was superb; he was friendly, knowledgeable, spent the perfect amount of time at the table and completely went the extra mile for us making us feel like we were the only table in the restaurant (Paul gets 6 stars!). The food was extraordinary. We had wonderful appetizers: the burrata plate, dolce meatballs and the beet salad. While we were waiting for our entrees they brought us a complementary pizza that was delicious. The entrees were terrific, pork chop, veal scallopini, and the spaghetti and meatballs. Everything was fantastic. Even our dessert and hot drinks were tailored just to our liking. To end the night we went up to the IO Urban Landscape bar and just took in the breathtaking cityscape view for a few minutes, what an amazing spot. Thank you Dolce and Paul, we will definitely be back!

I recently had dinner at this restaurant with a party of 6 on a Monday night. The restaurant was not busy by any means and we ordered family-​style, sharing several small plates and pizzas. Most of us ordered the same drink. Basically, this should have been very easy on the service staff. When we sat down, the table was so wobbly that the wine glasses, water glasses, and plates almost slid off the table. Not a huge deal, but normally fine dining restaurants like this would check tables before guests sit down. I would say it took us about 25 minutes to actually get a server to the table to order food. Then, no one checked on the table for the remainder of dinner. We even tried to waive down our server as he was walking across the restaurant and were ignored multiple times. At the end of our dinner, another server dropped off dessert menus at our table. We were waiting for someone to come take our dessert order for (not exaggerating) 25 minutes. I finally got a server to our table (not our server, but another table’s server who I just so happened to know), with whom we finally got to put in an order for dessert. It took us another 15 minutes after dessert to get our check and pay the bill. One guest in our party was simply trying to get her water glass refilled (from the time we got our drinks delivered to the table), which didn’t end up happening until the check came. The food at the restaurant was delicious, but the service made everyone at the table never want to come back. There was no communication from the waiter or manager; no apologies, no recognition of the fact that we had been ignored and left hanging for 2 hours over dinner.
After dinner, we decided to go to the roof to have a drink. We all stood around a high top table in the middle of the bar and were chatting. Out of nowhere, the rooftop service staff starts wheeling in these big booths all around us. Then, one of the staff members tells us he has to move our table (which is holding 6 drinks) and. he makes the male guest in our party grab the other end of the table and move it across the bar. Again, there is no mention of an apology or an accommodating effort to relocate us to another table in the bar area. After this, we are still not making a fuss and go back to our conversation, trying to enjoy the night despite the terrible service. The same guy comes up THREE more times to move the table, each time making our guest take the other end of the table and move it! Finally, three of our guests leave and there are three of us left. The same guy comes up AGAIN and tells us he has to move the table from the area completely, and says nothing else — completely ignoring the fact that he’s inconvenienced us with no acknowledgment 5 times now, in a span of about 40 minutes. We get fed up, leave our drinks on the table and walk out. And no one does anything to ask us if they can redeem the experience we’ve just had. Even as we are waiting for the elevator, the hostess says how was your night?! to which we reply ‘our company was good, but the service both here and in the restaurant downstairs was horrible.’ And she says nothing and just watches us leave in the elevator.
This hotel needs to train its staff to know what good customer service looks like, and to communicate when they are directly inconveniencing patrons or negatively affecting their experience. I would not recommend either Dolce or the Rooftop bar to anyone. You can get great food and better views at many other restaurants in Chicago, and most importantly, better service.

Exactly what I wanted, and more than expected. The design and ambiance is comfortable, classy and modern. Martini’s are large and incharge. Highly recommend the Lobster Mezzalune and Squid Ink Tagliolini. Very delicious.

I think this place is overlooked, although, I think its two main pitfalls clearly explain why.
The Good:
Has an AWESOME happy hour with amazing food options for only $ 8. Not like bar bites, full on menu items (pizzas, pastas, tuna tartare, etc). They have some delicious drink items as well. The food and drinks are top quality and very enjoyable.
The Bad:
They have two things very wrong with this place, and these two things alone lead to the demise of this place. First, they don’t allow the happy hour on the outside patio. This baffles me because the place is EMPTY. Like literally, always empty. Not just the bar, the entire restaurant. If they just allowed the happy hour on the patio I am confident it would be full during nice weather.
Second, its just not a fun place. Not good for socializing. Always empty. They need to get people in there. If they did, I would be there at least 1x a week.

Bom atendimento, atencioso, sem frescuras.
Preço semelhante aos praticados em outros restaurantes próximos.

As I was waiting for my wife at the bar I noticed a great deal for happy hour, from 5 to 8. A nice menu and drink choice for $ 8 each.
The wine I wanted wasn’t available but Matthew, our waiter, gave us a great replacement, in fact probably better. We shared a delicious octopus which came as a partial salad and may have been the most tender and flavorful we’ve ever had.
My wife had the cavatelli and I had the fettuccine bolognese. They both came with the same sauce but the pasta changed the flavor. My wife rarely finishes her entrée and she did here. Even though mine was supposed to be fettuccine it was more like pappardelle, which I like.
For dessert we shared the apple zeppole which was donut holes filled with apple and maple gelato. Very good.
Other than the fact that we were the oldest people in the restaurant, we really enjoyed it. Also on the fourth floor they have a nice bar and outside deck.
Back for another meal and the octopus is still the best I’ve ever had and the tuna tartar was outstanding. The tuna was on a bed of an avocado. My wife had the meat and cheese plate which was an entrée size and my spaghetti Pomodoro was perfectly done.

My favorite place to eat at when I visit Chicago! I can’t wait to return. The hotel is great to except for there ridiculous over 21 policy to book a room

Came here for to satisfy the desert craving and had the tiramisu. It was excellent! Topped it off with a latte, it hit the spot!

Dolce Italian was good!
There was really nothing wrong with it, I can’t complain, but there was nothing really special to rave about either. Sadly, overall, I don’t know – the whole experience was good, it was just bland.
The ambiance and décor was modern and clean. We liked it. Our waitress was also bubbly and attentive. We liked her.
Our brunch meals were okay. The prices were high dollar for what we received; nothing unique. For being in such a flashy neighborhood, I guess we just expected something to make them distinctive.
I would probably give them a second chance down the road.

Dolce is a trendy Italian restaurant in the city decorated in a minimalistic style, very clean. Our server Lamar was very good… great, in fact. He provided attentive service, we felt special and he always had a smile. You could tell he liked his job, he was good at it and he made our dining experience wonderful. Lamar brought two of our group some tastings of wine because we couldn’t make up our mind. Nice touch. The bread basket brought to our table was served with a ricotta with a sweet honey drizzled on it. Nice switch from butter. Lamar presented us with a thin crust margherita pizza for an appetizer to share… on him! The pizza had a nice thin and crispy crust. My three friends ordered the branzino served puttanesca style for their dinners and raved about it. I had a the special soup for the evening, the carrot soup which had layers of flavor with cranberries and crIspy Brussels sprouts. It was the best carrot soup I’ve ever had. I also had the grilled octopus served with a pistachio vinaigrette over farro and garbanzo beans. This was also tasty. Lamar ended our evening with giving us a glass of moscato on the house. It was such a fabulous evening. The only negative was the very loud music that did not fit the kind of restaurant this is. Very hard to communicate and hear our server and talk to my friends. They need to improve that.

I have been wanting to come here for awhile. The hostess takes my coat and is pleasant, we are seated in a booth. The ambience is upscale casual, and it wasn’t at all crowded. We ordered a couple glasses of wine. We split the Tuscan Kale salad with roasted beets, brussel sprouts, ricotta, candied pecans, in a white balsamic. The salad was very tasty and very refreshing. I had a difficult time deciding my main course. I ask the server for her suggestion, as I’m torn between the roasted chicken dish or the veal tortellini. She said the tortellini would be very flavorful and better than the heavy chicken dish. Of course, I’m all about saving room for dessert.
My tortellini arrives, and I’m a bit baffled. I’m guessing I should have asked questions. Stated on the menu my dish reads «Veal Tortellini in Brodo», (tortellini filled with veal, parmesan brodo, shitake mushrooms). My dish arrives and its basically a soup broth with floating tortellini in it. Not at all what I was expecting. My assumption from reading «parmesan brodo», mentally I envisioned sauce and not soup. It should have been better explained to me. The broth was sub par. Nothing special. The mushrooms tasted alright. The tortellini (they say made in house… maybe it was an old batch??) tasted much like the filled refrigerated pasta that you find at the grocery store like Buitoni, processed. The filling was gritty. I tried the PIC (partner in crime) dish of spaghetti and meatballs. Um. I don’t know what’s happening in that kitchen back there, but these are possibly the two worst dishes I’ve had in quite sometime. His meatballs were bland and boring. Flavorless. Could we be on candid camera? I couldn’t believe this place has four Unilocal stars. I said yes to dessert because frankly I was still hungry and wanted to get the g-​d awful veal schmutz taste out of my mouth. I was tossed between the apple zeppolis and the banana semifreddo. They brought out both because the server was making up for our entrees not being palatable. The zeppolis came out with apple and maple gelato. The zeppolis were over fried and hard. The banana mousse ontop of a flourless chocolate cake base was okay. It was a sphere of mousse encased by a chocolate shell that you need a steak knife to break through. Blah. Nothing delicate here. The best thing was the nutella gelato. For the price, we will not be back.

This is such a cute spot! I came here for brunch on Sunday and it immediately put me in a great mood upon entering. I sat at the bar and was assisted by the sweet bartender. I asked him for recommendations and went with exactly that; the startufa pizza and octopus appetizer.
The pizza was not only pretty but delicious. The dough was perfect and stuffed with ricotta! Genius! I want to go back just to try all the other kinds.
The octopus dish was phenomenal! One of my favorite in the city for sure. It was cooked perfectly and went along just right with the farro, beans and greens on the dish. A must try!
The manager, Garret was very attentive and kind which was very pleasant while I waiting for my food to come out.
I can’t wait to come back for dinner! It’s definitely a place to go with a bigger group or even date night :)

Just wonderful. Honestly — great place. Came here with some coworkers and really enjoyed ourselves. Service was on point, food was amazing, and the energy inside was very welcoming.
If you order one of the pizzas, be sure to upgrade to the ‘star’ pizza, which they fill the crust with cheese. Apparently they’ve won awards for it, and I can see why!

We decided to book a table at this place because my partner saw a star-​shaped pizza in her Instagram feed. Of course, we also Unilocaled it and given the great reviews, we went ahead and made reservations.
The restaurant is lovely and we were really happy to be seated outside as it was a wonderful evening. A bag of crackers and bread with a side of ricotta cheese was brought to our table right away and tasted great. A waiter greeted us shortly after and took our drink orders, I needed some help choosing a good wine and he referred me to the sommerlier; I felt bad wasting his time as I was only planning on ordering one glass, but he didn’t seem bothered and offered me something that wasn’t on the wine by the glass section of the menu, it was amazing!
We weren’t quite hungry enough for starters, so we right for the main course: I opted for the risotto with seafood, added lobster and my partner asked for her star-​shaped pizza. The waitress came back minutes later and informed us that they couldn’t make the star that evening, major bummer, but life goes on.
Another server brought out my risotto and explained that the pizza wasn’t quite ready, I wanted to eat with my partner and asked that she keep it warm until the pizza was ready. The server apologized and let us know that the pizza was on the house, which was a very nice guesture, but not necessary because it really wasn’t a big deal. Both our dishes arrived shortly after and mine was delicious, my partner enjoyed hers as well. While eating, the restaurant manager introduced himself and apologized for the mistake and told us to keep some room because they were going to bring us two desserts on the house. I was quite surprised, all of this because my dish arrived before my partner’s.
As promised, two beautiful desserts were brought to our table: a white cake with meringue and a tiramisu. I don’t usually like either, but I loved their tiramisu and if I were a cake person, I would have devoured that as well because the frosting was quite good.
We had a wonderful evening and I was floored by the service because I’ve experienced far worse issues in other restaurants and we weren’t offered an apology and we certainly weren’t compensated in anyway.
I’d defintely eat here again.

Brunch. It’s one of my favorite meals and Dolce Italian did a nice job the other morning mostly due to an amazingly nice server named Ashley, and some good food.
When a friend suggested we get together for our monthly brunch outing at Dolce Italian, I had to pause. How had I missed the opening of this South Miami hot spot that came to River North back in May? (I think there is also a location in Atlanta) And while you might think this is just another hotel restaurant. .. think again. The visual appeal of the interior coupled with the simplicity of the food works beautifully together. I will definitely have to get back to try the Italian dishes that our server was suggesting to us offered during other departs.
Speaking of our server, Ashley was amazing. Friendly, accommodating, knowledgeable. .all things a good server should be. And she struck us as someone who liked what she did and was proud of the food she was serving. I would have loved to have her join us at the table which we joked about a couple of times although her other tables would have been less happy with that, I’m sure.
My friend has a number of food allergies and Ashley took it all in stride and talked to the chef about a special preparation of one of the dishes. Now that’s the way it’s supposed to work.
I ordered simply. An custom filled omelette that came with tater tots (my secret indulgence, I LOVE tater tots! Shh. .. don’t tell anyone!) My friend ordered the steak and eggs which is a short rib cooked down and the waffles with fruit. Of everything, I thought the waffles, while good were just okay. Everything else fared better. But know it’s a brunch menu, and while everyone I was with ordered some type of breakfast food, there are salads and sandwiches, pastas and meats on the menu as well. And the tiramasu and gelato for dessert were also quite good. Ask what flavor of gelato they have for on the day I was there, it was «apple cider»…yep. . it tasted as good as it sounds.
And if you want the best deal on the menu, look no further than the bottomless Bloody Marys, mimosas and Bellinis. For only $ 19, you can have as many as you want. Even if you have just two, it’s a good deal!
Dolce Italian is on my list for a return visit soon!

I have mixed feelings of this place, on one side I appreciate the fact that the overall ambience is not as pretentious as I thought given the location, but on the other side, for their price point, it was way too casual and food was just ok.
Aside from the rude hostess, the overall service was nice and attentive, they took their time to go over the menu and provide recommendations, which were spot on, and they did a great job spacing things out.
Food-​wise, appetizers are decent sized and shareable, the charcuterie board deserves an honorable mention, main dishes were small, but overall everything was good.
I would probably wait a little before coming back again, the place is fairly new, so they may still be working some kinks out.

My husband and I FINALLY went here. Ever since it’s opened we have been delaying– but Friday night at 6:30 we dined.
Tip: I had originally made the reservation for 4 people but once I tried changing it to 2, there were no seats available so I kept it. I think it’s because there are more group tables available than 2 person seats so in case you are trying to make reservations online!
This is a perfect place for a special second date dinner, to a romantic setting for a celebration, or a smaller intimate group. The hostess pulled out both of our chairs as she seated us and our waitress was prompt, direct, and present.
Butter is butter but this butter was chilled with a honey glaze and our waitress asked us immediately after we were done if we wanted more. Of course we agreed and enjoyed it. My husband and I were happy to have ordered one pasta and one pizza dish to share. We settled in for the Zingara and the pizza portion was HUGE. Very authentic, thin, and reminded us of our trip to Italy. We also got the sweet pea tortelli. The pasta was made in house, fresh, and the serving size was generous for an upscale restaurant. I was impressed.
We were given fresh new plates consistently and brought extra serve ware for sharing without asking. The service is remarkable. We ended the night with a flourless cake dessert and hazelnut ice cream. It was fantastic.
Will be returning and can’t wait to do so. Next to RPM, this may be on par to being my new favorite Italian in Chicago.

Husband and I came here to celebrate our 2^nd anniversary and we had such a great experience. I’ve read about this restaurant as being the hot new place in river north, and came here with high expectations. Dolce definitely lived up to them! We invited our parents to join us and were seated as soon as we arrived. Although it was a nice night and they have outdoor seating, we decided on dining indoors. Absolutely loved the décor inside.
Waters and menus came out immediately, and the waiter gave us a great recommendation on a bottle of red wine. Also received some great recommendations on the food. We had the tuna crudo, grilled octopus, fritto misto and the Sunday gravy pizza to start. That Sunday gravy pizza was phenomenal! The meatballs tasted homemade, and the salami had just the right amount of kick to it. For entrees we had the branzino, the ricotta cavatelli, the spaghetti al pomodoro, and the roasted chicken. We all tried each other’s, and seriously EVERY entrée was awesome. I ordered the ricotta cavatelli which I HIGHLY recommend. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the lamb ragu was so flavorful. My husband had the branzino– another winner and another one I definitely recommend. This Mediterranean Sea bass was cooked perfectly as well– almost melted in your mouth.
I should also mention the fact that throughout our meal, the manager Angelo would frequently check up on us and make sure everything was going good. You saw him go up to what seemed like every table in the restaurant-​now that’s something you don’t see every day.
Before we even started our meal we mentioned it was our anniversary, not expecting any fanfare. Well Dolce blew us away again with some desserts on the house. The panna cotta, profiteroles and a big slice of what I think was a really moist vanilla cake complete with candle– all were delicious! Husband loved the panna cotta! Those profiteroles were pretty darn good too– I could have eaten them all to myself!
Thanks Dolce and Angelo for making our 2^nd wedding anniversary dinner one for the books. We’ll be back soon!

So I love trying out all the new hot spots in Chicago and this was definitely one of them! I love the hotel and new this would be a great addition. I made reservations for a party of 6 on a Saturday night and we had a great time. The place is trendy without it being over the top and we got to sit at a side booth by the window. I loved that the tables were spacious enough and far apart from one another that I could actually hear what my friends are saying. The décor is also nice making it an overall attractive place and great for people watching. We didn’t get drinks because we knew that we were heading upstairs for the rooftop afterwards so we didn’t want to over do it that evening.
For appetizers my husband and I tried the caprese salad with fresh mozzarella and heir loom tomatoes with some balsamic, super fresh and super delicious. For the table we decided to order a few pizzas, a pasta dish and the veal entrée. Everything was super tasty but I have to comment on their startufa pizza with procciuto and spicy salami and ricotta stuffed crust. It is supposedly on their secret menu but I guess it’s not a secret anymore. That pizza is probably the best that I’ve had in Chicago and I may just come back to have it again with some white wine on their patio. It was spicy and the crust was literally to die for. We got two of them for the table and gobbled them right up. My friends also ordered the tiramisu for dessert which i would have loved to try but I was stuffed. I think that their service could use some work as they work out the kinks as our server was a little MIA at times which is okay. The food itself is worthy of me to come back! Dolce you are sweet in my book!

With all the italian options in this city this is definitely one to just skip.
I don’t usually write such disappointing reviews but this place was a miss on so many levels.
Let’s start with the bar. I waited for my friend at the bar and ordered a beverage. Now the beverage was delicous but the service was horrible. I had the Pineapple express with tequila, jalepeno cilantro syrup and fresh pineapple it was lip smacking good. As I waited for my friend I watched a couple seat themselves at the bar and wait 10 minutes before leaving without even being aknowledged. And as I asked for my check so that I could begin my transition to dinner it took 10 minutes to get the bartender’s attention and another 15 to get him to close me out. At this point I was 5 minutes late to my reservation.
When I approached the hostesses they were scrambling like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. standing face to face all three of them avoided looking up at myself and another couple that were waiting to check in. When one of them finally looked up with no smile she said can you wait a minute?! It would have been nice if she said hello first!
After patiently waiting another 5 minutes in front of her she told both myself and the other couple we would have to wait for a table. As I peered over my shoulder I saw at least a dozen open spots.
My friend was not happy to wait gracefully to the side and mentioned to the hostess we would like to be seated. Eventually the manager came out and gave us a table with no apology.
Our waitress was just the same. Rushed and non-​existant. She couldn’t comment on the menu about anything.
I had the octopus which was tough and salty and then the lobster mezzalune. Barely any lobster and once agian super salty. I also found a scale in my dish which was not pleasant to pull out.
Overall, this is a skip it. The list of great italian restaurants in chicago has plenty of others to pick from!

I was so excited to try the new Dolce out after visiting the Miami location and having such a great experience. I am pleased that it has lived up to my expectations. The menu and restaurant is very similar to RPM.
Came on a saturday night with a reservation, had to wait 25 min past our reso to be seated. Our servers name was paul he was great. Just a heads up dinner here drags on a little. I think our 3 courses took about 2.5 hours.
on to the food. you absolutely must have the octopus, it is cooked perfectly. It’s wonderful. The ahi tuna appetizer was really nice as well, fresh and light. I also highly recommend any of the pizzas and the lobster ravioli but the really stand out main course was the risotto with lobster. once again, cooked perfectly.
WE had 3 of the desserts, everyone’s favorite was the fried ricotta balls with pistachio ice cream. The miami location had a panna cotta to die for, it wasn’t on the menu here, it’s probably seasonal, but if you see it make sure you get it. I will be back.