La Bocca Della Verita

so so so sad this is close. :(:(best duck ravioli on the PLANET. :(

So bummed to find out they closed. They had the best Spaghetti Carbonara in the city. Good sauce with large chunks of fresh Guanciale (homemade smoked italian bacon). One of my favorite Italian dishes to get in the city. I’ll need to find a new Carbonara go-​to in the city now :(.

Closed. Out of business. I walked down Lincoln Avenue this morning and saw all the windows covered in white craft paper. Signs in the windows said «restaurant liquidation sale today.»

Sad to see this former neighborhood gem fall so far so fast.
We’ve been here at least a half-​dozen times before, and have always loved it. This Friday was a sad shadow of past glory. The food was okay, but the service was abysmal. We waited a *long* time for bread (oy), our appetizer (which was a special and should’ve been ready to pop immediately), and our entrees (which were cold around the edges… had been sitting??).
Additionally, the heat was not on, the exhaust fan in the bathroom was falling out of the ceiling, and the lighting was weirdly harsh.
I don’t know what caused them to become BYOB, but they might’ve mentioned that when we made our reservation. By the time we saw the waitress (at least 20 minutes after being seated), it was too late to get to the place across the street.
Maybe just an off night, but I’m not going to take another chance here.

I’m not typically an Italian food fan, but the food here is excellent. The carbonara is a guilty pleasure as is the duck breast ravioli. There’s an incredible amount of flavor in every bite. The pasta here is housemade, and you can tell.
The only thing I can knock it for is the inconsistent service. Some nights, the staff is incredibly attentive and friendly, while on others, everyone seems to be more absorbed in their own conversations.
The food has managed to stay consistently good and there’s enough charm and ambience to be had here that I would recommend it for a first date. Just cross your fingers that the staff feels like working that night.

My husband and I have been coming here for years. The food is always excellent, however the service has really gone down hill. Tonight our waitress barely acknowledged us, was curt and very gruff. When bringing our food she almost hit me in the head with my plate of food. She never once came back to ask if everything was okay or if we needed anything. Very very disappointing! Never said anything about reaching across in front of me or jamming my plate in front of me.
I can get much better service in the local greasy spoon.

We just waited an hour and a half and saw two tables leave. When we received the bill and asked for relief on the check, the owner asked if removing the corkage fee of $ 5 was enough. No apology from her on the wait or kind words. I’m very understanding when it’s busy, but the least you can do is apologize and offer a complimentary appetizer or something. Food was only OK.

I was searching for a good Italian restaurant for delivery, and always seem to be disappointed by overcooked noodles, watery, out-​of-​a-​jar tomato sauce and no flavor. I saw some reviews here on Unilocal and decided to give this place a try. IT WAS AMAZING. I’ve never had delivered Italian food taste so fresh and home-​made. I had the Eggplant Rigatoni and a bruchetta with olive tapenade. This was one of the best Italian meals I’ve had in a while. I will only order delivery from this place going forward. To top it all off, the dinner came with several pieces of freshly made bread and focaccia. I am COMPLETELY SATISFIED. SO GOOD!!!

They lost their liquor license around Sept 17, 2013. There is a wine store across the street though.

Nothing bad about this place but nothing that would make me want to return.
Food was okay, service was okay, everything was okay. I ordered the gnochetti, as I LOVE blue cheese. It was fine, but I was hoping for more flavor.

What drew me in to La Bocca Della Verita was the cash special. Yup. The $ 9.95 pastas and $ 20 bottles of wine were enough to piqué my interest. Sadly, the house-​made (!) stuffed pastas aren’t included in the deal, so it was a good thing we had the reasonably priced wine. The $ 20 wines cover a pretty wide variety; you’re not stuck with a generic/​unidentifiable «red» or «white.»
The dining partner and I went for the stuffed pastas. This was a very wise decision. He got the famous duck breast ravioli and I got the veal tortellini. Wow. The veal tortellini in meat sauce was, well, meaty. Itt was plenty rich, although the tomato sauce and parmesan cheese on top provided a nice counterpoint to the meatiness. The duck ravioli were little short of incredible, or at least, the one bite that the boyfriend spared me was. The sage offsets the richness of the duck SO well, and the sauce is so good he just about cleaned his plate. In general, the pastas melt in your mouth.
Service was a little lacking, and the atmosphere was alright. It definitely took quite some time for our food to come out, and the bread, despite being tasty and served warm, could only hold us over for so long. At first, the waitress was very prompt and involved, but disappeared as the meal progressed. In terms of atmosphere, points for use of fresh flowers. There was some soft music in the background all night, mostly classical (the kinda typical Italian-​American restaurant stuff) with one funky bass song that played once in a while. These were not enough to tarnish the overall meal. I’d go back for another long, relaxing, delicious dinner.

When my friends and I were seated outside… we never saw our waitress again for about 20 minutes. However, out of nowhere, this really busy, but energetic waiter approached us and said, «Hello there! I am not your waiter, but can I get you girls some drinks or appetizers?» He was hilarious, but it was kind of sad that he noticed us sitting forever and had to help us when he was already swamped. Good customer service on his part, though.
After that, we did meet our waitress and our orders were taken promptly. My pasta was ok. I’m not a huge fan of al dente noodles, but there you go. I tried my friend’s veal tortellini and it was to die for. And I hate veal. I want to come again and try another pasta, since it appears that their pizza, ravioli, and tortellini are super tasty.

Don’t come here unless you have some time to spend. Whenever I go, it always takes at least an hour. Why the four stars then? The food is worth it. The veal tortellini would be on my edition of «The Best Thing I Ever Ate,» and my roommate’s lasagna was fantastic.
The wait staff is good, and the patio is conveniently located in the heart of Lincoln Square. It’s a good night to spend with friends outside on a warm summer day, having a relaxing dinner.

After some meh pizza delivery experiences, I lucked out one fateful night when I decided to give La Bocca Della Verita a whirl. I’m a thin crust gal. Like, crispy cracker thin crust. LBDV is serving up a nice pie in that regard. They also offer some some speciality pizzas that I was happy to partake in. I ordered up the Amatriciana which consists of guanicale and red onion. What is guanicale? It is bacon made from the cheek and jowls of a pig and it is pork-​tastic. My only slight criticism is that my pizza could’ve used a little more sauce but that just might be my personal preference.
Calamari rounded out the order. It was nicely breaded, perfectly cooked and tender. A bonus of piping hot bread was thrown in with my order. I don’t know if that is standard with every order but it was a pleasant surprise and a tasty one at that. It’s some sort of homemade foccacia brushed with oil… just eat it. You won’t regret it.
Everything was fresh, hot and delivered in under the quoted time. Finally! Pizza I’d order again has been found! We all breathe a sigh of relief now…

Finally discovered how cute lincoln square is and after a wine tasting at the Chopping Block, we went for a little italian flare. Although the food was good. service was absolutely terrible!
Apps: CALAMARI AFFOGATI & grilled vegetables … tasted as you would expect, nothing to blow you away, but good.
Dinner: BRANZINO al SALE. which was tasty
Service: HORRIBLE! Got our apps and were done eating them before we even got our drinks! Complained. Then when we were order entrees we were asking for suggestions and our server just seemed clueless and had nothing to say about the menu. We complained again and they apologized and said they would bring us after dinner drinks… which they never even did. Just very disappointing service and I wouldn’t go back.

I will start by saying that I’m going to give this place a second chance but for now heres how I felt about it:
Servers were rude and awkward, and it took them forever to decide which one would take care of us. SInce I only had an appetizer I can’t say too much about the food but to me it seemed like they weren’t one of those passionate «foodie» places.
For now I don’t recommend it… juss sayin’

Everything about La Bocca was exquisite.
The focaccia is homemade (there were pans of it proofing right as we walked in.) The wine is stellar. The service is impeccable. The food… oh my… the food.
Caprese salad: I’ve eaten a lot of fresh mozzarella in my day, and a lot of caprese salads. This was, hands down, the VERY BEST caprese salad I have ever eaten. The mozzarella tasted like it had JUST been made. It was certainly made in-​house.
Rigatoni with mushrooms, garlic, cream sauce: Divine. This isn’t Barilla blue box pasta. This stuff is made on-​site, and cooked to a perfect al dente.
I couldn’t go any further, others around me enjoyed a chicken Milanese, which looked perfectly crisp and was dressed with arugula and lemon. I couldn’t even do the homemade gelato for dessert.
This little neighborhood spot is a gem. I absolutely plan to return!

Charming and very cozy local Italian place — been here twice and now know what to go for — THE PIZZA THE PIZZA THE PIZZA
The entrees all look good, recently had the Salmon — roughly about 14 $.
Thick and deeply cut, the Salmon entrée is very good, also in the past had some chicken but too far back to review on here.
HOWEVER, finally tried the pizza and PLEASE let me tell you IT IS EXCELLENT!!!
This pizza is VERY fresh, very light and strangely VERY JUICY.
The flavors just somehow burst in your mouth!!!
The pizza rocks here folks, it’s beautiful!
Picures attached — but low lighting and does not do this pizza justice!
Charming seating, candles on every table, professional and personal service, very reasonable prices.

Last Friday we had dinner down the street at La Bocca Della Verita (yay local business).
We made a reservation since they apparently get pretty busy (despite the 3 dining rooms). The atmosphere is quaint, almost like what I’d imagine an Italian grandma’s house would look like with lots of great home-​style touches. I liked that there were several coat closets too.
One small thing: I can’t even tell you how many people kept trying to open the wrong door to get in (just put a sign directing patrons to the other door people — it’s not that hard!). Overall, a really comfortable and laid-​back, Italian dining atmosphere.
Food/​Drink
To start things off, we ordered the Arancini, delicious rice ball filled with tomato meat sauce and cheese and covered in tomato sauce. This was DELICIOUS. Honestly, I didn’t even want to share it — that good. Really crispy and flavorful.
Despite their great Italian wine list, it was a martini kind of night after a long week at work. I had the chocolate martini and it hit the spot.
For dinner, I was in the mood for pizza and ordered the Sal «Ceccia» which comes topped with home-​made Italian sausage and I had some bell peppers added. It was delicious — really thin and crispy and not greasy at all. I love when you can eat pizza and afterward, not feel like a total fatty.
Service
My one quip is that it took a while for us to have someone take our order after we were seated by the host. However, once we got a waiter, he was friendly and fast. We weren’t in a hurry anyway, so no big deal.
Good experience — can’t wait to dine here alfresco out on Lincoln once it warms up!

It’s only taken me 36 years (almost to the day) to realize it, but I don’t like gnocchi. Oh, I used to think that I loved gnocchi. But what I loved was not it. Now having had them in Rome (in the shadow of the actual «Mouth of Truth»), New York City, and one of the most authentic Italian restaurants in Chicago (this one), I have concluded that I don’t like *real* gnocchi. It turns out, much like is the case with pizza, I like its bastardized Yank cousin.
See, the Italian stuff is a lot lighter flavored and smaller. And that pretty much describes this place’s stab at the dish. The pomodoro sauce it comes in here is tomatoey, rich, robust, and filling. I quite enjoyed dipping the bread in it. But as far as the potato dumplings, I was left very disappointed with their lack of flavor unique from the sauce since they were $ 15! The plate, however, was full of them which was a definite plus. I don’t think many people leave this full portioned place hungry.
In fact, other than my unfortunate discovery, the experience was wonderful. The thick bread and oil were brilliant. The miniature menus are darling and the décor is so romantic that I felt guilty treating myself to a pre-​birthday dinner there (and stealing the possible experience from some imaginary else).
If I ever do find reason (and income) to come back, however, it will be for their gelato. I figured out where the slightly missing flavor from my gnocchi went — straight into the dessert. My giant vanilla gelato was pure sweetness right down to the cookie sticks. And at $ 5.00, unlike my gnocchi, this felt like a bargain.
I think I’ll need to give it another try with a different pasta when I visit Chicago in the future. Since I can’t, obviously, rate it on my hated gnocchi.