Maggiano’s Little Italy

Stumbled upon Maggianos in search of a quiet place to have dinner, that should have been a sign. The food all has the same frozen food taste and lacks any freshness. Best thing about the place is the staff which is friendly and helpful but if I were them I would be looking for another place to work. It must have had it’s charm years ago, but in todays competitive food industry this place really falls short of any expectation.

Very mediocre. Nice looking place, but…
The calamari were rubbery and seemed less than fresh.
The chicken piccata became known at our table as «the chicken without flavor.»
The eggplant parm was soft and lifeless, buried in lackluster sauce.
Pasta with sausage — bland.
Pasta primavera had a few tomatoes and carrots, and maybe a bit of bland broccoli and cauliflower.
The bread was good — not great, but at least, fresh.
Chocolate cake and bread pudding in vanilla sauce were good, but not great.
Like eating at Applebee’s but for three times the price. Compare with Macaroni Grill, but not as good.

I have to say that the spaghetti with meatballs was the closest thing i have smelled and tasted to my great grandma’s pasta. She died in 2009 and i have missed her pasta so much and was really happy to have a pasta that reminded me of her. The restaurant here is just so great. Our waitress was very wonderful and the ambiance is nice.

Maggiano’s is one of the best chain restaurants in the country, in my humble opinion. The food is always good (from the appetizer to the dessert), the portions are hearty, it’s affordable and the employees at times can be as jolly as the elves on Christmas Eve.
Whenever I come here I usually do the Marco’s Meal for Two. This includes any appetizer, flatbread or two side salads, two classic pastas, a dessert to share and two classic pastas to take home… all for the low price of $ 40-​$ 42. Like hello your wallet will appreciate this!
My favorite dishes here are the
* Taylor Street Baked Ziti (a lot of calories so get this on a cheat day)
* Baked Eggplant Parmesan
* Gnocchi & Italian Sausage
* Chicken Saltimbocca
* Chocolate Zuccotto Cake

Been to Maggianos twice before tonight, and didn’t think highly of it. We show up to this location for a wedding reception and we are apparently «too early» even though cocktail hour is about to start, so we are forced to sit at their bar in the other side of the building until they get it together. The funny part is, the woman that turned us away said it would be an hour an a half. We had to correct her. She had 15 minutes. I don’t know if she worked for the restaurant or not, but it sounds like they have very tight windows between parties.
We forgot the wedding gift in the car so I asked the valet if we could get it. There must be a small language barrier there because he went to get my white envelope from the glove box, but he brought back a purple schedule from the church laying on the back seat. Oh well, he tried?
The service wasn’t bad here. The appetizers were great and dessert wasn’t bad either. The problem was everything else.
There was supposed to be chopped salad and an apple walnut salad. They brought out Caesar instead of the apple and both salads tasted like they were bagged or sat out too long. They were soggy and looked exactly like the bagged stuff from Jewel, with some fresh, added ingredients like avocado and croutons.
I watched them carry out the pasta dishes and I could see from my seat that the food had been sitting too long before it was served, and not kept warm. It also tasted like it – Bland, just like last time, barely edible, just like last time. chicken and pork was dry and difficult to eat. Different location last time. So, what’s up with that?
I would never have a wedding reception here, and if I have a say in it, I will never eat at Maggiano’s again. People always speak highly of this place. I don’t get it.

Came here as we are on vacation and staying near by. After seeing good reviews decided to give it a go.
We were more than happy with our decision. The food and service was brilliant. Our server, James, was friendly and explained the menu and food perfectly. The house special deal for two looked brilliant at $ 42.95 including appetiser, entrees, dessert and another entrée to take home!!! How awesome!!!
As we are travelling and want to try other restaurants we decided to order an entrée each only. The pasta was amazing.
We had spaghetti meatballs and baked eggplant Parmesan, both we tasty and fresh. The serving sizes were large and we couldn’t finish them all!
The atmosphere is charming and you can choose from either table seating in a main area or booths and high tables in another area. We loved the atmosphere and feeling if this place.
Would definitely recommend eating here.

We went here on a Wednesday night for dinner. First impression was poor, as the hostess had our party of two wait for a table in a virtually empty restaurant. We were seated at a 6-​top, and received service from a soft-​spoken server who hardly said a word, let alone introduce himself.
The 3 stars are for the food. 50% was excellent, and 50% was awful. Great shrimp scampi and great lemon cookies. Awful stale bread and bland stuffed mushrooms. I feel like this is one of those places where you have to know what to get in order to not go hungry.
Service and atmosphere were underwhelming. For some reason, we were placed right next to the very loud kitchen where the floor shook every time a server walked past. Our waiter came to life only when it was time for the check. I think 3 stars is fairly generous.

I’ve dinned at most of the Maggiano’s in Illinois but recently in the past couple of months decided to try their carry-out’s at this location and have to say that I am really disappointed in their consistency with their entrees.
The two entrée’s I always get is the Maggiano’s salad and Linguine and clam sauce (white). When I dine-​in these two entrees are always prepared correctly but when I order to take out, one of the dishes is always lacking something such as missing bacon bits or too much onions in the salad and the clam sauce which I always ask for extra, is always prepared differently (too much olive oil or too less).
Either way the service is always impeccable. Parking can be tough in this area but valet is available
Would I come back here, of course but only for dining in from now on.

Before the eyes of millions of judging Chicago foodies from their Unilocal apps, I must say: Maggianos has provided the best dining experience I have had in all my 7 months living in Chicago (twice!) each weekend I try a new local restaurant trying to help family businesses thrive… but who among you can give me high quality Italian (endless) bread, a salad, a pasta, AND A TAKE HOME PASTA, for $ 20? Nay, only Maggianos can do this.
Wherever I eat in Chicago, I always find myself repeating to my boyfriend: this is good/​decent/​disgusting/​etc., but I can’t justify eating here again when I can eat so much more at such a great price with Maggianos. It’s plain foolish. I love literally everything at this place and it seems no sacrifice to me to order the classic pastas in order to get a take home additional pasta. These dishes are so damn good and so filling. It makes me very happy. As a matter of fact, I am writing this review after sadly having a very nasty Italian experience for 4x as much money at another, non chain Italian restaraunt in Chicago. I’m too poor to take those kinds of risks anymore. I’ll be at Maggianos from now on!

The atmosphere was great. Lighting was a little low. Food was incredible. The meal for two deal is great — a side, two entrees, a dessert & two full entrees to go! Absolutely unheard of. Food was hot when it came out, everyone loved what they ordered & we left full and happy! Would definitely recommend — and make reservations before hand!

So good so good so goodddd!!!
The drinks were great the entrees were amazing and the dessert was to die for!
The server did a nice job recommending a glass of wine, I ended up trying the Boom Boom! It was pretty yummy. The Caesar salad side portion is great for an appetizer and the lighter fare menu options are really amazing and filling! I had the Alfredo with asparagus and I had the shrimp instead of chicken. We all shared the sampler for dessert and it just really made our night even better, the butter cake was my favorite with the cheesecake falling in a close second!
Worth a night out for sure!
Just don’t try the mints on the way out, kinda weird…

Awesome blossom! My lady and I came thru the other night looking for some hearty pasta and Maggiano’s delivered. I did their famous Rigatoni D which was excellent and she did the Chicken Marsala which she enjoyed as well. I didn’t get a chance to try her dish because I was too busy inhaling my Rigatoni. That marsala sauce the rigatoni comes in is delicious! To share, we did an order of their grilled asparagus, which was a tad bit over salted for my liking. But other than that it was quite an enjoyable experience. Our waiter was prompt and I can’t find anything to complain about really. Price point isn’t too bad as well. You’re looking at about $ 13 — $ 20 per person for an entrée and cocktails starting at $ 10 if you decide to go down that road.
PS don’t for your Lettuce Entertain You Rewards card to rack up those points! ‘Til next time, cheers!

It seems as if I only end up at this location of Maggiano’s for work functions.
Food is the same as other Maggiano’s. Larger portions, nothing is ever bad. I like the pastas and appetizers. If you are ordering off the menu, you will more than likely have take away. Banquets are always professionaly served.
Prices are reasonable.
Good central location, valet parking available or meter depending on the time of day and a bit of luck.

Cue Neon Trees: Animal
Here we go againnnn
I feel the chemicals kickin’ innnn…
…orrr here we go again with another chain review. Eeek me thinks Unilocalers across the fruited plain muster up a collective, disdainful eye roll. Ahh well. el oh el.
I’ve said on a number of occasions, unlike the late great MLK’s delivery of a much welcomed and needed message to our nation, *not* all chains (sic) are created equal.
Maggiano’s can bring it just fine with loads of delicious pasta in environs that feel old world Italian, comfy, cozy, even though i know f*ck all about old world Italian blah blah blah. But I do know comfy and cozy.
That said, It’s PASTA folks. Not complicated or revolutionary. You know what you came for and get a fair result. Deal, enjoy, etc.

Found this ‘mini’ chain in Orlando and loved it so when we visited Chicago, this was a must stop for my italian loving family.
Prices are extremly reasonable. Chef will visit the table to custom make a mask for my daughter. Very unusually in Minnesota.
Sever was friendly although a bit forgetful. He had a big table arrive right after us which didn’t help. Had to ask for butter twice.
Food is amazing IMO. Yes it is chain but the flavor is like a small Italian restaurant… i swear.
It is pretty loud so don’t expect it to be a quaint romantic place.
My favorite is the gnocchi. My wife loves the ravioli. Never found room for dessert but they look amazing.

The food. I’ll preface this by saying I don’t really like pasta, so I mostly skipped over that part of the menu. The rest of the menu though was very uninspiring. The chicken dishes all very generic. The salads all pretty much the same. Nothing creative or new on this menu. Think spaghetti and meatballs or chicken parm. Been there, done that. I landed on the chopped salad with salmon. Salad was fine. No complaints but nothing to rave about. The salmon was dry and overcooked. I needed some lemon squeezed on, which I guess is my fault for not asking for. Would not recommend based on the food I had.
The service. Our server was fine. Nice and fairly attentive. My biggest complaint was a photographer that was walking around. I really don’t know how to describe this. It was like the photographer at an amusement park trying to sell you a souvenir photo. A woman came by with a camera and asked if we wanted a group photo. She said it was free about 4 different times, which is a red flag right there. After her very long and obnoxious monologue, we agreed. We had a large group of about 15 so she took a group photos and then some smaller photos of the couples. The whole thing took way to long, like 5 minutes. It was very distracting. Then she comes by at the end of the meal with the group photo and individual photos. She says the group photo is free and the individual ones are $ 15. I really have no idea what this was about. It was tacky, uninvited, rude, and distracting. This is something I would see at a 4 year olds birthday party. Not at a restaurant that I’m guessing is trying to be fine dining. There was nothing fine about this. Just so tacky. Not necessarily because they were charging for the photos, just the whole thing in general. We couldn’t get her away from our table fast enough. It really was one of the most bizarre things that’s happened to me at a dinner. It left an awful impression.

I finally tried this pretty iconic spot, yes it can be pricey, but the best deal I’d say is the 2 for $ 40 deal, for 2 people, you get an app to share, one pasta dish each, a dessert to split, and then another pasta dish to take home! That’s a damn good deal, and all the food was really good, we had the calamari app, split the lasagna and sausage ziti dishes, and couldnt even get through the chocolate cake it was so big, and to take home I got the spaghetti and meatballs, which 3 days later was still really good to eat

I love this place. The ambiance is a bit old school charm with a splash of romantic feel. The food is awesome and well flavored. I had the chicken marsala and my husband had chicken saltimbocca and we both finished it all (stuffed, I might add). I am a customer service nut, so I’m always pleased with the high level of great customer service received here. Overall, a great dinner, and I will definitely return.

Quick update.. .
Maggianos has still, two business days later, not responded to me at all. They have requested contact information but not used it. I request direct information for various folks in the corporate office from both David (who identified himself as the GM at the local) and via Brinkers International website. I have not received it from either.
It seems to me that they simply do not care at all about the fact that they have lost a prospective long term customer nor that they have now lost an opportunity to rehabilitate their name with our organization.
I have now retained the services of AG Social Media Management to ensure that the most people possible learn of my organization’s experience with Maggiano’s Little Italy and their parent company, Brinkers International.
As we now plan our remaining 2^nd and 3^rd quarter events (22 of them) neither Maggiano’s, Chili’s nor any other Brinkers owner organization will be considered.
I plan on doing my best to ensure that no individual nor organization faces the challenges, disappointment and disrespect that I did.

The food is savory and generously portioned. Service is polite and efficient, helpful when it comes to making a decision. If you sign up for their eclub and Lettuce Entertain You you receive tons of coupons. For $ 36 including tax and tip I got an appetizer (ate half), meal (ate half), a meal to go, a huge slice of cake (ate a 6^th) and my drink. It’ll probably take me a day and a half or two to finish the rest!

I’ve been to this Maggiano’s as well as several of their other locations (Oak Brook and Skokie) many, many times. Though the service was a bit slow on my last visit to their River North location, Maggiano’s is predictable and great. Their bread is delicious, food is wonderful, and service is usually pretty attentive. I also love that they give you a pasta to take home with each order of their classic pastas! Definitely recommend.

Maggiano’s never disappoints! Christmas Eve dinner was amazing delicious as usual. The atmosphere is friendly relaxing and great for family style or dinner for one dining! Had a 5:45pm Christmas Eve reservation and was seated within 15 minutes of arrival. Not bad considering it was packed plus a holiday. Our server was friendly and offered suggestions on the specials being served that night. Wine of corse Cabernet Sauvignon, Appetizer decided to go with the Tomato Caprese, fresh mozzarella and tomato salad. Main course went with Shrimp Fra Diavolo, hand-​cut Fettuccine, pan-​seared shrimp, garlic tomatoes in diavolo sauce. Finally the best part of any meal is dessert! Decided to try the new dessert sampler and was so glad we did. Five desserts, some of their best on the menu. Chocolate Zuccotto Bites, Warm Apple Crostrada, Tiramisu, NY Style Cheesecake and finally Gigi’s Butter Cake! Entire dining experience was fabulous as usual! The food is always fresh, authentic and great variety on the menu. Five plus stars Maggiano’s five plus!!!

This was our first time here. It’s kind of surprising to me because I thought we had hit up all of the chain restaurants already. We arrived for lunch and were immediately sat in a big comfy booth (with reservations of course).
Now for the food:
We started off with the caprese. It was good. The mozzarella was good and the tomatoes weren’t cut too thick. It was drizzled with some sauce, I think white balsamic vinaigrette. My husband said it was too sour, but I like a little bit of tang. I always order a side of kalamata olives with caprese. I had the salmon ceasar salad. The salmon was cooked perfectly, but I always request for my salmon to be cooked at about medium rare to medium. Overcooked salmon is the worst. The ceasar dressing was good, but I’m not sure if that’s what I ate that was chock full of garlic. My husband had the margherita flatbread. He said that it was just ok. Our little one had the cheese ravioli. She devoured it.
I had a hard time trying to decide if I should give 3 or 4 stars. The food was good. Nothing really spectacular. I gave it a 4 because the server was really nice and attentive and she was working her butt off for the needy table next to us and we really go full on with their specialties. I will go back and maybe next time try something else.

Went in with out family, had a horrible experience. Received a call from one of the «managers» Dave/​David, who claimed that we would have a gift certificate mailed to us. A month later, no gift certificate, email or call back. I would not have even wasted my time writing this review, if I didn’t get a call promising me something and not delivering, after an already shitty situation.

This is one of my all time favorite Italian places in Chicago. Sure, it’s a «chain» but the food is reliable and good. Service is decent as well. I almost always get the same thing — spaghetti and meatball. I also get another to go on the house! The apple crostata is excellent. It is served warm with vanilla bean ice cream. I like the Maggiano salad as well as the chopped salad. Stuffed mushrooms are good as well. There is valet parking at this location but is accessible by public transportation.
My friend and I like to come here and sit in the lounge /​bar area. There are a number of high tops and booths that can accommodate up to four people. Table space could be a little tight if one orders a bunch of food. The atmosphere is very casual and relaxed – perfect for a quick catch up meal with a friend.

Made a reservation for 8:30 for a party of 6. Showed up at 7:30 on the off chance they may be able to take us earlier. As expected they could not. Asked about a destination nearby to get drinks until our 8:30 reservation. After going across the street for drinks and returning for our 8:30 reservation was told it would be more than an hour plus
before being seated. I understand back-​ups happening.. . it would have been helpful had they told us at 7:30 that they were experiencing issues. Needless to say it turned into a disappointing night of trying to celebrate with friends from the suburbs. They ended up going back to the burbs for dinner and we stayed in the city and went to Harry Carey’s. Most likely will never be back to Maggiano’s. All the manager from Magginano’s could say is we apologize (he truley
didn’t seem to care in all honesty) after they apparently overbooked.
It’s kind of like flying on United. .. not an optimal experience. Hell may be better!

This was our second visit here and it was exactly like the first. Great service and great food. We like this one better than the one in Indianapolis, where we live, because it just seems more authentic. It was packed, but we were seated right at our reservation time. Michael was our server and he was very friendly and attentive. The entire staff behaves like the result of great training and experience. We shared the Caprese Salad, which was good and then shared an entrée of Fettuccine with parmesan and olive oil. Tasty! It was my wife’s birthday and they gave her a complimentary plate of cookies and whipped cream. I had the mini Crème Brulee. Both were good. The prices are very reasonable. With a bottle of wine, our bill, with tax, was $ 64. If you want Italian in an informal, old world atmosphere, then make a reservation. Walk-​ins had a long wait.

Okay so I went back here lol. What can I say I love pasta!!!
Food was great, drinks we’re okay however the wait time is extremely long on weekends ever with an reservation.
I’m satisfied :)

If you want good take-​out, don’t go here. Visited a friend and we placed a order for delivery. The food wasn’t even hot and lacked a lot of flavor. I was very disappointed being that we paid a decent amount of money for bland cold food.

Stopped into the restaurant recently due to a Lettuce Entertain You promotion plus I just plain forget about this restaurant. Shame on me.
I was greeted by the hostess and opted to enjoy the beautiful day and sit outdoors. I was greeted by the busser who pour the water and took away the additional table settings and brought the bread. The bread is sooooo good. Shortly after that, the server, Kevin, had stopped by and greeted me went over the menu and took my drink order. When he had returned I had place my order of the Chicken Francese.
The food runner had brought the food within 10– 12 minutes which was about the correct time, The food was fantastic. Kevin would check in with me and made sure my soda was filled.
Unfortunately, I was unable to try any of their desserts since I needed to head to work.
I would highly recommend Maggiano’s and Kevin.

Maggiano’s used to plop a big basket of warm focaccia on the table before you ordered. It was my favorite part of the meal, and when they stopped doing it, I stopped coming here. Also, it had became so popular the wait for a table was obnoxiously long.
Last weekend, we were looking for a place to eat before the band started at Blue Chicago. This is one of the choices that popped up on Unilocal,and since it’s just across the street, we chose it. Had no trouble getting a reservation the same day. The crowds must have moved on to trendier places.
It had been years since I’d eaten here, and I was happy to discover they still serve good Italian food. I started with my old favorite, the Maggiano’s salad: crispy prosciutto, blue cheese, red onion and a slightly sweet dressing… I’d forgotten how great it is. Followed it with the mussels Tuscan style. The mussels were plump and perfectly cooked, but the broth would have benefited from more seasoning. (Soaked up the broth with the non-​focaccia Italian bread.)
My friend, a light eater, had one of the flatbreads (a meal by itself), plus the gnocchi and Italian sausage in a tomato vodka cream sauce. I had several bites of the gnocchi, and it was heavenly.
We split the six lemon cookies, just as light and lemony as I’d remembered them. The coffee was pretty good, too. What wasn’t so good was our server. He was efficient, but so detached it bordered on unfriendly… not at all like the staff you almost always find at a Lettuce restaurant.
Now that that this restaurant isn’t so crowded, I’m definitely returning. There are now lighter versions of some of the standard dishes (complete with calorie count), which look interesting.
Note to Maggiano’s: please bring back the focaccia basket.

When we arrived at Maggiano’s on 07÷30÷15 around 6 pm @ the address on the invitation which was @ 516 N Clark. We asked the hostess inside the restaurant where the seminar was to which she responded in a very snotty attitude that wasn’t appreciated. Several of the other attendees also noted her attitude. Is this really the face the Maggiano’s wants to portray at their establishment. I hope she gets reprimanded for her behavior.
In arriving to check in one of the other attendees Barb asked me if I was nisei (2^nd generation Japanese/​American) to which I responded I am Sansei (3^rd generation Japanese/​American). Then she asked me about Manzanar which is a one of the camps where the Japanese/​Americans were incarcerated during World War II. I told her my cousin Cory produced and directed a film called «The Fisherman of Manzanar». As it turns out she knows my cousin, WOW what a small world.
We went to Maggiano’s in River North to attend a dinner seminar on financial planning which proved to be very informative and raised enough concerns about our current plans to raise questions. The presenter Mary was very informative and gave information that made us want set up a future meeting with her to discuss our current plans.
After the presentation they served us a family style dinner which consisted of a house salad, meat lasagna, breaded parmesan encrusted tilapia w/​spinach, mushroom ravioli al forno, chicken piccata. For dessert they had tiramisu & profiteroles. All in all it was a great presentation with a very good meal with some very enjoyable dinner companions

I gotta say, I’m a big fan of Lettuce Entertain You restaurants. They are consistent with their quality and their food is always «above average». They’re not setting the world on fire, but they offer a good experience, and as an old English monk (I used to be a Benedictine monk) would describe things as «sturdy» that word applies here. Their food is «sturdy». It’s not daring, it’s meant to please the masses, it fills you up, and is predictable (in a good way).
It’s kinda like someone said, «hey! here’s an idea. Let’s take Olive Garden, tart it up a bit, and make it an acceptable evening out!» Cuz no one says, we all met at Olive Garden and had a great time! Don’t get me wrong, I love, LOVE Olive Garden… I really do because it’s really great chain restaurant food.
Maggiano’s is such a place. It has nice atmosphere and decent food. I usually describe everything I’ve had there, but if you look at the menu, it’s typical of every «American-​Italian» dish you’ve had with no surprises, not over seasoned.
Definitely pay $ 25 for the Lettuce Entertain You frequent diner’s club. You get the money back almost instantly, and within a year and a half I have over $ 200 to spend in food, and I don’t go there all the time. It’s a good deal.