Pazzo’s Cucina Italiana

Pazzos at 311 S. Wacker is an overall great restaurant. It’s multi-​faceted and can provide food on the fly at the Express Deli, or you can have a casual lunch or dinner in the atrium or restaurant.
I have been to a wedding at Pazzos, and it was AMAZING! I also attended a few company parties and they were also phenomenal. The place is a great location to host any event or wedding offered at a fair price
Food is moderately priced
Service is good
Great for business lunches
The Express Deli is great for on the fly times

Went here for a bridal shower for my boss last week. Cute little private party room. I had the salad nicoise, which was nothing special (but the tuna was cooked perfectly). What really stood out was that we asked to order a piece of cake for my boss, but the waiter said that unfortunately, they didn’t have any, only tiramisu (which my boss doesn’t like)…so the waiter came back a few minutes later with a huge, gorgeous piece of Red Velvet cake he had to get from next door! How sweet!

We had the rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding at this Pazzo’s location, and were very pleased with both the food and the management.

I work just over the river from this hidden gem and I will always take clients here if they like good italian. The tortelini is the best but I have had multiple other great dishes (fusilli, any pizza, ceasar salad, etc) that are worth writing home about.
The wait staff is great and maybe a little slow during peak hours but attentive to your needs. Great for lunch if you have a full hour, if not jump in line for Pazzo’s express, which is to the right just as you walk in, it is also very good.

call ahead for a reservation if you are oping during lunch. They do a great job of getting you in and out in about 45 min. Really cheap prices and decent food. Nothing out of the ordinary on the menu and typical italian fare. Offers sandwiches as well as pastas and meat dishes. Good italian option for lunch in the west part of the loop

Pazzo has an excellent suggestion of pasta dishes and lunch entrees. They even customized a pasta dish for me by adding a few extra ingredients. The service is quick and pleasant. The server was excellent and had great enthusiasm for her job. Be sure to save time and room for dessert and coffee, they too were excellent!
When I asked for my left-​overs «to go» the bus boy misunderstood my request and threw them away. However, taking responsibility for the mistake, the waitress asked the chef to prepare a replacement meal, and apologized for the mistake. I was very impressed with her action. I was even more impressed because she didn’t come by to inquire what could be done, she just took care of the problem.
Always great when businesses will empower their employees to take care of the customer, i.e. get out of their way and let them do their job.
I will definitely return and suggest you give Pazzo’s a try for their outstanding service and excellent food.
Patrick Shaughnessy,
Chicago, IL

I work near here and there are great drink deals. There are also some clowns from the CBOT that make me not want to ever come back once they start talking to you.
I love this place with the right crowd, but when some of the peons come in and start talking about futures, options, index funds, and other trading vehicles that I don’t care to hear about in detail, I will leave in a heartbeat. It’s actually just one guy that annoys me, but that’s enough to guide me to Rivers in the old Merc Exchange 90% of the time I go out in that area.

I dined here during a business lunch, as my boss wanted to sort of impress our new clients without seeming too extravagant with our spending money. This Pazzo’s does have tablecloths and wait staff dressed to impress anyway. I ordered a Panino Con Salciccia, which was a popular choice amongst several members at our table. This tasty sandwich contains Italian sausage, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, caramelized onions and tomato sauce (fortunately this is not as messy as it sounds). I ordered pesto pasta salad as a side, while one of my co-​workers chose a huge pile of pillowy steak fries — both were OK (she gave me one long fry and that was a few bites right there). One of my other co-​workers chose one of the house specials, the Pollo Vesuvio, which looked good but no way would I order a dinner portion of this size for lunch. If I were to come here for dinner I might like to have a go at the braciole, another of the specials. Our waitress seemed very efficient, a huge plus during the lunchtime rush.

Went there for a business lunch on a Wednesday and it was pretty busy. Looking around, three seemed to be only one waiter working about 10 tables. It was difficult getting good service and had to wave to try to get his attention.
The food was really good though. The fresh bread and seasoned butter (I don’t even like butter) was really good. I couldn’t decide between the chicken sandwich on pretzel bread or the penne, so I told the waiter to choose. He obviously chose the more expensive penne and I was not upset about it one bit. It was delicious and I could not finish it.

The bf and I got a Groupon for this place and decided to come after work on a Friday for a nice Italian dinner. We were very confused. You walk into a decent size bar area filled with people drinking and being rowdy. You then go into the dining room area which seemed like it was trying to be fancy, but there was no one in there! We were the only people in the dining area the entire night.
The food was delcious. The fried calamari, ceasar salads and entres were all great and our server was attentive. We could, however, still hear the bar area throughout our entire meal. Slightly distracting.
If we worked closer to Pazzo’s we would probably come here for lunch. I’m not sure if I would return for dinner.

Definitely a good spot for a business lunch where you don’t have to feel like you are shoving food down your throat to make your 1 hour lunch. But, at the same time atmosphere is definitely stale. I’ve noticed the waitstaff usually have a good feel if you are in a hurry not — I’ve spent anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hour lunches in this place and it’s always timed just right.
For lunch, I’m a big fan of their sandwiches. The house salad is on the bland side — not much except some cherry tomatoes and Parmesan but eh, you’re doing a business lunch. I’ve never been brave enough to order a carb bomb of pasta for lunch — but from what I’ve seen it looks decent. Three different kinds of bread from the getgo is always yum in my book.
Summary: Good place for business lunch, but never take a date here.

Like other reviews before mine, this place is good for a sit-​down business lunch. It’s not expensive, the service isn’t great, but it’s good enough to get the job done.

As a Loop office drone, I have to embrace Pazzo’s for what it is: One of the only places to actually sit down and be waited on that is close to my office in the Union Station building. Its not flashy (T W.‘s assessment of the funeral home-​ish décor is SO on point!), the servers aren’t really attentive, the food is usually ‘meh’ at best, but you know what? When I want to climb into a cozy booth when I’ve had a doozy of a morning in the office and just chill out for an hour, Pazzo’s is my mecca. Bring on the diet coke, lasagne and endless bread with parmesan and olive oil!

I was taken here for lunch, and it was okay. The décor was described below as «funeral-​home-​ish», which is mostly accurate. It reminded me of the proverbial banquet hall at the Holiday Inn out by the airport. You’ve been there right? Maybe for Mother’s Day?
Anyway, the food was decent but not spectacular. I had a salad with squid, and it was good. Calamari can be difficult to cook without it becoming rubbery, and they’d managed not to screw it up. The cheese/​oil/​bread thing didn’t impress me the way other reviewers here have been impressed. Maybe I’m jaded.
We got in and out relatively quickly, and didn’t sample the deserts, or even look at the menu. It’s a good place to come for a reasonably-​priced, sit-​down in-​and-​out with no fuss lunch.

First of all, the sign for the restaurant is on the wrong side of the building. When walking towards what we thought was the entry-​way, we found ourselves on a side of the building without entrance… or Pazzo’s, for the matter. So we had to walk ALL the way around to the other side, enter the lobby, ask the doorman, be lead down some winding stairs (without Pazzo signs) to the basement, where Pazzo’s was. Whew.
Now, one thing I can say is that I liked the service. The waitress was quick to attend to us, got our orders right, and addressed all of the women before the men, regardless of seating order at the table.
Because I’m going for Brick’s tonight (Holy awesomeness, I know) I decided to have a light lunch of minestrone soup and ceasar salad. The salad was pretty good, with big slivers of yummy cheese. The soup was a disappointment, and even for a cup (vs. bowl) was tiny. It was like a dixie cup. The croûton on top wasn’t a croûton at all, and was instead a soggy piece of bread that just mushed into my soup. Now, I like a crunchy croûton with my soup (especially french onion), so it made me sad.
Someone else ordered the Mahi Mahi sandwhich and really liked it. Another ordered the portebella sandwhich and thought it was a tad too sweet (vs. savory).
All in all, nothing offensive about this place. They seated us right away which, for lunch in the loop, is rare without a reservation. Nothing was gross. The décor was a little funeral home-ish…but the view of the river was really nice.

My favorite sit-​down in the loop.
The food is excellent, and they have a great «create your own pasta/​calzone» option. The waitstaff is excellent and very attentive. The bread, cheese and oil you get when you sit down is almost reason enough to go.
Only weird part is when you go in you have to figure out where the host podium is. Generally, it’s when you walk in the restaurant from the building instead of from outside, but if they’re not that busy and they’re seating people by the bar, they won’t see you.
Also a great place to go after work for a quick drink.

My co-​workers and I came here for my birthday lunch and I haven’t stopped thinking about the oil, cheese and bread since then. Seriously, this was the best dipping oil EVER! We went through about 3 baskets of bread and there were only 8 people. We’re hungry, ok?
The prices were really great and the menu has extensive options for a nice lunch. I ordered the lasagna, which was plenty of food for even the most hungry Loop worker. Everyone was happy with their food… let’s just say that some unnamed employees nearly licked their plates clean.
My favorite part of the meal? Everything was served on FiestaWare!

The gf and I had dinner there before going to see Romeo et Juliette at the Lyric. We went with Pazzo Cucina’s because we wanted to eat somewhere that fell between «overpriced and pretentious» and «fast food junky». Pazzo Cucina’s fit the bill: decent food that was reasonably priced. The gf ordered the Fettuccine Al Frutti di Mare, which was tasty though it felt like they skimped on the meat. I ordered the Pollo Della Casa, which looked and tasted like a glorified chicken fried steak (I mean that in a good way). They have a coupon on their website that offers free dessert when you order two entrees, so we cashed that in for a piece of Black Forest cake (very delicious).
All in all, Pazzo Cucina is a good, affordable place to grab a bite before catching a show at the Lyric. Keep in mind that they close at 7 PM so be prepared to eat an early dinner (early for me, at least) if you do end up going there.

Great spot near the river in the plaza between buildings. Reasonably priced lunch. Hell I spent more at Chipotle today. Great mid priced option for taking visiting friends to during lunch or right after work for a drink and an appetizer.