Piccolo Sogno/Rating: 4 Stars

Piccolo Sogno

464 N. Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60622

(312) 421-0077

I came to the grand opening almost two years ago to visit Tony Priolo in his new venture. As the former Executive Chef of Coco Pazzo, Tony branched out to open his own restaurant, which has become a thriving business. This restaurant has a unique space in a sense that their main dining room is not big, however combined with the private dining room and patio, it seats well over 150 people. "Piccolo Sogno is every bit the outdoor oasis that others have said it is--its beautiful lush oudoor garden makes you forget that you're in Chicago, much less on the corner of Halsted and Milwaukee. As soon as you step into the restaurant, you're met with old world charm, crystal chandeliers, and tasteful interior decor. The outdoor garden is romantic, elegant, classy, and comfortable all at the same time. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to linger there all night" Masha T. said it best and I completely agree.

There is a mixed crowd of business and leisure patrons. You will see people dressed in a three piece suit or in shorts with a polo and flip flops. Either way, you will feel comfortable and welcomed. Their service has usually been very good, however I must have caught them on an "off" day. Luckily, this was not my first time otherwise I may not have returned. I felt extremely rushed by my server, who was whipping around the restaurant dropping checks, taking orders, running food and drinks. I understand you're busy, but making a customer feel he or she needs to blurt out their order quickly in fear that he won't be seen again, is just not good. After the first course was dropped, the plates and silverware were taken away. When the second course came out, we had no plates, so we sat awkwardly waiting. When the pasta course came out, there were no silverware and same for dessert. The flow of service tells me that in this fast paced environment, servers and back waiters are not communicating properly. Food should never be dropped without plates and proper utensils, that's a rookie move and not fit for a place like Piccolo Sogno.

Aside from the service from tonight, the food was outstanding. I enjoyed the grilled calamari, octopus and shrimp, the mushroom pizza with truffles, the spicy lamb meatballs with flat noodles and for dessert the chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream. Their brick oven pizza comes out thin and crispy, I've tried all of them but enjoy the mushroom one best (I used to not like mushrooms till I tried this pizza and quickly reconsidered). However what really stole the show was the spicy lamb meatballs with flat noodles. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did because me+spicy= throat of fire and tears, however these meatballs were perfectly seasoned with a little kick and I LOVED it. The noodles were tossed with roasted red and yellow peppers and finished with toasted pine nuts.