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Review Tue Mar 11 2008
Eating (and Waiting) at Caro Mio
I joined two friends for dinner at Ravenswood's Caro Mio (1827 W. Wilson) this past weekend, which was my first visit. Will I go back? The reasons why: the food is excellent, authentic Italian. I had a very delicious tortelloni di pollo ($15) that was a nice blend of pasta, chicken, parmesan, eggplant and white wine. The portion was pretty generous (enough for a side dish-sized leftover the next day), and the presentation was nice. One friend had the tri-colored rotolo ($16) a ricotta and pasta concoction that wasn't the most challenging dish on the menu but suited a vegetarian diner well, and another ordered the agnelotti rossini ($17), half-moon pastas stuffed with ricotta and topped with a creamy tomato sauce with prosciutto and peas which he fawned over until the plate was practically licked clean. The menu doesn't take any big risks in ingredients or preparation, but you will definitely like what you order. Caro Mio has a pretty low-key atmosphere and decor and is also BYOB, which easily makes it a solid go-to neighborhood restaurant.
It's evident that the food is good. Very good. But the reasons why not to go back loom a bit larger for me: the entree prices are expensive, starting at $14; for a cheapskate like me (and an Italian cheapskate at that), I don't think I would easily return unless I was celebrating some significant event. I also had major beef with the service, which was inexplicably and frustratingly slow, given that the restaurant was less than half-full of diners. My friends and I were hungry coming in the door, and it took almost twenty minutes to get a few glasses of water and a basket of bread, which we ate like we had just landed on Ellis Island after being stuck in a boat for five weeks. So, this place has my recommendation for serving delicious food, but be prepared for some bumps in service along the way.
amyc / March 11, 2008 11:08 AM
Oh, I really wanted to like this place after I ate there last year. I'm a sucker for neighborhood Italian joints. But my "vegetarian" tri-color rotolo arrived chock full of little ham cubes (apparently they made two versions that night and served me the wrong one, and I didn't notice right away thanks to the mounds of ricotta), and it was straight-outta-the-fridge cold in the center.
And the service was pretty miserable.