Review Wed Sep 10 2008

Review: Kayla's Ristorante

By Robyn Nisi

The building at the corner of Diversey and Rockwell has housed a few short-lived restaurants. The location is easy to overlook, as it's close to a noisy, litter-strewn I-90 overpass and also on a street that is frequently jammed with traffic. While it's not pictured as the perfect spot for a quiet meal, Kayla's Ristorante, the building's current tenant, provides what I was looking for in a mid-week dinner: dimmed lighting and decently priced Italian food.

I found the interior to be bland, with its hardwood floors, simple white tablecloths and predictable framed vintage posters of Italian wine advertisements hanging on the wall (Target sells them now, only adding to their antiseptic presence). The background music selection of Italian crooners (Martin, Sinatra) did little to distinguish the atmosphere of the restaurant, making me realize more and more that the music in a restaurant really matters. There's no danger in playing something funky and unexpected; the last Italian place I visited was playing Kruder and Dorfmeister as I scarfed down a tasty plate of fettuccine, so I found that having to hear another Chairman of the Board compilation in the background at Kayla's to be a real downer.

Despite that, come fly with me as we review the menu: pizzas, salads, pasta, and a few higher-priced specialty dishes (pork chops, steak, chicken, and tilapia). A few tables were filled with customers, even though the evening dinner rush was just beginning (Kayla's Yelp profile already promises the restaurant's standing as a popular neighborhood place). My friend CP and I both ordered house salads as a starter; CP ordered a pizza with artichoke and eggplant, and I ordered the Rigatoni di Bari (rigatoni with a red sauce laced with slices of Italian sausage and topped with mozzarella) for our entrees. The house salad was quite filling and dressed with sweet balsamic vinaigrette. Our entrees were also pretty good. I found a bite of CP's pizza to be better than my rigatoni. The crust was buttery, crispy and light, which I thought helped along the chunks of vegetables and tomato sauce that topped it; my rigatoni was certainly flavorful, but I'll probably check out a pizza the next time I visit. Another nice part of the meal was the ending, when chilled martini glasses containing scoops of raspberry sorbet and coffee gelato came out as part of the meal; as a dessert fiend, I was happy to have the guesswork taken out. Our meal came out to around $20 per person with tax and tip. Kayla's is currently BYOB.

Kayla's has a solid future in being a local go-to restaurant for those who want solid Italian fare. While the menu is limited in size and content, Kayla's has surprisingly good dishes and deserves future visits.