Ciccio Mio: An Upscale Italian Dining Experience in the Heart of Chicago

I am very impressed by our server~ she is very good and professional and recommended great food. is I think our daughter loves her pasta more than us~ the environment is quite dark and cold personally I am not a fan of such dark atmosphere, but other people may have a different opinion.

The ambiance is perfect for a date night and the food and drinks are delicious. It's a cozy but classy vibe inside and it's dimly lit with good music. The staff is very friendly and the spicy rigatoni is one of my favorite pastas in chicago. The overall menu is pretty similar to the other Hogsalt group restaurants, everything I've tried at these restaurants has been great! Would definitely go back for the Spicy vodka rigatoni or truffle bucatini.

I've now been here twice, both for what I would consider to be special occasions, and the food has exceeded expectations each time. It's tough to get a reservation, so set an alarm for 30 days in advance and book what you can find. I managed to get some normal times when I've come here, but this place is worth a 9:30pm dinner if that's what you need to do to get in. Honestly the restaurant is so dark inside it might as well be 9:30 even if you're there at noon, but I guess that's the intimate romantic vibe they are going for. Everything from the appetizers (the burrata is my favorite), to the pastas (spicy rigatoni is amazing), to the entrees and desserts is so good. The only items I may not recommend are the truffle mozzarella sticks (yes, perhaps I could've seen this one coming ordering mozz sticks at a classy restaurant, but no it was not my decision to order these) and the asparagus (was fine, but rather bland). The service was a bit disappointingly slow the second time I was there, but I don't put too much weight into that. Go give it a try - it's not cheap, but the food is fantastic and you likely will not be disappointed.

Came here again and I just love it! Our waitress was so sweet and overall great vibes! Started with meatballs/caesar salad and bread service. The salad was great, crunch with lots of parm and great flavor! I would get again! Meatballs were also great. For my main obviously had to get the spicy vodka rig. This is just the absolute best in the city. Nothing compares. Last time I came here I really wanted to try the gelato. They were out. This time they were out again. One day I will try this gelato!!

Being one of the harder reservations to book in the city, I was so happy to get one for dinner on a Sunday night! Felt like I had to compete with tourists for this one. My expectations were pretty high but also I've tried the vodka rigatoni from Gilt Bar and it is my second favorite in the city behind Alla Vita, so I was pretty excited for this meal. The ambiance is dark and intimate - very similar to Au Cheval, Gilt Bar, and Trivoli Tavern! We shared the fried artichoke for our appetizer and it was simply delicious. The lemon with the bed of parmesan cheese worked so well. Between the two of us, we shared the vodka rigatoni and rolled lasagna. I love lasagna - even frozen lasagna so I was super excited to try lasagna from Ciccio. However, I thought the lasagna had okay flavor and it was too mushy for my liking. Think I'm used to a nice char on the top at least. My boyfriend really enjoyed it and claimed it for himself as it was his favorite compared to the rigatoni. I loved the rigatoni as expected. Super buttery and creamy vodka sauce filled in the pockets of the rigatoni.. honestly cannot beat it. Biting into each rigatoni and you get a burst of sauce! We were pretty full by the end of our entrees but we couldn't pass up on trying the toasted almond gelato everyone raves about. It is a generous portion of gelato but the toasted almond flavor is only on the outside. Once you get past the first layer of the gelato, it just tastes like vanilla. Not really worth it in my opinion. Overall, glad to have had the chance to finally try Ciccio Mio! Will always come back for the vodka rigatoni.

The ambiance in this restaurant is beautiful. Very intimate & romantic with an old time feel to it. It is very tiny on the inside & the tables here are in very high demand. After two attempts of setting an alarm on my phone for when the new reservations open up, I was finally was able to get a spot here. My favorite part of the night was that Ciccio Mio put out a little "Happy Anniversary" sign for us and brought us out a free dessert for our ~celebration~ This really added to our experience and made it a more memorable and special one. I appreciated the thoughtfulness a ton. Our food was good, but I have to be honest this was not the best Italian I've had in Chicago. My favorite thing we ordered was the focaccia bread. We finished the whole loaf between the two of us - it was so good. It came with a whipped ricotta, but I honestly thought it was better with just butter. I wish it came with olive oil, parmesan, and black pepper because I think that would have been better than the ricotta too. We really liked the two pasta dishes we got, but weren't blown away. My boyfriend & I agreed the Ricotta Gnocchi should have been an appetizer or something you share with a group of people because it was soooo rich. We both only had 2 bites of it and then couldn't stomach much more because it was so heavy. Still really good, just a lot to finish with only two people. We like the spicy shrimp better it wasn't as heavy, but still very flavorful. I have to say I was just a little disappointed after my experience. As hard as it was to get a reservation, I thought this was going to be the best restaurant I've ever been too, but it wasn't :/ I think the only and main reason I would recommend coming here would be just for the ambiance inside.

My girlfriend and I had a fantastic evening at Ciccio Mio. The staff was attentive and provided excellent meal and drink recommendations. I was especially impressed when one of the managers, Adam, noticed that my girlfriend's chilled martini glass had warmed up, so he promptly replaced it to maintain the consistency of her drink. I would definitely recommend this spot for a fine dining experience in Chicago. Would highly recommend the focaccia, truffle mozzarella sticks, chicken parm, and almond crumble gelato.

W-O-W is how I would overall rate this restaurant! Everything from the experience and ambiance to the food and service was immaculate to say the least! We got lucky because we attempted doing a walk-in (without reservations), and were fortunate enough to snag a couple of seats in their front room (the main dining room was for reservations only). I'd say if you're planning ahead, you should definitely make a reservation because the front room probably can only fit 6 - 8 guests comfortably. Our host immediately offered to check our coats for us and checked in with us throughout the dining experience! As for the food, their Chicken Parmesan was probably one of the best ones I've ever had (definitely shareable)! Crispy yet cheesy, with a tender and juicy inside. The Lasagne Bolognese is a classic dish and cooked to perfection with 3 huge rolls of pasta. Although the Spicy Shrimp Pasta was delicious, it didn't really have a spicy kick to it, so we asked for some red pepper flakes on the side to enhance the spiciness. Finally, don't be fooled by the side of Vesuvio Potatoes because they come in a huge portion (also very shareable) and paired very well with the rest of the dishes -- crispy on the outside while soft on the inside! I'm so grateful we came here for our 1-year anniversary dinner, and the classic ambiance (with jazz music playing in the background) will provide a romantic and unforgettable experience -- I have no doubt you won't be disappointed! :)

I was so so excited when we got a last minute walk in table! This place has been on my list forever but I learned that if you walk in late at night, you're more likely to get a table (after 8:30-9 pm). We were lucky to get a table on Valentine's Day and were so impressed with the food. The focaccia was so fresh and flavorful- all the herbs shined through the fluffy bread and the portion was pretty big for two people. The vodka sauce was delicious but the star of the show was the truffle bucatini. It was so creamy and Rich and not too overwhelmingly truffle. We got the eggplant norma vegan (without ricotta) and were impressed with how flavorful the red sauce was. We got complimentary raspberry sorbetto and a rose for Valentine's Day and I think that was the perfect touch to our meal! The ambiance is great- very romantic with a touch of history.