RPM Italian

Reviews 4

GO

Golden Rules of Wine and Travel

Since moving out to the suburbs, my husband and I have had to defend our choice to our urbanite friends. Here are our reasons: 1. We have eight times more space. 2. Both working from home, we would prefer to not actually be on each others work calls. 3. Our dogs have their own personal dog park in our yard. 4. The silence (comparatively). And when we still get asked questions like "but where do you EAT?", we respond with a wink: "we drive into the city". There are many, many good places to eat in the suburbs, but once a month anyway, we make the big, bad drive in to the city (because it is usually late on the Saturday this takes us an easy thirty minutes). Some restaurants are not even worth that much time in the car, but RPM Italian is worth the drive. I made reservations two and a half months out for 7:30pm on a Saturday. This was our first night out as a married couple and the first Saturday after my husbands birthday, so this was going to be a pretty ceremonial dinner. The waitress brought us a prosecco toast for both celebrations and a homemade ricotta (with pomodoro) that was amazing. The bread served with it looked like it would be a hard french loaf, but was soft. The ricotta was served with a little olive oil, which made it taste even better than any ricotta I have ever had. The service was warm, but unobtrusive. We had a lot of information about the menu before we ordered and I think we ordered well. What we ordered (with comments): The special squash blossom appetizer, which was like the best mozzarella stick youve ever eaten. Mama DePandis Bucatini Pomodoro with the gluten-free pasta, which you would never be able to tell was gluten-free by taste, and one meatball (because apparently you can order just one meatball on the side-- nice option). The Bone-in Ribeye, which came without a lot of garnishments and sauces; it was just a really nicely cooked steak, well-seasoned. Grilled Giant Prawns, which were very herb-y and needed the lemon that came with it sprayed all over it. Sautéed Broccolini, which was a nice complement. For dessert, we had this gelato-filled mocha crunch ball... so, so good. The thing about this meal is that I was full, but not stuffed. They were nice portions and, if you share the pasta, you get a nice sampling of a lot of flavors. The price of the meal is what completely surprised me. Our total bill was $163 with four cocktails added. Such nice pricing, nice service, nice food, nice environment. Well worth the drive in from the suburbs.

ER

Erica Williams

RPM is one of the hottest restaurants in Chicago right now...but does it live up to the hype? Well... The decor is just fabulous. It is the epitome of urban chic. You could take this restaurant and drop it into New York or LA and not know the difference. The lighting was very well done, and they have these long, luxurious curtains that I just loved. Gorgeous. The look is versatile enough that it is a great place for a girls night out, a business dinner, a rehearsal dinner, a happy hour or a fun date. At 6pm, the place was packed. All of the beautiful people were out and it is definitely a scene. A place to see and be seen. If you have some cute new shoes and you want to show them off, this is the place to go. The food however, was good solid food with quality ingredients, but I wasnt 100% completely blown away. The food is small-plates Italian food, and its good, but not off-the-charts excellent. My dining partners agreed. We ordered several items, including the 600-day Prosciutto (tasty), the homemade Ricotta with Semolina toast (eh...), the shredded brussels sprouts salad (tasted way too healthy for my liking) the roasted mushrooms (could have made them better at home), the Bucatini Pomodoro (ok), and the the Duck Agnoletti (just ok). The best dessert was the hazelnut Tartufo, which was literally like a frozen Ferrero Rocher candy - hazelnut gelato covered with a dark chocolate shell, sprinkled with hazelnuts. You need a knife to cut it. If you are a hazelnut fan, you would love this dessert. That was my favorite item of the evening. I would go back, but mainly for the ambiance. The prices were actually pretty fair, especially for the prime location. Its worth a visit for the decor alone - its a cool place to hang out.

ZO

Zorin Dobson

Initially, rather than being called RPM Italian, this place could have been called Barnum and Baileys Italian. We had reservations for 10, and despite rushing to get there on time, they were running behind. The bar was so completely packed that we decided to go somewhere else for a couple of drinks while we waited for our table. The bar inside definitely has a bit of a clubby vibe to it, so it was a good move for us to go in search of an alternate venue for drinks. Especially since you get a convenient text message when your table is ready. So why would I give a place five stars despite starting off the review like this? Quite frankly the food and the rest of the service was phenomenal. After waiting a while We were pretty decided on what we wanted to eat until we were told about the special. I usually dont go for specials at all, but when you say say squash blossoms stuffed with burratta and lightly fried you are speaking my language these little cheesy morsels were the best things Ive had to eat in quite some time. We also had the truffled Garlic bread, which was pretty good. Seven dollars good is kind of questionable, it is a rather large serving of bread, but then again it is a rather large serving of bread. Despite the fact that we did have a bottle of wine involved, that small plates method of dining usually creates a big sticker shock, but for the experience it felt very cheap in the end. Granted they did end up comping two of the plates due to their lateness but that aside, for that experience, with a bottle of wine to share and enough food to satisfy two hungry people, I expected a price tag much higher than $140 (inclusive of tip) for this caliber of restaurant. A definite must try in Chicago.

LE

Leo O

Came here with 3 people without a reservation and we were able to find 3 consecutive seats at the bar. You will need a reservation if you want to eat at the dining area. This place gets very busy quick. We ordered the Spicy King Crab pasta, Atlantic Swordfish, and Eggplant Parmesan wood-oven baked. I only got a chance to try the Spicy King Crab pasta and Atlantic Swordfish. Both were excellent dishes. In general, I would say the portions for this type of restaurant is on the smaller side. Thats just unfortunate. The amount of king crab was proportionate to the amount of squid ink spaghetti you got. The crab meat was fresh and there was no water left at the bottom of the plate after consuming the spaghetti. There was enough spice/kick to the dish. It may be a little strong for some people so beware. The pasta itself was delicious. It was cooked perfectly and didnt taste any flour. The amount of squid ink used was just right. Sometimes some places overdo it with the ink and it leaves a weird aftertaste in your mouth. The Atlantic Swordfish was surprisingly moist and flaked off nicely. I thought it would have been a meatier fish and assumed the dish would be on the drier side but they cooked the fish quite nicely. Only issue was that it was over seasoned. Other than that, the fish was cooked perfectly and even got grill marks on it. The service at the bar was great. The bartender was very nice and got our drinks and food in a timely fashion. It was very busy that night so we didnt get a chance to chat with him. I would recommend this restaurant and would definitely come here again. Both aforementioned dishes were excellent and would recommend them.