Bruna's Ristorante
shakti lenka · 171 Google reviewsBruna's Ristorante — trusted italian in Pilsen. Order the truffle ravioli. Intimate atmosphere suited for two. [$$, patio]
What 647 diners keep saying
What 647 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“The best Italian in Chicago at the 3rd oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago. Once you eat the Carbonara you will be chasing the dragon forever if you order anywhere else. Best pork chop in the city. Many Tuscan specialities. Awesome old school setting in Chicago's Heart of Italy. A wine list that reads like the program at the Italian Wine Hall of Fame at prices considerably less than downtown in the loop.”
“Great food! We visited on the 4th of July! We loved the place and the food was amazing.”
“Stopped for early lunch, delicious. Michelle had stuffed shells and I had Sausage and 🌶 peppers. The peppers are the best I've ever had.”
“We ordered the calamari and pasta alla carbonara. The food was delicious and service was great as well! Would definitely recommend and visit again.”
“Go here if you get the chance the food is outstanding and authentic”
“If you want to go back in time and visit an old Italian neighborhood go to Bruna’s Restorante. Great food in a closed, street fair setting where everyone pauses & enjoys great Italian food.”
“Quintessential Chicago Italian! The food is authentic, simple, and high-quality. The wine list is surprisingly broad, which I loved! If you're sick of your regular Chicago Italian restaurant, branch out and give this place a try.”
“I would say not all their dishes are good. I ordered a fettuccine Alfredo dish, which is excellent, and it takes a longer time to make than the other dishes. They have some special items every day listed on the board, and we ordered pizza. It is very tasty. Their salmon and ravioli are okay, but both linguine dishes that we ordered are just moderate. The staff who serve us, is friendly and attentive. This is a casual environment restaurant with reasonable price.”
“Updated review: Order the seafood linguine!! So good! Came here a second time and ordered the lasagna which was $29 was disappointing and just okay it was a little salty, wouldnt order again but the linguine Frutti de Mare was excellent and highly recommend!!! It has clams, mussels, shrimp and the sauce was perfect! Buttery and delicious and not overly salty. Kinda pricey $39 though. ------------------------ Initial review: Don't sleep on the baked clams!! So GOOD!!! We came on Valentine's Day late evening. We were seated immediately as we entered and the place was max capacity. The ambiance is very romantic, cozy and cute, very small intimate setting and the tables are very close to each other but I didn't feel squashed or anything. Perfect for date night. They provide you with complimentary fresh crunchy bread and a small bowl of parmesan with a bottle of olive oil to top your bread off! It was so fresh we had two orders of bread! We had two appetizers the baked clams $16 which were my favorite!!! They were in a buttery lemon sauce and were so gooey and warm out of the oven. Absolutely delicious and highly recommend!!! They only give 6 clams though I wish they would give a large portion as they do for the mussels, as it was so good, I would have preferred 12 of them rather than 6, that's how good they were. We also ordered the cozze alla marinara (mussels in marinara) $21 so worth it!!! A huge bowl and it was so delicious especially when you dunk the crunchy bread into the warm marinara sauce. I will say though the sauce was a tad bit salty. Some feedback for the chef, I recommend adding less salt to the marinara, as the mussels are already naturally salty. For dinner we ordered the veal scallopini $36 it was very tender and juicy and came with mushrooms, potatoes and carrots in a sauce. This sauce was again, a tad bit salty. I ordered the fettuccine Alfredo dish $26 and added shrimp so it came out to $36 which I thought was a bit steep $10 extra dollars for shrimp!!??? I mean $6 I think is fair but $10 wow. I got about 6-7 pieces of shrimp in the dish. The Alfredo sauce was simple and tasty I'm glad it wasn't salty like the other dishes. It was light and creamy and almost under seasoned but I did add some Parmesan on it to boost the flavor and it was perfect after that! The service on the other hand was why I couldn't give this place 5 stars otherwise I would have. One server, an older lady with short hair came off unfriendly in demeanor. It's hard to tell if she was being rude or if that's just her attitude/ personality. She asked us if we had a reservation and we said yes and she said she didn't see it listed as if she didn't believe us even though we had the confirmation on our email. Odd. Also, when she poured our water at the beginning when we sat down I greeted her and she did not respond which I thought was rude and I know she heard me bc she was literally standing right next to me as she poured. I thought it was unprofessional. Then there was another server a male older guy who came to our table and just snagged the olive oil off the table and walked away without even asking us if we were finished with it which I thought was also rude as I was eating it with my bread and cheese. Next time ask the customer if they are done before clearing their table!!!! At the end of the dinner, I asked for the check and we literally had to wait 15-20 min for the server to bring us the bill. After I gave him the credit card it was another 10-15 minutes to get it back to sign the receipt. Annoying. Other than those minor hiccups I was pleased with the quality of the food. In total for 2 orders of bread (free), 2 appetizers and 2 generous sized dinners and no drinks (just water) we spent $120 with taxes included which I think was fair. I will give this place another try but I have to say if I get attitude again from another wait staff member the second time around I will not return. Hard to find parking but if you drive around enough you'll snag a spot eventually.”
“Went there to celebrate my birthday with my children. Sat outside in the street, super cute ambiance made me feel like old world, if I’d ever been there lol. Service was not the best, busboy was almost throwing our plates and silverware down on the table in front of us. Server wasn’t the friendliest nor did he once ask how our food was. Kids weren’t happy with their food, which is their typical go to at any restaurant. Fettuccine Alfredo was egg noodles and sauce had an off taste to it, meatballs were very dry and tasteless. My typical go-to, eggplant parm was decent and the best dish we got.”
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