Quartino

Quartino is basically Italian Tapas and is my favourite place to get a bite to eat in Chicago. It features a menu of antipasta, pizza, pasta, and italian meat dishes along with wine, beer and desert. Be sure to check out their website for special wine and beer tastings.

It is owned by chef gibson, who owns gibson steak which is a high profile steakhouse which was on the american TV show Top Chef Chicago. The vision of the resturant is to be an affordable place where people can get a gourmet meal. The portions are small, but delicious. For antipasto I recomend the duck proscuito, which comes with some classic sauces for dipping and the provolone cheese.

The restaurant has an upstairs, downstairs, and a bar area, which is where we chose to hang out. You can get reservations online (see metromix chicago). It specializes in Italian cuisine. The bar was vibrant with a mix of businessmen, drunk people, people watching hoops.... overall a good group.

The food is about 10 bucks an entree, you can make your own pasta dish which is pretty cool, they give you a checklist and you choose what you want. It’s also a pizzeria, making New York thin crust. They also have your basic and some pretty sexy appetizers and salads, its also a very new hang out so it actually had a pretty elite looking crowd hanging out in some of the back areas.

Drinks specialize in San Grea, Wines, Martinis, and beer. My mom got pretty sloshed on her San Grea, and appeared to be pretty satisfied with it. I will be visiting this place again... and again.. and again...