I love the authentic ambience, the feeling that I'm in Tuscany in a cute country family run restaurant, uh, until the bill arrives that is. There 's an outdoor patio, which is always a plus, not to mention the upper level deck complete with balconey. There's also a fireplace on the second floor for extra coziness. Problems with this: the second floor is often closed for private parties and Madison st. can get a little noisy for outdoor seating. The food is very good. My favorites include the gnocchi in creamy tomato sauce (not sure why they don't call it vodka sauce) and the smoked chicken and goat cheese ravioli. The salads are delicious, the Insalata de Luca with candied walnuts, figs, and gorgonzola cheese is probably my favorite. A little bit sad about the bread and crackery stuff provided as I just expect warmer fresh bread at super expensive Italian restaurants. The entrees are in the $15-$25 range, which just seems a little over the top. Probably the best tiramisu in the area, the fresh berries and drizzled chocolate garnish could have been a dessert alone. The service was great, and even large parties are accomodated well. But if dinners are measured by how many people are still hungry at the end, than this one isn't a winner. So in recap: super cute, romantic decor, outdoor seating, balconey and fireplaces are a plus, not to mention the food is delicious and the service is spectacular. Minuses: overpriced, small portions, and could have better bread. If you're in the area looking for Italian you might also like Jimmy's (ambience not as cute, but food is delicious and less pricey) or La Bella. read more

Absolutely amazing food. Loved the calamari, all the pastas (and yes, we had 6 people and tried almost every pasta), and goodness... the martinis! We were celebrating and we tried all of the martinis. All.Of.The.Martinis! They were so delicious and we cannot wait to come back on Thursday. Appetizers and 1/2 off martinis- yes please! Service was on point too, The waitress and the bartenders were friendly the entire time. Even once we became the loud-too-much-fun table... Sorry guys! read more

Took my boyfriend here for his birthday last year. The food is decent. Just like your typical Italian restaurant. We sat on the second floor looking out to a window. I like the atmosphere - it is very nice for dinner. read more

The pancetta wrapped asparagus appetizer was excellent. I liked my food, and my friend's food too. :) Cute little place. read more

This restaurant is our anniversary restaurant. Everytime we come here we receive delicious food and excellent service. The atmosphere is so calm, cozy, and inviting. We highly recommend the Chef's Selection for appetizers as you will receive a sampling of the appetizers specials for the evening. (the same goes for the desserts) and for $10 that's not a bad deal. Their pizza is absolutely delicious and we always get the Napoli!! read more

Went here for lunch with a group of friends. To begin the place is simple and cute. They offer bread and butter(pure whip butter... amazing). You could ask more seconds if wished. We ordered the crab cakes(not much of a fan ) but these were the best I've ever had!! They pair it with a salad and amazing melts in your mouth. The fish of the day was salmon with was cooked to perfection. You have a choice to pick a side. The side dish ordered was veggies, they were ok(little under cooked) but had good flavor. The Pesto with chicken and Fettuccine with sausage AMAZING!!!! The pesto sauce was just perfect not to sweet. The fettuccine sauce so creamy !! The only negative items were the mimosas. They were not our favorites. My group of friends along with myself are huge for mimosas. Their mimosas have to be the least favorite we have ever had. read more

I love this place, my absolute favorite place to go to. I love their martinis.. especially on Thursdays for the special. I adore the chickpea, parmesan, red pepper and olive oil dip they bring out with their bread. I've eaten their numerous times--not just drinks. They have good pizzas and salads. I also enjoy their gnocchi. I absolutely crave their crab cakes, and the capers are a wonderful touch. The decor makes you feel like you're in Europe... which I also adore. read more

First time visitor. Good place for lunch. Everything looked and tasted great. Excellent service. Has a nice room upstairs but it was closed at lunch time. The sandwiches were very good and the pizza looked terrific. Good place for a lunch date or business meeting. Enjoy! read more

Caffe De Luca - Great sign over the bar - Italian Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

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I stopped by the Caffe De Luca with my aunt whilst scoping apartments in the neighboring town of Oak Park. To tell you the truth I was genuinely surprised by how good this place was. Not only is there a beautiful sidewalk patio that is open to the rest of the restaurant in the summer, inside ambience is almost as good as the food. They have genuine Carnival masks on the walls, as well as original brick (I'm a sucker for packaging). I had a sandwich that boasted chicken, pesto, BRIE, honey and almonds. How much better does it get than that? Honey, brie and almonds? Game over. I'm sold. They also have bread, olive oil and parmesan for dipping. I went for lunch, but since I first tried Caffe De Luca, I've recommended it to a couple that I'm close to. They went for their anniversary and said "the food was worth the cost". read more

interior and atmosphere is exactly what you look for on a cool Fall evening. Food matches up and delivers with great specials on most M and Tu nights. This special included a taste of five apps/mini entrees at 12$, highlights were the grilled shrimp over arugula and the olive sampling. We split the Cobb salad and the size tbh was family size and pretty tasty, 4/5. Homemade chicken noodle soup i'd come back for this on its own. Well done CDL. read more

Disclaimer: was here for an event so can't really speak to price or service really. Food: grilled calamari is LEGIT, chicken pesto pasta awesome, pizzas just ok, salad good too Ambiance/service: nice upstairs for events; bartenders were attentive; waiters quick to clear plates and refill drink orders Parking: free street parking nearby if you can find it; some paid metered parking too read more

Oh sweet Jesus, the food is DELICIOUS. The staff was helpful and kind. Our seating was quick, but awkward (my seat faced a long row of other guests, I felt like I was at the head of the table, eavesdropping). My boyfriend got the Walleye special, I got the Braciola. Both were phenomenal. Our waiter suggested the kitchen is open to special requests, in the future I might ask for pasta rather than polenta in the Braciola (that's a personal preference, the polenta was delicious). Their drink menu looked delicious. Terrific place for a date, if you don't wind up in your neighbor's laps. read more

Sis and brother-in-law wanted Italian food for dinner. We'd been walking around Oak Park looking at pretty houses, but I'd noticed that there were a few Italian places in Forest Park. After perusing menus, they decided on Caffe De Luca, which turned out to be an excellent choice. Even the fact that we had to sit at the bar (all tables taken) didn't detract from the meal/service we received. They're pretty much teetotalers, but I decided to try a Sicilian wine I'd never had, Nero d'Avola. It was exceptionally good and one I'll look for at Binny's. BiL had the fried calamari, which was coated with polenta (yum!), making it a lighter layer than the usual. I had the Insalata De Luca, which included two faves: figs and walnuts. (Sis had a larger version for her dinner and cleaned her plate.) I went with one of the pizzas for my main, the Verona. It incorporated arugula, pine nuts, goat cheese and roasted red peppers; while tasty, a little goat cheese goes a long way (to me), and I don't know if I'd order it again. BIL loved his Fettuccine with Italian Sausage, the latter being a nice touch with all that cream and cheese. No room for dessert but I'm dying to taste their take on tiramisu, so I'll definitely be back. (I also never realized that this place and the one on Damen were connected.....) read more

YUMMY! What a cool spot. The decor is adorably chic and could appeal to both masculine and feminine tastes. There is an outdoor patio (the front wall opens up so you get a lot of fresh air), a main dining room and an upstairs dining room. The tables are spread out nicely so that you would never feel squished, even if it were to be packed. The appetizer and dessert samplers are such a great menu item and allows you to try things that you might not normally try. I loved the olives in the appetizer sampler, a good variety of them and a large quantity of them. The white bean dip that is put on your table within minutes of arriving is a little plate of heaven with fresh parmesan cheese. You also not only get bread, but really great crisp and airy flat bread to use as a dipper. Half price bottles of wine on Tuesday & Wednesday nights... awesome. The salads are HUGE, I mean really, really HUGE and main dishes are also generous in size. I tried a bite of the smoked chicken and goat cheese ravioli and it had some great flavors, I'll probably get my own plate next time. Other favorites at our table were the two fish specials - one Salmon and one Halibut. They have strong after-dinner coffee drinks if you like that kind of thing. Our server was great, our huge table for only 6 people was a plus, great food, great atmosphere, all-in-all I wish I'd been here sooner. read more

This has been one of my favorite spots for years. The food, the drinks (best cosmopolitans in town) and the folks who work there are the best. The rooftop garden is absolutely lovely. read more

This one on my favorite spots in dine out. The bartenders are awesome. The food never disappoints. The customers are friendly. Win, win, win. This ain't your momma's Italian kitchen. So don't go there expecting marinara sauce and meatballs. Instead you will find light broths, cream sauces a delicate flavors. We like to start off with the ciccehetti and some cocktails. For those that don't know the ciccehetti is 3 or 4 shareable appetizers served on a plank. Great presentation and tasty morsels. Then we might have a soup or share a salad. Our favs are the Chopped CDL and the Caprese DeLucca. For the main course you can't go wrong with anything you pick. My current fav is the Scallops & Shrimp. Their seafood specials are also excellent and very fresh. I'd like to know who their supplier is. Oh, and believe it or not the pizza and hamburgers are delicious. Make sure to leave room for desserts and coffee. The Chocolate mousse pie is a fav in our circle. read more

Simply awesome!! Food was delicious. Service exceptional. One of the best bloody Mary's we've had. read more

Caffe De Luca - Italian Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

Was told the restaurant was wide open When we got there there were no tables to be had..Was not friendly or helpful either. Hard to find a different place when covid restaurants are hard to find. Not good customer service.. read more

My husband and I have eaten dinner here a number of times, and each time the food has held up as fantastic. We've had a number of the flatbread pizzas, particularly the Bianco and Napoli. Both are wonderful! Heavy enough to fill you up but not the kind that sits in your stomach for the rest of the evening. We've also had the tortellacci carbonara which is also fantastic as well as a dish that contained a white wine sauce with broccolini and a number of other fresh, light vegetables. The bread and chick pea dip given before each meal is also a nice addition. My only complaint about this restaurant is that each time we've been, it's been quite empty. Sometimes this would be a pro for the restaurant as we've never had to wait for a table, but sometimes it's so eerily quiet that talking to my husband has been uncomfortable because I feel like anyone in the restaurant could hear our conversation. Overall, not the worst situation in the world, but I would like the restaurant to have a little more life to it. read more

Great vibe, great food, and good service! Indoor and outdoor seating. The top floor is great for parties. read more

Caffe De Luca - Great food and service! - Italian Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

Great hidden gem. Great flavors and generous servings. Their calamari breading has the perfect flavoring and crispness.

Fantastic classy vibe at this place with classical music playing. Staff was friendly and helpful. Got three different kinds of martinis and they were all awesome! The Italian food was amazing, especially the gnocchi! read more

Caffe De Luca - Awesome vibe at this place - Italian Near Me - Forest Park, Illinois

Used to be my favorite place for super thin crust, high quality ingredient, not too much cheese pizza. The menu is new and the pizza has too much cheese for me. Crust is thin, but no longer the cracker thin crust I enjoyed. Still high quality ingredients, but they've upped the cheese level beyond a level that I like. If you like thin crust, quality ingredients with lots of cheese, it's great, just not my thing read more

Have been here a couple of times and not disappointed. Very tasty food and great atmosphere topped by great service. I have tried the grilled shrimp appetizer and it was delicious. I also have as the sea food pasta and also pleasantly surprised. read more

Caffe De Luca year after year the food and service has always been amazing. Chicken Marsala excellent

Came for brunch, and it was wonderful!! I would really recommend the breakfast pizza or the bagel sandwich. Looking forward to coming back soon. read more

I used to frequent Caffe De Luca previously in Chicago. Nice atmosphere, outdoor seating, friendly service. They need to not be more generous when pouring wine. A half of a small glass is very skimpy. read more

The husband and I have been here twice. Once this past summer when we sat outside and once just this past week when, of course, we sat inside. Both times were good, but this most recent time was fabulous. Our waiter was perfect, our food was wonderful, and the drinks were superb. Our waiter recommended a salad to start and it was the perfect way to begin a lovely meal. I love that it's quiet enough to actually have a conversation. At least it was at 8PM on a Thursday night. If you're in downtown Forest Park I highly recommend Caffe de Luca! read more

I would highly recommend this restaurant. We came for our anniversary date night. Pleasantly surprised that Thursday's are 6$ martinis(they're delicious), extra win! From the food to the service everything was perfect. We ordered an appetizer that included lobster aracinis, shrimp cocktail, and prosciutto with provolone. My boyfriend got the gnocchi which he loved and I got the salmon which was also delicious. I can't say enough how great the service was. Shoutout to our server Dillon( sorry if I misspelled your name) he was very attentive and made us feel welcomed. The laid back ambiance was romantic and refreshing. read more

Just got back from a late lunch--disappointing service is my biggest complaint. Our server was overbearing and unprofessional. He kept lurking around our table. He repeatedly told us he was bored. He hovered over us so much we really should have split the bill three ways! What do you say to a dork like this???!!! Another big mistake was the timing--he brought out our appetizer, we hadn't even taken a bite and the server comes over to see if we like it. We then received our entrees before we had finished the appetizer. That's just plain "I'm asleep" service. Helloo! Wake up! The food is passable but but it's not cheap. The crab cake appetizer was good. My salad was large with good flavor, but the additional chicken was dry and they substituted apple for pear without asking me if that would be to my liking. Good quality greens though. My companions pasta was tough. A $15 pasta entree should be better than tough. The dessert was nothing to write home about. The description was much better than the actual thing...it was a pear tart with a soggy crust. The gelato on top had good vanilla flavor but it was full of ice crystals. Not good and not worth the $7 price tag. The atmosphere is welcoming and I like the open floor to ceiling windows to a sidewalk cafe but I'll pass on a return visit. Unfortunately this is a far too often experience in the restos out in the FP and OP area--overpriced, average food and truly inept service. In a economy like this service is the one thing that should be excellent. I can forgive a soggy crust on a tart but I won't forget overbearing, unprofessional service ever. read more

Quality. This is the best Italian on Madison, and frankly one of my favorite restaurants in Forest Park. I love the flatbread, oil and cheese they serve to everyone as you're seated. Lasagna is fresh, hearty, and delicious. My wife loves the big salads. Wine specials are ace. This is THE place to go for medium-to-upscale dining on Madison. read more

I have been to this restaurant many times and always enjoyed the atmosphere as well as the food. However recently I was frustrated with the wait staff find only found the food satisfactory at best. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the wait staff has a bad habit of hanging out around the bar and chit chatting. It was a Tuesday night, so not so busy. However, the staff needed to act professional and find something to do! Our server had us in her view, but did not bother to come over and refill our water or offer us another drink. Most importantly though, was the lack of quality in the dishes we ordered. I ordered a salad that was soggy and had chicken that was NOT grilled as it was stated in the menu. My husband ordered the lobster ravioli and it was terrible. The pasta and lobster were both over cooked and tough. I am not sure what has happened. This use to be a great restaurant with delicious meals. The drinks were fine; but again, the staff needs to be reminded to act professional and keep busy in view! read more

I really like the feel of this place. Having eaten hear for lunch and dinner, with a group or with 1 other person, I leave pleased. I recommend this place to people all the time. Forest Park does have a number of "Italian Bistro-type" restaurants, but this one is the one to go to for good food and a nice atmosphere. read more

Great food, great people, great service! Thanks for an amazing menu for our Christmas party. The food was tasty, well seasoned and generous portions. Staff was wonderful and very attentive! read more

I am a frequent visitor to Caffe de Luca and love the food...would normally give it a 4 or 5 star rating....but I have to say it is looking a bit rundown. Seriously, folks, dust off the rails on the bottom of yr chairs! Things are getting rather rickety and sloppy looking...not rustic, but rusty. If the front of the house is dirty, what does the kitchen look like? If things don't get cleaned up soon, I won't be visiting so often. Or at all. Update: things have been getting cleaner... could be at 4 stars soon! read more

This is our go-to restaurant in the Oak Park-River Forest-Forest Park area. We love that it is quiet--there is nice bar seating but no TV and the background music is subtle. The wine list is good, including our current favorite red. The food is great. In the summertime the front of the restaurant opens, giving an open-air feel, and there are a few outside tables. The upstairs area is used for large groups and special events. The staff are very friendly and attentive and have been with the restaurant for years. It's a great place to go with friends, sit around a table, have a glass of wine or a cocktail, eat something tasty, and chat without raising voices. read more

I went here while at the Forest Park's Summer Fest. We sat on the patio so we could have a good view of the Jesse White Tumblers. That's the only good thing about my dining experience here. The waiter seemed aloof and highly unskilled at his position. At one point the whole front house staff, along with out waiter of course, were watching the tumblers as we sat waiting even longer for our food. I got the Insalata something salad, that consisted of from what the menu said: mixed greens, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, figs, and a vinaigrette. Ok. When I see figs on the menu, I think figs. Fresh and juicy. He brought out my salad with what looked like pieces of gummy seeded sausage. It was inedible and not what I expected at all. There is a big difference between dried figs and fresh figs, just like grapes and raisins. They should have been clear about the figs being dried. I would not have chosen it if they had. My friend's small cheese pizza came and it looked like they used watery tomato soup instead of sauce. It really looked disgusting. He took one bite and threw the rest back down. On top of all this, my Italian soda was not mixed well and tasted mostly of soda water. We had waited too long for the mess we got and didn't have the time or desire to have our orders replaced. I definitely would not go back here. ****As for the owner's comment below, I'd like to add my dining companion that refused to eat the rest of their pizza knows the owner, or one of them, which is why we ate here in the first place. Check my reviews and you won't see any for anywhere else around that area. That should tell you a lot if their own people didn't care for their food. I might have mixed up the name of the city - which is clearly displayed up above- and might not remember the exact name of the pizza my *dining companion* ordered, but I did in fact dine here and very much disliked my experience. The menu didn't convey the figs were dried which could have easily been accomplished by having the word "dried" typed before the word "figs." There was nothing to be unsure of to make me "ask the server" anything. Also, reviews don't have to be recent experiences, they need only be valid experiences. And mine is 110% valid as the owner has proven by stating the Jesse White Tumblers at there after their show. There is a saying that there is more to be learned from failures than there are from successes. A business should be able to rejoice in the good and learn from the bad.****** read more

Really great place! The restaurant has lots of local competition for Italian food but I think stands out as an excellent alternative to the big chain restaurant down the street. I didn't care for anything off the lunch menu so I asked them if they could make a veal dish for me. They said no problem and my food was delicious! read more

Amazing food, and the service is always spectacular! I like their portobello mushroom ravioli, YUM! The desserts are lethal, one bite and you'll be wishing you wore larger pants. =) This is a gem of a place that has yet to be discovered by many, stop-in they've got AMAZING things to try!!! read more

Just picked up some take-out, of course after catching a show. Very unique twist on the Caprese w/ avocado,hearts of palm & red onion stacked on the traditional mozzarella & tomato. Also had the pasta dish " Smoked chicken & goat cheese ravioli" Awesome however a very small portion for $18.00. They're known for their patio dining. Would love to go back and check out the upstairs deck! read more