***** Italian dining in Chicago is an art. Our Italian community is one that is quite diverse and they know their food! Back in the early 1990’s Scott Harris Hospitality started the Francesca’s dining experience and recently, after opening several other concept restaurants, decided that Lincolnwood needed the true Mia Francesca experience. If you are a Chicagoan, you know that once upon a time, there was a Hyatt Hotel on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Touhy in Lincolnwood. It was purple in color and was known as the “purple hotel”. It had its own history and some unique mystery, but that was yesterday and yesterday is gone.
That corner now has homes for many young adults, many of whom have no idea who Allan Dorfman was ( look it up on Google). They also have some fine dining that is wonderful and affordable, with free parking. Fat Rosie’s is in this building ( we did this one earlier in the year) and now, Mia Francesca is in this building located at 4436 West Touhy Avenue. Jane and I were joined by Vickie and Alan for dinner tonight. Our server, Rodrigo, who is new to the Scott Harris Group knew how to make our experience a memorable one. From drinks to dessert, he continued to be there to ensure clean plates ( we do the share thing so we all get to taste everything) and silverware. He was perfect!
We started our evening with drinks. Alan had a glass of wine, as did Jane and Vickie a vodka Martini. I decided to do one of their specialty drinks called “The Sophia Loren” (Grey Goose vodka, Lime and black cherry). It was sweet and tasty ! They have a lot of Antipasti- we had the Burrata ( roasted Campari tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, basil, pesto and ciabatta), the roasted beets ( in a walnut butter with creme frache chives) DELICIOUS, and Sophia’s Sausage and peppers ( roasted peppers with Greco Italian Sausage). The sausages were by far the best I have ever had. I think that Alan agreed with me on this one.
For our salad, we had the Italian Chopped (romaine, radicchio castelvetrano olives, pepperoncini, blue cheese, crispy prosciutto tomatoes, marinated artichokes, red wine vinaigrette dressing) a beautiful salad that was quite flavorful. For our Pastas-Rolli alla Francesca ( rolled homemade pasta, ricotta and spinach, tomato basil/four cheese sauce) to die for! We also had the in-house vegetarian pasta- Agnolotti Quattro Formaggi ( four cheese stuffed little pillows, brown butter, pecorino, and wild mushrooms!) Bravo to Chef Josh!
For our entrees, we had Salmone alla Fresca: Atlantic salmon, asparagus, avocado, red onions and tomatoes and then their Pollo al Limone- chicken sautéed with white wine, spinach, lemon and capers- another delicious dish. When it came to dessert, while we were pretty full, we had to at least attempt to tackle what appeared to be something special, so we had three- the profiteroles, the sloppy sundae ( try to imagine a tall sundae dish filled with vanilla ice cream, with the outer portion of the serving dish covered in chocolate and sprinkles) It was something else, for sure and last , but not least, their peach almond crumble ( this is like have warm peach pie with almond cookies crumbled in the middle and of course a little ice cream just to make it very special)!
I suggest that when you come to this restaurant, you come hungry. The portions are very shareable and they do package for taking home ( leftovers are tasty and remind you of the wonderful experience you had last night).
The address is 4436 West Touhy Avenue in Lincolnwood. The phone number 847-262-4900
The hours are:
Monday-Thursday 4 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.
Friday, they are open until 10 p.m.
Saturday they do brunch- 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. and then switch to dinner menu at 3 p.m.- 10 p.m.
Sunday they do brunch from 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. and then do dinner from 3 p.m.- 9 p.m.
MONDAY- FRIDAY from 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. they have a HAPPY HOUR menu featuring shareables- special prices on beverages and a place to meet and greet
They have a lovely outdoor dining area with a fire pit as well as a wonderful dining room and cocktail lounge area. Whatever your mood or taste, you will find that Mia Francesca’s will make your experience a memorable one!
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