Quartino

This is probably my favorite place to eat in the Michigan Avenue area, which is saying a lot because there are a ton of restaurants around there. I love to come here after shopping or going to the MCA, and I always have fun. The menu is loosely divided into different kinds of small plates, pizzas, and a few more sizeable entrees. They also have a "salumeria" form you can fill out to get antipasti like meets, cheeses and small salads, which are usually a good deal. I love these--the beet salad is especially delicious, and the little relishes that they give you with some of the meats/cheeses are really tasty as well. They have a range of reasonably priced dishes, and the small plates are actually a pretty good size. It can definitely be one of the better deals in the area. I like to get 3 dishes for two people and share them. The service is usually good and always friendly, although it can be a little slow at dinner when it's more crowded. It used to be a little noisy but I think they recently redid the balcony area to make it less so.

We stumbled on this place because we were walking the Mag Mile and decided to sit for a glass of wine - saw the ad in our hotel room but had not paid attention to where it was. They had authentic olive and small plates, great bread and a really fun/good fondue appetizer that our 10 y/o twins loved! A fantastic cheese pizza that fed all 4 of us (After including the olive mix plate and fondue) was on;y 10.00. The wine list is decent - Their ad "Where the wine is cheaper than water" is cute but a little off. The wine was a fair price but not cheap. They have a very small but varied wine stock in the front where you can take a bottle to go - anything from Lambrusco for $5.00-6.00 or a good Sangiovese for $20.00 and higher. We sat in bar - which was just find for the kids. Place is traditional enough but modern and a bit trendy in feel - a good combination. We had a wonderful waiter, she was good with the kids and she even gave us (happily) directions to the Hancock Building when we were done. The place is open late for food - something we wish we would have known a day earlier for a post-baseball game meal.