Carmine's

Every time I am back in Chicago, I love to go to Carmines for the great food and atmosphere. This past Saturday was really disappointing!!!! We made a reservation for 8 people at 8:00PM several weeks ago. We arrived 10 minutes early, and were told we would be seated in 10-15 minutes. That came and went & every time we checked status up front, the hostess was very rude & said either "5 -to-10 minutes more' or 'i will find you when you table is ready". About ten "5-to-10 minutes" later, we were finally seated for our 8PM reservation at 8:50PM!!!! Seems to be some extremely poor management going on there these days; there were several people in the same situation. I am quite disappointed b/c I really loved this place & my linguini & clams was no where near as good as it has been in the past. Unless they can turn things around, I will have to find a new place to go back to when visiting good old Chiicago!!!

I loved every minute at this place - until they walked us into the overflow seating in the "tent".

The time spent in the bar with the live music beforehand and the food itself made up for a very subpar dining atmosphere. If we'd been in the main restaurant, it would've been 5 stars and superb.

We were in town for a Romantic weekend and we were finishing up some shopping when we decided to stop. It was the middle of the dinner rush and we lucked out and got their last walk-in table. We were seated upstairs and it was much more quiet. The atmosphere seemed pretty the standard and our server wasn't the most gifted guy in the world but he was attentive and polite. The bread was served promptly but I was initially put off with the bowl of parmesan cheeese (seemed cheap and cheezy). The cocktails were nice and strong and our appetizer was wonderful, we had the calamari. It was very fresh and not overcooked (unlike most places). The tomato and onion salad was really nice and there was plenty for the two of us and some for later too! We had the linguini with white clam sauce, which was amazing and the Torteloni Carbonara which was very rich and very good, although the peas were of a strangely crunchy consistency. When all things were said and done, we were way too full to even look at the desert menu. Every one was very polite, even the bathroom attendant but the hostesses were dressed like cheap prostitutes. We loved the food and had a really nice time, we will be making this a regular stop for us when staying in Chicago.

I come to Chicago quite a bit on business, and decided to head to Carmine's on the advice of the concierge at my hotel. My friend and I arrived in that area and right away noticed we were sent to a tourist trap. That entire area is full of midwest tourists looking for a "night out" in Chicago. The service was absolutely laughable, the food was fair-to-poor, and the wine was old (and not in the good way). The men working there were all frat-boy dummies and the girls taking reservations looked like cheap HS cheerleaders. The waitstaff kept coming up to us, letting us know the bread was in the oven which was why we didn't get any when we sat down. When the bread finally did arrive, it was cold and hard. Very weird. The waitress, after taking our order said "Have a nice night!" and we never saw her again except to sprinkle cheap parm on my dish. I ate only a few bites but had to stop because the dish (Penne Bolognese) was just disgusting. The whole experience was rather commical to my friend and me - we just laughed it all off. Looking around, we were not surprised to see that the majority of people there looked like tourists. The restaurant tried to be "fancy" (I think?) but it was just an expensive, crappy tourist trap. If you have any taste, avoid this place.

This is the place to be if you're injected with silicon and want to have a little fun with the 40 - 50 something men (sugar daddies). My date and I had dinner (we're both mid-20s) and while I enjoyed my meal ( the stuffed mushrooms are wonderful) I had no idea that the menu was the exact same as Rosebud on Rush. The local scene and the fact that my "homey Italian food" wasn't original was kind of a turn off. Go elsewhere if you can, but if you're in the area, it's nice for a laugh and a decent meal.