Anna Maria Pasteria   

One or our favorite Italian restaurants in town.

Italian? The overall category here includes Spiaggia and Vinci. Miles apart. I would guess that neither Spiaggia nor Vinci has ever served a dish you will find on the menu at Anna Maria's. Is Spiaggia a better restaurant? Of course. And your bill there will reflect that - in spades. Anna Maria serves the kind of traditional pasta/sauce based dishes across the full spectrum that you wish your mother could have made, and they do it extraordinarily and consistently well. For most of us, traditional Italian doesn't excite like say Spiaggia - been there in traditional Italian, done that all across your life, but it really satisfies, and that is Anna Maria's. How really pumped can you get about a marinara sauce? Not much perhaps, but that said Anna Maria's marinara is first rate. Try the polenta with marinara sauce for starters. The service is rarely less than really solid. Some of the waitstaff have worked there for upwards of ten years. The ambience is quite fine - a nice pleasant place to dine, but it can be noisy when full, but there is a little alcove around the corner near the kitchen where it is much quieter. A drawback to some - it is very kid friendly early in the evening. On the other side, .a real plus. Parking is never a problem. South of the restaurant on Clark there is always parking along the east side, next to the cemetary. Been to lots of the Italian restaurants in Chicago that fall into the traditional class, but Anna Maria is the place I keep going back to. And in that context, I give it five stars.

This is, hands down, the best italian food I have had outside of italy. My only complaint is that I cant eat it 3 times a day for fear of looking like a blimp!!!!

This is a great restaurant. It is away from "the maddening crowd", the decor is pleasant and the food is excellent while moderately priced. A definite regular.