Briciola

I really really want to try Briciola, but to quote my roommate, "are you seriously considering coming back to this place after the way she treated us?"

We got there on a Saturday night around 8. Called the restaurant an hour ahead to ask if they're BYOB (they are), but they didn't comment on the restaurant being full or anything, so we decided to head over there expecting a long wait.

The restaurant was understandably packed. When we got there, the hostress, who really took her time to acknowledge us, asked if we (a party of 3) had a reservation. I said "no, what's the wait time" and she curtly responded with "we're full tonight." I told her that we are cool with waiting a long time for a table, and she asked again if I had a reservation. I, again, said no, but we're fine with waiting, and she responded with "if you don't have a reservation tonight, then we don't have a table for you." Then, she just left.

I TOTALLY understand that a good restaurant can be packed beyond capacity, but what's UNACCEPTABLE is the way she treated us. First of all, show some empathy and act as if she wanted us there. I totally understand that a busy night can be very stressful to the staff. I was a server/waiter myself, but it's NEVER acceptable to treat your customers like that. be nice, polite and show some empathy.

I left that place in awe. I still want to go back to try their food, but again, both of my friends guilted me into boycotting a business that treats their customer like that. I love good food, and I'm sure Briciola serves good food.

I hate that waitress for forever ruining what I assume is a great Italian place in Chicago.

I love this place, and have been here a few times for date night, special occasions, and just a random dinner. I'm actually a bit sad it's doing so well on Yelp because it keeps on getting busier and harder to get a seat!

I've gotten the Chittara several times but also tried many of the other dishes and have never been disappointed with a dish. Overall, the food is extremely solid.

Decor is also very cute in the summer when you can get outdoor seating.

My only complaint is that sometimes it seems like they don't have enough waiters; Dinners can be slow because the wait staff is so busy. However, usually we have a bottle of wine and therefore don't mind...

Before last week, I'd never even heard of Briciola, but now that I've made its acquaintance, I will definitely return.

The dining room is very charming and I loved that the tables weren't too small or on top of each other. The kitchen is open so you can see all the hard work going into each and every dish as it's being made. Mario, the chef/owner oversees every detail of the food before it's delivered to the table.

Complimentary bruschetta is brought out immediately and our waiter immediately uncorked our champagne and wine so we could start drinking while perusing the menu. The menu had several starters and salad options, as well as pastas and meat/fish entrees. A few daily specials were described to us and all four of us ended up ordering those as they sounded very appealing.

I started with the soup of the day, which was a hearty pappa al pomodoro (Tuscan tomato and bread soup). It was rich and filling and a great start to the dinner. For my entrée, I had the porcini-crusted mahi mahi, served with a light garlic sauce over fresh spinach and tomatoes. I really enjoyed this dish and thought the porcini added a nice earthy flavor to the mild fish. The spinach was not cooked at all, and I would have preferred it to be lightly sautéed and this was barely wilted. All in all, I thought this was a delicious dish. Others at the table had a roasted lamb shank and squid-ink pasta with prawns and scallops in a saffron cream sauce. Everybody seemed pretty happy with their choices.

Desserts were excellent as well. Our waiter informed us that they served the "best tiramisu in Chicago" (as voted by some magazine or website) so we ordered one of those as well as a panna cotta. I can never resist ordering panna cotta whenever it's offered.  Briciola's panna cotta was mixed-berry and it was so good that I had a hard time sharing it.

Briciola is a terrific neighborhood spot. It's byob (a fact I wasn't aware of ahead of time so we had to make a run to the nearby liquor store) which always keeps the cost down. I believe it's a $3.00 corkage fee. My two minor quibbles were that it was very loud in here, as brick walls + tight space + lots of people = deafening. The other is that parking on this stretch of Damen Avenue is nearly impossible on a Saturday evening. We ended up parking about six blocks away,which is fine on a warm spring or summer evening, but not so much when it's freezing cold and you're wearing high heels.

Our group was quite pleased with our meal and service and I wouldn't hesitate to come back again.