La Notte Due

We tried this place because my husband bought the Groupon. Despite being in a strip mall, it is very intimate and nice inside and the wait staff is very attentive. We were there mid-afternoon on a Sunday, so it was a very quiet time, although it was Mother's Day. Also there at the time were 2 or 3 very big family groups, so you can tell that the place has some devoted regulars.

I ordered a special of the day ($22!) linguine with shrimp, scallops and veggies. Way more veggies than shrimp and scallops (about 3 of each) and not much flavor. My daughter had spaghetti and meatballs and loved it. My son had a 3 cheese manicotti what was good, but kind of bland. My husband had the gnocchi, one of their signature dishes. It was a huge serving but the gnocchi was mushy and the sauce was kind of bland.

Then they wouldn't accept our Groupon because it was "a holiday" on Mother's Day. Since we still have the groupon we' will probably go back and give it another try. but I'm not raving about it, except for the service. the people were all very nice and accommodating.

The Dude had a Groupon for La Notte Due, so we trekked over to Darien. We were there on a Saturday night and the place was busy, which was a good sign. The ambience was great, very intimate with lots of candlelight.

Right off the bat, we experienced the cardinal sin of Italian restaurants - the bread wasn't homemade. It was just a sliced loaf of Italian bread, the stuff you can buy in the grocery store. What the what? Still, I wasn't ready to give up on the place.

I ordered homemade eight-finger pasta with broccoli and Italian sausage. It was delicious and the portion was big, but not huge. I still had enough to take home for a second meal. The Dude had the eggplant parmigana and enjoyed it, but it wasn't his favorite.

We also had two tiny shots of limoncello and almost had a heart attack when we saw on the bill that they they were $6 each! I shudder to think of what a limoncello on the rocks would have cost us.

Overall, it was a nice dinner and the restaurant is lovely, but it doesn't really stand out in the crowded Italian restaurant market in Chicago.

The food was pretty good, but there was a sewer smell that was more than a little off-putting.

I might consider going back for a 2d visit, but being that Darien is about a 30-minute drive from my home, it is unlikely.