Tazza is not far from our house and we visited the original location "Trattoria Tazza" when it was further down on Bell Rd. a long time ago. Â This was our first visit to the newer spot. Â When I checked in on Yelp, I was very pleased to see a 15% check in offer.
The ambiance in the place is very conducive to the strip mall location it's in - definately not a vibe that will keep people coming back but comfortable and clean.
The service was prompt and attentive - we ordered a few glasses of wine and one of the fish entrees that was on the special menu (which my husband said was very good) and I ordered the Escarole, Sausage and Beans and it was marginal. Â The sausage was flavorful but the escarole and beans were overcooked and a pasty, mess just plopped on top of three pieces of sausage. Â The side salads that accompanied our entrees were fresh and tasty and of decent size.
All in all, the food at Tazza was ok but there are lots of wonderful Italian options that put the "whole package" (food, ambiance, music, service, wine) together very nicely in the same area as Tazza. Â Because of the check-in offer, I might go back and try a pasta dish or their pizza to see if we missed anything.
Okay, here we go again. Saw this place whenever we headed over to Menard's or Home Depot and we could smell it when we parked our car. We always commented that we should try it. The other night we were watching Check Please (A local foodie show on WTTW 11) and I checked out the website for local reviews and saw that Tazza had a review. We watched it and decided to give it a go. We headed over on a Saturday night, worried a bit that there would be a wait. The place was casually busy but we were seated right away. Our server came over after a few minutes and brought us bread. The menu had descriptions of the items which made our decisions a little easier. I went with the pork chops as a baseline for comparison while my wife had the chicken pistachio. We also ordered the fried calamari as an appetizer, something we rarely do.
Looking around the place at first glance, it was low lit with nice colors...until you start noticing all the masks and paintings. They were a little unsettling. Kind of like a dark Mardi Gras with freaky clowns. The lights in the place were different; large chandeliers in the middle surrounded by Asian lantern-style lights. If you looked close enough at them, they had Asian patterns in them! I thought it looked like someone raided HomeGoods and Pier 1 for the decor. I mentioned to my wife that it was like Phantom of the Kabuki in there!
We each took a piece of bread. For an Italian restaurant, the bread was soft but lacked any flavor. They didn't taste home made, just baked frozen dinner rolls that you could get at a warehouse store. My wife tried the oil at the table...it honestly tasted like plastic. Not good.
The calamari arrived and it was quite good. Very fresh, nicely fried and the red sauce went well with a squeeze of lemon.
We each got a salad; I had the house Italian and she had the French. The salads were just "ehh" and nothing that you couldn't get at any other generic family restaurant. They needed a creamy garlic dressing. They only had French, Thousand Island and house Italian. The house Italian was okay but nothing to write home about.
The food arrived a bit after. My pork chops were very good, quite thick and juicy. The broccoli under it was good, with little chunks of garlic in it. The baked potato was good and their sour cream is quite thick. Â My wife thought the chicken pistachio was unique but there wasn't enough balance of flavors. She said it was too sweet and not savory enough. We also felt the food wasn't hot enough.
We then asked of a dessert menu. Our waitress said they did not have one written down but she read them off to us. (But never mentioned the cost.) She said that they have home made cannoli. So even though we were stuffed, we thought we would try one. What we got were two TINY little cannoli, about the diameter of your thumb and about as long. The filling only was a squirt on each end, hollow in the middle, tasted like imitation vanilla and had green colored PEANUTS (yes, peanuts) on the ends. Cannoli is supposed to have pistachios on the ends. One waitress mentioned that they are usually much larger but they ran out of the big ones. Why can't we find a place that makes good cannoli?
We talked about it on the way home and thought there wasn't anything that really "popped". The pork chops were good but I have had better, good calamari, the salads were forgettable, the cannoli was $5 wasted, the bread was average, the oil was pretty bad, the chicken cooked nicely but was one note and neither was warm enough, the baked potato was good, but then again, it was just a potato.
Our bill came to just over $50, which we did think the prices were a bit high for what we were getting. Even though it was privately owned, it still felt like a chain restaurant like Chili's or Applebee's.
We'll just stick with going to Parmesan's down in Frankfort for our Italian fix. If you're curious, read my other reviews and tell me what you think!
Tazza is a good Italian restaurant...for the South Suburbs of Chicago. Â From the average food to the average decor, you can't help but feel like you're sitting in a restaurant in a suburban strip mall....oh wait, you are.
The fried calamari was very good, especially the sauce that came alongside for dipping. Â The side salad was, well, average, as was the Ziti with Vodka Sauce and the Shrimp Diavolo. Â If I was in the area and in the mood for the Italian I might stop back in, but I wouldn't go out of my way to return.
I was surprised b/c I had high expectations coming in b/c this was featured on Check Please (show on PBS). The food was bad. This fish (snapper) was rubbery (not flaky or fresh), the asparagus was literally green strings...very misleading. Salad was plain, and the potatoes were crunchy! The only thing that was good was a non-alcoholic drink that I bought that was like lemon sorbet but I was charged the cost of one that would have alcohol in it. The service was slow, but I must say that she was very nice. The decor was nice as well with the masks but that was about it...overpriced and not tasty. Will not go back again.
Review Source:went here with my wife and I expecting an Italian restaurant at least as good as La Dolce in Lemont, we were very disappointed. Everything too forever!!The baked clams had some tasteless bread crumb mixture with no spices. The sald dressing was watered down, the soup was flavorless( had to add cheese from the shaker on the table for flavor)....but I dont think in was authenic par reg cheese, it looked processed. I had the clams and linguine which was very "greasy" and nothing stuck to the noodles. My wife had the "cheese" Â lasagna which was ok. ( Never heard of this at an Italian rest,..maybe saving money on the meat?? This place seemed like it was madi gras with the goofy Louisana masks hanging everywhere which I dont understand at all?????
...I will try again and hopefully my next visit is better!..C'mon, also, overpriced. If I was the owners I would order the exact menu items at other ital rest and compare the prices and quality as I think their prices are extreme for what you get.
Management could use a lesson in public relations! Food was just so, so. Have had better especially in the area. Main reasonj we won't be going back, service was slow and most of staff not very courteous. Owner not pleasant to deal with and even though we had reservations it took forever to get served. Rack of lamb was cold and couldn't get the server back soon enough to have it reheated. Won't be going back and would not recommend to anyone.
Review Source:The women singing was absolutely wonderful. The the food was very good but the service was horrible! We were there 4 hours and not by our choice. Everything took forever, from waiting to get waited on, to asking a bus boy for our drinks, to ice water without ice.  One person in our party didn't even get  food when the rest of us did because the chef  misinterpreted the waitresses handwriting and cooked nothing. They did give him a free dessert.
For all the hype,it's a shame  they ran last night VERY understaffed.
We had a reservation for a Saturday night and were seated immediately. Â It was crowded, but we waited for our drinks, our soup and salad and our server for 30 minutes. After we placed our dinner order we also ordered a bottle of wine. After another 30 minutes I went to the bar and picked it up myself and brought it back to the table. Â The owner walked past my table 4 times to dote on the table behind us who had a later reservation. Â She knew we were there forever and receiving bad service. Â She needed to help our server. Â Shame on the owner. Â You are never too important to give good service.
Review Source:Quick Tips for your Life...
Food -- Enough for leftovers! Tasted homemade - doesn't get any better than this!
Service -- Our waitress was kind, polite, and did her job well.
Atmosphere -- Plenty of families and a senior citizen hotspot.
Wallet -- A bit pricey
Water -- No chlorine/city sewage flavors
Greeting -- Upon entering Tazza, the hostess/greeter was unfriendly, didn't make eye contact and definitely didn't smile. Â What a horrible first impression.
Details for your life....
Whoever decorated Tazza must really like Mardi Gras clowns.  It seems out of place to have clown paraphernalia everywhere, when the overall décor seems more like an evening outdoor patio... maybe the idea came from Venice, Italy.  There are tons of masks and clown souvenirs, but it's still a bad decorating idea.
Also, there was an alligator outside.
The food was superb! Everything was absolutely delicious! I have no complaints about food or service from the waitress. However, it is not worth the trip if you are relying on public transportation and taxis. Â From downtown Chicago to Homer Glen took approximately 1.5hours, and taxis companies in Homer Glen proved to be incredibly unreliable causing us to miss our Metra train and wait yet another 1.5hours until the final Metra came by
Have to go against the stream here .. but I cannot join the five star chorus. Maybe my expectations are wrong, we were looking for an authentic Italian experience. What we found was American Italian cuisine, overly pretentious environment that just didn't deliver on food. I have home cooked pasta that had the same ingredients, looked the same and tasted the same. But Tazza charges big bucks for that. A shame though, we were looking for a classy local place. This isn't it.
Review Source:Last night, I met some friends at Tazza. Â It had been a while so I picked this place and discovered a couple of changes.
First of all, they have a NEW LOCATION. Â Tazza must have been doing great business because the restaurant is bigger than the original space. Â The new address is: Â 14065 S. Bell Road. Â It's north of the old location.
Secondly, the name is now TAZZA ITALIAN RISTORANTE. Â Not far off from the original name (Trattoria Tazza), but confusing for my friends who I told to look for "Trattoria Tazza."
Despite the confusion, we still had a FANTASTIC (and I'm sure fattening) experience. Â The ambiance was warm, although I do miss the intimacy of the old place. Â The spaciousness of this new location is better suited towards large groups instead of a quiet date night with your significant other.
The food was as wonderful as I remember. Â We started with bread and olive oil. Â The oil was flavored with fresh garlic. Â Yum! Â Make sure you have some Altoids or gum for later.
Next was the fried calamari appetizer - fresh (not rubbery) and perfectly prepared with red sauce on the side. Â Then a salad with the Italian house dressing was just right.
My main entree was a regular menu item --- lobster ravioli with Alfredo sauce. Â DELICIOUS!!! Â The pasta was perfectly cooked with tasty bits of lobster filling and the right amount sauce.
To complete my meal, I enjoyed some coffee and tiramisu, which shockingly I could not finish. Â Believe me, I tried but my jeans just wouldn't expand! Â (NOTE: Â Wear pants with elastic or drawstrings if you don't think you will be able to control your portions!)
Overall, Tazza remains a favorite spot for dining out in the Southwest 'burbs. Â I'll definitely be back!
We went there for dinner a couple months back when they moved to their new location. It was a busy night. We walked in and stood there. And stood there and stood there. The hostess looked at us, the bar tender looked at us. Nothing. Finally the hostess said she would be right back to seat us. And we stood there and stood there. Finally left after standing for 5 minutes and NEVER had anyone come back to us. I called the next day, talked to the hostess and told her I wanted to talk to the owner. She said she would give her my message and she would definitely call us back. And we are waiting and we are waiting and still waiting. Will never go back if that is how they treat their customers without even giving a courtesy call back to us.
Review Source:a delicious surprise in a quiet far away suburb! my parents have lived here for years and never found this place, but I'm so glad I discovered it on yelp!
a lovely, romantically lit italian one of a kind restaurant... perfect for a date if you live in lockport, orland park, or homer glen. a bit pricey for me, but delicious nonetheless. they do have a whole section of veal (bleh!) but a couple of vegan-izable dishes too, including their egglant "parmisan" minus the parmisan.... yum. and  huge! and with salad and pasta/potatoes.
So. Much. Food. I just got back from hong kong where portions are half the size they are here. It was quite a nice reintro to American food. yay!
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