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  • 0

    My brother-in-law and I kind of stumbled upon this place because we walked into Edzos and saw a massive line and then I saw this small, intimate Italian restaurant next door and we thought, "Why not?" Trattoria Demi is one of those Italian places that are small enough to be a great spot for a date, but also low-key enough to take kids and family.

    We both had the lunch pasta specials, which consisted of a bowl of pasta and a salad. However the real star here was the grilled octopus with cannellini beans. It was so good, that we ordered a second plate! The octopus was grilled to perfection and the citrusy, tangy sauce with the beans was a perfect compliment.

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  • 0

    I've been working in Evanston for 2 years and for some reason, haven't made it over to Trattoria Demi for lunch...until today. I am so happy I did and annoyed that I didn't come back sooner!

    The atmosphere is casual but comfortable. Upon entering we were immediately told we could sit anywhere. We chose a 2-top by the brick wall and waited for the server. Only a few other tables were occupied. The waitress approached us and told us the daily specials including homemade lentil soup.

    I chose the special which was ziti in a red pesto sauce, made with sun-dried and fresh tomatoes. It was really good but not as good as the lentil soup. The soup was FANTASTIC!! Not as thick as many lentil soups i've tried, but it had a wonderful taste that I couldn't get enough of. I can't wait to come back when they offer this soup again.

    A true winner, this place serves great food, the service is pleasant and the restaurant is definitely cozy. I've only eaten here for lunch but am determined to try it for dinner in the near future.

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  • 0

    Definitely a fan. Is it on par with Campagnola or some of the other 4 star Italian restaurants I've rated? No. But without 1/2 stars on Yelp, we have to try our best to differentiate. More eloquent and delicate than Dave's Italian Kitchen. The service reflects this upgrade in class.

    Sharing an entrance with Edzo's, it's a weird entrance and quite unassuming from the outside. There's no hostess stand or anything -- when you walk in, you are in the middle of the dining room. Nevertheless, the atmosphere and ambiance is quite nice but not overly formal. No tablecloth or linen napkins. Still suitable for a date.

    The menu covers the full spectrum of your classic Italian fare, from antipasti to pasta to meat entrees to seafood and pizzas. In my two times here, I've gotten pastas and they have been on point. Cooked al dente and with plenty of fresh ingredients, I have no complaints.
    This most recent time I had the Linguini with mussels, clams, prosciutto, and white wine sauce. Portion size was good and I enjoyed every bite. I would always clamor for more mussels and clams but I really could have used more. The plentiful fresh basil garnish on top was much appreciated.

    Table bread is very soft and worked very well with olive oil. However, I must note that the first time I came the bread was not nearly as pleasant. Perhaps it was the off hour between lunch and dinner, but the bread was hard.

    Dessert was fantastic. Hazelnut pear tart with coffee gelato. Presentation was superb with a mint sprig and a couple fresh berries on the side.

    The bang for your buck is quite reasonable once you realize that Olive Garden isn't any cheaper. Will definitely return to try some other items on the menu.

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  • 0

    Showed up 30 minutes before closing - Miguel (our server) was short, curt and seemed rushed. We asked our server  when the kitchen closed due to the vibes we felt and was told it closed in 30 minutes.  We abbreviated our menu to be considerate, but it left a bad taste in our mouths because Miguel made no effort to make us feel welcome.  Grilled octopus was tough - couldn't even cut it.  The pizza had no seasonings and we left it behind   Miguel did nothing to make our experience  better - he simply did not care and for the first time in my life I didn't leave a tip. It's beyond us to understand how an experience could fail in both service and kitchen but we would be open to try one more time - with a different server.

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  • 0

    Chalk this up as a solid italian restaurant in Evanston to keep in your rotation. Friendly staff and tasty food (certain items better than others - gnocchi was crazy good and clearly made fresh at the restaurant).

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  • 0

    There aren't a lot of authentic Italian places in Evanston, so Trattoria Demi is probably as close as you're going to come. They make a good Caesar salad, and the pizza is serviceable. There's nothing about the place that will really fool you into thinking your in a Trattoria in Italy, but it's a perfectly fine restaurant.

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  • 0

    Well-executed dishes with quality ingredients, especially L'Italiano sandwich, and the Limoncello crème brûlée. Great service and atmosphere.

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  • 0

    Skip this place. Nice outdoor seating area and reasonably friendly service, but that does not make up for the food. My wife and I started out with an octopus appetizer; much of the dish was tasty, but the octopus itself was very chewy and bland. For my entree I had the stuffed pasta with prosciutto and a cream sauce. It tasted like it had just been heated up from a frozen state, and the sauce was overwhelmingly thick. The wines were served too warm, which is a big pet-peeve of mine. I enjoyed the molten chocolate cake, but that won't bring me back.

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  • 0

    Went  here with a groupon the other night and had a nice casual dinner. I wasn't sure if this place was high end based on the menu but I would say it is definitely more casual. The boyfriend and I both enjoyed pasta dishes. They were petty good but a little commercial. I'm not sure how to explain quite what I mean by that ... Perhaps it was the large portion sizes, excessive sauce and that the dishes seemed a little uninspired. All the same they weren't bad just not terrific. I had the asiago gnocchi with chicken parmesan, our waitress said it was their most popular. Ringing in at 18 bucks it used up our 20 groupon and I would say while not a bad dish is definitely not worth the price. The boyfriend had tortellini della nona which was meat filled pastas in a cream sauce, this dish was priced around 13 and was also good but not amazing.

    Their calamari for appetizer was very tasty, prepared with sliced pepperoncini which I had never seen paired together and which the boyfriend really enjoyed. For me the really note worthy part of the meal were the desserts. Per our waitress, who I should mention was extremely nice and sweet and was working a busy restaurant with only one other gut to help, said all the desserts are home made and they were really really good. Boyfriend had a really good coffee gelato and I had an even better limoncello creme brule. Really amazing! Also enjoyed a very good glass of a New Zealand sauv blanc. I would definitely go back but would like try their pizza on either half priced pizza Tuesdays or on half priced bottles of wine Mondays. Over all the food was good but like I said would probably pass on the pasta in the future but the environment and the waitstaff were causal, friendly and inviting.

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  • 0

    Another never before tried local spot that will make its way into the regular rotation..I love when that happens! We had an office lunch here last month, and everything from the service to the food was impeccable. It's a fairly small place, but they were more than happy to accommodate our group of 12 people, and seemed to have no problem managing our party as well as the other diners. The restaurant is very charming, very cozy, but not so small that you feel like your suffocating.

    They have a nice variety of lunch specials, all under $8, which is perfect when dining with a group of our size (less negotiating when paying the bill). I had the Boccocini sandwich with mozzarella, fresh spinach, tomato, and pesto with Italian vinaigrette...so good! It was fresh, not oily, bursting with flavor, and I loved the sweet potato chips. Other people had the lentil soup that received very high marks, as did the pasta of the day. A few people came in to pick up pizza to go, and I'm anxious to try it. Definitely a great spot for lunch or dinner.

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  • 0

    This place seems to have generally good reviews on Yelp, so feel free to chalking it up to me just not "getting it".  Maybe they had an off night, who knows?

    When we came in at 630 on a Saturday and it was slow, we were very cautious.  After we ate, it was clear.  My wife and I both ordered the tortellini in cream sauce, and both didn't care for our food.  The prosciutto was the only highlight of an otherwise sad meal.  The portion sizes were small (10 sad little tortellinis), and we had to ask for bread, and our dinner didn't come with any sort of salad.  Our drinks were Diet Rite, which I didn't even know still existed!

    So again, maybe this is some sort of fancy fine italian restaurant that I just don't get, but it was expensive, small portioned, not very good tasting, and we won't be going back.

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  • 0

    Honestly, it's probably a 4.5, but I'm a softie for good service.

    I came here with a Groupon. However, I forgot to mention it until after we had ordered (lunch specials each.) The server, however, was very kind and worked to make the pricing work (you apparently can't use a Groupon for the lunch specials.)

    The food was good, service was fast, and the environment was very nice. No complaints here! =]

    Would I return again? If I was in the area, probably. If I was craving Italian? Definitely.

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  • 0

    I had lunch here on Saturday, and this was a great choice.

    It was surprisingly empty in here.  I'm not sure why.  

    Lunch specials are around $7.50, and they are good!

    I had the soup of the day (spinach and white beans), it was delicious.  I wish I had more of that!  Then I had the chicken parmigiana sandwich.  The bread was the best part of the sandwich.  I don't know if they make their own bread, but the bread was amazing.  It was perfectly crusty on the outside and soft in the center.  It held up the meat and cheese very well!

    I wasn't crazy about the sweet potato chips, but everyone else at the table enjoyed them.

    The sandwich looked like drastically more food than the pasta.  So if you have a big eater in your group, tell them to get the sandwich.

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  • 0

    Trattoria Demi is a solid lunch place. In fact, "solid" just about sums it up. If you're a die-hard Italian food fan, then this place will not please you; if you want to carboload and enjoy the carbs that you're stuffing yourself with, then this place is a good place to hang. It's solid.

    I've been coming to Trattoria Demi for years now, but the most recent time I went I took a LivingSocial coupon with me. Service was great, and the food was--you guessed it!--solid. Nothing we ordered was particularly mind-blowing, but the flavor was good, the pasta was cooked well, and so all 'n' all-- success!

    I probably won't be headed back without another LivingSocial deal or a change in prices, though. Trattoria Demi is priced just like every other Italian place in Chicagoland, but offers 4 star food where I could easily get 5 star elsewhere.

    Whatever, if you want Italian in a pinch or money is no object to you, this place works.

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  • 0

    BAKED GOAT CHEESE. OMG.
    Seriously, please get this because they serve it with pesto on their warm bread.

    I got a spinach, mushroom, and truffle oil pizza and thought it was alright. I mean it wasn't like out of my mind good or anything, but I liked it.

    I got the pear and hazelnut tart. Not good, but the coffee gelato with it was super yum.

    They are willing to work with you if you are vegetarian, and I hope to stop by again during lunch to try one of their yummy looking sandwiches. Our server was this older woman who was really nice and took her time explaining the specials. I felt welcomed and appreciated the customer service.

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  • 0

    I have been there twice for dinner and I have loved the food and everyone else is my group felt the same.  The flavors are great and the service is also superb.
    I highly recommend it for an intimate dinner experience

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  • 0

    I've only eaten lunch here and I find their lunch specials to be quite fresh, tasty and very reasonably priced. The pasta specials all use fresh veggies and quality olive oil,  the sandwiches come on very nice baguette bread, and soups are also well executed. The service has always been friendly and attentive.

    It's much better than getting fast food, served quickly and much more wholesome. If you get the lunch special it's only a dollar or two more than a chain.

    I'm interested in trying their pizza the next time I stop in.

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  • 0

    WOW - we hadn't been here for ages and stumbled upon it for lunch last week - I'm so glad our original destination was closed for the holiday. For years we ordered our pizza's from here (try the tomato and goat cheese -OMG!) - some how we got out of that habit and they fell off our radar.

    What a great rediscovery.  The food, as I remembered, is real Italian, long, slow roasted flavors with a pop of fresh herbs or garlic - abundant, warm crusty bread, friendly service - and homemade desserts (try the Tiramisu.)

    Perfect for lunch with a girlfriend or dinner with a date (or your husband.) ;)

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  • 0

    Stopped in here for lunch on a whim a few months back with a friend while the patio was still open.  It was SO lovely.  The $6 lunch special had incredible options and the atmosphere was cute.  The server knew about every entree and was honest when I asked his opinion.

    Two minor complaints - I felt like the appetizer portions were small (probably a good thing!) and the server didn't tell us there were no free refills on soda.  I feel so low class saying that, but its a courteous thing to tell your guest who had four diet pepsis!

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  • 0

    My husband and I had our first date here about 10.5 years ago, so I guess I'm pretty biased.  I have to say that the food has actually improved over the past few years!  We have always gone there for pasta...when we were students at Northwestern, we definitely went there for the less-expensive half portions, which they seem to have taken off the menu.  

    Last night we had a nostalgic trip through Evanston and stopped at Trattoria Demi for a late dinner.  We were the last customers of the night.  We shared the octopus with white beans and arugula, which was so tasty and quite a generous portion for two.  I really enjoyed the char and the tender octopus.  The beans were terrific too.  We also ordered the tagiatelle with mushrooms and peas.  The fresh pasta (not made in-house--we asked) was very good.  The sauce was light and even though it said it contained truffle flavor (probably oil), we couldn't taste it.  The dish needed salt too.  But hey, I always prefer under salting to over salting.  The third dish we split was the cheese ravioli with marinara.  It was simple and well done.  The ravioli are huge!  I am a fan of their marinara sauce too.

    Our server was fine but not overly friendly, so a nicer server would have enhanced our night.  But they're still making solidly good Italian-American food in a laid-back setting, so we'll continue going back.

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  • 0

    I've come here for lunch a number of times and have had a decent experience with the restaurant. The lunch specials are cost effective and decently sized, but nothing outrageously delicious.

    More recently, I came here with my roommate on a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> coupon. We ordered a plethora of appetizers, including the walnut salad, calamari, and bruschetta. The quality ranged from average to okay.

    Our pasta entrees were the tortellini and the gnocchi with chicken Parmesan. I really enjoyed my gnocchi and chicken, but found my roommate's dish a little underwhelming.

    I'd give this place 3.5 stars if I could, particularly for the service, speed, and entree, but I rounded down to 3 stars for the somewhat mediocre appetizers.

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  • 0

    Found ourselves at Trattoria Demi yesterday evening after it turned out that our first choice restaurant was closed for Memorial Day.  I was disappointed about that, so at first, I was inclined to be critical.  When we sat down, I noted that the decor was kind of shabby/shoddy and the sound system was pumping the most cliched, crappy Italian muzak imaginable.  The restrooms, clearly shared with other businesses in the building, were poorly maintained.  I grudgingly ordered a glass of wine and prepared to be unimpressed with my meal.

    However, as soon as the food started showing up, my mood improved considerably.  Bruschetta was classic, fresh and tasty, with a pleasing garlic-y kick.  My entree (the salmon pasta in white wine sauce) was maybe a little bland, but once I'd given it a once over with salt and cheese, it proved to be quite delicious.  Service was reasonably attuned to our needs in spite of what looked like a short holiday staff.  By the time I'd worked my way through my glass of wine and a big, tasty plate of carbs, I was very much inclined to be pleased with the chance that brought us to Trattoria Demi.

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  • 0

    This place is awesome!  I went there in January after a performance I did with a group I started and man, it was like the best thing I had put in my mouth since panchetta.  Each dish was subtle but flavorful, not like typical Italian restaurants that over flavor all their dishes (did somebody say Olive Garden?).

    I was moderately hungry by the time I got there, which usually means I much more critical about food, but oh wow, I had to savor each bite it was so good.  I got the bowtie pasta with salmon and finished off with Tiramisu with coffee, humina-humina-humina.  I saw that they had a Groupon and I nearly peed my pants.  I bought as many as I could and asked friends and relatives to purchase some as well.

    Our waitress was perfect with her timings.  On us enough that our waters were always full, but not so much that we felt clobbered.  What was so funny about it is that she was having dinner herself with some of her friends and still did a better job than most waitresses do when they're not distracted.  Do you think she was like a waitress prodigy?

    Awesome AWESOME place!

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  • 0

    We've eaten here a number of times, and it's always been consistently a joy.  The food is wonderful, the prices are reasonable, they have a lovely outside eating area, when the weather cooperates (this is Chicago, after all)...

    Full disclosure: I do know the owner personally... we're not close friends, but I do know him, and like him... so I guess I have reason to say "nice things" about his place... but it's not like we're related, certainly not "financially"...

    The Walnut Gorgonzolla salad is excellent with a nice dressing...
    The calamari and the bruschetta (how do YOU spell delicious?)...
    The pastas are "lightly" sauced (not overwhelming), and well seasoned... truly al dente.  Tagliatelle with peas was wonderful. The ziti very tasty,

    next I'll be back for the Cioppino.

    highly recommended.

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  • 0

    WOW.  Well I have to say this may be the first time in my whole life where the waitress made us feel like she was doing us a favor to wait on us.

    She was the only waitress in the restaurant, so I understand being stressed or whatever, but that doesn't really justify having such an attitude?  I mean I work in food service, and it can be pretty high stress, but I'm always at least polite and helpful.  

    It took a good ten minutes for anyone to even get us water, and another for her to amble over to our table and take our order, and the restaurant wasn't even very busy.  

    The food was good, but was soured by the lack of polite customer service.  I've had more polite service at cheap-o-diners.  :((((

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  • 0

    First of all, I love Evanston restaurants.  It is so cute and fun up there--definitely a great place to grab a bite to eat.  I went there on a Friday night with some friends and was immediately seated a table (away from the door) at around 7pm.  The food was good, the portions were quite big.  (I had enough to take home for leftovers the next day)  The bread was not as warm and fresh as I would like, but it was still good.  The wait staff was attentive and nice.  I had a pasta dish with ricotta and arugula...more vegetables would have been nice, but it definitely hit the spot.

    The décor is cute and welcoming.  I agree though--getting to the bathrooms is a little tricky (my friend ended up an Enzo's burger joint in the attempt to come back from the bathroom) and I am not sure because it was January or if it always freezing back there.

    I guess they close at 10pm.  We were still sitting there having the time of our lives and talking at 10:30pm.  No one forced us to leave, which was nice, but we did notice that no one new was coming in and that the chefs suspiciously looked like they were packing up to go home. A little strange that a place would close so early on a Friday night, but it is Evanston so maybe things just close a little earlier down there.

    Really close to the Davis stop which is nice so you don't have to worry about parking.   A great location to walk around afterwards if it is warm.

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  • 0

    My boyfriend and I were in Evanston running errands and we wanted to stop and get dinner.  Thought it would be a nice change from eating in the city.  We both had a taste for some itallian food.  After searching on our phones for a place we went here.  It was nice that there wasn't a wait on Saturday night at 8ish.  We got right in and got a table.  The place is cute.  

    We ordered a walnut gongonzola salad.  It had some arugula in there which I'm not the biggest fan but the dressing was pretty good.  We both got pasta dishes.  Mine was only ten dollars and it tasted like a ten dollar dish.  I added a little salt and pepper to it and tasted better.  My bf however did not like his dish.  He said it was bland and too expensive for what he got.  I think he got some clam dish around 16 dollars.  We passed on dessert.  

    The bathrooms are a little scary and kind of cold.  Overall it is middle of the road italian.  The prices are reasonable but I'm not sure I would make a return effort to come here.

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  • 0

    I like this place. A lot. They are very understated and right across from a pita place, literally sharing the same building. It's quite small, quaint, and highly underestimated (and great deals).

    I had the truffle sauce pasta thing (tagliatelle) which was amazing, the baket goat cheese  with fresh herbed marinara with rustic bread was fantastic.

    For anyone who has been in Evanston, this is one of those small gems of the town to check out. absolutely a go-to. 1 appetizer 2 entrees, 2 sides and 2 desserts = under 50$. Quite a deal.

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  • 0

    Had lunch here with a friend at one of the outdoor tables.  It was a nice enough day that we survived being in direct sunlight the entire time.  A giant sign advertising $5.99 lunch specials drew us, but the specials were meh -- 4 or 5 pasta choices with nothing "in" them (aside from the pasta + a sauce), 4 or 5 sandwich choices.  And nothing very remarkable...

    My boccocini sandwich was an acceptable amount for the price-- just tomato, mozzarella, and spinach and a touch of pesto between bread.  The ingredients were certainly fresh, but taken altogether, it was missing something in the flavor department.  I like light flavors but this was just unremarkable.  The tiny thing (definitely a half size, like 3" x 4") came with sweet potato chips (pretty good) and a tiny romaine salad (good vinaigrette, very fresh).  All-in-all, wasn't terrible but didn't impress.  

    My friend ended up ordering a $13 pasta dish off the dinner menu because, let's face it, the lunch special menu was kind of pathetic.  I only tasted a little, and he enjoyed it well enough, but it reminded me of why I never order pasta anywhere: Unless the dish is really stunning, I can usually just make it myself.

    The best part of the meal was the basket of bread that came beforehand (as well as the bread used in my sandwich)-- warm and soft in the center and perfectly crusty outside.

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  • 0

    I would rate Trattoria Demi 2.5 stars. It was good, but not great. There are so many Italian restaurants around that if it is not that good, it probably isn't worth going back.

    It is a cute little restaurant in Evanston and the people were friendly. I ordered a veggie pasta with garlic and parmesan and honestly, I could have probably done a better job myself. It was a tad too garlicky for me and the pasta was a tad undercooked. But overall, it wasn't too bad. We also had bruschetta for an app and it was just ok. But they did have good bread that they brought out to the table.

    If I am in Evanston again, and I was craving Italian, I would probably go somewhere else.

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  • 0

    I used to like this place, especially the eggplant parmigiana sandwich.

    But what RUINED it for me was the MOLDY bread.

    My friends and were about halfway through a loaf of bread when I discovered a piece of bread with mold on it. I pointed it out to the waiter and he said that the mold was "normal". He didn't apologize for it. He just brought us another basket of bread.

    In case you didn't know, if mold appears on a slice of bread, it means that the entire loaf has mold.

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  • 0

    Whenever I am convinced to go here, I am disappointed.  The pizza was nothing special.  The pasta dishes are large, but not very good.  I typically find the sauces to be watered down.

    I have only visited for lunches, so I can't speak to the dinner atmosphere, but it is nothing special at lunch.

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  • 0

    I am updating my previous review for this place because they totally revamped their lunch menu and everything just seems to be too expensive to me now (total gentrification of Evanston?)!  I liked it when it was a cute, cheap, unpretentious italian place.  Now-- it is not really any of those things.  

    Still really like their goat cheese dish, caprese salads and their bread. Mmm.

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  • 0

    So we went there without checking yelp. And I have to say now that I have checked the reviews I cannot agree with most of them.

    Service: ok, slightly weird, felt like the waitress/owner was eavesdropping the whole time

    Menu: Pretty diverse, price range ok, nothing to warn us of what was going to happen...

    Food: there is no word to describe the food. My pizza was obviously a frozen pizza, extremely salty, charred to the point that it made a loud cracking noise when i chewed on the burnt tomatoes, the "pancetta" was actually diced canadian bacon, and most of all the pizza was SERVED ON CARDBOARD, NO PLATE!! (for $13!) plain disgusting. Mind you it was good for my diet, i did not eat much.

    My husband's tortellini was edible but very small portion and really pretty bland. The "best" dish we got at the table was the marinara pasta with meatballs. (which came with ONE meatball) and as described by my husband it tasted like low quality canned tomato pasta (mr boyardee might be on staff here)...I don't remember eating such bad italian food ever. except maybe at my middle school cafeteria. But then I was not paying $14 for a dish...

    As you can tell by my review, I can be pretty tough critic, but this time the entire table agreed, it was simply put BAD food and noone wants to go back. I strongly regret not sending the pizza back to the kitchen.
    The bread was delicious though.

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  • 0

    I can't tell you how disappointed I was with my dinner at Trattoria Demi. Not really knowing anything about the place (gosh darn it, I should have yelped it beforehand) we walked in and were greeted by a semi-upscale, faux-finished atmosphere. There were many pasta dishes on the menu, a couple meat and seafood options. I chose the grilled salmon over a bed of beans, leeks, spinach, and roma tomatoes. The boy ordered the steak with red mashed potatoes and green beans. We ordered the house pinot noir to come out with our meals, and started off by sharing the mixed greens with balsamic.

    The only good thing about my meal was the salad. The greens, tomatoes, and onions were fresh, and the balsamic was slightly sweet. My salmon, however, was almost inedible. When I order salmon in this type of restaurant, I expect it to be moist and soft. This salmon was dry and almost hard. The bed of spinach, leeks, beans, etc. underneath was cooked in a nice flavored au ju, but the beans were totally undercooked. Yuck. His meal was a little better--the steak was a tiny bit tough, but had good flavor.

    I won't be coming back here again. Just not interested.

    (The only reason I gave them two stars instead of one (or none) is because the salad saved the day, as well as the discovery that I like pinot noir).

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  • 0

    This is a nice little gem for us downtown Evanston dwellers. It is a local, cozy, reasonably priced Italian restaurant with a nice al fresco set up along Sherman Avenue. I'm a little shocked by some of the negative reviews below. However, we have had times when they seemed understaffed, or they had new people working who were not quite attentive.
    The house salad is green & clean and I love that! Who needs all the bitter "field greens" salads you get everywhere else. The thin crust pizza is the absolute best. Beats Dave's. Beats all the local pizza houses. And the house wines are quite good and reasonably priced.
    Should you come up to Evanston from Chicago for this? No, but it is a great spot if you are already here.

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  • 0

    A favorite of my friends in Evanston, I am usually happy to go there with them.  It's consistent Ameri-Italian... nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either.  Good, old fashioned "red sauce" Italian food.

    I've never had any problems with the service.  Kitchen seems a bit slow at times.  Prices are reasonable and the vibe is pretty relaxed.

    An average place to go when you're in the mood for no frills Italian.

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  • 0

    Nothing special; nothing bad.
    Plus for nicely grilled veggies.
    Minus for not freshly grated parmesan.
    Plus for tons of lemon with the calamari.
    Minus for the bland sauce with the calamari.
    Conclusion; I'll leave the Italian dishes to myself as long as I'm dining in Evanston.

    Note: Only takes reservations for parties of 6+.

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  • 0

    Easy-going and comfortable, this place gets high marks in my book.  I've probably visited about ten times and I've been impressed by its consistency AND its very nice wine list.  Waiters are friendly and efficient (they don't stop and chat if this happens to be your gig).  Back-room cooks all wear head garb, which is a key quality indicator for me.  The wine glasses they use are the ones you'll find in the Tuscany hills - that's Italian.

    Only demerit is for lighting.  I think table candles would really help the atmospherics.

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  • 0

    My only complaint is that it's very small. Three of my friends and I came here during Northwestern's Family Weekend and apparently a lot of other people had the same idea. Nevertheless, they were very quick to help us and set up a table right at the entrance so we wouldn't have to wait, even though we were partially blocking the entrance.

    The food is outstanding--we all ordered something different and everyone enjoyed what they had. It's not too pricey, and I would recommend it as a first date kind of place. The staff and menu is fantastic.

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