Coco Pazzo

The food was wonderful and the environment was very familial however the best thing about this restaurant was the employees especially the hostess called Zana, she welcomed us with open arms and the brightest smile which to be honest was the most welcoming we’ve ever been at a restaurant. As clients that have been going to coco de pazzo café for a long time now we have never been disappointed, this time was extra wonderful. Thank you again for such a wonderful experience and we’re looking forward to going there again.

Pros:
— The food is amazing.
— They give a little treat on the house which I appreciate a lot. Sometimes I do not want a whole desert with my coffee but I want a little sweet bite of something to change the taste in y mouth so it is very nice that they do that.
— The venue has very high ceilings and is very open. You don’t feel claustrophobic at all which also helps with bringing the white noise down.
Cons:
— It is a little pricey
— The location is not that great, it is too far off downtown to go have fun there after and it is too close to find any decent parking
— I don’t like that there is one waiter with a big basket of bread going around and giving a single slice of bread. I feel ashamed to ask for another one. I would much rather if they brought every table a generous basket of bread to munch on.
— Last time I was there the service felt a little slow.
These are all minor details however and overall the food is delicious and I really enjoyed the little treats! I recommend it if you are fan of Italian Cuisine.

One of Chicago’s best! very nice atmosphere and staff. Enjoyed dining here, would definitely recommend!

This place has been around for a long time. When it opened it was one of the first places in Chicago to serve «real» Italian food. I’m so glad to have gone back — it’s still very good! We shared a number of dishes and most were very good. Highlights were the mussels — some of the best mussels I’ve had in a long time! The Pici all Melanzane, long square pasta with eggplant-​almond pesto, black olives and ricotta salt was outstanding, as was the special pasta of the day, Pappardelle with smoke duck ragu. Our entrees included the whole roasted branzino, filleted table side, which was perfectly cooked. We also shared the 40 oz porterhouse, also sliced table side, with arugula; this was probably a bit overdone but was pretty good nonetheless.
Desserts were delicious and included a particularly good vanilla bean panna cotta with huckleberries.
The wine list is exclusively Italian and pricey.

I was excited to try this place, and it was just okay. Came here with a work committee for dinner, so it was a pre-​set menu with choices for the main course and dessert. The servers were soft-​spoken and had accents, so it was hard to hear them at times.
The food was pretty good. We had the traditional anitpasti, which was about what you’d expect, some calamari/​shrimp, etc. which was pretty good, and fresh bufala mozzarella which was amazing. The pasta course was my favorite, with a mushroom risotto and rigatoni alla buttera (seriously, if you go here get this, it was my favorite). For the main course I had the cod, which was just okay (I didn’t finish it, partially because it just tasted ‘meh’ and partially because I was full from eating all that delicious rigatoni). Dessert was the panna cotta, which I’m usually a fan of and again, it was just okay. The presentation was nice, and the texture of the panna cotta was good, but the flavor was just okay.
Service was a little slow towards the end of the meal/​with the check. I know with larger groups there’s a balance, but when you’re done eating they could at least ask if you’re ready to go or want to sit, but it wasn’t horrible. Overall some good, some bad. I might go back sometime to try the ‘full’ menu instead of pre-​selected to see how it is.

Yum! Came for dinner the other day with a group of friends. We had a reservation so we were seated quickly. Ambience of the place was warm and romantic. Service was fantastic although the waiters went through the specials very quickly haha.
My friends and I split:
— Mozzarella di Bufala: so yummy, especially with the fresh tomatoes and arugula. Only thing I would have changed was to have it less salty; it wasn’t overly salted, I just like things less salty.
— Crudo di Salmone: my favorite! Loved the combination of the sweetness and tanginess of the orange with the smokiness of the salmon and the fresh crunch of the fennel.
— Guazzetto di Cozze: what’s not to love about steamed mussels? The tomato sauce is amazing, super savory, and great to dip your bread in!
For my entrée, I got a swordfish special. Perfectly sized portion that came with grilled onions and lentils, and probably other things that I’m forgetting. I’m a sucker for lentils, and absolutely loved this dish!
I also got to try my friend’s malfatti fiorentina. Super rich and delicious! I would recommend getting the appetizer portion (3 dumplings) because I think this would get pretty heavy after a while.
I’m usually pretty skeptical of Italian restaurants, but really enjoyed this one!

Third restaurant we tried during Chef’s Week. Loved the atmosphere. Great choices on the special menu. Our server, Victor, was wonderful! He was very knowledgeable about the wine list and went above and beyond to make our meal memorable. Everything was delicious! Bus boy was attentive. 4 stars because some of the dishes, tho good, were very salty. Highly recommend. Try to sit at one of Victor’s tables

Coco Pazzo is consistently good. Last time I was here I had a fantastic vegetable soup that also included sausage and a little prosciutto. For my entrée, the rigatoni was fabulous. I also had chocolate cake for dessert (YUM!) and sampled some panna cotta as well, which was great. Service was attentive for the most part but seemed to taper off toward the end of the night. Always a good choice for fine Italian fare.

Coco Pazzo really is as good as it gets. I’ve been here a half dozen times and have never been disappointed. Their staff is incredibly professional and always make great recommendations. The atmosphere is truly unique and the food is always incredible. You do pay for this experience but I promise it is worth it.

Love Coco Pazzo! I’m giving them 5 stars based on the bartender making one hell of a dirty martini. It was one of the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a few in my day. But the food was amazing too! There was a rigatoni dish with sausage that was phenomenal! We were super impressed by the food. Service was super friendly as well. Overall a fantastic night with great food and service.

I first came to Coco Pazzo on a whim a year ago for Valentine’s Day as I typically don’t eat at Italian places since my family typically cooks great Italian food – grandma is from Italy. Turns out, the place is a classic.
I ended up getting married there a few weeks ago and everything was phenomenal. The service is impeccable and the staff from top down is excellent-​specifically Roberto the GM, Ann Marie the head of sales, and Sergio who id call the guest experience executive.
Not only is the food prepared by chef Federico-​from Italy good, the atmosphere is timeless. The wine selection is robust and prices are really good.
I’d recommend this place to anyone for dinner, party or even a wedding.
Details matter and Coco Pazzo knows details.

Went here for restaurant week. Great food. Service took over 2 hours. It’s Restaurant Week, guys. If you can’t handle the volume, don’t participate. Not even an apology or acknowledgement from the waiter. $ 200 better spent elsewhere. Shame. Liked this place.

The food was really good. The service was terrible and it took forever when taking our order, bringing us bread, asking us for drinks, etc. This is an Italian restaurant and we had to share a small bowl of olive oil for 9 people. We had to continuously ask the «bread guy» for everything. I felt bad doing this all night. We went on a Sunday and they weren’t busy, so there was no excuse.

The service was terrible. The floor was so slippery my friend fell. The food was ok, but not worth the money.

I have been known to be picky about Italian restaurant. I admit this. I finally, FINALLY found an Italian restaurant that I think is worth the price, has great food, and amazing service. too many «Italian» restaurants are not authentic and charge ridiculous prices for crap pasta. Not this place. Not at all.
It is cheap? No. Can you get away with wearing jeans? Yes, but you can dress up too. They have a free coat check. Their service is impeccable in every aspect. Everything from the hostess to the waiter to the busser. Plates are always cleared, drinks are always refilled, they really make you feel like they are serving you. It’s really great.
As far as food goes, we (as in a group of ladies) ordered two different appetizers, tried many drinks, and many different entrees. We all were very pleased. The portions are perfect, the pasta is clearly made fresh, nothing is over seasoned or not made to perfection. It’s the real deal. The desserts were equally as good. I recommend the tiramisu. Also, before the meal they come around with a bread basket (literally, a huge basket filled with all different kinds of bread) and ask each person what kind of bread they want. I will always and forever choose focaccia, and this one did not disappoint!
Love it. I can’t think of a better Italian restaurant. Congrats, you have won my heart.

Last night my food was amazing! I had the squid ink pasta, I have never tried it… ever… so this was my first time and I thought it was a religious experience I really recommend it, the shrimp were cooked perfectly the pasta was fresh with an amazing sauce I ate everything on my plate!!!

The atmosphere and the service is up to par. However, I didn’t enjoyed the food as much as I hoped to with the exception of the calamari and shrimp platter and vanilla custard. For the calamari and shrimp platter, the food was amazing. It’s very crunchy and well seasoned. I didn’t like the dipping sauce that came with it. As for my entrée, I got the squid ink pasta with seafood. It seems like it was drown in salt because my food was ridiculously salty. It was a portion that can be easily finished, however I couldn’t even finished it because of the taste. I squeezed a lot of lemons, but it didn’t help much. It was disappointing because it could of been an amazing dish minus all that salt.
I tried my friend’s other pastas and found them to be mediocre. Some had a lot of salt in theirs as well. There’s wasn’t any special zing in any of our plates of food. However, the vanilla custard was really good. It was very refreshing and light.

We had high hopes based on Unilocal reviews, but we were disappointed. The food is pretty average. I would say pretty over priced for what it has to offer. Overall, I would say it’s an average experience including food and service.

Had dinner here last Thursday night. Over the years, Coco Pazzo has consistently been on the top list of authentic Italian restaurants not only in Chicago, but across the country.
The food is outstanding, the service impeccable, and although it is a big space with high ceilings, it is not noisy and had great ambiance. Good place for a business dinner, or a date with your Boo

The food was great! We got the quail, clam linguine and artichoke salad. The service was a little off… not what’s expect at this price point. Good spot to go with parents, low noise and older crowd

A fantastic place to grab lunch or dinner. They have the most wonderful antipasto bar and a lengthy wine selection. The wait staff is friendly and the service was above and beyond. Must try the mussels and the risotto of the day. I’ll definitely return!

Sat for an HOUR last night after ordering dinner terrible service just adequate food never returning!

Just your average Italian restaurant. The fried calamari was expected but the clam linguine was over seasoned with wine and salt.
My mom and I also asked if the portions were late enough to split (which they are) and the waiter generously said yes. However we later found out that splitting the dish also meant charging us extra, which the waiter did not inform us about.

A great spot for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. The focaccia (served so you only have one piece) was underwhelming but the rigatoni was delicious. You have to do a lot to get me to eat peas, but that sausage and cream sauce did it for me. The gnocchiette also was apparently quite good, although the eggplant Parmesan was smaller than expected (although a nice light alternative to the food coma inducing pasta).
Come visit, do only pasta (and maybe dessert), especially the rigatoni.

I still maintain my 3.5 star review for this place. Pro — they could seat 14 of us at a round table — easy for conversation. Con — The ambiance is really loud and tough to hear each other. Pro — they have gluten free pasta. Con — The service is quite bad for a fine dining restaurant.

Definitely the finest Italian food in town. We came in when they had the seasonal truffle and we had it with the risotto (btw, a great way to spoil your girl and yourself a bit).
Great wine selection, good food, good service. Good memories.

Killer branzino al forno (grilled sea bass) it was perfectly cooked and deboned table side. The accompanying greens and roasted potatoes were excellent too. Dessert did not disappoint either, we shared the flowerless chocolate cake and the panna cotta, both were lip-​smackingly good. Service however was not well coordinated. There was a long delay to order our meal, water glasses sometimes were left empty, desserts came, but with no share plates or utensils, etc. Also I wasn’t crazy about my dried tomato and mozzarella appetizer. Still the branzino carried the evening for me and I’m still thinking about it, so maybe a 3.5 star experience and round up?

Coco Pazzo was recommended to me by somebody I would consider a bit of a foodie so I went in with high expectations. I was definitely not let down. I went with a friend and we didn’t know there was a dress code so he was very underdressed and I was a bit underdressed. Nonetheless, we were treated very amicably by the host and were seated immediately.
I ordered the antipasti and the squid ink pasta fruti di mare. Both were absolutely fantastic. The antipasti was very traditional and had a great variety of different meats, veges, and cheeses. The squid ink pasta was also very flavorful and the seafood in it was cooked to perfection. My buddy had the gnocchi with red sauce and he also said his was great. All the food was very fresh and cooked, seasoned to perfection.
This is a pretty classy place so I’d suggest dressing accordingly. Most of the people looked like they had come from the office in blazers and ties/​dresses, etc.
I was so close to giving this a 5 but I have to stick with a 4. The service was very polite and prompt but not as personable and enthusiastic as I’d like. I would say it’s closer to a 4.5 if I could but overall I’d say it’s definitely worth a visit, especially if you’re craving some good Italian!

Great atmosphere. Antipasto selection looked incredible, though I didn’t order it.
Staff was tentative and food was decadent, meticulously plated, and combined flavors and textures that perfectly complemented eachother.
Definitely on my list of places to go again. We closed down the joint– and at no point felt rushed to leave.
Remarkable dining experience.

Classic Tagliolini Neri. Excellent! Bar staff takes care of you. Door greeters could be a bit friendlier, I’m not going to rob you. That said, the kitchen opening into the bar looks like a sad game show set from the mid 80’s.
But this is about the food and I don’t remember having a bad dish here.