Trattoria Trullo

Love love this place !!! The appetizer with mozzarella and seafood pasta were awesome :-)

Somehow had never been here before even though I think we’ve patronized every other business in Lincoln Square by now. Reviews from folks who HAD been there were a mix of «just OK» to «real good» (basically like every restaurant ever) so, with plans to meet friends at Huettenbar later on a Saturday night, I figured this would be a great chance to check it out ourselves as it’s right up the block.
My wife arrived before I did and bumped into another friend who was also going to the bar later and had the same idea we did. Wife settled in for a glass of wine (all of which are $ 7, which makes life easy) and our friend had one of their house pizzas with some kind of fancy olives and pepperoni and it looked and smelled and, according to our friend, tasted delicious. Very much so more of a lighter southern Italy-​style pie than a heavy Chicago gutbuster. I, however, wanted to save my appetite for a full regular dinner so I declined.
The room itself is nice if not overly fancy, pretty basic. One row of a few tables alongside the kitchen area but separated by a low wall, so you can see them but not be overly disturbed (though occasionally the back of house staff’s music veered into very audible metal, which isn’t really what you want to hear on a date night). Classic old huge dark wood bar. Weird little tiny private alcove behind like a bead curtain for one table but that little room still has windows facing Lincoln Ave. so not entirely sure what the point of that is. Overall, standard Chicago storefront restaurant.
Once seated, which occurred as soon as we said we were ready (nice, on a Saturday night in the Square) we ordered a bottle of very good wine. They were out of any Pinot Noirs, which was a bit odd for an Italian joint, but the suggested replacement was delicious and reasonable at $ 22.
I ordered the Egg Drop soup. While waiting for that, we had some of the house bread (two kinds, both served warm, both crusty and excellent) with olive oil and freshly shredded cheese. Lovely little starter.
The soup, we both agreed was good, but nothing too exciting. Broth mix was a bit bland, but the tortellinis were great and some extra pepper helped it along.
My wife ordered that day’s pasta special, which was a salmon and pappardelle dish with a spicier tomato sauce. I had the classic chicken parm, which is my usual test dish for a new Italian place on the theory of «if you can’t pull something that traditional and pretty simple off properly, I doubt you’ll get anything else right».
Wife loved hers; plentiful salmon, flavorful sauce and excellent (homemade? Not sure, but sure seemed like it) pasta. I loved mine, two nice but not huge chicken breasts, lightly breaded, with a good but not-​smothering amount of melted cheese and tasty sauce on top. The sides were great, too, as the menu (I believe mistakenly) says it is served with seasonal veg and potatoes, but actually came with veg and pasta.
I got a nice side pile of excellent spaghetti pasta with I’m sure what was the house marinara. I appreciated that it was not the overwhelmingly huge three pound pasta serving that a lot of places seem obliged to provide; I wanted just a bit of pasta with my meal and this was perfect for it.
The garlic-​sauteed spinach was a nice healthy pile as well, and went great with both my dish and my wife’s pasta. It was plenty of food to establish a good drinking base for later, but not so much that I felt disgusted by finishing it all or guilty for leaving a lot behind (don’t like lugging leftovers around if I’m going to be out all night after dinner). It was well-​priced and generous but not overwhelming in portions.
Two last notes: 1) our server, who’s name I unfortunately forget, was awesome. Very warm and engaging without being pushy or overly familiar, great wine recommendation, and spotted us two free espressos after dinner (we had already settled up when we both realized a boost of caffeine would be nice; I offered to just pay cash since we had already paid the main bill via CC but he just told us not to worry about it; I know espresso’s cheap but still, it was a nice and appreciated gesture).
2) the dishes all avoided what has plagued our last few visits to Italian joints, even ones way up the price scale from Trullo: nothing was overly-​salted. Don’t get me wrong; I like salt, it’s critical to good cooking and good pasta, but some places we’ve been to lately tasted like they rolled everything with a salt lick before serving it. Trullo’s dishes were all appropriately salted, not under, not over, and the taste of everything benefited from it.
All in, my wife and I had a lovely dinner with a full bottle of wine (plus one extra glass) for $ 90, inclusive of a good tip for our great server.
We will happily be back, and hopefully they’ve resolved the issues that seem to have impacted some of our friends’s and other Unilocalers’ visits here.

This is the second straight disappointing visit to this now-​dead-​to-​me restaurant in my neighborhood. There are good reasons that this place is never crowded.
We ordered two appetizers tonight. One was quite good, grilled sausages with fava bean purée. The other, though, was dismal — an asparagus salad that had a few ultra thin and flavorless spears of asparagus, chewy sun dried tomatoes, and underdressed arugla with three pine nuts. I managed to talk to the owner — who was a master at avoiding eye contact with patrons — to compliment one dish and complain about the other. He admitted that he was unhappy about the asparagus he received from his supplier, but said he decided to serve it anyway. What self-​respecting restaurant does this?
To make matters worse, he failed to ask our server to take this substandard dish off our bill. He claimed he forgot. Bullshit. So I not only had to have an awkward conversation about the bad dish, but I had to fuss over the bill, too.
The bartender who served us at the bar was generally nice, but she spent most of the night bitching back and forth with the wait staff about drink orders. The best was that she was unable to open our bottle of sparkling wine, and had to find someone else to do it 10 minutes later, because she had a traumatic cork incident in the past.
Twice during our stay, the pizza oven reeked of burning pizza. Just not a good option.

Trattoria Trullo gave me everything I wanted. I wanted Open Table and airline rewards (bam and BAM). I wanted conversation while I enjoyed my quick diner at the bar. And for an unusual change, I craved carbs.
Trattoria Trullo is in a super cute area: pedestrian dominated, cobblestone street, jam packed with pleasing restaurants and shops. Parking was a challenge. I snagged a free spot half a mile away.
I was greeted immediately upon walking in. I couldn’t help but notice a couple characteristics. First, there is a massive, antique-​looking bar. It has a wall of mirrors and shelves made with dark wood. Nothing else in the restaurant can match that grandeur. The two flat screen televisions mounted on it seemed out of place. Second, there were hardly any other diners there. It seemed as if there might be another dining room on the other side of the bar. Third, there was a semi-​open kitchen that the employees explained was for pizzas.
The bar tender, hostess, and server all stood near me and I enjoyed conversing with them the whole time I was there. One of them recommended his favorite dish: Shrimp Scampi (Scampi alla San Gius) for $ 25.00 with a glass of Merlot. All of the glasses of wine were $ 7.00.
The Shrimp Scampi definitely hit the spot. The noodles were soft and buttery, the broccoli was fresh and a little crisp, and the shrimp were firm. There were three large shrimp served with their tails and many smaller shrimps without tails. I especially loved the sauce.

I stopped in for a late lunch a couple of weeks ago before grocery shopping at Gene’s. Who wants to grocery shop on an empty stomach? Not this girl. At any rate, it was right after Christmas and they were pretty busy with only two servers working. The servers handled the room beautifully. I sat at the bar by and was giving prompt and friendly service, despite how busy they were. I had a glass of red wine and the mushroom risotto. The risotto was delicious and totally hit the spot for a chilly winter lunch. The best part is that my bill was only $ 17 and some change, which I think is quite reasonable the the quality of food and wine I received. Yumo! I will be back!

I went here for Valentines Day this past year and loved my meal! The prices were great, the only negative I saw was that everyone was packed in pretty tight — you can definitely hear the conversations at each table around you.

If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would. It’s not 4 stars because the white wine selection by the glass is pretty boring. I wish they would offer the Frascati by the glass, instead of only by the bottle. The other thing is that the prices are a bit inflated. Most pastas, even vegetarian ones, are $ 15+. I had the ear pasta with rapini. It was very good, but it was only pasta, rapini, olive oil, garlic and chili flakes. Not sure if the pasta is homemade but it was tasty. The arugula salad was definitely a standout, and even a bit unusual, with sliced green apples and a balsamic reduction. Dessert was limited, and gelato flavors did not include any fruit, which was disappointing. Bread was great and the service was exceptionally nice.

Really enjoyed our meal, in particular the service was excellent. Our waiter was funny and clearly loved the food he was presenting. Great date night place with a homey vibe. Very reasonable wine and tasty Italian fare.

This is one of our fall back places. We always order the Cavatelli Crudaiola ask for extra ricotta Forte!

Came here on a whim craving italian and wine with my bf. Not the most impressive interior, the back room lighting was not very good. There were areas of darkness, then other spots where the light shines directly on you. But aany who, we were HANGRY so I was excited that we got quick service. For a Saturday night it was slow, no wait to sit.
I was craving pasta Alfredo, but it wasn’t on the menu, however the waiter (also the manager) told me he could custom make whatever I wanted… awesomeness! I wanted a creamy pasta dish do he suggested the cooked lobster in the creamy garlic sauce… and let me just say it was unexpectedly DELICIOUS! My taste buds were going insane… it was not too heavy, made just perfect.
There is a cork screw fee of $ 12 if you bring your own bottle of wine… bummer:/ However there is a full bar there.
I highly recommend if you like lobster… you MUST try the Pappardelle All’ Argosta
You wont regret it!

When I get the specials it is amazing. When I order off he menu it’s often less so, but still pretty good. Get the burrata appetizer it’s awesome.

After just moving to the neighborhood we’ve tried this place three times. First visit was pretty good my boyfriend liked his salad and meal and so did I. The second time we ordered the meal was carry out and they forgot my soup. The third time today we ordered carry out again. Today the food was just average the pasta was bland. We both ordered the tortellini soup which we both only got one noodle and a few tiny peices of chicken. Although they did let us special order our pasta it was over cooked and our shrimp which was ordered on the side was also burnt. For a 30 $ lunch I feel they could have done better

Dining at Trattoria Trullo feels like you’re at a welcoming, cozy restaurant in the heart of Italy. And the food was fantastic. I had the Conchiglie Ripieni, jumbo stuffed shells with spinach, mascarpone and ricotta topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella and meatballs. They were the perfect combination of flavorful meat, sauce and cheesy goodness. One of the best Italian meals I can recall having in a long time.
The bread was your typical crusty bread you’d get in Italy, served with olive oil. I had the Trullo salad, which was good but nothing to write home about. We finished off the meal with a flourless chocolate cake that was quite rich. It was topped with a few raspberries, but it would have been better with even more!

Five stars all around — excellent service, wonderful food, and a great atmosphere! This place should have 5 stars ALL around!
I actually felt like I was in Italy! Most people around me were speaking Italian, the air smelled like I was at the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the food reminded me of being in Alberobello.
I came here to watch an NBA finals game and the view was 100% better than most sports bars! You could even hear the announcers! I even heard the Lebron and Spoelstra banter!
Great place to eat and hang out!!!

I’ve always strolled by this place on my way to the brown line, Grind etc and I always thought the patio seating looked nice along with the patrons plates. I went here with my family for Mother’s Day and it was everything I expected it to be. Solid service, good pasta made in house (depending on the dish) and a roomy, well decorated interior.
This place would be good for a date or family outing. We ordered the calamari fritti as an appetizer which was lightly fried and tasty along with a bottle of Chianti for the table. I ordered the Conchiglie with meatballs and my mother ordered the Margherita pizza. My dad ordered the Chicken Marsala and my brother ordered the Chicken Parmesan. All were good and a reflection of the variety of items available on the menu. I’m definitely coming back to try other plates.

We’ve been here twice now, and I really am a big fan.
We stopped by in the summer with my husband and his parents. We are all vegetarian and I remember everything being pretty good. I do know the gnocchi I ordered was fabulous, so I was a bit bummed not to see it on the menu when we were here previously. (I assumed they had seasonal items, but looking online it looks like they have different lunch/​dinner menus, and we did go during lunch time the first time.)
So this time I ordered the Orecchiette con Cime Di Rapa, and my husband ordered a risotto. My cousin was with us, but I can’t remember what she ordered, it had meat so I wasn’t interested. Both the vegetarian dishes were wonderful. I would easily order both of them again.
I haven’t had a complaint about the service both times. We actually had the same waiter both times. He was knowledgeable able to make suggestions and modifications for us etc.
I can’t think of anything to complain about and the food was really good both times. I’ll certainly be back.

Trattoria Trullo is in a great location with ample room inside for some privacy while you dine — the restaurant’s brick-​and-​mortar pluses along with my love for Italian food is why I have given this place two visits. Unfortunately, both visits underwhelmed in the food category; nothing spectacular. I didn’t bother finishing my meal on the second occasion. The rest of my party seemed to find the food ordinary as well.
Service was friendly and helpful, and with such a great location on the Lincoln Square strip, it’s a real shame this Italian isn’t better tasting. I can’t recommend that you visit, sadly.

I’m not going to lie. I went here with some trepidation due to some of the reviews and the overall star rating. I’m glad I listened to my gut and chose Tratorria Trullo for date night.
I had their tomato broth based, meatball soup. The meatballs had a slight spiciness to them. The soup overall was very good and it hit the spot. I was craving pasta all day, so for my main course I ordered the spaghetti bolognese. It did not disappoint. The sauce had a great meaty flavor with a good ratio of meat chunks to sauce. For desert we had the cannoli which is made with their homemade ricotta cheese. This was another winner. In fact, I’d go back and order my exact same meal again, it was that tasty.
Our server was very polite and attentive. She checked in on us frequently but it wasn’t overbearing. In the end, Trattoria Trullo has found a little spot in my heart and I will definitely return.

I have been here three times and did not review. First time I am thinking I was not a member of Unilocal.The second time I was having my son’s rehearsal dinner here a year ago. So this time I remembered to check in then reminded to write a review. The price is very reasonable for Chicago and the food is also reasonable. On the night I went they had a special of pork and beef. The pork was stuffed with prunes and the beef was stuffed with red peppers. Very interesting combination. I liked the pork better than the beef and really the serving was so huge I could not even begin to finish the beef side. Great location great staff and great prices. Give it a try.

We checked out at the hotel and with our luggages decided to go to Lincoln Square because the flight was in the afternoon. We stopped around 1 p.m. at Trullo and went to the bar.
It wasn’t the first visit.
The owner Giovanni is Italian, an Inter Milan fan: so am I (both). We watched the game on TV together and he had us put our luggages in the back room, so we didn’t have to worry about them.
The food was good both times, it is pretty authentic and well cared for. I also enjoyed sitting at the bar sipping wine (good choices, good prices) and eat some italian antipasto, a mix of prosciutto, salame (or salami as it’s called in the USA), cheeses, olives etc.
I love this place, and it has a lot to do with Giovanni, the food and the wine. And yes, he is an Inter Milan fan… that’s a plus! :)