Gussie's Handmade Italian Reviews

Fantastic Italian restaurant. Outstanding service and seafood. I had a great time sitting at the bar. Ivan was very friendly and helpful. I had the meatballs and branzino. The garlic bread, complimentary, is fantastic too. I would return here when I visit the Second City Comedy show.

I love old-time Italian restaurants, where diners feasted on grandmother's recipes that originated in Naples. That's how I feel when I visit Gussie's Handmade Italian. Located at 227 West North Avenue in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, across the street from Second City, it is a made-from-scratch, authentic Italian ristorante that had its roots in Iron Mountain, Michigan. It features grandma's traditional Italian pastas, seafood and a raw bar. Open from 5 to 9 on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 4 to 10 on Friday and Saturday, Gussie's is as Italian as the Colosseum in Rome. Start with a plate of complimentary bread, then a first course of three meatballs with basil marinara and a second course of a roasted tomato soup with walnut pesto and house-made parmesan croutons. The main course? Over the past year, my wife and I have enjoyed four. Whole roasted Branzino with fennel, lemon and blistered cherry tomatoes. Atlantic salmon with lemon butter, capers, dill and braised lentils. Veal Marsala with cremini and oyster mushrooms, dry marsala reduction and vegetable. Spaghetti with blistered heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, parmigiano reggiano and Italian sausage. Dessert? Choose tiramisu, cannoli, vanilla gelato or Limoncello pie.

Stumbled across Gussies almost by accident. Not from the neighborhood but was visiting the Van Gogh experience nearby and my wife picked it. Super happy with the experience and love leaving a restaurant with the feeling that all three key aspects have been met or exceeded. This place exceeded all three! 1) The food was delicious. Lets just get this out of the way because great food is obvious and you will not be disappointed. They are all grandma's (gussie) recipes and they are classic as well as unique. You want more detail, go look at the menu. The bread will blow you away even before you get to the menu but I'll let you be as surprised as we were on the deets. 2) The wine list is an amazing selection and a HUGE value. If you are a real wine lover and hate over paying ridiculous prices at a restaurant, you are going to be stunned. The list is not huge but the quality of the wines are top notch. I focused on the reds and they are definitely Piedmont heavy. If you've got a problem with that, move along. Prices for the selection looks perfectly reasonable, but when you dig deeper and see the vintages carried, it goes off the chart. My first thought is "who ever picked these wines, is a wine lover and gets it!". Seriously, I'd go back here just to drink the wines! 3) The service team is TIGHT! Its one thing to have great food and wine at a good price, but when the service is spot on, it takes it over the top. No waiting when needing something. No dirty plates in the way. Water full. Immediate response from everyone on the staff. Highly recommend and looking forward to returning.

This was a very nice stop before second city. My wife, who is a gluten free had the Branzino and she thought it was amazing, I sampled and have to agree. I had the fresh pasta with boar sauce. I thought it was very good, and probably would’ve said excellent if they had given me more boar sauce. It definitely seems a bit late on the sauce, especially for the price. The bread they provided really was amazing, and I’ve never had anything quite like it. Unfortunately, there was no gluten Free bread from my wife. We would definitely return.

My 19-year old son and I visited Chicago to see a Bulls game plus the city. We were seeing the Second City show one eve and needed a dinner spot. Gussie’s was excellent. A little gem. The bread they bring you was obscenely delish. I had the burrata salad and meatball starter. Service was great. Wish we could go again.

Perfect spot for an excellent meal before a show at Second City -- this was a top notch choice for us. We sat at the bar stools and had possibly one of the best meals during our trip to Chicago. Linguine w/ clams, wild boar pasta, roasted carrots, and a carafe of red wine. Capped off the meal with the homemade Gussie's limoncello! Can we talk about the bread though? Butter, garlic, parsley... and filled with marscapone cheese. Drool. Wish I had room for dessert but alas - 5 star meal. Thank you!

We visited Gussies the night before the Chicago Marathon. One of our family members was running and wanted pasta!! It was the perfect place to go and enjoy a meal together. Lovely but unpretentious. The staff was fantastic. The vibe was fun!! But the real star was the food. We all had pasta. The carbonara was so delicious. The garlic bread was over the top! We all tried to figure out how to duplicate it at home! The wine list was great too. They even offered gluten free pasta--one of our party is gluten free. Fantastic place!! Highly recommend!

Chicago's historic Old Town neighborhood has changed quite a bit since my wife and I moved in 41 years ago. Notable losses were O'Brien's, Bistro Margot and Old Town Pour House. Anchors such as Orso's and Topo Gigio remain. Add relative newcomer Gussie's Handmade Italian, which opened in 2020 at 227 West North Avenue, across the street from Second City. I've been here before and it is as good as ever. Aside from a menu filled with traditional Italian masterpieces, Gussie's also features one of the best websites of any Chicago restaurant. Open from 5 to 9 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 4:30 to 10 on Friday and Saturday, it doesn't miss a beat when it comes to service and food and atmosphere and value. I started with complementary bread, three meatballs with marinara sauce and an Italian chopped salad with Romaine lettuce, Genoa salami, provolone cheese, red onion, grape tomato, roasted chickpea, mozzarella and lemon vinaigrette. For my entree, I chose tagliatelle with meatballs, marinara sauce and parmigiano reggiano. Home-made tagliatelle, made with eggs, is a rich pasta of long, flat noodles, different from spaghetti and fettuccine. For dessert, it's always difficult to pass up tiramisu with espresso, Borghetti espresso liqueur and mascarpone cream. Gussie, welcome to the neighborhood.

Great friendly handmade Italian in Old Town. Had a great dining experience with outstanding fresh pasta. The carbonara and house-made Italian sausage were both great. My wife had the Whole roasted Bronzino which she loved. They have a small but very nice and affordable wine list. The owner David is there and greats you as you enter and you can tell he is passionate about his place and his staff follows suit. Thank you for the great experience and beautiful new addition to Old Town. We will definitely be back

We chose this restaurant primarily for convenience-we we’re going to a show at Second City and Gussies is directly across the street. From the moment we were seated in a comfy booth in the clean and attractive dining room, we were blown away! The meal started with an amazingly delicious loaf of hot-from-the-oven bread. We couldn’t get enough of the heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. Then the pasta entrees were perfection! Although we were beyond full, the temptation to try a dessert in a place that was so great was impossible to resist. We shared a slice of limoncello pie that,like everything else, was wonderful. We don’t come to Chicago very often but, whenever we do, this place will be on our list to revisit.

Proper welcome and quick set up at our table booked on a Saturday evening (almost mandatory) Good menu, dishes served quickly. +1 for garlic bread... excellent! Although a little noisy in the room, we enjoyed our meal of very good quality. We'll be back!

I see by the other reviews that I am not the only one amazed by the food at Gussie's. Everything was excellent including the service. Everyone enjoyed their food. Wild Boar for me with a side of Broccolini. Go, you'll enjoy your meal.

Gussie's was an amazing dining experience. We chose Gussie's due to the convenience to Second City. I cannot say enough nice things about our meal and experience at Gussie's. Reservations recommended. The bread was so delicious...nothing else needed, but we ate alot more. I had the linguini with seafood..frutti di mare. Alot of food excellent flavors. Limoncello pie for desert. Attentive waiter and friendly staff. Highly recommend Debbie

We planned dinner before a show at Second City. Gussies is right across the street. It was a very lucky find. The food was amazing. The owner stopped by our table and chatted. We highly recommend it!