Chicago Italian Restaurants Named Among Nation's Best

CHICAGO — Two popular Chicago restaurants were named among the best Italian restaurants in the country, according to a new survey. The Daily Meal's "America's 50 Best Italian Restaurants" list included two spots in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood — Spiaggia and Nico Osteria.

Spiaggia, which ranked #4 on the list, received high praise from The Daily Meal editor Dan Myers.

"Decades before the likes of Mario Batali and Michael White reimagined fine Italian dining, Tony Mantuano taught Chicagoans how to enjoy refined Italian fare at Spiaggia," Myers wrote.

Myers also credited the restaurant's top chef Joe Flamm.

"[Flamm] serves mouthwatering fare like duck tortellini with cherry, pistachio, and Parmigiano-Reggiano; dry-aged bistecca alla fiorentina with truffle hollandaise, turnip, and onion jam; and their famed gnocchi with black truffle, ricotta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano."

Nico Osteria was ranked #34 on The Daily Meal list.

"Chef Paul Kahan made a brilliant move when he chose Erling Wu-Bower to head the kitchen at his Italian seafood-focused Nico Osteria, which opened in late 2013 in Chicago’s Gold Coast," Myers wrote.

In 2017, Wu-Bower left to open the award-winning Pacific Standard Time restaurant nearby, but Myers said chef Bill Montagne has done a great job of expanding and updating Nico's menu.

"Standouts from the locally-focused menu include Monterey Bay sardines with onion-currant agrodolce, pine nuts, and breadcrumbs; grilled fish collar with charred lemon; some of the finest meatballs you’ll find anywhere; stellar cacao e pepe and rigatoni bolognese; and whole salt-crusted branzino with prosecco salsa verde."

The #1 spot on The Daily Meal list unsurprisingly went to the New York, New York restaurant Del Posto.