Francesca’s Amici

My favorite Italian restaurant, never disappoints! Every dish is good, fresh ingredients and they are always willing to alter to please the patron. Best tiramisu around. Staff is pleasant and attentive. Highly, highly recommend.

Gave this place a second chance after having dinner with the husband and feeling the food was mediocre. Went for Easter brunch and was embarrassed that I made the reservation! I realize they aren’t a breakfast place but… It was bland, boring and basic.

Went here for a quick dinner before a concert with my fiancé and was a little disappointed in the food. We started with the bruschetta with fresh mozzarella and it was pretty good, a little messy but overall good. However, when we received our entrees, this is where I was disappointed. I ordered the cheese tortellini with cream sauce, ham and peas and it was overly salty. I could only eat a quarter of it. At first I thought it was just salty because of the ham but it tasted like the chef was just heavy handed on the salt. Had to stop eating it. My fiancé ordered off menu with a rigatoni vodka type dish and he was dissatisfied also. He is an avid vodka sauce eater and he thought the sauce tasted more like alfredo and marinara mixed.
We ended with the lava cake and mint Gelato and that was phenomenal! I love lava cake and this one didn’t disappoint. Definitely get this dessert.
As for the service — very good and very friendly. I believe her name was Kelly. She was very attentive and answered any questions we had. Overall our experience was good, we were just very disappointed in our entrees.

This is one of our go-​to spots. On a Friday nights, it’s great to sit at the bar for a glass of wine and a pizza. The bartenders are friendly and the food is consistently good.

Placed a lunch order for carry out. Hostess was very helpful n attentive when picked it up. But I was disappointed w the serving sizes. For $ 12 per entrée the servings seemed small– one included one chicken breast, 2 long potato wedges, n sauce for $ 12. A bit disappointing. Flavors were good though. Won’t be rushing back anytime soon.

Came here on a wednesday night for one of my friends birthday dinner. Let me say for a weekday is was pretty packed. Great ambiance. Food is always amazing. Nothing here ever dissapoints! Deffenetly will be comming back here and I highly recommend it.

The service was delightful, we were seated promptly the waitress was gracious and kind but the food was just not what I remember it to be. Nothing tasted fresh. While it wasn’t bad it wasn’t special and it certainly was not worth the price. My husband and I went for dinner — we shared a salad, we each had an entrée and we each had 2 glasses of wine — with tip we spent $ 100 for ravioli I definitely could have gotten at the grocery store. I am actually writing this review in hopes that Francesca’s tries to go back to the quality it used to have. When ravioli is $ 20 — it shouldn’t be frozen. I can eat frozen ravioli at home.

By far one of Chicago’s best! Great food, portions are excellent, service outstanding, no over kill trying to sell! The place a gem.

Came to Francesca’s with a friend while we were out and about. It was later in the afternoon on a Saturday and they were not very busy at all. We were seated right away, and initially our server was very attentive. He was nice the entire time, but later on he did not come back very frequently. A bunch of the staff were sitting in the back at a table taking a break/​eating, which is fine, but since it wasn’t that busy there is no reason for slow service.
The location is cute. They have a decent wine list, most seem to be by the bottle and not the glass though. The menu, just like ever other Italian place to me, is overpriced for what it is. We ended up sharing a pasta dish that was very good. They were nice enough to split it into two different bowls too. It was definitely enough for 2 people.
Needless to say I like the food a lot, but the service wasn’t consistently great, and to me it’s a bit pricey for what it is.

I used to love Francesca’s, I really did! After dining here last night, I’m not sure I’ll return. I met a coworker for dinner. He arrived before I did and got us a table. The wait staff brought the usual bread/​butter to the table, which my coworker nearly demolished before I got there. When he asked for more bread, the waiter told the busboy (in Spanish) that our table wanted more bread. In turn, the busboy said (to the waiter (in Spanish) for my coworker to go f$!& his mother. Um, excuse me? Do you not realize that just because I’m a white girl doesn’t mean I don’t speak Spanish. I did not say anything to my coworker or the wait staff, as I did not want to cause a scene. How could a customer know that asking for more bread would warrant that kind of language from the staff?
The food was subpar at best. The waiter was unpleasant and seemed annoyed that he was serving us. Two of the desserts my coworker asked for (which were on the menu) were not available and when he asked for gelato, he was given the wrong flavors. And the coffee was either very old or it was brewed at double strength… It was terrible.
I have worked in food and retail service for most of my career. I understand that everyone can have a bad night; however, this was unacceptable.

Love this place! Service is great and food is excellent. Our server recommended a fantastic bottle of wine that was half off. We were able to take the remaining bottle home too! Great place for a date night or for the entire family. So happy this is in Elmhurst.

Expected… More?
Husband and I were very excited to try this place.
The service was decent but the food– subpar for a restaurant that claims to be fine dining.
Hubbys steak was undercooked. My shrimp tasted frozen, but well seasoned.
For dessert we got a lava cake with ice cream. Lava cake was ok the ice cream was mint and just did not go very well in my opinion.
For the price we paid we could get a fresher meal, better meal elsewhere.
Did not help that we were seated right by the kitchen doors where the servers were basically leaning against the wall talking crap about customers.
I would skip.

What has me coming back is the Thursday $ 5 Martini special.
I like sitting in the bar. Lots of streetside window seating and a nice energy in there. Unlike a lot of places you can reserve a bar table, which is nice.
The food is good. Typical Italian fare with many gluten free options for the dietary trend followers. Their carpaccio is one of the better examples in the area.

Came in for lunch for a coworkers birthday. Setting is classy and in spots intimate. Served aregano infused olive oil and heeded parm with warm loads of bread, it was really tasty.
Desserts looked amazing! Birthday boy got a tira misu which looked really good!
The meals came out quickly, all were correct and no complaints of flavor.
I ordered the shells and light cream sauce with peas and ham and it was delicious!
I would like to come back here for a date night sometime.
There is a nice selection of wines.
Will certainly return!

Had lunch here. Risotto with sausage was excellent. Caprese salad was ok. I would liked to have been offered some balsamic to accompany. Lunchmates enjoyed their entrees. Service was good. I’d like to come here for dinner next time I am in town. Good destination for a business meal.

We went for Father’s Day dinner and it was easy to get reservations that morning. Service was great and it’s a good location with easy street or lot parking nearby. You get bread so we skipped an appetizer. It was yum with oil mixed with salt, pepper and cheese.
I tried:
— Ravioli with chicken– pretty good
— Carpacchio– really good but my brother got it as his entrée and it was a little acidic to only eat that
— Side of asparagus– Honestly my favorite part of the meal
— Pork Chops– Pretty good
— Shrimp pasta– Not that great
— Salmon with side of veggies– Really great!
I don’t think I’ll be back but a good option if you are nearby and want a decent quick bite. Also half priced bottles of wine on Sundays! They forgot to give us the discount on the bill but quickly fixed it when we asked.

The flavors in this place reminds me of my first attempts at cooking: over cooked pasta, overly tomato tasting red sauce, and two day old French bread.
I would not return here of my own accord but if there were an event held here I wouldn’t delete the invite.

Great food. I enjoy the ambience the service is great. Francesca“s is romantic to come with your date. The prices are great too

My boss’s last day luncheon was held here, and I have to admit that he picked a pretty good spot. Not cheap, mind you, but good.
The bread was warm and paired up well with oil + cheese + salt & pepper, all complementary. We shared an order of the prosciutto with figs as an appetizer – it was awesome, no surprise there. What did surprise me was their minestrone; a cup was $ 5 (a lot, I thought, given the size of the cup) and it was mostly vegetables. And not even the good kind of veggies, either, but zucchini and spinach? Blecch.
I got what amounts to chicken saltimbocca – a sauteed chicken breast topped with prosciutto and melted mozzarella served on a bed of pasta. It tasted great and was reasonably priced at $ 15. My coworkers got the seafood pasta and chicken parm, and they decreed them good as well. Francesca’s had a wine list that was both extensive and expensive – I saw a bottle of ’05 Napa Valley Cab Sauv going for $ 165. Yowza.
I was generally unimpressed with the meal (and the service) until dessert arrived. I opted for the lavender-​accented panna cotta, and
.god. did I make the right choice. It was custard-​smooth, like it ought to be, and the mold retained its shape well. The flavor and texture were spot-​on. I’ve had some good panna cottas in the past, and I’ve had some bad ones. Francesca’s has one of the best. Sure, it was $ 8 for a 1-​person dessert, but most definitely worth it. The lavender was mixed in brilliantly.
Take note that everything comes a-​la-​carte, so if you want soup or salad, you’ll have to order it separately, and it’ll cost ya. Thankfully I didn’t pick up the tab, because my meal alone likely ran $ 35 without drinks. Francesca’s seems like a good place to go to every once in a while and a nice place to bring a date.

It’s been many years since we visited this restaurant. I guess the last time we weren’t that impressed with the food, or we thought it was too expensive. In either case, I’m so glad we went last Saturday because the dinner was fantastic! I ordered the bow tie pasta with salmon in a vodka sauce. Just thinking about it makes me salivate.
The menu is not extensive and we were concerned that our guests wouldn’t be able to find something they liked. As it turns out, everyone in the group had a great meal. Finally a restaurant has figured out that having a few great options is more important than a plethora of mediocre ones. Bravo Francesca Amici’s.
As of this writing there are ninety-​six restaurants in Elmhurst. I plan on eating at, and reviewing, every one. Follow me on Unilocal