I Monelli Trattoria Pizzeria - Chicago

This restaurant is a neighborhood gem. Original Italian establishment. Tiny, cozy family-owned. You feel like you're dining at your grandma's house! Authentic Italian food standards as well as very unique entrees freshly prepared, pasta al dente and tasty pizza. I couldn't ask for more! Wonderful people. Great service and it's a BYOB!

I Monelli has such delicious food and is my new favorite spot. It is all homemade, authentic food, BYOB and casual. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Italian food, it is the best!

The best Italian food in Chicago surpassed only by the professional and friendly chef and staff!!

I wanted to like this place. It 's a small, neighborhood place, and I 'd heard (on Check, Please! the food was good. We had two appetizers, both specials, that were only OK. The red arrabiata sauce on the shrimp appetizer was sufficiently spicy but tasted too much of tomato paste. Ditto for a red sauce on my friend 's pasta special and husband 's tilapia special. The fried artichoke appetizer was a bit better, served with an OK marinara. My tilapia al limone was tasty and light (I ordered my main course in light of the tomato-heavy appetizers , served with potato and slightly crunchy carrot sticks and grilled asparagus ; husband 's special tilapia with a tomato sauce was too tomato-y, especially after our appetizer choices. I hear the pizza is good--we didn 't try it only because I 'm off wheat. Gelato for dessert was creamy and good. The noise level was at times yell-level (I am not exaggerating . We were seated next to a large multiple-table group of maybe 14, and a couple of the men from that group were very loud. They all left before our main course (thank goodness , but that same-sized table was being reset--the new group fortunately didn 't appear while we were still there. Service was snail-slow, maybe due to the large party, but even so after that party had left. The restaurant was also uncomfortably warm (pizza oven? and the tables were very tightly placed. During our meal, one little girl from the large party kept wandering over to stand to look out the window, right beside me, close enough that our conversation had to be monitored for child-friendliness. If you are looking for a place to have a large group get-together, or like tomato-heavy sauces, shouting to your table mates while you wait and wait for your food, and having kids hang around your table that aren 't yours, this is the place for you.

Terrific food. The service is great. Nice neighborhood feel. BYOB. What's not to like.