Antonio's

Even though it was pouring rain on Tuesday, we didn't let that keep us from our dining quest: Antonio's Ristorante in Addison Circle.
Upon pulling up, the valet was shoddy. Given the weather, we tried not to mind that we weren't even offered an umbrella and that we had to take the keys to him. No one likes the rain, we get that.

We ran through the doors of Antonio's to get out of the cold rain and were immediately greeted with cigarette smoke. What?
We were quickly seated and as we walked further into the restaurant, the smell subsided, though didn't disappear. (Probably why we have a crush on Dallas, to be honest.)

When you go to Antonio's website, they have a toggle called Promotions. When we visited that little gem we found ourselves with a coupon to enjoy an order of focaccia. We presented that to our waitress and were amazed when they brought a HUGE basket of delicious and piping hot bread to our table. This was a nice way to kick off our meal, so we settled in.


The Insalata Di Arrugola was fresh and beautifully plated. Made up of arugula, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, then tossed in a light dressing, this was a nice dish.

The soup of the day was our next conquest: chicken and rice. Nice and thick pieces of fresh vegetables and clean white meat chicken, this dish was perfect for a rainy day. It felt like something your grandma might make - wholesome, not too salty, really vibrant flavors.


The Tortellini Alla Panna was our main dish. The tortellini was stuffed with ground veal and cheese and then served in a cream sauce. It was amazingly rich and oh, so good.


We wrapped up with the most amazing chocolate mousse ever, perched on top of homemade whipped cream. We ate this whole thing without shame and would order it again in a second. Perhaps as a starter.


We finished up, paid our tab, then made our way back to the valet. This time he did give us an umbrella, but he had us walk to the car instead of pulling it around and then complained about how much we tipped him. Sigh. We tried not to let that ruin our evening as we drove off in the rain. The heater toasted us right up, however, and left wafts of cigarette smoke coming off of our clothes. The food was really solid - a decent presentation, good flavor - but to be honest, smoke ruins things: clothes, hair...our lungs.
We liked it, but we won't be revisiting.