Torchio Pasta - Chicago

Very pleasantly surprised! Great pastas. I feel in a city where Italian shops are a dime a dozen, this places really stands out

My friend and I literally stumbled into this gem of a restaurant while sight seeing in Chicago over a weekend of concert going. With so many choices of restaurants in the city I encourage you to check this place out. We came for lunch and ate in the outside patio, although the inside was lovely too- we just had a rare sunny day for this season! Everything was incredibly fresh. We ordered the arugula salad which was perfect. We also ordered the gnocchi which was devine, an unbelievable whipped ricotta/honey/cracked pepper spread with tomato fig jam, and the grilled asparagus. For desert we had the best vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso. An absolutely delightful lunch! The staff was attentive without being intrusive and we had the pleasure of talking with the owner who really puts his heart and soul into the food. This is definitely a place a will return to next time I'm in Chicago- I felt so fortunate to have found such a high quality meal just by luck! I wish the proprietor all the best in his endeavors! Five stars, for sure!

By far the best pasta I have ever had in the city. Every dish we ordered was incredible. We ordered 2 appetizers, 5 pastas, and then 3 desserts for 5 of us. It was all great. The Torchio pasta was unlike anything I've had before. Truly amazing!

WOW! This just might be the best place for pasta in Chicago. The owner and the story behind this place is incredible and everyone makes you feel so at home. Try everything absolutely everything you won’t be disappointed.

We were eager to revisit this restaurant after our initial visit, but we thought we had arrived too early for them. Now, three years later (post-COVID), it seems they've lost their touch. The server wasn't able to provide any recommendations for food or drinks and seemed more focused on rushing our order. They've also started charging a 3% service fee for credit card payments. While we understand that restaurants have their struggles, it's frustrating to see such fees added instead of being absorbed into menu prices. It's high time they stop nickel-and-diming their customers, especially when their food prices are already steep. In our opinion, there are far better Italian restaurants in Chicago that truly value their guests. We visited twice, and both times were actually worse than in 2019.