Del Rio

Went out with my husband for the first time since our daughter was born. We worked late, just past 8pm went to get dinner in Highwood. We walked into Nite n’ Gale and they said “we are closed early due to weather.” Had it been said less abrasively and with an apologetic tone I would’ve thought nothing about it. Wanted to pull the fire alarm on our way out, but adulthood persevered. We walked into Del Rio and the owner jokingly says “sorry we’re closed!” Then told us to grab a table. I instantly felt comfortable and excited. I ordered two desserts first, fantastic wine, rosemary veal chop and it was heaven. The bar tender gave us ‘Scooby’ shots that we enjoyed with the staff as it was getting a bit late. Fantastic night out. Delicious food. Charismatic, funny, and attentive staff.

One of the best Italian restaurants I've ever patronage. Anytime I'm in Chicago I definitely add this to my plans. 4 generations and it shows. 🍷

Amazing wine and the best scampi in town. I've been coming here on and off since I was a child and the ambiance has never changed. Love ❤️

Fresh, flavorful Italian food in a cozy, nostalgic atmosphere. The Polenta appetizer was yummy, a dish made up of baked polenta with sprinkled cheese and a side of marinara sauce. Great way to warm up to the main courses which hit the spot. My ravioli al forno was outstanding - generous portions of cheese/spinach ravioli topped with butter and mozzarella, baked to perfection. The cheese was bubbling and was not too heavy, yet still had the texture and taste I was looking for. I could eat it everyday. The service was attentive and the owner walks around and personally checks in on you, which was pleasant and made us feel valued. No wonder this charming place has been around for almost 100 years - it’s a generational sensation for the taste buds.

Wonderful neighborhood restaurant, great food, atmosphere and staff We were 10 big hungry thirsty guys who showed up and they couldn't have been more accommodating. Our waitress was Jennifer who was the best! We will be back

Our first visit to this restaurant. We were visiting highwood for a festival and walked past. Fantastic food, great ambiance. I've falling out of favor in recent years with italian food in the Chicago burbs as it was so bland but this was fantastic. Will go again.

Always a great dining experience. Best hosts in town!

Del Rios is truly a special little gem in this world. The food is great; the place is … so special. First, it’s cozy, and it’s not a loud restaurant- where you cannot hear… but more importantly, the service- our waitress was named Lori, and she was the best! The owners come by and say hello, and share a funny story. Just seriously balm to the soul. The food - true northern Otalian- is the best… great wine list as well. Bartenders know what they are doing, too. My mother’s favorite restaurant and mine too. You cannot just instantly make a place like this; it has to grow over the years. Nice outside area, too. So happy Del Rios is here for this world…

I simply wanted to say what an enjoyable experience I had at Del Rio. Initially entering the woman hostess (who later discovered was the owner) was so kind and welcoming, we chose to sit at the bar as we were only there for drinks, the bartender extremely friendly as well, extremely knowledgeable regarding the drink selection and patient (as I am usually undecided haha). Great wine recommendation.. The evening concluded with an amazing conversation with the owner Bill, learning the lineage/family history behind the restaurant. Overall, such a welcoming, and friendly experience -Rose

Wonderful experience all the way around. Exceptionally high quality & delicious food. Wonderful staff Proud owners always there to keep food consistently excellent and thoughtfully kind and caring about every customer. 10 stars are warranted for the 4 generations of excellence Continuing today, day in and out.

I dined in with my family for dinner. Quality and flavor were consistently good across dishes and can say I was a part of the clean plate club. I will definitely be coming back.

I have been eating here for over 30 years and it never disappoints. If this is not the best Italian in Chicago, at least for old family recipes, it's top on any list. Nothing is bad, everything is delicious and the service is friendly and prompt. If you're local, go. If you're not local, make the drive.

We just absolutely love this place. It's old fashioned italian comfort food! The owner ALWAYS treats us right and you feel like family. Whenever we are in town we always stop for dinner....also Highwood has our heart too! They have valet parking for dinner,

I was a food and beverage manager for a nearby private club. This is what a restaurant should be. In the ten years I lived in the Chicago area amongst so many great eateries this was always my favorite. They don't put on airs but they deliver on the plate. As a wine aficionado it was heaven. They love their work and it shows.

A family favorite for over 50 years! We joined family from California and had a fabulous meal! Julie was our server and she was a gem! Sea Bass, eggplant parmigiana, lasagna and spaghetti were on the table! Sooo good! Next year is 100 years for this sweet neighborhood spot! Well worth the trip, even from California!

A wonderful meal with a big group. The lasagna was great; all the fish dishes smelled wonderful. I would definitely try the seafood next time. Great service - even with over ten guests at our table.

Classy rich establishment for those who remember how America once was. A true golden age experience!!!!

Absolutely adore this place, visited with my family and they made us all feel very welcomed. They treat you like you’re their family. Bartender was very warm and attentive, even let us sample some high end whiskey before buying it. Loved the ambiance, it felt very cozy. Like something out of a movie. The food was pretty good as well. I’ll definitely be going back

Classic Italian restaurant with good food, great vibes, and fantastic service.

Great old school Italian food in Highwood! We had a wonderful meal. Service was warm and prompt. Will be returning.

We went to Del Rio for the first time and it exceeded all expectations! Our waitress, Shelli, was outstanding and the staff made us feel like family from the moment we stepped in! Each dish was better than the next. We can’t wait to come back. Couldn’t recommend more!

Absolutely amazing service, and amazing food. The owner of the restaurant was welcoming and sweet. Our server took her time and explained everything and kept a smile on her face the whole time. And the homemade pasta was absolutely amazing!!

We had a great meal at Del Rio, lovely staff and great food and atmosphere. Cozy Italian environment and home cooked classic Italian fare.

Another great OPERA night at DEL RIO's in Highwood. Family, friends , great music and the best HOSTESSes - BILLY & CONNIE -- absolutely love this place.

Nice atmosphere. Had filet mignon, excellent. Good service. Quattro ravioli was also very good

This place was fantastic from the moment we walked in. The valet staff were friendly and opened the doors for us. We we're then greeted by the owner who also was friendly. We had a little bit of a wait, but not bad for a Friday evening. Once seated, our waitress was attentive and helpful. All of the food was fantastic. I do agree with one other reviewer that the Evvivo was a little dry, but I didn't find it uneatable. I can't wait to burn off all the calories aso we can go back!!

We went there for dinner and to listen to the opera performers. I was very skeptical about going to see them as it was pretty expensive. They were so talented and had everyone in the restaurant singing. The food was very good, as was the service.

Restaurant is good for intimate couples dining, this place is small. Our party of 16 was seated in the middle of the place right in front of door. I could not relax with people coming and going around us. Food is very good, I had seafood rotini. Seafood was shrimp and baby scallops but the sauce was delightfully cheesy. Gnocchi is a must try

Very disappointed. Did not live up to the hype. Very cramped seating. Overpriced and did not meet our expectations of an authentic Italian meal. Pretty bummed.

The locally-owned vibe made me want to like this place. I had high hopes. Average service, menu and specials weren’t explained well. Asked what beer they had, server listed 3. Later, the bus boy brought us an entire beer list/menu…? most disappointing was that my ravioli was cold! Such a bummer for an expensive place. Crowd is definitely on the older side, nothing wrong with that just something to note.

If you want to step back in time, this is a good place to do it. A family-owned Italian restaurant that has some interesting details in the pictures and architecture (tin ceiling). The staff is very friendly. The food is a 3 out of 5. I think every restaurant has their star dishes.I don't think we came across those this evening. The veal was tougher than expected and the pasta was on the cool side. That aside, it's a nice restaurant and the folks running it were friendly and welcoming.

Some of our meal was excellent (bruschetta beat in a very long time), other aspects not as much (very fatty short ribs). Service was top notch. We will go again, but not as quickly as we had hoped given that this was our first visit.

Ordered a saled,with ranch dressing,came with blue cheese. Returned that then they gave me a bowl of soup, no wanted a salad,never got the correct order. Dinner was spaghetti, no meat balls, was very bland. Yes they were busy, but really if you write it down on order there is No mistakes

A gave 2 stars only because my Gnocchi was good and our server was pleasant. Parking there is a racket - even though the lot was completely empty on a Wednesday night with several spaces available, we were informed that it was ‘courtesy valet’ only lol. The decor is dingy & dated by about 40 years - the restaurant is in desperate need of a makeover. I nearly spit up my tiny glass $15 lemon drop Martini it was so bitter - awful and unacceptable. Dinner took at least 30 minutes to be served for two small entrees. The bathroom is the size of an airplane toilet - the sink has exposed pipes & one can barely move in there it’s so cramped.

Very disappointing experience. Antipasto plate was far from authentic. Half of it was cantaloupe, strawberries blueberries. Stuffed mushrooms tasted spoiled and after one bite, I left the rest. I didn’t want to get sick. Husband’s pasta was sticky. Money down the drain.

My good friend was very excited to try this place. She had been there years before and had a wonderful experience. We got there and we're seated immediately. It definitely has a 70s vibe to it, wood paneling and bathrooms that say "boys" and "girls:. We were Seated on the patio which was lovely. I was a little surprised to see that most of the wines were at least $60 which was fine, but sometimes you need to have other options. The owner immediately came out and started talking even though we hadn't seen each other and we're trying to have our own conversation. We finally decided on a bottle of wine, when the server brought it had already been opened and they just poured for us. I eat out a lot and have never had a situation where the wine wasn't opened at the table. We ordered muscles which were billed as without garlic, interesting for an Italian restaurant it was served with some pasta and the dish basically tasted like buttered noodles there were not a lot of muscles and they were overcooked. The ravioli four ways was good, but the dish was only room temperature when it came out. We then split the gnocchi which was very good and had the shrimp scampi which basically was shrimp that were over cooked swimming in a lot of butter and cheese. There was no other flavor except for that. Needless to say I will not be going back. With so many less expensive and better quality Italian restaurants there is simply no need. Some advice to the owner, it's probably a good idea to get the feel for your table before you start discussing politics and the problem with labor workers today.

Your waitress is pretty disrespectful towards foreign and young people. I’m Turkish and my husband (28) is American. He asked for a recommendation for a wine, her face was like “this is my recommended for a 20’s.” She even didn’t looked at my face when I was ordering. They are only used to catering towards an older crowd. Anyway she pretty much ruined for my husband’s birthday and make us unhappy. It was our second time there. Even when we have reservation, they didn’t recognize it. I would not come here again and would never recommend coming.The

This was a favorite Italian restaurant of ours dating back to the 1990's. We recently visited for dinner after a 10+ year absence and were drastically disappointed. The friendly atmosphere was gone along with the quality of the food. The portions were smaller, dry, less flavor, and the wait staff was not the friendly group we remember. It's now just a fond memory of the past 🙁

What a disappointing experience. We can cook better food at home , so sad. It’s not the Del Rio from the past! Gone downhill the last few years. So many better choices than Dem Rio!

I wish I could leave ZERO stars! AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE! I waited HOURS for a simple Ceaser Salad which was mediocre at best. If they cannot accomodate customers in a timely fashon, they shouldn't accept them. And there was some old jerk making jokes about the long wait for our food?!? From bad to worse. I wish him the worst! The air conditioning didn't work and there was literally NO ICE in the ice tea. Do yourself a favor, GO ANYWHERE ELSE!!! CURSES on them for ruining our night!!! 👎