Sal's Trattoria

Sal's Trattoria Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant & décor: Neighborhood charm oozes from this Lakeview restaurant, which occupies a picturesque building on tree-lined Southport Avenue. Indoors, it’s even cozier with its arched windows, wood bar and white tablecloths. Families and couples can call this their local, where it’s quiet enough to catch up over a bottle of wine and unfussy enough for parents with tots in tow to grab brunch or dinner.

Likes: Quaint neighborhood Italian.
Dislikes: None.

Food & Drinks: Chef/partner Allen Sternweiler (Butcher & the Burger) remains true to Old World Italian. Flavorful appetizers stick to the playlist; think beef carpaccio and fried calamari and a daily selection of crostini. From-scratch pastas wow in their simplicity. Try the tagliatelle with mussels, sausage and tomato cream and linguine with shrimp. Trout piccata with sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes and honey balsamic-glazed salmon are among the lighter dishes versus the hearty pork saltimbocca and New York strip steak. Finish with an elegant olive oil cake paired with ricotta. A trimmed-down wine list boasts a generous selection of regional Italian reds and whites. For brunch, traditional favorites sit alongside Italian-inspired options, including Sal's meatball omelet and fettuccine carbonara.