Orvieto Pizzeria & Wine Bar
2200 N. Ashland Ave.Chicago, IL 60614
Lincoln Park
773-395-0066
jazzitup.com
Hours: Dinner: seven days
Open late: every night till 11
Our Review
Orvieto Pizzeria & Wine Bar is a curious cross between a restaurant and a sports bar. A gleaming open kitchen with a Moretti pizza oven dominates one side of the newly redone dining room inside Green Dolphin Street, but the plasma TVs ringing the dining area are inescapable from any of the mahogany-toned tables. On my visit only a handful were occupied, yet men noisily explaining the game plays--football, baseball, hockey, whatever--made the vibe very barlike. So the cooking of chef Nino Coronas (Pizza D.O.C.) came as a pleasant surprise, especially given the fairly generic Italian menu. Of more than a dozen pizzas, we tried the quattro stagioni, which arrived with the puffed, blistered crust spilling over the sides of the large plate. The shaved prosciutto crudo, fresh mushrooms, pitted black olives, and artichokes were high quality, even if they were evenly distributed over the smear of tomato sauce and melt of fresh mozzarella rather than placed in the traditional four sections. Grigliattina mista, one of a handful of hot appetizers, brought together carefully grilled shrimp, baby octopus, and tender squid on a bed of greens with a restrained drizzle of balsamic reduction. Pastas, listed as "primi piatti" but sized as main courses, ran to the familiar except for gnocchetti sardi, which reflects the chef's Sardinian heritage. Homey and satisfying, the firm baby gnocchi were swathed in a robust tomato-based lamb ragout finished with pecorino cheese. Ravioli di ricotta, filled with slightly watery Swiss chard and hardly any cheese, was less successful. We skipped the secondi: four variations on chicken, two on veal, a pork chop, and tilapia or salmon. Buffalo wings and a burger are available for the bar-food crowd, and select ten-inch pizzas are $5 during weekend games. I usually don't go for tiramisu, but the not-too-sweet version recommended by the helpful server was a winner, as was the croccantino, ultrarich unchurned zabaione ice cream just beginning to melt. While the two-page wine list isn't likely to win awards, it's affordable and offers about two-dozen wines by the glass.
Price: $$
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- Nov 5, 2009
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I think Orvieto is pretty good Italian food at an affordable price. And the portions are HUGE. The wine list is not too shabby either. Definitely recommend it for a cheap night out. Oh yeah, and the plasma tvs that surround the walls are great for watching games on. It's cool too cause you can see the guys making your food through the big open window to the kitchen. And you can't beat the free parking lot!
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