Be a Venetian voyeur at our fave Italian restaurants

Can't make it to the festival? Feed your inner Italian year-round with these favorites of our restaurant critics.

Amore Mio

1457 Palatine Road, Hoffman Estates, (847) 358-5506 or amoremioil.com

For someone who grew up with Chef Boyardee ravioli, tasting the homemade version as an adult was a revelation I want to experience over and over.

My favorite local source comes from chef and co-owner Antonio Barbanente at Amore Mio, whose menu is a smart mix of traditional Italian-American dishes and more adventurous, contemporary Italian options.

Barbanente's from-scratch ravioli always include classic meat and cheese, but the specials are where he truly shines. I've had ground veal and porcini mushroom in vodka tomato cream sauce; and roasted eggplant and ricotta in basil pesto dough, baked in garlic sauce.

Other solid options: the penne machinato with ground Italian sausage and peppers in spicy marinara or chicken parmesan. Salads stand out, too. I've had the Caesar and a strawberry salad with pecans and parmesan.

A family-run, neighborhood trattoria, Amore Mio is casual enough for families and charming enough for a romantic meal paired with a bottle of wine from the modest cellar.

- Laura Bianchi

Antico Posto

118 Oak Brook Center, Oak Brook, (630) 586-9200 orantico-posto.com

Expect no shortage of things to love about this boisterous, mall-centered concept from Lettuce Entertain You.

You cannot help but savor - OK, scarf down - the unbelievably delicate, handmade ricotta gnocchi.

Sauces change, but both the tomato cream (amped up with pesto) and prosciutto and asparagus in herbaceous butter sauce have pleased. True, the pastas spell amore, but the Parmasan-crusted chicken giardiniera is really good, too.

Crackle-crust pizzas, both white and with tomato sauce, are great for groups, but you'll be tempted to keep the chopped market salad with tomatoes, broccolini, artichokes, corn, hearts of palm and croutons in basil-flecked lemon vinaigrette to yourself.

Don't forget to check out the wine list for great deals and pours that come in a variety of sizes.

- Jennifer Olvera

Café Lucci

609 Milwaukee Ave., Glenview, (847) 729-2268 or cafelucci.com

Any time you've got five Wine Spectator awards hanging on your wall, you better make sure you have the goods to back it up. Café Lucci does this three ways: the wine, the food and the décor.

The wine presents a plethora of choices with a 20-page menu, and while some you'll just have to sigh at - like the Chateau La Mission Haut Brion Pessac Leognan Rouge (because it costs $6,000) - there are plenty of realistic options, starting by the glass, through half bottles (a genius invention) and all the way to the standard full. You can choose between reds and whites and roses, dessert and port wines, and as if you need another excuse, the restaurant also has "No Corkage Mondays" so you can start off the week in style.

The food is as Italian as it gets, from warm bread garnished with garlic and giant olives to the mussels in white wine and the seafood crepes, as well as the obligatory veal section (not for calorie counters). Price-wise, it's average for its type, but here's one thing you cannot afford: missing the tiramisu with a raspberry twist. It's mandatory, as is the espresso at the end of dinner.

As for the decor, it's all about beiges, browns and leather at Cafe Lucci. A renovated version of the place is now going into its 13th year. The lighting is understated, to great effect, and the sounds are perfect - easy jazz, but not too easy. On a nice summer night, be sure to call ahead and reserve the sole table on the patio.

- Izidora Angel

Dolce Lincolnshire

250 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, (847) 478-0990 or dolce-lincolnshire.com

I love the Old World elegance of tableside service at Dolce Lincolnshire. Order linguine nel Parmigiano ($15), and a server sidles up to your table with a hollowed-out section of a giant wheel of parmesan and tosses hot, perfectly al dente pasta mixed with crisped prosciutto and butter inside. He then piles the deliciously cheesy, salty melange on a plate over a ribbon of sliced prosciutto and fresh basil leaves and tops it with shaved parmesan.

They also do wonderful things with a wood-burning oven, especially the spit-roasted chicken ($16), half a bird on the bone cooked over wood, juicy-fleshed inside, crisp-skinned outside and sprinkled with fragrant herbs. It's served with a modest pile of roasted vegetables and creamy risotto.

A wine room hosts regular wine tastings and wine dinners. The restaurant boasts a long, wide-ranging global list and offers weekday specials like half-priced bottles on Mondays and penny wine nights on Tuesdays and Fridays.

A handy stop for dinner before a show at the Marriott Lincolshire Theater, Dolce also offers complimentary dessert and coffee if you show your ticket stub.

- Leah A. Zeldes

Go Roma

Bolingbrook, Deer Park, Lincolnshire, Oak Brook and Warrenville, goroma.net

For delicious Italian food sans reservations, I head to Go Roma for the classics served up in a quick, casual atmosphere.

The premise behind this four-year-old group of restaurants is high quality, "real easy Italian." Flavorful, made-to-order dishes are prepared with the freshest ingredients and served hot on, of course, real plates.

The family-style, health-conscious menu includes salads, hand-stretched, thin crust artisan pizza and tossed pastas along with other Italian specialties and sandwiches, all for under $10. Though the Smoked Chicken and Pear Salad is tantalizing, my favorite is the Chopped Salad made with chopped lettuce, blue cheese, bacon, tomato, scallion, peas, tubetti pasta and Italian dressing. Add a half-plank pizza and you have a meal for two. If you want more substantial fare, the Corkscrew & Chicken Marsala made with chicken, corkscrew pasta, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onion and a marsala cream sauce satisfies. For a meatless option, try the Bow Tie with Vegetables, including spinach, mushrooms, tomato, broccoli, peas, roasted olives and red onion tossed in a white wine pesto broth.

Go Roma serves a variety of domestic and imported beers and a selection of Italian and California wines by the glass or half bottle. A kids menu is also available and, if you have a large brood, go on Sunday when all kids 12 and under eat free.

- Lisa Ackleson

Osteria di Tramonto

601 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, (847) 777-6570, orcenitare.com

Arugula and parmesan salad, buffalo mozzarella and basil pizza fired in a wood-burning oven, orecchetti with sausage, broccoli and spring onions and the possibility of seeing top toque Rick Tramonto wander out of the kitchen - what's not to like?

The dining room at Osteria di Tramonto is flanked with heavy wood tables and gets lively and loud on the weekends (some might argue too loud), but if you're dining with the family, loud isn't always a bad thing. The 700-bottle wine list and cool Italian cocktails as well as pastry diva Gale Gand's Sour Cherry Granita or gooey Tira Mi Su "Turtle-style" put Osteria di Tramonto on my do-not-miss list.

- Deborah Pankey