Sapori Trattoria

This restaurant review has been a long time coming; ever since I first arrived in Chicago I have been searching for the Italian restaurant to trump all Italian restaurants, and Sapori Trattoria in Lincoln Park, being the top-rated-on-Yelp restaurant that it is, definitely deserved a visit.

Image 1. I am impressed with the quality of my phone's camera

When i discovered a $20 for $40 Groupon for Sapori, I knew it was meant to be. After a trip to the movies to watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we went straight to the restaurant and started our meal with fried calamari. It tasted just like any calamari you would have at any Italian place; it's hard to mess up deep fried seafood, after all. We devoured most of it with marinara sauce before I remembered to take this picture, which is why the plate is almost bare.

Image 2. We ate all the calamari in 2 minutes.

As for the entree, I already knew what I was going to order before I got there: the cappellacci all'Aragosta, which is described on the menu as "homemade pasta stuffed with lobster and fresh seafood served in a creamy pink sauce."

Image 3. The sauce is orange though...

Ugh. So good. There were only about six ravioli pieces but they were rather large, and combined with the bread and calamari, I was completely stuffed.

My fiance, on the other hand, ordered the pennette cardinale, which was "pasta pennette served with grilled artichokes, chicken, shallots, and sun-dried tomatoes in a white wine reduction sauce with a touch of light cream." This was what he got:

Image 4. EPIC PORTION

You can't tell from this photo, but it was enough to feed a small family. I guess that's what I get for ordering lobster...

All in all, the food was great, and service was spectacular; they kept bringing us more bread as soon as we finished it and we were in and out in under an hour. I have nothing bad to say about Sapori Trattoria, and it is definitely my go-to Italian place from now on. If you haven't been, try it now.

Sapori Trattoria
2701 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 832-9999
http://www.saporitrattoria.net/