The reason why I called this blog So Full in the Windy City.....

When looking at food blogs makes you nauseous... that's how you know you're SO FULL. OH MAN... WHAT A MEAL. Had a rough day at work and my foot hurt and I was tired and crabby. Cue my boyfriend. "You had a bad day.... why don't we have another date night (another because we had date night on Friday and Saturday this weekend)?"

We've been wanting to try Volare, an always busy Italian restaurant that's close to our apartments. We've tried to go on a random Tuesday without a reservation and the wait was over an hour. So we called to get a last minute reservation and much to our surprise, we were able to get in at the last minute.

We sat in the heated, closed-in outside seating area which was a little quieter than the inside of the restaurant. Here's the review....

Volare (http://www.volarerestaurant.com)

Location: 201 East Grand (just a block off of Michigan Ave).

Food:  We ate a lot and it was good. They bring out a basket of 2 types of bread... a baguette and a delicious focaccia. There was olive oil and a bowl of parmesan on the table to dip the bread in as well. We started off with the steamed mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce. The mussels were on top of two delicious crostinis that were soggy from the sauce... amazing. There was plenty of sauce left to dip the bread in.... it was a tough decision on which to use... the broth or the olive oil/parmesan combo. Here's a pic of the already eaten mussels. We got so excited, we forgot to take a picture :O)

Entrees: I had the handmade ricotta gnocchi with the Arrabbiata sauce. It was amazing. The gnocchi were slightly less chewy than the potato version and a little more creamy. They were delicious. The sauce had tons of flavor. It's a spicy tomato sauce with pancetta and tons of garlic. I was concerned on whether the flavor and texture of the gnocchi could hold up to the arrabbiata sauce.... it was a great combination.  I ate the ENTIRE plate. 

My boyfriend had the pasta special. It was a handmade ravioli filled with braised beef in a tomato cream sauce with sauteed mushrooms. Again... delicious. The beef-filled ravioli were one of the best fillings I've ever tried. It was a pulled beef (reminded me of durkee beef... which I'll post a recipe for next time I make it). The sauce was delicious as well. This is one of those dishes I must try to duplicate. 

For dessert (yes, we had dessert too!) we had the creme brulee trio... one chocolate, one vanilla, and one Baileys. These were delicious. The Baileys creme brulee may have been my favorite. I even enjoyed the chocolate (and I'm not a huge chocolate fan). 

Drinks:  Great wine list. We were both in the mood for a pinot grigio and picked one out at random. The waiter suggested a new wine on their list that was a similar price and also a pinot grigio. The wine was awesome and really went well with our entire meal. 

Service: Great service. Water glasses were always full and food didn't take very long. 

Atmosphere: Small. Loud. Fun. 

Price:  Fairly typical for a nice Italian dinner in Chicago... let's be honest we ate a ton. Entrees were around $15.  

Another similar spot:   Topo Gigio in Old Town... also delicious. Great outdoor seating when the weather is nice.