Francesco's Forno

I visited a new restaurant in Chicago:  Francesco's Forno.  Located on the corner of Milwaukee Ave and North Ave in Wicker Park, the restaurant boasts an open and spacious dining room for the Wicker Park area with paneled windows lining the front of the restaurant.  The windows create an illusion of more space, which is aided by the high ceilings.  Additionally, they have a 6 person bar with two high-table for additional seating and a place to wait away from the door.  Reservations are taken, although not always necessary.  However, should you want a guaranteed table without too long of a wait, I highly recommend a recommendation.  


Although erring on the side of noisy, pending the table next to you isn't too close to your table, it is not so loud that you cannot hear the people with whom you are eating.  Our party thoroughly enjoyed our evening.  We sampled two wines before finally deciding, savored the table bread with what appeared to be garlic / chive butter, but I preferred the olive oil with herbs, which is conveniently placed on every table.  For dinner I had the Soppressata (thinly sliced, perfectly cured salami), and the Insalata con Uova (salad with lemon vinaigrette, white truffle oil, and a fried egg on top).  Delicious is an understatement.  It was excellent.  The others had the Linguini Frutti del Mare (seafood linguini).  It comes with a spicy marinara sauce, which lightly coats the pasta.  One person asked for it with a white sauce, which turned out to be more like a light parmesan alfredo.  I highly recommend both those options, depending on if you prefer a spicier flair or cheesier one.  


Overall, with wine and appetizers, a 4 person dinner was about $130, with tip.  It's reasonably priced, and, if you forgo the drinks, not outside of a typical budget.  For atmosphere, I give it a 3.5/5 because of the noise level, a 3/5 for priciness, and a 5/5 for quality of food and desire to return.  So, as I like to say, let's grab some friends and Mangia!