Taylor Street Chicago Italian Food: Little Italy Guide

Taylor Street Chicago Italian food is a short, walkable list: Pompei for pizza and strudel, Conte di Savoia for a deli sandwich, Tufano's Vernon Park Tap for family-recipe lemon chicken, and Mario's Italian Lemonade for a cold treat on a warm day. They sit in Little Italy and University Village on the Near West Side, a few steps from each other.

What is Taylor Street Chicago Italian food, and who still cooks it?

Taylor Street was the center of the city's Italian American life, and some of that is still there. The restaurants are smaller than the stories, and the streets around the University of Illinois Chicago campus have changed, but several family names have stayed put for generations.

That matters when you eat here. Most of the places below are family-run, cook from recipes the family brought with them and tell you the story if you ask. Go with a plan to eat in more than one place: a sandwich at one, a main at another and a frozen treat before you leave.

Where are the Chicago Little Italy restaurants worth a stop?

Start with Pompei. Choose Chicago says it has been family-owned for four generations, and the current owner grew up above the original Taylor Street building, which once held a bakery and a tavern. It is known for cheese pizza, gnocchi and the pizza strudel, a savory filled dough that comes in a dozen varieties. After shrinking from six locations to one, the Taylor Street original is still the one to visit.

Tufano's Vernon Park Tap is just off Taylor, on a residential block. It is a longtime family tavern known for lemon chicken with potatoes, stuffed artichokes and mostaccioli. It takes cash, checks or Venmo rather than cards, and it does not take reservations for small parties, so go early and bring a friend.

What should you eat in University Village Chicago dining spots?

For a quick bite, go to Conte di Savoia, an old-school Italian grocery on Taylor Street. The Infatuation recommends the meatball sub and the caprese panini, and says ordering ahead avoids the line at the deli counter. It sells cheese, cured meats and wine too, so it doubles as a place to buy a picnic.

The sandwiches are the reason to come, and the shop's own story suggests how to use it: pick up lunch, eat it on a bench and finish at Mario's. Nearby UIC students keep the neighborhood lively, so a weekday lunch is busy and a weekend one is easier.

Is Taylor Street dinner worth planning around?

Yes, if you choose the right room. Tufano's is the dinner pick for lemon chicken and old red-sauce plates, and Pompei suits a casual dinner for a table that wants pizza, gnocchi or a strudel to split. Both are family-run, and both have stayed small while the neighborhood around them changed.

Call ahead where a place takes bookings, and expect to wait at the ones that do not. A Taylor Street dinner is slow by design: families have eaten here for generations, and the pace reflects that.

How do you make a day of Italian American Chicago?

Treat the strip as a progression. Start with a sandwich from Conte di Savoia, walk to Pompei for a slice and a strudel, then spend your main meal at Tufano's. Finish with a lemonade or ice from Mario's, the stand on Taylor Street, if it is the warm season. Our guide to Italian ice and lemonade in Chicago explains how the season works and where else to find it.

Italian American cooking is also part of the city's beef and hot dog culture. If you want a different Chicago sandwich afterward, read the Italian beef and hot dog guide.

What should you know before you go?

Bring cash and a flexible plan. Tufano's takes cash, checks or Venmo, and Mario's, as a walk-up stand, is easier with a few bills in hand. Conte di Savoia lets you order ahead, which saves time at lunch. The closest L stop to the strip is UIC-Halsted on the Blue Line, which puts Taylor Street a short walk from the platform.

Wear comfortable shoes, because the best way to see Little Italy is to walk it, and plan your order of stops by what you want to end with. Savory first, sweet last, and a sandwich in your bag for later is a perfectly good Taylor Street plan.

How do you keep a record of a Taylor Street crawl?

A strip this short is easy to overdo and hard to remember. In Mosey you can rate a place with just stars, then add the dishes you had by name, so "lemon chicken" and "pizza strudel" stay attached to the right room. Tag a place Italian or Family Friendly, and note on a list why each stop belongs.

Make a list called Taylor Street, invite friends with a link so they can add their own picks, and follow the friends whose ratings you trust. How this works in the app: Make a list.

What is nearby?

Greektown is a short ride away and covered in the Greektown restaurant guide. The West Loop is a few blocks north of Taylor Street, in the West Loop and Fulton Market guide. The wider list of neighborhoods is in the Chicago food guides, and other cities are in the US food guides.

Get the Mosey app, rate your first Taylor Street dish and start a list you can build on every time you go back.