My family and I went to Francesco's Hole in the Wall restaurant in Northbrook, IL last night. I've never been too impressed with Italian food in greaterland Chicago, but this place is pretty for real. It's one of the smallest sit-down restaurants I've ever been to, which is quite interesting considering this is in the suburbs. It only has 16 small tables and has a very homey rustic charm. Normally they don't take reservations, but for whatever reason, they allowed my family and I to make a reservation last night. It's a good thing because the wait for everyone else around 7pm was a 45 minute to an hour wait.
To drink, I settled with a glass of Ruffino chianti red wine, which was very smooth and medium-bodied. For my entree, I decided on the osso buco served with a little bit of risotto on the side. As anyone familiar with Italian food knows, osso buco is typically of gigantic portions and is a very heavy and hearty dish. This was no different. I think I would've liked to have more bone marrow in mine, but the meat itself was cooked perfectly tender. The sauce had a natural strong flavor. It may have been on the salty side for me, but definitely not shockingly so.
I didn't get to try a lot of everything else, but the rest of my family ordered chicken vesuvio (supposedly one of their best dishes), linguine with shrimp arrabiata, lamb chops, and fried calamari. The fried calamari was probably among the best and most tender I've ever had, so I would definitely recommend that as an appetizer.
I'd definitely like to return to this restaurant and try one of their pastas. For anyone looking for solid food at a restaurant with character and atmosphere in the suburbs, I would definitely recommend Francesco's Hole in the Wall.
Francesco's Hole in the Wall
254 Skokie Boulevard
(between Frontage Rd & Lake Cook Rd)
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 272-0155
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