Old world recipes, homemade sauces, and large portions of pasta are sure to satisfy. The atmosphere has a warm family feel. Don't leave without tasting the cannoli!

The restaurant business is in Mark Giannini’s blood.
Giannini, the owner and chef of Pasta D’Arte in Norwood Park, learned the family business at an early age. His brother is also in the restaurant business.
Born in 1979, he moved with his family to Norridge in 1980. A1997 Ridgewood High School graduate, Giannini still calls Norridge his home with his wife, Agnes, daughter Angelina, and another child due in December: His brother, John, owns Nonna Silvia in
Park Ridge.
Giannini said he got his start at 8 years old. ln order to keep him out of trouble, his mother Angela, used to take him to work with her at his uncle Tony Barbanente’s restaurant, Via Veneto. “They thought it was kind of funny,” he said. “I’m a little kid working. But they told me what to do and I caught on pretty quick.
They started me drying silverware, drying the spots off the glasses and after that it was making salads, garnishes, doing any kitchen prep work."
Giannini said one of his favorite tasks was chopping garlic. “Nobody wants to chop garlic," he said. "It’s so strong. I love to chop it because I wanted to make it as minced as possible with the knife, so I was just the best one to do the job.”
He said he’d chop parsley tomatoes and mushrooms as well.
“I was pretty much doing all the preparation and I loved to do it as a kid,” Giannini said. “It’s what I really loved to do."
Giannini graduated to line cook and eventually ran the cooking line. At 16, he bussed tables, managed the floor and greeted patrons as a host.
Celebrating the restaurants eight-year anniversary Oct. 1, Giannini said the atmosphere is what he loves most about Pasta DArte. '
"We’re not really upscale, but we are trendy” he said. “People feel very comfortable. I spend so much time here at this restaurant that I had to portray some comfortable atmosphere kind of like you were stepping into my home.
That along with my staff, who’s been with me for so long,”
Giannini said his staff has been with him since Pasta D’Arte’s opening.
“I think that Pasta D’Arte is a well-oiled machine,” he said. “Because I know that everybody knows what I’m working for and they believe in me and they believe in the restaurant and we believe all in the cause together.That’s what makes us, I think, a restaurant that would be one to remember, A true destination.”
Giannini said he has customers traveling from all over: Park Ridge, Norridge, Niles, Edgebrook and Lincolnwood, as well as local patrons.
Like other businesses, Giannini said his restaurant was affected by the economic downturn.
"I believe that my restaurant peaked in 2001” he said. ‘Around the demographic area, we had a lot of mortgage companies that all went out of business, A lot of banks that used to order from me and no longer do and I think that is due to the economic recession."
Giannini said the restaurant relied heavily on those companies for its lunch business.
“Since then, my lunch business has declined (about) 80 percent,” he said. “We used to get these nice, big orders from mortgage companies and banks and we don’t get them anymore - that’s the bottom line. It’s nothing I've done, I know that. I’m behind that kitchen all the time.”
Giannini said his dinner business has suffered as well.
“All of our regulars that we’ve had throughout the years still re- turn to us,” he said. “A lot of the regulars that we did see on a consistent basis that we haven’t seen in a while actually start seeing coming back.”
He said he pretty much hears the same response from those customers. Because of a loss of a job, they had to eliminate going out to dinner. `
“Has it affected us? It has ,” Giannini said.
He said 2008 was a terrible year; but 2009 was ‘a little bit better.
“And I think 2010 is going to be better than 2009,” he said.
Pasta D’Arte is at 6311 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Go to www.pastadarte.com.

At Pasta D'Arte, plates provide canvasses and owner/chef Mark Giannini perfects each piece; it's no wonder Pasta D'Arte translates to "art of pasta." The presentations comply with the design, also capturing artistic emotions.
A spot-lit Tuscan-style facade of gray stone and brick towers over this segmented portion of Jefferson Park known by locals as Gladstone. Paper-washed walls lined with rich wood paneling cradle a room of dates and groups equally. Recessed lighting adds a romantic mark, as do the splendid works of art directing visitors to Italian cities laid out in cobblestone and carved by gentle rivers.
Alternative dining includes the courtyard, semi-enclosed, beneath a tarp opening up during warmer months. Smoke-slate tiles hold up this reserve lit with lanterns and hugged with vine. Prefer easy access to the bartender? Find your way to the lounge. This lived-in setting involves a gripping wine cellar, granite-topped bar and a couple flat screens. From the bar, dole fruit-flavored martinis (average $8) like the clementini (Beefeater, Cointreau, fresh squeezed clementine juice and mint) and a range of imported beers (average $4.25).
The local alderman and Golden Globe-nominated actor William Peterson make some of Pasta's eye-popping clients. Peterson's wife and her sister make the trek more often, savoring the pumpkin ravioli, according to manager Eric Luchinski. Ask for his recommendation and he'll suggest the carpaccio di filetto (raw, thinly shaved meats ranging from octopus to tenderloin, dressed with truffle oil, capers and arugula topped with parmesan). For dinner, he prides the seasonal ossobuco di vitello: braised veal shank served in a light tomato sauce with saffron risotto, topped with gremolata ($25.95). Pair your meal with a selection from the worldly wine list (average bottle $28).
While a date on a dime can shyly walk away on a $60 tab, big spenders make up the usual clientele. Children surprisingly receive a stamp of approval for such a prim setting. Tag them along Thursdays where they eat free with the purchase of an adult meal. Pasta D’Arte is wi-fi friendly, offers sidewalk dining and small-scale catering.

Orecchiette ala Nunzia, Pasta D'arte: Pasta D'arte is the best Italian restaurant you've never heard of. Located on the far reaches of the Northwest side, this place defines neighborhood gem. The food is stellar, the wait is non-existent and the staff treats you like family. The orecchiette ala nunzia - ear-shaped pasta tossed with cubed eggplant, tomato sauce, basil and parmesan - is a dish not to be missed.

I love coming to PDA! My favorite part is the friendly atmosphere thanks to the wonderful and friendly staff. The food is incredible. I agree with the previous reviewer... the calamari is to die for! I may go there for the food, but it is the martinis that keep me coming back!...

We LOVED the special of the night Chilean Sea Bass (got the last portion of the night) - best ever!!! My Italian chicken was hearty comfort food. Service with a smile. We had a fantastic anniv. dinner just blocks from home in this little gem. Try it!

I can't say enough good things about Pasta D'Arte. My boyfriend and I started eating here 2 years ago and we are so lucky to have found this place in our very own neighborhood. Instead of having to drive all the way downtown we get to have awesome Italian food (the pumpkin ravioli is to DIE for) and Chris, the bartender, makes me the best dirty martini's before dinner. Plus the service is wonderful and the servers can answer any questions you have about the menu and are very accommodating to any special requests. Mark, the owner and chef always greets us and can be seen walking around talking to the customers many of which he knows by first name. I recommend this place to everyone I know and have every confidence that their experience will be just as wonderful if not better than mine.

Pasta D'Arte is a popular place with far North Siders, but it hasn't yet taken off as a celiac Italian hub, like Vinci or Da Luciano. There is no gluten-free menu, and its website makes no mention of gluten-free options. When it comes to GF eats, D'arte is the strong, silent type.
By casually mentioning that you have celiac, your server will point out everything on the menu you can safely eat. For a starter, you can order a traditional Caprese Salad, with beefsteak tomato and mozzarella. True, it's a dish you can have at any Italian restaurant, but here, there's no need to sweat about cross-contamination.
A dish you can't have at any Italian restaurant? Rigatoni with vodka sauce and prosciutto. They'll substitute the rigatoni with great-tasting gluten-free pasta, and will make the same substitution for a number of pasta entrees.
You can enjoy your wheat-free version of pasta favorites in D'arte's cozy dining room, or brave the heated covered patio in the winter. In the summer, the covers come off the patio, which might beat out every gluten-free space in Chicago for ambiance.
Pasta D'arte's gluten-free business might rely on word of mouth, but once that word gets out, it'll be added to every list of reliable gluten-free restaurants in Chicagoland.

So my husband and I had dinner at Pasta D'Arte last night for the first time.....it was absolutely AMAZING!!!!! Being Italian I am very skeptical and a tough critic of Italian restaurants. Just because a restaurant says it's Italian does NOT mean it will serve authentic Italian cuisine! Pasta D'Arte has exceeded my expectations and got my attention! Everything was fresh and delicious! Grazie per essere autenticamente delizioso!!

It's been about a year since my last post regaring Pasta d' Arte, and we've been a few times since. It had been about three months since our last visit until this past Friday night. I don't think we'll wait so long to go back again. This place does a lot of things right. We always start by sharing the wonderful grilled calamari. It is consistently excellent - we've never been disappointed in either the texture or flavor of the dish. When something is that reliably good, I just can't NOT order it, even though there was a tuna carpaccio special app that sounded good. Husband and I then split their house salad that has a nice well-balanced dressing. We both opted for pasta entrees from the "specials" menu. Husband had the Penne in a Tomato-Goat Cheese Sauce w/ Italian Sausage and Basil. He enjoyed this a lot. I had the Homemade Portobello and Ricotta Stuffed Ravioli w/ Sauteed Spinach. It was supposed to come w/ Itailian Sausage as well, but I don't eat meat and the server assured me it would be easy enough to omit. The ravioli were really good and obviously homemade (not from frozen and not using wonton wrappers.) The sauce was a simple blend of olive oil, butter, and toasted garlic slivers that didn't weigh down the ravioli. Very nice for summer. Portions were generous - I took half mine home for lunch on Saturday.
A couple of other things that make me like this place -

- The hostess was seating another couple when we arrived, but the Chef/owner was cooking on the line (visable from the host stand,) and he welcomed us and informed us she'd be right back.

- There were only two empty tables in the dining room as we were being seated. One was a 4-top against the wall, and the other was a small 2-top kind-of in the middle of the room. The hostess gave us the bigger table, even though we were only a party of two and didn't even try to seat us at the smaller one.

- As I mentioned, we hadn't been in at least 3 months, but our server recognized us, acknowledged that she had waited on us before, and warmly welcomed us back.

- You can get a decent bottle of Super Tuscan for $30.

- On our way out, both another server and the Chef thanked us for coming in and wished us a good night.

Pasta d'Arte is one of those places that every time we drove by it we said "we should check that place out sometime," and then never remembered it when planning a dinner out. Well, we finally got around to a visit a few weeks ago and enjoyed ourselves so much that we invited a couple of friends to meet us there this past Friday. Both times that we've dined there we've found the service to be friendly and knowlegable and the food very good - fresh, cooked properly (no rubbery calamari, pasta served al dente, rare tuna served RARE....) and very flavorful. We did not visit the bar on our first trip (it's in the back of the restaurant,) but met our friends there on Friday. Great bartender - lots of personality and very friendly. We were made to feel welcome right away by both him and one of the owners. The bartender made some great food recommendations and even came to our table later to check on us and see that we were enjoying everything. Authentic Italian or not - I think it's just a good little neighborhood spot.
The only pic I managed to take shows 2 of the three appetizers we shared - the house salad (which has some very tasty candied walnuts,) and a special on Friday - melon w/ proscuitto. We also had the still wonderful grilled calamari pictured above thread. I had a special entree - Pesto-Crusted Rare Tuna which was excellent and husband really enjoyed the lobster ravioli. The chunks of lobster were large and the ravioli toothsome. Overall, a very pleasant evening.

We just went back to this place for the first time in over a year for my wifes birthday. They re-did the front of this place and it looks great. The food was stellar and the service was prompt and courteous. A man who I'm assuming was the owner, was also walking around greeting customers with a smile and friendly hello. I'm so glad that we have this place in Norwood Park!

My wife and I are both thoroughly impressed with the quality of Pasta del'Arte's food and menu. We did not initially expect Pasta Del'Arte to be much more than a good neighbourhood restaurant, but have discovered it to be a high quality restaurant which, although laid back and informal, has authentic and well designed dishes. The chef has a fairly broad range of talent; at our last visit, I had the Risotta Pescatore (excellent!) while my wife had the pumkin ravioli. Both dishes were excellent, despite being so different. We have tried many other dishes and have never been disappointed. Pasta del'Arte is well worth a visit!

Mark takes great pride in his fresh ingredients and wine list-and it shows! The waitstaff is well informed and polite. What a fantastic evening for a very reasonable price.

I have celaic disease which means I cannot eat wheat. What a treat and most pleasant surprise to see they have gluten-free pasta on the menu and it was GOOD! Thank you!!!!!

I have been there many times. These are my recommendations: The grilled seafood over spinach, the veal saltimbocca and the linguine del mare.
The service is great and the staff is wonderful.

I work in Italy about 4 months a year, so needless to say, I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to Italian dining in Chicago. Most places fail miserably, but Pasta D'Arte "gets it". Not only great choices on meal options, but a well selected wine list (I was honestly shocked to see a few of the options on there - oh, and a reserve list ... Very nice ). Desert was great as well. We will be back often!!

Restaurant: Pasta D’Arte Trattoria Italiana
Address: 6311 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago IL 60646
Phone # 773 763 1181
Birthplace: Chicago
Current Position: Chef/Owner
First Foodservice Job: Prep cook - Via Veneto
Awards and Honors: None yet but I strive to do the best cooking that I possibly can
Favorite Food to prepare: Just about any piece of fresh fish however the staple at my house is a bowl of spaghetti tossed with olive oil shaved garlic and a pinch of chiles cooked al dente.
Worst part of the job: Not being able to spend as much time with my family as I would like, due to the long hours.
Best part of the job: The satisfied looks on all my customers faces after they eat my food.
Most Memorable Customers: Bill Peterson, Jeff Schroeder, Mike North, Candy Girl.
What was your most humorous kitchen mishap? The time I was grilling a piece of fresh sea bass for my wile's dinner and I forgot to turn the other side of the grill back on. Only half the fish was cooked when it was served. Thank goodness it was only my wife.
If you could not be a chef, what would you be and why? A food critic, because I like eating as much as I do cooking.
What is the best advice you ever received? Do what you love and you'll never work another day for the rest of your life.
Where do you like to vacation? Italy or somewhere in the Caribbean

This is quite possibly the best locally-owned restaurants we've visited on the northwest side.

We were there on a nearly-empty Wednesday night. Perfect. Excellent, fast service. I would have sat in the outdoor area (there are tables out front on the sidewalk, and there's an interior courtyard area) but I forgot to bring a sweater for the cool evening air.

Bruschetta: excellent.
Wine recommendation: very competent; server knew how to describe what would go with my food.
Lobster ravioli: excellent! Creamy sauce, without being too heavy.
Risotto: very good, complex flavors.
Tiramisu: also very good. The way tiramisu should be.

It wasn't a cheap outing, but we felt we got what we paid for. We expected upscale food, and they did not disappoint.

The decor was very nice. Even the details in the restroom added a lot.

It's sort of an oddball location, and being less than a block from Superdawg, it's totally unexpected. We'd lived in the area for 8 years before someone recommended it to us.  

We will definitely be back.  It'll be a good place to take out-of-town guests. Probably not so child-friendly. Also, it would be a very good idea to make reservations on a weekend.

If you were to use the criteria of most visited = my fav, then Pasta D'Arte is in fact my fav resto in Chicago. It is an incredible neighborhood Italian spot with great food & stellar service. I have been a regular for years & note that they have been consistently excellent with seafood dishes. The pizzas are also pure thin crust heaven. Wine selection is extensive with winners at all price points. The staff (Mark Owner, Eric Manager, Kalina Our fav server) are all superb. They make you feel welcome every time. It is like diing with friends.

Grandma is in the kitchen here, in spirit! Superbly, Excellent Cuisine!
Excellent wine, dessert, salads, entrees. Everything is superb!
Service is very attentive and very very polite!
Eating here is like eating with friends and family. Oh, did I mention that the service is very attentive and courteous. The extensive menu is sure to have something for everyone.Background music is beautiful and the food reminds me of Como Inn. They have many delicious dishes. And, they will email you the specials of the week on Mondays so you can plan your dinners out a week in advance. In the Summer and Winter you can eat  inside or outside. The outdoor seating area is accessible from the inside of the restaurant..
Very Highly Recommended!
There is also a bar in the back with 3 tables and TV's for the people that have to watch sports with their favorite Italian meal!

Looking for some of the best Italian food in the city?  Then look no further than Pasta D'Arte.  Chef/owner Mark always has creative and delicious specials available, but time and again we return to the tried and true options on the regular menu, particularly the rotolo and the lasagna.  (Hint: if you like it hot, get it with the diablo sauce!)   For your salad, you cannot beat the grilled asparagus.  And my daughter swears that anything with their vodka sauce is to die for.  

It's a small, intimate restaurant that will not disappoint.  Give it a try and you'll soon be a regular, like us.  And if you're really lucky, Mark will take the mike and sing a few Italian standards as he cooks up the meals.

Mark Giannini started cooking at the age of eight.
Growing up he worked in the kitchen alongside his mom and grandma. This is where he picked up some of his family’s traditional inspired recipes.
Over the years Mark has worked in all capacities of numerous restaurants from the back of the house to the front of the house positions. This experience and his passion for cooking would lead him to opening his own restaurant. Pasta D’Arte opened eight years ago. The building at one time was an apartment with garage. Mark transformed the place into 5 rooms; at the back is a bar/cocktail lounge, the main dining room and the courtyard with retractable roof. It’s absolutely lovely.
If you have a chance, look outside above the restaurant and you will see a gazebo with two mannequins sitting on the terrace. They have been there since day one changing with the times. It’s just something fun and something for people to look at.
The name Pasta D’Arte means the “Art of Pasta.” Chef Mark showcases his culinary talent in the presentation of the cuisine looking like a work of art, but what is most important to him is that your meal tastes good. His motto is “Food First”.
The menu consists of pizza, fresh salads, risotto, chicken parmigiana, fresh fish, veal and pasta dishes. I highly recommend the risotto or a pasta dish for your entree. The Bucatini Al’Osso Di Manzo (hollow spaghetti served with braised beef short rib meat in spicy tomato sauce w/shaved parmesan) was absolutely fantastic. Another to try is the Filetto Alla Mostarda (beef tenderloin medallions in a Dijon mustard and brandy sauce served with potatoes and veggies). Portion sizes are very hefty, so take it home for the next day.
Pasta D’Arte is located at 6311 N. Milwaukee Ave in Chicago, IL. They are open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week. Catering and private parties are available. For reservations and more info log on to www.pastadarte.com