Sergio's Cucina Italiano

Name: Sergio's Cucina Italiano
Location: Chicago, IL (Itasca area)
Meal: Dinner
Server: Hector (awesome!)
History: I was in the Chicago area for business and Chris came in to visit me. We wanted to try a local place while in town so Chris researched it on the internet while I was at work. He found Sergio's on CitySearch and made a reservation. Little did he know that I had spent most of the day less than 500 yards away at a warehouse! :)
Menu: The menu took us back to Italy. Most of the dishes were listed with their names in Italian, ingredients in English. Everything seemed very authentic and we really struggled to decide on what to order. We were both very impressed.
Food: We decided to start with an appetizer of Ensalata de Asparagi which was a light salad of fresh spring greens, crispy yet tender asparagus, fresh tomoatoes and creamy mozerella all in a thick pesto sauce. It was amazing. We opted to share a glass of the House Chianti which was full yet smooth and fruity. I ordered Rigatoni alla Siciliana which consisted of eggplant, and fresh tomatoes in a light marinara sauce. Chris went for his favorite from our trip to Rome, Spaghetti Carbonara which is a light creamy butter sauce (best compared to a less cheesy, lighter alfredo) made of olive oil, eggs, cheese, butter and bacon (usually canadian style) . We both chose a House Salad over soup. The house salad was good, but disappointing after our appetizer; we realized too late that we should have opted for soup. My dish was tasty with perfectly cooked eggplant and deliciously aldente pasta. I did decide that it could have had more garlic and spice. Chris's dish gave him a flash back to Rome, so much so that he polished the dish off in record time. His only negative comment was that this version was much spicier than those he had in Rome. Half way through the meal Hector gave us a second glass of Chianti (a different brand) that he had poored on accident. Then, after our meal when we were both stuffed to the gills, Hector brought us each a glass of Bruchetto made by Spamonte which is a fruity, port like champagne. What a finish to the meal! It was sweet and light and fizzy (and free!). I should say that we really lucked out with Hector - he was friendly and nice and we're pretty sure the Spamonte isn't typically complimentary.
Atmosphere: You couldn't get much more authentic without leaving the States. We were greeted by an Italian hostess and immediately surrounded by live Itlian music. There were several parties going on, all typically Italian and loud but not annoying. At several points, we felt like we were on the set of Sopranos. Our server, Hector, was amazing. During a lul he stopped to talk to us about wine and recommended several we plan to try soon. We went to Palio's in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago and while the food is comparable we have to say the atmosphere at Sergio's was more authentic.
Cost: $57.00 (after a BIG tip) Keep in mind we had wine and an appetizer.
Conclusion: 4.5 out of 5 stars