Dave's Italian Kitchen

I do prefer to eat in at Dave's -- pasta tates best when it's perfectly fresh. It's frequently quite crowded (close proximity to NU campus), but still family-friendly, which is very helpful for those of us with kids. \r \r Their thin-crust pizza is tasty, but we usually order that just for our kids. We often get the eggplant or veal parmigiana, and the fettucine alfredo (a huge favorite of both mine and my eldest son). The latter could use a little extra sauce, but their pasta is always perfectly al dente and the portions are generous. more

A few years ago we loved this basement Italian place in Evanston because of its college feel. Tonight we went there to find that the place has gone down. Our waiter told us, as he gave us the check, ""total waste of money"". He obviously wasn't a very good waiter -so that covers the service. My dinner was not good, I had the garlic scallops which had absolutely no garlic in the recipe. My date had the shrimp and scallops Alfredo and she was disappointed. I tried the alfredo and it was much better than the not-garlic scallops, but was thin in the flavor department. The wine of the day, a temprenillo was very good. As we tried to keep a positive attitude we struggled with a screaming baby at the next table. It is a bit cacophonous down there as evidenced by the spray-painted noise-reducing foam that is staple-gunned to the ceiling. (Enough people must have complained.) The bread wasn't good, and even the olive oil tasted funny. The same strange thinness that my dinner had, perhaps made from the same low-quality oil. You'd expect that an Italian restaurant of any caliber at least carry some decent olive oil. Overall, kind of bleh. I could make better pasta at home. Pros: Wine. Cons: Everything else. more

Not too shabby, does get a little loud at times as stated before. Have recently tried the calamari pasta and fettucini alfredo w/chicken, fair enough quality for the price and nice sized portions. Expect leftovers unless you are an overeater, then prepare to binge. College type crowd as joint is near Northwestern campus and student housing. Can do better as far as quality and schmancy atmosphere, but for come-as-you are dinner Dave's is a good value. I have yet to eat anything bad there yet......... Pros: Value Cons: Can be noisy : if your over 50 or an uptight person you may be offended at times :P more

As a long time (15+ years) of Dave?s, I?m saddened to write this account of my dinner there this evening. Four of us were seated at the back of the restaurant. The host then seated a party of six young, highly intoxicated college students at the table next to us, and we noticed immediately that the waiter served them bottles of wine. We were surprised both that the waiter did not ask for proof of identification/age and that he would serve a party that was already clearly drunk. more

For a college kid on a budget, Dave's is ideal. The portions are so large you can get at least 2 full meals out of one pasta dish! The new location provided more seating, better lighting and big booths for groups. It is good classic Italian cooking, what else could you desire? Pros: inexpensive, portions, great for groups Cons: the bread (sometimes) more

while everything else in Evanston is going upscale and out of reach $$$ Dave's still provides great Italian food, great portions at a reasonable price. Miss the ""hole in the wall"" flavor of the old location but it is still one of my favorite ""after the movie"" joints. Pros: inexpensive, portions Cons: parking, loud more

I've tried every type of Chicaga Pizza. Eduardo's, Giordanos' Pizzeria Uno, Pizzeria Duo, Armonds in Elmwood Park, Lou Malnati's etc and though all are very good none of them come close to Dave's Italian Kitchen thin crust pizza. I'm not sure what makes it stand out. Perhaps it's the crunchy crust or maybe its the fresh ingredients that spring to life with each bite. All I know is I've been enjoying it for 17 years and each one I have seems to taste better than the one before. To me, having a Dave's Italian Kitchen Pizza is equal to having a $75 surf and turf meal at a fancy restaurant. But what's even more amazing is the cost. A medium with three ingredients costs about $14.50 with tax included. I have yet to find a better tasting pizza. more

My girlfriend and I had not been to Dave's for at least 4 years. We had been to Dave's twice when it was on Church Street and didn't go back because of the mediocre food. I guess they recently moved to Chicago Street and we thought we'd give them a try. After all these years, we thought something must have changed. Unfortunately not. The food is really mediocre and I wasn't very impressed with the service. The cannoli was abominable. It was really the worst cannoli I've ever had - it almost tasted like the filling had gone bad. I really wanted to like this place but will never go back. more