Trattoria Isabella
217 N. Jefferson

The Basics
Where you’ll find it: 217 N. Jefferson St. (312) 207-1900.

When it’s open: Monday-Friday 5 p.m.-11 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m.-12 a.m.

Reservations: Not necessary, but recommended on weekends.

What you’ve heard: It just opened in February, so there’s not much buzz yet, but online reviewers tend to agree that the food is good and the portions are generous. … One of us lives close by and had been watching the progress of the new outdoor patio. This cold, rainy night was not the time to try it, but it’ll undoubtedly be a great summer dining venue.

Visual Aids
First impressions: It’s inside an office building on the relatively quiet corner of Jefferson Street and Fulton Street, near the Clinton CTA stop. … You walk up a couple of steps and enter a small foyer. To the left is a long, narrow bar area with booths along the wall. To the right is a large dining room with dark brown wooden tables. … The space is mostly decorated in a contemporary style — clean lines, abstract light fixtures, high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows — but a few pieces of rustic Italian furniture are incongruously scattered around the room.

The atmosphere: The lights are low, the better to enjoy the view out the huge windows. We lucked into a table in the corner with windows on two sides of us. Not that there’s much action on Jefferson Street on a rainy evening, but it’s still more charming than a wall. … A few minutes after being seated, Brian declared the restaurant “has no soul.” While he had a point (it does lack character compared to many trattorias, which tend to be cozy and charming), his pessimism may have been influenced by the fact that he was still miffed over the $15.50 price tag on a glass of Glenlivet he had at the bar while waiting for the two ladies of the party.

The Experience
At your service: An older gentleman with an Italian accent serves as greeter and host. He seated us as soon as our party was complete. It was a quiet evening, and the dining room was about half full. … Our water glasses were filled immediately, and I didn’t even notice the bread basket being delivered; I just looked over and it was there. A bottle of olive oil with rosemary is a standard fixture on every table. … Our server showed up promptly to take our drink orders and recite the night’s two specials. We all agreed that he looked like Dustin Hoffman. A recurring conversation for the rest of the night was which Hoffman movie character he most resembled.

Get your drink on: The restaurant has a good wine list of mostly Italian wines. We each ordered glasses so we could sample a few. Brian had a Ruffino chianti ($9), Abi had Monte Antico Rosso sangiovese ($7) and Amy had Nobile de Borgo chianti ($7). Later in the meal, Brian ordered a glass of Lagaria merlot ($7.50) and Abi had a glass of Oggi pinot noir ($8). There was nothing we didn’t like, but we each had our favorites. … The wine glasses were huge, and the pours were generous. Scotch may be overpriced, but we decided wine is not a bad deal.

Menu variety and prices: Pasta dishes range from $13-20, and meat and fish entrees range from $15-34. The good-sized menu has Italian classics like spaghetti bolognese and veal parmigiana and some more inventive dishes, like ravioli in a pine nut and sage butter sauce. It also offers salads and antipasti to start the meal. The dessert menu has only three items: cheesecake, crème brûlée and tiramisu.

Description of what you did decide on: We went for a smattering of starters that we figured would give us a good idea of this restaurant’s range: Caesar salad, Caprese salad, sausage and peppers and grilled calamari. We ordered all our appetizers and entrees at the same time, and the staff ended up having great timing, bringing it out in stages. ... The salads arrived first. The Caesar was solid, without being spectacular. It had the right amount of creamy dressing, and the croutons were crunchy, not soggy. The tomatoes in the Caprese salad were bland (it’s not quite tomato season), but we liked the addition of marinated red peppers. … We asked for a combination of mild and hot peppers with our sausages, and the kitchen obliged. The grilled peppers had just enough crunch left to them, and the sausages were drenched in a sauce similar to Italian dressing. Abi and Brian liked the preparation of the grilled calamari in balsamic vinaigrette. … Our server had told us all the pasta is house-made and that customers rave about the steaks. Abi, a gnocchi connoisseur, was excited about her gnocchi alla casa, but disappointed once it arrived. It was heavy and chewy and not at all like the light, fluffy house-made gnocchi she had discovered while living in New York City. Brian had the New York strip steak and, though he said it was perfectly prepared, he complained that it was drowned in a wine sauce, when a quality steak should be allowed to stand on its own. Amy, luckily, had the best entrée of the night: fettuccine Isabella. This big bowl of fettuccine held plenty of bite-size salmon chunks. And the delicious cream sauce was spiked with red pepper flakes, delivering a spicy kick that cut the richness of the cream. … We finished off the evening with the tiramisu. It came on a plate drizzled with chocolate. It was much sweeter than traditional tiramisu and had chocolate shavings on top, but we liked it all the better for this.

Something that caught your eye: The recently-added patio dining area has a full bar. The patio wasn’t open the night we were there and the outdoor bar sat sadly empty, but we can already picture ourselves sitting outside on a warm summer evening sharing a bottle of wine with friends. Just don’t order scotch!

What you’ll tell your friends: Go here for dinner, but don’t go to the bar if you’re just looking to get drinks. … Most of the food is great, the portions are generous and the prices are reasonable. … It’s a very nice atmosphere, maybe even a good date spot if you get a table by the windows or if you can sit outside on the patio. … Oh yeah, and there’s free parking in the evenings in the office building’s lot.

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