Review of "Babaluci"

With the birth of my daughter, you may have noticed that the reviews haven't come all that often lately. But, last Friday my in-laws were gracious enough to babysit while the wife and I enjoyed a nice dinner out. Our choice this time was "Babaluci". There are two locations, one at 2152 N. Damen in Chicago and the other at 1001 W. Golf in Hoffman Estates. Being from the 'burbs' we obviously went to the Hoffman location. Truth is that if it didn't have a large maroon canopy you would be hard pressed to find this place. It's in a strip mall and a bit recessed from the road.

Once inside you notice that this is not a large place. Weather permitting there is a small outdoor seating area but overall the dining room is pretty small. But with it's dim lighting and candles on the table it definitely gives it a cozy and warm feeling that would be perfect for a date night. Service here is very friendly and personal. Our waiter not only was very knowledgeable about the food, he also loved to talk to us about children and life in general.



For starters we went with the bruschetta and the panzanella salad. The main courses were chicken marsala and chicken vesuvio. First out was the bruschetta, which differently than others served the tomatoes on the middle of the plate and toasted bread along the outside. The bruschetta had excellent flavor with plenty of balsamic vinegar taste running through it. Next was the salad which was a mixed greens salad loaded with parmesan cheese and peppercini peppers all tossed in a very tasty Italian vinaigrette.



Dinner arrives and now it's time to see how this place really stacks up. The vesuvio was all white meat chicken, peas, and roasted potatoes swimming in a wine sauce. I was ecstatic! This is the second best vesuvio I've ever had next to "Harry Carry's". The chicken was tender and the potatoes were slightly crisp on the outside and tender in the inside. Next is the marsala and let me tell you first that I'm a chicken marsala snob! I've had it at many places and it never stacks up to my favorite from "Rossini's"(review coming soon). Most places serve it with mashed potatoes which in turn soaks up all the wonderful marsala wine sauce. I'm happy to say that they do not do that. Moist chicken is topped with mushrooms and is swimming in a lovely pool of marsala wine sauce. It's accompanied with some garlic pasta, zucchini, and squash. This was the second best chicken marsala I've had!

Last off are the desserts. And in the interest of everyone reading we sampled three! We had tiramisu, cannoli's, and a pistachio tartufo. The tiramisu was sweeter than most and had plenty of whipped cream on there. Still pretty darn good but a little sweeter than I expected and a little less espresso flavor than I'm used to. Next were the cannolli's which were 2 large pieces filled with smooth ricotta cheese and had pistachio pieces on the end. Very tasty and highly recommended. Last off was the star of the desserts, the pistachio tartufo. If you like pistachio's then this is the dessert for you. It's almost like a pistachio sundae. Chocolate sauce, homemade whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream rolled in more pistachios than you would believe. You literally have pistachios in every bite!

Final bill with tip came out to about $70 for the two of us which is reasonable considering how much we ate and took home as left overs. Overall "Babaluci" has very good food and very good service for "Olive Garden" prices. This was truly a little gem that we stumbled upon and definitely worth a try. Rating *** and 1/2 out of ****.