Ahhhh... Father & Son's pizza in my 'hood! Some of the best thin crust around, it's a welcome addition to N'brook. Quality ingredients, great pasta dishes, and an excellent salad to boot. The dining room is beautiful, but small. Expect a wait at dinner. Nice bar with a couple of flat screens to watch while waiting for a table or carry-out. My only complaint is the prices are a bit steep for pizza, but it is Northbrook... Now I have a tough decision on Italian night- Marcello's or Tonelli's? Can't miss with either one in my book!
(4)
Blair F.
Before my wife and I moved to Northbrook, we (sadly) ordered from Father & Son in Chicago. It was awful. Astonishingly this location is even worse. For $26 plus tip, we ordered a Fusilli dish and Spaghetti and Meatballs. They both came in plastic containers with a HUGE sauce bowl, so you can put the sauce on after. That part is fine. What ISN'T fine is that the sauce bowl literally takes up about 40% of the bowl that otherwise could be filled with pasta, so you're immediately screwed, right?. Wrong! Why you ask? Because the pasta is simply inedible. Pure unadulterated shit. It's so bad that my wife chose to eat two-day old burned pizza in lieu of her Fusilli. They give you one piece of bread (to share!) that's barely enough for a hamster who'd just eaten a full meal and nothing else. Truly, we'd have been better off if when the guy came to deliver, we gave him the $30 and let him kick me in the nuts and said, "You don't want this food. It's shit."
(1)
Ed S.
So far I've used their take-out service twice and the meals were excellent, especially the ribs. We tried eat-in on a Friday night but didn't have time to wait for a table. The parking lot has been quite full every evening since they opened.
(5)
Simone G.
Good food. period. almost. The service is good and the broasted chicken is amazing because they pressure fry it which gives it a good crunch.
(4)
James C.
Several years ago, my wife and I visited the Logan Square restaurant on a whim and were extremely impressed. Great service, even better food - and at a relatively modest price point. So finding ourselves on the North Shore, we were excited to try Marcello's in Northbrook... Though not quite as good as we remembered the food being in Logan Square - - the food rated about a four. Cooked well, nothing special, but just delicious Italian-American food. However, the service was somewhat less inspiring. The restaurant had a couple busy tables, but was only about 1/3 full. In spite of this, we felt somewhat ignored during the meal, to the point we elected to seek out dessert elsewhere. If I lived in the NB area, I probably would give it another shot, just because the food is quite good, hoping that our service experience is the exception, rather than the rule.
(3)
Jodi B.
The food at Marcellos is outstanding! Always so fresh and consistent . The pizza, flatbreads, chicken, ribs, fish are all outstanding . Haven't had a bad meal yet. The restaurant is beautiful, very warm, cozy and the service has always been great! I can't think of another restaurant with such reasonable prices and such outstanding food. The two Chicago locations are just as great. If you haven't tried Marcellos it's a must.
(5)
Tracey M.
I had heard so many good things about Marcello's that I was really looking forward to eating there. However, the actual experience did not live up to the hype. The Food: Overall my food was good. I had the Shrimp ala Marcello. It was good and had a bit of a kick to it spice wise. However, it didn't have as much garlic as I had hoped/expected. It left me wondering if I should have had pizza as it was recommended by the person who suggested the restaurant. The portion was generous and made for good leftovers the next day. The Service: The service started out really good. However, as the restaurant became more crowded the service decline - drastically. The Atmosphere: Fine. A bit small for the amount of tables they have inside. The Bottom Line: Mediocre at best. I'd be willing to give the place another try.
(3)
Becky P.
All I can say is: Do the goat cheese pizza. We got this the other night and HOLY COW was it amazing. I've gotten other things here before, but man, I honestly don't even remember what they were because the goat cheese pizza just wiped the slate clean. I loved the extra thin crust, and that they were generous with the toppings. Nothing irks me more than when I'm lacking my toppings! Check it out!
(5)
Jay K.
Are you familiar with the term 3 strikes and your out? Well it applies to this place at least for the take out which I had 3 times. First the pizza. It was good not great and sooo overpriced, go to Barnaby's. Second the salads...again sooo overpriced and just plain not good. Hell Wendy's has a better salad, or go across the street to Sunset Foods and get the salad bar. Third the chicken vesuvio. It was their broasted chicken smothered in some kind of olive oil and garlic sauce crap. Again way overpriced! Seriously, if your looking for some really good food in that area of Northbrook go to Francesca's North or even Oliverii's. It's worth it...Marcello's is not even close.
(1)
Matthew S.
If I could rate this 4.5 stars, I would. It is ALMOST perfect. This place is known for their pizza, and they do not disappoint. I am a New-York-Style fan, all the way, and this is some decent NY pizza - a thin, but quality crust, with a solid, but not over-powering sprinkle of garlic. A solid layer of smooth, and slightly sweet tomato sauce. And a generous, well chosen topping of cheese, focusing on the classic mozzarella, but blending in other, subtle flavors. This is how pizza is supposed to be done. This is not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's definitely in the top few, and is a delight to eat each time. The atmosphere is also excellent - it manages to walk the subtle line between a classy restaurant and a sports bar quite nicely. There are several full-sized TV screens, but they are placed such that, depending on the seating arrangement, they are either available to be viewed by choice, or completely out of view. This is a place where everyone can be happy. It is a good blend of upscale and casual dinning - everyone will be welcome here, both the casual, comfortable dress, and the more upscale, business dress will fit in quite well. They do have a solid menu beyond Pizza as well, focusing on generalist food, and the quality is similarly general. Nothing here is going to blow your socks off, but I don't suspect anything will disappoint either. This is a great place to take friends and family, to rewind after a long day, to host small meetings, or just about anything else. In fact, I cannot think of an excuse not to eat here. I have been here several times since moving to the area, and expect to return on a regular basis. Oh and their bread/cracker freebe thingy - I don't know what it is, but your table will go through it like it's going out of style. Seriously yummy.
(4)
Jay S.
Went for the first time a few weeks ago. The food was a mixed bag, I had the country style broasted chicken (very good), my daughter had spare ribs (she loved them, not spicy), my son had the shrimp scampi (very bland, wouldn't order it again) and my wife had a salad and flatbread (salad was fine, the flatbread was greasy). Decor was nice, looks more modern and inviting on the inside than from the outside. Service was okay, waitress was friendly and the wait time for the food was normal. There seemed to be many regular/repeat customers. If you like a glass of wine with your meal, you are in luck, generous amount per glass. I'll go again, but no seafood or flatbread. Chicken and ribs are solid. Pizza looked good glancing at other tables so I'll give it a try. Overall, solid but not spectacular.
(3)
Al S.
We had been driving around Northbrook and stumbled upon Marcello's. What a nice find. Good food and service . Nothing fancy but very very tasty at reasonable prices and big portions. Service was excellent. No pretension - great neighborhood place. We'll be back !
(4)
Jo N.
Went there for a private party. The pizza was very good, and I will def be eating it again!! :). We also dined here just an a regular night and the food was good as well. In addition, they have a gluten free menu :)
(4)
Richard S.
This place is close, and they deliver. I prefer the things on the menu that are not Italian - broasted chicken, ribs and burger. In house service is hit or miss. Delivery and carry out is impeccable. This is the family's stand by when we don't want to cook.
(3)
Melanie V.
The dilly? My belated birthday lunch - with my most awesome group of coworkers. (No, seriously, they are the best!) Since I pretty much veto'ed everything in Northbrook/Deerfield, I decided I wanted Marcello's 'cuz of the pretty good lunch deal. Soup, salad and drink for $10. Not bad, not bad. The Southwestern Salad is a solid choice (chicken, tomato, iceberg lettuce, green onions, cheese, tortilla strips). Filled me up, for sure. The Veggie Chopped salad and Beef sandwiches also looked appealing! It doesn't get too crowded during lunchtime, so service is pretty good. TV's all around are a welcomed distraction, too. Servers are always super friendly. Plus, to all you corporate diners, check if your business qualifies for the 10% discount! All you need to do is show your badge/id. But, do you wanna know what the BEST part of the meal truly is? The flatbread cracker things they give out before the meal. It comes with some herbed butter and... OMG - to die for. Between the seven of us, we basically polished off 2.5 baskets of it (and 2 containers of butter). Maybe THAT's why I was so full afterwards.....
(3)
Dustin C.
From their apps to their main dishes this place is great. What really separate's their food from other similar places is the service and consistency. I've been going to this location for over a decade and some of their best entrees continue to hit a home run. The fried chicken is tremendous; not only do they provide you with a great product, but their alternative options for flavors are great. The pizza is incredibly unique, the crust happens to be my favorite. Off the top of my head, I can't even begin going through their menu and naming all of their best items. There are simply too many. More than anything Marcello's is the type of place that demands perfection from its staff and you see that in the repeatedly great service. Even when things aren't perfect, they find a way to make you happy. I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Magnifico!
(5)
Eddie F.
Food and service are irrelevant here because when I ordered food for delivery, they changed receipt details and added an $8 tip to $$59.50 bill ($10 of which I gave as a tip). Rip off place. Not to be trusted. Stay away.
(1)
Gerald A.
Nothing to wow me. Nothing offensive either. Still searching for a good italian/american restaurant with decent prices. The pre-meal "crackers" were ok, but I'd rather have something more similar to the chips that Edwardo Natural Pizza serves, or a warm basket of bread. Entree of Chicken Parmesan was average, but out of whack with the price -- $14.95. Viccino's ($9.95) and Saranello's ($13.95 @ lunch) have better chicken parm, and go-romo ($9.79) has a pretty decent one in comparison with it's price. I never ordered a pizza, because the prices are too expensive. There are 3 other pizza places in the immediate area, Marcello's is the most expensive. If they beat Lou Malnati's pricing on their comparative items, I'd consider them. It appears that Marcello's is in a catch-22 that they are not willing to break out of. They don't sell as many pizzas as Lou Malnati's, so that have to charge more per pizza. Because they charge so much more for pizza, they don't sell as many pizzas. If cheap pizzas isn't sustainable for on-premise dining, at least make a "carry out only" special that is affordable and covers the cost of preparation!
(2)
Lynn S.
This is a really good family restaurant! Their Chicken Vesuvio, came with two side dishes and though not typical Italian style, drowning in olive oil, garlic and mushrooms, it was still a large, tasty platter. The onion rings were nothing special, just lots of batter but their fries were excellent. We shared a really ample Caesar Salad which was fresh and sported parmesan cheese crisps on top. The menu here is extensive including ribs, seafood, pizza, pasta and sandwiches plus soups and salads as well. Everyone can find something here. The atmosphere is attractive and happily, it wasn't too noisy, but families are a good part of the crowd so don't expect to share an intimate conversation across the booth. My only complaint was the service, which often completely forgot us, but was cheerful and pleasant when we attracted attention. Don't let its shopping strip location deter you, this restaurant is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They are also located in Lincoln Park and Logan Square and they have a delivery and catering service.
(4)
Faith D.
We love, love, LOVE this place. Free parking. Fun bartenders. Generous portions and good value. The garlic-oregano broasted (okay ... probably fried) chicken is out of this world. Seriously - the best I've ever tasted. The flatbreads are wonderful. The service .... could be better. Hey! You can't have everything ALL the time, right? There are many pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and other entrees which look good but I am so stuck on the chicken that I never order anything else. It's very casual/kid friendly and noisy. This is a regular in our restaurant rotation and I really love it.
(4)
Roberta R.
What a disaster! I went with my son, his wife and 2 children. We entered about 5:20 and after over an hour, we finally got our dinner. I twice got up to ask, where our dinners were, and there did not seem to be much of a concern on their part. The waitress ignored us, and we were not even offered more crackers. All the waitress said was I'm sorry. The management said nothing. The food was good, but there is no way I will wait an hour to be served. I am here for the summer and this was where my 10grandchildren like to go. Well, I guess I will find another favorite place
(1)
Greg M.
Oh goodness, don't listen to these lukewarm reviews of an excellent restaurant. The only item i continually come back for is the chicken, it is incredible. I highly recommend the garlic/basil chicken as it will rock your world hard. Recently, I had an experience with a mixed up order where they unfortunately gave my food to another customer. To compensate they added a few desert items for free and even gave me a free beer until my order was completed. Free beer and deserts make up for unsatisfactory service any day of the week. Marcello's you just made a happy/loyal customer. Thank you. Go Bears.
(4)
kavan s.
I've been here before. The food is good. I never knew they had gluten free pizza before as stated in 1 review. Maybe I will try this. Their fat bread is also very good. And its close by. I hate driving too far especially at night.
(5)
Bill W.
Loud - okay food - painfully slow service!!
(2)
Brian L.
Oh I feel guilty for giving this place the same number of stars as the Logan Square location but everything's relative, right? There's no other place comparable in Northbrook. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance, drive 40 minutes out to the city and try the Logan Square location. I don't know what it is, but the food is always better there. Anyway, for being the Northshore, this place is pretty solid. When you first walk in it seems like a zoo from people ordering carry-out, the bar atmosphere, and just general traffic in and out of the restaurant. But once you're seated, it's nice and spacious and the staff is always nice. The food here is good and the value for the price is hard to beat. It's a homemade semi-gourmet Italian eatery and you can come out completely full for around $15 a person. Their broasted chicken is heavenly and the pizza is basically a layer of melted cheese on a cracker- both are must get's for first timers. I think over the years I've tried every single item on the menu- and I can say, there's nothing on there that I'd never try again. And of course you can count on their awesome desserts (psst, gotta get the carrot cake!). All in all, there's not much to complain about this place. But then again, I guess there isn't much to rant and rave about either.
(3)
Avon B.
You cant go wrong with the broasted chicken as its the best around. Unfortunately, they keep raising their prices most likely to pay for the Groupon campaign they sometimes run. The service has gotten better over the years and most of the menu items are good. Stay away from the pizza as there is better in town. Again, the broasted is worth many return visits. Owner/manager is a good guy and always there. Ambiance is good, nice little bar as well.
(4)
Steve P.
We went to the Nortbrook location which is only about 4 years old. The Jumbo shrimp appetizer was superb. It is true. The broasted chicken is really fantastic. Would like to see bar area moved to the party room area instead of the restaurant side as the noise level may compete with the dinning experience. Other than that, I think it's a hidden gem in Northbrook.
(4)
Vincent A.
I went to Marcello's only because my Girlfriend got a gift certificate as a 2011 Christmas gift from one of her students trying to suck up for extra credit, lol. I never knew the place exsisted. When me and my girlfriend walked in right away we were impressed by the overall atmosphere. There was a full bar in the restaurant, and the restaurant itself had a bunch of flat screen tv's, there was hardwood floors with a new modern decor that was very comfortable, chic, and sophisticated. The food was very good and the prices were appropriate. I had Chicken Picata ($15) It came with two boneless chicken breasts with a caper lemon white wine sauce. They didn't shy on the capers which was nice. The chicken was tender the sauce was delectable. They offered fresh grated parm cheese tableside and was just great. You are able to pick two sides with this dish which for $15 is a bargain! I got fries (crinkle cut nothing special), and a multi-grain rotini pasta with a housemade meat red sauce. The sauce isn't as traditional as most Italian sauces normally are. Usually a little bland lets the basil, protein, and tomatoes stand out. Marcello's sauce had a little bite to it with a big herb flavor, and the protein used was very dominant. Very tasty. My Girlfriend got the Ravioli with Marinara. It was around $10 bucks and came with 5 or 6 ravioli which is a good bargain as well. I didn't taste her dish, but from observing from across the table I saw and heard a lot mmmmm's and ooooo's so I'm gonna say it was pretty good, lol. For dessert we shared this awesome and decatant White Chocolate Cheesecake. It was dense, packed with flavor, and was a party in my mouth. The only thing I think would have made it better was if a little dark chocolate syrup was drizzled over the top. It was a great meal :) ....... But...... The reason why I gave a 3 star review for a place that deserves 5 stars was because of the service. Our service sucked. We got seated right away with a smile :) , but after that we sat at our table for 10 min before we got our beverage order taken. The restaurant wasn't even that busy at the time. When she brought us our drinks she put them down and proceded to get comfortable and sit/lean against the table next to us. I been in the restaurant buisness for over 10 years and you can't sit on the tables!! Its unsanitary!! Where has her butt been? Farting? Pull your pants down using the facilities letting your pants lay on the dirty bathroom floor. But its okay to just sit on the table... Then as she's taking our order she's leaning with her arms crossed across her chest giving us an annoyed stare with annoyed tone of voice saying, have you decided? What can I get you. Doesn't write it down just listens and leaves. We don't really see her again untill we order an additional order of fries which took 15 mins. We were done eating by the time our fries got to the table. She came by and asked us if we wanted refills, and we asked for a coke and she said okay, and proceded to focus her attention on other tables that had more customers. She had been doing that all evening. Ignoring the small tables but giving the bigger tables more attention. The bus boy came by looking at the server irratated himself at her by the look on his face, and in an appoligetic tone asked us if we wanted refills, and in less than 30 seconds we got our coke. Thats good service!!! 10 min after the fries were finished we ordered the cheesecake and that took another 10 mins. Then we asked for the check and that took another 5 mins. The only time we got a smile from her was when we were about the leave. Like she was happy we were leaving. She was so unprofessional, she was also wearing yoga pants, a sweatshirt and a sweat head band. "Very nice" outfit for a nice nice nice restaurant such as Marcello's. I would definetly go back for the food, but I would have to make sure that when I go I don't have any appointments for after the meal, or make sure a sitter has extra time cause your probably gonna end up being late. DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR BUS BOY!!!! :D
(3)
George H.
VERY Disappointing. I had heard so much about his place, but was very disappointed the 1st time, the 2nd time, but the 3rd time was the kicker! Undercooked food is something I will not tolerate. Bad service, when it's not that busy...sorry A wine list of way overpriced and under perfoming products. I want wines you don't see on the shelf ay Binny's, you know unique, boutique type wines, that are good and don't cost a lot. Here it's the same old stuff you see everywhere. I tried this place enough times to know I'm NOT ever going back!
(1)
Jose T.
I've been here a couple of times & I like it a lot. It's a step up from your usual pizza joint as they offer great menu options outside of pizza that you wouldn't ordinarily find in a traditional pizza joint. This place actually doesn't qualify as a 'joint'. It falls more on the side of a pleasant Italian restaurant that happens to serve pizza. My new favorite here is the BBQ cedar planked salmon. DELISIOUS! This place also has a nice bar atmosphere at the bar. A good place to take your girl or family to, or to just hang out with the guys.
(4)
Chris G.
I go there regularly and enjoy the chicken or a cheeseburger. The service is good and the staff is friendly. I usually go during the week when it's no so crowded.
(5)
Janice L.
i love pizza and ny pizza is my fave, but i cannot get enough of their pan pizza with the works. their pasta combos are great. i usually get the grilled seasonal veggies with marinara sauce and meatballs. delish! the spinach side is good too, with the butter, maybe a tad too much oil. there aren't too many good italian places in the suburbs anymore. i used to love riggio's but they've gone down hill...
(4)
Katie B.
I recently did a 40th birthday party for my husband at Marcello's North Events. We had 60 guest and it was a blast. The managers Larry and Jim were fabulous to work with and very accommodating. The staff was friendly and helpful, but most of all I am still getting comments from our friends about how great the food was. They opened the party room in October of 2010 and it is a great space to host any event. I look forward to do more parties and/or catered events through Marcello's North in the future. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)
emily d.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)
Scott B.
Can't not say anything bad about this place. Awesome Pizza and some of the BEST broasted Chicken. Props to this place for the food, services and decent prices. One of my top 10 in the NorthShore.
(5)
Vera Lynn W.
i love it here. I always choose it for my bday dinner. I always get their spinach lasagna. With meatballs. So good and very big portions. My son loves their broasted chicken. They serve flatbread to everyone and their butter is very good. I haven't tried their pizza yet. Too busy enjoying their lasagna. :-) They have a great bartender, too. Very nice guy. So why not 5 stars? It gets very very loud here. Very loud. Their wait staff is hit or miss also. Ive had both great service, and very poor and inattentive. Their bus boys are amazing though. I swear they run the place. Fast, efficient, polite. And a few of them are really cute. Update: We ordered in for dinner last week. I got what I usually get (spinach lasagna) and a side of meatballs. I asked how many come with an order. I was told 2. That's what I remembered. They were terrible. Very hard and dense. I ate half of one and threw the rest away. Later as I was checking the receipt, I saw they overcharged me for the meatballs. $5.95 instead of $3.45. If they had been delicious, I wouldn't have minded so much. But to be overcharged for something I threw away because they were unedible? Unacceptable. Very disappointed. However, the delivery guy was very good looking. Next time, I'll order him!
(4)
Elle J.
Went here on a Friday night with the family - all three of us. LOL! The server was super nice, she was also super slow! Took her a good 10+ minutes before she even showed up to take our drink order. Appetizers were ok - we had the chicken tenders (YUMMY!) and calamari (not so yummy - very bland and tough). All of us had some sort of pasta. They messed up my order and gave me the same sauce as my husband. It wasn't awful, but not what I ordered. I didn't complain (was too tired & too hungry) and it wasn't all that bad. That being said, it was just plain old pasta. Nothing outstanding - just eh. The following week we decided to order pizza and have it delivered. Placed the order around 2:00, with a promised delivery time-frame of 30-40 mins. An hour after I placed the order it still hadn't showed up so I called. The manager apologized, told me the driver was having car trouble but he was on the way. Fifteen minutes later he still wasn't here - called again. Again, got a generic apology, but no explanation. Waited ANOTHER 20 minutes and called AGAIN. See a pattern here? Yes another apology but no explanation. FINALLY he shows up. Our "thin & crispy" pizzas were cold & soggy - just awful. Mozzarella sticks were hard as rocks and ice cold. I honestly don't think they even cooked them. I called and talked to the manager yet AGAIN and while she was apologetic AGAIN, she offered no compensation, other than to place another order and someone would pick up the first order when they dropped the new one off. I took a pass and told her I wanted my money back. She refused. We ended up going back & forth - me getting more & more pissed off by the second - and I ended up with measly a store credit for $25.00 - the cost of the cheapest pizza. Oh yeah... the price. I just about DIED when I placed the order and she told me the cost. It was like $70.00 for 2 flippin pizzas (both large, each with 3 toppings), an order of cheese sticks, tax & delivery. WTF??? The only reason I went ahead with it was b/c we were starving and figured for that kind of money, the food would be damn good. Guess we were wrong. I will never ever order from there again or visit the restaurant. Pissed me off that much...
(1)
Johanna N.
Everytime I've tried to go to this place it is packed! Waiting for a table or even a spot at the bar is 30-40 minute wait. Hence, I've only ordered the food for carry-out, but I was very impressed with the service and the food. When I call and place orders, the person answering the phone is helpful, tells me the exact time of pick-up, and total bill. When I have picked up the food, it is ready to go and still warm. I have ordered the oven broasted chicken once...which turned out to be a fancy way of saying fried chicken. While I had been hoping for a basic roasted chicken I used this a one of the few opportunities I have had to have fried chicken without feeling guilty. The chicken was great! Not too greasy! I also have ordered various pasta dishes. I appreciate that the sauce is left off of the pasta and placed in a separate container. As a result, the pasta is not soggy when I finally get the food home to eat. I would recommend this place for good standard middle-of-the-road Italian food. Be prepared to wait for a table or bar space Friday and Saturday!
(3)
kim s.
I do not see what people like about this restaurant, I think it's extremely over priced for very average food. The service was good but it really ends there.
(1)
Adele S.
I took my daughter here after hebrew class(yeah, real kosher!) so it was still pretty early for dinner, just after 6 on a Tuesday and we had our choice of seating. The booths were roomy and comfortable, everything spotless. Bathroom got a big thumbs up from my daughter for cleanliness and nice smelling soap. But we aren't there for the toilets. We split a garden salad-nothing spectacular, just dark crunchy greens, juicy tomato, crisp cukes and long paper thin shreds of red cabbage. Next time I'll try one of the other salads, this was really good! We had a black olive & green pepper deep dish which was excellent except for the crust...it was reminiscent of soda bread, just had that weird arm & hammer aftertaste. It wasn't so bad as to make the pizza inedible but it was just odd. I don't recall Father & Son crust tasting like this but then we always went to the Milwaukee Ave. location. No complaints about service because it was early enough. We'll probably be back to try something other than pizza.
(3)
Melissa W.
Can you say "Oil Pit"? I am writing this with acid indigestion along with my husband. We just got home from this place. All I can say is, just because it is Italian food, you don't have to drench it in olive oil to make it taste good. Where the ingredients lacked in quality, the olive oil made up for it in quantity. I ordered Chicken Vesuvius, husband ordered a side of rice and sauted spinach. They totally messed up the rice with a cup of oil, same with spinach. My chicken was drenched as well. We went to Italy last Fall, and I can say this is not real Italian food. Run away, run far away from this oil pit.
(1)
ida s.
I work close by and have never been disappointed with this place. I mostly get the southwestern chopped salad and I can barely finish it, it is that large. The staff always is accommodating my busy schedules and gets me in and out quick. I also have had the chicken parmesan and it delivered along with the grilled chicken sandwich. I know I can always get a solid meal here. I never have had a bad experience here.
(4)
Marlo P.
I am very disappointed in this place. I've always gone to the Father & Son at Logan Square since I was a wee little kid. Never had a problem. I loved their food and the service was always outstanding. I had moved out to the burbs and found out that my favorite restaurant when I was a kid has moved out with me. I WAS SO ECSTATIC! So I took my "boyfriend" (my husband now) to this restaurant because we both LOVED Father & Son. We came in fairly casual dressed. It was pretty easy to spot us out because we were from the city and Northbrook is one of those suburbs where ladies do lunch and usually have more money I guess. At least that's what they made us feel like at the restaurant. They sat us down at the restaurant and it wasn't busy at all. Now I have to add, I've worked in many restaurants. I am pretty lenient when I receive service from restaurants because I can understand the stress on people and I just understand the kind of hell some people go through in restaurants. With that being said, we had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I kid you not, 4 other tables were sat after us and they had received drinks and servers were paying attention to them. My husband realized I was getting sort of upset so he told a bus boy that someone should come over to serve us soon. The bus boy went up to a server and told them that we have not been served and they did not say a word to us after that. I gave them 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is a long long long time. Other customers were even asking us why they weren't coming to us. I stopped the first person that came across me (which was the same bus boy) and I told him to get me the manager. He then tells the server I want to see a manager and the first thing the server says to us was "Sorry." with a pen and paper in her hand ready to take our order. I requested a manager and she said okay and the manager came by to speak to us. I told her the situation and then she says "well we can take your order now, what do you want?" No apology. Nothing. I told the manager that we were just going to leave and she said, "fine". Then the server stops at us and says "I'm sorry, I thought you were waiting for other people to come." We were sitting at a table that seats two. I wasn't blind. We were the youngest couple in that restaurant that day and we were ignored as if we didn't have any money to eat. I was extremely disappointed that day. I felt like I was being judged because of my age, income, possibly race, but whatever it was, it was pretty noticeable that we were being ignored. It really hurt my husband and I to even feel like that. I will never come to this place again. Thank you Marcellos for not letting me experience the same experience that I've had in Chicago for a long time. It was the worst service I have ever had in any establishment ever.
(1)
Sandra F.
Consistently good food and good service in the neighborhood. No wonder they are busy!
(4)
Arielle M.
This place is always good for a perfect pizza and great service. The bartenders can make a perfect cocktail and they always have great drink specials. The thin crust pizza is as good as anything around and the fried (broasted) chicken is out of this world. The burgers and salads are also really tasty. They also have great live music on some Saturdays. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)
Mike L.
Finally a great restaurant in Northbrook. They have a great menu and amazing Pizza. Their GF pizza rocks!!! Great salads as well! Way to go Marcello's
(5)
Jessica K.
:c I don't usually apologize for bad reviews but I will for this one because everyone here is nice and the restaurant looks nice too. I was given the wrong dish even though we were the only ones there and I had confirmed the order with the server. But the dish I got was essentially the same. I'm not taking stars off because of a mix-up. I am, however, taking stars off for taste. The food is... not good here. The pasta I got looked and tasted like it was sad and so did my partner's panini. Wilty, bland, tired-- some of the better characteristics of our food. An interesting point was the garlic sticks. I've never had anything like these before. Like garlic bread but crisper and stickier.
(2)
Greg R.
This review is for delivery style - but, mild spoilers, I suspect the experience may be better in person. We decided to try Marcello's delivery for a quick dinner on a busy Friday evening. Ordering online was simple enough, and the delivery was right on time. Also, on the service side, all the food was packaged up nicely to keep it as warm and put together as delivery can be, so that was good. On the food side, we got 2 apps and a couple sandwiches to try. We had some mozzarella sticks...nothing to write home about. They seemed pretty typical of the frozen variety. The spinach artichoke dip was alright. It had a lot less of the cheese that you see in a lot of this popular app at other places, so it tasted far more like spinach and artichokes. So the appetizers were certainly a solid meh. The sandwiches were much better. The chicken parm sandwich was a good size portion, although (likely due to being delivered) the additional marinara on the side was very necessary to help get some moisture back into the overall sandwich. Flavors were good though. The Italian panini is very much like a lot of other Italian sandwiches/grinders/what-have-you - lots of cured meats and some cheese. It was a nice sandwich. I felt like, for the food we did get, the prices were a bit on the high side, which is taking the review down a notch overall. At the end of the day, we had a pretty average dinner...for a little bit of an above-average price.
(2)
Paul B.
Avoid at all costs! Our family has ordered from father and son and Marcellos throughout the city and suburbs since they were founded. Simply put they screwed up our delivery order and refused to do anything about it including getting a refund for the wrong dish. They evidently have a young inexperienced staff that could care less. We were going to use them to cater a party over July 4 - no more! For mediocre food they shouldn't act like the soup Nazi(From Seinfeld).
(1)
Sherita D.
First time customer and I was not impressed. The food that I ordered was actually good, but the service was horrible. As a result-I do not plan on being a 2nd time customer. If I am paying my hard earned money-I expect to have Great customer service and Great food. My suggestion to the owners would be to train your order takers to be more respectful and kind when taking orders and while accepting calls from customers who are checking on the status of their delivery order. The person who answered the telephone was very rude. If I hadn't already paid for my food via credit card over the phone, I would have totally cancelled out my order, and took my business somewhere else. Good Luck!
(2)
phyllis s.
The food is excellent, especially the garlic wings appetizer and the sausage & peppers appetizers - the quantity is more than enough for your meal! Lots of TVs for the sports enthusiasts.
(3)
Jay B.
Manager Larry is extremely disrespectful. Makes the overall experience poor. Food has also taken a plunge... Found a HAIR in my food last time!
(1)
Mary M.
Fabulous food, wait staff and excellent entertainment!! Fun place local for a Friday night! Larry, Billy and Jimmy are the best!!
(5)
Marianna S.
I thought the food was great, but we had a bad experience with the management here. We were dining on a stormy night, and the power went out for about 20 minutes. Not a huge deal, but they weren't very prepared for a power outage, and didn't even have candles available. But again, not a big deal, we ate in the dark and the food was really good. But! The moment the lights came back on, the entire staff started scurrying to clean up and close up for the night. It was 9:00 on a Friday night. A group of bus boys and managers (I guess they were managers because they were dressed in normal clothes) started putting chairs up, and sweeping. I asked one of the managers what time they close and he said: "Usually around 10:00, but we don't know what's going to happen tonight..." We were still in the middle of our meal, and there were still other customers at the bar, and all around us staff was cleaning and getting ready to go. NOT a good atmosphere. My husband complained about it to our server, but nothing was done of course. SO, overall good food, seems like a super busy neighborhood restaurant with a nice menu... but I'd teach the management a little more about hospitality. I don't want people sweeping and putting up chairs while I'm eating dinner... I'll be back, hopefully on a calmer night.
(3)
Maxine W.
I used to work around the corner from Marcello's, and while I don't miss my job, I DO miss Marcello's. I used to order both carry-out and delivery (if I was feeling lazy). I would give them 4 stars but I have to dock a half star for the outrageous delivery fee and a half star because they gave me the wrong pasta on more than one occasion (when this girl wants spaghetti, penne just wont do!) The food, even when the type of pasta wasn't what I ordered, was consistently delicious. I used to order extra tomato cream sauce so I could let my garlic bread swim in it. Seriously. I would bathe in their tomato cream sauce if someone told me it was good for my skin. I never actually dined in at Marcello's so I can't tell you what the service is really like. I know the bartender does a great job at retrieving internet orders, but that's about it!
(3)
Amy A.
The key to Marcello's is knowing what to order. Flatbreads. AMAZING. Broasted chicken. AMAZING. Everything else. Meh. At lunch, they do have specials under $10, but the menu is limited. I alternate between the shrimp flatbread and the garlic oregano broasted chicken. Both are very delish and amazing. If I could eat both at one sitting, I would!!!
(5)
Kelly G.
I went to a party recently and they had catered the buffalo chicken wings and i have to say hands down the best buffalo wings i have ever had!! The wings are 3 x the size of bww. And the sauce is amazing just the right amount of heat for me and i like spicy! I have not had anything else. But i will definately make a trip for the wings. Just a shame they arent open for lunch on sundays they would be a great football addition!
(5)
Chris M.
So I went back here in anticipation of some good thin crust za and pasta, but was fairly disappointed. I should have expected this though since my standards for pizza are very high with Lou Mal's, Oliveri's and Barnaby's in my hood. I got the Thai chicken pizza, thinking that you can't get anything like that around Northbrook. The flavors were pretty tasty, but the pizza itself was just ok texture-wise. I probably wouldn't order this again, and now that I think about it, I'm just not a huge 'chicken-on-pizza' fan. But since I liked the chicken so much when I first came here, I thought it would have been better. The pasta was just average too. Had angel hair with marinara. They claim the sauce to be famous, but I'm not sure I could have distinguished it from a jar of sauce from the grocery store. So, to sum it up, I was blown away by the chicken the first time I came here, and apparently I found that's about the only thing I really like here.
(2)
Emily D.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)
Andy K.
This is a great place with amazing pizza. The food in general is pretty good as well. I've been to a few of their locations and have never been disappointed. They also support a number of local organizations in the Northbrook area. I got a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's from a local HS. You can visit the store at goboostershot.com to get a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's.
(5)
michael w.
credit where credit is due, i have come to find that the garlic parm wings are very good and generous portion (enough to split for two). Almost like fried chicken.
(3)
Andy S.
I'm wondering if the Northbrook location is just not one of the better Marcello's as my experience was not very good either. Service was slow and while the person was clearly in training, when a patron asks a question about the food and the waiter basically ignores you it is a bit off putting. The food was ok - I had a special of the BBQ brisket sandwich and while eating I couldn't help but imagine the chef pulling it out of the oven with an annoyed look on his face for completely overcooking it. That, or the chef pulling a package of sliced brisket out of the freezer with freezer burn on it. Fries were way undercooked. When they brought out the chicken sandwich for someone I was with, there was one small pickle slice on it. We had to ask for a normal amount of pickles. This place is unfortunately not worth the money. Also - extremely noisy.
(2)
Steven T.
Meh. Bland Italian food, but the broasted chicken was not bad...not enough to justify coming back based on the total price. Service was slow but attentive. Also being in Northbrook, there is a lot of Septugenerians.....feel like i am surrounded by the actors from Cocoon. Finally, there is a sign in the bathroom that states that the manager checks on the bathroom every 15 minutes. I wonder if that is a courtesy for a patron who may have 'fallen and I can't get up'
(2)
T C.
I called and ordered a pizza from the Northbrook Marcello's today, and requested it be ready at 5:15. We picked the pizza up at 5:15 promptly, came straight home to eat the pizza and it was room temperature at best. Since we needed to leave the house shortly, we ate some of the pizza. I called the restaurant at 5:40pm to notify them of our dissatisfaction with the temperature of the pizza I paid for. I spoke with Diana. She spoke with a manager and told me they would happily pick up the pizza so they can show their cooks what they did wrong and remake my pizza. When I told her we couldn't wait as we ate some of the pizza already, as we had someplace to be. She then proceeded to lecture me on how could I eat the pizza and then notify the restaurant. I explained that I didn't need to be lectured, that I am an adult, and in the time constrant my family had this evening, had no other choice but to feed my family. Since I didn't like her tone with me, I requested to speak with a manager. After several minutes, Diana came back on the phone and told me the manager was too busy to speak to me but offered me a $5 coupon toward my next order. I said "no thank you". That offer is insulting to me. I've been a customer for years and have never had a problem before. The first time I bring a quality assurance problem to the store, not only could a manager not find the time to talk to me, but he had someone speak to me like I am a child -- "scolding" me for feeding my children rather than waiting the hour for the restaurant to rectify the situation. I prefer to give business to restaurants that value a repeat customer.
(1)
Richard S.
This place is close, and they deliver. I prefer the things on the menu that are not Italian - broasted chicken, ribs and burger. In house service is hit or miss. Delivery and carry out is impeccable. This is the family's stand by when we don't want to cook.
(3)
Melanie V.
The dilly? My belated birthday lunch - with my most awesome group of coworkers. (No, seriously, they are the best!) Since I pretty much veto'ed everything in Northbrook/Deerfield, I decided I wanted Marcello's 'cuz of the pretty good lunch deal. Soup, salad and drink for $10. Not bad, not bad. The Southwestern Salad is a solid choice (chicken, tomato, iceberg lettuce, green onions, cheese, tortilla strips). Filled me up, for sure. The Veggie Chopped salad and Beef sandwiches also looked appealing! It doesn't get too crowded during lunchtime, so service is pretty good. TV's all around are a welcomed distraction, too. Servers are always super friendly. Plus, to all you corporate diners, check if your business qualifies for the 10% discount! All you need to do is show your badge/id. But, do you wanna know what the BEST part of the meal truly is? The flatbread cracker things they give out before the meal. It comes with some herbed butter and... OMG - to die for. Between the seven of us, we basically polished off 2.5 baskets of it (and 2 containers of butter). Maybe THAT's why I was so full afterwards.....
(3)
Dustin C.
From their apps to their main dishes this place is great. What really separate's their food from other similar places is the service and consistency. I've been going to this location for over a decade and some of their best entrees continue to hit a home run. The fried chicken is tremendous; not only do they provide you with a great product, but their alternative options for flavors are great. The pizza is incredibly unique, the crust happens to be my favorite. Off the top of my head, I can't even begin going through their menu and naming all of their best items. There are simply too many. More than anything Marcello's is the type of place that demands perfection from its staff and you see that in the repeatedly great service. Even when things aren't perfect, they find a way to make you happy. I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Magnifico!
(5)
Eddie F.
Food and service are irrelevant here because when I ordered food for delivery, they changed receipt details and added an $8 tip to $$59.50 bill ($10 of which I gave as a tip). Rip off place. Not to be trusted. Stay away.
(1)
Gerald A.
Nothing to wow me. Nothing offensive either. Still searching for a good italian/american restaurant with decent prices. The pre-meal "crackers" were ok, but I'd rather have something more similar to the chips that Edwardo Natural Pizza serves, or a warm basket of bread. Entree of Chicken Parmesan was average, but out of whack with the price -- $14.95. Viccino's ($9.95) and Saranello's ($13.95 @ lunch) have better chicken parm, and go-romo ($9.79) has a pretty decent one in comparison with it's price. I never ordered a pizza, because the prices are too expensive. There are 3 other pizza places in the immediate area, Marcello's is the most expensive. If they beat Lou Malnati's pricing on their comparative items, I'd consider them. It appears that Marcello's is in a catch-22 that they are not willing to break out of. They don't sell as many pizzas as Lou Malnati's, so that have to charge more per pizza. Because they charge so much more for pizza, they don't sell as many pizzas. If cheap pizzas isn't sustainable for on-premise dining, at least make a "carry out only" special that is affordable and covers the cost of preparation!
(2)
Lynn S.
This is a really good family restaurant! Their Chicken Vesuvio, came with two side dishes and though not typical Italian style, drowning in olive oil, garlic and mushrooms, it was still a large, tasty platter. The onion rings were nothing special, just lots of batter but their fries were excellent. We shared a really ample Caesar Salad which was fresh and sported parmesan cheese crisps on top. The menu here is extensive including ribs, seafood, pizza, pasta and sandwiches plus soups and salads as well. Everyone can find something here. The atmosphere is attractive and happily, it wasn't too noisy, but families are a good part of the crowd so don't expect to share an intimate conversation across the booth. My only complaint was the service, which often completely forgot us, but was cheerful and pleasant when we attracted attention. Don't let its shopping strip location deter you, this restaurant is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They are also located in Lincoln Park and Logan Square and they have a delivery and catering service.
(4)
Faith D.
We love, love, LOVE this place. Free parking. Fun bartenders. Generous portions and good value. The garlic-oregano broasted (okay ... probably fried) chicken is out of this world. Seriously - the best I've ever tasted. The flatbreads are wonderful. The service .... could be better. Hey! You can't have everything ALL the time, right? There are many pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and other entrees which look good but I am so stuck on the chicken that I never order anything else. It's very casual/kid friendly and noisy. This is a regular in our restaurant rotation and I really love it.
(4)
Roberta R.
What a disaster! I went with my son, his wife and 2 children. We entered about 5:20 and after over an hour, we finally got our dinner. I twice got up to ask, where our dinners were, and there did not seem to be much of a concern on their part. The waitress ignored us, and we were not even offered more crackers. All the waitress said was I'm sorry. The management said nothing. The food was good, but there is no way I will wait an hour to be served. I am here for the summer and this was where my 10grandchildren like to go. Well, I guess I will find another favorite place
(1)
Greg M.
Oh goodness, don't listen to these lukewarm reviews of an excellent restaurant. The only item i continually come back for is the chicken, it is incredible. I highly recommend the garlic/basil chicken as it will rock your world hard. Recently, I had an experience with a mixed up order where they unfortunately gave my food to another customer. To compensate they added a few desert items for free and even gave me a free beer until my order was completed. Free beer and deserts make up for unsatisfactory service any day of the week. Marcello's you just made a happy/loyal customer. Thank you. Go Bears.
(4)
kavan s.
I've been here before. The food is good. I never knew they had gluten free pizza before as stated in 1 review. Maybe I will try this. Their fat bread is also very good. And its close by. I hate driving too far especially at night.
(5)
Bill W.
Loud - okay food - painfully slow service!!
(2)
Brian L.
Oh I feel guilty for giving this place the same number of stars as the Logan Square location but everything's relative, right? There's no other place comparable in Northbrook. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance, drive 40 minutes out to the city and try the Logan Square location. I don't know what it is, but the food is always better there. Anyway, for being the Northshore, this place is pretty solid. When you first walk in it seems like a zoo from people ordering carry-out, the bar atmosphere, and just general traffic in and out of the restaurant. But once you're seated, it's nice and spacious and the staff is always nice. The food here is good and the value for the price is hard to beat. It's a homemade semi-gourmet Italian eatery and you can come out completely full for around $15 a person. Their broasted chicken is heavenly and the pizza is basically a layer of melted cheese on a cracker- both are must get's for first timers. I think over the years I've tried every single item on the menu- and I can say, there's nothing on there that I'd never try again. And of course you can count on their awesome desserts (psst, gotta get the carrot cake!). All in all, there's not much to complain about this place. But then again, I guess there isn't much to rant and rave about either.
(3)
Avon B.
You cant go wrong with the broasted chicken as its the best around. Unfortunately, they keep raising their prices most likely to pay for the Groupon campaign they sometimes run. The service has gotten better over the years and most of the menu items are good. Stay away from the pizza as there is better in town. Again, the broasted is worth many return visits. Owner/manager is a good guy and always there. Ambiance is good, nice little bar as well.
(4)
Steve P.
We went to the Nortbrook location which is only about 4 years old. The Jumbo shrimp appetizer was superb. It is true. The broasted chicken is really fantastic. Would like to see bar area moved to the party room area instead of the restaurant side as the noise level may compete with the dinning experience. Other than that, I think it's a hidden gem in Northbrook.
(4)
Vincent A.
I went to Marcello's only because my Girlfriend got a gift certificate as a 2011 Christmas gift from one of her students trying to suck up for extra credit, lol. I never knew the place exsisted. When me and my girlfriend walked in right away we were impressed by the overall atmosphere. There was a full bar in the restaurant, and the restaurant itself had a bunch of flat screen tv's, there was hardwood floors with a new modern decor that was very comfortable, chic, and sophisticated. The food was very good and the prices were appropriate. I had Chicken Picata ($15) It came with two boneless chicken breasts with a caper lemon white wine sauce. They didn't shy on the capers which was nice. The chicken was tender the sauce was delectable. They offered fresh grated parm cheese tableside and was just great. You are able to pick two sides with this dish which for $15 is a bargain! I got fries (crinkle cut nothing special), and a multi-grain rotini pasta with a housemade meat red sauce. The sauce isn't as traditional as most Italian sauces normally are. Usually a little bland lets the basil, protein, and tomatoes stand out. Marcello's sauce had a little bite to it with a big herb flavor, and the protein used was very dominant. Very tasty. My Girlfriend got the Ravioli with Marinara. It was around $10 bucks and came with 5 or 6 ravioli which is a good bargain as well. I didn't taste her dish, but from observing from across the table I saw and heard a lot mmmmm's and ooooo's so I'm gonna say it was pretty good, lol. For dessert we shared this awesome and decatant White Chocolate Cheesecake. It was dense, packed with flavor, and was a party in my mouth. The only thing I think would have made it better was if a little dark chocolate syrup was drizzled over the top. It was a great meal :) ....... But...... The reason why I gave a 3 star review for a place that deserves 5 stars was because of the service. Our service sucked. We got seated right away with a smile :) , but after that we sat at our table for 10 min before we got our beverage order taken. The restaurant wasn't even that busy at the time. When she brought us our drinks she put them down and proceded to get comfortable and sit/lean against the table next to us. I been in the restaurant buisness for over 10 years and you can't sit on the tables!! Its unsanitary!! Where has her butt been? Farting? Pull your pants down using the facilities letting your pants lay on the dirty bathroom floor. But its okay to just sit on the table... Then as she's taking our order she's leaning with her arms crossed across her chest giving us an annoyed stare with annoyed tone of voice saying, have you decided? What can I get you. Doesn't write it down just listens and leaves. We don't really see her again untill we order an additional order of fries which took 15 mins. We were done eating by the time our fries got to the table. She came by and asked us if we wanted refills, and we asked for a coke and she said okay, and proceded to focus her attention on other tables that had more customers. She had been doing that all evening. Ignoring the small tables but giving the bigger tables more attention. The bus boy came by looking at the server irratated himself at her by the look on his face, and in an appoligetic tone asked us if we wanted refills, and in less than 30 seconds we got our coke. Thats good service!!! 10 min after the fries were finished we ordered the cheesecake and that took another 10 mins. Then we asked for the check and that took another 5 mins. The only time we got a smile from her was when we were about the leave. Like she was happy we were leaving. She was so unprofessional, she was also wearing yoga pants, a sweatshirt and a sweat head band. "Very nice" outfit for a nice nice nice restaurant such as Marcello's. I would definetly go back for the food, but I would have to make sure that when I go I don't have any appointments for after the meal, or make sure a sitter has extra time cause your probably gonna end up being late. DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR BUS BOY!!!! :D
(3)
Melissa W.
Can you say "Oil Pit"? I am writing this with acid indigestion along with my husband. We just got home from this place. All I can say is, just because it is Italian food, you don't have to drench it in olive oil to make it taste good. Where the ingredients lacked in quality, the olive oil made up for it in quantity. I ordered Chicken Vesuvius, husband ordered a side of rice and sauted spinach. They totally messed up the rice with a cup of oil, same with spinach. My chicken was drenched as well. We went to Italy last Fall, and I can say this is not real Italian food. Run away, run far away from this oil pit.
(1)
ida s.
I work close by and have never been disappointed with this place. I mostly get the southwestern chopped salad and I can barely finish it, it is that large. The staff always is accommodating my busy schedules and gets me in and out quick. I also have had the chicken parmesan and it delivered along with the grilled chicken sandwich. I know I can always get a solid meal here. I never have had a bad experience here.
(4)
Vera Lynn W.
i love it here. I always choose it for my bday dinner. I always get their spinach lasagna. With meatballs. So good and very big portions. My son loves their broasted chicken. They serve flatbread to everyone and their butter is very good. I haven't tried their pizza yet. Too busy enjoying their lasagna. :-) They have a great bartender, too. Very nice guy. So why not 5 stars? It gets very very loud here. Very loud. Their wait staff is hit or miss also. Ive had both great service, and very poor and inattentive. Their bus boys are amazing though. I swear they run the place. Fast, efficient, polite. And a few of them are really cute. Update: We ordered in for dinner last week. I got what I usually get (spinach lasagna) and a side of meatballs. I asked how many come with an order. I was told 2. That's what I remembered. They were terrible. Very hard and dense. I ate half of one and threw the rest away. Later as I was checking the receipt, I saw they overcharged me for the meatballs. $5.95 instead of $3.45. If they had been delicious, I wouldn't have minded so much. But to be overcharged for something I threw away because they were unedible? Unacceptable. Very disappointed. However, the delivery guy was very good looking. Next time, I'll order him!
(4)
Elle J.
Went here on a Friday night with the family - all three of us. LOL! The server was super nice, she was also super slow! Took her a good 10+ minutes before she even showed up to take our drink order. Appetizers were ok - we had the chicken tenders (YUMMY!) and calamari (not so yummy - very bland and tough). All of us had some sort of pasta. They messed up my order and gave me the same sauce as my husband. It wasn't awful, but not what I ordered. I didn't complain (was too tired & too hungry) and it wasn't all that bad. That being said, it was just plain old pasta. Nothing outstanding - just eh. The following week we decided to order pizza and have it delivered. Placed the order around 2:00, with a promised delivery time-frame of 30-40 mins. An hour after I placed the order it still hadn't showed up so I called. The manager apologized, told me the driver was having car trouble but he was on the way. Fifteen minutes later he still wasn't here - called again. Again, got a generic apology, but no explanation. Waited ANOTHER 20 minutes and called AGAIN. See a pattern here? Yes another apology but no explanation. FINALLY he shows up. Our "thin & crispy" pizzas were cold & soggy - just awful. Mozzarella sticks were hard as rocks and ice cold. I honestly don't think they even cooked them. I called and talked to the manager yet AGAIN and while she was apologetic AGAIN, she offered no compensation, other than to place another order and someone would pick up the first order when they dropped the new one off. I took a pass and told her I wanted my money back. She refused. We ended up going back & forth - me getting more & more pissed off by the second - and I ended up with measly a store credit for $25.00 - the cost of the cheapest pizza. Oh yeah... the price. I just about DIED when I placed the order and she told me the cost. It was like $70.00 for 2 flippin pizzas (both large, each with 3 toppings), an order of cheese sticks, tax & delivery. WTF??? The only reason I went ahead with it was b/c we were starving and figured for that kind of money, the food would be damn good. Guess we were wrong. I will never ever order from there again or visit the restaurant. Pissed me off that much...
(1)
Johanna N.
Everytime I've tried to go to this place it is packed! Waiting for a table or even a spot at the bar is 30-40 minute wait. Hence, I've only ordered the food for carry-out, but I was very impressed with the service and the food. When I call and place orders, the person answering the phone is helpful, tells me the exact time of pick-up, and total bill. When I have picked up the food, it is ready to go and still warm. I have ordered the oven broasted chicken once...which turned out to be a fancy way of saying fried chicken. While I had been hoping for a basic roasted chicken I used this a one of the few opportunities I have had to have fried chicken without feeling guilty. The chicken was great! Not too greasy! I also have ordered various pasta dishes. I appreciate that the sauce is left off of the pasta and placed in a separate container. As a result, the pasta is not soggy when I finally get the food home to eat. I would recommend this place for good standard middle-of-the-road Italian food. Be prepared to wait for a table or bar space Friday and Saturday!
(3)
kim s.
I do not see what people like about this restaurant, I think it's extremely over priced for very average food. The service was good but it really ends there.
(1)
Simone G.
Good food. period. almost. The service is good and the broasted chicken is amazing because they pressure fry it which gives it a good crunch.
(4)
Adele S.
I took my daughter here after hebrew class(yeah, real kosher!) so it was still pretty early for dinner, just after 6 on a Tuesday and we had our choice of seating. The booths were roomy and comfortable, everything spotless. Bathroom got a big thumbs up from my daughter for cleanliness and nice smelling soap. But we aren't there for the toilets. We split a garden salad-nothing spectacular, just dark crunchy greens, juicy tomato, crisp cukes and long paper thin shreds of red cabbage. Next time I'll try one of the other salads, this was really good! We had a black olive & green pepper deep dish which was excellent except for the crust...it was reminiscent of soda bread, just had that weird arm & hammer aftertaste. It wasn't so bad as to make the pizza inedible but it was just odd. I don't recall Father & Son crust tasting like this but then we always went to the Milwaukee Ave. location. No complaints about service because it was early enough. We'll probably be back to try something other than pizza.
(3)
Jose T.
I've been here a couple of times & I like it a lot. It's a step up from your usual pizza joint as they offer great menu options outside of pizza that you wouldn't ordinarily find in a traditional pizza joint. This place actually doesn't qualify as a 'joint'. It falls more on the side of a pleasant Italian restaurant that happens to serve pizza. My new favorite here is the BBQ cedar planked salmon. DELISIOUS! This place also has a nice bar atmosphere at the bar. A good place to take your girl or family to, or to just hang out with the guys.
(4)
James C.
Several years ago, my wife and I visited the Logan Square restaurant on a whim and were extremely impressed. Great service, even better food - and at a relatively modest price point. So finding ourselves on the North Shore, we were excited to try Marcello's in Northbrook... Though not quite as good as we remembered the food being in Logan Square - - the food rated about a four. Cooked well, nothing special, but just delicious Italian-American food. However, the service was somewhat less inspiring. The restaurant had a couple busy tables, but was only about 1/3 full. In spite of this, we felt somewhat ignored during the meal, to the point we elected to seek out dessert elsewhere. If I lived in the NB area, I probably would give it another shot, just because the food is quite good, hoping that our service experience is the exception, rather than the rule.
(3)
Jodi B.
The food at Marcellos is outstanding! Always so fresh and consistent . The pizza, flatbreads, chicken, ribs, fish are all outstanding . Haven't had a bad meal yet. The restaurant is beautiful, very warm, cozy and the service has always been great! I can't think of another restaurant with such reasonable prices and such outstanding food. The two Chicago locations are just as great. If you haven't tried Marcellos it's a must.
(5)
Tracey M.
I had heard so many good things about Marcello's that I was really looking forward to eating there. However, the actual experience did not live up to the hype. The Food: Overall my food was good. I had the Shrimp ala Marcello. It was good and had a bit of a kick to it spice wise. However, it didn't have as much garlic as I had hoped/expected. It left me wondering if I should have had pizza as it was recommended by the person who suggested the restaurant. The portion was generous and made for good leftovers the next day. The Service: The service started out really good. However, as the restaurant became more crowded the service decline - drastically. The Atmosphere: Fine. A bit small for the amount of tables they have inside. The Bottom Line: Mediocre at best. I'd be willing to give the place another try.
(3)
George H.
VERY Disappointing. I had heard so much about his place, but was very disappointed the 1st time, the 2nd time, but the 3rd time was the kicker! Undercooked food is something I will not tolerate. Bad service, when it's not that busy...sorry A wine list of way overpriced and under perfoming products. I want wines you don't see on the shelf ay Binny's, you know unique, boutique type wines, that are good and don't cost a lot. Here it's the same old stuff you see everywhere. I tried this place enough times to know I'm NOT ever going back!
(1)
Scott B.
Can't not say anything bad about this place. Awesome Pizza and some of the BEST broasted Chicken. Props to this place for the food, services and decent prices. One of my top 10 in the NorthShore.
(5)
Marlo P.
I am very disappointed in this place. I've always gone to the Father & Son at Logan Square since I was a wee little kid. Never had a problem. I loved their food and the service was always outstanding. I had moved out to the burbs and found out that my favorite restaurant when I was a kid has moved out with me. I WAS SO ECSTATIC! So I took my "boyfriend" (my husband now) to this restaurant because we both LOVED Father & Son. We came in fairly casual dressed. It was pretty easy to spot us out because we were from the city and Northbrook is one of those suburbs where ladies do lunch and usually have more money I guess. At least that's what they made us feel like at the restaurant. They sat us down at the restaurant and it wasn't busy at all. Now I have to add, I've worked in many restaurants. I am pretty lenient when I receive service from restaurants because I can understand the stress on people and I just understand the kind of hell some people go through in restaurants. With that being said, we had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I kid you not, 4 other tables were sat after us and they had received drinks and servers were paying attention to them. My husband realized I was getting sort of upset so he told a bus boy that someone should come over to serve us soon. The bus boy went up to a server and told them that we have not been served and they did not say a word to us after that. I gave them 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is a long long long time. Other customers were even asking us why they weren't coming to us. I stopped the first person that came across me (which was the same bus boy) and I told him to get me the manager. He then tells the server I want to see a manager and the first thing the server says to us was "Sorry." with a pen and paper in her hand ready to take our order. I requested a manager and she said okay and the manager came by to speak to us. I told her the situation and then she says "well we can take your order now, what do you want?" No apology. Nothing. I told the manager that we were just going to leave and she said, "fine". Then the server stops at us and says "I'm sorry, I thought you were waiting for other people to come." We were sitting at a table that seats two. I wasn't blind. We were the youngest couple in that restaurant that day and we were ignored as if we didn't have any money to eat. I was extremely disappointed that day. I felt like I was being judged because of my age, income, possibly race, but whatever it was, it was pretty noticeable that we were being ignored. It really hurt my husband and I to even feel like that. I will never come to this place again. Thank you Marcellos for not letting me experience the same experience that I've had in Chicago for a long time. It was the worst service I have ever had in any establishment ever.
(1)
Sandra F.
Consistently good food and good service in the neighborhood. No wonder they are busy!
(4)
Chris G.
I go there regularly and enjoy the chicken or a cheeseburger. The service is good and the staff is friendly. I usually go during the week when it's no so crowded.
(5)
Janice L.
i love pizza and ny pizza is my fave, but i cannot get enough of their pan pizza with the works. their pasta combos are great. i usually get the grilled seasonal veggies with marinara sauce and meatballs. delish! the spinach side is good too, with the butter, maybe a tad too much oil. there aren't too many good italian places in the suburbs anymore. i used to love riggio's but they've gone down hill...
(4)
Katie B.
I recently did a 40th birthday party for my husband at Marcello's North Events. We had 60 guest and it was a blast. The managers Larry and Jim were fabulous to work with and very accommodating. The staff was friendly and helpful, but most of all I am still getting comments from our friends about how great the food was. They opened the party room in October of 2010 and it is a great space to host any event. I look forward to do more parties and/or catered events through Marcello's North in the future. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)
emily d.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)
Bruce N.
Ahhhh... Father & Son's pizza in my 'hood! Some of the best thin crust around, it's a welcome addition to N'brook. Quality ingredients, great pasta dishes, and an excellent salad to boot. The dining room is beautiful, but small. Expect a wait at dinner. Nice bar with a couple of flat screens to watch while waiting for a table or carry-out. My only complaint is the prices are a bit steep for pizza, but it is Northbrook... Now I have a tough decision on Italian night- Marcello's or Tonelli's? Can't miss with either one in my book!
(4)
Blair F.
Before my wife and I moved to Northbrook, we (sadly) ordered from Father & Son in Chicago. It was awful. Astonishingly this location is even worse. For $26 plus tip, we ordered a Fusilli dish and Spaghetti and Meatballs. They both came in plastic containers with a HUGE sauce bowl, so you can put the sauce on after. That part is fine. What ISN'T fine is that the sauce bowl literally takes up about 40% of the bowl that otherwise could be filled with pasta, so you're immediately screwed, right?. Wrong! Why you ask? Because the pasta is simply inedible. Pure unadulterated shit. It's so bad that my wife chose to eat two-day old burned pizza in lieu of her Fusilli. They give you one piece of bread (to share!) that's barely enough for a hamster who'd just eaten a full meal and nothing else. Truly, we'd have been better off if when the guy came to deliver, we gave him the $30 and let him kick me in the nuts and said, "You don't want this food. It's shit."
(1)
Ed S.
So far I've used their take-out service twice and the meals were excellent, especially the ribs. We tried eat-in on a Friday night but didn't have time to wait for a table. The parking lot has been quite full every evening since they opened.
(5)
mat s.
This pizza tastes a lot like Little Caesars. I can run it down when given to me. I have never really been on the actual location but have had the take out a couple of times and they are often providing catering for events. It's just not good. I feel bad saying but it just isn't good. I am sure they are really nice people but the pizza isn't good.
(2)
Becky P.
All I can say is: Do the goat cheese pizza. We got this the other night and HOLY COW was it amazing. I've gotten other things here before, but man, I honestly don't even remember what they were because the goat cheese pizza just wiped the slate clean. I loved the extra thin crust, and that they were generous with the toppings. Nothing irks me more than when I'm lacking my toppings! Check it out!
(5)
Jay K.
Are you familiar with the term 3 strikes and your out? Well it applies to this place at least for the take out which I had 3 times. First the pizza. It was good not great and sooo overpriced, go to Barnaby's. Second the salads...again sooo overpriced and just plain not good. Hell Wendy's has a better salad, or go across the street to Sunset Foods and get the salad bar. Third the chicken vesuvio. It was their broasted chicken smothered in some kind of olive oil and garlic sauce crap. Again way overpriced! Seriously, if your looking for some really good food in that area of Northbrook go to Francesca's North or even Oliverii's. It's worth it...Marcello's is not even close.
(1)
Matthew S.
If I could rate this 4.5 stars, I would. It is ALMOST perfect. This place is known for their pizza, and they do not disappoint. I am a New-York-Style fan, all the way, and this is some decent NY pizza - a thin, but quality crust, with a solid, but not over-powering sprinkle of garlic. A solid layer of smooth, and slightly sweet tomato sauce. And a generous, well chosen topping of cheese, focusing on the classic mozzarella, but blending in other, subtle flavors. This is how pizza is supposed to be done. This is not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's definitely in the top few, and is a delight to eat each time. The atmosphere is also excellent - it manages to walk the subtle line between a classy restaurant and a sports bar quite nicely. There are several full-sized TV screens, but they are placed such that, depending on the seating arrangement, they are either available to be viewed by choice, or completely out of view. This is a place where everyone can be happy. It is a good blend of upscale and casual dinning - everyone will be welcome here, both the casual, comfortable dress, and the more upscale, business dress will fit in quite well. They do have a solid menu beyond Pizza as well, focusing on generalist food, and the quality is similarly general. Nothing here is going to blow your socks off, but I don't suspect anything will disappoint either. This is a great place to take friends and family, to rewind after a long day, to host small meetings, or just about anything else. In fact, I cannot think of an excuse not to eat here. I have been here several times since moving to the area, and expect to return on a regular basis. Oh and their bread/cracker freebe thingy - I don't know what it is, but your table will go through it like it's going out of style. Seriously yummy.
(4)
Jay S.
Went for the first time a few weeks ago. The food was a mixed bag, I had the country style broasted chicken (very good), my daughter had spare ribs (she loved them, not spicy), my son had the shrimp scampi (very bland, wouldn't order it again) and my wife had a salad and flatbread (salad was fine, the flatbread was greasy). Decor was nice, looks more modern and inviting on the inside than from the outside. Service was okay, waitress was friendly and the wait time for the food was normal. There seemed to be many regular/repeat customers. If you like a glass of wine with your meal, you are in luck, generous amount per glass. I'll go again, but no seafood or flatbread. Chicken and ribs are solid. Pizza looked good glancing at other tables so I'll give it a try. Overall, solid but not spectacular.
(3)
Al S.
We had been driving around Northbrook and stumbled upon Marcello's. What a nice find. Good food and service . Nothing fancy but very very tasty at reasonable prices and big portions. Service was excellent. No pretension - great neighborhood place. We'll be back !
(4)
Jo N.
Went there for a private party. The pizza was very good, and I will def be eating it again!! :). We also dined here just an a regular night and the food was good as well. In addition, they have a gluten free menu :)
(4)
Arielle M.
This place is always good for a perfect pizza and great service. The bartenders can make a perfect cocktail and they always have great drink specials. The thin crust pizza is as good as anything around and the fried (broasted) chicken is out of this world. The burgers and salads are also really tasty. They also have great live music on some Saturdays. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)
Mike L.
Finally a great restaurant in Northbrook. They have a great menu and amazing Pizza. Their GF pizza rocks!!! Great salads as well! Way to go Marcello's
(5)
Jessica K.
:c I don't usually apologize for bad reviews but I will for this one because everyone here is nice and the restaurant looks nice too. I was given the wrong dish even though we were the only ones there and I had confirmed the order with the server. But the dish I got was essentially the same. I'm not taking stars off because of a mix-up. I am, however, taking stars off for taste. The food is... not good here. The pasta I got looked and tasted like it was sad and so did my partner's panini. Wilty, bland, tired-- some of the better characteristics of our food. An interesting point was the garlic sticks. I've never had anything like these before. Like garlic bread but crisper and stickier.
(2)
Greg R.
This review is for delivery style - but, mild spoilers, I suspect the experience may be better in person. We decided to try Marcello's delivery for a quick dinner on a busy Friday evening. Ordering online was simple enough, and the delivery was right on time. Also, on the service side, all the food was packaged up nicely to keep it as warm and put together as delivery can be, so that was good. On the food side, we got 2 apps and a couple sandwiches to try. We had some mozzarella sticks...nothing to write home about. They seemed pretty typical of the frozen variety. The spinach artichoke dip was alright. It had a lot less of the cheese that you see in a lot of this popular app at other places, so it tasted far more like spinach and artichokes. So the appetizers were certainly a solid meh. The sandwiches were much better. The chicken parm sandwich was a good size portion, although (likely due to being delivered) the additional marinara on the side was very necessary to help get some moisture back into the overall sandwich. Flavors were good though. The Italian panini is very much like a lot of other Italian sandwiches/grinders/what-have-you - lots of cured meats and some cheese. It was a nice sandwich. I felt like, for the food we did get, the prices were a bit on the high side, which is taking the review down a notch overall. At the end of the day, we had a pretty average dinner...for a little bit of an above-average price.
(2)
Paul B.
Avoid at all costs! Our family has ordered from father and son and Marcellos throughout the city and suburbs since they were founded. Simply put they screwed up our delivery order and refused to do anything about it including getting a refund for the wrong dish. They evidently have a young inexperienced staff that could care less. We were going to use them to cater a party over July 4 - no more! For mediocre food they shouldn't act like the soup Nazi(From Seinfeld).
(1)
Sherita D.
First time customer and I was not impressed. The food that I ordered was actually good, but the service was horrible. As a result-I do not plan on being a 2nd time customer. If I am paying my hard earned money-I expect to have Great customer service and Great food. My suggestion to the owners would be to train your order takers to be more respectful and kind when taking orders and while accepting calls from customers who are checking on the status of their delivery order. The person who answered the telephone was very rude. If I hadn't already paid for my food via credit card over the phone, I would have totally cancelled out my order, and took my business somewhere else. Good Luck!
(2)
phyllis s.
The food is excellent, especially the garlic wings appetizer and the sausage & peppers appetizers - the quantity is more than enough for your meal! Lots of TVs for the sports enthusiasts.
(3)
Jay B.
Manager Larry is extremely disrespectful. Makes the overall experience poor. Food has also taken a plunge... Found a HAIR in my food last time!
(1)
Mary M.
Fabulous food, wait staff and excellent entertainment!! Fun place local for a Friday night! Larry, Billy and Jimmy are the best!!
(5)
Marianna S.
I thought the food was great, but we had a bad experience with the management here. We were dining on a stormy night, and the power went out for about 20 minutes. Not a huge deal, but they weren't very prepared for a power outage, and didn't even have candles available. But again, not a big deal, we ate in the dark and the food was really good. But! The moment the lights came back on, the entire staff started scurrying to clean up and close up for the night. It was 9:00 on a Friday night. A group of bus boys and managers (I guess they were managers because they were dressed in normal clothes) started putting chairs up, and sweeping. I asked one of the managers what time they close and he said: "Usually around 10:00, but we don't know what's going to happen tonight..." We were still in the middle of our meal, and there were still other customers at the bar, and all around us staff was cleaning and getting ready to go. NOT a good atmosphere. My husband complained about it to our server, but nothing was done of course. SO, overall good food, seems like a super busy neighborhood restaurant with a nice menu... but I'd teach the management a little more about hospitality. I don't want people sweeping and putting up chairs while I'm eating dinner... I'll be back, hopefully on a calmer night.
(3)
Chris M.
So I went back here in anticipation of some good thin crust za and pasta, but was fairly disappointed. I should have expected this though since my standards for pizza are very high with Lou Mal's, Oliveri's and Barnaby's in my hood. I got the Thai chicken pizza, thinking that you can't get anything like that around Northbrook. The flavors were pretty tasty, but the pizza itself was just ok texture-wise. I probably wouldn't order this again, and now that I think about it, I'm just not a huge 'chicken-on-pizza' fan. But since I liked the chicken so much when I first came here, I thought it would have been better. The pasta was just average too. Had angel hair with marinara. They claim the sauce to be famous, but I'm not sure I could have distinguished it from a jar of sauce from the grocery store. So, to sum it up, I was blown away by the chicken the first time I came here, and apparently I found that's about the only thing I really like here.
(2)
Emily D.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)
Andy K.
This is a great place with amazing pizza. The food in general is pretty good as well. I've been to a few of their locations and have never been disappointed. They also support a number of local organizations in the Northbrook area. I got a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's from a local HS. You can visit the store at goboostershot.com to get a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's.
(5)
michael w.
credit where credit is due, i have come to find that the garlic parm wings are very good and generous portion (enough to split for two). Almost like fried chicken.
(3)
Andy S.
I'm wondering if the Northbrook location is just not one of the better Marcello's as my experience was not very good either. Service was slow and while the person was clearly in training, when a patron asks a question about the food and the waiter basically ignores you it is a bit off putting. The food was ok - I had a special of the BBQ brisket sandwich and while eating I couldn't help but imagine the chef pulling it out of the oven with an annoyed look on his face for completely overcooking it. That, or the chef pulling a package of sliced brisket out of the freezer with freezer burn on it. Fries were way undercooked. When they brought out the chicken sandwich for someone I was with, there was one small pickle slice on it. We had to ask for a normal amount of pickles. This place is unfortunately not worth the money. Also - extremely noisy.
(2)
Steven T.
Meh. Bland Italian food, but the broasted chicken was not bad...not enough to justify coming back based on the total price. Service was slow but attentive. Also being in Northbrook, there is a lot of Septugenerians.....feel like i am surrounded by the actors from Cocoon. Finally, there is a sign in the bathroom that states that the manager checks on the bathroom every 15 minutes. I wonder if that is a courtesy for a patron who may have 'fallen and I can't get up'
(2)
Maxine W.
I used to work around the corner from Marcello's, and while I don't miss my job, I DO miss Marcello's. I used to order both carry-out and delivery (if I was feeling lazy). I would give them 4 stars but I have to dock a half star for the outrageous delivery fee and a half star because they gave me the wrong pasta on more than one occasion (when this girl wants spaghetti, penne just wont do!) The food, even when the type of pasta wasn't what I ordered, was consistently delicious. I used to order extra tomato cream sauce so I could let my garlic bread swim in it. Seriously. I would bathe in their tomato cream sauce if someone told me it was good for my skin. I never actually dined in at Marcello's so I can't tell you what the service is really like. I know the bartender does a great job at retrieving internet orders, but that's about it!
(3)
Amy A.
The key to Marcello's is knowing what to order. Flatbreads. AMAZING. Broasted chicken. AMAZING. Everything else. Meh. At lunch, they do have specials under $10, but the menu is limited. I alternate between the shrimp flatbread and the garlic oregano broasted chicken. Both are very delish and amazing. If I could eat both at one sitting, I would!!!
(5)
Kelly G.
I went to a party recently and they had catered the buffalo chicken wings and i have to say hands down the best buffalo wings i have ever had!! The wings are 3 x the size of bww. And the sauce is amazing just the right amount of heat for me and i like spicy! I have not had anything else. But i will definately make a trip for the wings. Just a shame they arent open for lunch on sundays they would be a great football addition!
(5)
T C.
I called and ordered a pizza from the Northbrook Marcello's today, and requested it be ready at 5:15. We picked the pizza up at 5:15 promptly, came straight home to eat the pizza and it was room temperature at best. Since we needed to leave the house shortly, we ate some of the pizza. I called the restaurant at 5:40pm to notify them of our dissatisfaction with the temperature of the pizza I paid for. I spoke with Diana. She spoke with a manager and told me they would happily pick up the pizza so they can show their cooks what they did wrong and remake my pizza. When I told her we couldn't wait as we ate some of the pizza already, as we had someplace to be. She then proceeded to lecture me on how could I eat the pizza and then notify the restaurant. I explained that I didn't need to be lectured, that I am an adult, and in the time constrant my family had this evening, had no other choice but to feed my family. Since I didn't like her tone with me, I requested to speak with a manager. After several minutes, Diana came back on the phone and told me the manager was too busy to speak to me but offered me a $5 coupon toward my next order. I said "no thank you". That offer is insulting to me. I've been a customer for years and have never had a problem before. The first time I bring a quality assurance problem to the store, not only could a manager not find the time to talk to me, but he had someone speak to me like I am a child -- "scolding" me for feeding my children rather than waiting the hour for the restaurant to rectify the situation. I prefer to give business to restaurants that value a repeat customer.
(1)
mat s.
This pizza tastes a lot like Little Caesars. I can run it down when given to me. I have never really been on the actual location but have had the take out a couple of times and they are often providing catering for events. It's just not good. I feel bad saying but it just isn't good. I am sure they are really nice people but the pizza isn't good.
(2)
Andy S.
I'm wondering if the Northbrook location is just not one of the better Marcello's as my experience was not very good either. Service was slow and while the person was clearly in training, when a patron asks a question about the food and the waiter basically ignores you it is a bit off putting. The food was ok - I had a special of the BBQ brisket sandwich and while eating I couldn't help but imagine the chef pulling it out of the oven with an annoyed look on his face for completely overcooking it. That, or the chef pulling a package of sliced brisket out of the freezer with freezer burn on it. Fries were way undercooked. When they brought out the chicken sandwich for someone I was with, there was one small pickle slice on it. We had to ask for a normal amount of pickles. This place is unfortunately not worth the money. Also - extremely noisy.
(2)
Steven T.
Meh. Bland Italian food, but the broasted chicken was not bad...not enough to justify coming back based on the total price. Service was slow but attentive. Also being in Northbrook, there is a lot of Septugenerians.....feel like i am surrounded by the actors from Cocoon. Finally, there is a sign in the bathroom that states that the manager checks on the bathroom every 15 minutes. I wonder if that is a courtesy for a patron who may have 'fallen and I can't get up'
(2)
Maxine W.
I used to work around the corner from Marcello's, and while I don't miss my job, I DO miss Marcello's. I used to order both carry-out and delivery (if I was feeling lazy). I would give them 4 stars but I have to dock a half star for the outrageous delivery fee and a half star because they gave me the wrong pasta on more than one occasion (when this girl wants spaghetti, penne just wont do!) The food, even when the type of pasta wasn't what I ordered, was consistently delicious. I used to order extra tomato cream sauce so I could let my garlic bread swim in it. Seriously. I would bathe in their tomato cream sauce if someone told me it was good for my skin. I never actually dined in at Marcello's so I can't tell you what the service is really like. I know the bartender does a great job at retrieving internet orders, but that's about it!
(3)
Becky P.
All I can say is: Do the goat cheese pizza. We got this the other night and HOLY COW was it amazing. I've gotten other things here before, but man, I honestly don't even remember what they were because the goat cheese pizza just wiped the slate clean. I loved the extra thin crust, and that they were generous with the toppings. Nothing irks me more than when I'm lacking my toppings! Check it out!
(5)
Jay K.
Are you familiar with the term 3 strikes and your out? Well it applies to this place at least for the take out which I had 3 times. First the pizza. It was good not great and sooo overpriced, go to Barnaby's. Second the salads...again sooo overpriced and just plain not good. Hell Wendy's has a better salad, or go across the street to Sunset Foods and get the salad bar. Third the chicken vesuvio. It was their broasted chicken smothered in some kind of olive oil and garlic sauce crap. Again way overpriced! Seriously, if your looking for some really good food in that area of Northbrook go to Francesca's North or even Oliverii's. It's worth it...Marcello's is not even close.
(1)
T C.
I called and ordered a pizza from the Northbrook Marcello's today, and requested it be ready at 5:15. We picked the pizza up at 5:15 promptly, came straight home to eat the pizza and it was room temperature at best. Since we needed to leave the house shortly, we ate some of the pizza. I called the restaurant at 5:40pm to notify them of our dissatisfaction with the temperature of the pizza I paid for. I spoke with Diana. She spoke with a manager and told me they would happily pick up the pizza so they can show their cooks what they did wrong and remake my pizza. When I told her we couldn't wait as we ate some of the pizza already, as we had someplace to be. She then proceeded to lecture me on how could I eat the pizza and then notify the restaurant. I explained that I didn't need to be lectured, that I am an adult, and in the time constrant my family had this evening, had no other choice but to feed my family. Since I didn't like her tone with me, I requested to speak with a manager. After several minutes, Diana came back on the phone and told me the manager was too busy to speak to me but offered me a $5 coupon toward my next order. I said "no thank you". That offer is insulting to me. I've been a customer for years and have never had a problem before. The first time I bring a quality assurance problem to the store, not only could a manager not find the time to talk to me, but he had someone speak to me like I am a child -- "scolding" me for feeding my children rather than waiting the hour for the restaurant to rectify the situation. I prefer to give business to restaurants that value a repeat customer.
(1)
mat s.
This pizza tastes a lot like Little Caesars. I can run it down when given to me. I have never really been on the actual location but have had the take out a couple of times and they are often providing catering for events. It's just not good. I feel bad saying but it just isn't good. I am sure they are really nice people but the pizza isn't good.
(2)
Amy A.
The key to Marcello's is knowing what to order. Flatbreads. AMAZING. Broasted chicken. AMAZING. Everything else. Meh. At lunch, they do have specials under $10, but the menu is limited. I alternate between the shrimp flatbread and the garlic oregano broasted chicken. Both are very delish and amazing. If I could eat both at one sitting, I would!!!
(5)
Melanie V.
The dilly? My belated birthday lunch - with my most awesome group of coworkers. (No, seriously, they are the best!) Since I pretty much veto'ed everything in Northbrook/Deerfield, I decided I wanted Marcello's 'cuz of the pretty good lunch deal. Soup, salad and drink for $10. Not bad, not bad. The Southwestern Salad is a solid choice (chicken, tomato, iceberg lettuce, green onions, cheese, tortilla strips). Filled me up, for sure. The Veggie Chopped salad and Beef sandwiches also looked appealing! It doesn't get too crowded during lunchtime, so service is pretty good. TV's all around are a welcomed distraction, too. Servers are always super friendly. Plus, to all you corporate diners, check if your business qualifies for the 10% discount! All you need to do is show your badge/id. But, do you wanna know what the BEST part of the meal truly is? The flatbread cracker things they give out before the meal. It comes with some herbed butter and... OMG - to die for. Between the seven of us, we basically polished off 2.5 baskets of it (and 2 containers of butter). Maybe THAT's why I was so full afterwards.....
(3)
Matthew S.
If I could rate this 4.5 stars, I would. It is ALMOST perfect. This place is known for their pizza, and they do not disappoint. I am a New-York-Style fan, all the way, and this is some decent NY pizza - a thin, but quality crust, with a solid, but not over-powering sprinkle of garlic. A solid layer of smooth, and slightly sweet tomato sauce. And a generous, well chosen topping of cheese, focusing on the classic mozzarella, but blending in other, subtle flavors. This is how pizza is supposed to be done. This is not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's definitely in the top few, and is a delight to eat each time. The atmosphere is also excellent - it manages to walk the subtle line between a classy restaurant and a sports bar quite nicely. There are several full-sized TV screens, but they are placed such that, depending on the seating arrangement, they are either available to be viewed by choice, or completely out of view. This is a place where everyone can be happy. It is a good blend of upscale and casual dinning - everyone will be welcome here, both the casual, comfortable dress, and the more upscale, business dress will fit in quite well. They do have a solid menu beyond Pizza as well, focusing on generalist food, and the quality is similarly general. Nothing here is going to blow your socks off, but I don't suspect anything will disappoint either. This is a great place to take friends and family, to rewind after a long day, to host small meetings, or just about anything else. In fact, I cannot think of an excuse not to eat here. I have been here several times since moving to the area, and expect to return on a regular basis. Oh and their bread/cracker freebe thingy - I don't know what it is, but your table will go through it like it's going out of style. Seriously yummy.
(4)
Jay S.
Went for the first time a few weeks ago. The food was a mixed bag, I had the country style broasted chicken (very good), my daughter had spare ribs (she loved them, not spicy), my son had the shrimp scampi (very bland, wouldn't order it again) and my wife had a salad and flatbread (salad was fine, the flatbread was greasy). Decor was nice, looks more modern and inviting on the inside than from the outside. Service was okay, waitress was friendly and the wait time for the food was normal. There seemed to be many regular/repeat customers. If you like a glass of wine with your meal, you are in luck, generous amount per glass. I'll go again, but no seafood or flatbread. Chicken and ribs are solid. Pizza looked good glancing at other tables so I'll give it a try. Overall, solid but not spectacular.
(3)
Al S.
We had been driving around Northbrook and stumbled upon Marcello's. What a nice find. Good food and service . Nothing fancy but very very tasty at reasonable prices and big portions. Service was excellent. No pretension - great neighborhood place. We'll be back !
(4)
Jo N.
Went there for a private party. The pizza was very good, and I will def be eating it again!! :). We also dined here just an a regular night and the food was good as well. In addition, they have a gluten free menu :)
(4)
Richard S.
This place is close, and they deliver. I prefer the things on the menu that are not Italian - broasted chicken, ribs and burger. In house service is hit or miss. Delivery and carry out is impeccable. This is the family's stand by when we don't want to cook.
(3)
Dustin C.
From their apps to their main dishes this place is great. What really separate's their food from other similar places is the service and consistency. I've been going to this location for over a decade and some of their best entrees continue to hit a home run. The fried chicken is tremendous; not only do they provide you with a great product, but their alternative options for flavors are great. The pizza is incredibly unique, the crust happens to be my favorite. Off the top of my head, I can't even begin going through their menu and naming all of their best items. There are simply too many. More than anything Marcello's is the type of place that demands perfection from its staff and you see that in the repeatedly great service. Even when things aren't perfect, they find a way to make you happy. I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Magnifico!
(5)
Eddie F.
Food and service are irrelevant here because when I ordered food for delivery, they changed receipt details and added an $8 tip to $$59.50 bill ($10 of which I gave as a tip). Rip off place. Not to be trusted. Stay away.
(1)
Gerald A.
Nothing to wow me. Nothing offensive either. Still searching for a good italian/american restaurant with decent prices. The pre-meal "crackers" were ok, but I'd rather have something more similar to the chips that Edwardo Natural Pizza serves, or a warm basket of bread. Entree of Chicken Parmesan was average, but out of whack with the price -- $14.95. Viccino's ($9.95) and Saranello's ($13.95 @ lunch) have better chicken parm, and go-romo ($9.79) has a pretty decent one in comparison with it's price. I never ordered a pizza, because the prices are too expensive. There are 3 other pizza places in the immediate area, Marcello's is the most expensive. If they beat Lou Malnati's pricing on their comparative items, I'd consider them. It appears that Marcello's is in a catch-22 that they are not willing to break out of. They don't sell as many pizzas as Lou Malnati's, so that have to charge more per pizza. Because they charge so much more for pizza, they don't sell as many pizzas. If cheap pizzas isn't sustainable for on-premise dining, at least make a "carry out only" special that is affordable and covers the cost of preparation!
(2)
Kelly G.
I went to a party recently and they had catered the buffalo chicken wings and i have to say hands down the best buffalo wings i have ever had!! The wings are 3 x the size of bww. And the sauce is amazing just the right amount of heat for me and i like spicy! I have not had anything else. But i will definately make a trip for the wings. Just a shame they arent open for lunch on sundays they would be a great football addition!
(5)
George H.
VERY Disappointing. I had heard so much about his place, but was very disappointed the 1st time, the 2nd time, but the 3rd time was the kicker! Undercooked food is something I will not tolerate. Bad service, when it's not that busy...sorry A wine list of way overpriced and under perfoming products. I want wines you don't see on the shelf ay Binny's, you know unique, boutique type wines, that are good and don't cost a lot. Here it's the same old stuff you see everywhere. I tried this place enough times to know I'm NOT ever going back!
(1)
Lynn S.
This is a really good family restaurant! Their Chicken Vesuvio, came with two side dishes and though not typical Italian style, drowning in olive oil, garlic and mushrooms, it was still a large, tasty platter. The onion rings were nothing special, just lots of batter but their fries were excellent. We shared a really ample Caesar Salad which was fresh and sported parmesan cheese crisps on top. The menu here is extensive including ribs, seafood, pizza, pasta and sandwiches plus soups and salads as well. Everyone can find something here. The atmosphere is attractive and happily, it wasn't too noisy, but families are a good part of the crowd so don't expect to share an intimate conversation across the booth. My only complaint was the service, which often completely forgot us, but was cheerful and pleasant when we attracted attention. Don't let its shopping strip location deter you, this restaurant is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They are also located in Lincoln Park and Logan Square and they have a delivery and catering service.
(4)
Faith D.
We love, love, LOVE this place. Free parking. Fun bartenders. Generous portions and good value. The garlic-oregano broasted (okay ... probably fried) chicken is out of this world. Seriously - the best I've ever tasted. The flatbreads are wonderful. The service .... could be better. Hey! You can't have everything ALL the time, right? There are many pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and other entrees which look good but I am so stuck on the chicken that I never order anything else. It's very casual/kid friendly and noisy. This is a regular in our restaurant rotation and I really love it.
(4)
Roberta R.
What a disaster! I went with my son, his wife and 2 children. We entered about 5:20 and after over an hour, we finally got our dinner. I twice got up to ask, where our dinners were, and there did not seem to be much of a concern on their part. The waitress ignored us, and we were not even offered more crackers. All the waitress said was I'm sorry. The management said nothing. The food was good, but there is no way I will wait an hour to be served. I am here for the summer and this was where my 10grandchildren like to go. Well, I guess I will find another favorite place
(1)
Scott B.
Can't not say anything bad about this place. Awesome Pizza and some of the BEST broasted Chicken. Props to this place for the food, services and decent prices. One of my top 10 in the NorthShore.
(5)
Greg M.
Oh goodness, don't listen to these lukewarm reviews of an excellent restaurant. The only item i continually come back for is the chicken, it is incredible. I highly recommend the garlic/basil chicken as it will rock your world hard. Recently, I had an experience with a mixed up order where they unfortunately gave my food to another customer. To compensate they added a few desert items for free and even gave me a free beer until my order was completed. Free beer and deserts make up for unsatisfactory service any day of the week. Marcello's you just made a happy/loyal customer. Thank you. Go Bears.
(4)
Brian L.
Oh I feel guilty for giving this place the same number of stars as the Logan Square location but everything's relative, right? There's no other place comparable in Northbrook. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance, drive 40 minutes out to the city and try the Logan Square location. I don't know what it is, but the food is always better there. Anyway, for being the Northshore, this place is pretty solid. When you first walk in it seems like a zoo from people ordering carry-out, the bar atmosphere, and just general traffic in and out of the restaurant. But once you're seated, it's nice and spacious and the staff is always nice. The food here is good and the value for the price is hard to beat. It's a homemade semi-gourmet Italian eatery and you can come out completely full for around $15 a person. Their broasted chicken is heavenly and the pizza is basically a layer of melted cheese on a cracker- both are must get's for first timers. I think over the years I've tried every single item on the menu- and I can say, there's nothing on there that I'd never try again. And of course you can count on their awesome desserts (psst, gotta get the carrot cake!). All in all, there's not much to complain about this place. But then again, I guess there isn't much to rant and rave about either.
(3)
Avon B.
You cant go wrong with the broasted chicken as its the best around. Unfortunately, they keep raising their prices most likely to pay for the Groupon campaign they sometimes run. The service has gotten better over the years and most of the menu items are good. Stay away from the pizza as there is better in town. Again, the broasted is worth many return visits. Owner/manager is a good guy and always there. Ambiance is good, nice little bar as well.
(4)
Steve P.
We went to the Nortbrook location which is only about 4 years old. The Jumbo shrimp appetizer was superb. It is true. The broasted chicken is really fantastic. Would like to see bar area moved to the party room area instead of the restaurant side as the noise level may compete with the dinning experience. Other than that, I think it's a hidden gem in Northbrook.
(4)
Vincent A.
I went to Marcello's only because my Girlfriend got a gift certificate as a 2011 Christmas gift from one of her students trying to suck up for extra credit, lol. I never knew the place exsisted. When me and my girlfriend walked in right away we were impressed by the overall atmosphere. There was a full bar in the restaurant, and the restaurant itself had a bunch of flat screen tv's, there was hardwood floors with a new modern decor that was very comfortable, chic, and sophisticated. The food was very good and the prices were appropriate. I had Chicken Picata ($15) It came with two boneless chicken breasts with a caper lemon white wine sauce. They didn't shy on the capers which was nice. The chicken was tender the sauce was delectable. They offered fresh grated parm cheese tableside and was just great. You are able to pick two sides with this dish which for $15 is a bargain! I got fries (crinkle cut nothing special), and a multi-grain rotini pasta with a housemade meat red sauce. The sauce isn't as traditional as most Italian sauces normally are. Usually a little bland lets the basil, protein, and tomatoes stand out. Marcello's sauce had a little bite to it with a big herb flavor, and the protein used was very dominant. Very tasty. My Girlfriend got the Ravioli with Marinara. It was around $10 bucks and came with 5 or 6 ravioli which is a good bargain as well. I didn't taste her dish, but from observing from across the table I saw and heard a lot mmmmm's and ooooo's so I'm gonna say it was pretty good, lol. For dessert we shared this awesome and decatant White Chocolate Cheesecake. It was dense, packed with flavor, and was a party in my mouth. The only thing I think would have made it better was if a little dark chocolate syrup was drizzled over the top. It was a great meal :) ....... But...... The reason why I gave a 3 star review for a place that deserves 5 stars was because of the service. Our service sucked. We got seated right away with a smile :) , but after that we sat at our table for 10 min before we got our beverage order taken. The restaurant wasn't even that busy at the time. When she brought us our drinks she put them down and proceded to get comfortable and sit/lean against the table next to us. I been in the restaurant buisness for over 10 years and you can't sit on the tables!! Its unsanitary!! Where has her butt been? Farting? Pull your pants down using the facilities letting your pants lay on the dirty bathroom floor. But its okay to just sit on the table... Then as she's taking our order she's leaning with her arms crossed across her chest giving us an annoyed stare with annoyed tone of voice saying, have you decided? What can I get you. Doesn't write it down just listens and leaves. We don't really see her again untill we order an additional order of fries which took 15 mins. We were done eating by the time our fries got to the table. She came by and asked us if we wanted refills, and we asked for a coke and she said okay, and proceded to focus her attention on other tables that had more customers. She had been doing that all evening. Ignoring the small tables but giving the bigger tables more attention. The bus boy came by looking at the server irratated himself at her by the look on his face, and in an appoligetic tone asked us if we wanted refills, and in less than 30 seconds we got our coke. Thats good service!!! 10 min after the fries were finished we ordered the cheesecake and that took another 10 mins. Then we asked for the check and that took another 5 mins. The only time we got a smile from her was when we were about the leave. Like she was happy we were leaving. She was so unprofessional, she was also wearing yoga pants, a sweatshirt and a sweat head band. "Very nice" outfit for a nice nice nice restaurant such as Marcello's. I would definetly go back for the food, but I would have to make sure that when I go I don't have any appointments for after the meal, or make sure a sitter has extra time cause your probably gonna end up being late. DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR BUS BOY!!!! :D
(3)
ida s.
I work close by and have never been disappointed with this place. I mostly get the southwestern chopped salad and I can barely finish it, it is that large. The staff always is accommodating my busy schedules and gets me in and out quick. I also have had the chicken parmesan and it delivered along with the grilled chicken sandwich. I know I can always get a solid meal here. I never have had a bad experience here.
(4)
Katie B.
I recently did a 40th birthday party for my husband at Marcello's North Events. We had 60 guest and it was a blast. The managers Larry and Jim were fabulous to work with and very accommodating. The staff was friendly and helpful, but most of all I am still getting comments from our friends about how great the food was. They opened the party room in October of 2010 and it is a great space to host any event. I look forward to do more parties and/or catered events through Marcello's North in the future. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)
Vera Lynn W.
i love it here. I always choose it for my bday dinner. I always get their spinach lasagna. With meatballs. So good and very big portions. My son loves their broasted chicken. They serve flatbread to everyone and their butter is very good. I haven't tried their pizza yet. Too busy enjoying their lasagna. :-) They have a great bartender, too. Very nice guy. So why not 5 stars? It gets very very loud here. Very loud. Their wait staff is hit or miss also. Ive had both great service, and very poor and inattentive. Their bus boys are amazing though. I swear they run the place. Fast, efficient, polite. And a few of them are really cute. Update: We ordered in for dinner last week. I got what I usually get (spinach lasagna) and a side of meatballs. I asked how many come with an order. I was told 2. That's what I remembered. They were terrible. Very hard and dense. I ate half of one and threw the rest away. Later as I was checking the receipt, I saw they overcharged me for the meatballs. $5.95 instead of $3.45. If they had been delicious, I wouldn't have minded so much. But to be overcharged for something I threw away because they were unedible? Unacceptable. Very disappointed. However, the delivery guy was very good looking. Next time, I'll order him!
(4)
Simone G.
Good food. period. almost. The service is good and the broasted chicken is amazing because they pressure fry it which gives it a good crunch.
(4)
Adele S.
I took my daughter here after hebrew class(yeah, real kosher!) so it was still pretty early for dinner, just after 6 on a Tuesday and we had our choice of seating. The booths were roomy and comfortable, everything spotless. Bathroom got a big thumbs up from my daughter for cleanliness and nice smelling soap. But we aren't there for the toilets. We split a garden salad-nothing spectacular, just dark crunchy greens, juicy tomato, crisp cukes and long paper thin shreds of red cabbage. Next time I'll try one of the other salads, this was really good! We had a black olive & green pepper deep dish which was excellent except for the crust...it was reminiscent of soda bread, just had that weird arm & hammer aftertaste. It wasn't so bad as to make the pizza inedible but it was just odd. I don't recall Father & Son crust tasting like this but then we always went to the Milwaukee Ave. location. No complaints about service because it was early enough. We'll probably be back to try something other than pizza.
(3)
Elle J.
Went here on a Friday night with the family - all three of us. LOL! The server was super nice, she was also super slow! Took her a good 10+ minutes before she even showed up to take our drink order. Appetizers were ok - we had the chicken tenders (YUMMY!) and calamari (not so yummy - very bland and tough). All of us had some sort of pasta. They messed up my order and gave me the same sauce as my husband. It wasn't awful, but not what I ordered. I didn't complain (was too tired & too hungry) and it wasn't all that bad. That being said, it was just plain old pasta. Nothing outstanding - just eh. The following week we decided to order pizza and have it delivered. Placed the order around 2:00, with a promised delivery time-frame of 30-40 mins. An hour after I placed the order it still hadn't showed up so I called. The manager apologized, told me the driver was having car trouble but he was on the way. Fifteen minutes later he still wasn't here - called again. Again, got a generic apology, but no explanation. Waited ANOTHER 20 minutes and called AGAIN. See a pattern here? Yes another apology but no explanation. FINALLY he shows up. Our "thin & crispy" pizzas were cold & soggy - just awful. Mozzarella sticks were hard as rocks and ice cold. I honestly don't think they even cooked them. I called and talked to the manager yet AGAIN and while she was apologetic AGAIN, she offered no compensation, other than to place another order and someone would pick up the first order when they dropped the new one off. I took a pass and told her I wanted my money back. She refused. We ended up going back & forth - me getting more & more pissed off by the second - and I ended up with measly a store credit for $25.00 - the cost of the cheapest pizza. Oh yeah... the price. I just about DIED when I placed the order and she told me the cost. It was like $70.00 for 2 flippin pizzas (both large, each with 3 toppings), an order of cheese sticks, tax & delivery. WTF??? The only reason I went ahead with it was b/c we were starving and figured for that kind of money, the food would be damn good. Guess we were wrong. I will never ever order from there again or visit the restaurant. Pissed me off that much...
(1)
Johanna N.
Everytime I've tried to go to this place it is packed! Waiting for a table or even a spot at the bar is 30-40 minute wait. Hence, I've only ordered the food for carry-out, but I was very impressed with the service and the food. When I call and place orders, the person answering the phone is helpful, tells me the exact time of pick-up, and total bill. When I have picked up the food, it is ready to go and still warm. I have ordered the oven broasted chicken once...which turned out to be a fancy way of saying fried chicken. While I had been hoping for a basic roasted chicken I used this a one of the few opportunities I have had to have fried chicken without feeling guilty. The chicken was great! Not too greasy! I also have ordered various pasta dishes. I appreciate that the sauce is left off of the pasta and placed in a separate container. As a result, the pasta is not soggy when I finally get the food home to eat. I would recommend this place for good standard middle-of-the-road Italian food. Be prepared to wait for a table or bar space Friday and Saturday!
(3)
kim s.
I do not see what people like about this restaurant, I think it's extremely over priced for very average food. The service was good but it really ends there.
(1)
Jose T.
I've been here a couple of times & I like it a lot. It's a step up from your usual pizza joint as they offer great menu options outside of pizza that you wouldn't ordinarily find in a traditional pizza joint. This place actually doesn't qualify as a 'joint'. It falls more on the side of a pleasant Italian restaurant that happens to serve pizza. My new favorite here is the BBQ cedar planked salmon. DELISIOUS! This place also has a nice bar atmosphere at the bar. A good place to take your girl or family to, or to just hang out with the guys.
(4)
James C.
Several years ago, my wife and I visited the Logan Square restaurant on a whim and were extremely impressed. Great service, even better food - and at a relatively modest price point. So finding ourselves on the North Shore, we were excited to try Marcello's in Northbrook... Though not quite as good as we remembered the food being in Logan Square - - the food rated about a four. Cooked well, nothing special, but just delicious Italian-American food. However, the service was somewhat less inspiring. The restaurant had a couple busy tables, but was only about 1/3 full. In spite of this, we felt somewhat ignored during the meal, to the point we elected to seek out dessert elsewhere. If I lived in the NB area, I probably would give it another shot, just because the food is quite good, hoping that our service experience is the exception, rather than the rule.
(3)
Jodi B.
The food at Marcellos is outstanding! Always so fresh and consistent . The pizza, flatbreads, chicken, ribs, fish are all outstanding . Haven't had a bad meal yet. The restaurant is beautiful, very warm, cozy and the service has always been great! I can't think of another restaurant with such reasonable prices and such outstanding food. The two Chicago locations are just as great. If you haven't tried Marcellos it's a must.
(5)
Tracey M.
I had heard so many good things about Marcello's that I was really looking forward to eating there. However, the actual experience did not live up to the hype. The Food: Overall my food was good. I had the Shrimp ala Marcello. It was good and had a bit of a kick to it spice wise. However, it didn't have as much garlic as I had hoped/expected. It left me wondering if I should have had pizza as it was recommended by the person who suggested the restaurant. The portion was generous and made for good leftovers the next day. The Service: The service started out really good. However, as the restaurant became more crowded the service decline - drastically. The Atmosphere: Fine. A bit small for the amount of tables they have inside. The Bottom Line: Mediocre at best. I'd be willing to give the place another try.
(3)
kavan s.
I've been here before. The food is good. I never knew they had gluten free pizza before as stated in 1 review. Maybe I will try this. Their fat bread is also very good. And its close by. I hate driving too far especially at night.
(5)
Bill W.
Loud - okay food - painfully slow service!!
(2)
Melissa W.
Can you say "Oil Pit"? I am writing this with acid indigestion along with my husband. We just got home from this place. All I can say is, just because it is Italian food, you don't have to drench it in olive oil to make it taste good. Where the ingredients lacked in quality, the olive oil made up for it in quantity. I ordered Chicken Vesuvius, husband ordered a side of rice and sauted spinach. They totally messed up the rice with a cup of oil, same with spinach. My chicken was drenched as well. We went to Italy last Fall, and I can say this is not real Italian food. Run away, run far away from this oil pit.
(1)
Marlo P.
I am very disappointed in this place. I've always gone to the Father & Son at Logan Square since I was a wee little kid. Never had a problem. I loved their food and the service was always outstanding. I had moved out to the burbs and found out that my favorite restaurant when I was a kid has moved out with me. I WAS SO ECSTATIC! So I took my "boyfriend" (my husband now) to this restaurant because we both LOVED Father & Son. We came in fairly casual dressed. It was pretty easy to spot us out because we were from the city and Northbrook is one of those suburbs where ladies do lunch and usually have more money I guess. At least that's what they made us feel like at the restaurant. They sat us down at the restaurant and it wasn't busy at all. Now I have to add, I've worked in many restaurants. I am pretty lenient when I receive service from restaurants because I can understand the stress on people and I just understand the kind of hell some people go through in restaurants. With that being said, we had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I kid you not, 4 other tables were sat after us and they had received drinks and servers were paying attention to them. My husband realized I was getting sort of upset so he told a bus boy that someone should come over to serve us soon. The bus boy went up to a server and told them that we have not been served and they did not say a word to us after that. I gave them 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is a long long long time. Other customers were even asking us why they weren't coming to us. I stopped the first person that came across me (which was the same bus boy) and I told him to get me the manager. He then tells the server I want to see a manager and the first thing the server says to us was "Sorry." with a pen and paper in her hand ready to take our order. I requested a manager and she said okay and the manager came by to speak to us. I told her the situation and then she says "well we can take your order now, what do you want?" No apology. Nothing. I told the manager that we were just going to leave and she said, "fine". Then the server stops at us and says "I'm sorry, I thought you were waiting for other people to come." We were sitting at a table that seats two. I wasn't blind. We were the youngest couple in that restaurant that day and we were ignored as if we didn't have any money to eat. I was extremely disappointed that day. I felt like I was being judged because of my age, income, possibly race, but whatever it was, it was pretty noticeable that we were being ignored. It really hurt my husband and I to even feel like that. I will never come to this place again. Thank you Marcellos for not letting me experience the same experience that I've had in Chicago for a long time. It was the worst service I have ever had in any establishment ever.
(1)
Sandra F.
Consistently good food and good service in the neighborhood. No wonder they are busy!
(4)
Chris G.
I go there regularly and enjoy the chicken or a cheeseburger. The service is good and the staff is friendly. I usually go during the week when it's no so crowded.
(5)
Janice L.
i love pizza and ny pizza is my fave, but i cannot get enough of their pan pizza with the works. their pasta combos are great. i usually get the grilled seasonal veggies with marinara sauce and meatballs. delish! the spinach side is good too, with the butter, maybe a tad too much oil. there aren't too many good italian places in the suburbs anymore. i used to love riggio's but they've gone down hill...
(4)
emily d.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)
Bruce N.
Ahhhh... Father & Son's pizza in my 'hood! Some of the best thin crust around, it's a welcome addition to N'brook. Quality ingredients, great pasta dishes, and an excellent salad to boot. The dining room is beautiful, but small. Expect a wait at dinner. Nice bar with a couple of flat screens to watch while waiting for a table or carry-out. My only complaint is the prices are a bit steep for pizza, but it is Northbrook... Now I have a tough decision on Italian night- Marcello's or Tonelli's? Can't miss with either one in my book!
(4)
Blair F.
Before my wife and I moved to Northbrook, we (sadly) ordered from Father & Son in Chicago. It was awful. Astonishingly this location is even worse. For $26 plus tip, we ordered a Fusilli dish and Spaghetti and Meatballs. They both came in plastic containers with a HUGE sauce bowl, so you can put the sauce on after. That part is fine. What ISN'T fine is that the sauce bowl literally takes up about 40% of the bowl that otherwise could be filled with pasta, so you're immediately screwed, right?. Wrong! Why you ask? Because the pasta is simply inedible. Pure unadulterated shit. It's so bad that my wife chose to eat two-day old burned pizza in lieu of her Fusilli. They give you one piece of bread (to share!) that's barely enough for a hamster who'd just eaten a full meal and nothing else. Truly, we'd have been better off if when the guy came to deliver, we gave him the $30 and let him kick me in the nuts and said, "You don't want this food. It's shit."
(1)
Ed S.
So far I've used their take-out service twice and the meals were excellent, especially the ribs. We tried eat-in on a Friday night but didn't have time to wait for a table. The parking lot has been quite full every evening since they opened.
Pizza is a famous Italian dish savored around the world. The entire credit for the popularity of Pizza in the United States goes to the chain of pizzerias all over the country. While the base and the texture of Pizza remains same across the globe, it's the toppings that differs from country to country. In the United States, you will find the top pizzerias serving pizzas with the toppings of mainly beef, bacon, chicken, ham, and sausage for the non-vegetarians. Other than these famous meat options, Pizzas with veg toppings such as mushrooms, pepperonis, garlic, tomatoes, spinach, etc. are also famous in most restaurants in the United States.
Irrespective of your locality, you will find a variety of different restaurants in your cities offering pizzas of all different types. Pizza is hot favorite among people of all ages in the United States. A large size pizza is enough to feed a family of 3 or 4 at large. Pizza is also the most preferred food whenever a group of friends is hanging out together. Pizza gained popularity in the United States after the American soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II.
Over the years, different pizzerias in the United States have developed their own respective regional variations. Pizza gained popularity as the iconic dish in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. Whether you prefer thin or thick crust pizza, you can find a pizza of your preference at the best pizza restaurants in your city.
Italian Cuisine
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Bruce N.
Ahhhh... Father & Son's pizza in my 'hood! Some of the best thin crust around, it's a welcome addition to N'brook. Quality ingredients, great pasta dishes, and an excellent salad to boot. The dining room is beautiful, but small. Expect a wait at dinner. Nice bar with a couple of flat screens to watch while waiting for a table or carry-out. My only complaint is the prices are a bit steep for pizza, but it is Northbrook... Now I have a tough decision on Italian night- Marcello's or Tonelli's? Can't miss with either one in my book!
(4)Blair F.
Before my wife and I moved to Northbrook, we (sadly) ordered from Father & Son in Chicago. It was awful. Astonishingly this location is even worse. For $26 plus tip, we ordered a Fusilli dish and Spaghetti and Meatballs. They both came in plastic containers with a HUGE sauce bowl, so you can put the sauce on after. That part is fine. What ISN'T fine is that the sauce bowl literally takes up about 40% of the bowl that otherwise could be filled with pasta, so you're immediately screwed, right?. Wrong! Why you ask? Because the pasta is simply inedible. Pure unadulterated shit. It's so bad that my wife chose to eat two-day old burned pizza in lieu of her Fusilli. They give you one piece of bread (to share!) that's barely enough for a hamster who'd just eaten a full meal and nothing else. Truly, we'd have been better off if when the guy came to deliver, we gave him the $30 and let him kick me in the nuts and said, "You don't want this food. It's shit."
(1)Ed S.
So far I've used their take-out service twice and the meals were excellent, especially the ribs. We tried eat-in on a Friday night but didn't have time to wait for a table. The parking lot has been quite full every evening since they opened.
(5)Simone G.
Good food. period. almost. The service is good and the broasted chicken is amazing because they pressure fry it which gives it a good crunch.
(4)James C.
Several years ago, my wife and I visited the Logan Square restaurant on a whim and were extremely impressed. Great service, even better food - and at a relatively modest price point. So finding ourselves on the North Shore, we were excited to try Marcello's in Northbrook... Though not quite as good as we remembered the food being in Logan Square - - the food rated about a four. Cooked well, nothing special, but just delicious Italian-American food. However, the service was somewhat less inspiring. The restaurant had a couple busy tables, but was only about 1/3 full. In spite of this, we felt somewhat ignored during the meal, to the point we elected to seek out dessert elsewhere. If I lived in the NB area, I probably would give it another shot, just because the food is quite good, hoping that our service experience is the exception, rather than the rule.
(3)Jodi B.
The food at Marcellos is outstanding! Always so fresh and consistent . The pizza, flatbreads, chicken, ribs, fish are all outstanding . Haven't had a bad meal yet. The restaurant is beautiful, very warm, cozy and the service has always been great! I can't think of another restaurant with such reasonable prices and such outstanding food. The two Chicago locations are just as great. If you haven't tried Marcellos it's a must.
(5)Tracey M.
I had heard so many good things about Marcello's that I was really looking forward to eating there. However, the actual experience did not live up to the hype. The Food: Overall my food was good. I had the Shrimp ala Marcello. It was good and had a bit of a kick to it spice wise. However, it didn't have as much garlic as I had hoped/expected. It left me wondering if I should have had pizza as it was recommended by the person who suggested the restaurant. The portion was generous and made for good leftovers the next day. The Service: The service started out really good. However, as the restaurant became more crowded the service decline - drastically. The Atmosphere: Fine. A bit small for the amount of tables they have inside. The Bottom Line: Mediocre at best. I'd be willing to give the place another try.
(3)Becky P.
All I can say is: Do the goat cheese pizza. We got this the other night and HOLY COW was it amazing. I've gotten other things here before, but man, I honestly don't even remember what they were because the goat cheese pizza just wiped the slate clean. I loved the extra thin crust, and that they were generous with the toppings. Nothing irks me more than when I'm lacking my toppings! Check it out!
(5)Jay K.
Are you familiar with the term 3 strikes and your out? Well it applies to this place at least for the take out which I had 3 times. First the pizza. It was good not great and sooo overpriced, go to Barnaby's. Second the salads...again sooo overpriced and just plain not good. Hell Wendy's has a better salad, or go across the street to Sunset Foods and get the salad bar. Third the chicken vesuvio. It was their broasted chicken smothered in some kind of olive oil and garlic sauce crap. Again way overpriced! Seriously, if your looking for some really good food in that area of Northbrook go to Francesca's North or even Oliverii's. It's worth it...Marcello's is not even close.
(1)Matthew S.
If I could rate this 4.5 stars, I would. It is ALMOST perfect. This place is known for their pizza, and they do not disappoint. I am a New-York-Style fan, all the way, and this is some decent NY pizza - a thin, but quality crust, with a solid, but not over-powering sprinkle of garlic. A solid layer of smooth, and slightly sweet tomato sauce. And a generous, well chosen topping of cheese, focusing on the classic mozzarella, but blending in other, subtle flavors. This is how pizza is supposed to be done. This is not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's definitely in the top few, and is a delight to eat each time. The atmosphere is also excellent - it manages to walk the subtle line between a classy restaurant and a sports bar quite nicely. There are several full-sized TV screens, but they are placed such that, depending on the seating arrangement, they are either available to be viewed by choice, or completely out of view. This is a place where everyone can be happy. It is a good blend of upscale and casual dinning - everyone will be welcome here, both the casual, comfortable dress, and the more upscale, business dress will fit in quite well. They do have a solid menu beyond Pizza as well, focusing on generalist food, and the quality is similarly general. Nothing here is going to blow your socks off, but I don't suspect anything will disappoint either. This is a great place to take friends and family, to rewind after a long day, to host small meetings, or just about anything else. In fact, I cannot think of an excuse not to eat here. I have been here several times since moving to the area, and expect to return on a regular basis. Oh and their bread/cracker freebe thingy - I don't know what it is, but your table will go through it like it's going out of style. Seriously yummy.
(4)Jay S.
Went for the first time a few weeks ago. The food was a mixed bag, I had the country style broasted chicken (very good), my daughter had spare ribs (she loved them, not spicy), my son had the shrimp scampi (very bland, wouldn't order it again) and my wife had a salad and flatbread (salad was fine, the flatbread was greasy). Decor was nice, looks more modern and inviting on the inside than from the outside. Service was okay, waitress was friendly and the wait time for the food was normal. There seemed to be many regular/repeat customers. If you like a glass of wine with your meal, you are in luck, generous amount per glass. I'll go again, but no seafood or flatbread. Chicken and ribs are solid. Pizza looked good glancing at other tables so I'll give it a try. Overall, solid but not spectacular.
(3)Al S.
We had been driving around Northbrook and stumbled upon Marcello's. What a nice find. Good food and service . Nothing fancy but very very tasty at reasonable prices and big portions. Service was excellent. No pretension - great neighborhood place. We'll be back !
(4)Jo N.
Went there for a private party. The pizza was very good, and I will def be eating it again!! :). We also dined here just an a regular night and the food was good as well. In addition, they have a gluten free menu :)
(4)Richard S.
This place is close, and they deliver. I prefer the things on the menu that are not Italian - broasted chicken, ribs and burger. In house service is hit or miss. Delivery and carry out is impeccable. This is the family's stand by when we don't want to cook.
(3)Melanie V.
The dilly? My belated birthday lunch - with my most awesome group of coworkers. (No, seriously, they are the best!) Since I pretty much veto'ed everything in Northbrook/Deerfield, I decided I wanted Marcello's 'cuz of the pretty good lunch deal. Soup, salad and drink for $10. Not bad, not bad. The Southwestern Salad is a solid choice (chicken, tomato, iceberg lettuce, green onions, cheese, tortilla strips). Filled me up, for sure. The Veggie Chopped salad and Beef sandwiches also looked appealing! It doesn't get too crowded during lunchtime, so service is pretty good. TV's all around are a welcomed distraction, too. Servers are always super friendly. Plus, to all you corporate diners, check if your business qualifies for the 10% discount! All you need to do is show your badge/id. But, do you wanna know what the BEST part of the meal truly is? The flatbread cracker things they give out before the meal. It comes with some herbed butter and... OMG - to die for. Between the seven of us, we basically polished off 2.5 baskets of it (and 2 containers of butter). Maybe THAT's why I was so full afterwards.....
(3)Dustin C.
From their apps to their main dishes this place is great. What really separate's their food from other similar places is the service and consistency. I've been going to this location for over a decade and some of their best entrees continue to hit a home run. The fried chicken is tremendous; not only do they provide you with a great product, but their alternative options for flavors are great. The pizza is incredibly unique, the crust happens to be my favorite. Off the top of my head, I can't even begin going through their menu and naming all of their best items. There are simply too many. More than anything Marcello's is the type of place that demands perfection from its staff and you see that in the repeatedly great service. Even when things aren't perfect, they find a way to make you happy. I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Magnifico!
(5)Eddie F.
Food and service are irrelevant here because when I ordered food for delivery, they changed receipt details and added an $8 tip to $$59.50 bill ($10 of which I gave as a tip). Rip off place. Not to be trusted. Stay away.
(1)Gerald A.
Nothing to wow me. Nothing offensive either. Still searching for a good italian/american restaurant with decent prices. The pre-meal "crackers" were ok, but I'd rather have something more similar to the chips that Edwardo Natural Pizza serves, or a warm basket of bread. Entree of Chicken Parmesan was average, but out of whack with the price -- $14.95. Viccino's ($9.95) and Saranello's ($13.95 @ lunch) have better chicken parm, and go-romo ($9.79) has a pretty decent one in comparison with it's price. I never ordered a pizza, because the prices are too expensive. There are 3 other pizza places in the immediate area, Marcello's is the most expensive. If they beat Lou Malnati's pricing on their comparative items, I'd consider them. It appears that Marcello's is in a catch-22 that they are not willing to break out of. They don't sell as many pizzas as Lou Malnati's, so that have to charge more per pizza. Because they charge so much more for pizza, they don't sell as many pizzas. If cheap pizzas isn't sustainable for on-premise dining, at least make a "carry out only" special that is affordable and covers the cost of preparation!
(2)Lynn S.
This is a really good family restaurant! Their Chicken Vesuvio, came with two side dishes and though not typical Italian style, drowning in olive oil, garlic and mushrooms, it was still a large, tasty platter. The onion rings were nothing special, just lots of batter but their fries were excellent. We shared a really ample Caesar Salad which was fresh and sported parmesan cheese crisps on top. The menu here is extensive including ribs, seafood, pizza, pasta and sandwiches plus soups and salads as well. Everyone can find something here. The atmosphere is attractive and happily, it wasn't too noisy, but families are a good part of the crowd so don't expect to share an intimate conversation across the booth. My only complaint was the service, which often completely forgot us, but was cheerful and pleasant when we attracted attention. Don't let its shopping strip location deter you, this restaurant is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They are also located in Lincoln Park and Logan Square and they have a delivery and catering service.
(4)Faith D.
We love, love, LOVE this place. Free parking. Fun bartenders. Generous portions and good value. The garlic-oregano broasted (okay ... probably fried) chicken is out of this world. Seriously - the best I've ever tasted. The flatbreads are wonderful. The service .... could be better. Hey! You can't have everything ALL the time, right? There are many pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and other entrees which look good but I am so stuck on the chicken that I never order anything else. It's very casual/kid friendly and noisy. This is a regular in our restaurant rotation and I really love it.
(4)Roberta R.
What a disaster! I went with my son, his wife and 2 children. We entered about 5:20 and after over an hour, we finally got our dinner. I twice got up to ask, where our dinners were, and there did not seem to be much of a concern on their part. The waitress ignored us, and we were not even offered more crackers. All the waitress said was I'm sorry. The management said nothing. The food was good, but there is no way I will wait an hour to be served. I am here for the summer and this was where my 10grandchildren like to go. Well, I guess I will find another favorite place
(1)Greg M.
Oh goodness, don't listen to these lukewarm reviews of an excellent restaurant. The only item i continually come back for is the chicken, it is incredible. I highly recommend the garlic/basil chicken as it will rock your world hard. Recently, I had an experience with a mixed up order where they unfortunately gave my food to another customer. To compensate they added a few desert items for free and even gave me a free beer until my order was completed. Free beer and deserts make up for unsatisfactory service any day of the week. Marcello's you just made a happy/loyal customer. Thank you. Go Bears.
(4)kavan s.
I've been here before. The food is good. I never knew they had gluten free pizza before as stated in 1 review. Maybe I will try this. Their fat bread is also very good. And its close by. I hate driving too far especially at night.
(5)Bill W.
Loud - okay food - painfully slow service!!
(2)Brian L.
Oh I feel guilty for giving this place the same number of stars as the Logan Square location but everything's relative, right? There's no other place comparable in Northbrook. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance, drive 40 minutes out to the city and try the Logan Square location. I don't know what it is, but the food is always better there. Anyway, for being the Northshore, this place is pretty solid. When you first walk in it seems like a zoo from people ordering carry-out, the bar atmosphere, and just general traffic in and out of the restaurant. But once you're seated, it's nice and spacious and the staff is always nice. The food here is good and the value for the price is hard to beat. It's a homemade semi-gourmet Italian eatery and you can come out completely full for around $15 a person. Their broasted chicken is heavenly and the pizza is basically a layer of melted cheese on a cracker- both are must get's for first timers. I think over the years I've tried every single item on the menu- and I can say, there's nothing on there that I'd never try again. And of course you can count on their awesome desserts (psst, gotta get the carrot cake!). All in all, there's not much to complain about this place. But then again, I guess there isn't much to rant and rave about either.
(3)Avon B.
You cant go wrong with the broasted chicken as its the best around. Unfortunately, they keep raising their prices most likely to pay for the Groupon campaign they sometimes run. The service has gotten better over the years and most of the menu items are good. Stay away from the pizza as there is better in town. Again, the broasted is worth many return visits. Owner/manager is a good guy and always there. Ambiance is good, nice little bar as well.
(4)Steve P.
We went to the Nortbrook location which is only about 4 years old. The Jumbo shrimp appetizer was superb. It is true. The broasted chicken is really fantastic. Would like to see bar area moved to the party room area instead of the restaurant side as the noise level may compete with the dinning experience. Other than that, I think it's a hidden gem in Northbrook.
(4)Vincent A.
I went to Marcello's only because my Girlfriend got a gift certificate as a 2011 Christmas gift from one of her students trying to suck up for extra credit, lol. I never knew the place exsisted. When me and my girlfriend walked in right away we were impressed by the overall atmosphere. There was a full bar in the restaurant, and the restaurant itself had a bunch of flat screen tv's, there was hardwood floors with a new modern decor that was very comfortable, chic, and sophisticated. The food was very good and the prices were appropriate. I had Chicken Picata ($15) It came with two boneless chicken breasts with a caper lemon white wine sauce. They didn't shy on the capers which was nice. The chicken was tender the sauce was delectable. They offered fresh grated parm cheese tableside and was just great. You are able to pick two sides with this dish which for $15 is a bargain! I got fries (crinkle cut nothing special), and a multi-grain rotini pasta with a housemade meat red sauce. The sauce isn't as traditional as most Italian sauces normally are. Usually a little bland lets the basil, protein, and tomatoes stand out. Marcello's sauce had a little bite to it with a big herb flavor, and the protein used was very dominant. Very tasty. My Girlfriend got the Ravioli with Marinara. It was around $10 bucks and came with 5 or 6 ravioli which is a good bargain as well. I didn't taste her dish, but from observing from across the table I saw and heard a lot mmmmm's and ooooo's so I'm gonna say it was pretty good, lol. For dessert we shared this awesome and decatant White Chocolate Cheesecake. It was dense, packed with flavor, and was a party in my mouth. The only thing I think would have made it better was if a little dark chocolate syrup was drizzled over the top. It was a great meal :) ....... But...... The reason why I gave a 3 star review for a place that deserves 5 stars was because of the service. Our service sucked. We got seated right away with a smile :) , but after that we sat at our table for 10 min before we got our beverage order taken. The restaurant wasn't even that busy at the time. When she brought us our drinks she put them down and proceded to get comfortable and sit/lean against the table next to us. I been in the restaurant buisness for over 10 years and you can't sit on the tables!! Its unsanitary!! Where has her butt been? Farting? Pull your pants down using the facilities letting your pants lay on the dirty bathroom floor. But its okay to just sit on the table... Then as she's taking our order she's leaning with her arms crossed across her chest giving us an annoyed stare with annoyed tone of voice saying, have you decided? What can I get you. Doesn't write it down just listens and leaves. We don't really see her again untill we order an additional order of fries which took 15 mins. We were done eating by the time our fries got to the table. She came by and asked us if we wanted refills, and we asked for a coke and she said okay, and proceded to focus her attention on other tables that had more customers. She had been doing that all evening. Ignoring the small tables but giving the bigger tables more attention. The bus boy came by looking at the server irratated himself at her by the look on his face, and in an appoligetic tone asked us if we wanted refills, and in less than 30 seconds we got our coke. Thats good service!!! 10 min after the fries were finished we ordered the cheesecake and that took another 10 mins. Then we asked for the check and that took another 5 mins. The only time we got a smile from her was when we were about the leave. Like she was happy we were leaving. She was so unprofessional, she was also wearing yoga pants, a sweatshirt and a sweat head band. "Very nice" outfit for a nice nice nice restaurant such as Marcello's. I would definetly go back for the food, but I would have to make sure that when I go I don't have any appointments for after the meal, or make sure a sitter has extra time cause your probably gonna end up being late. DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR BUS BOY!!!! :D
(3)George H.
VERY Disappointing. I had heard so much about his place, but was very disappointed the 1st time, the 2nd time, but the 3rd time was the kicker! Undercooked food is something I will not tolerate. Bad service, when it's not that busy...sorry A wine list of way overpriced and under perfoming products. I want wines you don't see on the shelf ay Binny's, you know unique, boutique type wines, that are good and don't cost a lot. Here it's the same old stuff you see everywhere. I tried this place enough times to know I'm NOT ever going back!
(1)Jose T.
I've been here a couple of times & I like it a lot. It's a step up from your usual pizza joint as they offer great menu options outside of pizza that you wouldn't ordinarily find in a traditional pizza joint. This place actually doesn't qualify as a 'joint'. It falls more on the side of a pleasant Italian restaurant that happens to serve pizza. My new favorite here is the BBQ cedar planked salmon. DELISIOUS! This place also has a nice bar atmosphere at the bar. A good place to take your girl or family to, or to just hang out with the guys.
(4)Chris G.
I go there regularly and enjoy the chicken or a cheeseburger. The service is good and the staff is friendly. I usually go during the week when it's no so crowded.
(5)Janice L.
i love pizza and ny pizza is my fave, but i cannot get enough of their pan pizza with the works. their pasta combos are great. i usually get the grilled seasonal veggies with marinara sauce and meatballs. delish! the spinach side is good too, with the butter, maybe a tad too much oil. there aren't too many good italian places in the suburbs anymore. i used to love riggio's but they've gone down hill...
(4)Katie B.
I recently did a 40th birthday party for my husband at Marcello's North Events. We had 60 guest and it was a blast. The managers Larry and Jim were fabulous to work with and very accommodating. The staff was friendly and helpful, but most of all I am still getting comments from our friends about how great the food was. They opened the party room in October of 2010 and it is a great space to host any event. I look forward to do more parties and/or catered events through Marcello's North in the future. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)emily d.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)Scott B.
Can't not say anything bad about this place. Awesome Pizza and some of the BEST broasted Chicken. Props to this place for the food, services and decent prices. One of my top 10 in the NorthShore.
(5)Vera Lynn W.
i love it here. I always choose it for my bday dinner. I always get their spinach lasagna. With meatballs. So good and very big portions. My son loves their broasted chicken. They serve flatbread to everyone and their butter is very good. I haven't tried their pizza yet. Too busy enjoying their lasagna. :-) They have a great bartender, too. Very nice guy. So why not 5 stars? It gets very very loud here. Very loud. Their wait staff is hit or miss also. Ive had both great service, and very poor and inattentive. Their bus boys are amazing though. I swear they run the place. Fast, efficient, polite. And a few of them are really cute. Update: We ordered in for dinner last week. I got what I usually get (spinach lasagna) and a side of meatballs. I asked how many come with an order. I was told 2. That's what I remembered. They were terrible. Very hard and dense. I ate half of one and threw the rest away. Later as I was checking the receipt, I saw they overcharged me for the meatballs. $5.95 instead of $3.45. If they had been delicious, I wouldn't have minded so much. But to be overcharged for something I threw away because they were unedible? Unacceptable. Very disappointed. However, the delivery guy was very good looking. Next time, I'll order him!
(4)Elle J.
Went here on a Friday night with the family - all three of us. LOL! The server was super nice, she was also super slow! Took her a good 10+ minutes before she even showed up to take our drink order. Appetizers were ok - we had the chicken tenders (YUMMY!) and calamari (not so yummy - very bland and tough). All of us had some sort of pasta. They messed up my order and gave me the same sauce as my husband. It wasn't awful, but not what I ordered. I didn't complain (was too tired & too hungry) and it wasn't all that bad. That being said, it was just plain old pasta. Nothing outstanding - just eh. The following week we decided to order pizza and have it delivered. Placed the order around 2:00, with a promised delivery time-frame of 30-40 mins. An hour after I placed the order it still hadn't showed up so I called. The manager apologized, told me the driver was having car trouble but he was on the way. Fifteen minutes later he still wasn't here - called again. Again, got a generic apology, but no explanation. Waited ANOTHER 20 minutes and called AGAIN. See a pattern here? Yes another apology but no explanation. FINALLY he shows up. Our "thin & crispy" pizzas were cold & soggy - just awful. Mozzarella sticks were hard as rocks and ice cold. I honestly don't think they even cooked them. I called and talked to the manager yet AGAIN and while she was apologetic AGAIN, she offered no compensation, other than to place another order and someone would pick up the first order when they dropped the new one off. I took a pass and told her I wanted my money back. She refused. We ended up going back & forth - me getting more & more pissed off by the second - and I ended up with measly a store credit for $25.00 - the cost of the cheapest pizza. Oh yeah... the price. I just about DIED when I placed the order and she told me the cost. It was like $70.00 for 2 flippin pizzas (both large, each with 3 toppings), an order of cheese sticks, tax & delivery. WTF??? The only reason I went ahead with it was b/c we were starving and figured for that kind of money, the food would be damn good. Guess we were wrong. I will never ever order from there again or visit the restaurant. Pissed me off that much...
(1)Johanna N.
Everytime I've tried to go to this place it is packed! Waiting for a table or even a spot at the bar is 30-40 minute wait. Hence, I've only ordered the food for carry-out, but I was very impressed with the service and the food. When I call and place orders, the person answering the phone is helpful, tells me the exact time of pick-up, and total bill. When I have picked up the food, it is ready to go and still warm. I have ordered the oven broasted chicken once...which turned out to be a fancy way of saying fried chicken. While I had been hoping for a basic roasted chicken I used this a one of the few opportunities I have had to have fried chicken without feeling guilty. The chicken was great! Not too greasy! I also have ordered various pasta dishes. I appreciate that the sauce is left off of the pasta and placed in a separate container. As a result, the pasta is not soggy when I finally get the food home to eat. I would recommend this place for good standard middle-of-the-road Italian food. Be prepared to wait for a table or bar space Friday and Saturday!
(3)kim s.
I do not see what people like about this restaurant, I think it's extremely over priced for very average food. The service was good but it really ends there.
(1)Adele S.
I took my daughter here after hebrew class(yeah, real kosher!) so it was still pretty early for dinner, just after 6 on a Tuesday and we had our choice of seating. The booths were roomy and comfortable, everything spotless. Bathroom got a big thumbs up from my daughter for cleanliness and nice smelling soap. But we aren't there for the toilets. We split a garden salad-nothing spectacular, just dark crunchy greens, juicy tomato, crisp cukes and long paper thin shreds of red cabbage. Next time I'll try one of the other salads, this was really good! We had a black olive & green pepper deep dish which was excellent except for the crust...it was reminiscent of soda bread, just had that weird arm & hammer aftertaste. It wasn't so bad as to make the pizza inedible but it was just odd. I don't recall Father & Son crust tasting like this but then we always went to the Milwaukee Ave. location. No complaints about service because it was early enough. We'll probably be back to try something other than pizza.
(3)Melissa W.
Can you say "Oil Pit"? I am writing this with acid indigestion along with my husband. We just got home from this place. All I can say is, just because it is Italian food, you don't have to drench it in olive oil to make it taste good. Where the ingredients lacked in quality, the olive oil made up for it in quantity. I ordered Chicken Vesuvius, husband ordered a side of rice and sauted spinach. They totally messed up the rice with a cup of oil, same with spinach. My chicken was drenched as well. We went to Italy last Fall, and I can say this is not real Italian food. Run away, run far away from this oil pit.
(1)ida s.
I work close by and have never been disappointed with this place. I mostly get the southwestern chopped salad and I can barely finish it, it is that large. The staff always is accommodating my busy schedules and gets me in and out quick. I also have had the chicken parmesan and it delivered along with the grilled chicken sandwich. I know I can always get a solid meal here. I never have had a bad experience here.
(4)Marlo P.
I am very disappointed in this place. I've always gone to the Father & Son at Logan Square since I was a wee little kid. Never had a problem. I loved their food and the service was always outstanding. I had moved out to the burbs and found out that my favorite restaurant when I was a kid has moved out with me. I WAS SO ECSTATIC! So I took my "boyfriend" (my husband now) to this restaurant because we both LOVED Father & Son. We came in fairly casual dressed. It was pretty easy to spot us out because we were from the city and Northbrook is one of those suburbs where ladies do lunch and usually have more money I guess. At least that's what they made us feel like at the restaurant. They sat us down at the restaurant and it wasn't busy at all. Now I have to add, I've worked in many restaurants. I am pretty lenient when I receive service from restaurants because I can understand the stress on people and I just understand the kind of hell some people go through in restaurants. With that being said, we had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I kid you not, 4 other tables were sat after us and they had received drinks and servers were paying attention to them. My husband realized I was getting sort of upset so he told a bus boy that someone should come over to serve us soon. The bus boy went up to a server and told them that we have not been served and they did not say a word to us after that. I gave them 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is a long long long time. Other customers were even asking us why they weren't coming to us. I stopped the first person that came across me (which was the same bus boy) and I told him to get me the manager. He then tells the server I want to see a manager and the first thing the server says to us was "Sorry." with a pen and paper in her hand ready to take our order. I requested a manager and she said okay and the manager came by to speak to us. I told her the situation and then she says "well we can take your order now, what do you want?" No apology. Nothing. I told the manager that we were just going to leave and she said, "fine". Then the server stops at us and says "I'm sorry, I thought you were waiting for other people to come." We were sitting at a table that seats two. I wasn't blind. We were the youngest couple in that restaurant that day and we were ignored as if we didn't have any money to eat. I was extremely disappointed that day. I felt like I was being judged because of my age, income, possibly race, but whatever it was, it was pretty noticeable that we were being ignored. It really hurt my husband and I to even feel like that. I will never come to this place again. Thank you Marcellos for not letting me experience the same experience that I've had in Chicago for a long time. It was the worst service I have ever had in any establishment ever.
(1)Sandra F.
Consistently good food and good service in the neighborhood. No wonder they are busy!
(4)Arielle M.
This place is always good for a perfect pizza and great service. The bartenders can make a perfect cocktail and they always have great drink specials. The thin crust pizza is as good as anything around and the fried (broasted) chicken is out of this world. The burgers and salads are also really tasty. They also have great live music on some Saturdays. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)Mike L.
Finally a great restaurant in Northbrook. They have a great menu and amazing Pizza. Their GF pizza rocks!!! Great salads as well! Way to go Marcello's
(5)Jessica K.
:c I don't usually apologize for bad reviews but I will for this one because everyone here is nice and the restaurant looks nice too. I was given the wrong dish even though we were the only ones there and I had confirmed the order with the server. But the dish I got was essentially the same. I'm not taking stars off because of a mix-up. I am, however, taking stars off for taste. The food is... not good here. The pasta I got looked and tasted like it was sad and so did my partner's panini. Wilty, bland, tired-- some of the better characteristics of our food. An interesting point was the garlic sticks. I've never had anything like these before. Like garlic bread but crisper and stickier.
(2)Greg R.
This review is for delivery style - but, mild spoilers, I suspect the experience may be better in person. We decided to try Marcello's delivery for a quick dinner on a busy Friday evening. Ordering online was simple enough, and the delivery was right on time. Also, on the service side, all the food was packaged up nicely to keep it as warm and put together as delivery can be, so that was good. On the food side, we got 2 apps and a couple sandwiches to try. We had some mozzarella sticks...nothing to write home about. They seemed pretty typical of the frozen variety. The spinach artichoke dip was alright. It had a lot less of the cheese that you see in a lot of this popular app at other places, so it tasted far more like spinach and artichokes. So the appetizers were certainly a solid meh. The sandwiches were much better. The chicken parm sandwich was a good size portion, although (likely due to being delivered) the additional marinara on the side was very necessary to help get some moisture back into the overall sandwich. Flavors were good though. The Italian panini is very much like a lot of other Italian sandwiches/grinders/what-have-you - lots of cured meats and some cheese. It was a nice sandwich. I felt like, for the food we did get, the prices were a bit on the high side, which is taking the review down a notch overall. At the end of the day, we had a pretty average dinner...for a little bit of an above-average price.
(2)Paul B.
Avoid at all costs! Our family has ordered from father and son and Marcellos throughout the city and suburbs since they were founded. Simply put they screwed up our delivery order and refused to do anything about it including getting a refund for the wrong dish. They evidently have a young inexperienced staff that could care less. We were going to use them to cater a party over July 4 - no more! For mediocre food they shouldn't act like the soup Nazi(From Seinfeld).
(1)Sherita D.
First time customer and I was not impressed. The food that I ordered was actually good, but the service was horrible. As a result-I do not plan on being a 2nd time customer. If I am paying my hard earned money-I expect to have Great customer service and Great food. My suggestion to the owners would be to train your order takers to be more respectful and kind when taking orders and while accepting calls from customers who are checking on the status of their delivery order. The person who answered the telephone was very rude. If I hadn't already paid for my food via credit card over the phone, I would have totally cancelled out my order, and took my business somewhere else. Good Luck!
(2)phyllis s.
The food is excellent, especially the garlic wings appetizer and the sausage & peppers appetizers - the quantity is more than enough for your meal! Lots of TVs for the sports enthusiasts.
(3)Jay B.
Manager Larry is extremely disrespectful. Makes the overall experience poor. Food has also taken a plunge... Found a HAIR in my food last time!
(1)Mary M.
Fabulous food, wait staff and excellent entertainment!! Fun place local for a Friday night! Larry, Billy and Jimmy are the best!!
(5)Marianna S.
I thought the food was great, but we had a bad experience with the management here. We were dining on a stormy night, and the power went out for about 20 minutes. Not a huge deal, but they weren't very prepared for a power outage, and didn't even have candles available. But again, not a big deal, we ate in the dark and the food was really good. But! The moment the lights came back on, the entire staff started scurrying to clean up and close up for the night. It was 9:00 on a Friday night. A group of bus boys and managers (I guess they were managers because they were dressed in normal clothes) started putting chairs up, and sweeping. I asked one of the managers what time they close and he said: "Usually around 10:00, but we don't know what's going to happen tonight..." We were still in the middle of our meal, and there were still other customers at the bar, and all around us staff was cleaning and getting ready to go. NOT a good atmosphere. My husband complained about it to our server, but nothing was done of course. SO, overall good food, seems like a super busy neighborhood restaurant with a nice menu... but I'd teach the management a little more about hospitality. I don't want people sweeping and putting up chairs while I'm eating dinner... I'll be back, hopefully on a calmer night.
(3)Maxine W.
I used to work around the corner from Marcello's, and while I don't miss my job, I DO miss Marcello's. I used to order both carry-out and delivery (if I was feeling lazy). I would give them 4 stars but I have to dock a half star for the outrageous delivery fee and a half star because they gave me the wrong pasta on more than one occasion (when this girl wants spaghetti, penne just wont do!) The food, even when the type of pasta wasn't what I ordered, was consistently delicious. I used to order extra tomato cream sauce so I could let my garlic bread swim in it. Seriously. I would bathe in their tomato cream sauce if someone told me it was good for my skin. I never actually dined in at Marcello's so I can't tell you what the service is really like. I know the bartender does a great job at retrieving internet orders, but that's about it!
(3)Amy A.
The key to Marcello's is knowing what to order. Flatbreads. AMAZING. Broasted chicken. AMAZING. Everything else. Meh. At lunch, they do have specials under $10, but the menu is limited. I alternate between the shrimp flatbread and the garlic oregano broasted chicken. Both are very delish and amazing. If I could eat both at one sitting, I would!!!
(5)Kelly G.
I went to a party recently and they had catered the buffalo chicken wings and i have to say hands down the best buffalo wings i have ever had!! The wings are 3 x the size of bww. And the sauce is amazing just the right amount of heat for me and i like spicy! I have not had anything else. But i will definately make a trip for the wings. Just a shame they arent open for lunch on sundays they would be a great football addition!
(5)Chris M.
So I went back here in anticipation of some good thin crust za and pasta, but was fairly disappointed. I should have expected this though since my standards for pizza are very high with Lou Mal's, Oliveri's and Barnaby's in my hood. I got the Thai chicken pizza, thinking that you can't get anything like that around Northbrook. The flavors were pretty tasty, but the pizza itself was just ok texture-wise. I probably wouldn't order this again, and now that I think about it, I'm just not a huge 'chicken-on-pizza' fan. But since I liked the chicken so much when I first came here, I thought it would have been better. The pasta was just average too. Had angel hair with marinara. They claim the sauce to be famous, but I'm not sure I could have distinguished it from a jar of sauce from the grocery store. So, to sum it up, I was blown away by the chicken the first time I came here, and apparently I found that's about the only thing I really like here.
(2)Emily D.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)Andy K.
This is a great place with amazing pizza. The food in general is pretty good as well. I've been to a few of their locations and have never been disappointed. They also support a number of local organizations in the Northbrook area. I got a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's from a local HS. You can visit the store at goboostershot.com to get a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's.
(5)michael w.
credit where credit is due, i have come to find that the garlic parm wings are very good and generous portion (enough to split for two). Almost like fried chicken.
(3)Andy S.
I'm wondering if the Northbrook location is just not one of the better Marcello's as my experience was not very good either. Service was slow and while the person was clearly in training, when a patron asks a question about the food and the waiter basically ignores you it is a bit off putting. The food was ok - I had a special of the BBQ brisket sandwich and while eating I couldn't help but imagine the chef pulling it out of the oven with an annoyed look on his face for completely overcooking it. That, or the chef pulling a package of sliced brisket out of the freezer with freezer burn on it. Fries were way undercooked. When they brought out the chicken sandwich for someone I was with, there was one small pickle slice on it. We had to ask for a normal amount of pickles. This place is unfortunately not worth the money. Also - extremely noisy.
(2)Steven T.
Meh. Bland Italian food, but the broasted chicken was not bad...not enough to justify coming back based on the total price. Service was slow but attentive. Also being in Northbrook, there is a lot of Septugenerians.....feel like i am surrounded by the actors from Cocoon. Finally, there is a sign in the bathroom that states that the manager checks on the bathroom every 15 minutes. I wonder if that is a courtesy for a patron who may have 'fallen and I can't get up'
(2)T C.
I called and ordered a pizza from the Northbrook Marcello's today, and requested it be ready at 5:15. We picked the pizza up at 5:15 promptly, came straight home to eat the pizza and it was room temperature at best. Since we needed to leave the house shortly, we ate some of the pizza. I called the restaurant at 5:40pm to notify them of our dissatisfaction with the temperature of the pizza I paid for. I spoke with Diana. She spoke with a manager and told me they would happily pick up the pizza so they can show their cooks what they did wrong and remake my pizza. When I told her we couldn't wait as we ate some of the pizza already, as we had someplace to be. She then proceeded to lecture me on how could I eat the pizza and then notify the restaurant. I explained that I didn't need to be lectured, that I am an adult, and in the time constrant my family had this evening, had no other choice but to feed my family. Since I didn't like her tone with me, I requested to speak with a manager. After several minutes, Diana came back on the phone and told me the manager was too busy to speak to me but offered me a $5 coupon toward my next order. I said "no thank you". That offer is insulting to me. I've been a customer for years and have never had a problem before. The first time I bring a quality assurance problem to the store, not only could a manager not find the time to talk to me, but he had someone speak to me like I am a child -- "scolding" me for feeding my children rather than waiting the hour for the restaurant to rectify the situation. I prefer to give business to restaurants that value a repeat customer.
(1)Richard S.
This place is close, and they deliver. I prefer the things on the menu that are not Italian - broasted chicken, ribs and burger. In house service is hit or miss. Delivery and carry out is impeccable. This is the family's stand by when we don't want to cook.
(3)Melanie V.
The dilly? My belated birthday lunch - with my most awesome group of coworkers. (No, seriously, they are the best!) Since I pretty much veto'ed everything in Northbrook/Deerfield, I decided I wanted Marcello's 'cuz of the pretty good lunch deal. Soup, salad and drink for $10. Not bad, not bad. The Southwestern Salad is a solid choice (chicken, tomato, iceberg lettuce, green onions, cheese, tortilla strips). Filled me up, for sure. The Veggie Chopped salad and Beef sandwiches also looked appealing! It doesn't get too crowded during lunchtime, so service is pretty good. TV's all around are a welcomed distraction, too. Servers are always super friendly. Plus, to all you corporate diners, check if your business qualifies for the 10% discount! All you need to do is show your badge/id. But, do you wanna know what the BEST part of the meal truly is? The flatbread cracker things they give out before the meal. It comes with some herbed butter and... OMG - to die for. Between the seven of us, we basically polished off 2.5 baskets of it (and 2 containers of butter). Maybe THAT's why I was so full afterwards.....
(3)Dustin C.
From their apps to their main dishes this place is great. What really separate's their food from other similar places is the service and consistency. I've been going to this location for over a decade and some of their best entrees continue to hit a home run. The fried chicken is tremendous; not only do they provide you with a great product, but their alternative options for flavors are great. The pizza is incredibly unique, the crust happens to be my favorite. Off the top of my head, I can't even begin going through their menu and naming all of their best items. There are simply too many. More than anything Marcello's is the type of place that demands perfection from its staff and you see that in the repeatedly great service. Even when things aren't perfect, they find a way to make you happy. I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Magnifico!
(5)Eddie F.
Food and service are irrelevant here because when I ordered food for delivery, they changed receipt details and added an $8 tip to $$59.50 bill ($10 of which I gave as a tip). Rip off place. Not to be trusted. Stay away.
(1)Gerald A.
Nothing to wow me. Nothing offensive either. Still searching for a good italian/american restaurant with decent prices. The pre-meal "crackers" were ok, but I'd rather have something more similar to the chips that Edwardo Natural Pizza serves, or a warm basket of bread. Entree of Chicken Parmesan was average, but out of whack with the price -- $14.95. Viccino's ($9.95) and Saranello's ($13.95 @ lunch) have better chicken parm, and go-romo ($9.79) has a pretty decent one in comparison with it's price. I never ordered a pizza, because the prices are too expensive. There are 3 other pizza places in the immediate area, Marcello's is the most expensive. If they beat Lou Malnati's pricing on their comparative items, I'd consider them. It appears that Marcello's is in a catch-22 that they are not willing to break out of. They don't sell as many pizzas as Lou Malnati's, so that have to charge more per pizza. Because they charge so much more for pizza, they don't sell as many pizzas. If cheap pizzas isn't sustainable for on-premise dining, at least make a "carry out only" special that is affordable and covers the cost of preparation!
(2)Lynn S.
This is a really good family restaurant! Their Chicken Vesuvio, came with two side dishes and though not typical Italian style, drowning in olive oil, garlic and mushrooms, it was still a large, tasty platter. The onion rings were nothing special, just lots of batter but their fries were excellent. We shared a really ample Caesar Salad which was fresh and sported parmesan cheese crisps on top. The menu here is extensive including ribs, seafood, pizza, pasta and sandwiches plus soups and salads as well. Everyone can find something here. The atmosphere is attractive and happily, it wasn't too noisy, but families are a good part of the crowd so don't expect to share an intimate conversation across the booth. My only complaint was the service, which often completely forgot us, but was cheerful and pleasant when we attracted attention. Don't let its shopping strip location deter you, this restaurant is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They are also located in Lincoln Park and Logan Square and they have a delivery and catering service.
(4)Faith D.
We love, love, LOVE this place. Free parking. Fun bartenders. Generous portions and good value. The garlic-oregano broasted (okay ... probably fried) chicken is out of this world. Seriously - the best I've ever tasted. The flatbreads are wonderful. The service .... could be better. Hey! You can't have everything ALL the time, right? There are many pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and other entrees which look good but I am so stuck on the chicken that I never order anything else. It's very casual/kid friendly and noisy. This is a regular in our restaurant rotation and I really love it.
(4)Roberta R.
What a disaster! I went with my son, his wife and 2 children. We entered about 5:20 and after over an hour, we finally got our dinner. I twice got up to ask, where our dinners were, and there did not seem to be much of a concern on their part. The waitress ignored us, and we were not even offered more crackers. All the waitress said was I'm sorry. The management said nothing. The food was good, but there is no way I will wait an hour to be served. I am here for the summer and this was where my 10grandchildren like to go. Well, I guess I will find another favorite place
(1)Greg M.
Oh goodness, don't listen to these lukewarm reviews of an excellent restaurant. The only item i continually come back for is the chicken, it is incredible. I highly recommend the garlic/basil chicken as it will rock your world hard. Recently, I had an experience with a mixed up order where they unfortunately gave my food to another customer. To compensate they added a few desert items for free and even gave me a free beer until my order was completed. Free beer and deserts make up for unsatisfactory service any day of the week. Marcello's you just made a happy/loyal customer. Thank you. Go Bears.
(4)kavan s.
I've been here before. The food is good. I never knew they had gluten free pizza before as stated in 1 review. Maybe I will try this. Their fat bread is also very good. And its close by. I hate driving too far especially at night.
(5)Bill W.
Loud - okay food - painfully slow service!!
(2)Brian L.
Oh I feel guilty for giving this place the same number of stars as the Logan Square location but everything's relative, right? There's no other place comparable in Northbrook. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance, drive 40 minutes out to the city and try the Logan Square location. I don't know what it is, but the food is always better there. Anyway, for being the Northshore, this place is pretty solid. When you first walk in it seems like a zoo from people ordering carry-out, the bar atmosphere, and just general traffic in and out of the restaurant. But once you're seated, it's nice and spacious and the staff is always nice. The food here is good and the value for the price is hard to beat. It's a homemade semi-gourmet Italian eatery and you can come out completely full for around $15 a person. Their broasted chicken is heavenly and the pizza is basically a layer of melted cheese on a cracker- both are must get's for first timers. I think over the years I've tried every single item on the menu- and I can say, there's nothing on there that I'd never try again. And of course you can count on their awesome desserts (psst, gotta get the carrot cake!). All in all, there's not much to complain about this place. But then again, I guess there isn't much to rant and rave about either.
(3)Avon B.
You cant go wrong with the broasted chicken as its the best around. Unfortunately, they keep raising their prices most likely to pay for the Groupon campaign they sometimes run. The service has gotten better over the years and most of the menu items are good. Stay away from the pizza as there is better in town. Again, the broasted is worth many return visits. Owner/manager is a good guy and always there. Ambiance is good, nice little bar as well.
(4)Steve P.
We went to the Nortbrook location which is only about 4 years old. The Jumbo shrimp appetizer was superb. It is true. The broasted chicken is really fantastic. Would like to see bar area moved to the party room area instead of the restaurant side as the noise level may compete with the dinning experience. Other than that, I think it's a hidden gem in Northbrook.
(4)Vincent A.
I went to Marcello's only because my Girlfriend got a gift certificate as a 2011 Christmas gift from one of her students trying to suck up for extra credit, lol. I never knew the place exsisted. When me and my girlfriend walked in right away we were impressed by the overall atmosphere. There was a full bar in the restaurant, and the restaurant itself had a bunch of flat screen tv's, there was hardwood floors with a new modern decor that was very comfortable, chic, and sophisticated. The food was very good and the prices were appropriate. I had Chicken Picata ($15) It came with two boneless chicken breasts with a caper lemon white wine sauce. They didn't shy on the capers which was nice. The chicken was tender the sauce was delectable. They offered fresh grated parm cheese tableside and was just great. You are able to pick two sides with this dish which for $15 is a bargain! I got fries (crinkle cut nothing special), and a multi-grain rotini pasta with a housemade meat red sauce. The sauce isn't as traditional as most Italian sauces normally are. Usually a little bland lets the basil, protein, and tomatoes stand out. Marcello's sauce had a little bite to it with a big herb flavor, and the protein used was very dominant. Very tasty. My Girlfriend got the Ravioli with Marinara. It was around $10 bucks and came with 5 or 6 ravioli which is a good bargain as well. I didn't taste her dish, but from observing from across the table I saw and heard a lot mmmmm's and ooooo's so I'm gonna say it was pretty good, lol. For dessert we shared this awesome and decatant White Chocolate Cheesecake. It was dense, packed with flavor, and was a party in my mouth. The only thing I think would have made it better was if a little dark chocolate syrup was drizzled over the top. It was a great meal :) ....... But...... The reason why I gave a 3 star review for a place that deserves 5 stars was because of the service. Our service sucked. We got seated right away with a smile :) , but after that we sat at our table for 10 min before we got our beverage order taken. The restaurant wasn't even that busy at the time. When she brought us our drinks she put them down and proceded to get comfortable and sit/lean against the table next to us. I been in the restaurant buisness for over 10 years and you can't sit on the tables!! Its unsanitary!! Where has her butt been? Farting? Pull your pants down using the facilities letting your pants lay on the dirty bathroom floor. But its okay to just sit on the table... Then as she's taking our order she's leaning with her arms crossed across her chest giving us an annoyed stare with annoyed tone of voice saying, have you decided? What can I get you. Doesn't write it down just listens and leaves. We don't really see her again untill we order an additional order of fries which took 15 mins. We were done eating by the time our fries got to the table. She came by and asked us if we wanted refills, and we asked for a coke and she said okay, and proceded to focus her attention on other tables that had more customers. She had been doing that all evening. Ignoring the small tables but giving the bigger tables more attention. The bus boy came by looking at the server irratated himself at her by the look on his face, and in an appoligetic tone asked us if we wanted refills, and in less than 30 seconds we got our coke. Thats good service!!! 10 min after the fries were finished we ordered the cheesecake and that took another 10 mins. Then we asked for the check and that took another 5 mins. The only time we got a smile from her was when we were about the leave. Like she was happy we were leaving. She was so unprofessional, she was also wearing yoga pants, a sweatshirt and a sweat head band. "Very nice" outfit for a nice nice nice restaurant such as Marcello's. I would definetly go back for the food, but I would have to make sure that when I go I don't have any appointments for after the meal, or make sure a sitter has extra time cause your probably gonna end up being late. DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR BUS BOY!!!! :D
(3)Melissa W.
Can you say "Oil Pit"? I am writing this with acid indigestion along with my husband. We just got home from this place. All I can say is, just because it is Italian food, you don't have to drench it in olive oil to make it taste good. Where the ingredients lacked in quality, the olive oil made up for it in quantity. I ordered Chicken Vesuvius, husband ordered a side of rice and sauted spinach. They totally messed up the rice with a cup of oil, same with spinach. My chicken was drenched as well. We went to Italy last Fall, and I can say this is not real Italian food. Run away, run far away from this oil pit.
(1)ida s.
I work close by and have never been disappointed with this place. I mostly get the southwestern chopped salad and I can barely finish it, it is that large. The staff always is accommodating my busy schedules and gets me in and out quick. I also have had the chicken parmesan and it delivered along with the grilled chicken sandwich. I know I can always get a solid meal here. I never have had a bad experience here.
(4)Vera Lynn W.
i love it here. I always choose it for my bday dinner. I always get their spinach lasagna. With meatballs. So good and very big portions. My son loves their broasted chicken. They serve flatbread to everyone and their butter is very good. I haven't tried their pizza yet. Too busy enjoying their lasagna. :-) They have a great bartender, too. Very nice guy. So why not 5 stars? It gets very very loud here. Very loud. Their wait staff is hit or miss also. Ive had both great service, and very poor and inattentive. Their bus boys are amazing though. I swear they run the place. Fast, efficient, polite. And a few of them are really cute. Update: We ordered in for dinner last week. I got what I usually get (spinach lasagna) and a side of meatballs. I asked how many come with an order. I was told 2. That's what I remembered. They were terrible. Very hard and dense. I ate half of one and threw the rest away. Later as I was checking the receipt, I saw they overcharged me for the meatballs. $5.95 instead of $3.45. If they had been delicious, I wouldn't have minded so much. But to be overcharged for something I threw away because they were unedible? Unacceptable. Very disappointed. However, the delivery guy was very good looking. Next time, I'll order him!
(4)Elle J.
Went here on a Friday night with the family - all three of us. LOL! The server was super nice, she was also super slow! Took her a good 10+ minutes before she even showed up to take our drink order. Appetizers were ok - we had the chicken tenders (YUMMY!) and calamari (not so yummy - very bland and tough). All of us had some sort of pasta. They messed up my order and gave me the same sauce as my husband. It wasn't awful, but not what I ordered. I didn't complain (was too tired & too hungry) and it wasn't all that bad. That being said, it was just plain old pasta. Nothing outstanding - just eh. The following week we decided to order pizza and have it delivered. Placed the order around 2:00, with a promised delivery time-frame of 30-40 mins. An hour after I placed the order it still hadn't showed up so I called. The manager apologized, told me the driver was having car trouble but he was on the way. Fifteen minutes later he still wasn't here - called again. Again, got a generic apology, but no explanation. Waited ANOTHER 20 minutes and called AGAIN. See a pattern here? Yes another apology but no explanation. FINALLY he shows up. Our "thin & crispy" pizzas were cold & soggy - just awful. Mozzarella sticks were hard as rocks and ice cold. I honestly don't think they even cooked them. I called and talked to the manager yet AGAIN and while she was apologetic AGAIN, she offered no compensation, other than to place another order and someone would pick up the first order when they dropped the new one off. I took a pass and told her I wanted my money back. She refused. We ended up going back & forth - me getting more & more pissed off by the second - and I ended up with measly a store credit for $25.00 - the cost of the cheapest pizza. Oh yeah... the price. I just about DIED when I placed the order and she told me the cost. It was like $70.00 for 2 flippin pizzas (both large, each with 3 toppings), an order of cheese sticks, tax & delivery. WTF??? The only reason I went ahead with it was b/c we were starving and figured for that kind of money, the food would be damn good. Guess we were wrong. I will never ever order from there again or visit the restaurant. Pissed me off that much...
(1)Johanna N.
Everytime I've tried to go to this place it is packed! Waiting for a table or even a spot at the bar is 30-40 minute wait. Hence, I've only ordered the food for carry-out, but I was very impressed with the service and the food. When I call and place orders, the person answering the phone is helpful, tells me the exact time of pick-up, and total bill. When I have picked up the food, it is ready to go and still warm. I have ordered the oven broasted chicken once...which turned out to be a fancy way of saying fried chicken. While I had been hoping for a basic roasted chicken I used this a one of the few opportunities I have had to have fried chicken without feeling guilty. The chicken was great! Not too greasy! I also have ordered various pasta dishes. I appreciate that the sauce is left off of the pasta and placed in a separate container. As a result, the pasta is not soggy when I finally get the food home to eat. I would recommend this place for good standard middle-of-the-road Italian food. Be prepared to wait for a table or bar space Friday and Saturday!
(3)kim s.
I do not see what people like about this restaurant, I think it's extremely over priced for very average food. The service was good but it really ends there.
(1)Simone G.
Good food. period. almost. The service is good and the broasted chicken is amazing because they pressure fry it which gives it a good crunch.
(4)Adele S.
I took my daughter here after hebrew class(yeah, real kosher!) so it was still pretty early for dinner, just after 6 on a Tuesday and we had our choice of seating. The booths were roomy and comfortable, everything spotless. Bathroom got a big thumbs up from my daughter for cleanliness and nice smelling soap. But we aren't there for the toilets. We split a garden salad-nothing spectacular, just dark crunchy greens, juicy tomato, crisp cukes and long paper thin shreds of red cabbage. Next time I'll try one of the other salads, this was really good! We had a black olive & green pepper deep dish which was excellent except for the crust...it was reminiscent of soda bread, just had that weird arm & hammer aftertaste. It wasn't so bad as to make the pizza inedible but it was just odd. I don't recall Father & Son crust tasting like this but then we always went to the Milwaukee Ave. location. No complaints about service because it was early enough. We'll probably be back to try something other than pizza.
(3)Jose T.
I've been here a couple of times & I like it a lot. It's a step up from your usual pizza joint as they offer great menu options outside of pizza that you wouldn't ordinarily find in a traditional pizza joint. This place actually doesn't qualify as a 'joint'. It falls more on the side of a pleasant Italian restaurant that happens to serve pizza. My new favorite here is the BBQ cedar planked salmon. DELISIOUS! This place also has a nice bar atmosphere at the bar. A good place to take your girl or family to, or to just hang out with the guys.
(4)James C.
Several years ago, my wife and I visited the Logan Square restaurant on a whim and were extremely impressed. Great service, even better food - and at a relatively modest price point. So finding ourselves on the North Shore, we were excited to try Marcello's in Northbrook... Though not quite as good as we remembered the food being in Logan Square - - the food rated about a four. Cooked well, nothing special, but just delicious Italian-American food. However, the service was somewhat less inspiring. The restaurant had a couple busy tables, but was only about 1/3 full. In spite of this, we felt somewhat ignored during the meal, to the point we elected to seek out dessert elsewhere. If I lived in the NB area, I probably would give it another shot, just because the food is quite good, hoping that our service experience is the exception, rather than the rule.
(3)Jodi B.
The food at Marcellos is outstanding! Always so fresh and consistent . The pizza, flatbreads, chicken, ribs, fish are all outstanding . Haven't had a bad meal yet. The restaurant is beautiful, very warm, cozy and the service has always been great! I can't think of another restaurant with such reasonable prices and such outstanding food. The two Chicago locations are just as great. If you haven't tried Marcellos it's a must.
(5)Tracey M.
I had heard so many good things about Marcello's that I was really looking forward to eating there. However, the actual experience did not live up to the hype. The Food: Overall my food was good. I had the Shrimp ala Marcello. It was good and had a bit of a kick to it spice wise. However, it didn't have as much garlic as I had hoped/expected. It left me wondering if I should have had pizza as it was recommended by the person who suggested the restaurant. The portion was generous and made for good leftovers the next day. The Service: The service started out really good. However, as the restaurant became more crowded the service decline - drastically. The Atmosphere: Fine. A bit small for the amount of tables they have inside. The Bottom Line: Mediocre at best. I'd be willing to give the place another try.
(3)George H.
VERY Disappointing. I had heard so much about his place, but was very disappointed the 1st time, the 2nd time, but the 3rd time was the kicker! Undercooked food is something I will not tolerate. Bad service, when it's not that busy...sorry A wine list of way overpriced and under perfoming products. I want wines you don't see on the shelf ay Binny's, you know unique, boutique type wines, that are good and don't cost a lot. Here it's the same old stuff you see everywhere. I tried this place enough times to know I'm NOT ever going back!
(1)Scott B.
Can't not say anything bad about this place. Awesome Pizza and some of the BEST broasted Chicken. Props to this place for the food, services and decent prices. One of my top 10 in the NorthShore.
(5)Marlo P.
I am very disappointed in this place. I've always gone to the Father & Son at Logan Square since I was a wee little kid. Never had a problem. I loved their food and the service was always outstanding. I had moved out to the burbs and found out that my favorite restaurant when I was a kid has moved out with me. I WAS SO ECSTATIC! So I took my "boyfriend" (my husband now) to this restaurant because we both LOVED Father & Son. We came in fairly casual dressed. It was pretty easy to spot us out because we were from the city and Northbrook is one of those suburbs where ladies do lunch and usually have more money I guess. At least that's what they made us feel like at the restaurant. They sat us down at the restaurant and it wasn't busy at all. Now I have to add, I've worked in many restaurants. I am pretty lenient when I receive service from restaurants because I can understand the stress on people and I just understand the kind of hell some people go through in restaurants. With that being said, we had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I kid you not, 4 other tables were sat after us and they had received drinks and servers were paying attention to them. My husband realized I was getting sort of upset so he told a bus boy that someone should come over to serve us soon. The bus boy went up to a server and told them that we have not been served and they did not say a word to us after that. I gave them 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is a long long long time. Other customers were even asking us why they weren't coming to us. I stopped the first person that came across me (which was the same bus boy) and I told him to get me the manager. He then tells the server I want to see a manager and the first thing the server says to us was "Sorry." with a pen and paper in her hand ready to take our order. I requested a manager and she said okay and the manager came by to speak to us. I told her the situation and then she says "well we can take your order now, what do you want?" No apology. Nothing. I told the manager that we were just going to leave and she said, "fine". Then the server stops at us and says "I'm sorry, I thought you were waiting for other people to come." We were sitting at a table that seats two. I wasn't blind. We were the youngest couple in that restaurant that day and we were ignored as if we didn't have any money to eat. I was extremely disappointed that day. I felt like I was being judged because of my age, income, possibly race, but whatever it was, it was pretty noticeable that we were being ignored. It really hurt my husband and I to even feel like that. I will never come to this place again. Thank you Marcellos for not letting me experience the same experience that I've had in Chicago for a long time. It was the worst service I have ever had in any establishment ever.
(1)Sandra F.
Consistently good food and good service in the neighborhood. No wonder they are busy!
(4)Chris G.
I go there regularly and enjoy the chicken or a cheeseburger. The service is good and the staff is friendly. I usually go during the week when it's no so crowded.
(5)Janice L.
i love pizza and ny pizza is my fave, but i cannot get enough of their pan pizza with the works. their pasta combos are great. i usually get the grilled seasonal veggies with marinara sauce and meatballs. delish! the spinach side is good too, with the butter, maybe a tad too much oil. there aren't too many good italian places in the suburbs anymore. i used to love riggio's but they've gone down hill...
(4)Katie B.
I recently did a 40th birthday party for my husband at Marcello's North Events. We had 60 guest and it was a blast. The managers Larry and Jim were fabulous to work with and very accommodating. The staff was friendly and helpful, but most of all I am still getting comments from our friends about how great the food was. They opened the party room in October of 2010 and it is a great space to host any event. I look forward to do more parties and/or catered events through Marcello's North in the future. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)emily d.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)Bruce N.
Ahhhh... Father & Son's pizza in my 'hood! Some of the best thin crust around, it's a welcome addition to N'brook. Quality ingredients, great pasta dishes, and an excellent salad to boot. The dining room is beautiful, but small. Expect a wait at dinner. Nice bar with a couple of flat screens to watch while waiting for a table or carry-out. My only complaint is the prices are a bit steep for pizza, but it is Northbrook... Now I have a tough decision on Italian night- Marcello's or Tonelli's? Can't miss with either one in my book!
(4)Blair F.
Before my wife and I moved to Northbrook, we (sadly) ordered from Father & Son in Chicago. It was awful. Astonishingly this location is even worse. For $26 plus tip, we ordered a Fusilli dish and Spaghetti and Meatballs. They both came in plastic containers with a HUGE sauce bowl, so you can put the sauce on after. That part is fine. What ISN'T fine is that the sauce bowl literally takes up about 40% of the bowl that otherwise could be filled with pasta, so you're immediately screwed, right?. Wrong! Why you ask? Because the pasta is simply inedible. Pure unadulterated shit. It's so bad that my wife chose to eat two-day old burned pizza in lieu of her Fusilli. They give you one piece of bread (to share!) that's barely enough for a hamster who'd just eaten a full meal and nothing else. Truly, we'd have been better off if when the guy came to deliver, we gave him the $30 and let him kick me in the nuts and said, "You don't want this food. It's shit."
(1)Ed S.
So far I've used their take-out service twice and the meals were excellent, especially the ribs. We tried eat-in on a Friday night but didn't have time to wait for a table. The parking lot has been quite full every evening since they opened.
(5)mat s.
This pizza tastes a lot like Little Caesars. I can run it down when given to me. I have never really been on the actual location but have had the take out a couple of times and they are often providing catering for events. It's just not good. I feel bad saying but it just isn't good. I am sure they are really nice people but the pizza isn't good.
(2)Becky P.
All I can say is: Do the goat cheese pizza. We got this the other night and HOLY COW was it amazing. I've gotten other things here before, but man, I honestly don't even remember what they were because the goat cheese pizza just wiped the slate clean. I loved the extra thin crust, and that they were generous with the toppings. Nothing irks me more than when I'm lacking my toppings! Check it out!
(5)Jay K.
Are you familiar with the term 3 strikes and your out? Well it applies to this place at least for the take out which I had 3 times. First the pizza. It was good not great and sooo overpriced, go to Barnaby's. Second the salads...again sooo overpriced and just plain not good. Hell Wendy's has a better salad, or go across the street to Sunset Foods and get the salad bar. Third the chicken vesuvio. It was their broasted chicken smothered in some kind of olive oil and garlic sauce crap. Again way overpriced! Seriously, if your looking for some really good food in that area of Northbrook go to Francesca's North or even Oliverii's. It's worth it...Marcello's is not even close.
(1)Matthew S.
If I could rate this 4.5 stars, I would. It is ALMOST perfect. This place is known for their pizza, and they do not disappoint. I am a New-York-Style fan, all the way, and this is some decent NY pizza - a thin, but quality crust, with a solid, but not over-powering sprinkle of garlic. A solid layer of smooth, and slightly sweet tomato sauce. And a generous, well chosen topping of cheese, focusing on the classic mozzarella, but blending in other, subtle flavors. This is how pizza is supposed to be done. This is not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's definitely in the top few, and is a delight to eat each time. The atmosphere is also excellent - it manages to walk the subtle line between a classy restaurant and a sports bar quite nicely. There are several full-sized TV screens, but they are placed such that, depending on the seating arrangement, they are either available to be viewed by choice, or completely out of view. This is a place where everyone can be happy. It is a good blend of upscale and casual dinning - everyone will be welcome here, both the casual, comfortable dress, and the more upscale, business dress will fit in quite well. They do have a solid menu beyond Pizza as well, focusing on generalist food, and the quality is similarly general. Nothing here is going to blow your socks off, but I don't suspect anything will disappoint either. This is a great place to take friends and family, to rewind after a long day, to host small meetings, or just about anything else. In fact, I cannot think of an excuse not to eat here. I have been here several times since moving to the area, and expect to return on a regular basis. Oh and their bread/cracker freebe thingy - I don't know what it is, but your table will go through it like it's going out of style. Seriously yummy.
(4)Jay S.
Went for the first time a few weeks ago. The food was a mixed bag, I had the country style broasted chicken (very good), my daughter had spare ribs (she loved them, not spicy), my son had the shrimp scampi (very bland, wouldn't order it again) and my wife had a salad and flatbread (salad was fine, the flatbread was greasy). Decor was nice, looks more modern and inviting on the inside than from the outside. Service was okay, waitress was friendly and the wait time for the food was normal. There seemed to be many regular/repeat customers. If you like a glass of wine with your meal, you are in luck, generous amount per glass. I'll go again, but no seafood or flatbread. Chicken and ribs are solid. Pizza looked good glancing at other tables so I'll give it a try. Overall, solid but not spectacular.
(3)Al S.
We had been driving around Northbrook and stumbled upon Marcello's. What a nice find. Good food and service . Nothing fancy but very very tasty at reasonable prices and big portions. Service was excellent. No pretension - great neighborhood place. We'll be back !
(4)Jo N.
Went there for a private party. The pizza was very good, and I will def be eating it again!! :). We also dined here just an a regular night and the food was good as well. In addition, they have a gluten free menu :)
(4)Arielle M.
This place is always good for a perfect pizza and great service. The bartenders can make a perfect cocktail and they always have great drink specials. The thin crust pizza is as good as anything around and the fried (broasted) chicken is out of this world. The burgers and salads are also really tasty. They also have great live music on some Saturdays. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)Mike L.
Finally a great restaurant in Northbrook. They have a great menu and amazing Pizza. Their GF pizza rocks!!! Great salads as well! Way to go Marcello's
(5)Jessica K.
:c I don't usually apologize for bad reviews but I will for this one because everyone here is nice and the restaurant looks nice too. I was given the wrong dish even though we were the only ones there and I had confirmed the order with the server. But the dish I got was essentially the same. I'm not taking stars off because of a mix-up. I am, however, taking stars off for taste. The food is... not good here. The pasta I got looked and tasted like it was sad and so did my partner's panini. Wilty, bland, tired-- some of the better characteristics of our food. An interesting point was the garlic sticks. I've never had anything like these before. Like garlic bread but crisper and stickier.
(2)Greg R.
This review is for delivery style - but, mild spoilers, I suspect the experience may be better in person. We decided to try Marcello's delivery for a quick dinner on a busy Friday evening. Ordering online was simple enough, and the delivery was right on time. Also, on the service side, all the food was packaged up nicely to keep it as warm and put together as delivery can be, so that was good. On the food side, we got 2 apps and a couple sandwiches to try. We had some mozzarella sticks...nothing to write home about. They seemed pretty typical of the frozen variety. The spinach artichoke dip was alright. It had a lot less of the cheese that you see in a lot of this popular app at other places, so it tasted far more like spinach and artichokes. So the appetizers were certainly a solid meh. The sandwiches were much better. The chicken parm sandwich was a good size portion, although (likely due to being delivered) the additional marinara on the side was very necessary to help get some moisture back into the overall sandwich. Flavors were good though. The Italian panini is very much like a lot of other Italian sandwiches/grinders/what-have-you - lots of cured meats and some cheese. It was a nice sandwich. I felt like, for the food we did get, the prices were a bit on the high side, which is taking the review down a notch overall. At the end of the day, we had a pretty average dinner...for a little bit of an above-average price.
(2)Paul B.
Avoid at all costs! Our family has ordered from father and son and Marcellos throughout the city and suburbs since they were founded. Simply put they screwed up our delivery order and refused to do anything about it including getting a refund for the wrong dish. They evidently have a young inexperienced staff that could care less. We were going to use them to cater a party over July 4 - no more! For mediocre food they shouldn't act like the soup Nazi(From Seinfeld).
(1)Sherita D.
First time customer and I was not impressed. The food that I ordered was actually good, but the service was horrible. As a result-I do not plan on being a 2nd time customer. If I am paying my hard earned money-I expect to have Great customer service and Great food. My suggestion to the owners would be to train your order takers to be more respectful and kind when taking orders and while accepting calls from customers who are checking on the status of their delivery order. The person who answered the telephone was very rude. If I hadn't already paid for my food via credit card over the phone, I would have totally cancelled out my order, and took my business somewhere else. Good Luck!
(2)phyllis s.
The food is excellent, especially the garlic wings appetizer and the sausage & peppers appetizers - the quantity is more than enough for your meal! Lots of TVs for the sports enthusiasts.
(3)Jay B.
Manager Larry is extremely disrespectful. Makes the overall experience poor. Food has also taken a plunge... Found a HAIR in my food last time!
(1)Mary M.
Fabulous food, wait staff and excellent entertainment!! Fun place local for a Friday night! Larry, Billy and Jimmy are the best!!
(5)Marianna S.
I thought the food was great, but we had a bad experience with the management here. We were dining on a stormy night, and the power went out for about 20 minutes. Not a huge deal, but they weren't very prepared for a power outage, and didn't even have candles available. But again, not a big deal, we ate in the dark and the food was really good. But! The moment the lights came back on, the entire staff started scurrying to clean up and close up for the night. It was 9:00 on a Friday night. A group of bus boys and managers (I guess they were managers because they were dressed in normal clothes) started putting chairs up, and sweeping. I asked one of the managers what time they close and he said: "Usually around 10:00, but we don't know what's going to happen tonight..." We were still in the middle of our meal, and there were still other customers at the bar, and all around us staff was cleaning and getting ready to go. NOT a good atmosphere. My husband complained about it to our server, but nothing was done of course. SO, overall good food, seems like a super busy neighborhood restaurant with a nice menu... but I'd teach the management a little more about hospitality. I don't want people sweeping and putting up chairs while I'm eating dinner... I'll be back, hopefully on a calmer night.
(3)Chris M.
So I went back here in anticipation of some good thin crust za and pasta, but was fairly disappointed. I should have expected this though since my standards for pizza are very high with Lou Mal's, Oliveri's and Barnaby's in my hood. I got the Thai chicken pizza, thinking that you can't get anything like that around Northbrook. The flavors were pretty tasty, but the pizza itself was just ok texture-wise. I probably wouldn't order this again, and now that I think about it, I'm just not a huge 'chicken-on-pizza' fan. But since I liked the chicken so much when I first came here, I thought it would have been better. The pasta was just average too. Had angel hair with marinara. They claim the sauce to be famous, but I'm not sure I could have distinguished it from a jar of sauce from the grocery store. So, to sum it up, I was blown away by the chicken the first time I came here, and apparently I found that's about the only thing I really like here.
(2)Emily D.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)Andy K.
This is a great place with amazing pizza. The food in general is pretty good as well. I've been to a few of their locations and have never been disappointed. They also support a number of local organizations in the Northbrook area. I got a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's from a local HS. You can visit the store at goboostershot.com to get a $10 gift-certificate to Marcello's.
(5)michael w.
credit where credit is due, i have come to find that the garlic parm wings are very good and generous portion (enough to split for two). Almost like fried chicken.
(3)Andy S.
I'm wondering if the Northbrook location is just not one of the better Marcello's as my experience was not very good either. Service was slow and while the person was clearly in training, when a patron asks a question about the food and the waiter basically ignores you it is a bit off putting. The food was ok - I had a special of the BBQ brisket sandwich and while eating I couldn't help but imagine the chef pulling it out of the oven with an annoyed look on his face for completely overcooking it. That, or the chef pulling a package of sliced brisket out of the freezer with freezer burn on it. Fries were way undercooked. When they brought out the chicken sandwich for someone I was with, there was one small pickle slice on it. We had to ask for a normal amount of pickles. This place is unfortunately not worth the money. Also - extremely noisy.
(2)Steven T.
Meh. Bland Italian food, but the broasted chicken was not bad...not enough to justify coming back based on the total price. Service was slow but attentive. Also being in Northbrook, there is a lot of Septugenerians.....feel like i am surrounded by the actors from Cocoon. Finally, there is a sign in the bathroom that states that the manager checks on the bathroom every 15 minutes. I wonder if that is a courtesy for a patron who may have 'fallen and I can't get up'
(2)Maxine W.
I used to work around the corner from Marcello's, and while I don't miss my job, I DO miss Marcello's. I used to order both carry-out and delivery (if I was feeling lazy). I would give them 4 stars but I have to dock a half star for the outrageous delivery fee and a half star because they gave me the wrong pasta on more than one occasion (when this girl wants spaghetti, penne just wont do!) The food, even when the type of pasta wasn't what I ordered, was consistently delicious. I used to order extra tomato cream sauce so I could let my garlic bread swim in it. Seriously. I would bathe in their tomato cream sauce if someone told me it was good for my skin. I never actually dined in at Marcello's so I can't tell you what the service is really like. I know the bartender does a great job at retrieving internet orders, but that's about it!
(3)Amy A.
The key to Marcello's is knowing what to order. Flatbreads. AMAZING. Broasted chicken. AMAZING. Everything else. Meh. At lunch, they do have specials under $10, but the menu is limited. I alternate between the shrimp flatbread and the garlic oregano broasted chicken. Both are very delish and amazing. If I could eat both at one sitting, I would!!!
(5)Kelly G.
I went to a party recently and they had catered the buffalo chicken wings and i have to say hands down the best buffalo wings i have ever had!! The wings are 3 x the size of bww. And the sauce is amazing just the right amount of heat for me and i like spicy! I have not had anything else. But i will definately make a trip for the wings. Just a shame they arent open for lunch on sundays they would be a great football addition!
(5)T C.
I called and ordered a pizza from the Northbrook Marcello's today, and requested it be ready at 5:15. We picked the pizza up at 5:15 promptly, came straight home to eat the pizza and it was room temperature at best. Since we needed to leave the house shortly, we ate some of the pizza. I called the restaurant at 5:40pm to notify them of our dissatisfaction with the temperature of the pizza I paid for. I spoke with Diana. She spoke with a manager and told me they would happily pick up the pizza so they can show their cooks what they did wrong and remake my pizza. When I told her we couldn't wait as we ate some of the pizza already, as we had someplace to be. She then proceeded to lecture me on how could I eat the pizza and then notify the restaurant. I explained that I didn't need to be lectured, that I am an adult, and in the time constrant my family had this evening, had no other choice but to feed my family. Since I didn't like her tone with me, I requested to speak with a manager. After several minutes, Diana came back on the phone and told me the manager was too busy to speak to me but offered me a $5 coupon toward my next order. I said "no thank you". That offer is insulting to me. I've been a customer for years and have never had a problem before. The first time I bring a quality assurance problem to the store, not only could a manager not find the time to talk to me, but he had someone speak to me like I am a child -- "scolding" me for feeding my children rather than waiting the hour for the restaurant to rectify the situation. I prefer to give business to restaurants that value a repeat customer.
(1)mat s.
This pizza tastes a lot like Little Caesars. I can run it down when given to me. I have never really been on the actual location but have had the take out a couple of times and they are often providing catering for events. It's just not good. I feel bad saying but it just isn't good. I am sure they are really nice people but the pizza isn't good.
(2)Andy S.
I'm wondering if the Northbrook location is just not one of the better Marcello's as my experience was not very good either. Service was slow and while the person was clearly in training, when a patron asks a question about the food and the waiter basically ignores you it is a bit off putting. The food was ok - I had a special of the BBQ brisket sandwich and while eating I couldn't help but imagine the chef pulling it out of the oven with an annoyed look on his face for completely overcooking it. That, or the chef pulling a package of sliced brisket out of the freezer with freezer burn on it. Fries were way undercooked. When they brought out the chicken sandwich for someone I was with, there was one small pickle slice on it. We had to ask for a normal amount of pickles. This place is unfortunately not worth the money. Also - extremely noisy.
(2)Steven T.
Meh. Bland Italian food, but the broasted chicken was not bad...not enough to justify coming back based on the total price. Service was slow but attentive. Also being in Northbrook, there is a lot of Septugenerians.....feel like i am surrounded by the actors from Cocoon. Finally, there is a sign in the bathroom that states that the manager checks on the bathroom every 15 minutes. I wonder if that is a courtesy for a patron who may have 'fallen and I can't get up'
(2)Maxine W.
I used to work around the corner from Marcello's, and while I don't miss my job, I DO miss Marcello's. I used to order both carry-out and delivery (if I was feeling lazy). I would give them 4 stars but I have to dock a half star for the outrageous delivery fee and a half star because they gave me the wrong pasta on more than one occasion (when this girl wants spaghetti, penne just wont do!) The food, even when the type of pasta wasn't what I ordered, was consistently delicious. I used to order extra tomato cream sauce so I could let my garlic bread swim in it. Seriously. I would bathe in their tomato cream sauce if someone told me it was good for my skin. I never actually dined in at Marcello's so I can't tell you what the service is really like. I know the bartender does a great job at retrieving internet orders, but that's about it!
(3)Becky P.
All I can say is: Do the goat cheese pizza. We got this the other night and HOLY COW was it amazing. I've gotten other things here before, but man, I honestly don't even remember what they were because the goat cheese pizza just wiped the slate clean. I loved the extra thin crust, and that they were generous with the toppings. Nothing irks me more than when I'm lacking my toppings! Check it out!
(5)Jay K.
Are you familiar with the term 3 strikes and your out? Well it applies to this place at least for the take out which I had 3 times. First the pizza. It was good not great and sooo overpriced, go to Barnaby's. Second the salads...again sooo overpriced and just plain not good. Hell Wendy's has a better salad, or go across the street to Sunset Foods and get the salad bar. Third the chicken vesuvio. It was their broasted chicken smothered in some kind of olive oil and garlic sauce crap. Again way overpriced! Seriously, if your looking for some really good food in that area of Northbrook go to Francesca's North or even Oliverii's. It's worth it...Marcello's is not even close.
(1)T C.
I called and ordered a pizza from the Northbrook Marcello's today, and requested it be ready at 5:15. We picked the pizza up at 5:15 promptly, came straight home to eat the pizza and it was room temperature at best. Since we needed to leave the house shortly, we ate some of the pizza. I called the restaurant at 5:40pm to notify them of our dissatisfaction with the temperature of the pizza I paid for. I spoke with Diana. She spoke with a manager and told me they would happily pick up the pizza so they can show their cooks what they did wrong and remake my pizza. When I told her we couldn't wait as we ate some of the pizza already, as we had someplace to be. She then proceeded to lecture me on how could I eat the pizza and then notify the restaurant. I explained that I didn't need to be lectured, that I am an adult, and in the time constrant my family had this evening, had no other choice but to feed my family. Since I didn't like her tone with me, I requested to speak with a manager. After several minutes, Diana came back on the phone and told me the manager was too busy to speak to me but offered me a $5 coupon toward my next order. I said "no thank you". That offer is insulting to me. I've been a customer for years and have never had a problem before. The first time I bring a quality assurance problem to the store, not only could a manager not find the time to talk to me, but he had someone speak to me like I am a child -- "scolding" me for feeding my children rather than waiting the hour for the restaurant to rectify the situation. I prefer to give business to restaurants that value a repeat customer.
(1)mat s.
This pizza tastes a lot like Little Caesars. I can run it down when given to me. I have never really been on the actual location but have had the take out a couple of times and they are often providing catering for events. It's just not good. I feel bad saying but it just isn't good. I am sure they are really nice people but the pizza isn't good.
(2)Amy A.
The key to Marcello's is knowing what to order. Flatbreads. AMAZING. Broasted chicken. AMAZING. Everything else. Meh. At lunch, they do have specials under $10, but the menu is limited. I alternate between the shrimp flatbread and the garlic oregano broasted chicken. Both are very delish and amazing. If I could eat both at one sitting, I would!!!
(5)Melanie V.
The dilly? My belated birthday lunch - with my most awesome group of coworkers. (No, seriously, they are the best!) Since I pretty much veto'ed everything in Northbrook/Deerfield, I decided I wanted Marcello's 'cuz of the pretty good lunch deal. Soup, salad and drink for $10. Not bad, not bad. The Southwestern Salad is a solid choice (chicken, tomato, iceberg lettuce, green onions, cheese, tortilla strips). Filled me up, for sure. The Veggie Chopped salad and Beef sandwiches also looked appealing! It doesn't get too crowded during lunchtime, so service is pretty good. TV's all around are a welcomed distraction, too. Servers are always super friendly. Plus, to all you corporate diners, check if your business qualifies for the 10% discount! All you need to do is show your badge/id. But, do you wanna know what the BEST part of the meal truly is? The flatbread cracker things they give out before the meal. It comes with some herbed butter and... OMG - to die for. Between the seven of us, we basically polished off 2.5 baskets of it (and 2 containers of butter). Maybe THAT's why I was so full afterwards.....
(3)Matthew S.
If I could rate this 4.5 stars, I would. It is ALMOST perfect. This place is known for their pizza, and they do not disappoint. I am a New-York-Style fan, all the way, and this is some decent NY pizza - a thin, but quality crust, with a solid, but not over-powering sprinkle of garlic. A solid layer of smooth, and slightly sweet tomato sauce. And a generous, well chosen topping of cheese, focusing on the classic mozzarella, but blending in other, subtle flavors. This is how pizza is supposed to be done. This is not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's definitely in the top few, and is a delight to eat each time. The atmosphere is also excellent - it manages to walk the subtle line between a classy restaurant and a sports bar quite nicely. There are several full-sized TV screens, but they are placed such that, depending on the seating arrangement, they are either available to be viewed by choice, or completely out of view. This is a place where everyone can be happy. It is a good blend of upscale and casual dinning - everyone will be welcome here, both the casual, comfortable dress, and the more upscale, business dress will fit in quite well. They do have a solid menu beyond Pizza as well, focusing on generalist food, and the quality is similarly general. Nothing here is going to blow your socks off, but I don't suspect anything will disappoint either. This is a great place to take friends and family, to rewind after a long day, to host small meetings, or just about anything else. In fact, I cannot think of an excuse not to eat here. I have been here several times since moving to the area, and expect to return on a regular basis. Oh and their bread/cracker freebe thingy - I don't know what it is, but your table will go through it like it's going out of style. Seriously yummy.
(4)Jay S.
Went for the first time a few weeks ago. The food was a mixed bag, I had the country style broasted chicken (very good), my daughter had spare ribs (she loved them, not spicy), my son had the shrimp scampi (very bland, wouldn't order it again) and my wife had a salad and flatbread (salad was fine, the flatbread was greasy). Decor was nice, looks more modern and inviting on the inside than from the outside. Service was okay, waitress was friendly and the wait time for the food was normal. There seemed to be many regular/repeat customers. If you like a glass of wine with your meal, you are in luck, generous amount per glass. I'll go again, but no seafood or flatbread. Chicken and ribs are solid. Pizza looked good glancing at other tables so I'll give it a try. Overall, solid but not spectacular.
(3)Al S.
We had been driving around Northbrook and stumbled upon Marcello's. What a nice find. Good food and service . Nothing fancy but very very tasty at reasonable prices and big portions. Service was excellent. No pretension - great neighborhood place. We'll be back !
(4)Jo N.
Went there for a private party. The pizza was very good, and I will def be eating it again!! :). We also dined here just an a regular night and the food was good as well. In addition, they have a gluten free menu :)
(4)Richard S.
This place is close, and they deliver. I prefer the things on the menu that are not Italian - broasted chicken, ribs and burger. In house service is hit or miss. Delivery and carry out is impeccable. This is the family's stand by when we don't want to cook.
(3)Dustin C.
From their apps to their main dishes this place is great. What really separate's their food from other similar places is the service and consistency. I've been going to this location for over a decade and some of their best entrees continue to hit a home run. The fried chicken is tremendous; not only do they provide you with a great product, but their alternative options for flavors are great. The pizza is incredibly unique, the crust happens to be my favorite. Off the top of my head, I can't even begin going through their menu and naming all of their best items. There are simply too many. More than anything Marcello's is the type of place that demands perfection from its staff and you see that in the repeatedly great service. Even when things aren't perfect, they find a way to make you happy. I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Magnifico!
(5)Eddie F.
Food and service are irrelevant here because when I ordered food for delivery, they changed receipt details and added an $8 tip to $$59.50 bill ($10 of which I gave as a tip). Rip off place. Not to be trusted. Stay away.
(1)Gerald A.
Nothing to wow me. Nothing offensive either. Still searching for a good italian/american restaurant with decent prices. The pre-meal "crackers" were ok, but I'd rather have something more similar to the chips that Edwardo Natural Pizza serves, or a warm basket of bread. Entree of Chicken Parmesan was average, but out of whack with the price -- $14.95. Viccino's ($9.95) and Saranello's ($13.95 @ lunch) have better chicken parm, and go-romo ($9.79) has a pretty decent one in comparison with it's price. I never ordered a pizza, because the prices are too expensive. There are 3 other pizza places in the immediate area, Marcello's is the most expensive. If they beat Lou Malnati's pricing on their comparative items, I'd consider them. It appears that Marcello's is in a catch-22 that they are not willing to break out of. They don't sell as many pizzas as Lou Malnati's, so that have to charge more per pizza. Because they charge so much more for pizza, they don't sell as many pizzas. If cheap pizzas isn't sustainable for on-premise dining, at least make a "carry out only" special that is affordable and covers the cost of preparation!
(2)Kelly G.
I went to a party recently and they had catered the buffalo chicken wings and i have to say hands down the best buffalo wings i have ever had!! The wings are 3 x the size of bww. And the sauce is amazing just the right amount of heat for me and i like spicy! I have not had anything else. But i will definately make a trip for the wings. Just a shame they arent open for lunch on sundays they would be a great football addition!
(5)George H.
VERY Disappointing. I had heard so much about his place, but was very disappointed the 1st time, the 2nd time, but the 3rd time was the kicker! Undercooked food is something I will not tolerate. Bad service, when it's not that busy...sorry A wine list of way overpriced and under perfoming products. I want wines you don't see on the shelf ay Binny's, you know unique, boutique type wines, that are good and don't cost a lot. Here it's the same old stuff you see everywhere. I tried this place enough times to know I'm NOT ever going back!
(1)Lynn S.
This is a really good family restaurant! Their Chicken Vesuvio, came with two side dishes and though not typical Italian style, drowning in olive oil, garlic and mushrooms, it was still a large, tasty platter. The onion rings were nothing special, just lots of batter but their fries were excellent. We shared a really ample Caesar Salad which was fresh and sported parmesan cheese crisps on top. The menu here is extensive including ribs, seafood, pizza, pasta and sandwiches plus soups and salads as well. Everyone can find something here. The atmosphere is attractive and happily, it wasn't too noisy, but families are a good part of the crowd so don't expect to share an intimate conversation across the booth. My only complaint was the service, which often completely forgot us, but was cheerful and pleasant when we attracted attention. Don't let its shopping strip location deter you, this restaurant is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They are also located in Lincoln Park and Logan Square and they have a delivery and catering service.
(4)Faith D.
We love, love, LOVE this place. Free parking. Fun bartenders. Generous portions and good value. The garlic-oregano broasted (okay ... probably fried) chicken is out of this world. Seriously - the best I've ever tasted. The flatbreads are wonderful. The service .... could be better. Hey! You can't have everything ALL the time, right? There are many pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and other entrees which look good but I am so stuck on the chicken that I never order anything else. It's very casual/kid friendly and noisy. This is a regular in our restaurant rotation and I really love it.
(4)Roberta R.
What a disaster! I went with my son, his wife and 2 children. We entered about 5:20 and after over an hour, we finally got our dinner. I twice got up to ask, where our dinners were, and there did not seem to be much of a concern on their part. The waitress ignored us, and we were not even offered more crackers. All the waitress said was I'm sorry. The management said nothing. The food was good, but there is no way I will wait an hour to be served. I am here for the summer and this was where my 10grandchildren like to go. Well, I guess I will find another favorite place
(1)Scott B.
Can't not say anything bad about this place. Awesome Pizza and some of the BEST broasted Chicken. Props to this place for the food, services and decent prices. One of my top 10 in the NorthShore.
(5)Greg M.
Oh goodness, don't listen to these lukewarm reviews of an excellent restaurant. The only item i continually come back for is the chicken, it is incredible. I highly recommend the garlic/basil chicken as it will rock your world hard. Recently, I had an experience with a mixed up order where they unfortunately gave my food to another customer. To compensate they added a few desert items for free and even gave me a free beer until my order was completed. Free beer and deserts make up for unsatisfactory service any day of the week. Marcello's you just made a happy/loyal customer. Thank you. Go Bears.
(4)Brian L.
Oh I feel guilty for giving this place the same number of stars as the Logan Square location but everything's relative, right? There's no other place comparable in Northbrook. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance, drive 40 minutes out to the city and try the Logan Square location. I don't know what it is, but the food is always better there. Anyway, for being the Northshore, this place is pretty solid. When you first walk in it seems like a zoo from people ordering carry-out, the bar atmosphere, and just general traffic in and out of the restaurant. But once you're seated, it's nice and spacious and the staff is always nice. The food here is good and the value for the price is hard to beat. It's a homemade semi-gourmet Italian eatery and you can come out completely full for around $15 a person. Their broasted chicken is heavenly and the pizza is basically a layer of melted cheese on a cracker- both are must get's for first timers. I think over the years I've tried every single item on the menu- and I can say, there's nothing on there that I'd never try again. And of course you can count on their awesome desserts (psst, gotta get the carrot cake!). All in all, there's not much to complain about this place. But then again, I guess there isn't much to rant and rave about either.
(3)Avon B.
You cant go wrong with the broasted chicken as its the best around. Unfortunately, they keep raising their prices most likely to pay for the Groupon campaign they sometimes run. The service has gotten better over the years and most of the menu items are good. Stay away from the pizza as there is better in town. Again, the broasted is worth many return visits. Owner/manager is a good guy and always there. Ambiance is good, nice little bar as well.
(4)Steve P.
We went to the Nortbrook location which is only about 4 years old. The Jumbo shrimp appetizer was superb. It is true. The broasted chicken is really fantastic. Would like to see bar area moved to the party room area instead of the restaurant side as the noise level may compete with the dinning experience. Other than that, I think it's a hidden gem in Northbrook.
(4)Vincent A.
I went to Marcello's only because my Girlfriend got a gift certificate as a 2011 Christmas gift from one of her students trying to suck up for extra credit, lol. I never knew the place exsisted. When me and my girlfriend walked in right away we were impressed by the overall atmosphere. There was a full bar in the restaurant, and the restaurant itself had a bunch of flat screen tv's, there was hardwood floors with a new modern decor that was very comfortable, chic, and sophisticated. The food was very good and the prices were appropriate. I had Chicken Picata ($15) It came with two boneless chicken breasts with a caper lemon white wine sauce. They didn't shy on the capers which was nice. The chicken was tender the sauce was delectable. They offered fresh grated parm cheese tableside and was just great. You are able to pick two sides with this dish which for $15 is a bargain! I got fries (crinkle cut nothing special), and a multi-grain rotini pasta with a housemade meat red sauce. The sauce isn't as traditional as most Italian sauces normally are. Usually a little bland lets the basil, protein, and tomatoes stand out. Marcello's sauce had a little bite to it with a big herb flavor, and the protein used was very dominant. Very tasty. My Girlfriend got the Ravioli with Marinara. It was around $10 bucks and came with 5 or 6 ravioli which is a good bargain as well. I didn't taste her dish, but from observing from across the table I saw and heard a lot mmmmm's and ooooo's so I'm gonna say it was pretty good, lol. For dessert we shared this awesome and decatant White Chocolate Cheesecake. It was dense, packed with flavor, and was a party in my mouth. The only thing I think would have made it better was if a little dark chocolate syrup was drizzled over the top. It was a great meal :) ....... But...... The reason why I gave a 3 star review for a place that deserves 5 stars was because of the service. Our service sucked. We got seated right away with a smile :) , but after that we sat at our table for 10 min before we got our beverage order taken. The restaurant wasn't even that busy at the time. When she brought us our drinks she put them down and proceded to get comfortable and sit/lean against the table next to us. I been in the restaurant buisness for over 10 years and you can't sit on the tables!! Its unsanitary!! Where has her butt been? Farting? Pull your pants down using the facilities letting your pants lay on the dirty bathroom floor. But its okay to just sit on the table... Then as she's taking our order she's leaning with her arms crossed across her chest giving us an annoyed stare with annoyed tone of voice saying, have you decided? What can I get you. Doesn't write it down just listens and leaves. We don't really see her again untill we order an additional order of fries which took 15 mins. We were done eating by the time our fries got to the table. She came by and asked us if we wanted refills, and we asked for a coke and she said okay, and proceded to focus her attention on other tables that had more customers. She had been doing that all evening. Ignoring the small tables but giving the bigger tables more attention. The bus boy came by looking at the server irratated himself at her by the look on his face, and in an appoligetic tone asked us if we wanted refills, and in less than 30 seconds we got our coke. Thats good service!!! 10 min after the fries were finished we ordered the cheesecake and that took another 10 mins. Then we asked for the check and that took another 5 mins. The only time we got a smile from her was when we were about the leave. Like she was happy we were leaving. She was so unprofessional, she was also wearing yoga pants, a sweatshirt and a sweat head band. "Very nice" outfit for a nice nice nice restaurant such as Marcello's. I would definetly go back for the food, but I would have to make sure that when I go I don't have any appointments for after the meal, or make sure a sitter has extra time cause your probably gonna end up being late. DON'T FORGET TO TIP YOUR BUS BOY!!!! :D
(3)ida s.
I work close by and have never been disappointed with this place. I mostly get the southwestern chopped salad and I can barely finish it, it is that large. The staff always is accommodating my busy schedules and gets me in and out quick. I also have had the chicken parmesan and it delivered along with the grilled chicken sandwich. I know I can always get a solid meal here. I never have had a bad experience here.
(4)Katie B.
I recently did a 40th birthday party for my husband at Marcello's North Events. We had 60 guest and it was a blast. The managers Larry and Jim were fabulous to work with and very accommodating. The staff was friendly and helpful, but most of all I am still getting comments from our friends about how great the food was. They opened the party room in October of 2010 and it is a great space to host any event. I look forward to do more parties and/or catered events through Marcello's North in the future. Definitely worth checking out!
(5)Vera Lynn W.
i love it here. I always choose it for my bday dinner. I always get their spinach lasagna. With meatballs. So good and very big portions. My son loves their broasted chicken. They serve flatbread to everyone and their butter is very good. I haven't tried their pizza yet. Too busy enjoying their lasagna. :-) They have a great bartender, too. Very nice guy. So why not 5 stars? It gets very very loud here. Very loud. Their wait staff is hit or miss also. Ive had both great service, and very poor and inattentive. Their bus boys are amazing though. I swear they run the place. Fast, efficient, polite. And a few of them are really cute. Update: We ordered in for dinner last week. I got what I usually get (spinach lasagna) and a side of meatballs. I asked how many come with an order. I was told 2. That's what I remembered. They were terrible. Very hard and dense. I ate half of one and threw the rest away. Later as I was checking the receipt, I saw they overcharged me for the meatballs. $5.95 instead of $3.45. If they had been delicious, I wouldn't have minded so much. But to be overcharged for something I threw away because they were unedible? Unacceptable. Very disappointed. However, the delivery guy was very good looking. Next time, I'll order him!
(4)Simone G.
Good food. period. almost. The service is good and the broasted chicken is amazing because they pressure fry it which gives it a good crunch.
(4)Adele S.
I took my daughter here after hebrew class(yeah, real kosher!) so it was still pretty early for dinner, just after 6 on a Tuesday and we had our choice of seating. The booths were roomy and comfortable, everything spotless. Bathroom got a big thumbs up from my daughter for cleanliness and nice smelling soap. But we aren't there for the toilets. We split a garden salad-nothing spectacular, just dark crunchy greens, juicy tomato, crisp cukes and long paper thin shreds of red cabbage. Next time I'll try one of the other salads, this was really good! We had a black olive & green pepper deep dish which was excellent except for the crust...it was reminiscent of soda bread, just had that weird arm & hammer aftertaste. It wasn't so bad as to make the pizza inedible but it was just odd. I don't recall Father & Son crust tasting like this but then we always went to the Milwaukee Ave. location. No complaints about service because it was early enough. We'll probably be back to try something other than pizza.
(3)Elle J.
Went here on a Friday night with the family - all three of us. LOL! The server was super nice, she was also super slow! Took her a good 10+ minutes before she even showed up to take our drink order. Appetizers were ok - we had the chicken tenders (YUMMY!) and calamari (not so yummy - very bland and tough). All of us had some sort of pasta. They messed up my order and gave me the same sauce as my husband. It wasn't awful, but not what I ordered. I didn't complain (was too tired & too hungry) and it wasn't all that bad. That being said, it was just plain old pasta. Nothing outstanding - just eh. The following week we decided to order pizza and have it delivered. Placed the order around 2:00, with a promised delivery time-frame of 30-40 mins. An hour after I placed the order it still hadn't showed up so I called. The manager apologized, told me the driver was having car trouble but he was on the way. Fifteen minutes later he still wasn't here - called again. Again, got a generic apology, but no explanation. Waited ANOTHER 20 minutes and called AGAIN. See a pattern here? Yes another apology but no explanation. FINALLY he shows up. Our "thin & crispy" pizzas were cold & soggy - just awful. Mozzarella sticks were hard as rocks and ice cold. I honestly don't think they even cooked them. I called and talked to the manager yet AGAIN and while she was apologetic AGAIN, she offered no compensation, other than to place another order and someone would pick up the first order when they dropped the new one off. I took a pass and told her I wanted my money back. She refused. We ended up going back & forth - me getting more & more pissed off by the second - and I ended up with measly a store credit for $25.00 - the cost of the cheapest pizza. Oh yeah... the price. I just about DIED when I placed the order and she told me the cost. It was like $70.00 for 2 flippin pizzas (both large, each with 3 toppings), an order of cheese sticks, tax & delivery. WTF??? The only reason I went ahead with it was b/c we were starving and figured for that kind of money, the food would be damn good. Guess we were wrong. I will never ever order from there again or visit the restaurant. Pissed me off that much...
(1)Johanna N.
Everytime I've tried to go to this place it is packed! Waiting for a table or even a spot at the bar is 30-40 minute wait. Hence, I've only ordered the food for carry-out, but I was very impressed with the service and the food. When I call and place orders, the person answering the phone is helpful, tells me the exact time of pick-up, and total bill. When I have picked up the food, it is ready to go and still warm. I have ordered the oven broasted chicken once...which turned out to be a fancy way of saying fried chicken. While I had been hoping for a basic roasted chicken I used this a one of the few opportunities I have had to have fried chicken without feeling guilty. The chicken was great! Not too greasy! I also have ordered various pasta dishes. I appreciate that the sauce is left off of the pasta and placed in a separate container. As a result, the pasta is not soggy when I finally get the food home to eat. I would recommend this place for good standard middle-of-the-road Italian food. Be prepared to wait for a table or bar space Friday and Saturday!
(3)kim s.
I do not see what people like about this restaurant, I think it's extremely over priced for very average food. The service was good but it really ends there.
(1)Jose T.
I've been here a couple of times & I like it a lot. It's a step up from your usual pizza joint as they offer great menu options outside of pizza that you wouldn't ordinarily find in a traditional pizza joint. This place actually doesn't qualify as a 'joint'. It falls more on the side of a pleasant Italian restaurant that happens to serve pizza. My new favorite here is the BBQ cedar planked salmon. DELISIOUS! This place also has a nice bar atmosphere at the bar. A good place to take your girl or family to, or to just hang out with the guys.
(4)James C.
Several years ago, my wife and I visited the Logan Square restaurant on a whim and were extremely impressed. Great service, even better food - and at a relatively modest price point. So finding ourselves on the North Shore, we were excited to try Marcello's in Northbrook... Though not quite as good as we remembered the food being in Logan Square - - the food rated about a four. Cooked well, nothing special, but just delicious Italian-American food. However, the service was somewhat less inspiring. The restaurant had a couple busy tables, but was only about 1/3 full. In spite of this, we felt somewhat ignored during the meal, to the point we elected to seek out dessert elsewhere. If I lived in the NB area, I probably would give it another shot, just because the food is quite good, hoping that our service experience is the exception, rather than the rule.
(3)Jodi B.
The food at Marcellos is outstanding! Always so fresh and consistent . The pizza, flatbreads, chicken, ribs, fish are all outstanding . Haven't had a bad meal yet. The restaurant is beautiful, very warm, cozy and the service has always been great! I can't think of another restaurant with such reasonable prices and such outstanding food. The two Chicago locations are just as great. If you haven't tried Marcellos it's a must.
(5)Tracey M.
I had heard so many good things about Marcello's that I was really looking forward to eating there. However, the actual experience did not live up to the hype. The Food: Overall my food was good. I had the Shrimp ala Marcello. It was good and had a bit of a kick to it spice wise. However, it didn't have as much garlic as I had hoped/expected. It left me wondering if I should have had pizza as it was recommended by the person who suggested the restaurant. The portion was generous and made for good leftovers the next day. The Service: The service started out really good. However, as the restaurant became more crowded the service decline - drastically. The Atmosphere: Fine. A bit small for the amount of tables they have inside. The Bottom Line: Mediocre at best. I'd be willing to give the place another try.
(3)kavan s.
I've been here before. The food is good. I never knew they had gluten free pizza before as stated in 1 review. Maybe I will try this. Their fat bread is also very good. And its close by. I hate driving too far especially at night.
(5)Bill W.
Loud - okay food - painfully slow service!!
(2)Melissa W.
Can you say "Oil Pit"? I am writing this with acid indigestion along with my husband. We just got home from this place. All I can say is, just because it is Italian food, you don't have to drench it in olive oil to make it taste good. Where the ingredients lacked in quality, the olive oil made up for it in quantity. I ordered Chicken Vesuvius, husband ordered a side of rice and sauted spinach. They totally messed up the rice with a cup of oil, same with spinach. My chicken was drenched as well. We went to Italy last Fall, and I can say this is not real Italian food. Run away, run far away from this oil pit.
(1)Marlo P.
I am very disappointed in this place. I've always gone to the Father & Son at Logan Square since I was a wee little kid. Never had a problem. I loved their food and the service was always outstanding. I had moved out to the burbs and found out that my favorite restaurant when I was a kid has moved out with me. I WAS SO ECSTATIC! So I took my "boyfriend" (my husband now) to this restaurant because we both LOVED Father & Son. We came in fairly casual dressed. It was pretty easy to spot us out because we were from the city and Northbrook is one of those suburbs where ladies do lunch and usually have more money I guess. At least that's what they made us feel like at the restaurant. They sat us down at the restaurant and it wasn't busy at all. Now I have to add, I've worked in many restaurants. I am pretty lenient when I receive service from restaurants because I can understand the stress on people and I just understand the kind of hell some people go through in restaurants. With that being said, we had been sitting there for 10 minutes. I kid you not, 4 other tables were sat after us and they had received drinks and servers were paying attention to them. My husband realized I was getting sort of upset so he told a bus boy that someone should come over to serve us soon. The bus boy went up to a server and told them that we have not been served and they did not say a word to us after that. I gave them 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is a long long long time. Other customers were even asking us why they weren't coming to us. I stopped the first person that came across me (which was the same bus boy) and I told him to get me the manager. He then tells the server I want to see a manager and the first thing the server says to us was "Sorry." with a pen and paper in her hand ready to take our order. I requested a manager and she said okay and the manager came by to speak to us. I told her the situation and then she says "well we can take your order now, what do you want?" No apology. Nothing. I told the manager that we were just going to leave and she said, "fine". Then the server stops at us and says "I'm sorry, I thought you were waiting for other people to come." We were sitting at a table that seats two. I wasn't blind. We were the youngest couple in that restaurant that day and we were ignored as if we didn't have any money to eat. I was extremely disappointed that day. I felt like I was being judged because of my age, income, possibly race, but whatever it was, it was pretty noticeable that we were being ignored. It really hurt my husband and I to even feel like that. I will never come to this place again. Thank you Marcellos for not letting me experience the same experience that I've had in Chicago for a long time. It was the worst service I have ever had in any establishment ever.
(1)Sandra F.
Consistently good food and good service in the neighborhood. No wonder they are busy!
(4)Chris G.
I go there regularly and enjoy the chicken or a cheeseburger. The service is good and the staff is friendly. I usually go during the week when it's no so crowded.
(5)Janice L.
i love pizza and ny pizza is my fave, but i cannot get enough of their pan pizza with the works. their pasta combos are great. i usually get the grilled seasonal veggies with marinara sauce and meatballs. delish! the spinach side is good too, with the butter, maybe a tad too much oil. there aren't too many good italian places in the suburbs anymore. i used to love riggio's but they've gone down hill...
(4)emily d.
Amazing gluten-free pizza! I ordered online and they delievered within the hour! Quite impressive considering many Northbook-area restaurants don't always deliver to Winnetka. Also checkout their Gluten-Free brownie pizza... you cannot even tell that its gluten free its so delicious!
(5)Bruce N.
Ahhhh... Father & Son's pizza in my 'hood! Some of the best thin crust around, it's a welcome addition to N'brook. Quality ingredients, great pasta dishes, and an excellent salad to boot. The dining room is beautiful, but small. Expect a wait at dinner. Nice bar with a couple of flat screens to watch while waiting for a table or carry-out. My only complaint is the prices are a bit steep for pizza, but it is Northbrook... Now I have a tough decision on Italian night- Marcello's or Tonelli's? Can't miss with either one in my book!
(4)Blair F.
Before my wife and I moved to Northbrook, we (sadly) ordered from Father & Son in Chicago. It was awful. Astonishingly this location is even worse. For $26 plus tip, we ordered a Fusilli dish and Spaghetti and Meatballs. They both came in plastic containers with a HUGE sauce bowl, so you can put the sauce on after. That part is fine. What ISN'T fine is that the sauce bowl literally takes up about 40% of the bowl that otherwise could be filled with pasta, so you're immediately screwed, right?. Wrong! Why you ask? Because the pasta is simply inedible. Pure unadulterated shit. It's so bad that my wife chose to eat two-day old burned pizza in lieu of her Fusilli. They give you one piece of bread (to share!) that's barely enough for a hamster who'd just eaten a full meal and nothing else. Truly, we'd have been better off if when the guy came to deliver, we gave him the $30 and let him kick me in the nuts and said, "You don't want this food. It's shit."
(1)Ed S.
So far I've used their take-out service twice and the meals were excellent, especially the ribs. We tried eat-in on a Friday night but didn't have time to wait for a table. The parking lot has been quite full every evening since they opened.
(5)