Chicago Dining - Pompei

This come-as-you-are group of casual Italian eateries in Chicago offers quality, authentic favorites at prices that won't break the bank.

The menu is standard Italian fare, consisting of pizza, salads, pastas, Italian sandwiches and pizza strudel (like calzone, but without that "chile relleno effect" - where the entire thing explodes melted cheese onto your plate at the first pass of the knife). Everything is made fresh on the premises, and if you don't believe it, just past the cash register there is a booth where you can watch them roll out sheets of pasta and cut fresh ravioli.

We ordered just shy of "one of everything" - Pizza Pompei, Pizza chicken Luigi, a side order of meatballs, gnocchi, ravioli in a smoked tomato cream sauce, ravioli with lemon and roasted peppers, chopped chicken salad, chicken parmigiana stuffed pizza, stuffed pizza pompei italiano, tiramisu, cheesecake, chocolate cake and bread pudding. There wasn't a dud in the bunch.

The pastas were clearly fresh and a little al dente (the way they are supposed to be - as opposed to the over-cooked arts and crafts paste that many places serve). From the spicy marinara on the gnocchi to the hearty meat sauce on the meatballs to the balanced smoked tomato cream sauce, each sauce was as unique as it was well prepared.

My favorites were the ravioli and the pizza Pompei. The ravioli are served in a pink smoked tomato and cream sauce that is both sweet and spicy and had people at our table lapping it up with a spoon long after the last ravioli had been eaten. The pizza Pompei is an unusual creation consisting of a thin crust pizza topped with a mixture of chopped tomatoes, bread crumbs, olives and Parmesan cheese, which has the mouth-feel of a thick crust pizza, without the ball of lead in your stomach feeling.

The desserts were all solid as well, but the standouts were the tiramisu and the bread pudding. The tiramisu managed to get my Father-in-law's approval - no small feat considering the man interrogates any waiter who tries to peddle tiramisu with an "is it fresh?" line of questioning. The bread pudding is, quite simply, to die for. Not since the food tents at Jazz Fest (you know - the white chocolate bread pudding next to the Cafe du Monde stand) have I had such good bread pudding. It arrives topped with cinnamon and sugar and with a side of caramel sauce and whipped cream and leaves you feeling warm all over, the way a good bread pudding should.

Whether you eat-in, take out, or have them cater your next corporate function, check out Pompei for a taste of things the way "Mama" used to make them.