In the northwest suburbs of Chicago earlier this year, I took an account for dinner at an Italian restaurant that I thought I had been to before. It was located in a strip mall in Arlington Heights, the food was good, and it was a nice place. When I went back to check in on the blog post that I had the restaurant I thought was at, it turned out it was (the now-closed) Via Arenella that I had been to. And then I found that they had closed in September of 2019. So, now I was confused as to the restaurant I took my client to for dinner. Back in the northwest Chicago suburbs this past summer for a trade show, I decided to go back to Toscana to give them another try.
For over a dozen years, the Murati family has been dishing out Italian specialties at Toscana in Arlington Heights. They opened a second restaurant - Toscani - in west suburban Wood Dale in 2015. That restaurant closed in 2019 with the family focusing primarily on the Arlington Heights location.
I worked for a guy years and years ago who was my mentor when it came to finer dining. He was a large fan of Italian cooking and we dined many times in the some very good Italian restaurants when I worked for him. One of his rules of thumb is that any Italian restaurant in a strip mall was bad. I've since found that thought process to be bullshit as I've dined in a number of Italian restaurants located in strip malls over the years and the vast majority of them have been good to outstanding. Toscana is located in a strip mall at the corner of W. Central Road and S. Old Wilke Ave. in Arlington Heights. (see map) Parking is more than plentiful in front of the restaurant.
Inside Toscana you'll find a cozy place with murals on the walls of a Mediterranean village. There is a bar area that is more of a place where they stack items from time to time with no seating available. Tables and booths are interspersed around the dining area of the restaurant.
I was seated in a booth along the front window area and was given a menu to look over. I had just been there about 3 months prior and was somewhat familiar with what Toscana had to offer.
My server for the evening was a young lady by the name of Heidi. She looked like Heidi - cheery disposition, welcoming attitude, making a solo diner feel as comfortable as possible. She asked me what I would like to drink and I ordered a Peroni to start out.
The menu at Toscana is pretty extensive with Italian favorites. They have a lot of pasta dishes with the pasta made in-house that feature red or white sauces. There were a lot of seafood pasta options on the menu, as well as chicken, veal and seafood dishes. A few things jumped out at me including the baked gnocchi bolognese made with meatballs and Italian sausage, the linguini broccoli and shrimp sounded good, as did the traditional chicken parmigiana.
I made my choice for dinner and I had a choice of soup or salad. I ordered the salad with the house Italian dressing. The only problem is that Heidi brought out ranch dressing. When I pointed out that I had ordered the Italian dressing, Heidi sort of jumped back and said, "Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry! I'll get some for you right away." She was back in a jiffy with the Italian dressing. House-baked bread was accompanied by oil and vinegar. The salad greens were fresh, the Italian dressing was flavorful and tangy, and the bread helped sop up some of the dressing at the bottom of the bowl.
You've probably noticed that I tend to get ravioli or tortellini when I order at an Italian restaurant. I love meat filled ravioli or tortellini. But I don't make it at home because my wife doesn't care for meat or cheese filled pasta. So that's why most of time I'll order the ravioli with a marinara sauce. And this time was no exception. The meat-filled ravioli was topped with a hearty marinara sauce, but a marsala sauce was available if I wanted it. I got a glass of the Ruffino Chianti - a modest-priced meaty red Italian that is one of my wife's favorite wines - to go with the meal. The pillowy ravioli were large and filled with tender short rib beef. There were seven ravioli on the plate, but they were large and pretty filling. It was a great Italian meal.
While I was confused with which restaurant was which when it came to Italian restaurants in the area, on my two trips to Toscana they did very well and then some. Both times the service was top-notch and I have to give Heidi a shout-out for taking care of me so well this particular evening. I'm almost certain that as good as the beef short rib ravioli in the marinara sauce is at Toscana, most every other dish they have on the menu is equally as good. It doesn't matter if an Italian restaurant is in a strip mall or not - if the food is good, it's good. And Toscana is good Italian food.
Comments