Friday Night in Little Italy

One Friday night in April, Z and I had the luxury of not having plans and not being so tired from the week that all we could do was sit on the couch with take-out Thai food and Netflix. I had wanted to check out the new Urban Union space in Little Italy for a while, so we used our free time as an opportunity for a field trip.

Little Italy is easy to get to on the Pink Line. Just take it to the Polk stop, walk a few blocks east and a few blocks south to Taylor Street, the heart of little Italy. As Z pointed out, Little Italy doesn't look particularly Italian. If you didn't know you were on Taylor Street, you could be in Bucktown, or Lincoln Park or Lakeview.  It's a lovely tree-lined street with a healthy dose of restaurants and bars.

Before dinner, we grabbed a drink at Beviamo, a cute wine and cocktail bar at the corner of Taylor and Ada streets. On Friday night, the bar features live piano music beginning around 8 p.m. Later in the evening, a DJ spins.

We had a late-ish reservation at Urban Union, around 8:30 p.m., which was the earliest I could get same-day on a Friday. We arrived a few minutes early, checked in and were told we would be seated soon. In the meantime, we grabbed a couple of glasses of wine at the bar. One of Urban Union's claims to fame is the wine on tap. Our wine was o.k. Z's was better and less dry than mine, but neither was worth writing about.

Thirty minutes later, we were still standing at the crowded bar, waiting for our table. After 45 minutes, we started hovering near the hostess stand. Annoying, yes, but by this point we were starving. We had a reservation and were already 45 minutes past the time of our reservation. Finally, after we'd been waiting nearly an hour, we were brought to a table in the back of the restaurant.

We ordered quickly--Spring Fava Beans, Frites, Wood Oven Roasted Marrow Bones, Grilled Stuffed Fresh Squid, Bar Harbor Mussels. Nothing that we ordered was bad. Most items were average to slightly above average, but the Grilled Fresh Stuffed Squid was divine. I would go back to Urban Union just for the squid. Just maybe not on a busy Friday night.

After our meal, we had just enough room to split a dessert. Z isn't a huge fan of desserts, but does seem to have a soft spot for bread pudding-type dishes. We ordered the Sticky Date Pudding, a date cake with butterscotch and vanilla sauce, topped with creme fraiche ice cream. Amazing.