spacca napoli in chicago è squisito

i’ve been a few times for lunch at spacca napoli, and it was great.

this little storefront restaurant in ravenswood really packs them in, but you can really have a nice, unrushed menu sampling during daylight hours. they have an excellent, tight wine list, knowledgable service and imported ingredients from the motherland, natch.

appetizers are plentiful. the buffalo mozzarella was wonderfully fresh. the day’s cuttlefish special was simply prepared, and crowd-pleaser zucchini alla scapece is memorably tasty.

the pizzas are stellar, from the simple margherita to a special pizza that had fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and a cracked egg on the top — deelish. prices are a little higher than pizza d.o.c., but this place has a different feeling, and somehow you don’t feel bad about the premium.

the room is spare but rustic and comfortable. wooden tables and chairs, high ceilings, open. the kitchen and the gorgeous, handbuilt brick oven are on view for all. since i’ve only been for lunch, i can’t say what the dinner experience is like, but i do know of one caveat — it gets VERY crowded in the evening. their suggestion is to get there early (think 5 o’clock hour) on the weekends if you don’t want to wait too long.