Piacere Mio Italian Restaurant 7636 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130

"I have incredibly high standards when it comes to Italian restaurants. I typically feel Italian American food is just bad. This place really outperformed my expectations. The lamb shank with risotto was amazing. My wife had the duck tagliatelle which was equally amazing. Great appetizers and the apple pie ice cream was awesome (forget the name of it). I highly recommend."

"Came here with my family, I love authentic Italian food and this spot was perfect. A lot of options to choose from and all of them sound so good on the menu. Their pasta is so good. Will definitely try something else next time. Their desserts were amazing as well. Definitely recommend this place!"

"If you stopped to read this review because you saw that sad looking cesar salad and thought it looked out of place, let me tell you this was served to the table. This was a split salad for two so there was another plate as well. However, that salad has no business being served here based on how good the pasta is. That is a salad you would get at a diner. If we hadn't put the pasta order in at the same time, my girlfriend said she probably would have closed the ticket. She was adamant it was a sign of the quality of the rest of the food on the menu. I don't disagree. Now this place absolutely redeemed themselves with the pasta. The sauces were fantastic. I really enjoyed the rigatoni and based on that dish alone, I will be back, but without ordering a salad."

"This place is outstanding! We went here to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary, and it certainly was a great place for a special occasion. Everything was impressive, from the quality of the food, to the presentation, the service, the romantic background music, and the ambience. Mauricio, our server, was excellent: very friendly, helpful, attentive and knowledgeable about the wine list too. We had a bottle of the Cabernet, which was delicious. We had a dramatic appetizer - the "Torta di Granchio" - which was brought to our table covered under a glass done. When the dome was lifted, a plume of smoke wafted out, filled with the wonderful smell of the smoked crab cake, which was served with avocado aioli, tricolor salad & lemon vinaigrette. It tasted delicious too! We also had an appetizer from the Daily Specials Menu: the "Fried Zucchini Blossoms", which were stuffed with pecorino mousse, served with balsamic and water cress. Very yummy. We each ordered a different main: I had the "Fusili Amatriciana con Gamberoni" from the Daily Specials menu. This came with home-made pasta, shrimp, onion, pancetta and a rich and creamy tomato sauce. It was so delicious, I ate the entire plate (unusual for me!) The amount was not overwhelming - there was plenty but not too much! My husband had the "Fettucini Nero al Frutti di Mare" from the main menu. This came with squid ink fettuccini, shrimp, calamari, mussels, clams and tomato sauce. My son had the "Brasato di Costine di Manzo" which was braised wagyu beef short ribs over a saffron risotto. My daughter had the "Trofie al Pesto Genovese" which was short, twisted pasta with chicken, pine nut pesto, pecorino & parmesan sauce. I had tastes of everyone's dish and they were all delicious. We ordered two desserts, and they brought out a third one, on the house, as special gift for our anniversary! I had the Tiramisu and it was wonderful - just as you would expect a lovely rich classic Tiramisu to be. My daughter had the Creme Brulee - this was good but was not your classic creme brulee, but rather an interpretation of one. It was artfully presented though. My son had the Banana Flan with caramel sauce and he was very happy with it. They then surprised us with a free dessert - the "Semi al Freddo Alle Mandorie" which was spectacularly presented. They brought it to the table with a small silver jug of hot chocolate sauce, which they lit on fire and then poured over the tall mound of ice-cream, sending up tall blue flames! It tasted pretty good too! I would highly recommend this place for any special occasion or to impress someone!"

"So this is a hard one. I went here 2x in 1 week. 2 completely different experiences. My 1st trip a late packed Saturday night. On walking in, it was very smokey from the kitchen. Service was perfect, the food was amazing. Drinks hit the spot. But then I came 4 days later. I grabbed a table outside. I had a tough time getting service. My waiter was busy on his cell or smoking. The food seemed off. I assume the weekend staff is on point. I'll sneak in again for a final review."