Ascione Bistro - Italian in Skokie and Hyde Park

As noted in a recent Chicago Tribune article (subscription may be required), Ascione Bistro recently opened a second location in Skokie, in addition to their first location in Hyde Park. It is located on the northwest corner of Oakton and Lincoln, in a large, modern new building. Today the Evanston Lunch Group™ ate there.

The inside is quite lovely, with full length windows (some of which open), and there is also some outdoor patio seating west of the restaurant.

They are open for lunch and they have a lunch menu, even though it does not appear on their website.

We started with a couple of drinks, including a limoncello spritz...

...and a Stoli ginger beer.

We shared all the dishes.

The Wedge - Baby iceberg lettuce, crispy pancetta, pickled red onions, dulce gorgonzola, sweet balsamic reduction

Eggplant Parmigiana - Seasoned Parmigiano bread crumbs, linguini, marinara sauce


Gnoccheria of the day - today's was potato gnocchi with tomato vodka sauce

Fried Calamari - Lemon, tomato basil sauce (Note: When this was initially served, it was a nice portion size. But I forgot to take a picture until we all had served ourselves. There was still some left, shown here, when I realized I had neglected to take a photo, but the original portion was a whole lot more than this.)

Everything was quite good, tasty and properly prepared. The calamari in particular were a standout, because these were cooked perfectly, neither undercooked or overcooked, so they were very tender.

Ascione Bistro
8006 Lincoln Ave (just north of Oakton)
Skokie, IL 60077
ascionebistro.com
Free valet parking; there is also free street parking and a free city lot just north of the restaurant, 2-3 hour limit

The nearby Alexander's is one of our go-tos for brunch and I've been keeping an eye on this corner for a few years. There were concerns about this place ever opening and i'm still concerned about longevity given the inactivity in the area at night (aside from Libertad). Will definitely visit.

spinynorman99 wrote:The nearby Alexander's is one of our go-tos for brunch and I've been keeping an eye on this corner for a few years. There were concerns about this place ever opening and i'm still concerned about longevity given the inactivity in the area at night (aside from Libertad). Will definitely visit.

Seems to be busy in the evening based on my unscientific observations:

The Spot Rotary Hot Pot
7909 Lincoln Ave.
Skokie, IL 60077

spinynorman99 wrote:The nearby Alexander's is one of our go-tos for brunch and I've been keeping an eye on this corner for a few years. There were concerns about this place ever opening and i'm still concerned about longevity given the inactivity in the area at night (aside from Libertad). Will definitely visit.

I think they have mostly the right ingredients for success. It seemed well run when we were there, the food consisted of very good renditions of familiar dishes priced fairly (including a burger, salads, etc along with Italian dishes), and I don't think there are any other Italian restaurants in downtown Skokie. We sat in the west end of the dining room and they had the full-length windows open to the outside; between that and the outside seating, it should attract attention as a restaurant to passersby (which the closed tinted windows facing the sidewalk on the other sides might not). The building itself is quite large (11 stories residential) and its residents should provide lots of customers who will enjoy the convenient location.

Italian Bistro Expanding to East Hyde Park This Year

https://whatnow.com/chicago/restaurants ... this-year/