River North's Small-Plates Italian
Quartino on State Street is John Coletta's River North Italian small-plates room — a format that allows a diner to graze through the regional Italian tradition rather than committing to a single multi-course meal. The wine list is poured by the quartino (250ml glass), making the format work the way it was intended.
The cooking is regional Italian at small-plate scale: handmade pastas, considered antipasti, an in-house salumi programme, regional mains rotated seasonally. The wine list runs deep on Italian producers.
What to Order
Salumi board from the in-house programme; seasonal pastas; quartino-pours from the wine list. The small-plate format encourages over-ordering; the kitchen handles a long evening of accumulating plates.
The Format
The dining room is large and comfortably scaled for a group; the bar absorbs walk-ins. The format moves the meal at a comfortable pace.
Best Occasion: Team Dinner
Quartino handles a Chicago team dinner with practiced ease. The shareable format absorbs a group of ten; the wine programme rewards a glass-by-glass evening; the price point sits in the bracket where the bill is not the headline.