About RPM Italian
Every city has a restaurant that defines a certain kind of glamour — not the quiet, Michelin-starred intensity of perfection, but the louder, more democratic kind of glamour that comes from a room packed with beautiful people eating exceptional pasta at a noise level that signals success rather than demanding solemnity. For Chicago, that restaurant is RPM Italian. Since opening at 52 West Illinois Street in River North, it has been the city's pre-eminent see-and-be-seen Italian dining room, operating at a level of quality that justifies the attention.
The partnership that created RPM Italian brought together the Melman family — RJ, Jerrod, and Molly of the Lettuce Entertain You restaurant empire that has defined Chicago dining for generations — with celebrity couple Giuliana and Bill Rancic, whose names give the room an additional layer of cultural currency. The combination produces something that rare in the restaurant industry: a celebrity-associated restaurant that is actually excellent.
The menu centres on housemade pasta prepared daily with Paola Mariani Mill 00 flour imported from Italy. This is not a detail — it is the foundation of RPM Italian's food identity. The pasta at RPM achieves a texture and flavour that most Italian restaurants in America, even serious ones, do not approach. The kitchen also produces antipasti, grilled fish, and wood-oven preparations of genuine quality, but the pasta is the argument the restaurant makes for itself, and it wins decisively.
Why RPM Italian for a Birthday
The room's energy is the primary asset for a birthday celebration: it is loud in the way that celebrations should be loud, beautifully lit in the way that everyone at a birthday table wants to look, and reliably impressive in a way that communicates that the person booking it knows what they're doing. The menu is broad enough that dietary requirements are easily accommodated. The wine list is Italian-forward and intelligently priced. The kitchen is accustomed to accommodating birthday groups with appropriate, unobtrusive ceremony — a dessert moment that doesn't require a production.
Why RPM Italian for a Team Dinner
The sharing format and the breadth of the menu make RPM Italian a reliable choice for a team of mixed preferences and appetites. The room's energy creates the celebratory register that a team dinner should achieve. And the price point — elevated but not astronomical — means the evening feels like an investment in the team rather than an extravagance that creates discomfort. Private dining options accommodate groups that need a degree of separation from the main room.
Signature Dishes & What to Order
The cacio e pepe — prepared tableside on occasion — is the dish that anchors RPM Italian's identity: impossibly silky pasta, black pepper heat, Pecorino Romano of genuine quality, nothing extraneous. The burrata with roasted beets and pistachios is the starter that has never left the menu because it has never needed to. The branzino, wood-roasted whole, is a fish course executed with the kind of simplicity that requires real skill. From the pasta menu, the tagliatelle Bolognese is a study in classical restraint: deep, slow-cooked, and exactly what the preparation demands.
The Italian wine list is extensive and knowledgeable. The bar programme produces Negronis and Aperol Spritzes that honour their origins without being nostalgic about them. Arrive early for a drink at the bar — the people-watching begins before you sit down.