Balagio

Hey there — thought this might get your attention and I’ll be happy to delete it later; nothing against your restaurant, I’ve never been…
Just wanted to bring to your attention that a group of woman-​hating pro-​rape idiots plan a «meet up» in your parking lot this Saturday. They’ll be asking where they can find a pet shop. Tell them to buzz off. For info see here:

I have been here a couple times for lunch and once for dinner. The food is always tasty and portions are very generous.
The restaurant has a wonderful ambiance — comfortable for families, couples and bar flies.
The lasagna was very good, sauce very nice. Bread is good and salads are good.
The chopped salad was a nice balance of veggies, chicken and just the right amount of dressing.

What I love about Balagio is the service. Great wait staff, friendly employees and everyone will do their best to make the customer happy. I do carry-​out quite often. Recently I called in an order and didn’t make my order quite clear – long story short, when I picked it up it wasn’t what I wanted and the chef didn’t quite understand what I was trying to get across. Finally it was straightened out and he was so nice about this crazy woman who couldn’t seem to make herself understood! The other thing is when I want a filet I know that it will be done exactly the way I want (very rare). I’m not a big lover of red sauce but the bolognese sauce is great. They will treat you right – and the salads are great!

We’ve been here about 5 times in the last 2 years and every time it’s been an enjoyable experience. Very good food and friendly professional service.

We’re always pleased here. The food is consistently good– especially the eggplant and shrimp appetizers and the salmon and chicken Parmesan entrees. Desserts are good, too! Wine list is small but sufficient. If you want a nice dinner out without traveling far, Balagio (or The Cottage) are really your only choices in HF.

Came here for a casual family dinner. Ambience is meh. Nothing special. Good selection at the bar but no notable speciality cocktails.
For an appetizer, our table ordered the Shrimp Francese and the Broiled Calamari (both were entrees that we just shared as apps). If this review was just based on those two dishes, I would give it 4 – 5 stars. The sauces were delicious and we were left wanting more! The salads were boring and the steak special (horseradish crusted strip with mushroom risotto) which sounded amazing, but was a complete disappointment. The steak was overcooked and therefore dry without any flavor of horseradish and the risotto was bland and terrible. If came again, I would just get the seafood and steer away from the steak.

First impressions-​walking in, very nice inside.
Every table comes equipped with a heaping pile of warm sliced chunks of baguette, and a bottle of olive oil.
I had the Frutti Di Mare, which was a linguine & seafood dish. My friend had the
Spinach Fettuccine Al Forno, spinach noodles with a Parmesan-​alfredo-​like sauce, baked with sliced chicken. For the lunch portion, it was an impressive size. And both were quite tasty.
Since we came at lunch time, it was surprisingly very quiet. Although I do like peace and quiet, it was tumbleweed quiet, besides background music playing and the hum of employees talking behind the bar and beyond. Where are the people? Maybe a slow day.
A nice cozy place to get your Italian.

I go there every year for Valentine’s day, and each time I would I would get the same waiter Larry. I always look forward to having him serve me every year, and not to mention the food is always good. I hope they keep him there, I would not be happy when Valentine’s Day of 2015 comes and he’s not there.

Balagio did a fantastic job catering the luncheon after a funeral service in my family. The room was absolutely beautiful, the food was raved about, and the staff & accommodations were much appreciated. Thank you especially to our server, I believe John, and Krissy for all of your service. This room is really a convenient spot for people heading lots of directions home as well. Highly recommend.

it started out nice my mom brought me she swore it would be great when we got out table and ordered our waitress alycia brought me a wilted salad it looked like it had
been sitting all day there was nothing green it was drowned in salad dressing and
the tomato was older than me i called the manager over shanon she asked if i wanted another one i thought it was going to be fine dining it was not i hate to return food you never know what they will do after handing you something like that

This place sucks!
I went here on 12÷28÷13 and I ordered this chicken pasta dish called Hay Straw or something to that effect and it was bland and disgusting. The waiter saw that i pushed my plate to the side and asked if i wanted something else. So i ordered a different dish as a replacement. After waiting another 20 minutes that dish was not good either. I was really disappointed. Thank goodness that i was there for a group function and someone else took care of the bill because if I had to pay… lets just say I wouldn’t!!!
Oh but the chocolate bread pudding was just «ok». The fried calamari appetizer was the only thing that was good.

Dined here with my 85 year old mother, a patron so regular she has a loyalty card.
We each ordered an expensive glass of wine with dinner, a Ferrari-​Carano, and my mom noticed a skimpy pour: much less than half a glass. We brought it to the attention of the waitress, who told us it only appeared that way because of «big wine glasses.» A second glass was even skimpier. This time, the waitress brought over a manager. Instead of apologizing or comping one glass, as any decent restaurant would do, she argued with us – giving the same line that they serve Chardonnay in big glasses.
Needless to say, such treatment of a regular customer left us with a bad taste.
As the owner of a small business, I go out of my way to treat customers well and make sure that they are satisfied.
The shabby treatment from the Balagio manager insures that we will never return.
Stupid management, average service, and mediocre food.

Nice place for a simple meal of standard pasta dishes. The service is great and the free desert on your birthday is nice. I liked the bread pudding, but get a scoop of ice cream as the whipped cream is sparse..

Balagio’s is a great neighborhood place that has good, friendly service and consistent good quality. Great broiled calamari. Nice ambiance.

My cousin lives in the area and we wanted to go somewhere special for her birthday. We thought it was great. First of all, the service was outstanding! The food was very good. We had some salad with an Italian Blue Cheese dressing which was very good. The bread was fantastic and all our entrees were great. We had ravioli, meatballs, lasanga and veal. All were great. It is not like an Olive Garden, believe me, I know. I go to Olive Garden all the time with my mom. Balagio is really quite a step above that. They made my cousin’s b-​day nice with complimetary dessert, which was huge. And again, I can’t say enough about the service, very professional and gracious.

I love balagio’s. In my opinion, it is one of the only good italian places in the area. I’ve been going to this place for almost ten years, and I have never been dissapointed. I usually get the cheese ravioli or chicken vesuvio, which are both delicious. Their red sauce is one of the best I’ve tried. Seriously, even the bread is good.
I would never say this place is like an olive garden. The staff is very well trained and the service is always above average. Also, the food is much more authentic than most other places in the area. It is one of the nicer restaurants in the area, and there is a reason the parking lot is always full.

OK, so we tried it again. With another couple, on New Year’s Eve.
The separate room has some pleasing décor, but as I tried to make introductions the problem became abundantly clear: the two piece «band» was so loud as to drown out even the people sitting next to you. This, even before dinner was served.
I looked around at the mostly older crowd and it was apparent people were looking for some sort of relief from the music. Romance was out of the question, but civility seemed warranted on that special night. The table agreed, so I was appointed to make things right. The waitress hearily agreed as it was difficult to take the drink order without shouting. She said she was alert the manager.
Ten minutes later the sound had not been reduced, so I marched to the front desk. Two women seemed sympathetic, so I thought inroads had been made. Nada.
Finally, we asked to be seated in the main dining room down the hall. The waitress was fantastic; alas she said she was in town for a couple of weeks only. She was spunky, alert and «got it». She even advised when to order before the celebration room bombarded the kitchen with their orders. My lamb was fantastic, the others said their food was alright. Although cooked perfectly, the asparagus was certainly of the winter variety in size. The prior experience had tainted enthusiasm for the food, I am afraid.
The owner traversed selected tables, made small talk, but never came around for a courtesy check-​in with us. The restaurant was not packed, nor was the sports-​type bar, and neither was the party room. Would it have killed him to talk in the tradition of business development? Restaurant 101: making people feel special translates into certain return visits. I just don’t get it.
Just before midnight we sauntered to the party room hoping to be part of the celebratory countdown. No simultaneous but silent TVs, just a countdown from 10. Ugh. This New Year’s Eve was a non-​experience, and the first I’ve ever had with such a let-​down in my many years of celebrations in several cities. I’ve done stage management for several music festivals and am keenly attuned to the formula of amping up the voltage as the night progresses and the conversation gets louder. This small but critical piece makes special events special.
For now, I’ll stick with dinner specials at Balagio’s on an off-​night. Tearing up the town evidently is not something the Southern Suburbs care to participate in. It is pitiful, because this place has the potential and the space to do something majestic.
In the meantime I shall hound Rahm Emanuel to stage a First Night, as so many communities across the country present.

Mediocre service combined with flavorless food makes for a total miss for this place.
$ 28 for a bottle of Ruffino Chianti that’s under $ 10 retail !! Please…
The calamari appetizer was overcooked, the bruschetta used ice cold tomatoes with no flavor, and the eggplant appetizer was all cheese and no flavor.
The lasagna is huge, but lacks layers, flavors and is actually too sweet when you choose the bolognese sauce.
Finally the cheesecake was undercooked.
No reason to waste your money here when a Lean Cuisine tastes better.

They are on their way back, thank goodness. The old place had AMAZING food, amazing service, beautiful ambience. I kept hearing and reading that they weren’t doing so well once they moved. HOWEVER, they have a new chef and it’s quite good. We missed the rough patch, thank goodness!
My husband took me out for a romantic dinner. The usual bread and oil came, the crowd was kind of loud, which was different but I was willing to give it a chance. We had 2 appetizers. The caprese was EXCELLENT, the shrimp cocktail was nasty, fishy, and gross. (And not all deveined, ew). THANK goodness that was the only bad part of the meal. Our entrees were great and the desserts are yummy and homemade (again?, evidently they weren’t for a while). Hubs had peach sorbet served in a peach. It was just… mmmm.
The only complaints? The bad shrimp cocktail and the strange service from someone who definitely seemed like she wasn’t interested in serving us. I’ll chalk it up to being Valentine weekend, because once it emptied a bit and she relaxed she was fine.
For those who have been disappointed since the move? Give Balagio another try. Don’t let it to the way of all the other Homewood restaurants that have closed!

Almost exactly like an Olive Garden just more expensive. The food was nothing special, and I could have made it at home. At least the bread was good and bottomless! Our server was great too, very attentive and polite.
My friend ordered the steak, and it came out charred on the outside, but almost rare on the inside. His «side» was the potato strips (basically like fries), and they only gave him three. The presentation was pretty, they put a whole bunch of steamed veggies on top of the steak that were not that bad.
I figured I would try something new, so I got a pasta dish that had both red and white sauces mixed together. The portion was huge, tons of bowtie pasta and chicken. The sauce was way too sweet though (maybe too much wine). And the breading on the chicken was really off for the dish.
I doubt we will go back.