Fanatico Cucina Italiana - DeKalb

I think this is my family's favorite restaurant in DeKalb. We tried it last year for the first time on my wife's birthday. I was going to pick up Olive Garden to go, but I suggested Fanatico since it is right in town. Everyone agrees that we made the right choice, and we haven't eaten at Olive Garden since. Having eaten here at least a half dozen times in the last nine months, all the adults in the house agree that the Chicken Fanatico is the best dish on the menu. My youngest son, who is 10, swears by the Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce. My oldest, 11, is autistic and lives on burgers, fries, and nuggets. Even he loves the spaghetti with marinara. Of course with a couple of meatballs. Everyone loves the garlic knots! At least once a week I ask this kids what they want for dinner from out. Fanatico is always mentioned. This is a great place you should definitely try.

My kids and I found Fanatico on yelp and decided to give it a try, after having a super busy day at a nearby university. We were seated at the outdoor dining area once we went inside the restaurant. Going through the inside space, I saw that the place was outdated and looked more like a bar more than an Italian restaurant. Our server was nice, friendly and efficient. We tried the following dishes: CHICKEN ROLLATINI- The chicken was delicious and filling CARBONARA- This was just okay. CHICKEN ALFREDO- There were big chunks of chicken but the sauce lacked flavor SIDE OF MEATBALLS- Not good at all. The portions were big but we did not really appreciate the quality and taste of the dishes that we've tried. The Marinara, Alfredo and Carbonara sauces did not taste fresh nor made in house. They also lacked flavors. I am not crossing out Fanatico on the list of places to dine whenever I'm in the area but it also won't be the place I'll be looking forward to visiting anytime soon.

HIDDEN GEM! (I 'm currently visiting my sister out in Dekalb. Living in Chicago, I 'm blessed with many amazing restaurants. However when I go to Dekalb the middle of nowhere Illinois, the small selection of eateries has generally been *shrug* acceptable. But today; today my friends, we went off the main road to Fanaticos! I love many types of food but Italian always hits home. So I said I 'd try it! Truth be told I was kind of dreading it because worse than not having an Italian restaurant nearby, is having a bad Italian restaurant nearby. My sister and I were greeted immediately upon entering. The restaurant is spacious and pleasing to the eye. Since Covid measures are still in place we had to eat al Fresco. Which is exactly what we wanted on this beautiful day. Wow. Once you walk outside there is a sun drenched patio area that is just gorgeous. Pots of flowers, ficus trees, a fireplace, a stone waterfall- it 's great. Once seated we began to peruse the menu. They have appetizers, soup and salads, many entrees with seafood, chicken, veal, etc. They also offer pizza and yummy desserts. Our waiter, Patrick, was prompt, friendly, and helpful. He answered a few of my sisters questions and told her his favorite chicken dish was the Chicken Fanatico- the house special. She took his word for it and ordered the same. I ordered the eggplant Parmesan. I adore eggplant parm and have some bad experiences some places with it. But I decided to give it a shot. We also both chose a house salad to start. A few minutes after we places our order, Patrick came with the delicious garlicky bread and oil for the table. Delish. Once the salads arrived they looked crisp and fresh. They also had a small topping of pickled veggies in them- a sort of giardinara but not hot. It gave the salad a nice little bite and we were happy with that! Now for the main event: our dishes arrived and looked beautiful. (Both entrees came with a choice of pasta as well My sisters house chicken dish came in a brandy tomato vodka cream sauce. She loved the tang of the sauce and the quality of the chicken itself! My eggplant parm in front of me, I cut off the first piece and brought it to my mouth. I was SO pleasantly surprised!!! It 's perfect. Some places insist upon frying the eggplant for this dish. While fried eggplant has its place, it 's not in eggplant parm. The eggplant should be baked, softened and marinated in the tomato sauce and cheese as it 's cooks. This is it. Just damn scrumptious. Patrick checked in with us and we related our satisfaction. He was incredibly friendly and we chatted for a bit when he was at the table. My sister and I were strong enough to resist eating our entire large sized portions so we could share a tiramisu. I 'm not disappointed. It looked lovely and was quite rich. It 's heavier on the chocolate than on the coffee- and I suppose depending on your taste that could be an excellent thing! All in all the experience was amazing. I cannot wait to go back. I finally have a top notch place to eat when I 'm out here. And as any yelper knows- the service is a big part of it. I 'm sure with a subpar server the food would have been just as delicious, but the visit wouldn 't have been as fun and nice as it was. Go see Patrick- and tip well my friends!

We love this place, in fact our whole family loves it. Great pasta and sauces. Ask for Trevor, he's the best. Tried the vodka sauce for the first time and will stick with it on the linguini from now on. Also ordered the cold antipasto salad (only 5.95) be ready to share with another. Very fresh with a great assortment of meat. Wife with no imagination had fettuccine Alfredo which was delicious and both our meals provided lunch the next day. Fresh warm garlic rolls with oil were perfect. Look at their menu it's overwhelming, prices are more than affordable and the staff couldn't be nicer. ONE LAST THING, don't tell others about this review, let's keep it our little secret.

Pre COVID this was one of my favorite places to eat. Now it's gone downhill. The food was disappointing to say the least. The calamari was underdone and had a super strong fish odor. The mozzarella sticks were room temperature and not goey at all. The buscayola sauce is my favorite and still had good flavor, but the gnocchi was massive, I would say about the size of a half dollar, and crumbly. I went in for pick up and there was an employee sitting at the bar with her mask around her neck drinking water. The other two employees had their masks off until we came in. I'm almost scared to wonder if the kitchen employees had masks on at all. At least until COVID is over, I won't be coming back and I suggest you steer clear too.