Cucina Paradiso

Cucina Paradiso is an Italian restaurant at 814 North Blvd in Oak Park, in a converted warehouse next to the Green Line tracks. The menu runs to house pastas such as penne arrosto with roasted peppers and ricotta, bacon-wrapped dates, a rustic salad, pizzas, beef tenderloin in salsa verde and whitefish piccata, with a long wine list and cocktails. The room is loud in a good way and fits a table of eight as easily as a date.

What to know

• Anthony Gambino opened the restaurant in the summer of 1995.
• Chicago Magazine named Cucina Paradiso one of the city’s best about six months after opening, per Wednesday Journal.
• A $110 family pack feeds four or five and must be ordered before 4 p.m. for same-day pickup.
• The restaurant validates 90 minutes of free parking at the Avenue Garage across the street, and Sundays there are free through November 2026.
• Dinner only, from 5 p.m.