Teen Chicago Travel Guide: Featuring Jarvis

This year we spotlight teen voices in our Teen Chicago Travel Guide.

Jarvis W. visited Maggiano's Little Italy Restaurant and wrote a review of his selections from lunch menu.

Jarvis' Story: Today I will be talking about Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant near downtown Chicago at 516 N. Clark. I am writing a restaurant review on the items I ate for lunch which included an appetizer, a lunch entrée and a dessert.

The appetizer was the calamari fritte: crispy fried calamari that had a crunch to it. The marinara sauce gave the calamari an extra kick, creating the full, bold favor of the overall appetizer. This was so good, I wanted more! This would be a great choice for an appetizer that would get you full.

Save some room, because it's time for lunch: chicken parmesan and spaghetti. The amazing chicken parmesan had a crispy, crunchy outside and a tender, juicy inside. Just imagine taking a bite of that—yum! The melted aged provolone gave the chicken parmesan a distinct smell (fun fact: did you know that aged provolone is an Italian cheese made from cow’s milk?). On the side, there was marinara sauce with garlic and other vegetables mixed into it. When you get a piece of chicken and dip it into that sauce, oh my gosh! I can’t even tell you how good that was. The other food item that I ate was spaghetti, and I know that you may think it is just plain spaghetti and meatballs, but no. Remember the marinara sauce? Well, it gave the spaghetti a crazy great kick.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream, because it's time for dessert: double chocolate brownies. The brownie itself had so much rich chocolate with just one little bite; I guess that’s why they call it a double chocolate brownie. The brownie was super moist on the inside, and on the outside, there was a balsamic glaze which made it taste extra good. On top, there was cold and creamy vanilla bean ice cream. The coldness of the ice cream gave the hot brownie some balance; the two items are great by themselves but amazing together. Finally, there were fresh strawberries and rich, white vanilla cream like a cherry on top. The fresh strawberries were cold and ripe, a great fruit choice to put with the double chocolate brownie.

I hope you had a great lunch today!

Thanks for sharing your delicious review, Jarvis!