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Convito Cafe & Market
Rating Details »
Categories: Specialty Food, Italian, French, Caterers [Edit]
1515 Sheridan RdPlaza del Lago
(between Maple Ave & Roslyn Ter)
Wilmette, IL 60091
(847) 251-3654
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
17 reviews for Convito Cafe & Market
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
7/16/2007
8/16/2009
3/9/2009
5/1/2009
3/11/2007
1 photo
7/30/2007
6/2/2008
7/21/2007
Updated - 3/20/2009
6/2/2008
5/28/2008
4/12/2008
4/14/2007
4/8/2008
12/3/2006
7/23/2008
11/15/2007
One of the Business' Favorite Reviews What's This?
This restaurant/specialty food shop concentrates on the quality and presentation of food. It also does catering and has wine tasting events. The salads we ordered for lunch were excellent, and we could see by the plates served to nearby tables that everything was served beautifully. In the adjacent deli area, custom basket orders could be made; pasta salads and crusty baguettes could be purchased for home. Tablecloths covered with white paper toppers lent some elegance to the bright dining area. Our only criticism was that service was barely average. Convito's was an excellent restaurant that attracts an appreciative following along the suburban lakeshore.
A nice place for a midweek lunch or an evening outing. I've gone here with colleagues during the week or with friends for dinner. The atmosphere is nice, the food is consistently good. It's nothing super special, but I've never been disappointed and there are enough options to vary things from one visit to the next. I almost never have steak, but the Steak-Frites here is hard to pass up.
I've been going here for years and the service has been consistently good.
Perhaps the best chicken apple sausage hash I've had! The service, ambiance, and food was all excellent. You wouldn't think much of this strip mall eatery, but you'd be remiss to pass it up.
The presentation of the food is artful, and tasty as it is lovely to look at. My poached eggs were perfectly done, the hollendaise sauce wasn't too rich, the hash was seasoned just right, and they were generous with the sausage! Winner!
I've liked Convito for a long time. There used to be one on Chestnut in the city, but eventually the whole block was torn down. A friend and I decided to take a drive up Sheridan Road to Plaza del Lago and do a little window shopping and lunch at Convito. It was a great afternoon of conversation and great tasting food. The area brings back lots of memories when the only thing up there was an ice cream parlor.
The place is called "Convito Cafe and Market" so naturally it's split into two sections - a grocery store and an Italian restaurant. Both have this upscale, European ambience. I've never eaten at the restaurant, so can't comment on the food...but I've been fascinated by the market.
They carry a huge variety of goods - mostly imported. The highlights are the freshly made sauces from the kitchen, sold in little containers so you can make your own version of Convito pasta/dishes at home. It's a sweet deal! They have other prepared items like chicken (which comes with heating instructions), salad, pasta, pastries, etc. For cold salads, you can pick up their seasonal weekly menu so you'll know what are offered daily.
Further, you'll find a small, but exclusive selection of wine and a wide range of dressings, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pasta, etc. from all parts of the world. When Trader Joe's fails, this might be a good place to go search for some rare items. You won't get the TJ prices, though.
In any case, 3.5 stars for now. I plan to update this review as soon as I try their brunch menu!
Restaurant hours:
Mon - Thurs: 11:30am to 9pm
Fri & Sat: 11:30am to 10pm
Sun: 11am to 8:30pm (brunch from 11am to 2pm)
Market hours:
Mon - Fri: 10am to 6:30pm
Sat: 9:30am to 6pm
Sun: 11am to 5pm
Convito Italiano is a combination gourmet market and cafe; being that it is in Wilmette, it is fairly upscale. We did a Lake shore drive ride on the motorcycle this weekend and ended up here for a late breakfast. Although the experience was great (great alfresco dining, great company) I don't think that the food was anything to write home about. Understand that when I go out for breakfast, I do like having a combination of fancy schmancy stuff as well as the good old stand-bys; they tend towards the frou-frou preparation of all things. I had an omelette with shrimp, spinach and goat cheese, which actually sounds much better than it was.
But they did have an awfully cute market, filled with some very delicious looking prepared foods - I'd definitely come back here if I was in the area.
Convito is a nice place to go for specific hard-to-find Italian grocery and deli items. I've never eaten in the cafe, so can't comment on that, but the shop has a nice assortment of stuff, the wine selection is very good (with periodic tastings), the deli is superb, and they even have decent torrone (which I can never find anywhere).
Their prices are a bit on the high side, but nothing out of the ordinary for upscale Wilmette.
Convito is located in Plaza Del Lago, an elegant Spanish-inspired plaza (also home to Crate & Barrel, Burhops, Long Grove Confectionary) , when the sun's up and there's a cool lake breeze, it feels like you could be in Santa Monica.
Al fresco dining is a must. Service is more efficient than friendly. Tables are well spaced. Black umbrellas are a nice touch. Sunglasses a must (for UV protection and people watching).
The Cafe BLT was excellent. Succulent bacon slices are garnished with crisp romaine lettuce, just-ripe avocado and a hint of basil. The salmon salad with champagne vinagrette dressing is also quite good. Overall, the food selection and quality are above-average.
Its the perfect place for a Sunday brunch. Best to reserve in advance...
What a surprise - it seems as if I can't avoid this place even if I wanted to. My friends and I decided to have lunch here once again since it was a beautiful day outside. We were seated by the window, graciously by the server, who stated they still had another 15 minutes before the opening time. Regardless, we were still served with the tap water with the slice of lemon as well as the freshly baked crusty bread. Seeing that they have a nice selection of olive oil, you would think that they could at least give you a decent one to dip your bread in. Either way, I ordered the Croque Monsieur, which was supposedly a grilled ham & gruyere with béchamel on brioche and a side of pommes frites. First of all, the ham was not grilled - it was more ovenbaked. It tasted like a honeybaked ham that was sliced. It was also cold. The gruyere was stringy and tasted like gruyere. Not a problem. The brioche could have been toasted more, and the bechamel sauce was not quite a homogeneous mixture I would have liked it to be, and you could definitely taste the flour-like roux. Ho hum. At least my side of pomme frittes was quite nice with the little cup of ketchup. Sure, the place is cute, but really, I've had better food. Our server was nice, though.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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11/10/2008
So I thought my previous experience could have been a bad day, and that experiencing this place once… Read more »
I highly recommend Convito. The restaurant has great food and the specialty food section has an excellent selection. I really love the salad wrapped in slices of cucumber - lovely to eat and to look at. Their soups are wonderful, as is their pasta. They had really good wine by the glass, a friendly and attentive staff, and a light and pretty interior. Plaza del Lago is a nice place to shop a bit as well.
If you can fight your way into the Plaza Del Lago parking lot without blowing an axle in the construction on Sheridan road, you can have a really pleasant lunch at Convito. I tried a pretty solid French Onion soup, a bite of a salad wrapped in a slice of cucumber, and half a tuna salad sandwich. The wines they offered by the glass weren't extensive, but we tried a Sauvignon Blanc we'd never heard of and were pleased with it. I think they overreach a little bit - who wants their salad wrapped in a slice of cucumber? They'd be much better off if they kept it "bistro" and did away with the fancy-schmancy. And they claim their tuna salad recipe is "famous", but I didn't think it was anything special. But the bistrot/grocery atmosphere is pretty cute for lunch. I'd go back.
No single element of Convito stands out, but the restaurant still strikes a lovely note by doing a lot of things well. The restaurant offers a warm and relaxed atmosphere that is a touch more elegant than its previous quarters. The food is tasty and well prepared with fresh ingredients. The menu is not particularly imaginative, but it extends beyond the fettucini and lasagna staples of Italian restaurants. Most recently I had a white bean soup, arugula and beet salad, and farfalle with tomato bacon sauce and chicken and mushroom. All tasty without being heavy. There is a changing selection of wines by the glass. Dinner for two with wine runs around $90 with tip.
Average Italian bistro. The new location makes it a little more upscale. I've had pretty snooty service. Good place to pick up some Italian vino.
Excellent food....
Perhaps its first fair for me to say that Convito has a very nice market...and a so-so restaurant. The menu is not terribly diverse and whenever I branch out of the pasta section I have an unpleasant meal. The worst being the pizza with prosciutto...dry impossible to chew prosciutto. As far as I know, you should never cook prosciutto. However, the market has some nice items. I love the rich banana cake...and any of the cakes and cookies for that matter. The breads and cheeses are great too, though the cheese selection is a little lacking. Did I mention the wine? Plus they have all sorts of Italian "gifty" items for hostess gifts. I also here they are combining with a nearby French restaurant, which might reinvigorate their boring Italian fare.
Everyone in our party ordered seafood - and while everything was well prepared, the portions were ridiculously small - especially for the price. Presentation is one thing - but unless you're Charlie Trotter's, an entree shouldn't be appetizer-size. The coffee was served lukewarm and when we requested hot coffee, we were stunned when we were told that they wouldn't make a fresh pot because "it was late" -despite the fact that there were a number of people who were still eating. We frequently dine out - and I cannot recall ever being refused a proper 'hot' cup of coffee, and certainly not at a fine dining establishment. This restaurant needs to decide what it is it's trying be. If it's aspiring to be an upscale, quality restaurant, they need to work on improving service. I doubt we'll be back.....
I only experienced the small grocery/wine shop part, not the restaurant. They had free tasting of two really good and very affordable (around 10 dollar) wines, even though their small selection really focuses on high end, expensive Italian wines (lots of Barolo), although you will find a few cheap but good selections as well. Pretty extensive gourmet deli counter and some decent prices on cheeses and other upscale, antipasti-type items.
