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Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: Hyde ParkMon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.
Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
This location is so much better than the Wicker Park one. That being said, it's still Leona's. You aren't going to find anything overly innovative on the menu but they have a nice variety of things to choose from.
This is honestly the best and most consistent place I've found in Hyde Park. They have a liquor license and are walking distance.
The service has varied a lot the few times we've been there but the food has always been good.
We have also ordered delivery from here. It was fast and we were really happy that they were still open late on a Saturday night.
Reviewing two chains in a row?!!?
Did I just commit the ultimate Yelp crime?
Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do without second-guessing yourself.
To my defense Leona's is a mere two blocks away from me, and when we are too lazy to face the traffic on LSD or just to jump in the car AND when Cedars is packed and loud like it was the other night, well - it makes the deal.
Of course Leona is as Italian as mac & cheese so don't go there for pasta della mama.
(on their menu they try to trick you into believing that their family is behind the oven but don't fall for it... : )
So what do you get there?
- decent pizzas but nothing mind-blowing. Deep and thin.
- more than decent burgers (big selection too....always a plus)
- trivia questions to make you patient.....for geeks, dorks and nerds all around.
- veggies as a side. No extra!!! Gotta love it.
- oldies video clips on TV
Just nice to have around.
First of all, this place is in Hyde Park. Anything in Hyde Park that is actually good and doesn't take more than 10 minutes to walk to is phenomenal. Second of all, portions are fantastic. The ziti/soup combo is so so good... I'm scared to venture away from it to try other dishes.
That said, service could be a little faster than molasses, people could be friendlier, and the table could be cleaner. Not to say this is the norm, but I've been here enough to know that it's luck of the draw (and hormonal cycle?).
In any case, when I am in dire need of comfort food, Hyde Park Leona's cradles my dietary emotional needs.
I do order take out from Leona's from time to time, and they do have good food. I really only have two complaints.
1) They frequently mess up to go orders. They'll leave out whole menu items or charge you for toppings and not include them. Once we got a packing slip with lots of toppings we did not order on it, all crossed out in marker - but they were still in the total. I attribute them to the wait staff being high, not to maliciousness, but who knows. Another time they completely forgot I ever ordered anything, so after waiting 2 hours I had to find food elsewhere.
2) They list a lot of things as vegan which are not. Their cheese contains casein, and their big fat vegan burger comes on an egg bun (and for all I know has egg in it.) Their table bread is non vegan as well.
I frequently go on Leona's boycotts, but do always end up going back because they are super convenient, open late and I order take out a lot and there are just not that many restaurants in Hyde Park.
Not bad food... service has been friendly both times I've eaten here
My boyfriend and I have found ourselves at Leona's on three separate occasions because it's around the corner from our apartment, and because we got a bunch of coupons when we moved in. Unfortunately, coupons are not enough to make the food edible, and after each experience, as we're popping Tums on the couch, we've declared that we'll never go back. I can now officially say that I hate this restaurant. In fact, I joined Yelp as soon as I got home in order to give Leona's this one star review.
There's no need to discuss the atmosphere, since the restaurant is a tacky chain in Hyde Park, where the expectations for dining are already very low, so let's just talk about how bad the food is. The menu is enormous, and every option is a disappointment. The salads are tossed in what is apparently mayonaise, and with every bite you can feel yourself gaining weight. It seems that Leona's tries to make up for its poor cooking by adding lots of side dishes. Unfortunately, they are entirely unpalatable, and look suspiciously like alien vomit. Take, for example, the "mac & cheese lasagne," which is gooey enough to glue a dog's mouth shut. Not that I would feed any of this to a dog--that would be animal cruelty.
Tonight's conversation topics included "this food is so bad," "seriously, this is disgusting," and "maybe we should leave without paying." On the walk home, we were pleasantly surprised at the absence of the familiar nausea, until we realized the reason: we hadn't eaten most of our food, because it was simply too disgusting.
To sum it up: Leona's is really, really the worst place ever. It's over-priced, and with each bite your self-esteem will drop. Don't go here. Seriously, don't do it.
I thought this place was decent. The portions were all huge, and everything I had was tasty. I ordered the salmon, and it was tasty, but oddly not particularly large. However I had a salad and soup as my sides and it was plenty of food! The salad was pretty good for being a side salad.
We ordered Bruschetta as an appetizer, and it wasn't at all what I expected. It was essentially garlic bread with tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella on top. It was really a lot better than I thought it would be looking at it!
I think this is a good place in Hyde Park to take people who want regular American food. (It never occurred to me that people wouldn't want Mexican or Thai food, but apparently some people don't want to eat ethnic foods).
Worst food ever. If Leona cooked this crap for her friends I would not want to know her enemies. I have tried there menu now three times and it just gets worse.
I like Leona's. I like their pasta, I like their entrees. The salmon comes with two sauces and is really nice. My boyfriend and I go regularly. Most often we'll order a pizza and a large salad which we split. The lettuce is crisp and hearty, the vegetables fresh and chunky.
We have ordered in Leona's when we have company over and don't feel like cooking and all of our guests have always loved it. The fact that you get a desert with most entrees is also a great selling point. Their brownie cheesecake cupcakes are an awesome way to finish any meal!
But be warned, take a toothbrush if you plan on ordering the garlic chicken. When they say garlic, they mean garlic. The first (and only) time I ordered the garlic chicken there were actual slivers of garlic coating my chicken. A bit much for my tastes.
It's a bit expensive for what you get - In fact that's the only thing keeping this from being a five star review.
The warm bread with garlic butter, marinara sauce, and parmesan are very delicious. The Jamaican Jerk Chicken Salad was huge and pretty good. I was disappointed that they don't serve lasagna before 5pm on weekdays.
It's overall decent. You need to remember the establishment itself -- places that have food options all over the place usually don't specialize in any. The veggie burger is okay, not a faux boca burger and actually has flavor to it. Not the greatest veggie burger I've had in my life, not even in the top 3 - but didn't go with those expectations. Left satisfied and the service was great.
Leona's is not a list-topper by any stretch. Living fairly close to the Leona's in Hyde Park, I will maintain objectivity and not be biased. Leona's does nothing special for me, not one thing on their menu makes me excited. Pizza is largely average, salads are nicely arranged but nothing spectacular in the taste department. Pasta can be kinda bland depending on which one you get. One exception to the Pasta is the 5 cheese Lasagne, it's a step above average. Desserts are overly-commercial and not worth mentioning. The ambiance is nice but the food is quite average.
This is one of the larger and nicer restaurants in Hyde Park. It is nice inside, but very casual. Good for groups especially. It can get kind of noisy in here. But a good place to come with friends to have dinner and hang. They also just put up lots of flat-screens so you can watch the game while you eat too.
The menu is extensive serving casual Italian, pizza, chicken, salads, etc. The portions are very generous, the wait staff has been very friendly each time I've gone.
They do deliver, but both times we've ordered from them they've either forgotten something, or switched our order. Nice thing- delivery takes CC.
Beware the people hanging around the parking lot asking for money though. In fact, on etime while I was eating here when the parents were visiting, a guy wanting money parked himself right outside the huge window next to our table and just stared in for about 15 minutes. Hmmm...
After a long day of oowing and awing at the wonders within the museum of science and industry-I WAS STARVING
Leona's Hit The Spot!!!!
a sit down Italian restaurant in a strip mall-wasn't crazy about the location...but it was the only restaurant where we could find parking. walking in with marginal expectations, they quickly were exceeded!
Clean, welcoming staff, amazing lighting, family friendly, unique decor, candle lite, and DELICIOUS FOOD!!! ----Don't believe me? Check out my pictures!
While savouring my chicken noodle soup, the owner walked over to ask us how our meal was going..Of course we told him wonderfully! and then he told us how the recipe for that soup has stayed the same since the 1950s...The only thing that has changed is that it's now all organic YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY
My favorite part was watching old school commercials modern day flat screen TVs
You know, the menu at least looks good, the decor is ok, and the Trivial Pursuit on the tables is always entertaining.
Anything good I have to say about Leona's ends there. The food is terrible. You basically get a huge plate of dog food. Seriously. Every time someone suckers me into going to Leona's I'll end up picking at a greasy appetizer and eating absolutely none of my disgusting entree, and just bring it home to my dog. Someone please shut this place down so that we can get a chain that doesn't suck. Maybe a Chipotle?
Its certainly edible and a good moderately priced meal, but generally, everything about Leona's makes me think of a TGIF or Applebee's. It like a really local version of Chile's. The HP Leona's is not a disastor, but nothing special either. I'll probably end up eating her again at some point, but its rarely at the top of my list.
Just as I rated Leona's 3 stars I would say everything about Leona's is 3 stars. The decor and atmosphere is okay. The service is okay. I have been a couple of times, the most recent the burger was okay and the onion rings tasted a little off. The portion sizes are healthy, okay maybe they are unhealthy. :) There is nothing really exciting about this restaurant in my experience, its definitely a step up from any local fast food joints. As Hyde Park restaurants go you could do better and you could do worse. Its good solid food but not something to write home to momma about.
There have been a grab-bag of reviews for this place....and here's another one! I should start by saying that before last Friday, I had only ever ordered-in from Leona's. And the food is always very good for what you pay for: its a hearty, bar-food type place that gives you a good price.
Well, a couple of weeks ago I recieved a special offer from Leona's: use their coupon and take $10 off a meal over $30. Being the poor student that I am, me and my boyfriend [who ended up paying for everything :-)] decided to go there after work on Friday for dinner. We were seated immediately since it was only 5:45pm, and it was empty. Our waitress was very friendly to us, and took our drink order: we ordered to different kind of Long Islands (one lemon and one mango), which ended-up being very good! For appetizer, we ordered the roasted vegetable bruschetta, again, which was also delicious!
Here's where things went south: my boyfriend ordered the avocado burger, and I decided to try their pasta pizza plate (try saying that three times fast). A few minutes later, our server brought out the avocado burger, and informed me that my pizza was not done yet. So my bf waited for my food to come. Well, 5 minutes turned into 10, 10 into 20, and nearly 30 minutes after my bf was served his burger, my pizza finally came. The one redeeming fact was that my server came over several times to update me on the "status" of my pizza, and apologize for the delay. When it did finally come, the pizza was HUGE! I got the smallest option on the menu (ar 14.95) and was still only able to tackle about 3 slices. I ended-up taking home almost a full pizza. We were thinking about having dessert, but decided against it, since we were both so full.
All in all we spent around $60 ($50 after coupon deductions) for : 2 long islands, bruschetta appetizer, avocado burger, and pasta pizza plate. And both me and my bf left with most of our meals untouched. So 4 stars for the food + 2 stars for the service = 3 stars overall. At least I was able to keep myself slightly entertained with the music videos and sports playing on their Flatscreen TVs, and the "leona's table trivia" cards at our table.
**Bottom line: skip the dine-in experience, and bring the bar style food home with you by ordering-in.**
The food here is at least consistent.
Consistently AWFUL.
It rarely has any flavor, is always over cooked and way overpriced. The portions are huge, but when you can only choke down two bites before spitting it back into your napkin the large portions aren't that appealing. They have very slow delivery, the service when you eat in is terrible and the place is always vaguely dirty.
I always wonder how it manages to stay in business. And then I remember this is Hyde Park, where edible food is hard to find.
Leona's does a number of things very well - it carries the jack-of-all trades-in-Hyde-Park banner quite high, its appetizers (wings, bruschetta) are solid, the bread is superb, as is the pizza. They pride themselves on the service, and for the most part it lives up to the hype (the last time I was here the service was terrible, but it was an outlier in terms of experience - I think our server just forgot about us). Definitely a place to take people if they've been in the city/neighborhood for a few days and just want something that is familiar in terms of cuisine.
If the 3 star rating didn't say "A-OK," I might have considered it. I think 3 stars should be "Average," or "mediocre."
Anyway, on to the review. Leona's in Hyde Park is one of those restaurants that I go to maybe 5 or 6 times a year, usually when my parents and/or extended family are visiting. Why? Well, because they have a vast menu with dishes that can satisfy picky kids, boring old people, and vegetarians alike.
Is it any good? The food is decent. They do a competent chicken dish, competent pasta, competent side dishes. Their fried food as a bit on the greasy side, but to be fair they do offer baked alternatives. Overall, I would put it a step above a place like Chili's, and a step below some "nicer" restaurants. Generally, you get value for your money, as portions tend towards "gut busting gastro-pod" sizes. You ought to have leftovers, as long as you do not suffer from the genetic abnormality which turns off your brain's ability to send satiety signals.
The big drawback, as mentioned in nearly every other review, is the service. Turnover seems to be very high, as I have rarely had or even seen the same server more than once. And, granted, they're drawing from the Hyde Park locale - not known for being replete with a huge supply of steady, reliable, go-getter employees (as evidence, allow me to cite every other restaurant and business in the area). But let's be frank - if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. The service is slow, servers tend to forget orders, and being seated takes too long despite 2/3 full conditions. In addition, the temperature of the dining room is usually an issue regardless of season. In the summer, the A/C seems to be set to "blast chiller," while in the winter, the draftiness of the front door makes half of the seating extremely problematic for comfortable dining.
In sum, I wouldn't go here on my own. It's a place to take a family that wants unchallenging american-italian fare. Don't take anyone who is picky about service, as their expectations are certain to be dashed. Leona's Hyde Park location is mediocre in every sense of the word, by any reasonable standard. Which, given its location (the armpit of the universe? Nah, too harsh...), actually makes it an OK option for a night out.
I went there twice. I can't explain why.
The food is okay for a place with a long casual-dining menu. It's a notch above Crisco with sand.
Both times, the servers complained to me about their jobs before taking my order. Other than that, service was slow, and I was overcharged.
I think the crayons were the best thing about the place: they were average.
I do enjoy me some Leona's.
Their competition in Hyde Park for the pizza market is Pizza Capri, Giordano's, Edwardo's, Chloie's, HomeMade, and Domino's. For my taste in pizza, they make the best pie in the neighborhood. The rest of their menu is pretty good too.
I enjoy the atmosphere. They have four large-screen TVs showing a mix of really-old and kinda-old music videos that are on a rather short rotation. The rest of the decor is dark and woody. It's comfortable.
The service can be a bit on the slow side, but I've never been outright ignored. The food is good enough to overlook a bit of slow service.
The food's decent, if a bit pricey (although the portions are huge enough so you'll always have some to take home). Also the sundaes are ENORMOUS -- you can literally feed six people on one sundae. They're mountainous.
Service not great; the waitress was friendly but never really checked in on us unless we waved her over.
The food at Leona's is great. They have a large selection of reasonably-priced Italian food with a wide variety of vegetarian options. I always walk away satisfied. Portions are large so I usually walk away with a doggy bag. The desserts are great.
I have a hard time giving this a 3, but at this location I have repeatedly had mediocre service. On two different occasions our party has had to stand up and ask for a waitress because one never arrived at our table 10-15 minutes after we were seated. They also aren't that great about filling up glasses of water, which is important to me.
I just recently went back to this Leona's location for the first time in many months, and immediately realized why I don't go more often.
The one good thing about Leona's is that the food is delicious. You get big portions, it's always piping hot, and it really tastes "home cooked."
The service at this location is consistently terrible. Even on a slow day, wait times are inexcusably long, and they always seem short-staffed. Our water glasses were never refilled in the 90 minutes we were stuck there for dinner. It took them 20 minutes after my drink was ordered to get it to me. I noticed a family at a table near me with small children. One of the children accidentally spilled their drink and no wait person came to help them clean up. The father even stood up to look around for a staff member and could not find anyone. I was in a party of two, and a table of four near us ordered and was served more quickly than we were.
Our waitress was nice enough, and obviously stretched too thin, but there's no excuse for how slow and invisible the service was in general.
I'm only ordering out from there from now on.
I have been to a couple of other Leona's and this one is by far the worst in this mid-range italian chain. I've gone here three times, not sure why, since the first time was horrific but somehow I found my way back here. The first time our server arrived at our table 20 minutes after we sat down to take our drink order, and the food took forever. The second time we sat down and got our drink order taken promptly but our food arrived not hot, and we got sick from it. Not sure if those two go together or not. The third and final time I went here, it was so loud we ended up paying for our appetizers and leaving. They had apparently let a gaggle of fratboys in that were completely bombed out of their minds and the things they were saying were obnoxious, disturbing and immature. The other Leona's locations are good if there's nothing else nearby open and you need to get decent food. I haven't experienced service/quality mishaps at any other location but this one.
Like others have said, the service here was slow. But they did an Ok job keeping my water filled and the food for our table came out at the same time and was hot, delicous, and too much for one sitting. We had burgers and there was this little cupcake on the side.
Scrumptious. If you are in a hurry avoid like the plague, otherwise this place is pretty good.
This place is awful. I wish I could find one redeeming quality about Leona's. I kept giving this place chance after chance, but after the experience I had just this past week, it's over. First after walking in the door my boyfriend and I waited and waited for a table. There was no hostess, and although several employees saw us standing there they did not seat us or call someone to seat us. The food is pricey and most times lacking flavor. I can't speak about the other locations....but this one is the pits!
over the past couple of years, i had become disappointed with Leona's. the portions got smaller, the service just okay. but i tried this Leona's a couple times and it's changed my impression again. the portions are huge, the service is good. i get a lot of food for the price. the lasagna combo is great. my husband likes the vegan burger. the videos and music they play are kinda weird, though...
The food was alright. Just OK, not great. The salads were made with iceberg lettuce which I hate. Also the pasta had a weird taste to it. The portions were really big which would have been good if I had liked my order.
I have never actually eaten inside this place, but their delivery service rocks. The pizza is what you can normally expect from Leona's. The drivers always show up early. My food is always still hot and what I ordered.
I like Leona's. I've been here a few times. I think twice during my first and second year of college, and two or three times since moving in across the street. The times I've gone were pretty good. It seems like people have been disappointed with service, but maybe this has never been a problem for me, because I personally like to talk with the people I come here with. I've always come with talkative, fun people, so maybe I've never noticed if they don't check on us often. Otherwise, it seems to me like the service was normal, and this past weekend when I went, I really liked the waitress my group and I had. I usually get a burger here, one of the two BBQ burgers on the menu. The burgers are REALLY GOOD. Not to mention, yeh, the portions are quite large. So, you'll have some leftovers. I like the atmosphere a lot, and every time I've come it has been pretty packed with dates, families, and groups of friends. When I walk by, people seem to be enjoying themselves too. I give Leona's a 5, because the food has been good, my company's been great, the atmosphere is nice and relaxing, and I enjoy it a lot. =)
OH! I almost forgot, you also get a soft, warm, loaf of bread before the meal for the table. It comes with a side of garlicky butter, marinara sauce and parmesan to spread to your liking... very god!
For University of Chicago students on a budget and trapped in Hyde Park without a car, Leona's is not a bad choice for dinner. They serve huge portions of pretty consistent, non-surprising Italian dishes. Their pasta and meatballs is always a good choice. There's usually not a long wait and most of the time you'll have a doggy bag to take home.
Good food as expected. Their service, however, left much to be desired. Slow waitstaff, lack of silverware, non-existant food. If the food wasn't so damn good I would have left in the middle of my meal. Our drinks weren't refilled, they ran out of certain things on the menu, it wasn't a pleasant experience at all.
Leona's is pretty good, and the menu is amazing. You can pick from tons of stuff. As a vegetarian, I actually feel overwhelmed when deciding what to eat here. This place is a bit out of my price range as a grad student, but when I have a few extra bucks, it's a nice treat. Service is sometimes not great, because I think the servers may be overworked. They are friendly though. There are trivia cards on the table so you can stump your dinner partner while you're waiting for your food. I think this would be a good date place because the trivia cards could fill up awkward conversation and be good icebreakers. Overall good, but a little pricey.
The food here is excellent, but it is crowded all the time so try to call first.
im not a big fan of their burgers or pasta but their cheese sticks are really good.. they're pretty big but sometimes can be a bit salty. i come in. order and leave
I've only been to this location twice and both times were "meh" in my experience. The first time was on a weekday in the middle of a super busy lunch rush. Our host was really awesome, continuously checking up on us and getting us refills, though our server was nice but slow (busy, I understood, but he'd disappear from the entire dining room for huge spans of time). Food was good, and they gave us a free bread board and raspberry lemonades (which are sort of like a drug) for being patient. The pizza was good, so I couldn't complain. The second time we went was on New Year's Day. The place was empty, obviously, so we figured the service would be great. Our waitress was at our table every five minutes until we ordered, the food was brought out quickly (maybe a 10min wait?), and after that...she disappeared. There was a table full of what I assumed to be workers, eating and talking and whathave you. That's fine, I'm sure I'd do that on a slow day as well, but we sat there with our plates cleaned for a good 15-20 minutes, waiting for refills or the check, whichever was offered first. The food was good, but the service left a lot to be desired. I'll probably just give up on eating-in here, but those damn raspberry lemonades keep me coming back for me.
This Leona's is the worst in the whole chain. The service is slow and the food tasted funny. Thank God that I don't have to go back there.
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