Baffo

Amuse Buche

We went to dinner at Baffo which is the formal restaurant inside of Eataly by celebrity chef Mario Batali.

We just ordered a few things.
Ravioli - braised beef cheek ravioli with black truffles and Castelmagno cheese.

Ravioli

Agnolotti - wild mushroom filled pasta with garlic and ragusano cheese

Braised short rib with heirloom carrots

So we wanted to try this restaurant inside of Eataly because it is the fanciest restaurant there and we wanted to see what Mario Batali's Italian food would be like.

Well we were disappointed. The service was just bad. It took a half hour from when we were seated for us to order food (and for at least 15 minutes we were patiently sitting with our menus closed and the waiter was nearby several times).  It seems they were way more concerned about people's drink orders than anything else, and maybe because we just ordered water we were not important.

Agnolotti

The food itself was very good but overpriced.  Especially in a city like Chicago we could get a lot of great Italian food for a much better deal.  In fact we were just in Napa Valley a couple of weeks ago and ate at an Italian restaurant also run by a celebrity chef and we had a much better experience overall and the food was better.

Also something weird about the menu, there were some appetizers but no salads or soups.  We looked at the appetizers and couldn't order any of them due to current temporary dietary restrictions, but we would have loved to have a salad instead but didn't have that option.

Final thoughts on Baffo:
Food - The food was good but not the best Italian food we have eaten.  Also it was quite pricey for the size of the entrees.  We left a little hungry but were no appetizers we could eat and the desserts didn't excite us that much.

Braised Short Rib

Service - we described our experience above, but this is once again an example of how bad service can taint the overall experience.  We probably would have enjoyed the food a little more if the service wasn't so slow.

Atmosphere - the restaurant is much smaller than we thought it would be.  It feels very separate from the rest of the Eataly experience, which is good for peace and quiet but since it has its own entrance you wouldn't even have to go in the rest of Eataly to eat at Baffo.