With the beginning of a new year comes a slew of New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps you’ve committed to going to the gym more often, or maybe you’re working on lowering your screen time. Whatever your goal, I commend you!
Mine, however, is to complete my 2026 Beli restaurant challenge, which I’ve set to a whopping 150 new restaurants I must try by the end of the year. You might say this means my 2027 New Year’s resolution should be to be more financially responsible — and you’re probably right — but that’s a problem for January 2027!
To kick off this rather ambitious mission with my first downtown dinner of 2026, I dragged my friends to DeNucci’s in Lincoln Park — an easy commute for Northwestern students, about a 25-minute drive from campus.
It may be the fact that we ate at 8 p.m. on a Sunday night, but the restaurant was extremely empty. By the time we finished, we were the only ones left, which didn’t quite deliver the type of cozy, candlelight bustle I’d expect from a weekend Italian dinner.
What’s more, their Chicago Restaurant Week menu was quite restricted. While we fully intended to make use of it on our limited college-student budget, we ended up ordering from the regular menu instead.
To start, we shared the warm garlic knots (left), fried calamari (middle) and lacinato kale and pecorino salad (right). While yummy, both the knots and calamari were somewhat forgettable. The salad was by far the best dish we shared, as it came with the perfect amount of dressing, and the toppings provided a nice crunch.
For our mains, we each ordered a pasta dish: the spaghetti limone (left), lumache alla vodka (middle) and sacchetti al pesto (right). Admittedly, I rarely venture out of the tomato pasta territory, so I may not be the best judge of the spaghetti. With that said, while I appreciated its presentation and well-cooked texture, its flavor was one-dimensional and overly lemony, requiring me to douse the dish in far too much salt. More seasoning would have added the contrast necessary for the flavor to live up to its eye-catching presentation. The rigatoni was a tad spicy for my liking, though it and the pesto received rave reviews from my friends.
For dessert, we shared the amaretto tiramisu, which came topped with almond flakes. I enjoyed the added crunch and light, fluffy texture, and it was certainly a satisfying end to our meal.
Still, despite some points of enjoyment, neither the food nor the ambiance was enough for me to consider returning. Our bill — not including drinks — totaled to roughly $140. If you’re looking to eat out, Chicago is home to countless Italian restaurants that have more consistently impressive dishes and a more spirited atmosphere. For this price tag, there are simply more compelling options.