Best Italian Restaurants in Highland Park

The food is always excellent and I have been coming here for years. Best Italian food. One cannot go wrong with any restaurant owned/run by the Drago brothers but Celestino is my favorite. Have a hard time steering myself away from my favorite appetizer, calamari steak, favorite pastas of either the spinach fettuccine with wild boar sauce or the risotto with marscapone cheese and porcini mushrooms. just can’t go wrong with anything on their menu. Panna cota is my favorite dessert. I guess everyone was in town for the rose parade and the rose bowl game as the place was packed so nosier than is the norm and I have never waited for my table before but we were in no hurry so got a drink at the bar until our table was ready. Calo Drago was working and always treats us well and last night was no exception. Everyone I have taken to this restaurant raves about the food, service and comes back to this restaurant on their own.

Always one of our favorite restaurants! Food is always delicious. The service was great. The music is great and makes it a fun and romantic dinner. We always attend for our anniversary with my family.

First-rate service and excellent entrees. Because the space is relatively small and the restaurant was full, it was rather noisy, but there is an outdoor seating area as well. Overall, a very good experience.

Service and food were phenomenal. We had the fried spicy beef and chicken empanadas for appetizers. For dinner we had the Tagliatelle and the Malbec. The steaks were cooked to perfection and meals were full of flavors. For dessert we had the crème brûlée; very delicious, too. Can’t wait to try other dishes. 💕

This is the first time dining at Bacari GDL. We were a party of 2 sitting in the outdoor area on Brand. We thoroughly enjoyed all the “bites” we ordered: stuffed mushrooms, scallops, shawarma tacos, mushroom pizza,chicken sliders, and chocolate dessert. All were tasty and perfect for sharing. What to know: plan on ordering several dishes (appetizer size) and the food comes out as it is made, so don’t expect everything at once. There are heaters, but bring a jacket. It is still chilly on the patio. There are several staff members helping out, so make sure you get your orders if you are waiting too long. There was a mix up with our dessert. I think one waiter thought the other put in the dessert. The indoor area is small and we preferred to be outside and people watch. One thing that bugged us was that we wanted to sit closer to a heater and we were denied because it was a four-top and not allowed for a party of two AND it was being held for “reservations “. I stated that we had a reservation, but still denied. Five minutes later, they sat a party of 2. When we mentioned it to the host and said, hey, what’s up with the party of 2? The host stated that he follows the rules 🫤. Not cool, but we got over it. Overall it was an excellent experience with the food and staff . We will definitely come back to try the lettuce wraps and other items on the menu.