Maria’s Bakery & Cafe in Highwood: I love it and you will, too

If you're looking for an Italian restaurant in the Chicago-land area, you won’t have to look far. It seems like there’s one on every street. When you check Google, you'll find hundreds of them.

How about if you limit your search and head to the northern suburbs? Again, you'll find plenty of restaurants. But, when I’m thinking about Italian food, my first thought is Highwood—and why wouldn't you? It makes sense that an Italian community would have great Italian food.

Try that Google thing again and you'll find a bunch of Italian restaurants—and they're all pretty good. Some have been in business for decades. But, I have one that wouldn’t be the first one you think of when you're thinking about Italian food—and that’s a shame.

Maria’s Bakery & Cafe is tucked in tight on Sheridan Road. If you were walking down the street, you might easily cruise past it. But, once you walk up the steps to get inside, you're surprised by how intimate and cozy it is. There are only ten tables of different sizes. Chances are good that you’ll be scooched up tight to someone at the next table. That’s part of its charm.

You look on the wall and find the menu items, along with the specials. If you get there when others are dining, you'll find yourself staring at their food; trying to figure out what it is and if you should order it. The thing is everything looks great. Good presentation is a major plus at any restaurant.

Saturday was our third time there in the last couple of years. In past visits, I’ve had linguini, calamari, and a couple of fish dishes. All were superb. But, there always seems to be someone having the chicken parmigiana. It’s one of my favorite dishes, but you can get it almost everywhere, so I always tried to be a little more adventurous.

Not Saturday!

We decided to order the chicken parm along with ricotta gnocchi. The chicken was excellent. It didn’t have as much cheese on top of it as it usually does, but it was tender and tasty. However, the star of the show was the gnocchi. You didn’t even have to bite it. You just put it in your mouth and let it melt. The ricotta added richness to the pasta.

As you can see in the title, Maria’s is also a bakery. They have a counter where you can see their fresh baked good. We decided to take home a cannoli to share. The shell was crisp, the ricotta filling with pistachio made you wish you had a whole one of your own.

Before we left, I had a conversation with the owner. What I didn’t know was that Maria’s has been in business for forty-six years—fifteen in their current location. Damn, I could have been dining there for decades.

Usually, I save this space for restaurants that I’ve never been to, but I love this restaurant so much that I feel the need to tell people about it. Go check it out. I ‘m sure you’ll love it, too.