Home > Chicago Restaurants > Restaurant Review > Brunch at Forno Diablo

The scene: “Yeah, they’re fake,” cracked our waitress at Lincoln Park’s Forno Diablo as she glided past our table, arms loaded with orders and a wry smile on her face. Busted! She caught us knocking on the—apparently—faux brick walls next to our table to figure out the answer to that very question. OK, so it’s not real brick. Big deal. That hasn’t stopped crowds of post-college twentysomethings and neighborhood empty nesters from jamming into this bar-slash-pizza joint for nightly food and drink specials, super-tasty thin-crust pizza, and yes, just enough friendly sass from the well-trained servers. Faux brick and other mass-market sensibilities aside, the interior is handsome: The art deco bar is a knockout, lit by fire-red fixtures. But now that the weather allows it, the Diversey Parkway patio is the place to be. Sunday brunch crowds aren’t exactly huge yet, which is fine by us—try getting a seat on a Friday night. But it won’t stay that way once word gets out about the food, which is better than one might expect.

The cuisine: Pizza for brunch? You bet. (Oh, like you haven’t ever had leftover pizza for breakfast.) The pie arrives heavy with scrambled eggs, bacon, mozzarella, tomatoes, onions and a sprinkle of scallions ($8), and it’s the star of the show. While those brick walls may be fake, the wood-fired, brick-lined oven certainly is not. Three chefs man the oven, and from what we tasted, they do a darn good job of it.
You could come for the pizza and a bloody mary and call it a day, but if you want something more traditional, you’ve got plenty of options, including oatmeal ($1.50 for a cup), lox and bagel ($6), omelets ($10 each), and more. We were impressed by the French toast ($8), accented with light Chantilly cream and sweet berry sauce. There are also lunch items, including the house burger ($10), an 8-ouncer with bacon, caramelized onions and brie.

Better than a bloody mary: A bloody mary you make yourself! The fully loaded DIY bloody bar should be up and running this weekend ($7).

Loved it: Retro black-and-white Disney ’toons on the flat screens

Hated it: Dixieland jazz overhead? Kind of kooky.

Brunch time:     11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday

Cost: about $18 per person, with a cocktail

Wait: None


[ Chris LaMorte is the Metromix dining producer. ] clamorte@tribune.com

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