Bar Tutto Review

Yenna Chong

Isolated in a quiet corner of Fulton Market lies Bar Tutto. Inspired by the bustling wine bars and restaurants of Italy, Bar Tutto offers a lively ambience matched with high-quality dining. Surrounded by brick walls, the restaurant exudes the vibe of a classic European café with its marble tables and wooden chairs. The bright lighting creates a warm, welcoming environment that feels less stuffy than most other restaurants! I haven’t heard anyone talk about this place, but it certainly seems like a popular, versatile destination for catch-up meals with friends, after-work munchies with colleagues, or dates with your partner. Bar Tutto operates as both a café and a restaurant serving brunch, lunch, and dinner. I had the opportunity to go for dinner and was thoroughly impressed by their unique flavors and textures. And given my spectacular dinner experience, I would love to try their café and brunch items in the future!

Bar Tutto has a drink menu ranging from cocktails to artisanal sodas, fernets, and beers. I opted for a more basic choice, the Tutto Spritz, which is their twist on an Aperol spritz, but by all means, the flavor was not basic. The pine and blackberry added a fresh element not typically found in an Aperol spritz. It was lightly sweet, refreshing, and slightly bitter. We also tried the Tutto Margarita, which was velvety from the fig, yet vibrant from the lime. It had a wonderful flavor profile, and the salt rim rounded out what you would imagine to be contrasting flavors. Maybe I’m just a sucker for cocktails with fig, but I thought it was delicious and unique.

Our first appetizer was the Mussel Crostino. As one of the highlights of the night, this dish was unlike any other crostino I’ve ever had. The bread was perfectly toasted with a nice thickness, and the aioli was buttery and rich. The mussels themselves were insanely fresh. They did not smell fishy at all, and the texture was creamy and smooth. The fatty aspects were juxtaposed with the fennel and dill toppings that provided a nice bite of acidity and freshness. Our waitress said this was one of her favorites, and now it’s one of mine, too.

Next up was the Roasted Carrot Salad, probably one of the best non-leafy salads I’ve ever tried. Everything about this dish was so incredible that we tried to analyze every aspect of it. It is a salad with chopped, roasted carrots, mixed with broccolini and orzo, tossed in a date vinaigrette, and topped with pistachios, burrata, and parsley. The carrots were deliciously sweet and crunchy despite being cooked. The roasted flavor pervaded the dish very nicely without being overpowering. The carrots, combined with the lightness of the broccolini and the starchy orzo, made for a well-balanced chopped salad. The creamy burrata and the crunchy pistachio tied all the ingredients together, with the dressing adding the perfect finishing touch. Slightly sweet, salty, and smoky, this salad blew our minds away.

We also tried the antipasti salad, which was an acidic Italian salad. On a bed of little gem lettuce and pink castelfranco radicchio were slices of soppressata and grated provolone cheese. This salad had a pepperoncino vinaigrette that was vibrant and tangy, while also allowing the crunchy freshness of the lettuces shine through. The presentation was also beautiful with the pinks from the radicchio and soppressata next to the light green lettuce–colorful, nutritious, and flavorful!

Moving on to pastas, we ordered the Radiatore and Rigatoni. The Radiatore was a sauceless pasta, similar to the idea of a pasta salad, but warm rather than cold. It was served with fennel sausage, broccolini, and freshly grated provolone. This dish was light and savory with a hint of spiciness, and it felt well-balanced with the additions of protein and vegetables. It was certainly unique and had that addictive flavor that makes your fork keep coming back to it. The rigatoni, contrasting the light pasta, was, in my opinion, a hybrid of cacio e pepe and carbonara. The perfectly al dente rigatoni was served with pecorino and black pepper sauce and guanciale. I enjoyed the rigatoni noodles more than the radiatore; however, the cheesy sauce was so sharp that it was almost overwhelming. The guanciale was delicious and added a nice texture, but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because of the sauce's sharpness. I never thought there could be such a thing as too much cheese, but in this case, I believe that if the cheese were taken down a notch, the pasta would improve doubly.

To ensure we got some protein, we ordered the bavette steak. I had gotten very full by this point in our meal, so although I love steak, I couldn’t truly appreciate it. The beef was served with a peperonata sauce, fries, and garlic aioli. I am often very picky about where people add bell peppers, and adding them to the steak was, in my opinion, a bad idea. It didn’t enhance the beef in any way. Otherwise, the meat was perfectly cooked. The shoestring fries were crispy but too salty, and the aioli ironically tasted too oily. Honestly, I would skip this dish, as there are several items on the menu that are more delicious.

Of course, despite our fullness, we had to indulge in a slice of toffee cheesecake, because there is always room for dessert. The toffee sauce with the chocolate crumbs and the piece of toffee on top created a wonderful harmony of smooth and crunchy. If I had to be picky, I would say that the cheesecake wasn’t as smooth as other cheesecakes I have tried, but the flavor was still delectable. We also broke the toffee manually, so it may have been better served crumbly. Regardless, I would definitely get the cheesecake again.

Overall, I would give Bar Tutto 4.5/5 stars, and it received over a 9.0 on my Beli. It would be a great addition to your to-try-in-Chicago list, whether you go with friends or family!