Chicago, Illinois
CHI12:00 PM
Mano a Mano in Logan Square is a pasta-first trattoria from Eat Well Hospitality and chef Doug Psaltis. We ate the pastas, the meatballs, and left plotting our return.
This is the kind of trattoria that remembers why you go out in the first place: a glass of something Italian, a plate that makes sense, and a staff that looks like they’ve done this a thousand times. Mano a Mano calls itself a neighborhood pasta project; it reads that way: casual, confident, and built for a Tuesday as much as a Saturday.
Eat Well Hospitality, the team behind Andros Taverna and Asador Bastian, opened Mano a Mano as chef Doug Psaltis’s Italian lane: regional classics, house pastas, and an all-Italian wine list that’s more friendly than fussy. The through-line is operational polish with a cook’s appetite.
The menu swings from Roman staples to Northern comforts and a few throwback hits:
Tip: they run weekly specials, from Spaghetti Sunday to $1 spaghetti with a bottle on Wednesdays. If you’re a planner, anchor your visit around one of those.
Meatball Napoletana comes four to a plate: grass-fed beef, parmesan, pomodoro. It’s the sort of simple that only works when you don’t cut corners: good fat, friendly acid, basil doing its job. You could call it a starter; you could also call it dinner with a glass of sangiovese and be right both ways.
“You could call it a starter; you could also call it dinner with a glass of sangiovese and be right both ways.”
Start with the Meatball Napoletana, split a focaccia di Recco, then run carbonara + stuffed pappardelle (rabbit) and share a side of Very Verde for crunch. If it’s Sunday, add the Spaghetti special and worry about the gym later.
