Long Grove is easy to walk around and surprisingly hard to leave on schedule. In the compact historic centre, a shop window catches your eye, or a side street tempts you a little further, and suddenly it’s time to find somewhere for lunch.
Lunch at Sorelle may settle dinner too, once you’ve browsed the Italian market and picked up bread from the bakery. Enzo & Lucia gives you a reason to sit a little longer: homemade pasta served in a Victorian house built in 1876. Earlier in the day, Blu Fig has coffee, bagels and fresh pastries for a bite before you set off around the village.
ChatterBox takes over later with cocktails, craft beer and events in a converted barn. RedBottle, the one out-of-town entry, sits in Elmwood Park and adds a louder option with karaoke and late-night entertainment.
Take a look at what the city of Long Grove offers for premium dining in our guide for best restaurants.
Red Bottle: A Social Dining Spot for Food, Drinks and Entertainment
Address: 7438 W North Ave, Elmwood Park, IL 60707
Hours: Mon–Thu, 12 PM–12 AM; Fri, 12 PM–2 AM; Sat, 9 AM–1 AM; Sun, 9 AM–12 AM
Special Features: 60+ dishes, full-service bar, karaoke, live music, trivia and private events
OpenTable rating: 4.7/5
Usual spend: $20–80 per person
Red Bottle is well outside Long Grove, but it earns its place here as the late-night alternative. The bar stays busy, the weekend hours run well past dinner, and the evening may include karaoke, trivia or live music. This is not the restaurant for a hushed meal before an early night.
The menu is unusually large, with more than 60 dishes moving between Italian, European and casual bar food. At Red Bottle, one person can order rigatoni alla vodka while another goes for shawarma or beef stroganoff. Alfredo pasta, stone-baked pizza, steaks, pork dishes and gourmet burgers give a large table plenty of room for individual tastes—which helps when choosing the restaurant has already taken half the group chat.
Crispy calamari is an easy starter to share, while the Dark Side of the Sea platter calls for a few more people around the table. For a lighter meal, there’s the Arugula Fusion Roast Beef salad, alongside vegetarian options and a children’s menu. House-made desserts give you a reason to pause before asking for the bill. RedBottle also takes private event bookings, so birthdays and other celebrations can bring dinner, music and guests together in one place.
Sorelle Italian Market: Fresh Bread and Handmade Pasta
Address: 3976 IL-22, Long Grove, IL 60047
Hours: Wed–Sat, 8 AM–9 PM; Sun, 8 AM–8 PM; Mon–Tue, closed
Special Features: Fresh-baked bread and pastries, organic coffee and tea, Italian-style pizza, homemade pasta, paninis, Italian desserts, wine and cocktails
Google Maps rating: 4.7/5
Usual spend: $10–20 per person
Sorelle Italian Market & Cafe puts several good reasons to visit under one roof. It is a restaurant, bakery, and Italian grocery, so breakfast can end with a bag of imported pasta to take home, while a quick market stop can easily turn into dinner.
Mornings begin with fresh bread, pastries and organic coffee or tea. As the day moves on, pizzas, panini and handmade pasta take over. Five-hour Tuscan Bolognese fusilli has the depth expected from its long cooking time, while spicy rigatoni provides more heat. Sicilian lasagna and shrimp scampi sit on the fuller dinner side of the menu.
The sandwiches are made on Tuscan schiacciata, a flat, airy bread with a crisp exterior. It does much of the work in a good panino and is reason enough not to treat the sandwich section as an afterthought. Dessert brings house-made cannoli and gelato, both difficult to walk past on the way out.
Shelves stocked with imported pasta, Italian wine, and pantry goods give Sorelle its genuine market feel.
Blu Fig Cafe: Neighborhood Coffee and Fresh Breakfasts
Address: 225 Robert Parker Coffin Rd, Long Grove, IL 60047
Hours: Mon–Thu, 8 AM–3 PM; Fri–Sat, 8 AM–4 PM; Sun, 8 AM–3 PM
Special Features: Craft coffee, smoothies, breakfast bagels, gourmet sandwiches, fresh pastries
Google Maps rating: 4.8/5
Usual spend: $10–20 per person
Blu Fig Cafe is the sort of place people use rather than save for an occasion. It opens at 8 AM, closes by late afternoon and keeps the menu centred on coffee, breakfast and lunch. A morning order might be nothing more than a pastry and a hot drink; later, bagels and sandwiches take over.
Craft coffee is the main attraction, but smoothies give non-coffee drinkers something more interesting than a bottled juice. Breakfast bagels are quick without feeling insubstantial. Gourmet sandwiches provide a fuller lunch, and fresh pastries remain available for anyone who changes their mind about dessert.
There is no unnecessary complication to the concept. Order at breakfast, settle in with coffee or collect lunch and move on with the day. Outdoor seating is available, along with pickup and delivery.
Enzo & Lucia Ristorante: Italian Dining in a Historic Long Grove Home
Address: 343 Old McHenry Rd, Long Grove, IL 60047
Hours: Tue–Thu, 11 AM–7:30 PM; Fri, 11 AM–9 PM; Sat, 12 PM–9 PM; Sun, 12 PM–6:45 PM; Mon, closed
Special Features: Homemade pasta, seasonal cappellacci, fresh fish, vegetarian and gluten-free options, outdoor seating
Google Maps rating: 4.6/5
Usual spend: $20–60 per person
The old house is part of the pleasure of dinner at Enzo & Lucia. Built in 1876, it has French windows overlooking a fountain square and flower garden, with wood panelling, soft lighting and a fireplace inside. You still get the sense of sitting down to dinner in someone’s home.
Homemade pasta deserves some attention here. The cappellacci are a house speciality worth asking about, as the filling changes with the season. Potato gnocchi and the day’s risotto offer their own reasons to hesitate before ordering. Bruschetta or prosciutto with melon makes a good start, followed by a veal chop or fresh whole fish if you’re looking beyond pasta. You could just as happily keep to seafood, beginning with grilled octopus or fried calamari and moving on to spaghetti frutti di mare.
Additionally, a small number of outdoor tables become available during summer, placing dinner right in Long Grove’s historic surroundings.
ChatterBox of Long Grove: Dinner and Drinks in a Rustic Barn
Address: 330 Old McHenry Road, Long Grove, IL 60047
Hours: Mon, closed; Tue–Thu, 11:30 AM–10 PM; Fri–Sat, 11:30 AM–11 PM; Sun, 11:30 AM–6 PM
Special Features: Craft beers, handcrafted cocktails, daily specials, music and events
Google Maps rating: 4.4/5
Usual spend: $20–30 per person
ChatterBox occupies a rustic barn, an unlikely setting for a restaurant that describes itself as fine dining. The contrast works in its favour. The room has character, but the mood remains relaxed enough for craft beer, cocktails and a casual evening with friends.
Daily specials give the kitchen room to move beyond the regular menu. The drinks side is equally important, with cold craft beer, handcrafted cocktails and a separate liquor selection. Online ordering is available when only the food is required, although the barn setting is a large part of the attraction.
Music and other activities appear on the restaurant’s events calendar. On those nights, the space becomes more animated without losing its neighbourhood feel. Guests can reserve a table through OpenTable or arrive as walk-ins during regular service.
ChatterBox talks about treating guests like family, a phrase restaurants often use. Here, the rustic room, long tables and social programme help the idea feel less rehearsed.
Long Grove is at its best when a meal becomes part of the visit rather than a separate appointment. Coffee at Blu Fig fits neatly between the village shops. Sorelle can begin with a pastry and end with Italian groceries tucked under one arm. Enzo & Lucia makes the historic setting part of dinner, while ChatterBox brings drinks and music into an old barn. Red Bottle requires a longer drive, but answers a different question entirely: where to go when nobody is ready for the night to finish.