CENTRO RISTORANTE
RIVER NORTH | $$$ Centro is the reincarnation of another Rosebud restaurant by the same name that lived and died back in the 90s, but really it exists in some sort of Godfather- esque netherworld. Except for the flat-screen TVs behind the bar and the portrait of Marlon Brando as Don Corleone on the wall, it might as well be 1952, when waiters still wore black vests and the house manager still made the rounds to make sure everyone was enjoying his or her meal. (But maybe they didn’t pack people so tightly into the dining room back then?) The menu is replete with pasta and chops, but its pride and joy is the spaghetti and meatballs, which it proclaims to be the “best ever.” The waitstaff serves it with appropriate pomp and ceremony, cutting the enormous meatballs in half and arranging them on a plate just so. It may not be the best ever, but the meatballs are pretty good, and the spaghetti is fresh and cooked perfectly al dente. Centro is more uncertain the further it strays from food the Godfather might have eaten. The Shrimp Alla Centro, for instance, shrimp stuffed with crab, is rich, elaborate, and overcooked. None of this bothers the crowd, mostly guests from nearby hotels and locals old enough to remember 1952. They’re getting the same experience they’ve had dozens of times before, and they don’t seem to mind paying for it. —AIMEE LEVITT 6 W. Hubbard, 312-988-7775. Lunch, dinner: daily. Sat & Sun brunch. Open late: Sat till 1, Mon-Fri till midnight.