Di Pescara

A mall setting could doom any restaurant looking to be taken seriously, but apparently the hordes of locals filling every seat in the house here not only accept the location, but embrace it. Di Pescara fills a void for north suburban diners looking to skip the hassle of heading to the city but still get a big, fat steak, a bowl of pasta and a decent bottle of wine. That wine pairs well enough with standout dishes like ragù-drenched pasta ribbons; gnocchi with crumbled Italian sausage and broccolini; crispy, breaded, bone-in veal chop topped with lemon-kissed arugula; and a prime sirloin with a nice salt-and-pepper punch.