Has any been to Leona's (Hyde Park) within the past year? If so, please share your thoughts...

I am not sure why you are going there (some event, meeting, etc.) but I find Leona's in general to be bland and no different than the chains that permeate suburbia. So many different choices exist in the city, you should go for that (unless you intentially want safe and bland).

It's awful! Sorry, I live in the neighborhood, and it's truly appalling. Bland, not much better than Chef Boy-ar-dee from a can. If you want ersatz Italian (including decent deep dish pizza) in Hyde Park, Pizza Capri at 53rd and Harper is much better, in the same price range. They have a great salmon caesar salad, and much better pasta than Leona's.

If you want much better food in Hyde Park, more expensive but not wildly so, consider La Petite Folie, in the shopping center at 55th and Lake Park (French). Less expensive than that are Calypso (good plaintain chips) and Dixie Kitchen (southern style - I haven't eaten there), both in the Harper Court shopping center just north of 53rd at Harper. Piccolo Mondo (continental) at 56th and Cornell is under new management, but used to be surprisingly good, and often overlooked.

Other Hyde Park alternatives that are cheap but better than Leona's (though not Italian, obviously) are Cedars (middle-Eastern, in the same shopping strip as Leona's), the Thai restaurants on 55th just east of Hyde Park boulevard - Thai 55 and Snail, and Kikuya (sushi).

If your heart was set on Leona's -- sorry, it ain't what it used to be, 25 years old.

How true!!

Leona's thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308588

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I avoid Leona's like the plague.

Noodles, Etc. on 57th and 53rd aren't too bad, either (I lived in HP from '94 to '01).

I didn't like it 25 years ago, when the waitresses in the 57th street location wore dirty food stained t-shirts and would lean over your plate while passing food the the person next to you.

ick ... stay away. plenty of other good suggestions above

Thank you for saving our money! Got family there (new residents of Hyde Park), and Leona's got mentioned somehow...

I finally bailed on Leona's after a trip where we sat next to the kitchen and I watched the help (can't call them chefs, or even cooks) squirt cannoli filling right from the pastry bag directly into their mouths

The food is mediocre at best. Leona's was a bit of a phenomenon in their original location. They expanded beyond their ability to maintain quality, or stopped caring, or more likely both. Avoid them.

correct me if wrong but that would have been the location just north of Belmont on Sheffield?

That's my recollection. The next couple I remember were the one up on Sheridan, which was called Leona's Daughters, and the one on Grand/Damen that was called something like Leona's Neighborhood Place.

Oak Park and Hyde Park opened sometime later as did Taylor Street, etc. I'm sure this order isn't exactly right. By that point they gave up on trying to call them specific names.

When Leona's Daughters opened there would typically be a line out the door. Don't know and don't care if this is still the case. But, Belmont/Sheffield was the first.

I hated Leona's 20 years ago and still hate it today. I think the only reason they've stayed in business is because they do some effective marketing (a well-written menu that makes everything sound appealing, and the budget to regularly advertise and distribute their menus via inserts in some local newspapers). Everything I have ever eaten from Leona's can best be described as either a) bland or b) overloaded with garlic or c) both bland and overly garlicy.

Ugh. Can't stand it, and can't believe it's still around.

Sorry to hear that Leona's quality may have gone down in recent times milepig. I haven't eaten at a Leona's in quite a few years but the family used to eat and enjoy the pizzas at the original, original Leona's which was on the north side of Belmont just east of the L before it moved to Sheffield.

I always found Leona's to be adequate, nothing more nothing less. I certainly wouldn't call it bad. Bad is reserved for Olive Garden. One thing I must say, when I lived on Racine, near Belmont, years ago. The pizza arrived HOT - burn your mouth hot. Not something you can say for most any other place that delivers. All that said, it is not a destination restaurant.