Maggiano's Little Italy

The family-style rigatoni D arrived on a platter the size of a small table, enough pasta for four hungry adults with a meat sauce so rich and slow-simmered it tasted like it had been someone's grandmother's recipe, because it was. Maggiano's has always been about abundance, and the Naperville location on Freedom Drive delivers that promise without apology. The chicken piccata, pan-seared and finished with a lemon-caper butter sauce, was bright and well-executed, the chicken tender and the sauce balanced between acid and richness. What sets this apart from the Italian-American chain playbook is the family-style format: order two or three dishes for the table, pass the platters, and suddenly dinner feels like a celebration rather than a transaction. The dining room is massive, the service is attentive despite the scale, and the banquet rooms handle private events with a level of polish that justifies the price point.