That's not altogether surprising, because chef-owner Joel Kazouini also owns, with his brother, Clark Street Bistro, a very good North Side restaurant. Trattoria Roma Terza has been turned into a little piece of Provence, its sunshine yellow walls dotted with framed prints and posters. Smallish tables are topped with linen and white butcher paper. There's a handsome bar toward the back, and a glass cabinet displays pretty glassware. The Moroccan-born Kazouini keeps his French menu straightforward and true.
Entrees are just as good.
Steak au poivre arrives with a judiciously restrained coating of peppercorns and some of the best frites I've had in a while. The kitchen did cook the steak a notch or two beyond the preferred temperature, though. The mostly French wine list is packed with bargain-priced wines. Chez Joel's 67 seats are supplemented by an outdoor garden, shielded from traffic noise by a brick wall, that seats up to 70 at umbrella-topped tables. A little gardening work would make this space much prettier, but it's fine for now.