Restaurants in Springfield

Chase Gardens Cafe and Bistro's owners clearly take pride in the details. They hang strings of twinkling lights on their eatery's back walls, which are brushed with cityscape silhouettes, murals of porticos, and the outline of a majestic mountain range. The front wall is almost completely covered in picture windows that allow sunlight to stream in as patrons nurse cups of espresso.

On a given day, their soup specials, such as heirloom sausage or organic beef and barley stew, steam beside delicate quiches and hearty sandwiches. When they're not perusing the Internet on free WiFi, guests can question the barista about Chase's wine selection or bate them for information on how they get all those guffaws into their trademark Snickers drink.

Whether served as a whole pie or by the slice, ll Pomodoro's New York–style pizza benefits from generous layers of mozzarella cheese made in-house. For a pizza that highlights the mild flavors of this cheese, try a slice of the margherita—a traditional specialty that also piles basil and plum tomatoes on its brick-oven-style crust. Not all of the pies are so wedded to tradition. Take, for example, the buffalo-wing pizza, which usurps expectations with its spicy combination of chicken, wing sauce, and blue cheese.

When they aren’t flattening their dough into round pies or Sicilian-style squares, the chefs tie it into aromatic garlic knots or stuff it with mozzarella and ricotta cheeses to make calzones. In another nod to their Mediterranean influences, they toss kosher lamb and chicken with couscous and dice their veggies with authentic Roman swords.