Caffè Oliva at Ohio Street Beach — Restaurant in Chicago

In April I made a reservation for one of their cabanas on the beach, for 11 people, for May. I told her it was for a 40th birthday celebration. Via email I was asked for my credit card and to fill out/sign a proposal to confirm the reservation. I provided both and received an email telling me I was all set and my reservation was confirmed. On the day of my reservation I called the phone number on the website at 11am (time they open) to ask if it was okay to show up with a cake. No one answered. Called several times all day and no one ever answered. My party was 3 cars with people arriving from various states. We couldn't find the place and still no one answered the phone. We finally found the place, only to be told that they had run out of gas in the morning and so they had no food. When I asked why no one answered their phone I was told they don't have a phone really. When I asked why no one called to tell me they didn't have gas, I was told they didn't know about my reservation until a few minutes before I arrived. Apparently they have an event planner who handles their reservations. Words cannot express how upset I was. This totally ruined my birthday. I will say the Manager did comp the parking for my group, and offered us drinks. But, we were 11 people. It's not easy to find another nice place for a birthday celebration at the last minute. All the apologies in the world can't fix running...

The atmosphere could not be better here. As a local, I come here, even though this largely has out-of-town folks staying at hotels.

The food is good — but much more expensive than you would pay anywhere else (it’s a beach —- that’s totally acceptable).

Be prepared to pay $35 after tax and tip for a basic Cesar salad if it has any protein on it. (But the salad is above average — better than a fast food restaurant — better than “fast casual” — not quite as good as what you would get for $20 at a sit-down place downtown).

I would happily pay this again, and again. (I’m not packing my own salad to the beach).

The bathrooms a clean.

My real rub was that they have very small cubs for draft beer — then don’t fill them the whole way — and even then — they put a ton of head on the beer.

Basically, (twice) — I paid $12 (after tax and tip) for approximately 7 or 8 ounces of beer.

I’m puzzled by this. The bartenders tip depends 100% on this choice (alone). They guy next to me (who I did not know) got a 1/2oz pour of his drink — looked at me — and said, “why would they do this?”

Keep in mind, this was lunchtime on a Wednesday — very few people around. Not some “rowdy” group late at night — or a busy time on...

Beautiful location on the beach, there was a DJ and upbeat music, our drinks and food were great, the waitress was very friendly. The service was a little slow, but honestly I think it was because they were busy - our waitress was fast and working hard. What made our visit impressive was the manager's reaction to an issue we had, and I will 100% be back. There was another person, who actually wasn't even eating at the restaurant but rather helped themselves to a cabana - exhibiting some questionable behavior. Nothing too bad, but we had our toddlers with so we weren't too thrilled. We didn't say a word nor did we complain to anyone, we were just dealing with it. Within minutes - like literally less than 5 minutes, the manager asked the person to leave, and he was hyperaware that we were at a nearby table with children. They offered us dessert and were very apologetic and were very diligent. Our kids had literally no idea anything was even going on, it was handled swiftly and calmly. By the way the manager reacted, it was very clear this was not typical behavior at the restaurant, and secondly, showed how much they cared about...