Amano Bistro Chicago — Restaurant in Lake View Township

The food was excellent. We started with calamari. I had the short rib ragu pasta & my wife had the linguini puttanesca. We also enjoyed a bottle of Prosecco, split a cheesecake dessert & had some limoncello with it. Everything was delicious. We highly recommend everything we ordered.

I considered awarding 5 stars for service, but could not. Here’s why: there was initially a “miscommunication” regarding which server was assigned to our table. As a result, we sat with our menus for about 20 minutes wondering if we were invisible while a group of servers huddled in the back of the restaurant & waited on the tables around us, but never acknowledged us. I called the restaurant manager, a very nice man from Serbia, to our table. He took our starter & alcohol order & apologized profusely for the mistake. Our appetizer & Prosecco then arrived within a reasonable time frame.

We then met our server, an extremely polite & efficient lady, who took good care of us. From that point on, the service was very, very good.

As a good will gesture, the manager charged us only for a glass of Prosecco instead of the bottle & waived the charge for the limoncellos.

We will certainly return to Amano Bistro. The food was wonderful & the atmosphere pleasant. The delay in assigning a server to our table was an honest mistake & once it was realized, it was promptly corrected. And, restaurant management then made it right via the comped items.

One thing to consider… the restaurant is small and the tables are very close to one another. While we did not experience it, I can appreciate that the noise level could be high and that it may be difficult to hear.

Overall, on a scale of 1-10, I would rate Amano Bistro at least a 9 and probably closer to 9.5. Had it not been for the initial service snafu, I would have rated them...

Delightful Saturday date night at Amano Bistro Chicago. Our first visit. Made a reservation a day before and called on day of to ask if we could come in an hour later. They accommodated with ease. We ended up sitting at the bar (our choice).

Enjoyed a couple of classic cocktails - nothing particularly creative, but decent. Next time we will just get wine. Served a complimentary plate of homemade corn muffins with a spicy feta spread. Not what we expected at an Italian restaurant. Later learned it was a nod to Serbia where the manager (maybe owner) is from. Nice touch!

We ordered the Pappardelle short rib ragu for our first course to share and the Mediterraneo Branzino for main course to share. The in house homemade noodles were amazing and the dish was nicely balanced with tangy tomato, lots of meat and a creamy dollop of whipped ricotta. We had to stop ourselves from finishing the large portion to save room for our fish course.

The branzino is well presented and accompanied by well-flavored skillet potatoes with kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, and lots of garlic and herbs and sauteed spinach. A chimichurri sauce brought a welcomed brightness to the dish.

We are people who often think things need more salt and we did not have to ask for any salt here. Everything had just the right amount.

Lots of conversation with the manager/owner and friendly, attentive service all around. Great vibe and good food. What else do you need?

Having sat within view of the open kitchen, we plan to order the bruschetta next time as well as the pork chop which is bigger than a human...

My wife, sister and I enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner at Amano Bistro. It was our first visit, but certainly will not be the last. We started with the mussels in the white wine sauce. It was a very generous serving of really large mussels. The sauce was delicious, just a touch of heat. Then we had the Greek salad, no lettuce but everything else, different and really good. My wife had the papperdelle with a ragu, thankfully she didn't finish hers so I had a taste, yum. My sister had the branzino, a whole fish with spinach and potatoes. It was light, mild and delicious. She even brought the fish head home for her dog. I had the special veal chop with pureed celery root. Perfectly cooked and covered with a tasty red wine reduction. Maybe there was a bit too much sauce on the chop, but that's just me being picky. Deserts were soo good! The three of us split the cheesecake and the hazelnut cake. I could not pick a favorite. Amano Bistro is a cozy restaurant, maybe 30 seats, they also have a tented, heated patio that appeared to be a popular option. The kitchen is small and very visible from the dining room, so clearly no secrets! Our server, Zorana, was very pleasant and attentive. Overall just a wonderful Christmas Eve...