A Mano

Just read that this place is closing and I can’t say I’m sad about it. The owners blame economic conditions, but the abysmal food and service were the likely culprits.
Classic moment at this place was a while back when I ordered the ribollita. This is a classic Italian soup (literally, this is Tuscan cooking 101), which Amano served as a pan-​fried wedge. When I asked where the soup was, the waiter couldn’t believe that I was surprised by this preparation. Oh yeah, my fault. Usually when I order soup it comes as solid food on a plate without any visible liquid.
The pizza was fugaze Neapolitan and not nearly as good as some of these reviews say it was. Pastas were fine, if unmemorable. The gelato was good.
If people had any taste, Amano would have been out of business years ago. Thankfully the economy is sparing other diners the indignities of this place.

I just heard that A Mano is closing. They blame the economy but I blame them for not creating better promotions. $ 5 pizzas on Thursdays ruled!
They have (or will have had) excellent pizzas — thin crust, zesty sauce and fresh toppings. The mussels were some of the best I’ve had in Chicago — big juicy and garlicky.
The wine selection is top-​notch and wallet-​friendly as they are linked to Bin 36.
A Mano, Rest In Peace.

Went for the lunch special, $ 12 for a pizza, unlimited salad bar (two salads, hummus, breads, cheeses, olives, and soup), and gelato isn’t bat at all.
The pizza was pretty good, not sure exactly how to describe it though, as it sorta crosses over a few styles. The crust was trying to be neopolitan style, which is hit mostly, although it was a little too soft for it (needed a bit more crisping). the crust was puffy and crunchy, but dry. the sauce and cheese combo was more like NY style. So, I guess the pizza has an identity crises, but it worked, and I was happy.
I’ll def try it again on a thursday for the $ 5 pizza special!

I was really, really torn between 3 and 4 stars — I really can’t say anything negative about me visit here except that the pizza was good — just not anywhere near the pizza at La Madia. We’re talking light years, but I digress…
The service was outstanding — everyone was very nice and friendly, food (as mentioned) was good, and $ 10 carafes on Tuesdays don’t hurt!

I think my co-​worker and I are trying something new where we break away from our frozen Lean Cuisine and Lean Cuisine knockoffs once a month for lunch. Besides, did you hear the news today that Lean Cuisines have more calories than listed on the box? For shame!
We were both curious about A Mano and were enticed by their great $ 11.95 lunch special where you get a choice of a pizza or panini entrée, unlimited visits to the antipasti bar and a scoop of gelato. What a steal! And thank goodness for the antipasti bar! I scheduled lunch too late and we were starving when we arrived.
My favorites from the antipasti bar was the squash soup (house made), fritattata and crostini. My co-​worker was partial to the eggplant salad.
I had the A MANO Fennel Sausage (with fingerling potatoes & arugula) personal pizza for my entrée. The pizza was 12″ in diameter and lasted me for three lunches (though I’m sure for most people it would satisfy two lunches). The pizza was coated with arugula, the sausage was noticeably homemade, and the fingerling potatoes were an interesting touch of texture. I could not, however, stand the slightly burnt grainy crust produced in the brick or wood fire oven. If I come back, I’ll opt for a huge panini — which is what my friend ordered.
For dessert I had the salted caramel gelato which I bet tasted fantastic alone. However, I could not wash my palate of the antipasti bar and arugula entrée tastes so the caramel gelato was unpalatable. Now I know to opt for a fruit ice next time. And yes, there will be a next time!
The ambiance is nice, spacious, but a little dark. It’s kind of the basement of the Hotel Sax.

After discovering A Mano’s special, I have reserved my pizza outings for Thursday nights. For just $ 5, you have your choice of a variety of satisfying pizzas which are normally $ 12.50 each including:
— Classic Margherita — Tomatoes, Basil & Mozzarella
— A MANO Fennel Sausage — Fingerling Potatoes & Arugula
— Buffalo Mozzarela — Oven Dried Tomatoes, Basil Pesto
— Prosciutto di Parma — Arugula & Mozzarella
— Wild Mushrooms — Caramelized Onions, Taleggio Cheese, Hazelnuts, Truffle Oil
— Soppressata Salami — Spicy Peppers, Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella
— Fresh Whole Manila Clams — Roasted Garlic & Capers, Shaved Parmesan
— Gorgonzola — Fresh Red Grapes & Toasted Walnuts
In addition to offering a great value, the brick oven pizzas also happen to be very tasty. The large variety of ingredients that generously top each pie are of very high quality so I keep coming back to try them all.
Make sure to bring a dining companion or a two so you have the opportunity to try a few different varieties.
Fortunately, there’s not a big prerequisite for a Thursday at A Mano… just make sure you’ve GOT FIVE ON IT!

We had planned for tapas but alas, that pesky thing called work got in the way and we missed the window for specials. Both having recently been on holiday (vacation, not early christmas), something-​on-​special was all we could afford, but it had to either be or go well with wine… Bin 36’s special was on cheese but a MUCH better deal was downstairs with A-Mano’s $ 5 pizzas.
The space is nice, I like that you can see into the kitchen and even though it’s fairly vast, it doesn’t feel it. The tables for 2 could be slightly bigger though, we had to play plate shuffle to make things fit.
Wine-​wise, we decided on a bottle. They sell carafes, roughly two glasses, which price-​wise add up to the same as a bottle and we were lazy and didn’t want to have to choose twice. But it’s a nice idea. The bottle list runs the gamut from not-​very-​cheap to wait-​till-​sunday-​when it’s-half-price to GULP. It seemed like a good selection with lots of Italian reds. On Tuesdays, carafes are $ 10.
Pizza-​wise, these are goooood. Thin Italian style crust, though it could be a little thinner, and for want of a better word, ‘gourmet’ toppings. I was sad that it didn’t occur to me that unless it said tomato, there was no sauce — i know, i know, i’m the anti-​tomato brigade but pizza sauce doesn’t count, as all us tomato-​haters know — so my clam pizza was just cheese, capers and clams. It was delicious, very salty, but sauce wouldn’t have done it any harm. My friend had the mushroom one and it was completely the opposite, very sweet and crunchy with nuts. Both were pretty special for $ 5, anyway.
By the way ‘whole clams’ actually means in the shell. We discussed this for ages thinking maybe it just meant they weren’t chopped up, but no, they’re in the shell. I hope they’re not put in the pizza oven to die. That made us sad. Boiling water is more dignified. Poor seafood. Tasty though.
We finished with some gelato (can someone tell me why gelato is called gelato here, and not just ice cream? There is no difference? Gelato is just Italian for ice cream? Or am I missing something?) Semantics aside, the strawberry balsamic gelato was great, the black cherry sorbet was great, and the limoncello sorbet made us both scrunch our faces up just like when you eat a lemon — perfect.
The neighbouring tables had piles of delicious looking pasta, and my friend tells me their lunch deal is unbeatable — $ 11 for pizza and antipasti. Our bill for dinner was under $ 50, including wine, which is incredible. I’ll be back even at full price (or Sunday, for the wine…).

I went to A Mano for a ladies’ night dinner, and it was a perfect place for some yummy food, wine, and loud guffawing.
The restaurant itself is pretty modern, but has some touches here and there that give off that «you should feel comfortable here» vibe. Our waitress was really down-​to-​earth and helpful with trying to pick from their menu; she was attentive but not interrupting every five minutes to see if we were okay.
This is a great place if you’re into sharing, because the menu has a ton of options that can easily be split. We started with a create your own cheese and meat platter, and I really should say salad plate instead. We ordered prosciutto and salami (each four VERY thin slices) and gouda (which was practically one bite of cheese). However, the main courses and dessert made up for that disappointment.
We split two pizzas (Buffalo Mozzarella and Fennel Sausage) and ½ Rotisserie Chicken with mashed potatoes. The pizzas were SO good, the crust was the perfect mix of doughy and crunchy, the sauces (both pesto and red) were divine, and the cheese was super melty. The ½ chicken was really tender and the serving of mashed potatoes (which were really creamy) was quite hefty.
For dessert we got the three scoops of gelato and cannoli. The scoops were tiny, but it gave you a little sample of each flavor: chocolate chip (could use more chips), chocolate hazelnut, and pistachio (I could have easily eaten an entire pint solo). The cannoli was actually five little ones that were neatly stacked and sprinkled with powdered sugar, they were good but nothing to gush about.
I would certainly come back here since the prices were reasonable for a nicer dinner out with a good location close to other nightlife spots. I will for shizzle be back on Thursday’s since it is $ 5 pizza night… and their pizza was the best part of the meal.

Two little piggies went to A Mano on a Thursday night, and it was $ 5 pizza night.
On top of that sweet deal, they are hand tossed and cooked in their brick oven. I watched with attentive curiosity at the kitchen assembly line of getting the many pizzas ordered rolling out of their oven. I like to make pizza at home. So, I took note of how they worked the dough to make the crust. It came out piping hot and slightly charred with a nice doughy crust and thinner middle. These are typical Italian pizzas that are lighter on the toppings and include quality ingredients for your choosing. Combos are a bit different, but don’t be shy in trying them. We saw a tasty looking whole clam, roasted garlic and Parmesan pizza at a table near us that I regretted not trying. We decided on the Salami with hot peppers, and Margarita. I was pretty pleased with our choices and the peppers were a nice complement to kick up the heat on the spicy pie.
We also had a delicious heirloom tomato salad. It was our starter, but I had to rave about the pizzas first. A few huge slices of green and red tomatoes and fresh basil and mozzarella. The kosher salt on the veggies was really tasty and the pesto/​balsalmic drizzle was a nice extra level of flavor.
Our mains were the lasagna and spaghetti pomodoro. The lasagna was really excellent and had beef, pork and veal between cheesy layers of pasta swimming in a scrumptious San Marzano tomato sauce that I found myself mopping up with their crusty fresh Italian bread. My wife loved her pasta too and said that it had some nice heat to it. But, that could be because she dumps a mound of red chili flakes on just about everything she eats.
We finished with a few gelatos and sorbettos, which are house made. We had the Espresso, Chocolate chip and black cherry and all were very good. The chocolate chip being my favorite of the bunch.
Service was great and they had our salad split without asking. Our waiter was really helpful and let us know a little about their dish sizes and what a few good eaters could put away. We grazed well and left with some take away.
I really like this place and this kind of tasting Italian menu is one of my favorites. If for no other reason, drop by to have a pizza. Quite the deal for $ 5. Mangiare bene!

I wantd to like this place. I really wanted to. Especially since I came on a Thursday when pizza is only $ 5. Instead, well, eh.
The service was the highlight of the evening. We had the nicest waiter. Chatty but not overbearing and very helpful. He offered to «halve» a salad for my friend since there weren’t any side salads on the menu. He also went and asked a chef whether they had a certain ingredient that my friend wanted to sub on her pizza. (more on her pizza later)
I ordered the prosciutto pizza. Prosciutto, arugula and mozzarella. It was solidly average. Not much mozzarella, a LOT of arugula. The crust wasn’t as thin or as crispy as I would have liked but it was ok.
My friend’s pizza was a bit of a disaster. She ordered the mushroom pizza but without the hazelnuts (because that seemed like a weird topping), subbing anchovies (which cost extra but that was ok, she wanted them). She got the mushroom pizza with hazelnuts, with maybe 3 anchovies, and very few mushrooms. The pizza tasted almost entirely like the caramelized onions that were on it. Not what she was looking for. In fairness, the waiter, when he saw that her pizza had been made incorrectly didn’t charge her for the anchovies after all.
A marginal meal and I won’t be rushing back, especially to pay full price. I thought our pizzas were worth about what we paid — I would have been seriously pissed if I’d paid the normal $ 12.50. Oh well, lesson learned!

(See pics)
Stumbling into a café lookalike thinking it’s just a sandwich place with a revolving door. But down a few steps you will discover this beautiful hidden gem.
Food is always fresh, delicious and innovative, with clean and crisp style. The presentation is always beautiful. The service is always great and friendly. I love seeing the kitchen right in the middle and admire their cooking from a close distance.
The space is also very natural looking, very wood and bamboo style tables and chairs with stainless steel for the kitchen.

Had reservations for a group of 8 at 5:30 on Saturday evening. The place is very easy to find, just underneath Bin 36, but easily visible. To get in, we passed a big hand-​written chalk sign outside the front door that said $ 5 cocktails Saturday. Good enough!!!
Not too crowded, seated immediately. The crowd was comprised of couples, a couple single-​diners, and a couple families with kids in their teens. As soon as we were seated, wait staff came around and offered us sparkling water or still water. (Both are free.) Well, it was a nice touch, but when they came to keep refilling our glasses throughout the meal, they gave me sparkling, and I wanted still. We asked about the $ 5 cocktails, and the waiter told us that they don’t have drink specials on Saturdays. We told him about the sign, he said it was incorrect. But here on their Unilocal page, they advertise it as well. ???
The waiter was very nice, quick, and actually offered to do separate checks for all of us. Most places refuse to do that anymore because it is a huge hassel. Most of us had pizzas, since that is what this place is known for. They came out very fast! I had the Fennel Sausage Potato Fingerling pizza. Very yummy. The crust is just delicious. Everyone liked theirs for the most part.
For a cocktail, pizza, and coffee, (and 18% gratuity for our large party,) the total came to about $ 26 for myself. Not bad really. I would come here again for a casual meal. And I would have liked to have tried the gelato as well! So many yummy flavors!

For the price, I would not recommend A Mano for dining. The wine bar looked nice, but our food wasn’t that good. First of all, we were definitely served rotten cheese with our cheese plate. It was supposed to be the «mild» cheese, yet it was much more flavorful than the other four cheeses, namely, it was rotten. I am the kind of person who can smell laundry detergent on people’s clothes from three feet away, and I KNEW that cheese was rotten. The waiter did not believe me, but he did replace the rotten piece of cheese with some mozzarella (I am not 5 years old). My fish was pretty good, although it was small and the greens that came with it weren’t really edible.
The ambiance was OK. It was nicely decorated with large windows. It is the kind of place where you end up sitting right next to fellow patrons on a bench, but that is pretty common.

You simply can’t beat their summertime deals, especially the $ 5 pizzas on Thursdays. They’re filling, and I’m here to tell you, folks, the pizza is nearly real Italian-​style stuff. And the supplies they use are top quality, it must be said. The mozzarella was the good stuff, the prosciutto was especially wonderful (sliced paper thin, as it should be), and there were heirloom tomatoes laying around everywhere. It doesn’t get better than that.
I can’t state with enough certainty that for $ 5, you are having a BARGAIN of a dinner. I mean, really. It’s not as authentic as Spacca Napoli, but it’s pretty darn close, and for $ 5, it’s filling and warm and tasty. Take advantage, because I’m sure $ 5 pizzas won’t last forever.

Really, 2 and a half stars, at best.
An OK place. It’s sort of cute and all (and somewhat convenient location if you’re doing shopping in the River North area), but the food wasn’t anything impressive. Our food was nearly as salty as the Dead Sea and pasta was oober al-​dente (almost chewy). A surprising finding at a self-​proclaimed Italian «trattoria.»
The wait staff is very friendly and attentive, however. I do feel bad that their dessert menu didn’t get a chance from us last night, but there was just no way we could’ve stayed there any longer past the ~1 hr of eating salty food in a considerably loud surrounding.

Wow, I really wish I could give A Mano a higher rating, because I really liked the space and the food was pretty darn good, as well as the wine we selected.
But the night we were there the service was very spotty. It took a long time for someone to take our order and then come with a check at the end. We ordered the «dinner for two» which meant for a set price we could order any appetizer or pizza, any pasta dish and any dessert for $ 29 each.
We started off with the Margarhita pizza which was very flavourful with a good texture to the crust. I then had the pumpkin ravioli which came with walnuts and big shavings of parmesan. it was good but after the pizza and wine I was halfway to food coma and couldnt finish it. (It was better the next day anyway). Finally for dessert I got the affugato, which is gelato (chocolate hazelnut) smothered in a shot of espresso. Too divine!
its very expensive for what it is, although due to its location and tourist-​appeal I am sure they do very well for themselves. I guess the bar area has much better food deals than the dining room. If I was in the area, i would come back to do that, but probably not the dining room again.

It’s a shame that we had such a mediocre experience with the service at A Mano because the food was quite good. Everything but the desert was quite tasty. And the desert was my fault. I just could not grasp the idea of an Orange flavored Canolli. I guess I’m just a traditionalist at heart.
Carolynne r. and I arrived about 6, and the place was fairly busy, but it wasn’t packed or anything. We started out with a server who took our drink order and opened our bottle of wine. After that, it took forever for anyone to come back. In fact, we ended up with a totally different server for the rest of our dinner.
We finally ordered our entrée’s which were both quite good. We split a pizza and I had an order of Spaghetti and Meatballs. Both were quite tasty.
I had two problems with A Mano. One was that the service was sporadic at best. The dinner had no flow to it. We would get our wine, and then wait 40 minutes, our appetizer, and then wait another 40 minutes. For a place that is this expensive, I would expect more. That brings us to my second issue. A-​Mano is very expensive. I know that when you dine downtown you should probably expect to pay at least 20% more than you would if you dined in a regular neighborhood joint. For you gamblers out there, it’s like paying the Vig for dining downtown. Considering the price, A-​Mano pretty disappointing.
Considering all the great reviews we read, I’m glad that we gave A-​Mano a shot, but I doubt if we will be back. There are just too many good Italian eateries out there that aren’t anywhere near as expensive.

I really wanted to love A Mano and even gave them several chances to redeem themselves. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always left feeling meh about this place.
I tried the lunch buffet once and even though everything looked fantastic, the taste was just… I don’t know… kind of off. Plain. Missing something. I’ve also popped in a few times for a quick sammich to-​go from their deli counter and I also feel that the sandwiches are just missing something… something that I can’t put my finger on. (Sorry, I know that isn’t helpful.)
The restaurant itself is really cute, which is why I’m so dissapointed with the food. According to Unilocal,two stars means «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» and I have. Sorry, A Mano. I tried to like you.

I am def a fan. After seeing this playing being built a few months ago, I finally had the privilege of coming in here and relaxing with wine and cheap food.
The atmosphere is minimal but very exciting at the same time. Everything is very open, but the floors are leveled with creates a diff illusion wherever you sit.
The wine is very good here, and there are many pizzas you can choose from that are only $ 5! (salmon, potato and sausage, margherita, etc.)
They are medium sized, not heavy, but are different.
The service is great here and the food comes out pretty quickly, probably because of the amount of chefs here.
This is a great place to come to after the office, and have intimate conversations with friends and friendlies.

I should probably start by thanking the very nice hostess for squeezing my group of 4 in for 7:45 reservations even though they were booked until 9:30. My friends and I have been wanting to try this restaurant since it opened 5 weeks ago so we were excited to get last minute reservations. That being said I should know better than to try a restaurant within the first few months… A Mano, like most new restaurants, still has their share of kinks to work out.
The meal started off pretty well. The waiter was very accommodating and let us picky winos taste a few different wines so we could figure out which one we wanted to order. Then we placed the order for our food. While the waiter was explaining the menu some blood dripped from his hand on to my friends place mat. Yes, ummm… ewww. He looked really embarrassed, explained he just opened a bottle of wine… so he wiped off the blood and then rushed off to get a band aid. These things happen, but what bothered me is that he didn’t bring my friend a new place mat so she said there for the rest of the meal looking at the blood stain on her place mat. Yeah, kind of gross, but moving on…
So we decided on the scallops, mushrooms, peppers with goat cheese, sausage and potato pizza, a half order of the mushroom risotto, and a half order of the gnochetti. Everything looked really good and we were getting hungry so we were anxiously awaiting this food. So we waited, and waited, and waited… it took over an hour for them to get us our food! And we just kept drinking our wine and getting hungrier (not to mention more intoxicated) as the night wore on. We checked in with the waiter several times and even suggested he bring things out one at a time (since we were sharing a bunch of small plates), but he said that’s not how they do things here. Well, A Mano… I think you may need to change your ways or you’re going to lose many customers! Just a tip…;)
FINALLY the food arrived! And I have to admit it was pretty good– I especially liked the scallops, the mushrooms, and the risotto. The pizza had potential, but it was absolutely burnt on the bottom (totally black). We ate it anyway because at this point we were going to eat anything! We were still pretty hungry when we finished our meal (every dish is SO small), but not having another lifetime to spare to wait for our food we decided to just order some sorbet for dessert. The sorbet wasn’t anything special, but it did the trick of filling us up…
The waiter did take care of some of our meal at the end of the night– he took the burnt pizza off the bill, as well as some wine and one of the sorbets. But this was to be expected after the long wait and blood we had served with our meal.
Overall, A Mano has some potential. They need to move things along in the kitchen much faster, but they have a good menu and the restaurant itself is really cute (gotta love the open kitchen). One of my friends commented that it’s very similar to Quartino and with Quartino being right around the corner she’s not sure why she could come to A Mano. Part of me agrees with that (quartino’s prices seem more reasonable), but I’d be willing to give A Mano another shot… just probably not until after the New Year to give them some time to work out those kinks.