The One Who Keeps the Book Chicago
How to Get a Table at Italian American Hotspot Canal Street Eatery
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When Canal Street Eatery opened at the base of the glimmering BMO Tower in 2022, its biggest crowds came on weekdays. Workers in the 50-story office tower would grab pastries and coffee from the connecting market, or maybe pop down for lunch or happy hour. Evenings and weekends were notably sleepier.
Those days are long gone. Canal Street still draws a mighty lunch and happy hour crowd during the week, but on weekend nights, the Italian restaurant just south of Union Station has become a certified hot spot. Diners from across the city (and nearby suburbs, too) clamor for tables.
Why the sudden rush? Last fall, the restaurant rolled out a deal called “Italiano Weekends,” offering unlimited pizza and pasta for $20. (The price will increase to $25 on Oct. 1). This is perfectly on brand for the kind of place that bills itself as Italian American — not red sauce, per se, nor focused on any one particular reason. “It’s just Italian food, done right,” says general manager Landis Beverly.
“The deal has definitely helped people find us,” he adds. “We’re [tucked away] down here, right by Union Station…You have to know where this hidden gem is.” Once inside, you’re greeted with 40-foot ceilings and bookcase-lined walls, which you’re welcome to flip through.The light-drenched dining room, bathed in warm pink and beige hues, has two-story windows that look out onto a park, where sister concept Afterbar boasts a 100-seat outdoor space. On sunny days, both patios are full of people sipping Aperol spritzes and Peronis. It is, in short, a vibe.
Want in? We chatted with Beverly for tips on how to score a seat, what to order, and more.
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How many people does the restaurant seat, and can all those seats be reserved?
Inside the restaurant, we have 111 chairs at dining tables, plus 10 bar seats. It’s first-come, first-serve at the bar. The 40 patio seats can’t be reserved. The market area isn’t open at night, but it becomes happy hour seating. We’ve got a large crowd of people that come almost every night for happy hour. They’ll order from the bar and sit over in the market area. Anyone’s welcome, as well, to drink outside on the patio. If it goes to the park, it must be in a plastic cup.
What’s the best seat in the house?
One of our regulars, he always comes in and has a very specific table, so I’m not going to give his table up, but it’s also one of my favorites. We have two of them. It’s a corner booth. From the management side, I can sit there and watch everything. As a guest, I love sitting by the large windows. If you come on a Tuesday lunch, there’s a farmer’s market out in the green. You can watch so much and see everything outside. The sunlight is beautiful out there.
When do reservations become available on Resy?
We do absolute months, and ours are blocked out at midnight. So, at midnight on Sept. 1, all of October will open. We always have two months available.
How quickly are they booked?
For Friday and Saturday nights, right now we’re booked out two to four weeks in advance.
Do you have any tricks for scoring a reservation?
The first of the month, when reservations open up, that’s your best bet to see anything for the future. Otherwise, the best is to call. If you call the day-of, that works really well, because if you’re nearby, we can let you know where the dining room is at or get you seated right away.
How long does the Notify list get?
I’ve seen it, day-of, get up to 400 or 500, when the Italiano Weekend promotion was first starting. More frequently now, I’d say it averages around 200.
How often do people on the Notify list actually end up snagging a table?
It’s few and far between. We will do our best to get as many cancellations filled with that, but normally, day-of, with the amount of walk-ins we have in front of us, it’s a lot easier to get people already in the space. We notice times where people will be on the Notify list and we’ll try to get them set up, but they’re not always able to get here.
You do you accept walk-ins, then?
We always tell people it’s not a guarantee on weekend days. Throughout the rest of the week, we do have a lot of walk-in space available. Our communal high-top table is available for reservations as well as walk-ins. The bar seats are available for walk-ins. Besides that, every table is available to be reserved besides the patio tables.
What’s the best time to walk in?
Any time between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. During happy hour, we have a lot of people here at the bar, but not necessarily every table gets filled. Also, later in the evening around 8 p.m. is good. We do our last seating at 8 p.m., but we don’t close.
How many covers do you do on your busiest night of the week?
Our busiest night is Friday. We’re averaging around 250 to 300 covers on a Friday night shift from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
What’s the vibe at 6 p.m. on a Friday?
Almost every table is full, and if it’s not full, it’s being bussed to get someone a seat. The bar is full of walk-ins — it’s full-service there as well. You’ll see a lot of people in the waiting area, waiting to be seated, a lot of them have drinks, just hanging out. It’s a very packed dining room. You’ve got pasta and pizza hitting almost every table. The bartenders don’t stop making drinks throughout the entire night.
What are some dishes a first-time visitor can’t miss?
Any time you go to an Italian restaurant, you need to get cacio e pepe. It’s a great way to be able to tell how an Italian restaurant does what they do. Here, it highlights our homemade pasta. We add a little bit of lemon zest, and it’s just delicious and different.
There’s also a pasta flight. Four pastas come at the same time. You get cacio e pepe, casarecce Bolognese, mezzi rigatoni pomodoro, and our new pasta. It’s sundried tomato pesto and half a burrata ball right on top for you to mix in. It’s just a beautiful creamy pasta.
I also love our calamari. We fry up Fresno chili peppers with it, so it’s got little chilis fried in the same shape as the rings of calamari. It’s got this spice to it I don’t normally see in calamari dishes.
Desserts, I think my favorite is ice cream and cookies. You choose between raspberry sorbet, vanilla gelato or chocolate gelato. It’s served with almond shortbread cookies, in a martini coupe. All three ice creams are made in house, as well as the cookies.
Ally Marotti is an award-winning journalist covering food and restaurants. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, and other publications. Follow Resy for more great stories.
