Al Primo Canto: User Reviews

My husband & I went to Al Primo Canto for our wedding anniversary. It was a Wednesday night and not very crowded. I did not like that we had to pay for parking infront of the restaurant. I was in the mood for Seafood although I knew it was a Chicken famous place. My husband ordered the feast so I tried some of his entrees. I found the Chicken very dry. But the service was exceptional. Our waitress "Angie
" made the special occasion very special for us. She seated us by the window. She recommended a pleasant Pinot Noir to go with both entrees. She presented us with a flan for dessert, which I had no room but my husband enjoyed. She was a wonderful host.

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This restaurant is small with a very crowded feeling. Also found it too warm inside. Went for what I thought would be a romantic dinner but it does not have that kind of environment. Better suited for large groups or with friends. This is a fun place with great food and music. The band was wonderful and started playing at 7pm. It does get very loud and is hard to hear each other talking. We really liked everything served except for the chicken, found that dry. The tenderloin and lamb were outstanding, best we ever had. The 3 different pastas were made with excellent sauces. Went for the all you can eat and they made sure we had plenty left over to take home. Our server was excellent and explained dishes and why the owner cook prepares them a certain way. We did not need seconds but our server came over twice to ask if we wanted more of anything. We do not usually spend $30 per person for food but would return in a minute for this delicious spread.

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We had dinner at 7PM at Al Canto Primo last Friday and it will be the last time. I live a few blocks away from the restaurant and finally tried it on Friday with my husband and his cousins. We had seen it on Check Please and we all decided to give it a try. It is a nice room, but it is just a dining room, it does not have a lounge area. At first I didn't realize why I couldn't hear what everyone was saying and why I was yelling to be heard. Then it was brought to my attention that there was a jazz group playing. It's not that they were bad musicians, quite the opposite, but I didn't go to dinner to sit and listen to music. We came out together to talk and visit with each other and spend time together. We couldn't carry on a conversation without being drowned out by the music. We made our concerns known to the waiter and he said he had asked them to soften their sound, but it did not work. The owner came over to the table and said that most people were happy with the music and came just for that reason and if we didn't like it we should dine Tuesday-Thursday when there wasn't any music. Don't get me wrong, some background music would have been very nice, but we wanted to visit and talk and it made it hard. As for the food, it was okay, My husband ordered his steak medium-rare and I ordered the lamb medium, both were well done. The chicken was dry the pork was well done, as ordered. It was nothing special. It was very expensive for a neighborhood restaurant. We all ordered an entree and split two salads between four people. We would have been better off financially to order the family style meal, but the waiter didn't bring it to our attention when we were ordering. The cheese bread was nothing to make a trip to try, it was okay. With so many other places to dine in the metro Chicago area, I don't see a repeat trip in our future. It's too bad because we like to support our neighborhood businesses.

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My husband and I have wanted to check out Al Primo Canto for a while now after viewing the Check Please review. We made reservations and had such a lovely experience… The food was delicious, we ordered 1 all-you-can-eat feast and 1 seafood dinner and we were able to share – it was wonderful. The mahi mahi was cooked perfectly and the accompaniments were fabulous (but on the salty side, which I like). The only thing I didn’t really care for was the pasta that comes with the feast – it was on the bland side. We went on a Friday night so they had a great live jazz trio playing – it was a fun vibe. But the icing on the cake was our waitress, she was so nice and helpful – while I’m all about the food, if I have bad service it’s a deal breaker – the service was perfect and we will definitely be returning. Oh, and for desert try the guava cake – it’s sounds a bit odd but it was so delicious!

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I have been a fan of Al Primo Canto for a long time. They have recently expanded the menu with new ala carte items beyond the feast items. All I can say is wow to the flavors and quality of the food. I have had a few of the specials- like the filet mignon special with risotto and the new bruscetta appetizer.

Tonight I tried the new honey mustard salad dressing. It is well balanced with a bit of a bite of mustard, just as it should be.

They are making their own veal demi-glace for one of the menu items. For those who do not cook, this means roasting bones and veg for about 24 hrs and then reducing it to a sauce. It is a lot of work for something that tastes wonderful. Yep, it is one those things foodies drool over. I am drooling.

What this means is if you liked Al Primo Canto before, you are really going to like what is going on in the kitchen now. If you have not been there before, there are a lot of reasons to go again and again.

Like Emeril's program they have taken it up a notch and Bam it is really good eats! Sorry Food Network, I could not help myself.

All I can say, it is a good restaurant that is only getting better. BTW the wine list has new items and the Miolo is one of my favorites.

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My family and I saw the restaurant on 'Check Please' and since we loved Brazilian style places like Brazaa's, Sabor Do Brasil, etc we figured it would be a perfect alternative. Wow, were we wrong.
Waited over an hour to be served.
Food came cold, burt, and in one case raw.
Some items on the menu never made it.
Don't waste your time. There are too many other alternative to settle for this.
Worst restaurant experience ever.

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We saw the review on Check Please and were in the neighborhood so decided to give it a try. We were pleasantly surprised by the wonderful atmosphere, great service and spectacular food. We had the chicken and seafood platter and a nice bottle of Prosecco and were blown away by the quality, taste and amount of food. We will definitely be going back again! Great job!!

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I am so happy that my favorite retaurant is going to be at check please great job ,I just hope we can still get a table .We just love this place .

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Last night my husband and I went to Al Primo Canto with both sets of parents and had such an enjoyable evening. We live in the neighborhood and have been here before and it is consistantly good. The service is attentive and very friendly and helpful. The space is beautiful with exposed brick walls and deep colors. The family style food is tasty and fun to share with a group. They also had a jazz trio playing in the background. We love to come here for a nice night out with a group.

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Best restaurant in Edgebrook by far, it surpasses most of the places downtown without the markup. The chicken primo canto is the best chicken I've ever had. You can afford an extra glass of wine or cocktail.

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