Amato's Cafe

Culled from: Drury, John. Dining in Chicago, New York: The John Day Company, 1931, p. 173.

Note: The Newberry Library holds the personal papers of author John Drury.

Spaghetti restaurants are as plentiful in all parts of town as chop suey parlors, but to get spaghetti in its true native state you must go to the west side Little Italy centering about South Halsted and Taylor Streets — and to Amato's, when you get there. Amato's wonderful antipasto; his heaping plates of spaghetti Napolitano, sprinkled with mushrooms and covered with a sauce having the faintest suggestion of garlic; his admirable roast chickens or his scallopine of veal al Marsala — these are the dishes which attract Italian opera singers, judges, business men and politicians as well as diners-out from other parts of the city. The place is one flight up, clean and comfortable, and the atmosphere is typically Italian — which, in other words, means hospitable. Prices average. Open all night.

Maitre d'hotel: Amato Magialuzzo