Entry No. 116 — the Chicago file — filed under: jazz
Le Piano
Le Piano books seven nights of jazz a block off the Red Line in Rogers Park, at prices that suggest the neighborhood rather than the Loop: $10 on Monday, $15 Tuesday through Thursday, $20 on weekends. Doors are at 6pm and the kitchen runs alongside the music until 9:30 most nights and 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, so this is dinner and a set rather than dinner then a set. Monday is the open jam, currently hosted by Danny G Felix, where anyone with a horn can put their name down. Tuesday is Daryl Nitz's cabaret night, billed as the longest-running such show in the city, with rotating pianists and vocalists. Fridays run two entirely separate seatings — an early show that hard-stops at 9:30 and a late one from 9:45 to midnight.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Chicago — never the same twice
The story
Chad Willetts opened Le Piano in 2018 on Glenwood Avenue in East Rogers Park, on the cobblestone stretch that runs alongside the Red Line embankment a block from the Morse stop. The reference point he cites is the Latin Quarter in Paris, and the house motto — "Jazz, Booze & Butter" — tells you the kitchen is not an afterthought bolted onto a music room.
The room is built around a grand piano and insists on the distinction between a listening room and a piano bar. Cove banquettes and round tables sit under a high ceiling, and tall French windows look out at the murals painted along the train line, so the L going past is part of the evening whether you wanted it or not. There is a bar, there is dinner service running alongside the music, and there is no stage-versus-restaurant compromise: the kitchen closes at 9:30 most nights and 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, which is to say it stays open through the set.
The booking is seven nights and priced like the neighborhood rather than the Loop: $10 Monday, $15 Tuesday through Thursday, $20 weekends. Monday is the open jam, hosted by Danny G Felix, where the sit-in list turns over all night. Tuesday is Daryl Nitz's cabaret. The rest is straight jazz and its neighbors — organ trios with Bobby Broom on guitar, quartets, Latin jazz on a Sunday, an album release with a comedian MCing, a psych-jazz band in the late slot. Fridays and Saturdays split into two entirely separate ticketed seatings and tables are cleared between them. A resident photographer, Phillip Tawanchaya, has been shooting the room long enough that the club sells a hardcover book of it.
What it's like
Doors at 6, downbeat usually at 7, so the sequence is dinner and then the set arriving at your table rather than a scramble between the two. Cover is per person and collected on top of whatever you eat — $10 on Monday, $15 midweek, $20 weekends — and tickets and the calendar live at le-piano.turntabletickets.com. On Friday and Saturday the early show hard-stops around 9:30 and you vacate your table for the 9:45 crowd, which is a different band on a different ticket; the room half-empties in between, so buying both is the cheapest way to move up front. It's a listening room by declaration, so hold the conversation for between tunes. Photography happens; you may end up in it.
The move: Go on a Monday: $10 each at the door, get there by 6 when doors open so you can eat before the 7pm downbeat, then stay for the jam and watch the sit-in list turn over. If you'd rather see a booked band, take the Friday early show at 6:30, then buy into the 9:45 late set — it's a separate ticket, a different band, and the room half-empties in between so you can move up front.
📍 Before you go Cover is per person: $10 Monday jam, $15 Tue–Thu, $20 Fri–Sat. Doors 6pm, shows generally start at 7pm. Kitchen 6–9:30pm Tue/Wed/Thu/Sun and 6–10:30pm Fri/Sat; last kitchen order 9:30 on Sundays. Friday's early and late shows are ticketed separately — one does not admit you to the other. Tickets and the current calendar live at le-piano.turntabletickets.com. Phone 773-656-0456.
- 📍 Chicago
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 6970 N Glenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60626
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Malliway Bros. Magic & Witchcraft — Practically the same block of Rogers Park — a witchcraft shop run by two brothers, then a grand piano a few doors along.
- Armadillo's Pillow — A few blocks off, a used-and-rare bookshop with seating built in for slow browsing; stay until it closes, then walk over for the 7 PM downbeat.
- Novelty Golf & Games — Ten minutes west in Lincolnwood — weathered fiberglass statues and 36 holes of miniature golf before dark, then the most self-consciously Parisian room on the North Side after it.
More weird in Chicago
Good to know
How much is it, and is the cover on top of dinner?
Yes — cover is per person and separate from food and drink: $10 for the Monday jam, $15 Tuesday through Thursday, $20 Friday and Saturday. Tickets and the full calendar are at le-piano.turntabletickets.com; the phone is 773-656-0456.
Does one Friday ticket cover both shows?
No. Friday and Saturday run an early seating and a late one (roughly 9:45 to midnight) as two separate bands on two separate tickets, and tables are turned over between them. Buy both if you want the whole night.
Can I actually eat there, or should I eat first?
Eat there. The kitchen runs 6 to 9:30 PM Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and 6 to 10:30 on Friday and Saturday, so dinner overlaps the music instead of preceding it. Last orders on Sunday are 9:30.
How do I get there?
6970 N Glenwood Ave, a block from the Morse Red Line stop — one of the few late-night music rooms in the city reachable on a train that runs all night. It's far north, so from the Loop budget the better part of an hour.
What's the best night for a first visit?
Monday, at $10, if you want to watch a jam session's sit-in list churn under host Danny G Felix. Tuesday is Daryl Nitz's cabaret with rotating pianists and singers. Weekends are the booked bands and the two-seating format.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · le-piano.turntabletickets.com
last checked: 2026-08-26