Walk down the stone staircase off LaSalle Street and the city drops away behind you. At the bottom, Naia runs nearly the length of a city block along the north bank of the Chicago River, with the LaSalle Street bridge to one side, the Wells Street bridge to the other and the towers of the Loop lit up across the water. Inside, a 50-foot wall of hand-carved stone shows the water nymph the restaurant is named for, and the kitchen sends out crudo, charred octopus and whole branzino built for the table.
Naia opened on June 1, 2026, and it has been one of the hardest tables in River North ever since. It holds a place on The Infatuation’s Hit List of the best new restaurants in Chicago in the list’s November 2026 update, and with louvered pergolas and walls of windows it was built to keep the river view going after the patio season ends. Reservations are on OpenTable, released at midnight on a 14-day rolling basis.
A riverfront dining room a decade in the dreaming
Luke Stoioff and David Rekhson, the cofounders of DineAmic Hospitality, spent years gazing at this stretch of river from the dining room of their steakhouse, Prime & Provisions, just across the water. The space at the foot of 300 N. LaSalle, a 60-story tower, was a basement cafeteria for the office workers upstairs. It closed during the pandemic, and in 2021 the partners began the slow, engineering-heavy work of turning it into the restaurant they had imagined. Chicago Cut Steakhouse sits just above.
The finished room covers 12,000 square feet indoors and out, with 150 feet of direct water frontage. Katherine Ingrassia and Ryan Nestor of the design firm Barker Nestor dressed it in muted earth tones, natural fibers, twisted rope dividers, handmade chandeliers and clay pottery, with a two-toned marble floor that shifts from charcoal to cream. The main dining room rises in tiers, almost stadium style, so the tables at the back still look out over the water. The name Naia means water nymph, or flowing, in Greek.
The patio seats about 150 under trees and greenery, with deep circular leather booths turned toward the river, and the indoor rooms seat up to 250. In summer, Naia works with Downtown Docks so guests can arrive by boat and tie up steps from the host stand.
Where to sit: the river booths, the bar or the round table
The seats everyone wants are the river booths, set out on the water’s edge and designed for parties of five or six, with the bridges framing the view. They book on OpenTable, and when you reserve any table you can ask to sit by the river.
The front of the house belongs to a long rectangular bar and a raw bar nearby, with high-top tables around them. Bar seats are first come, first served, and the full menu is served there, which makes the bar the best walk-in move on any night. From Monday through Friday, Cocktail Hour runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the bar only, with $11 classic and specialty cocktails, $9 wines, $2 oysters and $9 bites such as the crab falafel and saganaki.
For a celebration, a semi-private round table in a secluded corner of the dining room seats eight to ten without losing the energy of the room. The private dining room at the back seats 40 and still looks out at the river, and at the east end, The Lounge at Naia holds up to 200 guests for a reception behind floor-to-ceiling windows, with its own marble bar and accordion doors that open to a terrace on the water. The holiday party calendar is open now through the events team.
What to eat: crudo, spreads and the hummus cart
The menu comes from Athinagoras Kostakos, the winner of Top Chef Greece and the owner of Nōema on Mykonos, who is also DineAmic’s partner chef at Lyra, Violi and La Serre. At Naia he cooks the Greek islands first, then reaches across the Eastern Mediterranean for Levantine spices and dips.
Most tables start with the tableside hummus, $18 for two, mixed at a copper-topped cart and served with warm pita and traditional garnishes. The spreads are $9 each: spicy feta, charred eggplant, beet tzatziki and a truffle honey labneh worth ordering twice. From the mezze, the crispy potato fritters come with French onion dip and sumac ($15), and a 15-gram tin of Osetra caviar can be added for $39. The falafel are filled with jumbo lump crab and topped with avocado tzatziki and smoked trout roe ($17).
The raw bar is the reason to sit near the front. Yellowtail crudo arrives in ají panca chile with green olives and crispy potato ($19), bluefin tuna carpaccio comes with crispy garlic and piquillo pepper ($26), and oysters are dressed with a Greek lemon-soy sauce and fermented chili.
The big plates: branzino, lamb chops and Turkish dumplings
For mains, the whole branzino ($68) is the showpiece, butterflied and served two ways with oregano gremolata on one side and harissa oil on the other. Lamb chops come with almond skordalia, smoked salt and mint ($62), and the Prime 22-ounce bone-in ribeye with herb butter and roasted garlic ($98) is there for the steak lovers at the table.
Kostakos’s Turkish dumplings ($26) are the dish people talk about afterward: small potato-filled manti finished cacio e pepe style with Parmesan, urfa chili oil and a Parmesan crisp. Spicy crab linguine with lobster butter and preserved lemon is $31. For a group, All the Skewers ($127) brings every skewer on the menu, from Wagyu beef and lamb kefta to wild Alaskan halibut, with all five house sauces.
What to drink, and the desserts to save room for
The Naia Martini, made with olive oil-washed Grey Goose and feta and blue cheese olives, is $19. Smoke on the Water mixes Creyente mezcal with Del Santo herbal liqueur, aleppo pepper and torched thyme ($16), and the Gold Fashioned pairs smoked TinCup bourbon with medjool date demerara ($17). The wine list leans Mediterranean, with Mylonas Assyrtiko from Attica, Douloufakis Liatiko from Crete and Massaya from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley by the glass, plus sommelier pours such as Gaja’s Promis from Bolgheri.
Dessert is a reason to linger. The house-made baklava soft serve ($12) comes with honey, crispy kataifi, candied pistachio, olive oil and sea salt, the ricotta donuts are filled with vanilla custard and dusted in cardamom sugar ($16), and a strawberry mille-feuille is built on caramelized fillo ($15). Finish with a Pistachio Espresso Martini ($18).
When to go to Naia
Naia opens at 11:30 a.m. every day and runs until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, when the room turns into one of River North’s liveliest late nights. Weekend brunch, Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., adds a Wagyu pastrami hash and thick-cut baklava French toast to the full menu. For the most romantic view, book an early dinner at dusk, when the bridges and towers light up over the water.
If you love Naia’s stretch of river, Carlyle Club in the Reid Murdoch Building sits just to the east, and Asador Bastian is a short walk north on Erie Street. For more Greek cooking, Ela brings a modern taverna to Old Town.
Naia Chicago at a glance
- Where: 300 N. LaSalle Dr., Chicago, IL 60654 (River North, on the Chicago River between LaSalle and Wells)
- Hours: Sunday to Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
- Weekend brunch: Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Cocktail Hour: Monday to Friday, 4 to 5:30 p.m., bar only
- Reservations: OpenTable, released daily at midnight on a 14-day rolling basis, parties up to 10; bar and patio seats are first come, first served
- Private events: semi-private table for 8 to 10, private dining room for 40, The Lounge at Naia for up to 200
- Phone: (312) 219-5790
Naia Chicago FAQ
What kind of restaurant is Naia Chicago?
Naia is a Greek and Levantine restaurant on the Chicago River at 300 N. LaSalle Dr. in River North, opened June 1, 2026, by DineAmic Hospitality. Top Chef Greece winner Athinagoras Kostakos created the sharing menu of mezze, spreads, a raw bar, handmade pasta and grilled fish and meats, served across 12,000 square feet with river views.
How do I get a reservation at Naia Chicago?
Naia takes reservations on OpenTable, released daily at midnight Central on a 14-day rolling basis, for parties of up to 10. The river booths seat five or six. Bar and patio seats at the River North restaurant are first come, first served, and the full menu is served at the bar.
How much does dinner at Naia Chicago cost?
Dinner at Naia in River North runs from $9 spreads and an $18 tableside hummus for two to mains such as lamb chops at $62, whole branzino at $68 and a 22-ounce Prime bone-in ribeye at $98. The Naia Martini is $19.
Can you arrive by boat at Naia Chicago?
Yes, in summer. Naia works with Downtown Docks so guests can dock steps from the restaurant at 300 N. LaSalle Dr. on the Chicago River, between the LaSalle and Wells bridges. Dock space is reserved through Downtown Docks, linked from Naia’s website.
Does Naia Chicago have happy hour or brunch?
Yes. Naia’s Cocktail Hour runs Monday to Friday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the bar only, with $11 cocktails, $9 wines and $2 oysters. Weekend brunch is Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the River North restaurant, served alongside the full menu.
Can Naia Chicago host a private event?
Yes. Naia offers a semi-private round table for eight to ten, a private dining room seating 40 with river views, and The Lounge at Naia, a riverfront event space for up to 200 guests at a reception, with its own marble bar and terrace. Inquiries go through the events team on Naia’s website.
Further reading
- Naia, official site
- Naia: menus
- Naia: private dining
- Naia on OpenTable
- Downtown Docks: Naia dock
- Eater Chicago: An Expansive New Waterfront Restaurant Settles in Along the Chicago River, May 28, 2026
- Time Out Chicago: You can take a boat to NAIA, June 2, 2026
- The Infatuation: Naia review, Sept. 8, 2026
- The Infatuation: The Hit List, New Chicago Restaurants To Try Right Now, November 2026
- OpenTable: NAIA in Chicago is one of the most ambitious new openings in the city
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