Alinea Chicago - Buy Reservations

Highly recommend stopping by. All my friends love Alinea Chicago

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My husband and I got to experience this epic place last night and it is MEMORABLE! Service is on point, staff are friendly and professional like all Michelin 3 stars restaurants. Napkins are replaced every time you walked away. Food is Oh-Em-Gee!!! We chose the highest end wine pairings because we want something vintage and to see how their wine director swing it, and he didn't disappoint. We got this reservation via Tock 3 days ago, so there's hope for last minute reservation! Never give up! My favorite part of this dinner is that all guests from the Gallery was invited to have a course AT THEIR KITCHEN! We got to see all the actions and eat! It was a pleasant surprise! We actually got to meet other guests and chat a little too! There's this family from San Diego who took both their boys there, age 12 & 14, they sat through the whole dinner and enjoyed the experience! And I love it! So I would totally bring older kids there. Food portions are great...and a lot! Alinea gives you a lot of food so pace yourself for at least 5-6 hours before you go! Cheers!

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We did not know what to expect when our daughter surprised us with an evening at Alinea. It was nothing we had experienced before. Amazing!

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Alinea has always been my list of restaurant to try when they hit No. 6 in the World in 2011, this is even prior to Chef Achatz's presence on Netflix's Chef Table and Final Table show.Alinea was the final piece of the puzzle after my experience at The French Laundry, and Vespertine.In terms of Molecular Gastronomy, I've had a dish or two at different restaurant on the West Coast side (Jose Andre), Alinea is Molecular Gastronomy at it's best, every dishes, design, plot and presented as art and most importantly, the natural flavor of food is preserved in the process of trick to the mind.Currently, the talented Chef Douglas Alley is at helm started in 2021, creating his legacy of Alinea 3.0, where 2.0 focused on renovation of restaurant in first half of 2016 to introduce Gallery / Salon, and of course Alinea 1.0 as inception of the restaurant created by Chef Achatz.I have to say, it is a daunting task full of baggage and Michelin-driven to transform for the better.The four of us foodie committed on this culinary experience during our trip at SingleThread Farm in Healdsburg. Despite risk of getting Covid before, during and after travel at it's holiday peak, we booked Alinea while having breakfast in the morning, the day of our visit to SingleThread Farm.I knew it was not going to be a heavy weight compare for the three-starred restaurants. It was more of an one-two punch on the culinary journey of excellence.Overall, the meal was excellent, one major miss for the ladies was the trip to Thailand, I empathize the difficulty selling Asian cuisine from their own origin and try to exceed expectation. It is the same as English is not my native language. The dishes were simply too salty, and word of caution from my favorite Japanese Chef Hayato, there's only so much more salt you can put on one dish to the next dish over a 10-course meal.Nevertheless, Alinea deserves 5* on Yelp, I am not a food critics who provides 1-3* like Michelin. The ticket we paid for the meal was well worth the ingredient, hard working chef and amazing hospitality team who provided the exceptional experience.Matteo, Kosko (sp?), pastry chef and many others who served at our table made our time memorable. We brought our stuff animal "Dodo", trust me, he's a foodie in figment of our fiction mind, he was well accommodated by Matteo, received a miniature menu of his own. Thank you! Matteo!Lastly.... my wife's earing was lost at the restaurant. After few days, the restaurant found it and mail it back to us. It really made our day for the sadness for losing something that's meanngful and recovered by the team.

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Wow, what a cool and interesting restaurant! I can see why they were awarded 3 michelin stars, as this place really understands the concept of taking simple dishes and making them art. My fiancé and I were invited for dinner to celebrate our recent engagement. Turns out, it's pretty difficult to secure reservations as they waited months before snagging a reservation. The location is very unassuming and styled as if you're walking through a small home or art gallery. The hosts and servers were extremely pleasant and knowledgeable of every dish and wine pairing. As many have shared, this is a multi-course meal experience (8 courses) and surprisingly it is very filling. I say "surprisingly" because typically when recovering small portions I am left wanting more, but that wasn't the case here. Many have shared lovely photos of the creative dishes so I won't do the same. I was also impressed with the flavor profiles of each dish. Such robust flavors and colors throughout each course :-). Considering I had no idea what was going to be served each time, it was an amazing experience. I felt like I traveled the world through each dish and had wonderful guides along the way. The printed menu as a souvenir is a nice touch.

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Best experience in the world the style the food in most lake lake you go to eat and you don't know what are you expect a surprise flavors everything is a great experience

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Very nicely timed service with very high quality, exotic, relevant and exciting dishes. The service was top notch and really second to none. We will be back!

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I was hesitant about leaving this review so I waited about a week to do so. Perhaps I'm one of the exceptions as I didn't think the food matched my expectations of a 3 Michelin restaurant. It might be the Michelin awards, long wait list , high price and reviews that created a more biased and positive mindset for folks prior to eating here. Consequently, this could have potential led them to leaving more positive reviews. Great for them if they enjoyed it. The staff was definitely attentive and responsive. At one time I thought they were wearing hearing aids as they were so alert to our needs. Unfortunately the food was more for entertainment than consumption. I didn't think it was palatable and I couldn't even finished the whole dish. At least the water was decent. Overall it was either too salty or floral and nothing spectacular.As far as dessert was concerned, I would rather stay home and eat a pint of smooth and rich Häagen-Dazs® than the hydrogen ice cream that was presented to us.A departing recommendation for the restaurant is to find a way to control traffic from upstairs. Folks would gather at the based of the stairs instead of exiting the restaurant. This was disruptive to the folks eating downstairs. it felt like strangers were in my living room.....

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.Alinea has been on my foodie hit list for the better half of its existence and we were so excited to secure a Salon reservation in June.Each course was timed perfectly and flowed from one to the next, like a story. The food was inventive, delicious, and surprising, but most of all - it was fun. We were not expecting such entertainment and a meal full of boisterous laughter. After all, you're in a supposed prissy 3-Michelin star establishment! We were pleasantly surprised by how hilarious the servers were and really played into our jokes and playfulness. The service and the servers themselves were half the reason the meal was so good and so memorable. I'm terrible and cannot remember our main server's name, but she was so so much fun and you could tell this was her genuine personality. I do recall the Floor Manager's name, Stuart - who was also hilarious and fed into our overly enjoyable meal. This was truly not just a dinner, but an emotional experience. We will remember some of these dishes vividly for years to come and the laughter that ensued our entire meal.The dessert painting at the end, though artistic and beautiful, I found the least tasty, but that's just personal preference. The Trampoline Papillote was a personal favorite due to creativity and taste, but really every course was enjoyable and an experience. We were offered 3 levels of wine pairings and even the basic tier was quite good.Don't worry about remembering every course, you will be handed a detailed menu at the end. We can't wait for another opportunity to be back at Alinea!

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I know some people don't like spoilers, so I didn't post the full menu. But there were 8 courses for "the salon" reservation, 6 savory, 2 desert. I was very impressed with the wine pairing. Each wine really enhanced the food it was paired with and vice versa. I even drank wines I wouldn't normally like, but they went so well with the food. The wine pairing really completed the meal. As for the food: there was plenty of it. I'm kind of a small person, and I was so full after the first 4 courses I had to share the last few. The guys in my friend group said the menu was substantial enough that they weren't hungry at all when we left.

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Where to start..Alinea has been on my foodie hit list for the better half of its existence and we were so excited to secure a Salon reservation in June. Each course was timed perfectly and flowed from one to the next, like a story. The food was inventive, delicious, and surprising, but most of all - it was fun. We were not expecting such entertainment and a meal full of boisterous laughter. After all, you're in a supposed prissy 3-Michelin star establishment! We were pleasantly surprised by how hilarious the servers were and really played into our jokes and playfulness. The service and the servers themselves were half the reason the meal was so good and so memorable. I'm terrible and cannot remember our main server's name, but she was so so much fun and you could tell this was her genuine personality. I do recall the Floor Manager's name, Stuart - who was also hilarious and fed into our overly enjoyable meal. This was truly not just a dinner, but an emotional experience. We will remember some of these dishes vividly for years to come and the laughter that ensued our entire meal. The dessert painting at the end, though artistic and beautiful, I found the least tasty, but that's just personal preference. The Trampoline Papillote was a personal favorite due to creativity and taste, but really every course was enjoyable and an experience. We were offered 3 levels of wine pairings and even the basic tier was quite good. Don't worry about remembering every course, you will be handed a detailed menu at the end. We can't wait for another opportunity to be back at Alinea!

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This is a complicated restaurant to understand and enjoy for me. I've waited years to get in and finally managed to do so on their waitlist (which if you are using the app is nearly impossible to navigate or utilize.). So the day finally came. If there is a sign out front, I didn't see it. A hidden gem. I was a little confused about which experience I was getting having booked "The Gallery" but I was happy to take whatever I could get. We were seated right off the entrance in a small room with 14 diners. Wasn't sure if we were moving between rooms or how that might work. After having later learned there was a chef's table with a very loud party in it next to us. I had to ask. Learned that in addition to ours, the noisy neighbors, that there's a salon upstairs. After requesting a tour after dinner, this was the place we would have likely enjoyed best. Quiet, away, fine dining rooms. Again, happy to get what I could. We were told that the gallery had the most courses and experiences so perhaps it was best. The service was of course on point. Super friendly, yet professional, and extremely attentive. I am sure one of the servers had bionic hearing as any questions between our table were answered by her! It's a beautiful dining room, almost minimalist, which will highlight the food/presentation. In between courses we were taken to the kitchen for a course and was so impressed by the efficiency and professionalism of the many team members that work to make the magic. As for the food. Super inventive. Presentation was obviously creative and unique. It was a large representation of dishes, all very different. Here's where things fall a bit flat for me. To me, it felt the show and presentation perhaps made up for the taste? I will admit, perhaps I don't have the palate for this cuisine. The smoked roe, was too much smoke. I'm not the biggest fan of truffles, so winding around the strong flavor of them is much. Cotija cheese is strong too, so a whole dish of it? I think I lean toward more subtle flavors and it felt like I was just being bashed around in each dish, course after course.The wine pairings and sommelier were very good. I like what I was presented with and has given me a few different wines I'd like to revisit another time.So, my rating may not be fair. I am certain that there are many folks who will love this food, atmosphere, and experience and their rating justifies it. It is unique. Certainly not for everyone; and not likely for me. I'd be very curious to know for those who've "experienced" Alinea, and even loved it, choose to return.

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We had dinner at Alinea on a Monday night. We sat in the Salon area and were on the second floor. The wait staff was very professional and attentive. They made us feel comfortable and were very informative about each dish. Each course was given a brief description while it was served. After we would finish, they would describe the dish in more details. Each course was an experience in itself and left me wondering what would happen next and what the chef was imagining when he put it together. The flavors we experienced were some I had never enjoyed before and I will not forget. It was delicious, interactive and fun. The chef and staff made this an evening we will always remember.

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We have been planning to go here for several years now. I'd have to say the restaurant lived up to my expectations. Each dish is a unique presentation and theater of the unexpected. The dessert finale was a great ending, if you still have the appetite to eat it. Overall thoughts... 1. The service is tremendous. The wait staff knows every detail on the courses and wines. 2. The menu is preset and unknown until you arrive. Hence, you better not be a picky eater. 3. Not going into detail on any dish as it changes. However, each is unique. There is some twist, the unexpected, or unique about its taste/presentation 4. Hence, you might lose some of the surprise when you see other tables seated near you. 5. I'd say the only negative a few of the dishes were on the salty side to my taste. Nevetheless, worth it as a one time experience at least for some very very special occassion. Book 3 months in advance!

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I'm not sure I would call Alinea a restaurant. It was more accurately culinary theater. So many things were done to evoke surprise. It's an impressive experience, especially for a blowout occasion, and some of the stuff was magnificent - the best to me was an arctic char that had been smoked until about half the moisture was gone, concentrating the flavor. Service is excellent without being stuffy, and that contributed to the enjoyment. You won't like this restaurant if you aren't willing to have the meal Alinea prescribes, the way they want you to experience it. If you're not in the mood to be dictated to, even politely, don't waste the money. Alinea is all about molecular gastronomy and transformations - if your aesthetic of great food is beautifully sourced ingredients presented to take natural advantage of them, Alinea will make you crazy. My companion loves "tricky food" and even she wondered why they had to freeze dry and then shred the osetra caviar. Because they could. It didn't taste better. If you're not in the mood for that kind of pushy showmanship, it's a waste of money. Even if you love the idea, Alinea was not perfect - which frankly at the price they charge, you have a right to demand. The biggest mistake (and why you might want the Gallery, where service is communal over the Salon). In the Salon, they staggered service, so unless you deliberately hid your eyes, you saw what they were going to do at another table - so the surprise they worked so hard for was sometimes given away. That's just dumb in a restaurant that sweats so many details - and charges a fortune. If I had to use only a single word for the food - Essential. Everything was concentrated or distilled to an extremely strong flavor. Extremely. In the char, that was magnificent. But everything was salty, sour or intense, with flavors dialed to 11. The kitchen was referencing Thai and Mexican spices and flavors, that gives you an idea of the mindset. CHILI! CHOCOLATE! FISH PASTE! It sometimes felt like spending an evening with someone talking loudly without modulation the whole time. I would have loved one subtle course that let the ingredients do the talking. Did I have a great time? Yes, when I sat back and enjoyed the show. Would I go again? Probably no need. Once was enough.

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