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Good food, unique presentations, phenomenal service.
I expect more though from the flavors of a place that literally costs 10x the price of a great nice meal you can get elsewhere. Now normally, I'm cheap as fu$×. But we are foodies, this was our 15th anniversary, and we were able to purchase the whole thing with Chase cc points. Everything was good but only 2 dishes were really amazing. The celery root they have hanging over the table and shave with a fancy slicer was delicious. They make a big deal out of it for good reason, super silky and confusing why it tastes so good. The double wagyu dish with truffle was also amazing but of course it would. The candied arctic char was okay and interesting. The mole was tasty but I've had many others much better. The sour cream tortilla dish with dried fish eggs on top and the soup dish with an edible condom over it weren't that good. The scallops and squid weren't cooked that well, tough. We had a great time and had good food with lickable sauces but I would not recommend it. All in all, for around $1200 without the food being spectacular it just seems gimmicky and pretentious. You can get better food for much cheaper prices from several places throughout Chicago (Girl and the Goat, Montverde, Roister, Next, etc).
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Most fun dining experience I've had! Superb service.
If you're on a tight budget, I'd rather spend it on multiple other Michelin star meals instead of just one here, but if you're not, you already know that Alinea is a must-try
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We dined for the Kitchen Table.
5/5 by
G P. on 04/01/2022
Greatest culinary experience of my life and overall one of the most memorable things I have ever done. Highly highly recommend. I am not willing to spoil the surprises but I guarantee you will leave happy. Worth the price tag.
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I don't know what to say other than what has already been
5/5 by
PJ S. on 03/25/2022
I don't know what to say other than what has already been said. The food is amazing. The service is incredible. The surprises are whimsical. My face hurt from smiling so much at the end of this meal. The deliciousness carried over to their pandemic-necessitated carry out as well. Can't wait to go back.
Great presentation and shows. It's an interesting experience. Lots of surprises.However, too salty. With wine, still too salty. Even ice cream is salty. Not sure if it is "salty" the theme of the season or it is the norm at Alinea.
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The food was unbelievably salty (about 6 out of 8 dishes).
What's going on? We thought that the chefs all got COVID and lost their senses of smell/taste. I could not believe they have 3 Michelin stars and their food tasted this awful.The presentation was beautiful and everyone was attentive. Too bad the food did not meet our expectations. Go read the Google reviews and go somewhere else for better-tasting food.They're also currently hiring all positions currently - it's possible they're extremely understaffed. Sadly not surprising given the quality of their food.
Disgusting— should have left without paying. There is a reason you prepay! Hands down the most overhyped restaurant in the world! The food is all pre-made. Assembly line delivery of total garbage.
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We chose to do the gallery because we wanted the full
We chose to do the gallery because we wanted the full experience. I tried to use Amex to help with reservation but was able to eventually snag one for the later time slot. We were limited by dates but I would recommend the earlier slot because we weren't done until 11:30 pm. We didn't do the wine pairing and just got a glass or two with the meal which was plenty!We got there about 25 min early because there was a huge snow storm and we didn't want to risk being late. Note that the do not have space inside to wait and will direct you to the bar next door. One thing I didn't realize is that because there is a performative aspect all the tables are generally served at the same time. I might try the salon next time because I did feel a little rushed and like I barely had enough time to take more than a few bites of each component. I am by no means a food snob and this is probably only the third or fourth Michelin starred restaurant I have ever been to. I will say the diversity of flavors was a little jarring times (one minute you are having a meal inspired by rich diner food and the next minute you are having the best mole you have ever tasted). I guess that's the point? You don't know what is coming next. Alinea met both my expectations which were to be exposed to new foods/favors I've never tasted before and to be surprised. I especially loved how much attention was given to the vessel that the food was served in and on. So many of the pieces were beautiful glass works of art in themselves. It's one of those meals that stick with you and you find yourself thinking about days afterwards! Also, I'm glad I didn't read the Yelp reviews before hand because it would have ruined some of the element of surprise. .
Unforgettable. I had huge apprehensions on letting my husband take me here for my birthday. Going to a place where we would spend nearly $1k on a meal felt ridiculously excessive, especially considering the amount of people going hungry in the world and in this city. It just felt wrong to me. But you have to change the way you think about going to Alinea. This is not a meal. This is an experience. It is a performance. It is art. It is no different than spending a few hundred dollars on a Broadway show or seeing Beyoncé in concert. They are the same, except at Alinea, you leave full and well satiated. My husband and I didn't get alcohol with our meal, but we felt intoxicated when we left. I would upload the array of photos I took, but why ruin the surprise? And the photos do not do the experience justice. Also, I'm a pregnant vegetarian/pescatarian. So they had to make many accommodations for me. Rest assured, I did not feel like I was missing anything at all, and if you have these dietary restrictions, you won't either. If you're struggling with the guilt from a meal like this, I recommend making a donation to a charitable cause. That was the only thing that finally convinced me to go. And I'm so glad I did. This is a place you must try before leaving Chicago. It is unreal. And I hope to come here again next time they roll out the new menu, which they will do... because this is Alinea.P.S. - we had the Salon experience. It's hard to imagine that the Gallery or Kitchen Table experience would be better, given how amazing the Salon was. I think you could definitely go with the Salon option and feel like you have the full experience and aren't missing anything.
Every course was delicious as well as unexpected. The staff took care of us. They were focused and attentive. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and were treated to a fantastic champagne at the beginning of the meal. I had not been to a Michelin rated restaurant and even with high expectations I am more than impressed.
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Food is solid, if unremarkable in terms of the taste, but
Food is solid, if unremarkable in terms of the taste, but the experience is unparalleled. Service top notch, wine selection elite and reasonable priced and the presentation of the food is unequaled anywhere in the world. Awesome place
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If you've ever dreamed of going to a 3 Michelin star
If you've ever dreamed of going to a 3 Michelin star restaurant - this is your sign to go! I never thought I could fork up the money for a dinner like this but it's a whole experience. The waiters and sommeliers will serve you in a way that seems choreographed and they don't skip a beat. A fork and knife won't cut it here (pun intended), you will eat with unique utensils and on theme serve-wear. Every course will bring you to a new destination and blow your mind again and again. This was a great social dinner and would recommend enjoying with some friends! I will not say this is the most delicious meal that I've ever had (it was still great!) but the experience is completely unmatched. Come hungry, do the wine pairing, and plan to be there for a like 3 hours!
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Mind blowing!! Went here with a few friends for a fancy
Mind blowing!! Went here with a few friends for a fancy meal - we made reservations months in advance and I even changed a flight to make this work. Was it as good as some other tasting menus I've had, like per se? Maybe not, but the experience was incredible.Food - 5/5 - incredible variety and quality throughout. We got the wine pairings and full tasting - I think it ended up being $700 pp. seasonal menu so nothing is guaranteed but we loved the kohlrabi adventure, truffle wagyu and "painted" dessert. Will definitely go back. I had to get some vegetarian versions which they were able to accommodate with advance warning which were delicious, even if I got carrots when others got fancy halibut with a story. No theme, but lots of varietyExperience - 11/10 - this is where Alinea really excels. There were so many surprises throughout the night. Even though I didn't care for the mole (and I usually LOVE mole), the presentation was exquisite. Service - 5/5 - incredible, attentive, loved the stories for every dish and drink. Ambiance - 4/5 - if you're lucky enough to sit downstairs you get a whole orchestrated show with the entire dining room. Not sure if you can request that, but we were upstairs - which was lovely but just a typical white cloth fancy restaurant. I did appreciate the bathrooms with Aesop products
.. AMAZING. I've always wanted to try this place for SO LONG... ever since I discovered who Grant Achatz was. He's easily one of my favorite chefs & I highly respect his unmatched creativity, work ethics and motivation. I've watched his documentary on Netflix a few times & it's so inspirational. I'm finally here! Thanks to my wife who was able to get reservations (after 3-4 months of endless waiting & failed attempts). Just a random side note: once you book your reservations, it's a no refund policy. You're expected to pay up front plus gratuity, so just keep that in mind before booking. (Price is around $450 per person for the Gallery) and you only have about 1 minute to try to grab a table since they book REALLY quickly once they open it up @12pm (2 months out).Omg... just to be clear, the food is not even the star. The star of this incredible meal is the presentation. Let me tell you: it is out of this world!! Jeez, just when you think you can't get any more clever or any more creative.. they do it again. We had the Gallery reservations for 2. It was amazing. I can't even describe all the incredible dishes. You just have to try it for yourself. My favorite dish was actually the scallops that came with the "Trampoline Papillote" course. Sooo good! My wife loved the first course (Osetra) which was grated truffle & creme fraîche. Out of this world!The service was OUTSTANDING. No wonder they have 3 Michelin stars! Tyler was an excellent host as soon as we got in & seated. He was extremely helpful & the whole staff was in sync & attentive to every single guest. They explained every single dish in length & made sure we had an absolute experience with every dish. Overall, a 10/10 experience in my book. Definitely highly recommended! Once in a lifetime experience that you must try!! Thank you, Chef Achatz, Chef Douglas Alley, Tyler, and team! You were amazing last night & we hope to visit again sometime. God bless!
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Out of all the meals I've had in my lifetime, my experience
Out of all the meals I've had in my lifetime, my experience here late last year lands in the top 5 best meals I have ever had. Even after all these years, Grant Achatz is still bringing his A game when it comes to this restaurant. I had the absolute pleasure to dine at the private Kitchen Table, the only table that is built into the kitchen at Alinea. It was a very intimate experience, and the table has a mirror so even if you are facing the wall, you can still see everything done in the kitchen.I held off writing this review for a long time as I had not eaten at a restaurant of this caliber in over a year due to the pandemic, and I didn't want recency bias to play a factor. Reflecting back and having the emotions settle, I can safely say Alinea deserves all the praise it receives. Staff and wine pairings were exceptional, and the attention to detail extends through to even the playlist of music. All the music at this restaurant, if you pay attention, is expertly selected to enhance the meal and be timed perfectly with the pacing. Not all restaurants do this, but when they do and execute flawlessly, it really creates a wonderful ambiance and enhances the experience. Now to the food, there are no bad dishes at Alinea. There is a cost with consistency, as compared to 1.0 it is alot less experimental. The sacrifice of being experimental is what earned them their 3 michelin stars and although not on the cutting edge of gastronomic cuisine, they still has some dishes with ingredients used in unconventional ways (you ever have a dish with shaved caviar?). Throughout the meal you're constantly surprised. There were black balls hanging from the ceiling, I thought it was to add to the ambiance with an asteroid space theme, but some were coconuts and one of the dishes was fermenting above up until halfway through the meal. They took it down, cut the coconut open, and made a dish with coconut and squid. The coconut looked just like squid and the flavors were so creamy and rich!For another dish there was a sous vide smoked and seared fish that reminded me of toasted marshmallow in all the right ways, and you flip the cup upside down and surprise! Fish roe at the bottom. Everything was so fun, but so expertly executed. The desert too was unreal, the lights turn off, fog comes though, and the servers put on an unreal show synced perfectly to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics. It was perfection.Come hungry. I had gone into our 8:45pm reservation hungry. I only ate half a hot dog the entire day and by the end of the kitchen table experience, I could only take bites of the last two dishes. I was beyond stuffed, and I went in expecting alot of food. You will not need a night cap after this, its so much food including for all the males out there. Our whole table was stuffed.All in all, top tier service, fabulous food, excellent wine pairing, wonderful music, and perfect ambiance. Alinea was one of the best meals I have ever had, and it's worth all the efforts to secure a reservation. So far, it's easily the best restaurant I've been to in North America.
5/5 by
J A. on 02/24/2022
lived up and even surpassed expectations. was expecting kind of a showand suepr creative dishes but wasn't expecting the flavor of everything to match. fun service. everyone from the server to the somm to everyone else had a sense of humor. top notch. absolutely the most expensive meal i've ever had. the 20% service charge is confusing because they make it seem like its not the tip? the service was so great that we added additional which made it more expensive than it probably should have been.
🤮
They don't have any cocktails.
Bizarre that you pay so much to go and they can't even mix an old fashioned in the back?The Gallery is incredibly loud for having only six tables. I couldn't hear what my servers were saying 2/3 of the time because of the other tables talking and laughing. At a three Michelin place this is unacceptable. Acoustics are really cheap and easy to fix so I didn't get it.Why was my table so close to the door? I got to deal with people walking in and out right next to my table and a glaringly bright exit sign right above me all night, which especially took away from the experience when they dimmed the lights so it's all I could see.Also the tables are GIGANTIC. I was uncomfortably far away from my partner the whole time which was just really super bizarre.The menu was jarring in its lack of flow. One minute you're eating Thai curry and the next you're eating mole. The menu just didn't seem to flow at all.Worst of all, the food just wasn't that great. Yes, some things I didn't like because of my own subjective taste. But the food just seemed to not be that good. Quite strange to go to a restaurant that's known for being so cutting edge yet have one of your favorite foods there be a simple Som Tum or a basic piece of crab?Everything felt like they're just coasting nowadays. The dishes and menu didn't seem thoughtful, the ambiance and guest experience didn't seem well considered and even their signatures like the dessert felt dated and tacky. I've had much more well thought out food and better experiences at one star restaurants. Overall a very disappointing experience. They need to stop focusing so much on the glassware / plateware and fix the food and guest experience. Eating out of a glass shrimp might be entertaining but not when I can't hear what's in it.
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Sometimes when I go to these kind of restaurants I have it
Sometimes when I go to these kind of restaurants I have it so hyped in my mind that it doesn't match up to what reality is but I have to say it was everything I hoped for and more. This was my first 3 Michelin star dinner experience. I won't give all the little fun and exciting details away about what to expect because that's part of the experience but every single dish had the most immense flavors. Everything seems to have the flavor profiles dialed up to 11. It was also fun not knowing what was going to come out next since we didn't get the menu to the very end. Highly recommend it if your lucky enough to secure a reservation.
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Overhyped, NOT worth $400 for dinner, grossly subpar 3 star Michelin dining experience
2/5 by
Sean on 02/23/2022
First and foremost -- and I believe this goes without saying -- the overall experience at Alinea was above average. This review is based solely on my humble comparison of Alinea to other 3 star Michelin restaurants I have experienced.
Unfortunately, Alinea does NOT deliver what one would expect from a $1000 dinner, 3 star Michelin restaurant.
To begin, there is no signage to indicate where this restaurant is located. I entered Boka next door only to be directed to the correct location. Minor issue, no big deal. My immediate thought when brought to the upstairs salon area was disappointing. The area is unwelcoming and small and cramped - not intimate or luxurious at all.
My overall thoughts on the menu was unimpressive and disappointing. Perhaps this is due to the "salon" menu I experienced, so I cannot speak to the other menus offered.
The salon tasting menu was confused, overly salty, and mediocre at best. The chef attempted to combine too many culinary cuisines together that simply made the dining experience confusing. One moment you are in Mexico consuming an overly salty squash mole and gold hoja; the next course you are in Southern France with a tiny piece of scallop with bouillabaisse and nicoise; the next you are in an American diner eating the only remotely memorable course of the evening -- a flavorful piece of wagyu (although, even this course was suboptimal as the wagyu was literally buried deep and hidden in a sea of subpar cheaper bresaola, which my partner and I did not end up eating anyways). The arctic char was overcooked and quite literally tasted "charry" such that my partner and I could barely finish it.
At the end of our meal, we were handed a flimsy, tiny menu. We were not given a tour of the kitchen as requested for my partners birthday. No personalized dinner menu for her. When I visited Per Se in NYC a few years ago, I mentioned in passing to my server that I am celebrating my birthday, and was handed at the end of my meal an oversized menu with my name and "happy birthday Sean" on it with Corey Chow's signature, AND, a private tour of his kitchen and a photo with his staff. This is the type of exceptional service I expected from Alinea, particularly after requesting a tour of the kitchen before hand.
Again, Alinea was great, but not even close to 3-star Michelin, $1000 dinner great. I say all this humbly as someone who has dined at numerous 3 star Michelin restaurants around the world. Save your money and travel to NYC or San Francisco or DC for a better fine dining experience. Extremely disappointed and regretful of choosing to celebrate my partners birthday at Alinea.
We dine all over the world at Michelin star restaurants and look for the best experiences possible. We have been very fortunate to experience many outstanding dinners, and have been to Alinea on numerous occasions since they opened. This used to be a 5 star establishment.
Sadly, food, service, experience has degraded to mediocre at best.
Staff was fumbling. Environment has lost its polish. Food was not the work of a brilliant chef. One dish wasn't edible. Disappointing.
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What does Michelin star system mean?
A party of 6, seated in the glass enclosed kitchen table. We chose our own wines to accompany our meal.
Some interesting food choices, some odd & not so delicious choices. Definitely TOO MUCH food and incongruous parings.
Staff is attentive, ( sort of have to be) Decor is minimalist.
I can never hear the Eurythmics song, Sweet Dreams, without thinking of Alinea's dessert presentation, again
Too pricey, not my experience of a Michelin starred Resto: have been to many in France.
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Beef Wellington Dinner not Alinea
2/5 by
agia on 01/16/2022
In the past Alinea has provided gourmet meals that you pick up and cook. They provide all of the ingredients and you cook the meal at home just like the Chefs on television.
The most famous of these was the Christmas 2020 Dinner they provided when all restaurants were closed. It was a true gourmet dinner and by far the best Christmas dinner ever.
For their special Beef Wellington Dinner I expected the finest cut of beef in the puff pastry. Instead it was a greasy fatty short rib. The gourmet side dish was mashed potatoes. The pudding dessert reminded me of the dessert you get in a Swanson TV dinner.
This dinner from the Alinea Group was more like what you get from your local greasy spoon diner.
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Wonderful everything, a true culinary symphony
I would disregard the three reviews below me from the same self-entitled table, sabotaging a fine institution because they didn't get a full refund on the night for their wine not being chilled. Like their ability with words, their tongue must be equally as poor, or heart as bitter, to mislead others on a public forum. I'll write as much to assure you that nothing has changed about Alinea.
Without giving away details to take away from your visit, what stood out for me the most was the mastery of flavor profiles; intense, deep, balanced. Like a good wine, the taste notes unravel itself to you in sequence, each one accentuated, not one undermining the other, all to bring you full circle on a small journey. You'll often find yourself puzzled and incapable of words simply from lack of precendence. But that's what I would hope you're here for, to be taken on a journey on the frontier.
But most of all, keep a light heart and have fun.
Enjoy!
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Last Reply by FluffyStar64 (02/21/2022 8:26 am)
Your bid has been “matched” with a reservation. From the time a reservation has been located, the seller of the reservation must connect with moderator to give transfer information for reservation. If the seller;however, does NOT respond to reservation transfer, then your bid is reprocessed and returns to the first step, which is connecting your request to a reservation.
Best answer by EvocativeFold67 (10/02/2021 4:37 pm)