Alcove Evanston

Today was second time visiting Alcove. My fiance and I love this place. The atmosphere and service is outstanding. Food is out of this world. All the food we have ordered has been "wow". We compare meals from Alcove with other restaurants we visit. The staff makes you feel so special when you are there. It is truly a gem of a restaurant. The staff is truly well versed in the choice of wines you like. Today I ordered oven roasted branzino filet and my fiancé ordered cod. Just wow.For appetizers we had roasted beet salad and their soup of the day (potato onion soup). Best food I've ever had. For desert we had the warm flourless chocolate cake and butterscotch and honey crisp apple bread pudding. Just amazing.It goes without saying Alcove is our favorite restaurant ever.

I really wish alcove lived up to its Yelp rating, but both times I've gone I've found issues with the service and even some of the food.On my most recent visit (mid April) I was celebrating a friend's birthday. We had an 8pm reservation and called the restaurant telling them we were running a couple minutes late. The hostess was incredibly rude and cold. Not a good start.Then we arrived at the restaurant and met the rude hostess in person -- I don't know what was going on but she didn't say hi, smile, or greet us. She just said "come" and then threw the menus on our table.The food itself is good but overpriced. I loved the octopus and my fish dish in lobster bisque. Absolutely delicious. However, the tuna tartare isn't very special and is a TINY portion. The beef tenderloin was also a bit tough and nothing to write home about. Our server was a nice British lady who was kind and attentive.The ambiance here is so weird, though. Both times I've been it feels eerily quiet, super stuffy and pretentious, and not very welcoming. I hope to try it again and improve my rating, but both times I've been the service has been lackluster and the food -- while some of it fantastic -- generally overhyped.

Visited yesterday for an anniversary dinner for my nephew and his bride of 8 years. Lovely atmosphere, congenial staff, great ambiance. Alcove Old Fashion x2 was quite nice. Great wine list and seasonal cocktail choices. Tuna tartare ( a tich heavy on the sesame oil per the brother), steak tartare, goat cheese tart quite good. Scallop special very well received by 2 attendees. Duck breast was cooked to perfection and nicely seasoned per nephew. Striped bass was great, until it wasn't. Lobster tortellini, sugar snaps and cauliflower florets served with a delicious, delicate saffron sauce was wonderful. Wish I had bread to absorb the lovely sauce. The fish was cooked very nicely. The issue that I had was a pocket of fish bones towards the final bites. Hoping this was a one time oversight. Needed to clean the filet up a bit prior to cooking. Shared desserts were grand. Crème brûlée, flourless chocolate cake and bread pudding, delicious. Interesting location, could not hear the trains/purple line arrivals./departures. Pluses - handicap parking. Minuses c- no valet parking. First time eating there. Hope to return soon.

Brought my daughter here as her celebratory start business school kick-off! It was very good. We sat outside, which surprisingly wasn't too loud even with the train. Food and service were good. Expensive with not the largest portions, but tasty and the sorbet to cleanse our palates was a nice touch.

This is one of the best kitchens in Illinois!Always surprising & always delicious. No tables are spaced close to another. After you pass the unattractive entranceway, in inside is very pleasant.

What a great place! The menu has lots of interesting selections -- the kind of menu that would draw me back over and over again to keep trying things -- if only I lived in the area! And for even more options, there's some specials each day that are tempting! The restaurant pays attention to details -- especially in the food. All items ordered were excellent and seemingly prepared without cutting costs. Additionally, the bread service is very good and they provide a sorbet intermezzo before the entrée, which is a very thoughtful touch that isn't done often enough at nice meals. The goat cheese tart and yellowfin tuna tartare were both excellent as starters. My braised beef short rib was rich and outstanding. Others in my group had a couple of fish entrees and one had lamb, and all loved it. The wine list has a lot of great selections and most bottles seem priced reasonably for what they are. The service was professional and super accommodating, with the kitchen happy to creatively work around a food allergy. The ambiance is comfortable and nice. Lighting decent. Noise level was low, though it wasn't terribly busy at the time of my visit. My only gripe is the 3% service charge for paying a card (they're very transparent about it though). Actual costs for most businesses are 2% or barely over, and for a fine dining restaurant where $75 - $100 person isn't uncommon, this should be a cost of doing business that's built into the pricing.

Cozy, delicious food, exceptional service...Dine at the Alcove for special occasions and white glove service! From the moment we arrived, we received a warm welcome, fantastic service and enjoyed our cocktails as well as all entrée selections. The palate cleanser between courses was a nice surprise! We didn't feel rushed and enjoyed our two hour meal. Will definitely make a trip back to Evanston again soon, when looking for a special dinner! Go!

This is place is literally a hidden gem in Evanston, booked a reservation to celebrate a birthday. The entrance is hidden passed the train station, very discreet, very cozy and romantically lit on the inside. Our server, I forget her name but she was a wonderful young English (?) woman who was very attentive to us, cleared the plates efficiently and made sure we were doing well periodically, brought us new silverware with each course, she also made great recommendations. She even brought us an apple sorbet by surprise- it was delicious tasted like fresh apples.we also got the quail, cauliflower soup and the GOLDEN NECTAR cocktail, I didn't photograph these dishes/drinks. - the portions seemed small but it was honestly perfect , we left full but not sluggishly stuffed!The cauliflower soup is delicious. The experience was great. I would definitely come back to try the rest of the menu with more friends. This place seemed great for romantic dates as-well as business meetings.

This hole in a wall restaurant is very easy to miss as it is located below the train tracks but I would recommend checking it out. For being below the tracks you could not hear the train as loud as I expected. The place was buzzing for a Thursday night but since we made a reservation we got seated immediately. We started off with wine and some house bread and a crab corn soup to follow which was super delicious. For apps we got the octopus and meatballs. The octopus was very soft, flavorful and melted in our mouths. The meatballs was alright and we could have honestly skipped ordering it. They also served us matcha gelato as a palate cleanser before the main course. For main course we shared the Duck breast. I would say it was very delicious and came with a sauce and veggies. We shared all the meals among two people and left with a happy belly! The staff here is very friendly and great service overall!

Nothing on the entree menu was under $40. The vodka and soda was watered down. The halibut was dry. The crab cake couldn't compare to Shaw's Crab House or anything close to a crab cake on the East Coast. The indoor dining was frigid. If u want to eat outside with the deafening sound of the Metra above your head, this is the place for you. There have to be better restaurants at half the price in Evanston. PS. The crème brûlèe was barely bigger than a silver dollar. Not enough for one vs. enough to share. Overall really poor value.