North Pond

I have now been to upward of some twenty-five Michelin Starred restaurants (no brag, just fact) all over the world, with North Pond being my latest!Now, I don't need the Michelin Tire Company to make me want to seek out their recommended "Best Restaurants", but in reality, they are pretty spot-on with their inspirational and provocative lists.North Pond today for brunch, completely and totally deserved Michelin's endorsement; it was just that good.From the ambiance, to a staff so well trained, to a menu so tantalizing, to plating so beautiful and of course to food so delicious that it amazed us. What North Pond gave me and my wife today was a pure illustration on how to present a prix fix menu with choices, and not have this meal take 4-6 hours, and not charge you two car payments to make a point on what gourmet food is. They dove deep into the nuts and bolts on how to elevate their food this high without all of the bells and whistles.For Brunch, we were both given a flute of champagne to get this meal started and from that point:* My first course was a waffle with chicken liver mousse, strawberry preserves, and pickled blueberries that was divine* My second course was braised pork belly with squash, black garlic gastrique with a sunny side up egg - and can surely say it was the best pork belly rendition I've ever had* My third course was an absolute superb wheat crepe with salted caramel custard, chocolate granache with a strawberry sorbetto - what a way to end this extravaganza*My wife got the Truffle Congee with rice, grana padano, poricini mushrooms, tomato-bacon dressing and a pouched egg - she adored this dish* Her second course a grilled Dutch Valley New York steak, roasted beets puree, peanut crumble in a red wine sauce - Wow was all she said!* Her third course was a peach pavlova with peppercorn pavlova, apricot kernal gelato and glazed peaches - Loved Loved Loved this presentationNorth Pond is housed in this stunning structure built in 1912 located next to this beautiful pond in Lincoln Park. Chef Cesar Murillo is the very skilled leader heading this feast and I am so happy I chose this place to celebrate my umpteenth anniversary with my favorite person in the world!

It's unclear how the restaurant has a Michelin star. The dishes are poorly executed. I actually have never been to a Michelin start restaurant and had a bad experience, but this restaurant is simply unexpectedly bad. Both my husband and my mother were shocked. Even a novice chef should do a better job. Maybe the chef was not there that day? Food was absolutely awful. Everything we tried. I feel bad about writing this, because I generally feel that people have different tastes and some dishes may not be liked by everyone, and that's ok, but here everything was just so poorly executed and with little to no flavor... puzzling .... In Chicago for 12 years, I love to cook and love so many restaurants in Chicago. This is the one place I would never go back to. Not sure how they stay open and who are the people writing good reviews...

My mom and I went here on 6/16/2024, we had a brunch reservation and were sat immediately when we arrived. We were greeted by an unenergetic and unenthusiastic server, he asked us if we wanted anything to drink/if we were ready to order. However, at a restaurant like this, I would've expected him to ask if we had been there before, review the menu with us, add some niceties, nope, none of that. We got a couple of cocktails, asked some questions and ordered when he brought us out our drinks. On this day, they provided a complimentary cinnamon/crumble muffin, it was dry and sadly both my mom and I agreed that Costco's cinnamon muffins were better. The server also shared that there was a special housemaid cornbread with crab ricotta they were selling, we decided to order that and it was good, however the ratio of cornbread to crab ricotta was severely lacking, more crab ricotta was needed. For our meals we got, the following, first course: Janie's Mill Grits (my order; bloody butcher grits, house bacon, glazed carrots, pickled golden raisins and poached egg); Jamon, Toast (my mom; Serrano ham, whipped brie, Klug farm strawberries, rhubarb preserve and Kajer's greens). Second Course: Pork, Asparagus (my order; braised pork belly, asparagus okonomiyaki, black garlic gastrique and Sunnyside egg) and Beef, Beet (my mom; grilled Lockhart Farms Sirloin, roasted beets, citrus beets, citrus beets puree, black pepper streusel and red wine jus). Third Course: Crepe, Caramel (Durum wheat crepe, salted caramel custard, chocolate ganache and raspberry sorbet) and Matcha Sesame (matcha & vanilla marble pound cake, macerated strawberries and black sesame Chantilly cream). I am not a big dessert person, so I ordered what my mom wanted. All of the flavors of the food paired nicely together and complimented one another, the stand out for me was for sure the Janie's Mill Grits, it was so good, everything was PERFECT and the grits were bomb. The Jamon, Toast was a little too sweet for me, but still good and the desserts were also really good. It was a nice experience, but did not unfortunately did not live up to the hype. I should note that service (beyond our server) was great, the other helpers kept our water filled and plates cleared and when they dropped off our different meals, they thoroughly explained the meals.

We came on a Saturday night for dinner, and we were seated immediately. It's in a lovely spot in the park, but most of the seating indoors doesn't take advantage of the view and looks like any other well-designed restaurant interior. Service was attentive and our waiter was knowledgeable about the wines. The wine pairing itself had some great items (Assyrtiko from Santorini, a Gewurtztraminer from California, both two personal favorites of mine), but the meal itself was disappointing. The meat dishes (lamb, rabbit) were okay, but everything else seemed to lack salt in a pretty surprising way. I don't typically over-salt my food at home but even I noticed the lack of salt for these dishes. There were also a fair amount of fried items that missed the mark; the onion rings that came with the sablefish were made with garbanzo beans I believe, which was a much thicker and less-crispy breading than we preferred, and made a white fish course seem heavy. The spaetzle, which is normally not fried, was a big let down because it just tasted like little bits of carnival dough left in the fryer and scooped out. And the crab salad barely tasted of crab but instead was overwhelmed by this beautiful albeit heavy "buñuelo" (mind you, having grown up eating Cuban buñuelos this is a far cry from what most Latin people imagine when they hear that phrase. Maybe they accidentally called it that when they served us the dish?). We spend around $400, and having been to around 30 other Michelin starred restaurants around the world, this does not stand up and especially not for the price. We will likely not be coming back.

A favorite and brunch request every time my family comes into town. Ambiance is 5+ with a winding walkway near the pond in Lincoln Park that's barely viewable from the road (and confuses many an Uber), prix fixe (3 course) seasonal brunch menu is awesome, service is excellent and they often bring tasty little bites in between courses. The only reason I rank it 4 instead of 5 is bc I don't love smoked trout spread (1st course werp farms salad), but the rest of my party would def rank ambiance/service/food a 5. So take mine with a grain of salt on this one :)

Fancy food next to an old swamp. Nice little building built by some famous architect, Frank Llyod Weber or something. Awesome service.We came for the $59 prixe fixe brunch. Smaller portions but can't really expect much more for this location and quality. I think it was a great deal for what we got.Came with 3 courses and between the 4 of us we got the whole menu besides the salad. For the first course we got 2 seafood paellas, a foi gras waffle, and a sweet potato toast. The seafood in the  paella was cooked well but but the rice could be more crispy like a  paella. The pan didnt do that for it here. The toast was interesting, good textures, tasty. The waffle was crazy, in a good way. Intense flavors you dont expect to go together but did.The trout and steak were probably the best normal mains. Cooked well, good flavors, textures, whatever.  The chicken could use a little more, on the plainer end but still cooked well. The mushroom had my favorite and weirdest flavor combinations. I get that they want to keep a vegetarian main but that dish could use some protein.The chocolate cake was my least favorite but still good. Good texture but mellower flavors. The panna cotta looked like bologna in soy sauce. Tasted weird but creamy and pretty good.  The apple tarte tartin was my favorite. Simple, but like a tasty adult apple fruit rollup.For drinks we got the lemonade which was fine and somebody at our table got the bloody mary which was delicious, one of the best i've had. They also gave us a freebee cinnamon muffin and we bought the cornbread with crab spread as an extra. Good stuff.Worth it if you can forgo the cement paradise of Chicago for an hour to endure some nature. Take a walk through the swamp afterwards to play with  some animals at the zoo. You'll have a great time.

We did the brunch at North Pond and omg Amazing location and great views!The brunch is amazing- star is the foie gras creme brûlée and pork belly with grits.Surprise surprise is the house cider loved itGreat service and clean design- especially the food, it's art on the plate.Highly recommend!

Outstanding food from start to finish, excellent service, beautiful ambiance. Will definitely return. Highly recommend!

The view is beautiful - we ate outside looking over the North Pond in Lincoln Park- at sunset with a whole view if the downtown skyline. Also pleasant to see people walking through the park with puppies on parade! Service was highly attentive and consistent with a gourmet dining experience. Not at all cheap- but also not an unexpected price for a gourmet meal. I had the beet salad, foie gras first course and cornish hen roulade second course. At times the sauces or purees were a bit overseasoned or salty. Food itself was beautiful on the plate with wonderful colors and textures. Very small portions but I was very full by the end. Overall a very nice dining experience!

Incredibly unique dishes with impeccable service. So many small touches that made our dinner special like the custom menu, spice mix and heirloom tomato seeds to take home. We will be back.