Willow Room

Bottle of Barbera - 10/10Beef Wellington - 10/10Short Rib - 10/10Came in last minute on a Wednesday evening around 8:45pm. They close at 9:30pm but still graciously sat us. We had been moving all day and lost track of time, not realizing we were starving and it was late. I had driven by Willow Room before and put it on my list of restaurants to try, when I saw they had Beef Wellington on the menu I was even more excited to try. We wanted to do a bottle of Italian red, our server was great and let us try two by-the-glass options.Nebbiolo (Nino Negrio Quadrio) and Barbera (Fontafredda). Both were great, we thought a Barbera would pair best with our entree choices. Between the Barbera choices, we decided on the Michel Chiarlo.Briccotondo by Fontafredda, 2021 $15/glass, $60/bottleCipressi by Michele Chiarlo 2020 $68/bottleFood was great! The Beef Wellington was fantastic, not dry, overcooked or undercooked. The server let us know the chef doesn't usually accommodate temperature requests for the Wellington but that he prepares it Medium Rare, which is what I would've wanted anyways! I also enjoy getting two entrees and sharing it so my partner chose the Short Rib with mashed potatoes and carrots. Everything was great and will be back!

I'm not going to lie, there's something a little bit uncool about this place, including both the menu and the clientele. But let's not kid ourselves, there's something a little bit uncool about me too, and we wanted a nice dinner out before a play at the Steppenwolf down the street, so we thought it was worth a try.It's pretty good! The food was mostly just fine restaurant food -- a nice kale salad and a nice piece of fish (halibut) with an orange sauce, both maybe a tad fruitier and sweeter than my ideal, with a good side of brussels sprouts. But there were flashes of excellence, such as the "frutti di mare rice" (whatever that is) that lay beneath our halibut, and perhaps more importantly the cocktails: we had two margarita variants: the "Fernando," a blackberry-lime-tequila concoction with a sparkling rose float, and the "Mi Carino," mezcal + honey + lemon + habanero. They were bright, bold, juicy, and delicious. And our server got us in and out in under an hour so we could make the play.So it may not be the coolest place for a date night, but I would very happily come back for more.

We had our engagement party at Willow Room in their downstairs private event space. It was the perfect venue!The bartenders were friendly but lowkey, the drinks were great (everyone loved the cocktails and mocktails), and the manager was very helpful in setting everything up. Loved that it had plenty of art so that we didn't have to bring a lot of decor - it had its own cool vibe. The food was good, especially the deviled eggs and chicken sandwiches! Thank you Willow Room team for a fantastic night!

I had been wanting to try Willow Room for soooo long - and I was absolutely blown away by this meal! First and foremost, the vibes here are immaculate. The interior design of this restaurant is incredible, and I love the location!Every single aspect of our meal was exceptional - from the wonderful service, to the excellent drinks, and the jaw-dropping meals - this was seriously a treat!Here's the breakdown of what we got:-Fergusetti - Monkey Shoulder Scotch, Aperol, Orange,Cherry Bark Vanilla - $15-Mi Carino - Vago Elote Mezcal, Honey, Habanero, Lemon, Chili Lime - $15-Burrata - cherry tomato, prosciutto, sourdough - $19-Truffle Gnocchi - shiitake mushroom, truffle cream, kale, parmesan - $24-Short Rib - pommes purée, carrots, demi-glace - $30This meal was one of my favorites since moving to Chicago and will definitely be one of my go-to spots whenever friends are in town! & I can't wait to come back!

Nice little bar in the Wicker Park area. When you walk in, you're greeted by a nice hostess. We were seated at a table near the bar where it looked like a few of the locals were. We just came for drinks since we just ate lunch. Next time, we will definitely try the food. Across from us was some elderly gentleman having great laughs and enjoying some food that looked great. The drinks were really good. We had to flag down our server several times for additional drinks, though. This was interesting seeing there were only 3 tables with 2 people at each and those tables were finishing up their meal & drinks. Anyways, the energy inside is like a typical cool neighborhood bar, comfy seating, and a nice full bar. I would definitely drop back in for drinks, just sit at the bar so you get great service.

This place is super underrated! It's such a cute little spot off the ever-so-popular Halsted strip. A friend and I went here for dinner before a show at Joe's on Weed and enjoyed splitting a bunch of dishes.Some of the highlights were the burrata - which was served kind of deconstructed, making it fun to build your own, pick and choose what you want and you can spread it all in bread or eat it all separate. It came with cherry tomatoes, prosciutto, and balsamic.Another delish dish was the arancini - it crispier than expected (maybe they use panko?) and we loved it! The flavors really pop, there was some spice, some tang, and a very creamy texture inside paired so well with crispy outside.We enjoyed some cocktails with our dinner and service was prompt. The inside is so cute -- this would be a great date night spot!

This review is for a Saturday brunch. Or as I like to call it: breakfast.We got there upon opening on a cold, cold morning and were seated more or less directly in front of the door. I don't know if they were mad at us for getting there so early or what. Coffee drinks were okay. Breakfast burrito and eggs Benedict were excellent and generous portions. (Really, you can take half that burrito home.)Avocado toast was fine. It was 80% arugula salad. I like arugula a lot, but I can do that at home. Poached eggs with it were somewhat underdone but not inedible. This will not be the best avocado toast you've ever had. But you've probably had worse, and it is the closest thing to healthy on the menu.Service was not as attentive as you'd hope, given that we were the only people there for the first half hour, but it wasn't awful. The space is really nice and probably even better in the evening. Bathrooms directly across from the bar counter are awkward, but there are more discrete bathrooms downstairs if you don't want a group of people listening to you pee.We'll visit again for dinner service to make the most of the cozy dining room. We will decline the table in front of the door, though.

Made a dinner reservation for Restaurant Week and enjoyed a great dinner. I picked these options for my 4-course dinner:-Caesar salad - traditional caesar salad -mussels - pretty big portion with a nice hunk of bread. The broth was delicious-chicken entree - the chicken was very moist and flavorful and had a great crispy skin. The chicken sat in a spaetzle, lemon, white wine and garlic sauce that reminded me of chicken and dumplings-key lime pie - rounded out the meal with a nice slice of pie; pretty standardService was nicely paced and friendly. The restaurant itself is pretty large where you don't hear your neighbors conversations. Sleek space and dimly lit.

Unfortunately I'm sensing a pattern with poor service after coming here more. The front of house in particular is severely lacking with uncommunicative and apathetic behavior. For example they went to sit us right in front of the door during a cold winter while 90% of the rest of the space was available. Upon request to sit somewhere where there won't be a draft, barely any response was given while they awkwardly brought us to another table, but *would not* allow us to sit in a booth and couldn't provide a reason as to why not. Also unfortunate since it was for my birthday. I'm not sure if the pay here is poor which results in this kind of service (pretty much across the board), training, or what the issue is, but I think it warrants some attention. Throughout a sitting it gets pretty grating and irritating. The brunch food remains pretty tasty, though I do think it could be refreshed a bit more often with new or updated items. The warm beverage situation seems a bit limited, as in there are no syrups for something like a vanilla latte, not even a sweetened latte (you do that yourself with the provided sugars), no chai tea. Would be great if they had these options to match the more robust menu. Interior is quite lovely.

Another great dinner option. Had the seafood: Mussels to start and beet salad with arugula, then Lobster ravioli and the scallops. The best scallops I've ever eaten. No leftovers.