Custom House: User Reviews
Out for an early dinner for two at 6:15 on a Friday evening. After being seated in a mostly empty dinning room things start to turn south fairly quickly as our waiter doesn't show at our table for likely 10 minutes.
After ordering and recieving wine by the glass in resonable time he again doesn't show for close to 15 minutes.
When placing our order I am instructed that they are out of braised pork shoulders. This is unusual given the time and amount of people dining.
The Grilled octopus was coldish and tough with a caponata that might be better described as a chunky relish. While octopus often has a bit of tooth this was leathery. A quick bath of boiling water and then finishing on grill invariably prevents this.
Beet salad tasted nice although definately smallish. Mushroom soup would have been awesome if it were not for a bit of burnt taste. Strange for a chilled soup.
After staff cleared plates the wait began. At one point we watch the waiter walk out from the kitchen, look at our table and turn back. Pacing? Forgetfulness? Likely the latter.
Entrees arrive 25 minutes after completion of our previous course.
Rabbit was excellent. Bacon does anything right. Scallops were nice although seasoning on the sauce was way off and no waiter to ask for salt. Neither my wife or I salt our food but this was clearly lacking seasoning. Scallops we cooked prefectly. The sugar snap pea side was strange in the sauce was warm, peas were cold.
Not in the mood to wait for desert we opted for cut and run. The good didn't approach replacing the bad at Custom House.
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My wife took me for my B-day, and we had an excellent time. Service all around was great, our food was fantastic, and the bill not too bad. The menu had a nice selection, wine list was nice, and decor tranquil. Would go again and reccomend.
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My husband and I celebrated our 10 yr wedding anniversary at Custom House last night. We were overjoyed with how incredible everything was. I noted it was our anniversary when we made the reservation. When we got there, they greeted us with 'Happy Anniversary'. They had even put Happy Anniversary on our dinner menu and served us complimentary champagne! We started with 3 appetizers which were out of this world. The duck prosciutto and wagyu beef tartare was beyond outstanding. For entrees, we had NY strip and short ribs which we cooked to perfection. The spring ramps and eggplant sides were fantastic. The wait staff were extremely attentive and incredibly nice. All in all, we left there incredibly happy and satiated. We can't wait to go back!
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My wife and I previously have dined all over the City, but now with kids we have to be very judicious with our evenings out -- Custom House is simply the best restaurant and dining experience in the Midwest. The food is seasonal and delicious. The service is simply outstanding. I put the value at Great given we believe the quality of the food and service exceeds other well known locales such as Trotter's and Alinea. We love Custom House.
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Custom House was on my list of "tries" for at least a year. We finally made it WOW, first of all the host was right on with our reservations and asked if we would like to have a drink before dinner. We asked if that would hold up our reservation and said no, and the restaurant was surprisingly busy. The meal was undeniably one of the best we've had in a long time. Fresh, creative and options for fish, meat and slightly daring dishes existed. We tried a little of each and appetizers to main courses to those side dishes and desserts were fantastic! We were never rushed, always felt attended to, but the waitress was nowhere near overbearing. I was saddened that I had waited this long to try this restuarant as I was shocked at how times flies, as it has been open for several years now! After trying Custom House I have a craving to try their other two ventures, but can't imagine not going back to Custom House once more before trying their other restaurants.
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Had to meet a client in the area and stumbled upon custom house without knowing anything about the history. I went for a burger and I have to say that it was, hands down, the best burger I have ever had in my life. Truthfully, it's hard to explain, but the meat was fresh, cooked medium rare, and was unlike any burger I had ever experienced. The fries were outstanding and the salad starter was fresh, plentiful, and served with an abundance of greens that worked perfect. Great place for business lunch. I cant wait to go back for dinner.
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Custom House was everything I expected. The food was outstanding. If your into beef, get the short ribs. According to another review on here the au gratin potatoes sounded like a must have. That person was right! My favorite part was the caramel banana cake. Hands down the BEST dessert I've ever tasted. It was especially nice on an absolutely bitter day. And because my SO and I ventured out into the cold, Custom House offered complimentary hot chocolate. Again, blow away with whatever the heck was in that cup. Delicious! Custom House is a must try!
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I think Spring is a decent restaurant. I absolutely hate everything about Green Zebra, especially the service and the gimmicky menu. So, it's pretty safe to say I didn't feel the need to flock to Shawn McClain's latest for a long while. I went as someone's guest over the holidays, expecting nothing, and was absolutely enthralled. Everything about this place is a food experience functioning at its best on all cylindars. Service is perfect. Menu is truly fresh and influenced by what's in season. The menu is as simple as it is exquisite. NO muss, no fuss, no molecular atomic fusion here. Just really succulent food that leaves you feeling as if every single ingrediate that was involved in your meal was harvested seconds before it arrives on your plate. I think they got everything right here. Even the wine list. My only complaint, if I HAVE to pick one, is I was there on a very cold day and you have to walk through a frigid, unheated entryway to get to the ladies room. Oh well, by the time dessert came, I quickly forgot my mad dash in the cold to the ladies room between courses.
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I had high expectations for Custom House and was sevely let down. Overall, I thought the food was, at best, average. Our table split a bunch of aps to start and I did think the steak tartar was great. However, the rabbit I had as a main course was terrible. I could see what the chef was trying to do with the menu, but putting bacon in everything to mask flavors is not a "style". For the price of the meal, there are many more restaurants in Chicago to go to before Custom House.
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While the menu was conceptually optimistic, the execution failed to deliver on the sight or palate and left our table f 6 longing to turn back the clock in order to dine anywhere else but here. For example, the veal cheeks were too salty, too rich, and too pricey for what was actually delivered to the table. The "crispy" sweetbreads dreadfully arrived soggy. The rack of lamb was so heavily coated in bread crumbs, herbs and seasoning, that it had to scraped off to be edible. The waiter was pointlessly unknowledgeable about the wine list, which was ironic given his unnecessary level of arrogance. No need to return.
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 90 users:
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