Alinea: User Reviews

Dropped almost $700 on the tasting menu (plus wine pairings) for two...and then stopped for pizza and wine on the way home.

Go once, take it off your checklist and be done with it.

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...but I really cant say that I did. Dont get me wrong, it was very good, and there were some of the courses that were unbelievable, but I guess I had set my standards so high for this dinner that it may have been impossible to reach.

I have eaten at Tru, which is very close in terms of style, flavors, ambiance, etc. I just seemed to have more 'flavor explosions' in my mouth at Tru. I was hoping for some dishes like this at Alinea, but I just didnt get as many as I had hoped for.

For the price ($500+ for two, which did not include wine pairings), the restaurant was not worth it unless money is no concern to you. The service was the best I had ever experienced, but the food left me wanting a little more.

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We opted for the 24 course "tour" menu after consistently hearing that the 12 course wasn't satisfying enough. Needless to say, after about 16 courses, we started getting over-the-top full with all of the food and the wine pairings. After 24 - I'm a little uneasy yet hours later. The food - it was good. Not amazing. I'm a well-traveled foodie and was expecting pure magic, alas, Alinea didn't deliver the truly unique experience that I thought I'd get. That can be attributed to some basic flavor combinations (a lettuce wrap?) or that more and more restaurants are incorporating this sort of preparation into their menus.

One truly wrong moment was a green almond suspended in a juniper and gin gelee - it was the most bitter, awful thing that I have eaten since I was 9-years old and wanted to see what a peach seed tasted like. The bitterness is still in my mouth! Staff was overall friendly, save the person who tended to deliver the majority of our 24 courses - it would have been helpful for them to explain how best to enjoy the creations without having had to ask.

For roughly $500/pp with the food, wine and tip, it just should have been more unique and special. I am still geeked about the door to the restaurant, though - that alone was worth the price of admission....along with the truffle-infused ravioli....

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My son took me on October 4, 2008. I'm still talking about the experience. I've eaten in many fine restaurants throughout the world and this has been my best dining experience ever. The flavors and textures of the various foods provided new and wonderful taste sensations. Wine pairings were well thought out, complimenting each item served. And the service was impeccable. Pricey? Oh,yes. Worth it? Certainly!!

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We had very very high expectations for this dining experience and were very disappointed with what we got. The 26 course dinner took almost 5 hours as expected but the timing wasn't great and the service way below what you would expect for a place like that. Waiters' suits looked awful and service wasn't very well syncronized (they should send their waiters other high end restaurants such as Charlie Trotter's to experience what high quality service means). The food was disappointing too with doubtful combinations and a lot of flavourless items. There was a worm in one of the course and the staff barely apologized for that and nothing was done to make up for that. We opted for the wine pairing and got rather poor quality of wines (for a cost of $160 a person); most of the wines were Italians and any wine specialist knows that Italian wines aren't the best and didn't taste great for the most part; we were expecting more Californian and French wines; the waiter often forgot to tell us what kind of wine we were getting and we had to ask him again and again. Last but not least, the cost of the meal ($450 a person) is outrageous for what we got (and wouldn't even include valet parking!!!!). We wanted to try this place for a long time and we will not go back there any time soon.

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I have eaten at Trotters, Spiagia, Everest, Trio and other well-known restaurants and Alinea was not as good. We did the 12-course - we were stuffed but not satisfied. Trotter does it better.

Some dishes were delicious. Some were ok. Some served the purpose for presentation but not good food.

This is a place where you are entertained by the food, but you don't feel the satisfaction of having an amazing meal.

Ambiance: not great. We were seated on the 1st floor. It was sterile and boring. The upstairs is much better, but we didn't get to experience it.

Service: One of the servers was fantastic. His sidekick was arrogant and unaccommodating. After dropping close to $750 for 2 people, we asked the waiter to write some of the more exotic ingredients for the 3 or 4 super complicated dishes. He copped an attitude and did the minimal. Also, they were zipping through the courses. So we finally had to ask them to slow down for pete's sake!

There are better options for the price. Not good value.

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I have eaten at Trotters, Spiagia, French Laundry and various other well-known restaurants and Alinea surpassed them all and then some. One of the best meals of my life. Hands down. Will be back.....after I save some money =). Pricey, but more than worth it!

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I LOVED me experience. not for everyone. food was great. there was ALOT of it too. it was my birfday and they brought me a 25th course. hahahahha. it was awesome. kudos on dehydrated fried broccoli heads with the short rib dish. insane . fireworks on the tongue.

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The beat way I heard it described was by one of my fellow diners: "I left full, but not satisfied."

We did the "Tour" 24 courses. 24 courses of one bite a piece. Some flavors were fabulous. Some were not so great. Some were just plain strange.
The presentation was over the top. Silly over the top.
The wine pairings were not at all the best idea. While the flavors complimented the foods (when you actually HAD wine), there were 10 1/4 glasses served over 24 courses.
Long story short: $2020.00 for four people. 6 hours. Some good, some bad. Overall not fabulous.
Check. Been there. Done That. Not doing it again.

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My wife and I went to Alinea last night for the first time. Usually when we go to dinner we choose a cuisine (Asian, Greek, French) or focus on a food (duck, fish, steak) and then select an old favorite or choose a new place that we have heard of.

Alinea chooses to look at food and restaurants differently. Their kitchen does not have traditional stations, there is no line, the food tickets are held in the front and called out by a maestro like figure who orchestrates a team of over 24 cooks.

The dining room like Charlie Trotters and others before it is a converted brownstone just north of the Steppenwolf Theater on Halsted and is modern with glass staircases, original modern art and minimalist but warm colors.

Alinea is truly different however in its approach to the food. The menu is set, so aside from food allergies you won't be choosing anything and the focus of each plate served to you is not a cuisine or a product but a flavor which you then add to by mixing the main item with side items & sauces which change that base flavor. For example the Ice Fish course had segments of the fish placed along a line of vegetables and sauces including horseradish that you mix together in different combinations which creates different flavors.

Each course was intended to focus on a main flavor which then either you change by combining it with things on your plate or they change for you by having it mix with something else like the Apple Cider "shot" which came in a glass where the cider was trapped inside a nickel sized ball made of cinnamon and was floating in walnut milk. You tipped the shot back and the ball burst in your mouth mixing the cider and walnut milk with the cinnamon. All the dishes were this way often forcing opposites together like sweet and salty, milky and crunchy etc.

Overall I give Alinea four out of five stars. This is truly a professional kitchen doing things you can’t do at home which is why people should go out. This group of young people are definitely serious and will go on to do great things themselves. Each plate was an artist’s palette that needed you to complete it but if you go there you have to approach it not as going out for a type of food or a single item but that you are going out experience what a talented group of chefs can do with flavors.

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