Tallulah: User Reviews

Downtown dining right here on Lincoln.
By Detroit Bro from Detroit Bro, July 5, 2008

Overall rating:

In one week my girlfriend and I have eaten there twice. Small but very good beer selection. Service has been fantastic. One of my new favorite restaurant in the whole city. Tops in the city for apps and great martinis. I have eaten at Meritage, enjoyed it. But this place and menu just fits me better and is close to home. It just might beat out NaHa for me. Which I used to dine at at least once a week, when it was close to home. Going back to Talluah for dinner tonight.

Overpriced, Mediocre Food
By Muses from Oak Park, June 28, 2008

Overall rating:

Our bill for 4 persons came to 300 !!! Our crabcake appetizer tasted like it was crab meat out of a can. The dishes are really nothing special - they are just nice to look, ingredients were fresh but the presentation was not innovative and neither was the taste. I wouldn't go even to try it. I don't think its worth the trip up north. Save your money and go to a cheaper restaurant downtown. I was disappointed!

Service is the worst
By ackattack from lincoln square, June 22, 2008

Overall rating:

We went there on Thursday night around 8:30 pm. The place was half full but it took them over 30+ minutes to get our appetizers. We didn't get our entree until an 1 hour 15 minutes after we ordered our food. While they were not very attentive in the beginning, they realized how poor the service was and gave us the entres for free. I will never go back there again. And the food was so-so. An absolutely horrible experience.

Really delicious and worth many return visits
By ezup2me from Uptown, June 21, 2008

Overall rating:

I really enjoyed my experience at this restaurant! The decor was modern and inviting and the outdoor patio area is a special treat in the evening when the sun goes down. We started off with a really great bottle of Garnacha wine and three really good appetizers (the mussels, deviled eggs and pork belly). The mussels were so especially delicious, that it made you want to sop up the sauce with your bread. For an entree I had the peppercorn steak with sauced frites which really extends your palette into the realm of familiar fused with new and interesting twists. For dessert the mousse really meshed well with the ancho chile especially if eaten with the bananas. Our server was very attentive and took steps to make sure our meal was going well and offering honest suggestions for choosing our meal based on the direction we wanted the dinner to go. Overall I would really recommend this place as a fun night with good people!

IT A'INT NO SHE SHE
By chefcolombo from Uptown , June 3, 2008

Overall rating:

Last time I was in this space was a reataurant called she she(delicious) so I thought I would go back to try Tallulah. I was not pleased. the Menu sounds wonderful, but it is not excuted well food is flavorless and the wait time for it is well let's say not worth it. Service is slow. only nice thing I can say is the Decor is very nice! we won't be heading back here anytime soon

Underwhelmed
By psharm1 from Little Italy, May 26, 2008

Overall rating:

My wife and I went there for an anniversary dinner on the Sunday before Memorial day. Everything was average or below average - food and service. For food, everything lacked flavour. My wife's dish (gnocchi) was very bland. She asked for salt which the server said she would get, but never did (we'll get to the poor service). The description for the gnocchi said there would be mushrooms but there were none. My dish was the Alaskan Halibut - it was fine - nothing to get too excited about. The bread brought out before the meal was abysmal.
The service was quite poor. Everything took a long time to show up, and the waitress would forget to bring things she said she would get.

Kind of Unimpressed
By Marshall from Lakeview, May 15, 2008

Overall rating:

I was really excited to try this place. I had looked at the menu a bunch of times and had a good idea of what I wanted to get all day. The place looks great and it really seemed like it was going to be awesome. But everything we got was just OK.

We started with the deviled eggs. They were great although the lobster may have been a little overcooked. We also tried to pork belly with kimchi. It looked interesting on paper but really wasn't anything special.

I had the braised short ribs with root vegetables. The vegetables were a little too buttery and the meat was under-seasoned. In fact everything we had was under-seasoned. I'm not that guy who adds salt to everything before even tasting it.But all it needed was a little salt on the way out of the kitchen.

Desert was just OK too. I had the chocolate mouse with ancho. The mouse was not light and airy and the ancho just didn't work. There are a lot of great mexican deserts with chocolate and chiles and this just missed. The pots de creme was good and if you like peanut butter and chocolate you will like this. I can't say I would go again but if you do give it a try, go on Tuesday when you can bring wine.

A Nice Addition to the Neighborhood
By rivernorther from River North, May 14, 2008

Overall rating:

My boyfriend and I dined here for dinner on a Saturday night in February. It was obvious that the restaurant still didn't have their timing down, as we waited an hour for our reservation. The wait was easy, though, because we enjoyed sampling different cocktails as well as conversing with the bartenders and the couple next to us. I can see, though, how that would be a major show stopper for most people and how it would totally ruin an evening. People on here have criticized the close proximity of the tables, particularly in the back of the house, and I agree that particular area is horrifically designed. We were lucky to get a good table near the windows or this review would be much lower. Our waitress was very friendly and efficient and contributed greatly to the enjoyment of our night. We shared the buffalo tartare, which was excellent. My shortribs were tender and tasty but a bit fatty and the potatoes were underwhelming. I'd rate the dish a B-. My boyfriend enjoyed his duck. I think this place has potential, but believe they may be hurting themselves by getting too greedy in terms of utilizing every available inch for seating and booking reservations too close together. I might give this another shot if in the area but probably would not go out of my way again.

Save your money...
By D2 from Lincoln Square, April 28, 2008

Overall rating:

I too was excited to try Tallulah, having had a great experience at Meritage. Went there two Fridays ago, and had a mixed experience that overall did not justify the price. Nice, classy atmosphere, but the kitchen noise was deafening and distracting where we were. The next table asked to be reseated because of the noise, but they were not accommodated even though the place was half empty at that point, early in the evening. Some unique items on the menu, enjoyed the food overall but wasn't a spectacular meal to match the price. Service was fine, but again nothing exceptional.

Unfortunately what rubbed me the wrong way was their BYO policy. Their own website says Tuesday is BYO wine night, so after plunking down 50 bucks for a bottle I nearly lost it when halfway through dinner they sat a table next to us that brought two bottles, which were promptly opened, no questions asked. I thought maybe they knew somebody. Then we saw at least one other group do the same. When we asked for clarification of their policy, we clearly caught our server off guard, who stumbled through telling us it is not 'encouraged', except on Tuesdays, but they will honor BYOW until the policy is 'abused'. I don't mind paying for wine with a meal, but it would be nice if they could uniformly enforce and advertise whatever policy they really have.

Overall, if you plan on a glass of wine, I'd suggest Tallulah on BYO Tuesdays, or 'abuse' their non-BYO BYO policy on other nights. That's the only way to justify the bill.