Tallulah: User Reviews

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.

Food good, not great, Service needs improvement
By Stella from Lincoln Square, April 23, 2008

Overall rating:

Dined at Tallulah on a Saturday night-had a reservation and was seated right away. My husband I and were very excited about Tallulah as we really liked Meritage (which has now closed). The restaurant was very crowded and had a great vibe. The beef/assparagus appetizer was fine, not great. I had the short ribs and my husband had the steak-again, ok, not out of this world. The restaurant has not been open that long, and the service was not good-the waiter had to come back and ask for our order again, we didn't get napkins and our water was never re-filled. We ordered salad, but they forgot to bring it. I will try Tallulah again and give it another chance in the summer when we can sit outside-the outdoor patio in back looks very nice.

Longest brunch ever
By bfish from Old Town, March 24, 2008

Overall rating:

Went to brunch at Tallulah on a Sunday morning. The restaurant was beautiful. However, our server was not comfortable giving descriptions of menu items. Also, once she took our order, we did not see her again for the rest of the meal. Our food took over an hour to arrive, and I had to request to have my toast re-heated (it was cold upon arrival). No one ever asked us how we were doing, or how the food was. Once we finished our meal, we had to flag someone down (not our server) in order to get a check.
I do not recommend the pancakes (they're plain pancakes, with fruit on top only) or the mushroom omelette (shallots were nearly whole, and overpowered everything else).

perfect meal
By Bee from Lincoln Square, March 9, 2008

Overall rating:

from start to finish we enjoyed everything.

A lot of potential
By cbsma from old town, March 7, 2008

Overall rating:

Went to Tallulah on a wednesday night. The service was efficient and friendly. The food was ambitious and mostly successful. Many of the dishes (soup, salmon) were served in deep, square bowls that were a challenge to eat from. I like the duck, especially the wraps of confit on the side, but the greens on the plate were gritty. Chocolate peanut butter pot de creme was wonderful. If they focus more on consistency in the quality of the food, this place will be a great addition to the local dining scene.

So close and yet so far
By sas from portage park, March 5, 2008

Overall rating:

We were excited to try Tallulah and arrived promptly for our 6:45 reservation. Although most of the tables are obscenely close together, I was horrified when we were taken to the back "bar area" to a table slammed up against a piece of glass (across from the bathroom) on one side, and exactly 2 inches from the neighboring table on the other. My husband had to actually pick up the table and walk it about three feet into the aisle, then we had to push/pull it back once he was seated. When people were seated next to us we all had to get up and do it again. Although my husband and I could not hear each other, we are now privy to entirely too much information about the people next to us! We decided to tough it out, and pray that no one needed to get up to use the bathroom. We waited for 25 minutes (no exaggeration), without being approached by a wait person or even given water. I should also mention that I called on Friday to see if they were still BYO and they said yes. When I showed up on Saturday, wine in hand, they said they had just gotten their liquor license and I couldn't bring the wine in. I didn't mind, and took the wine out - but when the people who were seated on top of us pulled out their wine, I asked them about it - they said they were told it was ok since they had the wine with them. This was truly the last straw, we decided to leave. We went to the front and asked for our coats and said we were leaving. The hostess (who had seated us 25 minutes earlier) just handed us our coats and didn't even bother to enquire as to why we were leaving. We went across the street to Fiddlehead where we had a great meal, great service, and enough room to relax and have a conversation. I can't think of a reason I would be willing to try again.

Lincoln Square has officially arrived
By Flashflood from Bucktown, February 26, 2008

Overall rating:

I had dinner there Sat. night. The server (who seemed to really care) recommended The deviled eggs which were as Snoop would say "The Shiz"

I had the steak and my friends both had the salmon. We all shared the pork belly for appitizer-AWESOME! Best pork belly I have ever had.

Not being too familar with the neighborhood and just walking in for dinner (On a Sat. @ 8) with no reservations. They got us a table within a half hour. The wonderful bartender entertained us for the time and informed us that they had just opened. We would have never known by the flow of everything around us. Which explains them not having a liquor license yet. We were more than happy with the wine provided though.

I have heard of 'thriving" Lincoln Square for awhile now. I never really gave it a change until now. Glad I did. If you haven't yet, start off with Tallulah. I will be back. Maybe next week