Aria at the Fairmont Hotel

(312) 444-9494

200 N Columbus Dr
Chicago, IL 60601 41.8859 -87.6209

Get Map & Directions »

Neighborhoods: Loop, Central

Price:

$$$

Last updated 9.12.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

American Express, Cash, Visa, Discover, Diners Club, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Breakfast, Hotel Restaurants, Late Night Dining, Fine Dining, Brunch, Theater District Dining, Private Rooms, Business Dining, Online Reservations, Business Breakfast, Group Dining, Dine At The Bar

General Info:

Open 24 Hours

Cuisine:

Eclectic & International, Traditional American

Smoking Permitted:

Bar

Editor's Tips

What People Are Saying About Aria at the Fairmont Hotel

Featured Review

Robyn Galbos

Contributor

The Scene – Dark wood and cream-colored accents lend warmth to the modern, serpentine dining room. Convex traffic mirrors and pewter water pitchers in the shape of frogs add whimsy, while the steady techno beat keeps things lively. – – The Food – The globetrotting menu features wildly ranging dishes, from Asian stir fry to prime rib to risotto. Hot Indian flatbreads served with flavorful spreads set the tone for the menu. Start with seared scallops layered with foie gras, or fall-off-the-bone duck confit, balanced with sweet port wine reduction. Winning entrees include…

Editor's Tips

What to Drink:
Try the Metrosexual, a classic martini served on a tray with sample-sized skin-care products and a certificate for a free manicure. Or sample a flight of "tiny 'tinis," five different martinis served with two small bites.
The Extras:
Reserve the semi-private chef's table (six to eight people) or the private dining room (eight to 12).
Save Money:
A pre-theater menu is offered daily from 5pm to 6:30pm and includes appetizer, entree and dessert ($35). Theatergoers may valet park for $9 with theater validation.
Spend Money:
Reserve the semi-private chef's table (six to eight people) or the private dining room (eight to 12).
Save Money:
A pre-theater menu is offered daily from 5pm to 6:30pm and includes appetizer, entree and dessert ($38). Theatergoers may valet park for $9 with theater validation.
The Extras:
Reserve a room for a private party and receive a complimentary consultation with the chef to review the menu options for your big bash.
ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. “Overall the ambiance is very romantic and elegant.”
  2. “It was quite, romantic and in a great location.”
  3. “The atmosphere was pleasant: spacious seating plan, great music, pleasing aesthetics.”
  4. “also really like the ambiance and the decor of the place.”
  5. “-The ambience was great; nice seats, decor, linen, etc.”
  6. “Eclectic menu, nice atmosphere”
  7. “took my boyfriend here for a beautiful, romantic dinner and was blown away by the kind service I recieved.”
  8. “Beautiful, great atmosphere, excellent service - Delish!”
  9. “This is a beautiful place to dine, from the decor to the food.”
  10. “friend of mines works at Aria and suggested it as a cozy, romantic spot.”
dessert
100.0% positive
  1. “The creative and delicious desserts were nothing short of architectural.”
  2. “They're awesome nad save room for the dessert!”
  3. “The desserts were decent.”
drinks
88.88999938964844% positive
  1. “wished we would have had more time to hang out in the cool bar and I would definitely come back to try the sushi bar.”
  2. “the Bar is magnificent, the drinks are very tasty but powerful so you might wanna be cautious not to drink too many.”
  3. “This bar/restaurant is great for a intimate date night.”
  4. “*If you like sushi I would recommend the sushi bar just by looks.”
  5. “Our wine glasses were always full, there was good flow to the meal, and our server was knowledgeable.”
  6. “It has a great bar where we like to take out of town guests to entertain.”
  7. “Great bar for after dinner.”
  8. “He pushed menu items, didn't know what was in some dishes, and told us "it'd be a big hassle to also order from the sushi bar across the room" are you kidding me?”
  9. “We had reservations valentines day and we were seated right away which is a good start, but then it took them maybe 10-15 mins to realize they had guests at the table only to show up with the worst attitude and unfriendliness, did not bother saying "good ”
food quality
85.1099967956543% positive
  1. “The creative and delicious desserts were nothing short of architectural.”
  2. “They start you with this homemade nann and 4 dipping sauces, My huband had a korean inspired pork tenderloin and, I had an amazing whitefish.”
  3. “Each time the food has been great, but the service has not.”
  4. “Overall bad service with bad food sums this restaurant.”
  5. “The service is impeccable and the food is delicious.”
  6. “The steak is out of this world and the music is cool.”
  7. “He pushed menu items, didn't know what was in some dishes, and told us "it'd be a big hassle to also order from the sushi bar across the room" are you kidding me?”
  8. “the service is great and the food is really unusual.”
  9. “This is a beautiful place to dine, from the decor to the food.”
  10. “Nice Atmosphere with decent food”
  11. “Good food, but not if you have anywhere to go afterwards!”
  12. “had spicy beef (a beef stir fry with good fresh vegetables, touches of Thai and Chinese flavors) and she had Escarole.”
  13. “Meal started off well with fabulous bread, dipping sauces but was very mediocre after that.”
  14. “While the food was good, there wasn't anything that really stood out.”
  15. “The food was EXCELLENT - from start to finish, we enjoyed every course.”
  16. “My party enjoyed both excellent food and service during our recent pre-theatre visit.”
  17. “strongly encourage everyont to go here and expierence the nirvana of delicious food in your mouths!”
  18. “Overall, while a nice place to eat, it really can't stand up to a restaurant that focuses on one type of cuisine.”
  19. “Our wine glasses were always full, there was good flow to the meal, and our server was knowledgeable.”
  20. “We ordered the "mushroom soup your mother never made" and it was the most incredible soup we have ever eaten.”
  21. “The salmon dish has excellent flavor, but a bit too small even for a small plate.”
  22. “would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for great food and service for great value.”
  23. “took my friend here for a nice meal where we could chat in peace.”
  24. “The sushi is great and the service is great.”
  25. “The room is so cool and the bread is amazing.”
  26. “The roasted beet salad was wonderful (the salt perfect!)”
  27. “great option if you're in the mood for something other than the usual Italian, steak, etc.”
  28. “What do you get when you combine poor service with average food and high prices.”
  29. “The meal begins with amazing flatbread with 4 seperate dipping sauces.”
  30. “great food selection and quality!”
  31. “The food was delicious, and the nan bread and potato dish "extras" were both delicious.”
  32. “The food was amazing.”
  33. “Conclusion- weak meal, poor service, and to my suprise not worthy of the price in the end.”
  34. “Each dish tasted great, had stylish platings and took away some bitterness from a poor meal.”
  35. “had the best steak ever and all the sauces and sides were an tasty extra.”
  36. “My husband, father and I all had very different meals--soup to steak to seafood but everything was almost inedible with so much salt.”
  37. “We all have different palates and, considering the outrageous prices (it is in the Fairmont after all) we were all reluctant to admit food was not very good.”
  38. “wished we would have had more time to hang out in the cool bar and I would definitely come back to try the sushi bar.”
  39. “Contrary to some of the reviews, we loved the food - it was suprising.”
  40. “The room was nice, the food was good, but the management was so bad.”
  41. “and the lobster spring rolls were multi-layered and came with delicious dollops of vanilla foam.”
  42. “The food was great.”
  43. “The food was great, the environment very personalized.”
  44. “It is culturally inspired food (not fusion) where the service is the best in the city (Jorge), offering an epicurial anthropological experience.”
  45. “the Bar is magnificent, the drinks are very tasty but powerful so you might wanna be cautious not to drink too many.”
  46. “*If you like sushi I would recommend the sushi bar just by looks.”
  47. “Fantastic food and Service”
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. “Great menu.”
  2. “Eclectic menu, nice atmosphere”
  3. “great food selection and quality!”
  4. “Awesome menu.”
  5. “The menu was great with such fantastic variety.”
  6. “He pushed menu items, didn't know what was in some dishes, and told us "it'd be a big hassle to also order from the sushi bar across the room" are you kidding me?”
  7. “Excellent service, wonderful menu and I love the specials.”
overall
97.1399974822998% positive
  1. “What a great place!”
  2. “Overall, while a nice place to eat, it really can't stand up to a restaurant that focuses on one type of cuisine.”
  3. “This is a great restaurant.”
  4. “hope they make a change so I can continue to bring my business to this nice restaurant.”
  5. “The best new restaurant in Chicago!”
  6. “This would also be a good place if you're looking for vegetarian fare.”
  7. “It was a bad situation I do not understand why such a nice hotel and restaurant world employee a person like this, I am sure they have there pick.”
return potential
100.0% positive
  1. “wished we would have had more time to hang out in the cool bar and I would definitely come back to try the sushi bar.”
service
76.66999816894531% positive
  1. “The staff is excellent!”
  2. “Not only was he a poor waiter but the person that brought the 'praised' flatbread and four dipping sauces rambled them off so fast I only caught 'yogurt'.”
  3. “It is culturally inspired food (not fusion) where the service is the best in the city (Jorge), offering an epicurial anthropological experience.”
  4. “Each time the food has been great, but the service has not.”
  5. “The atmophere is hip without the attitude, the music was lounge without the electronica, the lighting subduded and the service wonderful and unobtrusive.”
  6. “What do you get when you combine poor service with average food and high prices.”
  7. “the service is great and the food is really unusual.”
  8. “The service we received was fantastic, everything done in a timely manner and our water always kept refilled.”
  9. “The service is impeccable and the food is delicious.”
  10. “would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for great food and service for great value.”
  11. “Our server JJ was so cool and relaxed.”
  12. “Beautiful, great atmosphere, excellent service - Delish!”
  13. “Conclusion- weak meal, poor service, and to my suprise not worthy of the price in the end.”
  14. “-The service was poor, maybe better put as unproffesional, poorly trained, or unexperienced.”
  15. “am not one to complete surveys for great service received.”
  16. “took my boyfriend here for a beautiful, romantic dinner and was blown away by the kind service I recieved.”
  17. “Our wine glasses were always full, there was good flow to the meal, and our server was knowledgeable.”
  18. “Excellent service, wonderful menu and I love the specials.”
  19. “All in all, an outstanding and relaxing experience with helpful knowledgeable servers.”
  20. “The sushi is great and the service is great.”
  21. “Our waiter Hugh was helpful and personnable without being intrusive.”
  22. “Overall bad service with bad food sums this restaurant.”
  23. “First of all i wanna say that i stayed at the Fairmont few times and always received excellent service, too bad i can;t say the same thing about their restaurant.”
  24. “My party enjoyed both excellent food and service during our recent pre-theatre visit.”
  25. “As for the service issue - well our experience was quite good.”
value
20.0% positive
  1. “would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for great food and service for great value.”
  2. “The Epitome of overpriced hotel dining”
  3. “Conclusion- weak meal, poor service, and to my suprise not worthy of the price in the end.”
  4. “What do you get when you combine poor service with average food and high prices.”
  5. “We all have different palates and, considering the outrageous prices (it is in the Fairmont after all) we were all reluctant to admit food was not very good.”
wait time
66.66999816894531% positive
  1. “We had reservations valentines day and we were seated right away which is a good start, but then it took them maybe 10-15 mins to realize they had guests at the table only to show up with the worst attitude and unfriendliness, did not bother saying "good ”
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

04/07/11

Great hotel BUT..

by GeorgeEvelyn1978 at Citysearch

It's a great hotel but if any of you are looking to save some $$ then book it at goo.gl/FPxYD They have some of the best hotel deals on the web!

1 Star Rating: Poor

02/15/09

Hotel Dining at its Worst!!!!!!!

by rashad83 at Citysearch

First of all i wanna say that i stayed at the Fairmont few times and always received excellent service, too bad i can;t say the same thing about their restaurant. We had reservations valentines day and we were seated right away which is a good start, but then it took them maybe 10-15 mins to realize they had guests at the table only to show up with the worst attitude and unfriendliness, did not bother saying "good evening" or even welcoming us, instead he went ahead to ask for our drinks as if we are at Chili's. Apart from having snobby waiters the food itself is nothing to brag about, we had the beet salad and hot and sour shrimp which were OK, for our main course my wife had the walleye which she did not like and i had the hong kong lobster and duck which i didn't finish either. The cocktails were maybe the best thing there along with the dessert. When the manger approached us and asked how was the food i said "It was ok" and he said too bad it was not great and walked away. Overall bad service with bad food sums this restaurant. stay away.

  • Pros: none
  • Cons: everything
1 Star Rating: Poor

09/16/08

The Epitome of overpriced hotel dining

by mweisk at Citysearch

What do you get when you combine poor service with average food and high prices. I was astounded by how unattentive the staff was during a recent visit. The food and the associated price did not match up. Chicago is filled with hundreds of excellent restaurants this one is not one of them.

2 Star Rating: Below Average

02/13/08

Very underwhelming experience. Poor service and weak entrees.

by Lionzfan27 at Citysearch

-So I took a good friend out on a first date after reviewing a good 45+ restaurants over an 11 hour period (I know that sounds excessive but I'm paticular).

-The ambience was great; nice seats, decor, linen, etc. Nothing to complain about there...other than the paper menu's, maybe I'm picky.

-The service was poor, maybe better put as unproffesional, poorly trained, or unexperienced. We could tell from the beginning that the service would rank with a restaurant like Bennihanas. He was a nice guy but just didn't have what it takes to serve for this type of restaurant. He pushed menu items, didn't know what was in some dishes, and told us "it'd be a big hassle to also order from the sushi bar across the room" are you kidding me? Not only was he a poor waiter but the person that brought the 'praised' flatbread and four dipping sauces rambled them off so fast I only caught 'yogurt'. Ehhh...

-Now to the food(since I am a culinary graduate). We started with an order of Unagi, it was great but I can't say I've ever been dissapointed by Unagi before. The entrees were poor, very poor. We eached ordered fish, mine being Barramundi. Each fish was over cooked and incorrectly paired with sauces to my liking. Her fish was served skin side up! Once again I could just be very picky but would you serve a steak with grill marks down? or a pie with crust up? The desserts were decent. I ordered the apple egg rolls and she had the chocolate cake, adding 'will you be mine?' at request to the Maitre D'. Each dish tasted great, had stylish platings and took away some bitterness from a poor meal.

Conclusion- weak meal, poor service, and to my suprise not worthy of the price in the end. I would not recommend this to friends or for that matter anyone who asks for a review. Would I return? No, unless I was treated to the meal.

*If you like sushi I would recommend the sushi bar just by looks. It's hip, stylish, and based on my purchase of the Unagi alone, tasty.

-Cheers

  • Pros: Ambience
  • Cons: Entrees (paticulary the fish) and Service
3 Star Rating: Average

11/24/07

Good food, but not if you have anywhere to go afterwards!

by lr18190 at Citysearch

Excellent service, wonderful menu and I love the specials. I went here for a holiday and thought I had falled in love. It was quite, romantic and in a great location. The problem arised when I got home! I don't think I have ever gotten so sick and as a result, I don't think I will ever go back. My date and I were both very ill and therefore I do believe it was something to do with the food. I would recommend it, but make sure you get something cooked and keep your fingers crossed! I was sick for the next 24 hours!

  • Pros: Great service, ambiance

The Details on Aria at the Fairmont Hotel

Place Categories:

  • great food
  • great excellent service
  • best new restaurant
  • beautiful place
  • quite good experience
  • great sushi bar
  • poor service
  • great wonderful menu
  • delicious nan bread
  • really like ambiance
  • creative desserts
  • knowledgeable server
  • nice meal
  • like sushi
  • almost inedible everything
  • good fresh vegetables
  • nice atmosphere
  • very tasty drinks
  • helpful waiter hugh
  • like nice hotel
  • like restaurant world employee
  • nice room
  • good chinese flavors
  • beautiful romantic dinner
  • fabulous aria

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