Smith & Wollensky
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 670-9900
- Price:
- $$$$
- Directions:
- El: Red Line to Grand; Green, Brown or Orange Line to State/Lake
- Best of Citysearch:
- Waterfront Dining 2006
- Hours:
- Daily 11:30am-1:30am
Editorial Review for Smith & Wollensky – by Citysearch Editors
In Short
With confidence and style, Smith & Wollensky has maintained its martini-drinking, expensive suit-wearing power crowd at this fab location on the Chicago River. The green-and-white awning and riverfront windows draw attention from the outside, while folk art, dark wood, marble accents and high ceilings impress on the inside. The meat-heavy menu offers crab cakes, a buttery 16-ounce fillet, "angry" roasted half-lobster seasoned with spices, and carrot cake with two layers of cream-cheese frosting.
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Insider Tips
Know Before You GoThe more casual Wollensky's Grill, open later and for lunch on weekends, offers a lighter, limited menu and wine list.
The ExtrasEnjoy live piano music in the bar Tuesday-Saturday from 5:30pm until about 10pm.
User Reviews for Smith & Wollensky
06/25/2008 Posted by chgofoody
The three of us were promptly seated on the riverfront outside as per our reservation. The sunglass-clad waiter appeared and took our drink order to the bar. Is it appropriate for a server to wear sunglasses, especially in the shade of tall buildings at 7:30 p.m. at an up-scale restaurant? We waited for a long period of time with empty glasses for our server to return to take our order. We were only given one menu which we passed around. The wine arrived and was graciously and professionally presented and poured. The beer and cheese soup and split-pea soup arrived hot and were tasty. We had to reach to the vacant neighboring table to get a third set of utensils; our table was only set for two people. I ordered a med-rare filet mignon which was actually med-well, just the slightest bit of pink. I brought this to the servers attention, he instructed me to cut through the center were it would be more rare...it was not. The steak was returned to the kitchen; a different person returned with the new. She found it necessary to tell me that the returned steak was inspected in the light of the kitchen and was indeed, found to be over cooked. Did they think I was trying to pull something? My replacement steak was cooked as ordered but lacked any kind of seasoning or grill flavor. After generously sprinkling it with salt and pepper I was able to enjoy it. The other two people said their steaks were "ok". The truffle macaroni and cheese was full of flavor but suffered from pools of oil (not truffle oil) and had the look of a broken sauce. The hash brown potatoes were swimming in oil as well. The several accompaniments to the baked potato was a nice touch. We skipped dessert. No bread was offered at our table. Our $450 tab (incl. $115 bottle of wine) for a meat and potatoes meal was excessive considering we ordered no appetizers or dessert. A good value is a long stretch; not up to par with the service and food at competitors.
Pros: On the river, nice atmosphere, large wine selection
Cons: service and food not meeting standard for up-scale restaurant
06/18/2008 Posted by melikakay
This restaurant was absolutely horrible. Poor service, poor atmosphere and the food was awful. We had to ask three times for water, napkins and silverware. One of the steaks at our table that was ordered medium came completely raw, another that was ordered med. well was totally burnt. All three of us have lived in Chicago for years and have never had such a bad dining experience. This is definitely a tourist trap restaurant that unfortunately we tried. I wish I had something nice to say about it but honestly can't think of one good thing.
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