Doesn't Recommend

cdmabry

Joined 2 years ago

Bad food, bad service, small portions. A group of us ate at Custom House and all had similar reactions to the restaurant: the food was just OK, but served in very small portions. We had to ask for salt and pepper, and beg for additional bread to be served. There was an extraordinary wait between courses, although the restaurant didn't look too crowed. And, the wait staff seemed confused or distracted or unorganized.

Of all of the very nice Chicago restaurants to choose from, I would put this very low on the list. None of us that ate there will go back again, I am quite sure.

Doesn't Recommend

smcelroy21

Joined 4 years ago

Horrible Service. My wife and I went to Custom House last week with two friends. In short, the food tastes good, but it's way over priced for what you get, the service is atrocious and the entire staff was arrogant and had attitude problems.

Food - The food tasted good, but the portion sizes are extremely small. My wife and I both had the skirt steak. Mine was cooked perfectly, but hers was medium rare when she ordered it medium well. Desserts tasted good, but are tiny. There was no salt and pepper shakers on the table - a true sign of an arrogant chef.

Service - Horrible. I received the wrong dish (I ordered the sirloin, but got the skirt steak). When I told the waiter that this wasn't what I ordered, he told me, "Yes, it is. You ordered the skirt steak." When I replied and told him that he must have heard wrong, he again insisted by quoting me with "You said you'll have the same as her" (meaning my wife), but this was impossible because I ordered before her because she was still deciding on what to have. What happened to the customer is always right? For the prices you pay here, they should beg for forgiveness if they mess up. The manager did come to apologize and offer a free desert (which we ended up getting charged for), but still, you shouldn't quote a customer.

Value - This place is waaaay over priced for the amount you get. Food, drinks, everything. Desserts are $10 and I could've eaten my pistachio cake in one bite.

Ambiance - Quiet because no one was there. Now I know why.

Conclusion - I'd rather eat a week old grilled cheese sandwich off the bumper of a 1978 Volkswagen than step foot in this place again.

Recommends

Iusamet

Joined 5 years ago

Great food. Wow!! the best food in chicago area, i'm from Mexico and i was for a year here, Chicago. As mexican i eat my food very seasoned and Custom House gave it to me, i had a great dinner, the wine list was a little limited but not too bad. The service is excellent here, especially the waitre Dario, he's bilingual (spanish english) and offered to me everything to my comfort. I recommend this place strongly... great food great service great ambience... is there something more?? i do not think so. Thank you Custom House. I`ll get back as soon as i can.

Recommends

tomcat710

Joined 6 years ago

Snazzy. This place was really good. I didn't know what to expect but I wanted to go somewhere that was nice and not pretentious. This place had very nice waiters, one of them being a kind old man who offered us custom made candy bars (and no, he didn't ask us to follow him into his van). We were seated in our own area too, so It was private. It was a strange location for such a nice restaurant, right across the street from Taco Bell. Luckily this had nothing to do with the quality of this place.

Recommends

sorod

Joined 7 years ago

salt and bitterness. Coming from L.A. and spending months of the year in NYC and Tokyo, I was hoping for a great meal from Custom House, Chicago. The canned reviews are just that. The real reviews are quite different and this is one. Service was fine wsith a couple of set backs...Asking for wine after an order was placed...filling sparkling water glass with flat. I can let that go. The food was just ok and some was just not good. The butternut squash soup was over-seasond and swimming with garnish. Way too much blue cheese. Sweetbreads were soggy and the "House Made Bacon" was limp and flavorless. Seafood was ok. The steaks were done to perfection and quite tender, yet nothing special. All the sides, aside from the tortelli were way too salty, and the cauliflower gratin was just gross. Bitter and gritty. I finished with a trio of sorbet. The lemon had the best tuxture, yet the flavor was tangy and too sweet. The pear sorbot looked terrible. Greyish brown in color and not the right texture. Cranberry/orange was sweet and sour with the right flavor, but the texture was more like frozen yogurt. A limited wine list with some hard to find reds, yet nothing you can't get at any fine restaurant. In all, underwhelming and lots of hype. This place would have to step it up to last in Los Angeles or N.Y.

Doesn't Recommend

bellaa2002

Joined 6 years ago

Disappointment!!!. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!!!

After reading reviews I was looking forward to a great steak. Unfortunately, what I got could be described as mediocre, at best. My steak was undercooked relative to my request, was cold and not very flavorful. Service was below average. Wine list is limited and uninteresting. If you're looking for the best steak in Chicago, DO NOT GO HERE!!!! What a DISAPPOINTMENT!

Recommends

heyaj

Joined 6 years ago

Great Food in a Small Booth. The service here is excellent from the moment you give your keys to the valet. The food is delicious, but we thought that there was too much salt used in everything we tasted. The booths are cramped, so opt for a table if one is available.

Recommends

autvan21

Joined 7 years ago

Very Highly Recommended. I recently had dinner at the Custom House, and all I can say is "WOW". The food was out-of-this-world, and the service was amazing. The atmosphere was lively and creative. This whole expirience left me knowing that this restaurant sets the bar for all of the other Chicago restaurants. If you are looking for a wonderful dining expirience, I would highly recommend the Custom House.

Recommends

imuk

Joined 7 years ago

Worst Service and Attitude in Town. I had dinner last night with a good friend of mine. We have dined at some of the finest in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and London. I have never experienced such poor service then at Custom House. I ate there at lunch the first time and expected it to be busy, which it was but everything was prompt and very good. But I was also with a Manager of a very expensive hotel in Chicago. Everyone came up to us to ensure the Manager of this hotel was happy. What I realized when me and a friend came for dinner that unless you are "someone" they recognize, you will have to wait to get a peice of bread. I had asked for the wine director and they sent the bar manager because the wine director was too busy to talk to us. I had to specifically name the person who reccomended that I speak to her. And even then it was like she didn't want to speak to us. The worst part was probably when out diner plates and EMPTY wine glasses sat on the table in front of us for 30 mins. And this was when there were only 3 other tables in the place. It was pouring rain outside and we decieded to stay to wait for the rain to slow so we moved to the bar. And it was the same service. Like they just wanted us to leave or they just didn't want to be there. I would not recommend this any business clients or out of towners. I was embarrassed I had recommended it for our dinner.

Recommends

jude252

Joined 7 years ago

excellent illinois corn soup. I was visting Chcago and went to many recommended resturants, this was where I had my best meal. Try the salad with fuji apple and goat cheese.