Blackbird

11/09/2008 Posted by hayekkiio

Wow. And no, not in a good way. The food was not cooked poorly but prepared poorly; under-seasoned,bland, tasteless. The crowd; as bland as the food. The space; excellent if you are a minimalist. The service however was outstanding. In short, worth every penny if it were free (and one had never eaten here before).

Pros: Service

Cons: Everything but the service

07/22/2008 Posted by nolachitown

My date and I had originally planned to dine at the wonderful Avec next door and were dressed appropriately for the scene there (very casual, nice jeans and a jacket). Unfortunately, we arrived too late and they were only seating one group before closing time. The hostess at Avec told us we'd have no problem getting a table at Blackbird's and having a nice meal there. Well - we walked in and were immediately out of sorts when we noticed that almost every guy was a spitting image of an Andy Warhol with their black Wayfarer's and black dinner jackets. It was an awkward situation . We didn't have any problem being seated, but I can tell that our "apparel" didn't please the snooty waitress assigned to our table (who btw, had a black eye and looking at her nearly put off my appetite) and when we had a few questions about the menu she would answer in a very sarcastic way. The positive: our food was great - small - but great with a beautiful presentation. When our waitress forgot our espresso order (mind you that we were 1 of 3 tables left) I asked for the manager and he immediately came over and comped our espressos and even brought dessert wines. I guess you have to bring it to their attention that the customer is always right. I hope future patrons have a better experience or that they have better trained their staff.

06/19/2008 Posted by albarlow

Came here for my b-day and was surprised that it's been rated so well. The food was ok...very small portions as expected, but high-priced for 'just ok.' The scene was nothing to write home about either. The tables were practically staked on top of each other...about 2 inches apart. Tiny space with nothing on the walls, nothing romantic about this place. Our waiter was pleasant and brought me a shawl for our outdoor dinning when the sun went down. Overall, wouldn't go back and it's not even worth saying that we've been there. Oh well.

Pros: Not a lot

Cons: Price, ambiance, portion, cocktails

04/08/2008 Posted by wendygirl611

after reading some of the earlier reviews i was a little worried our anniversary dinner wouldn't be so great. BUT we were surprised. Our server, I think his name was David, was very attentive yet did was not over bearing. He asked us questions about what kind of wine we like, he listened and brought us a bottle we absolutely loved. Service was superb, right down to the plate presentation. My husband works in the industry and I am a veteren, so we know when we get good service and this was a definite. Food was delicious. Interesting flavor combinations. Some of the reviews said this place was pretentious, absolutely not. Would go back and recommend to others.

Pros: sturgeon was tasty

11/16/2007 Posted by casaccav

I have heard mixed reviews about Blackbird for some time now. I figured it had to be pretty good since it has been around for a while. I have been to many restaurants in Chicago, it is very rare for me to want to leave as bad as I did last night. When we asked if there were any specials for the night our waitress replied “what you see is what you get” We proceeded to order and the waitress came back and said they were out of two main dishes and one appetizer. The atmosphere is cold and the room is extremely noisy. The food wasn’t bad by any means, however for what we paid, there are so many better restaurants around Chicago that treat you like a customer should be treated

Pros: Halibut

Cons: Bacon flavored ice cream they through on a desert, absolutely repulsive!

06/19/2007 Posted by team_splashi

Today Team Splashi experienced true casual/classic dinning at Blackbird located on: 619 W Randolph St Chicago, IL 60661 (312) 715-0708 . This place is so fare the closest you will get to the European dining with out leaving “second city”. Team Splashi had “braised octopus with fresh hummus , charred ramps,sesame brittle and chickpeas. This is appetizer and it is really small portion of food, so we had to get us “seared white fish sandwich, with lemon and great homemade potato salad. This one was teasty. Team Splashi had great experience at this elegant yet casual restaurant , which btw has big wine list to choose from, we hope that you too will have time to experience this great place. Bon appetite. teamsplashi.blogspot

Pros: ambiance,food

Cons: none

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

01/28/2007 Posted by malexan

There is nothing worse than mediocrity that considers itself excellence. I went there after hearing that the food was great. It was so loud even for a sat night. I could barley hear my date. Not to mention that after you order that that will be the last time you see your waiter. Was the food good? Yes, but not excellent. And because of the crappy service it was not worth the 150 I spent. I would not recommend.

Pros: Presentation of the food

Cons: The experiance

07/23/2006 Posted by eggplantlover

We waited 20 minutes while looking at open tables, then neglected the whole meal. If we were inside, maybe the service would have been better, but we didn't have a reservation. The food wasn't worth the money or the service. A restaurant of this calibur should know how to take care of their customers. No one even asked if our food was good.

Pros: mussel soup

Cons: bad service

01/30/2006 Posted by joonpark

was running 10 min late for a 8PM reservation. Tried calling the restaurant for 45 minutes and no one bothered to pick up the phone. Got there, they were running 45 minutes behind on their 7:30PM reservations so they said that it could be an hour wait. What's the point of making a reservation if the system doesn't work? It was packed so they must be doing something right, but I have no intention of going back because I can't deal with their pretentious staff.

08/31/2005 Posted by foodgirlchgo

I came to Blackbird with several friends and family for my birthday and thought it was AMAZING! The food was great, the wine was great, and the atmosphere was great! The only thing that was not great was our aloof, uninterested waitress. I would go back for a romantic dinner or for an occasion any time!

Pros: Wine, Dessert, Food

Cons: Waitress

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful