09/08/09

Great view, average food

by Sybot

Great view of course if you sit on the patio. Oysters were fresh and delicious. I didnt pay, so I dont remember the price, but Im sure it was overpriced. I had the $30 cioppino, and wow, was it a waste. Broth was not good, which ruined the limited seafood that was provided. Half a leg of crab? Weak. Lobster bisque is good, but a bit salty. Fresh bread good. Halibut looked to be the best dish our of our party. Service was good.

• Pros: Oysters fresh, some good dishes
• Cons: Food is a mixup

02/15/09

Totally messed up valentines dinner

by GoldCoastReviewer

Had reserved window seating, but it was not available. 2 minutes after we sat down window table was avilable. we had to go ask, insist, etc but we finally got desired table.good thing. a waiter brought us someone else's steak before we even got menu's. ok - that was funny. salad and appetizer arrived 45 minutes later. ok - can live with that. Wine glasses had gritty feeling on stem - you know the one -- from a not so good dishwasher. busboy "re-filled" my bottled water with tap water. Not funny anymore. Steak arrived hour and a half in to meal service. Ordered medium rare. got almost well. waiter came by five minutes after steak delivered - he wanted to debate..oh well -- we said medium rare. 15 min later returned to tell us that cut was gone, but he'd sub another cut. We said -- let's just go -- it was almost two hours into dinner service. We asked for check. Instead maitre-de came back. Talked my husband in to staying. redid my meal and brought another steak. this time OK but took so long. ah well -- we had "quiet time" together" -- coffee with dessert served in a cracked coffee cup. Waiter seemed over worked and wasn't easy to find when needed. Lots of other things on service to put it in poor category. Like - we asked for something-- it came ten minutes later with the excuse from the maitre-de - 'sorry it took so long -- was in the kitchen "straightening out" the cook who screwed up your steak.'... don't care - the food got cold in the wait. French fries for side were served cool and were greasy. The jumbo shrimp cocktail and the cranberry salad with goat cheese were the only things right about an otherwise very disappointing dinner and service. Steak - for a chicago chop house - was a good cut of meat, but even the second time around was not professionally cooked. Nearly three hours for completed dinner service and by the time we left, it wasn't because the restuarant was full! Just slow! Won't return - dont waste your time

• Pros: jumbo shrimp cocktail and cranberry goat cheese salad
• Cons: untrained wait staff, slow service, mistakes mistakes mistakes

12/19/08

Wonderful food and deal

by southinmidwest

This is my first review. Offering a flight of sides for around $15 is a great deal. It worked out very well for my party of 2. My food was wonderful and cooked to my request. I will dine here again.

However, the service was not the best. Our waitress was too talkative and kind of annoying. For the place to be so empty on a monday night, I would have expected a better table or at least one with a view as requested when I made the reservations.

• Pros: Food was wonderful. Easy to travel to.

11/27/08

This Place is IT!

by SecurityGuard

I was quite pleased with Fulton's Restaurant. I had gone to Fulton's on Thanksgiving Day and the atmosphere was exciting. Their spread of food from the buffet seemed endless. The hospitality from the hostess to the waiters was great. The food was just wonderfull and everything I had to eat was perfect. I strongly recommend this restaurant to you and your party. I certainly will be returning in the future.

• Pros: Great Location
• Cons: None

11/06/08

needs to improve service

by johnmon

When eating out it?s expected that that the service be just as good as the food. This is not the case at Fulton's. The hostess and host were great, no complaint there only complements. Food was great; have to recommend the place for that. But the service once we were seated was horrible. I understand giving the guest time to talk and decide but we waited 20 mins before our appetizers or drink orders were taken. The food then took 30 mins or more to come out, and they asked us what we wanted as our entree after taking the appetizers away. I wish I had taken his name down. We were there for almost 2 hours, a little extreme when it comes to eating out.

• Pros: the food, host/hostess, bar
• Cons: the table service

08/11/08

Laughably bad service

by MAM4575

We arrived on a slow Sunday afternoon. Tables by the river were not crowded. We were a party of 5 who received 2 appetizers and 1 entree (that was sent back because it arrived with the sauce requested to be left off). The other four entrees did not materialize until after they had been taken off the bill because we had to leave (1 hour and 10 minutes after arriving). The staff seemed absolutely clueless about why the food was not arriving. For a restaurant this pricey, this level of service is inexcusable.

07/28/08

NEEDS TO DO BETTER - SUBPAR ON THE RIVER

by ssilvera

I dined at Fulton's a couple of weekends ago during a visit to Chicago. I was less than satisfied with the entire evening beginning with being denied outdoor seating by the river upon request. The manager on duty claimed that due to a city ordinance, he was unable to seat anyone else outside! Okay, if that 's the case I expect a quality inside dining experience for the cost to dine there. NOT!!! My friend and I sat, and sat, and sat for a ridiculous amount of time before even receiving water or being greeted by a server. Brittany, I believe came by and asked if our server Ray had been by. We informed that he had not and were then told that Ray was hot from working all day and apparently couldn't do anymore, hence his non-appearance at our table. Brittany did her best in lieu of HOT RAY. Now that we are actually able to place our orders, the first couple of items requested were sold out with the explanation that it was a Sunday evening and it's tough to commit to the menu on a Sunday evening due to delivery matters. I felt as though the manager was suggesting that we'd be better off just cooking at home if it were a Sunday evening... The night went on, with crazy hard dinner rolls and the incorrect dish being brought out with another long, aggravating wait for that to be corrected. Before our server came back to close us out with our tab, she had already taken the liberty to have or entire meal comped because she knew that the experience had been quite lousy. That was the best effort made all evening. We left Fulton's and walked over to Flatwater which totally compensated for the rest of the night out on the River.

• Pros: Nice scene on the river
• Cons: Poor Service Experience

08/17/07

Great Recovery

by bvoltaire

Last night was my second trip to Fulton's. The first experience was absolutely perfect. What impressed me even more the second time was how they handled a mistake. When we were first seated no server came to our table until I went back to the hostess to inquire. Most restaurants do not handle that very well. However, their entire staff worked to make it up to us. We had a great server and a great meal. The manager came by the table three times to check on us and took care of dessert for the whole table. Anyone can make a mistake. Because of the way they handled it with class and without attitude, I will be back again soon.

• Pros: Great patio, great service

08/14/07

Subpar on the River

by catchris98

I wondered, before I went here for dinner last week, why I'd never heard colleagues or friends mention this place. Based on the beautiful location and proximity to the loop, this should be on every executive's short list of business dinner musts. Unfortunately, now I know why no one speaks of it. While the location is wonderful, especially the large outdoor terrace overlooking the river, the service and the food prevent me from ever going back. Service was extremely slow (dinner took 2 1/2 hours for four people) and we repeatedly had to ask again for items that had never been brought. And, despite a promising menu, all of the fish was was overcooked and bland. After the $300 bill, I just wished we'd eaten elsewhere and taken a river boat tour. I'll leave this one to the tourists.

• Pros: location
• Cons: slow and unattentive service, pedestrian food, fish overcooked

07/24/07

Truly Chicago

by linda723

Between the magical views of the Chicago River, the ambiance, food and service my husband and I had a memorable anniversary dinner here recently. The server was very courteous and professional with us throughout the evening. We started with the Calamari and Crab Cake for appetizers which were both perfectly prepared. My husband, more of a meat eater, had the bone in filet and I had the salmon. We tasted each others entrees as well and were very pleased with the temperature of the steak and tenderness of the salmon. Of course, we could not help but indulge ourselves with the warm chocolate cake for dessert and even a couple of their miniature shot glass desserts (key lime pie and banana creme pie). The view of the River simply adds to the entire experience we had here. Perfect for any special occasion you may be celebrating or just treat yourselves to a great dining experience. Would go back in a heartbeat!