Smyth

We've been to many of the top fine dining places in Chicago and this place is no where near as good as the others. Out of the 10-12 tastings, 2 were good and the rest were average at best. We did the "reserve wine" pairing and all were average wines. Also, BE AWARE of the 20% added service charge to the bill. This goes to the restaurant (not the servers) so not sure why they don't just raise their prices. Very deceptive! I've seen 3% service charges, but 20% is absolutely ridiculous, especially on a $1200 bill for 2 people. Really bad experience and so very disappointing!

World class dining experience I hope they retain the three stars for years to come

Single handedly the most unique and wonderful culinary experience of my life. The ambiance, seeing the kitchen, the staff, the INCREDIBLE food - it was unparalleled. If you have the opportunity to experience this, I highly recommend! There was a point during the meal that it felt like my senses were short-circuiting because of flavor fireworks. I've never experienced the layers of flavor, textures, and presentation. I also loved the little touch of giving us the menu at the end. I couldn't follow everything because its just a sensory overload (in the best way) and I am glad that i have that to remember it. THE BEST RESTAURANT I'VE BEEN TO IN CHICAGO

We have now been to Smyth twice, once in 2017 and in Jan 2024. Overall, this time we left feeling a bit disappointed and frankly, in some discomfort. Like with any restaurant where you are spending $1000 for two people, you expect excellence. On arrival, we sat unattended for over 25 minutes. As I was breaking my dry January I was gasping for a drink, but it took four or five attempts to finally flag someone down. From there the service was immaculate, but it was a really awkward first impression. The food - far too many of the dishes tasted too similar. I felt like I had gone swimming in the ocean with my mouth open by the end of the night - so many fishy, salty concoctions that whilst immaculately presented and interestingly described, all started to blend in to one. This made the non-salt water dishes really stand out - in particular the avocado was sensational as was the chamomile cloud dessert. Overall, both my wife and I struggled to finish some of the later dishes from the sea and left feeling pretty nauseous and over-salted. An establishment of this calibre should not be thrusting an awkward tipping situation on to its patron. Smyth applies an automatic 20% ‘tip’ on to your bill, but then the server reminds you that this is in fact not a tip but instead required to cover basic staff needs like healthcare etc and therefore any additional tip is actually a tip. The whole interaction was awkward and surreal - you are about to put your card down on a $1000 check to be told that if you want to tip you need to add a second tip. Do either - apply a service charge that covers all bases and say nothing, or don’t apply the service charge let people tip, but dont try and do both. In summary, there is some incredible inventiveness and flavors in some of the dishes but for the most part the food was samey and disappointing. Service snafus and the whole service charge/tip situation further compounded the ‘meh’ experience.

Worth it. Period.

Disappointing on multiple levels; do not recommend. Top three critiques: the food started to taste the same (akin to blended seafood in salt), took four “courses” and an ask to receive the martini I ordered, and a spelling error, which is “fine” if you’re not a three star Michelin restaurant.

An unbelievable food experience. 10/10 and would recommend everyone tries this place at least once a year! Amazing staff and amazing chefs. Thanks for a phenomenal night! Best chefs in Chicago!

Oh no I’m very disappointed in our experience although I should have read more reviews online before booking for my partner’s birthday celebration. Disappointing on all levels + we got sick after the meal for the last day. It was very cold inside, I wore my jacket and my partners on my lap because I was so cold. The service was very slow. Our entire meal almost took five hours and it felt dragged on. The food was terrible in all aspects other than presentation. It seemed as though every dish was striving to be ultra creative so much so that you couldn’t taste the flavors of the original ingredients. I did not finish multiple of the courses because I couldn’t stomach them which is rare at a meal like this because the servings are intentionally small. Our last main dish (duck) was served completely cold and inedible. There are many other spots in Chicago that I’d recommend going to instead of this. Oriole being the top. Don’t waste your money coming here.