Kinzie Chophouse
Jay Fal · 324 Google reviewsKinzie Chophouse — reliable italian in River North. Classic neighborhood feel, nothing here chasing trends. The drinks match the food in quality. "The creamy lobster risotto was rich and packed with tender lobster pieces" — Jay Fal [$$$]
What 1,678 diners keep saying
What 1,678 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“Cliff and Jose and the whole staff were incredible to work with. We had a last minute cancellation to a reservation we had with a restaurant because our party grew larger than expected for a restaurant we shall not name *cough cough*somerset*. This was not a problem for kinzie chophouse and their team. They welcomed our business with open arms. Thank you to cliff, jose, and the entire team for accommodating and for the exceptional customer service!”
“Really nice classy steakhouse vibes and the NY Strip was on point. Very underrated place. Would definitely recommend.”
“I had a fabulous experience at this restaurant! Everyone is kinda and accommodating! I will definitely be back”
“We came here for Mother's day for dinner and it was a memorable experience! All the staff was welcoming and considerate. Our server, Jose, was exceptionally knowledgeable and guided us in our steak selection. Throughout our dining time, Jose and the rest of the staff were attentive to our needs. Another server, Matthew, is a sweetheart and took good care of us as well. They even brought out the food faster because our toddler was very hungry :) The steaks were cooked to perfection and the sides were a perfect complimentary to them. Cocktails were well made well. All in all, Kinzie Chophouse is one of the premier steakhouses in the river north and a spot that you should definitely try for a great fine dining experience!”
“I used to order steak sandwiches from his place When I worked up the street prior to joining the military , which was twenty years ago and the fact that they are still here , says something! OMG! One of the best steaks I've tasted by far! Cooked too perfection and the flavor, my god! The seabass was amazing a well, a must try.”
“Excellent service, exceptional food, wonderful drinks. Highly recommended experience. Uncle Nearest Steak for the win!”
“came for chicago restaurant week at lunch; the menu was the same as their usual lunch offering (3 courses for $35). I had the steak sandwich, which was good but fairly large pieces for a sandwich making it hard to chew. my group also had the fish entrée, which neither enjoyed very much. the sandwich came with potato wedges and the fish came with no sides, just a single filet of fish. the carrot cake dessert was VERY good. the server was nice but we did have to flag them down a couple times trying to get the check to leave for work meetings after 1.5 hours, as this was weekday lunch.”
“The Delmonico steak is tasteless. And the service is really bad. They are just rude. No wonder there are less than 10 people on a Friday night”
“The food was terrible and definitely not worth $400 plus $66 for parking. I was utterly disappointed to spend my Valentine's Day dinner at this establishment. First, we checked in on-time, the hostess shared that our table wasn't ready and would we like to sit at the bar. Interestingly, the moment we sit at the bar and order our drinks, our table is ready and the bartender wanted us to check out with him versus adding our drinks to our dinner charges. Okay, so fine, we "cash out" at the bar. I was annoyed by that because clearly the bartender saw that we had reservations. He also shared, there is no need to add gratuity, because I added to your bill--it's automatically added tonight. The audacity. He only served us one drink each and we only sat at the bar for less than 5 minutes. Now on to the food. For appetizers, I ordered the Colossal shrimp cocktail. Okay, let's be clear, these were not colossal. I've had this dish at so many upscale restaurants around the world. These shrimp were jumbo at best. The Merlot Wine Baked Brie was a 10/10. It was the best appetizer. However, how can the chef screw up cheese and toasted brioche bread with jam? The Gravlax Salmon & Red Beet appitizer was also delicious, but the chef skimpped by only adding three tiny drops of salmon. Next, our main dishes were our primary issue. My husband ordered the Chicken Milanese, which included arugula, parmesan, lemon & anchovy butter. My husband literally said, the dish lacked flavor and he described as boring. I had the 8 oz center filet cut. I requested medium well so with slightly pink, warm, they gave me well done, overcooked and burnt. Our waiter apologized in advance that the resturant ran out of potatoes, which is odd because it's Valentine's Day and many of the side dishes have potatoes as a main ingredient, so I was disappointed when I was unable to order the Handmade Potato Gnocchi served with with cacio e pepe sauce & fresh truffle. Our reservation was at 7:45p, not 10:00p, so the fact that the restaurant was out of potatoes was ridiculous, especially when 70% of the side dishes included potatoes as a main ingredient. So, I had to settle for dry Mac & Cheese. Throughout dinner we continued to have our cocktails refreshed that we started with from the bar. We did not take advantage of their wine service. However, my husband ordered at least three ROSÉ OLÉ a citrus Vodka, Rose Lillet, lemon, and Sparkling Rose. The third drink for him was terrible. He said it tasted like the bartender was overjoyed pouring lemon juice. Because our food was so terrible and we were at the end of dinner, he decided not to complain but instead leave the drink. For me, a good service waiter, would notice that the patron hadn't finished their drink or it would appear that they hadn't touched their drink, and inquire, is everything okay with your drink. Lastly, we ended with dessert and espresso. My espresso was delicious. For dessert, we ordered the Baked Alaska - The "Karydopita” Edition, whixh included wild berry sauce and torched meringue. Well, the fire presentation lacked luster and the taste was horrible. We literally tasted ice chips with every bite. I do not recommend Kinzie Chophouse if you are seeking an exquisite culinary and dining experience. I was not impressed.”
“My boyfriend and I went here for Restaurant week and I was really excited to try this place! To say I was disappointed, is an absolute understatement, but let’s start off on a few positives, shall we? The staff was dressed very elegantly and they were very kind. The ambience of the restaurant was very cozy and romantic, even though they were filming some promotional content and there was a very bright filming lights set up. They weren’t up for the entirety of our meal, so once they were taken down the restaurant got very cozy with dim lighting. We got a few cocktails to start. I had a dirty, Gray goose martini which was delicious and my boyfriend really enjoyed the old fashion! We each got a glass of wine with dinner- he had a Cabernet which was incredible! And I had a Chardonnay which was delicious for someone who doesn’t like Chardonnay! Now onto the menu and food. Since it was restaurant week, they had the option of a $60 dinner 3 course pre-fix menu. My boyfriend and I got different options as to try everything. We did get oysters as an appetizer, and they were alright. We’ve definitely had better oysters in the city and we were disappointed that the waiter just dropped them on the table and left. They didn’t let us know where the oysters were from or anything like that. But they were alright (5/10). For starters, I got the blue cheese wedge salad! (10/10). My boyfriend got the Crispy Porkbelly. (0/10). The pork-belly was incredibly over salted and almost inedible. The for the second course, I got the French onion soup (0/10). It was literally served cold. My boyfriend got the leek and potato soup (10/10). I ended up finishing his! Now, something else to mention here is that the wait time between the first course and second course was almost 45mins! Which is probably why my soup was cold, I bet it was just sitting there. For the third course, I got the Sea Bass Filet (1/10). It was alright, as in I could have eaten the entire thing if I was forced to. It was served with the skin on, which I don’t like. When when I flipped it over the meat side, it was tender but incredibly over salted. Also there was way too much oil! I’m not sure if sea bass is a very oily fish in general, but I really couldn’t finish more than half. My boyfriend got the Prime Rib which was delicious (8/10). The most annoying thing was that there was another 45 mins better the second course and third course. We were there for almost 3 ½ hours! I’m not sure if the filming was slowing things down or what but this was wayyy too long! I know a multi-course meal can be more of experiential dining, but if you’re going to do that, the majority of the experience shouldn’t be waiting in between courses for incredibly sub-par, awful food. All this to say, the presentation of each dish was incredible (10/10) it just didn’t all taste good! I truly left bad for the couple next to use who had to have waited over an hour for the third course, and when the waiter came back to ask them what they each ordered- I knew they were in trouble! Maybe the food on their regular menu is better, but service wise and wait times considered….i would not try this again!”
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