ETA Restaurant + Bar

Over priced for what you receive

I rarely if ever complain but this was an absolutely horrible experience. We sit down immediately which was great, but then we don’t get served for 25 minutes, two servers kept looking at us and walking right by, I had to go up and ask one if we had a server, he finally came (there were only 4 people there, one couple and an elderly friend couple). Then once he was there he got our order almost entirely wrong. My date asked for crispy Brussels sprouts, got a Brussels Caesar salad? I asked for the burger, that came out correctly and tasted good, but also asked for the truffle Mac, and he brought out mashed potatoes, it was just an all around bad experience. Hopefully it was just my experience and it’s not always this terrible.

All the meals were too sweet/sugary (except meat which was stringy and fatty).
No ambiance; no attempt to make it seem like New Years Eve; poor service clearing one persons plate while the other is still eating; would you consider 1 oyster to be counted as a course?

Go for the breakfast.

The server that my friend and I got was Michael...Michael was really great server and was very helpful with explaining the menus and cocktails. We enjoyed trying ETA restaurant for the first time and would to thank Michael for his service.

The food at this restaurant was not good. Started off with calamari which should be easy, but this was by far the worst calamari we have ever eaten. So much so, that 4 of us left half of the appetizer even though we were all hungry. Everything else was just average.

We went for lunch on Sunday - disappointed that they didn't have any brunch dishes (no egg dish of any kind). Would be easy and sensical to have a few brunch options on Sundays.

Nice cozy find and quiet! Drinks were great! We only had appetizers and the deviled eggs were amazing!! Attentive staff also! We got a bag of cookies with our bill!

ETA never disappoints for a restaurant that is available when you don’t feel like going out. Food is pretty solid (if you want to be particular about your cuts, etc this is not the place) - the service is overall good - slow at times, but nothing chronic. Overall value is great - but I’m a resident and there are some great incentives that come along with that status. My cocktail was perfect (and I’m a stickler for a proper martini).

Disappointing meal at ETA. The salads started out fine with a good Brussels Cesaer salad. The main courses were disappointing. I order pork chops frequently and the pork chop was recommended by our waiter and described as double cut. The actual chop was not particularly thick and it was very fatty. Our waiter described it as ' marbling." The salmon was described as prepared medium rare and turned out to be cooked all the way through. We were offered to have the salmon returned to the kitchen however we were trying to make a show and declined the offer. The truffle mac and cheese side did not have any truffle flavor.

Great service and food! The restaurant is very clean and well maintained. Our server both days were very attentive and pleasant. Great place to grab breakfast or for casual dining.
Must try the Avocado Toast and Cider Aioli - if you like Salmon and Avocado! A favorite of my son’s. The Chef was kind and stopped to speak to us about it which was very thoughtful.

Good, filling, unique flavors enhancing classic American cuisine. Friendly server.

The food was not very good. My husband had lamb and I had a burger. Both were not good. The wedge salad as well was different - huge piece of bacon on top with a bbq sauce on the bottom - did not like that either. Service was good. Staff was friendly and cheese plate appetizer was good. I would recommend for drinks and apps vs. dinner. Not worth the cost.

I’ve been here many times. I’ve had the short ribs, the burger, the salmon, and the NY Strip - all were excellent. The salads are also very good. There is a Brussels sprout salad that was excellent.

Our server Ricardo was great and so was management.

Conceptually seems right. But as Loew's lobby restaurant expected so much more. Arrived early with 3 kids, seated promptly & that was the only thing that was acceptable besides the waiter's personality!

In series of four appetizers, the foie gras was stretched too thin and the calamari was a dark brown greasy dehydrated nearly burned set of crisps. The replacement order was correctly cooked, but took 25 minutes. The server should have never brought the first calamari to our table, it was burned that badly. .. I can only attribute it to being new.

Both my "PRIME" rib eye and my wife's "prime" sirloin were woefully over cooked. Again the replacements took nearly half an hour and mine was now rare, cold red center versus medium rare, although both beat the medium well from first round. My wife's was appropriate, but she had told me she choking down whatever they brought out no matter what this time. No piece of meat served there was prime by any standard.

This should say it all, the joint was less than 50% occupied at 7pm on a Saturday night. The kitchen staff should be released and a fresh start is desperately needed!

We had a great time, the staff is super friendly and food was fantastic. The chef came out and greeted us to check if the food was good. ETA is inside the lobby of the Lowes Hotel which is stunningly beautiful. Great River North neighborhood.

Food was really well prepared. Service was also really good though we did have to wait over 20 minutes for our bill and even then had to ask for it. Standouts were the skate and carrots.

Good breakfast and also interesting menu.
Dinner menu is good . Excellent burger.

Food was amazing, drinks were unique and tasty. I would definitely go here again.

Very good food. Seafood dish was absolutely perfect. Service was outstanding and friendly. Can't believe it was not crowded as it is really good. Would go again now that I know it is there. In Loews Hotel lobby. Glad to have found it due to a Travel Zoo voucher.

My group had a great time there. Wines were good, and above all, the service was excellent.

Fabulous food! Not an average hotel restaurant. The chef here is creative and has panache but doesn't ruin good food with too many crazy, trendy ingredients. We are huge fans of the roof top bar, so we decided to step out and try the food in the restaurant, we loved it. We went with tradition meals. I ordered the 18 oz. pork chop because I was really hungry. It was juicy and cooked to perfection. The chop was slashed through allowing the pork to cook in kebab size pieces still attached to the bone. This technique allowed the center of the meat to be cook to perfection without cooking the outside to a burnt crisp. The applesauce was a delicious surprise with a bright note of basil (?) hitting the palate. My husband had the prime New York strip steak which he was afraid might be a bit small until he realized all the fat had been completely trimmed away - and he is really fussy. With a side he felt it was the perfect size barely leaving room for dessert. We started with the avocado toast which was another culinary surprise. A thin layer of spicy pate was smeared on the toast under the avocado and greens dialing up the flavor significantly while still providing a light, relatively healthy first course. We will definitely return to check out the creative sounding cocktails as well.

This place is inside the Loews hotel and was worth checking out. The food was very good and service exceptional.

The kitchen was tremendously slow. Felt bad for the wait staff since they needed to keep assuring the tables that the food was coming. Once it was finally served the food was good. Not sure why it was so slow coming out. The restaurant wasn’t very busy at the time we were there.

Chef Matt is outstanding! The Flatbread was amazing and his fried chicken is the best in Chicago.

Enjoyed the meal and our waiter Ricardo was worth eating hear twice in a week. The service and food were fantastic.

Good food and service. Nice ambiance and a good neighborhood spot close to the river

The food was excellent. My date and I enjoyed ourselves!

The food was good. The initial bottle of wine we ordered wasn't available. Our second bottle was very good. The server was nice and helpful

Too noisy to have a conversation - sound dampening features are badly needed.

No coffee offered when I sat down. Had to wait for waiter to free up to order coffee - that's tough to wait first thing in the morning.

No coffee refills offered until I asked. Distracting to have to do so during business breakfast.

Not going back anytime soon.

The service was slow and not great. We sat for a long time before getting noticed at the table, and once we did it took a long time to get drinks. 1/3 of our dishes were good, but two of the dishes were terrible. Our pork chop entree was dry and did not come with the apple compote mentioned on the menu. When we asked the server about it, she came back with a side of something saying it was apples but clearly was not. The Brussel sprouts were soggy as well. Disappointed, as this was a celebration night for us, but we did hear that they were “slammed” in the kitchen by the hostess, though the restaurant was relatively empty. Not sure what happened!

The service was terrible. They were completely understaffed for the holiday. It took almost 45 mins to get our drinks. The only consolation was the food was good thanks to the chef.

ETA was much smaller and more casual than we expected for the only restaurant in a large hotel. The lobby bar area was 5 times the size. The service was friendly and helpful. The salad and short ribs were very good. But, the atmosphere was just not what we expected.

Nice spot in a Lowes Hotel. The food was good but nothing makes one say 'wow'.
A really nice place for easy conversation as the music and the crowd were low key.

Receptionist was very nice and helpful with accommodating our small business meeting. Service and food were both very acceptable and enjoyable.

I have had many good experiences at ETA. However this time the soup (which I’ve had before) was watery and nothing like the first time I’d had it. The mushroom pasta had too much garlic and the noodles were well passed al dente. And for the first time we were surprised by the bill ($10 for kids Mac and cheese, $3 milk). This meal was definitely an anomaly, though, all the other dozen times I’ve eaten there is been really happy with the food and the value in relation to the price.

Thanks for everything, it was fantastic!! Food was very tasty, and the dessert is to die for. Highly recommend the brownie (best of my life!!!) or the cheesecake pana cotta.

Great find for our pre-theater dinner. An eclectic menu, which made decision making difficult. We opted to split the wedge salad and had the short ribs and “burger of the month” as our entrees. Excellent preparation and presentation! We’ll allow more time when we return, since their desserts sound great, too.

This place got great reviews on Yelp so we thought what the heck lets give a shot. It was a GREAT choice. The service was excellent. Attentive, focused, friendly and knowledgeable. What else could one want? The quality of the food was also superb. Cooked to perfection (I had the chicken and my wife had soup and we shared the flatbread) and presented with aplomb and grace. Yes it is located inside the Loews hotel and so some folks will look askance at the location but the service and food make this place well worth the trip!