The Dawson
Acclaimed items and guest favorites include: Chicken-fried Lobster Tail, Bone-in Ribeye, Dawson Burger, Mac & Cheese, Bloody Mary, and featured Fish Tacos.
A nod to the contiguous Dawson Brothers Fireplace Plant of late 19th century Chicago, The Dawson's interior design draws inspiration from the history of the neighborhood and the industrial innovation of that era and offers an artfully stripped-down aesthetic, highlighting natural and reclaimed materials in unexpected ways throughout the establishment.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 4:30pm - Midnight (Kitchen 11:00pm)
Friday: 4:00pm - 1:30am (Kitchen Midnight)
Saturday: 10:30am - 1:30am (Kitchen Midnight)
Sunday: 10:30am - 11:00pm (Kitchen 10:00pm)
BRUNCH:
10:30am - 3:00pm Saturday and Sunday
CTA Bus - Grand Avenue/Halsted Street stop
CTA Bus - Milwaukee Avenue / Halsted Street stop
CTA Bus - Halsted Street / Grand Avenue stop
The Dawson
312-372-4001
events@the-dawson.com
Private Dining
Book your next event with us
Menu
I came in for my birthday dinner and it was a great experience! Nice ambiance and great service.
We were visiting Chicago for a few days and the Dawson was a recommendation from the hotel. Enjoyed the fish tacos and chorizo app. Would return if in the city again.
The Dawson doesn't disappoint. Great atmosphere, outstanding food (best hanger steak I've ever had) and prices within reason for the vibe. It's especially nice that everyone could find something on the menu, even though the menu isn't huge. For our table of 8 there were options for both the vegetarians and the shellfish allergies. Wine menu is a bit limited but selections were palatable. Cocktail menu expresses some ambition which is always fun. (How often do you see 'yoga' and 'street' in a single cocktail description?) We had a great time for our holiday dinner in the bar area; looking forward to returning in summer when weather is good for the big patio.
Nothing was bad but for the price it wasn’t remarkable. If you’re looking for a fine, reliable meal you can head here, but don’t expect it to blow your mind. We did enjoy our cocktails but I thought the serving sizes overall were pretty stingy for the price. We eat out a lot, so I have a pretty good grasp on what is or is not a good value. I enjoyed this but don’t feel in a hurry to go back.
We stopped by last Sunday to try the brunch menu since we have only ever been for dinner. The food was amazing, especially the bacon flight and cinnamon bun/roll, which was huge!
Johnathan was extremely friendly and attentive and provided great service.
We will definitely be back for brunch again!
What a great restaurant! Excellent food, attentive service, and fun ambience. Would definitely recommend it to friends.
We had a fantastic dinner at The Dawson before a wine event. Each dish was so flavorful, thoughtfully prepared and service attentive but relaxed. Highly recommend!
I celebrated my birthday here with my boyfriend. From start to finish, the staff recognized my birthday and helped make it a truly special evening.
The restaurant is beautiful and our service was great, but I really thought the food was underwhelming. I am not a foodie by any means, I just was bored with the options and thought most of what I tried was under seasoned. Additionally, the dessert we tried was not good (at all) and the waitress had really sold us on them. I was really disappointed that we ordered it (banana cream pie). Yuck.
Chose The Dawson for the parents and the in laws to get together. Excellent all around!
It was a little noisy because we were located by the bar in the first floor and there a couple of larger parties there that were loud, but overall it was a great experience, great selection of drinks, and the pork ragu cavatelli last dish and chicken fried lobster tails were delicious! Definitely going to return!
Amazing!!! Thanks! Will be back! Our waiter also gave us a free liquor shot on the house after dinner. The macadamia banana creme pie was delicious as well!
We had to get to a theater performance at 6:00 PM. dinner started at 4:00. We arrived at 3:30 hoping to eat dinner. We were restricted to a light meal, which was okay (I don't consider a hamburger dinner fare, however, it was delicious) My dinner mates were not impressed with The Dawson. Therefore, I would not recommend it. Secondly, I did not eat dinner.
The food and service were both excellent. The staff and owners make a point to help your dining experience be as comfortable as possible.
Although I went there alone to celebrate my birthday I felt agmost friends. My waiter, Jonathan, was amazing! I will be sure to experience it next time with friends. A great find!!!
The food was great, but the service was bad. We had 3 different people approach our table several times to clear away plates and dishes we were still eating. The restaurant was not busy on this Tuesday night and we were not there near closing time.
I wish you had a 'Meh" for recommendation. Although the service was outstanding, I found a $14 cauliflower appetizer unimpressive and expensive. The seasonal ravioli was good and in range with the going price of a pasta dish. The $12 sundae was very underwhelming.
The food is good, overall, however I feel the hype and price are a bit inflated.
Great place for super cool vibe and excellent food. Our server was so good, and made great recommendations. All food was tasty with the exception of the Brussels sprouts we had to send back for being undercooked. Everything else was excellent - cool trendy decor - lots of spaces upstairs and down to sit, would totally recommend for dinner.
Great food and energy! Very noisy inside. Outside terrace is excellent in season.
I have never had a more interesting tortellini dish than I did last night. Omg the flavors and textures were a perfect blend and the tortellini was so delicate. Bravo!!!
Fantastic food
Excellent service and food. The bar area is very noisy and our original table was very close on the ground floor. The hostess was kind enough to relocate to us a table on the second floor with a little more privacy. Very enjoyable evening..
This place never misses . Excellent
The Dawson was absolutely fantastic! We had delicious cocktails, especially the bourbon one! The food was so, so delicious! The pastas were outstanding and so were the asian meatballs and rice noodles in the broth. We had been meaning to try The Dawson for so long and I'm glad we finally did! Everything was delicious, the service was excellent and we will absolutely be back!
Such a great evening, Anna was a tremendous bartender and offered great suggestions for dinner.
Thank you
Waiter Mitchell was great!
For some reason we were seated in bar area and conversation was more difficult than an expensive meal with out of town guest should be. Hard to talk without raising voices. Food was good tho.
All around fabulous experience for my birthday!
Corner casual high end fare in a nice pub environment. Super loud so be prepared. Service is friendly and helpful.
Service was pretty terrible. Waiter was extremely inattentive. Had no knowledge of the special occasion even though i put it in the description
Fantastic place, consistent, creative and excellent food. Great and friendly service.
All and all wonderful neighborhood gem that should be known to people living in other
neighborhoods and those visiting Chicago.
This is my third time a friend and I Fly from New York to have brunch with another firend from Milwaukee to have a delicious brunch at The Dawson. It’s become a must stop place in Chicago even if we’re only in town for few hours.
Love the bar and hosts!
Lovely ambiance, but average food & drink for the price.
Music was too loud and tables were a little close.
We sat outside on the last warm night of the season. Not to many people outside but it's such a lovely patio that it was still nice. It was my friends birthday and we shared the cauliflower appetizer, excellent, and the red fish tacos. We get the whole fish and taco fixins a lot and it's always excellent. Too much fish, we could't even finish. Thanks Dawson for another great meal!
The covered outdoor space had the ambience of a secret garden in the middle of the city. The food was delicious. I’m a vegetarian, and there was only one veggie entree option. Our server Joy was magical. She really elevated our dining experience.
Overall, I would say we had an okay time. The vibe was cool, and I liked the decor. The food items we thought were going to be amazing were just okay, and the items we thought would be just okay ended up being our favorites. Service was very slow, and at times it felt like our server forgot about us. We were there to celebrate my birthday, so were hoping for a little better service than we received. I did get a glass of champagne and complimentary dessert which was lovely, but wasn't enough to entice me to come back again in the future. I had really been looking forward to trying The Dawson, as I had heard many wonderful things, and I was a little let-down by our experience.
The brunch was lackluster and more options would be great. Not a lot of gluten-free options at all which was a bummer. The staff was great and the restaurant is super cute. I wouldn’t go back for brunch, not the right menu.
The food and drinks at the Dawson are delicious. The ambiance is magnificent. I loved it so much, I decided to host my wedding reception here.
A friend recommended this for our girls weekend in Chicago. The service was outstanding the food was great. It was spot on. The photo is of the special which was duck. We had a great time!