RL Restaurant

Food always good. Service normally very good, but this time not so much.

Specifically requested a booth when submitting online reservation request (this diner very familiar with restaurant lay-out). Upon arrival, our party was escorted to table in middle of dining room. Reminded hostess of reservation request, her response was "oh, I just saw that." After a brief wait, our party of 3 was seated at a corner booth. This was after much coaxing with the hostess and reassuring her that we would fit and be comfortable. Unfortunately our server incorrectly entered one of the three lunch entrees. This was only discovered after the incorrect entrée was presented which caused some dining discomfort as 2 out of 3 of us ate and our 3 guest had to wait an additional 15 minutes for her correct entrée to be prepared. During this time, there was no offer for service recovery i.e. "may I bring you a glass of wine on the house while you wait, may I send you a complementary dessert?" This is a wonderful restaurant, however this is not without expense. Lunch with wine averages $75. per person. There needs to be more attention to detail, i.e. improved awareness to specific information on reservation requests, improved entrée order entry, improved patron service recovery.

Excellent food and service. Consistently great experience.

I live near RL and go all the time. The crab and avocado salad is my favorite, it is always good!

Excellent food and service. Cauliflower and Stilton soup a must.

Excellent restaurant. I always make a point to stop here and have a bite whenever I’m in Chicago. Love love love this place!

Best Sunday brunch ever! The Shannon Rovers were there. Great service and food. It always is a wonderful experience at RL's We love it!

Always a great dining experience!

Always a favorite when we visit Chicago. This trip was even more fun as it was St. Patrick’s Day when the awesome Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band made an appearance at the restaurant. Although the service stops for this short show it was so worth it. Enjoyed the corned beef and cabbage and the ambiance of one of our favorite Chicago landmarks. I highly recommend.

Nice food 🥘 decor is amazing
Great atmosphere
Staff is

The wait staff was incredibly friendly and attentive

Always excellent. Great food and great service. Wonderful ambiance...

Jeff was awesome!!!

I went for my birthday. The restaurant was empty. I mean no one was there. My mom asked for a specific table. The host insisted we could not get that table. We were a group of 3. We come in regularly. The crab cake was burnt. The sauce was too spicy. The salty dog grapefruit juice did not taste fresh. The brownie they gave me for my birthday (I appreciate), but was too dry. I won’t be coming back for a while as things have seriously gone downhill here.

Service was excellent and the food and ambiance is always the best! We never make a trip to Chicago without including RL in our plans. It’s legendary.

Great place for a casual lunch or a celebration! Beautiful ambiance

Great place! Really nice decor and ambiance.. perfect for a couples night out

Not quite up to the standards we have come to expect from having dined here many times before.

Absolutely exceptional! A truly first class dining experience. A ‘must do’ while in Chicago.

We love this place. Always great food and service. Friendly place in elegant atmosphere

The food was delicious and the atmosphere energetic!

Second time patronizing the restaurant. Nice crowd but the menu could use a tune up. Add a few additional items. With the suggestion of the waiter, I chose scallops and my sister chose
the lamb chops. While tasty, the chops were quite fatty.

The restaurant was the perfect location for our theater event. The food was outstanding! Three of us had the lake perch and it was done to perfection. We will definitely be making a return trip.

We always have a great experience here! Service is wonderful, food is delicious, and it’s a great atmosphere! Highly recommend!

I enjoyed lunch here with the hubby this weekend. We've been fans for years of this place, but omg, this time I had the corned beef sandwich aka Reuben. Literally the most ridiculously good corned beef in the world. Like unreal. Go enjoy a fun, fancy lunch with impeccable service & cuisine. Don't be surprised by the high bill at the end, it's worth it for amazing food, service & atmosphere!

Fabulous food and exceptional service!

Lovely restaurant. Thankfully no music. Excellent service and good food. And they do not rush you. Very elegant without being snooty and a special place to dine without feeling you aren’t cool, or young enough for the venue. Good mix of ages and people. A gem.

This is the one

Great ambiance...my steak was a little over cooked...

Getting too expensive.
I have several friends who have stopped going because they have raised prices so much.

We celebrated our anniversary at RL. From the first sip to the last bite everything was perfect
❤️❤️

Great service. Top notch. Enjoyed the Dover sole. I would highly recommend it. Green beans and shallots were delicious. The calamari and shrimp appetizer was great too!

THE SPECIAL WAS A FISH ~ BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION ~ HOWEVER ~ IT WAS OVER COOKED ~
THE FRENCH FRIES ~ LOOKED AS IF SOMEONE HAD ALREADY EATEN SOME OF THEM ~
AND THEY WERE NOT HOT ENOUGH ~

We were fans of the original RL-table side food preparation; a broader menu with all dishes available for brunch, lunch and dinner; more formal waiter attire and top quality cuts of meats. It became more casual as Gibson's management became more involved in the tone and menu for RL. It's as if Gibson's ownership does not want RL to outshine any Gibson named restaurant. RL is not the same: quality of the food and the blandness of the dishes and the removal of so many wonderful dishes makes this a restaurant to no longer put on the "when in Chicago, RL is a must dine restaurant."

Thank goodness the decor has not been altered, because without the familiar intimate, clubby feel, I never would have recognize this restaurant as RL. I was embarrassed that I took my one of my top customers to this restaurant. We both ordered the veal chop-fatty and tasteless; subpar mash potatoes and flavorless spinach. But the pricing suggested I would be dining at a top of the line venue.

Gibson's killed RL and I will never go back because I miss all that made RL special, unique and a restaurant to treasure.

Kim & Tom Wolf
847-612-2222

I finally figured out that this isn't really a restaurant, but a team that strives to create the consummate dining experience for its guests. To merely be in the room is to be transported somewhere wonderful, and the exquisite food is the crown jewel in this treasure box. Tying a bow around are the servers, and everyone else helping make this a perfect experience. Extras such as the lighting, the decor, the sound environment (it's not too loud like some places), the coat service, the hostess. RL is a warm spot in the heart of a city that happens to be much too cold right now. You owe yourself an experience at this wonderful restaurant.

One of our standby favorites when visiting Chicago. Great dinner!

I don’t know why I haven’t been here before. It is clubby and dark, beautifully appointed. Great service, delicious food, interesting menu that’s (mostly) reasonably priced. In the summer they have sidewalk seating on a nice wide swath of sidewalk. Can’t wait to go back.

We always have a fabulous time at RL. The friendly and elegant atmosphere are so enjoyable. The outstanding service and food make it our favorite place in Chicago. We love it!

Phenomenon all the way around

Always the best! Peter, our server was outstanding and so welcoming! The management checks on us and are very aware of everything going on. Runs like a well oiled machine - always perfect!