Brasserie Ruhlmann--CLOSED

Even though many of the reviews I had read were bad I thought I would still like to give this new restaurant a try. Boy was I sorry I did that! I went to BR on Sat. 5/3 with my boyfriend. For a party of 2 we were sat 1 hour past our 8:30 p.m. reservation and like another reviewer were asked at least twice if we were another party. We went to the hostess twice to ask about the wait and were continually told it would not be much longer even though we sat waiting for another 30 mins. Once seated we ordered the crab cocktail appetizer. When our server came back to take our entree order we found out she had never placed the appetizer order. After we finally received the crab it was so watery we had to squeeze the water from the meat onto our plate so that it wasn't so tasteless. Our entrees arrived sans one side order that again our server forgot to enter. Overall this is a restaurant in serious need of training for their staff. The level of service does not support the prices. I would highly recommend skiping this new "it" restaurant and going back to your favorite Chicago staple.

Pros: great decor

Cons: staff, service, food, prices, location

Posted 05/05/08

I dined at this new "hot spot", and was disapointed in the total experiece. First, $12.00 for valet parking. The restaraunt interior was like stepping into the foyer of the Marshall Field's building. To open and not intimate at all. The service was adequate, but not engaging. Nothing even close to "we are glad you are here"! The food was adequate- and overly sauced [floating in sauce]. I like to taste the meat and the sauce. In well executed fine dining french food, one should be able to distinguish between substance and flavor. The french bread was rubbery and cold [why bother]. And the "french fries" did not live up to the "best of" category. I and my dining partner [a Chenin member] left disapointed and wishing we had gone to Old Town Brasserie or Bistro Margot. We will not return to this faux-french bistro.

Pros: dessert

Cons: entree's

Posted 04/18/08

my boyfriend took me here over the holidays. i was surprised by the mixed reviews on the food... we asked the waitress what to order and she must have steered us in the right direction because everything we ate was delicious. great wine list too!
we like to try new restaurants and sometimes (especially when it is a new trendy spot) they can be totally unremarkable, but this place really managed to make an impression.
my only complaint was that the hostess/bar area was totally disorganized. we had a reservation, but didnt sit down until 1/2 after it was scheduled, the hostess asked us 3 times if we were a different party, it took about 20 minutes to get the drinks we ordered and another 20 to find someone to pay.

Pros: food, wine, ambiance

Cons: trendy crowd, disorganized

Posted 03/14/08

I have been at Brasserie Ruhlmann 4 times. My experience the first three times was great food and horrible service. The front room isill managed and suffers from some of the issues as Japonais..... inexperienced hosting staff, lack oforganization,and a poortly trained wait staff. But the food was fantastic so I came back. the reason to go was the food. Last night was my forth visit. I got the same poor service but this time the food was terrible. after we were seated, I asked for some recommendations from the wine list for "by the glass". I was was familiar with some of the wines on it and know some were outstanding in the $14 dollar range. This was a test of the waiter. His two recommendations were the two highest priced wines on the menu and they weren't the best wines listed. We ordered Frisee Salads which were delectable. I had these several times and these are outstanding. we also ordered the Skate, a Strip, Pommes Frites, and Gratinee noodles. The skate was excellent, but the Steak and Pommes Frites were warm. I had ordered the Pommes Frites every time and this was my first disappointment. We couldn't get the servers attention to resolve it, so we ate and went on. For dessert we hadthe Chocolate moose, which was average, and an expresso and a coffee. the coffee was only warm, being a decaf, the coffee was probably sitting around. Again, we coundn't get anyone's attention to change it. when someone did stop by to ask, we just didn't feel like getting "it". and why should you at what should be expected for this caliber restaurant. My recommendation is do not go to Brasserie Ruhmlmann, if you get bad service and great food that's one thing. but when you get bad service and bad food, forget it. Chicago's a great restaurant town and there are too many great options to waste your money on this type of experience.

Pros: beautiful dining room

Cons: poor service and inconsistent food

Posted 03/04/08

This place was supposed to be one of the new IT places. It was just terrible. I like to try all the new restaurants and usually enjoy most of them. The service here was terrible. Our waiter would disapear for twenty minutes at a time. The food came over-cooked. One of the desserts was spoiled. I was with a party of 8 and not one of us enjoyed our food. We complained to the manager about the service and it seemed he was uninterested in hearing our complaints. Further more, the prices here seem a bit higher than most new restaurants. In a crowded restaurant scene in town, this place needs to get better.

Pros: The room was nice

Cons: Everything else!

Posted 01/23/08

The decor is quite well done while the food is good but I definitely wouldn't call it outstanding. As for the prices, they are EXTREMELY high for what you receive and I therefore wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone other than those on a corporate expense account or those who feel that high prices will impress someone. I have been there once for dinner and once for lunch and found a consistent "good but nothing special" food experience both times - the main difference was the servers, one of whom was fairly pleasant and the most recent who had an attitude and ability to talk down to his customers which was certainly reminiscent of the occasional Paris bistro. Overall, Chicago has significantly better food and prices than you will find here so I would definitely suggest going elsewhere.

Pros: Decent bistro food, high quality raw bar, nice decor

Cons: Way overpriced, staff is pretentious, the food has no "wow" factor

Posted 12/27/07