The Walnut Room at... Macy's

I just got back from a day of shopping with my boyfriend's family at good old Macy's on State, and I although I don't post here often at all, I figured this would be as good a place as any to voice my MANY complaints about the Walnut Room.

One could already tell something was amiss when we walked into Macy's at 2 PM a week before Christmas and the place was practically empty. In years past, we have waited up to 4 hours to get a table in the Walnut Room, and we have walked pretty much shoulder to shoulder with other shoppers trying to get some "last minute" shopping taken care of.

This year, there was NO wait for a party of 12 at 4:30 PM, which was a pleasant surprise. We all got to sit together underneath the Christmas tree, and we were definitely ready for some food after a long day of the Krindlemart (??) and other attractions.

Our server finally came to greet us after we had been sitting for about 15 minutes, and then proceeded to take another 10 minutes to bring our soft drinks back to us-- the alcoholic drinks took another 10 minutes more (and no, I'm not exaggerating.) She dropped our drinks off and didn't come back to our table for another 25 minutes.

Normally, as I'm a server myself, I would find this totally understandable if the place were swamped, but it wasn't busy at all. We had 12 empty water/drink glasses sitting for over 10 minutes before she made it back to the table. She refilled one person's water, then "promised" to get us all refills "right away."

....another 20 minutes pass and we finally get our refills!!!

Some of us got soup and salad before the meal, which would have been great had we some silverware to eat it with. We asked her for some placesettings and it took her another 10 minutes to bring those over.

Long story short, we eat our salads, and our entrees arrive. Now, tell me something. For $12, wouldn't you expect a chicken pot pie to be a little bit more than a scoop of chicken with 2 teensy pieces of bread? My entree, the "Fields Special," which sounded great on the menu, was absolutely wretched. It is described as "turkey, lettuce, tomato, egg, bacon, and thousand island dressing served open faced on rye bread." Well let me tell you, this "special" was horribly disgusting. It was like someone half assed cutting a head of lettuce in half, threw it on top of a piece of bread that slathered in cream cheese (????!?) dumped about 4 cups of thousand island dressing on top, threw on a thin slice of deli turkey, and then added a toothpick with a) a small piece of bacon; b) a tomato the size of a quarter; and, c) a piece of egg the size of a dime. Again... NOT KIDDING. I took a picture of this crap, but my camera is not with me atm.

I sent that back in a hurry.

Also, our waitress didn't check back with us for the entirety of our meal, but she sure as heck was doting on those tables of four that didn't have that automatic gratuity tacked on.....

Anyways, I guess the main point of this posting is that I'm very disappointed in the quality of the Walnut Room not only since it has changed from Field's to Macy's, but in the last few years as well. Sadly, a 20+ year family tradition was probably ended today. I would not recommend the Walnut Room to my worst enemy

HI,

What did you think about the Vera Wang Christmas tree dressed up in blue? I haven't seen it, though I have heard accounts of it.

I am sure it will come as no surprise there has been a considerable drop in sales at Macy's this Christmas season over the year as Marshall Field's. I believe it is a 35% drop-off. While last year had the last Field's crepe on it, which may have stimulated people to buy. It would be interesting to know the contrast from 2 years ago, when there were no hints of a name change.

Bad service in an empty restaurant really has no excuse. My sympathies on your ruined meal. We lost interest in going there some years ago when an order of pancakes came unexpectedly as 5-grain pancakes. I could deal with it, though to a small child this was blasphamy. We did not like surprises like that and stopped.

Regards,

I am not a Chicago native so to be frank, I never had the Christmas tradition of running to Marshall Field's, In general, we NEVER shop at any of the department stores, preferring to shop at smaller specialty retailers where they sell brands other than Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren and the like.

Marshall Field's downtown was more like Harrod's than most of department stores. As a rule, we did not shop there but did go see the displays and the merchandise. And the foodservice - although rather stodgy, was generally very well done.

In mid-November, I took the in-laws to the Frango cafe which had always had good food and friendly service. We waited ten minutes at the entrance to be deated when the place was half empty. When we were seated, no waitress approached us for 20 minutes. We finally flagged a waitress down. It took fifteen minutes for the ice cream which was pretty good. Then another fifteen minutes to get the check.

We were pretty ticked off as the place was not busy. The delays caused us to nearly miss our train at Olivie Transportation Center.

I will not go back.

Cathy2 wrote:I am sure it will come as no surprise there has been a considerable drop in sales at Macy's this Christmas season over the year as Marshall Field's. I believe it is a 35% drop-off.

There was a story in last week's business pages in the Chicago Tribune about how the Macy's brain trust has woken up to the fact that many Fields shoppers haven't returned to the store, and is trying to figure out who they are so that it can lure them back.

lk wrote:Also, our waitress didn't check back with us for the entirety of our meal, but she sure as heck was doting on those tables of four that didn't have that automatic gratuity tacked on.....

/Putting on my attorney hat for a minute

Just so you are aware, unless an automatic gratuity is labeled as a "service charge", you have the power to alter it or even have it removed entirely. It is illegal to force someone to pay a "gratuity" if they do not want to.

riddlemay wrote:...trying to figure out who they are so that it can lure them back.

I was in the State Street store briefly yesterday (and I probably wouldn't have been if I didn't just receive a gift card for my b'day) and saw a few jaw-dropping sales, the likes of which I haven't ever seen before Christmas. The store wasn't busy at all--it was kind of creepy and kind of sad. Frango mints still bear the Marshall Fields name, and were all (I think) 30% off.

lk wrote:For $12, wouldn't you expect a chicken pot pie to be a little bit more than a scoop of chicken with 2 teensy pieces of bread?

I have elsewhere bemoaned the sham that passed itself off as chicken pot pie: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=7212&start=30&sid=18afdb0d83263a59e225c7ed975861dc

It sounds, though, that Macy's plumbs a whole new low.

Hammond

Tortfeasor wrote:

lk wrote:Also, our waitress didn't check back with us for the entirety of our meal, but she sure as heck was doting on those tables of four that didn't have that automatic gratuity tacked on.....

/Putting on my attorney hat for a minute

Just so you are aware, unless an automatic gratuity is labeled as a "service charge", you have the power to alter it or even have it removed entirely. It is illegal to force someone to pay a "gratuity" if they do not want to.

I know, I tried explaining this to sig o's father, but he tends to be way too nice when it comes to that kind of stuff... I think he may have even left her even more money, since "it's christmas and all." BLAH.


Cathy, the tree was okay this year, nothing special, and definitely NOTHING like it has been in the past few years. I heard quite a few people comment that it looked "funny" because it was full on the bottom, then got skinnier in the middle, then filled out again at the top.

One more gripe I have that has nothing to do with food-- they haven't changed the santa claus area in 4 years!! Everything is old, dusty, and sometimes even broken! They used to have awesome decorations for the kids. The windows weren't even that great... Mary Poppins this year.

I was recently at Macy's with my mother. While I have only been to the Walnut Room once (I don't even remember but my mother swears we went once), I have never had the urge to go back. The wait is always long, the service is always subpar and I don't think the food is that great. It is really all about the tree, which is beautiful this year but I liked it better last year.

When my mother mentioned eating at Macy's, I had no idea where she would want to eat. She then mentioned something about the tree and the Walnut Room. I thought we were going to wait in line forever and have an awful time. Turns out they have opened up a cafe, Tree Top Cafe, on the 8th floor. You can dine by the tree top with out being in the Walnut Room. Perfect! It is an abreviated menu of the Walnut Room "favorites". While not the best food I have ever had, I did enjoy the experience. I would recommend this over the Walnut Room. It is worth a look!

Also last minute shopping at...sigh...Macy's last night

and the windows this year...blah

took advantage of the deep discounts(esp. in children's wear)

it seemed pretty packed at 6 pm, but for all the hubub I didn't really notice much purchasing going on

---

Christkindlmarkt *after* was a lot more fun than in years past(perhaps the glog helped)...my soljanka(typische East meets West Deutsches mildly-spicy! mystery meats in brown gravy stew) was rich and oddly-satisfying for half the cup then I passed it over to the brat-eating s/o

highlight tho' was Antonio Gaudi at the Gene Siskel afterwards
I love me some Toru Takamitsu

This report is a sad ending. My grandmother took me to the Walnut Room in the 1950's, I still remember the trains that ran around the room in the toy area and the grandeur of the tree while eating lunch. Around that time my grandmother bought me a Uncle Misteltoe and Aunt Holly toy box, they were Field's Christmas characters. I still have that toy box and still have the great memories. I haven't been in downtown Chicago or even in a Marshall Field's for over 10 years, oops.... forgot a very wonderful evening at the Burnham (with a view of Field's from our room) and a night at the Symphony 3 years ago. Those memories of 50+ years ago are still strong.

Is it just me or was the kindlmarkt a lot smaller this year??

Yes, it seems that they are constructing something on the lot across from Daley Plaza, so the Christkindlmarkt is a little less than half the usual size this year.

I called the Walnut Room today to make reservations. Since the holiday season is under way, they are no longer accepting reservations, according to the answering machine message, and wait times can be "between zero and three hours". ZUH? People actually wait three hours? I was hoping to get in, but does anyone know of a time when the joint is less busy? I may have to wait til after January 11th and just pretend it's still Christmas!

PS - I don't want to go for breakfast, but lunch or dinner. Thanks.

I think that it is designed to encourage shopping. I'll stop by sometime this weekend on my way to Cafecito and get the info.

I walked by the line last year in early December - I expected to see a line as I recall standing in one when I was a kid - but it was insanity. There were easily 100 people in line.

The wait times are crazy. We went a few years ago and got a pager. I think the estimated wait time for us was 2 hours. We spent that time wandering the floors of Marshall Field's (and it was still Field's then.) The pager does not work far outside the building -- I think you could go as far out front for a smoke break. I believe we were seated under the estimated two hour time and somehow managed to keep the four-year-old and six-year-old in the group from completely melting down. I remember nothing about the food.

It has been like that as far back as I can remember if you go during the whole xmas shopping season. The seebee family would go, and then groups of use would take turns standing in line - usually the men folk and the women folk, and then the young folk would stick together. Mama seebee wanted to keep the tradition alive, so we would usually go every year when I was knee high until I was in my teens. The food ain't worth it. I did, however, try my first waldorf salad there. Although I swore it would be vile, I liked it. Tht's my bestest food memory of that place. My second bestest food memory was one year when My Dad took us because Mom was too busy, or sick, or whatever - don't recall. Anyway, we did our shopping, the wait for a table was just still too long (for Dad) so he took us to one of the cafeteria style places they have. I think it was the one with the all you can eat taco bar. THAT may have been the best M Fields shoppping day ever. Dad gave us the whole ("hey kids, we ALL know that this is ridiculous to wait for - just don't tell your mom) and we were all in agreement. On the way home, we discussed what we'd tell mom that we ate. Chicken salad on a croissant, chicken pot pie, waldorf salad etc. Dad would have (and probably still would) love this forum.

This is one year when seeing 100 people lined up there would be encouraging.

riddlemay wrote:This is one year when seeing 100 people lined up there would be encouraging.

We wandered past the Walnut Room at about 7:00 p.m. on Black Friday just to get a look at the tree and they were offering immediate seating. Even the number of diners lingering at tables after their meals made it seem like it hadn't been very crowded earlier, either. In fact, the whole store felt rather empty.

The windows outside, however (which were very lame compared to the old Fields days) had big crowds, making it seem like people are more into browsing this year instead of buying. Not a surprise, considering this economy.

I don't know if I'd blame the economy entirely: we haven't been downtown since they changed the name. I wouldn't have minded if they'd have come up with some kind of nod to Marshall Field's, ("Macy's Marshall Field Store" or somethig) but since they didn't, especially as pertains to the windows, it's not part of our tradition anymore.

I miss the banks of creative, beautiful windows at Christmastime.

The fountain in Macy's Walnut Room will be turned on this weekend for the first time in its 125-year history. Save for a few tests in 1998, it's never been operated for fear it would leak and ruin the magnificent Louis Comfort Tiffany-designed ceiling that's underneath. The 1907 ceiling was the first to be built with handmade Favrile glass and is the largest glass mosaic of its kind, containing more than 1.6 million pieces.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... -125-years