Tao Chicago

Has anyone tried the Tao here? My search efforts only bring up the one in Vegas. I am not expecting much other than spending too much money. My wife is insisting that we take our daughters there Friday. We are going early so we will avoid the club scene. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Will

632 N Dearborn St
Chicago, IL 60654
(224) 888-0388

Our dinner at Tao was interesting. Family loved the room, which was a little over the top for me. We had a 5 pm reservation which is their opening time, and there were about 20 of us waiting outside when they opened the doors at 5:02. When we left at 6:30 it was full. It weemed like a very touristy crowd. The food was better than I expected. I would compare it menu wise to Nobu, and while it didnt rise to that level, it was well above a pf Changs. While prices were fairly high, the portion sizes were decent, so I didnt have a big issue with the value, at least for the appetizer/small plate things which were all we ordered. The entrees were more pricey, and I would have been unhappy paying $55 for the beef and broccoli, which was about 5 ounces of sliced prime strip steak with steamed broccoli and onion rings. The sauteed asian greens were excellent, as was the chinese brocolli. The sea bass skewers reminded me of the miso glazed black cod at Nobu. Everything else was good/very good, but not great.
The strange part for us was the service. Everyone was very nice, but incompetent. Between the 4 of us we ordered 12 appetizer/small plate/sushi/side dishes. The waiter said "we ask that you order everything at once and I will course it out for you." A little while later, 3 food runners were lined up with all 12 of our plates. We said that we didnt want everything at once, but they still put all 12 plates down on our table (which was quite a feat even considering we had an oversized table), and one said "this is how your waiter ordered it so you have to talk to him....sorry." When the waiter came back he said that he had ordered it to be coursed out but that the kitchen must have thought we wanted them all at once because there were no entrees ordered!?! He offered to take a few plates back and "keep them warm in the kitchen." We decided to keep them all, but it was clear that we were unhappy. We did not order dessert and when he brought the check he said that he was sorry that it had all arrived at once, but did not offer us anything....a free drink or even a visit from the manager would have been nice. My wife did say something to a manager on the way out and emailed her so we will see how they handle it.
So overall, better food and value than I expected, but at least for us the service was an issue.

-Will

Sounds like it might be their SOP to pretend they misunderstand what you want in order to turn the table faster (and pass the blame on to whoever). Bummer, but nothing you posted really surprised me at all.

=R=

I am not sure that it is SOP because several tables around us, with the same waiter, seemed to have their courses timed properly, and I didnt notice any other effort to rush people through.

-Will

This is why you’ll never be EC......

Our visit to Tao Las Vegas was one of the most miserable experiences of my life.
Never to be repeated.

Did anyone read Eater Chicago's end-of-year series where they survey local Chicago food journalists and ask them questions about their 2018 dining experiences? I lost it when I read Audarshia Townsend ("Managing Editor for Restaurant Inc. Magazine; regular contributor for WGN Morning News") response to the question about the most significant restaurant opening of 2018 and her response was, Tao.

Hahahahahahahaha. Who in Chicago has even uttered the word Tao since it opened? Thanks for this thread...totally reconfirmed that she lacks all credibility.

chgoeditor wrote:Did anyone read Eater Chicago's end-of-year series where they survey local Chicago food journalists and ask them questions about their 2018 dining experiences? I lost it when I read Audarshia Townsend ("Managing Editor for Restaurant Inc. Magazine; regular contributor for WGN Morning News") response to the question about the most significant restaurant opening of 2018 and her response was, Tao.

Hahahahahahahaha. Who in Chicago has even uttered the word Tao since it opened? Thanks for this thread...totally reconfirmed that she lacks all credibility.

I'll never set foot into this place but to be fair, it was a huge opening from the business standpoint of restaurants. And that cannot be debated.

chgoeditor wrote:Did anyone read Eater Chicago's end-of-year series where they survey local Chicago food journalists and ask them questions about their 2018 dining experiences? I lost it when I read Audarshia Townsend ("Managing Editor for Restaurant Inc. Magazine; regular contributor for WGN Morning News") response to the question about the most significant restaurant opening of 2018 and her response was, Tao.

Hahahahahahahaha. Who in Chicago has even uttered the word Tao since it opened? Thanks for this thread...totally reconfirmed that she lacks all credibility.

I don't know who she is, nor do I follow her, but when she shows up on a list of rec's, I have seen similar head scratchers. Her picks seem to be restaurants that do a lot of marketing...

Al Ehrhardt wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:Did anyone read Eater Chicago's end-of-year series where they survey local Chicago food journalists and ask them questions about their 2018 dining experiences? I lost it when I read Audarshia Townsend ("Managing Editor for Restaurant Inc. Magazine; regular contributor for WGN Morning News") response to the question about the most significant restaurant opening of 2018 and her response was, Tao.

Hahahahahahahaha. Who in Chicago has even uttered the word Tao since it opened? Thanks for this thread...totally reconfirmed that she lacks all credibility.

I don't know who she is, nor do I follow her, but when she shows up on a list of rec's, I have seen similar head scratchers. Her picks seem to be restaurants that do a lot of marketing...

She's a "press release journalist" and that's being kind.

=R=