Grant Park Bistro — Restaurant in Chicago

Bad experience at my one and only visit. Servers started out great and then it all went to poo for no apparent reason. Emailed the restaurant (copied below) and they couldn't even be bothered to reply. Food is good but institutional service attitude is not worth visiting, apparently (I can only assume it's an institutional problem if no one will talk/acknowledge). Pity. Great, easy location. No pluses can overcome the minuses here.

Hi -

My wife and I just left your restaurant a few mins ago. We were there for about an hour.

Our server was very nice when we started out. She took our order, brought our food, was very pleasant, etc. The last time we saw her, right around the time we got our food, I asked for a second beer. She acknowledged my request, but never came back to our table, and no one brought the beer.

We were on the patio. Eventually, I waved down a seemingly pleasant man (server) with a beard, who did bring my drink after I explained I had been waiting for a long time. Around the same time, I saw our original server leaving the premises. I assume she had gotten off work, but no one bothered to tell us she was leaving, that we needed to close out, that we needed to jump off a bridge, that someone else was taking care of us... nothing.

We finished our meal after I eventually got the beer. We sat there after finishing our food and drinks, and after about 15-20 mins with zero attention from anyone (other than a very polite busboy), we went to leave and I planned to ask the host for the ticket. At that point, the bearded man came over to the host station and asked if I wanted to pay.

I said yes, and asked him what happened, where our server went, etc and all he would do was look away and hold out the payment device for me to pay. It was like he'd had enough of us and our attitude or something, and we just wanted to understand what had happened, why we went from mid-meal diners to personae non gratae. It was VERY off-putting and there was no reason for the rudeness, no reason for us to just be left hanging mid-meal.

I was never rude, I never cursed or raised my voice, and so I assume either you have awful servers or something is wrong there.

I always tip 25%, but I just COULD NOT do so this time.

I am very interested in knowing what went wrong. We are tourists, staying about a block away for the next week, so the chances of us being return customers is admittedly low. But the chances went from low to ZERO for no discernible reason.

What gives? This was very weird and not the kind of service I would think you are looking...

I don't usually leave bad reviews but this has to written. We were visiting Chicago for the weekend and my wife excitedly booked this brunch spot (cool spot, highly reviewed) for a party of 4. We were staying nearby at the Palmer House Hotel. This morning it was raining heavily. We all had umbrellas but by the time we reached the restaurant, we were all drenched. Our issue, I get it. But your restaurant is attached to a hotel and your guests are coming in soaked. The least they could have offered were some towels or extra cloth napkins so we could dry off. This didn't happen, but OK, willing to look past this - we think let's at least get seated and try to dry off, warm up and eat.

Server comes over, barely says hello. He asks if we want coffee, we say yes. My wife asks for decaf and he responds by saying, no we don't have decaf and moves on.. Doesn't offer anything else in its place, turns and walks away. He brings coffee, doesn't ask if we'd like creamer or just drop it off. We had to ask minutes later when we could finally get his attention. It took several more minutes for him to return with the creamer. He then takes our order. The food came out relatively quick (brought by a different server then our original waiter) but for some reason two of us had ordered the avocado toast and inexplicably one of them came out with avocado on the side?? None of us requested this but OK. We told the server we'd take it anyways.

Meanwhile, we had ordered sides to go along with the entrees, and it took 3 different ppl, including the guy who brought us the food and our server, at least 15 mins to drop off the sides. By this point, we were nearly done with our food by the time a different server came by and dropped off the sides - finally. Not once did the waiter come by to refresh coffee and creamer. I eventually had to flag him down to ask. He then quickly filled the coffee but never brought more creamer... No apologies about how long the sides took or for the dismal service. This was supposed to be a fun morning in a seemingly great spot with great food but the whole experience was a huge letdown and the...

So, here's the deal: I recently waltzed into this joint for a nice lunch with a friend. Picture this: the place was as empty as my bank account after a shopping spree. You'd think with no crowd, the service would be on point, right? Well, our server had the personality of a potato. No greeting, no charm—just a robotic inquiry about "y'all ready to order". Talk about a warm welcome!

Now, let's talk about the main event—the food. We placed our orders and settled in for some good ol' chit-chat. Little did we know that time would pass faster than my hopes of finding true love on a reality TV show. Thirty agonizing minutes later, our food made its grand entrance, but guess what? It had the audacity to be lukewarm, bordering on cold. Oh, the audacity! We contemplated sending it back to the kitchen for a revamp, but alas, time was not on our side. So, we swallowed our disappointment along with the underwhelming food. Trust me, it was a tough pill to swallow.

Now, let's discuss the ambiance. Or, should I say, the lack thereof? The atmosphere was about as welcoming as a grumpy cat on a Monday morning. If you're looking for warm vibes and a friendly atmosphere, you might want to keep on strolling because this place missed the memo on hospitality.

But hey, let's not end this review on a sour note. I mean, who am I to rain on anyone's parade? Maybe they were having an off day, or perhaps the server was secretly auditioning for a role as a human-shaped cardboard cutout. Either way, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

So, there you have it, folks— a empty restaurant, lackluster service, lukewarm food, and an atmosphere that could use a serious makeover. But hey, maybe they'll turn things around and leave you with a dining experience that'll make you want to do the happy dance.

Disclaimer: This review is purely for entertainment purposes and based on my own quirky experiences. Your mileage may vary, so approach with a grain of salt and a...