Lure Fishbar - Chicago — Restaurant in Chicago

Thank you very much Lure Fishbar for impressing my boyfriend’s parents!!! They came in to visit Chicago for a couple of days and I was incredibly nervous choosing somewhere to make reservations because they’re well off and have refined taste, but this place blew us all away. I chose it because the menu has a nice wide selection and the prices are very reasonable. The ambiance was beautiful just walking in, and the service could not have been better. As for the food, everything we ordered was an absolute hit. My boyfriend had clam chowder, I got the blue crab sushi rice based on reviews and was not disappointed! His mom got the crab cakes and his dad got the special, I forget what it was exactly but it was fish and everyone said it was delicious. Drinks and dessert were great as well! All of the seafood and shellfish tasted incredibly fresh, not fishy at all, a nice clean taste to everything. I really enjoy oysters, and even at nice places it’s understandably hard to get oysters that don’t have a little bit of sand in them somewhere, but the oysters were perfectly clean and it allowed me to fully enjoy how delicious they were! The secret to judging a seafood place is their produce, and the lemons were top notch perfection. I was a little apprehensive because I didn’t see many pictures of the food in reviews, but don’t let that fool you, everything here is stunning. It was the perfect way to cap off my boyfriend’s parents’ visit to Chicago. Thank you Lure Fishbar, my boyfriend and I will...

My wife and I had probably the most rude and condescending service from a host that we have every experienced.

We walked in on a weekend night, with no reservation, knowing it would be busy, and definitely conscious of the fact that it might be full. I asked the host if there was room for two or what the wait was like. He told me that they were "fully committed" but he said something kind of vague that something might eventually open up at the bar. Even in this initial interaction, he felt pretentious. It really felt like he was talking down to us through his attitude and tone. I didn't know if he meant that it was first come first serve at the bar, or if there was a waitlist. So I then asked, "and how does that work?" He replied sarcastically "how does that WORK?" And I said "yes, like is there a waitlist or...?" Then he walked away from me to the bar where there was a single empty stool, grabbed it, and he said, "There's a chair, you sit in it." This was in front of a number of other customers. We were so thrown off we didn't even know what to say. It was very demeaning and embarrassing. It would have been so easy for the host to just say "Sorry we're full, but the bar is first come first served" like every other normal encounter we've had in a busy restaurant.

We've never experienced something so bad from a host before. Needless to say we left, and will not be back to another "Lure"...

My friend and I came to Lure to stop in for a drink and check out the art. However, we left before we could peruse the art due to the horrendous, off-putting energy from the bartender. He didn’t tell us his name but he was a short man with dark hair and facial hair. He made us feel ignored when he did not welcome us into the bar, despite us being the only ones there at the time. Eventually he came to take our order. I tried to prompt some friendly conversation, asking “how are you, how are you feeling?” to which he curtly replied “i’m fine, what can i get you.” His energy was very unfriendly and rude. My friend ordered her drink, and when I went to order mine I realized I mistakenly left my ID at home. I asked him if he could accept a photo of it. He stared at me with a strange expression on his face for probably 30 seconds before he said no without explanation. It was very odd and uncomfortable. After he made my friend’s drink, he ducked into a corner with another employee where we couldn’t see him, but we could hear him whispering about us. I am a former employee of the Louisville, Ky 21C location where I was a barback in the Proof on Main lounge. There we prided ourselves on having a pleasant disposition towards our customers, so I expected a lot more from my experience at Lure and was really...