ROOF on theWit — Restaurant in Chicago

So this review is more geared towards the door staff at theWit and my experience along with what I personally witnessed later in the night. And to be clear, the young lady at the door is not the problem. There was an event last night where early arrival was strongly encouraged. I arrived a little before 10pm and I walked up and presented my ID. The first guy looked at me as if I didn’t belong there. He took my ID and asked if I RSVP’d, which I did. I show him my QR code for the event and he pats me down. I go in. I’ve worked Chicago nightlife for over 20 years. The first interaction usually sets the tone and that interaction could have been better. When I walked up, he gave me a look as if to say, “Please give me a reason to not let you in.” That’s not the attitude to have. If there’s a private event, letting a potential patron know, “Thank you for coming but we are having an event that’s closed to the public. We appreciate you coming and want to invite you back when we are open to the public,” will go a long way. People can sense your attitude. You don’t have to be overly friendly, but acting like power hungry gatekeeper ain’t it.

Later in the night, my sister arrived and she waited in the RSVP line. She FaceTimed me and said the line she was in was being ignored for the line where people were doing bottle service. She waited in that line for an hour. When she realized she probably wasn’t getting in, I left the event and came downstairs. When I looked at the RSVP line, it was composed of a few women and a couple men who were patiently waiting entry. I hear the gentleman with the glasses tell the RSVP line, “Yeah, y’all aren’t getting in at all.” When he saw a couple people look at him incredulously, he cleaned it up by saying they wouldn’t get in until they cleared the bottle line. As a veteran in nightlife, ignoring paying customers has never went well. Blatantly ignoring customers for ones who “already paid” — which they didn’t, leads to reviews like this one. I know the process for buying bottles and theWit hasn’t taken prepayment for table service ever. If this has changed since last Sunday, I stand corrected. The point is however, people who RSVP are just as important as the people who buy bottles. There needs to be a better system to ensure people aren’t alienated and left standing outside. This...

I gave one star only because that's the only way I could leave this review. I had an event at the Wit this past Saturday and was suppose to celebrate at the rooftop that evening after my event, well that didn't happen. Before planning my event I made a reservation at the hotel for the rooftop and asked if guest at the hotel would be able to attend the roof and not be apart of my reservation if they wanted to, which I was told they could at a fee for men and another fee for women. I spent a nice amount on my wedding anniversary there and a room block of about 20 rooms. So I brought in a nice amount to this establishment. When the manager of the roof notice how many people were trying to attend the rooftop from my party, mind you these were guest of the hotel, I was told they would have to be added to my reservation at a rate of $75 per person, even though a worker told them they wouldn't have to pay because they were guest and it was based on first come first served but standing room only. The manager and the district manager have terrible customer service and attitudes. The manager told me that he couldn't accommodate more than 30 of my guest because he had a brand to protect and elite clientele. I'm not sure what you would be protecting, maybe too many African Americans in your roof top! I definitely didn't want to celebrate and provide anymore money to this establishment so I didn't attend the roof top that evening! I even reached out to the email that the person who responds to these emails here on yelp sent before writing this review and never got a response. When I contacted the district manager Ryan Kingston, he was just as rude as the manager of the roof Blaire was and very condescending. He wanted to explain to me how this rooftop is one of the best and the awards they've won, which doesn't matter at all if you can't have customer service friendly people welcoming everyone who walks through those doors. Go somewhere where you'll be treated nicely and not like you owe them something to be in their presence. We as a people need to stop giving establishments like this our hard earned money and let them stick to their elite clientele and people who are accepted by their "brand" and the district manager stated there was nothing wrong with those comments stated! There are other rooftops go...

What an absolute disaster of an experience. We had a 9:00 pm reservation and arrived at the venue by 9:05 pm—well within the supposed 15-minute grace period. Instead of being seated, we were forced through an endless obstacle course:

Huge lines just to enter the hotel

Three separate checkpoints (ID check, security scan, and reservation confirmation) before even reaching the elevator

Another delay at the rooftop host stand, where we were told to “wait 5 minutes”

By the time the hostess looked at us, it was 9:30. Instead of acknowledging that their own cumbersome entry policies caused the delay, she smugly informed us we’d been marked as a no-show, gave away our table, and even charged us an $80 no-show fee (only refunded after multiple arguments).

Her attitude was appalling—condescending, rude, and dismissive. She actually said that in “big cities” you should always call if you’re running late. Excuse me? We were already inside the venue well within the grace period. Why should customers call when the bottleneck is their own slow, inefficient process? Any professional restaurant would at least call the guest before canceling the table. That’s basic courtesy.

It gets worse. Since all tables were gone, they told us we could stand at the bar. One of our friends is six months pregnant and visibly pregnant—standing was not an option. A kind couple at a six-top even offered us space at their table, but the hostess marched over and rudely ordered us to get up, lecturing us about “how tables work.” Even when we explained about the pregnancy and the couple’s permission, she was passive-aggressive, condescending, and completely unempathetic.

We left, disgusted. The service here isn’t just incompetent—it’s unkind, discriminatory, and downright hostile. No compassion for pregnant guests, no accountability for their broken policies, no sense of hospitality whatsoever.

Save yourself the frustration. Chicago has so many incredible rooftop bars—this is not one of them. Roof on the Wit hides behind flashy views while treating paying customers with arrogance...