RPM Italian — Restaurant in Chicago

Tdlr: Due to the service and delivery of food during the dining experience, we did not eat our main course and needed to speak to management.

For a three person dining service, during a non-busy dinner time 5:15pm the following occurred.

Placed order:

Drinks: 2 cocktails and a beer.

Appetizer: Truffled Garlic Bread and Cremini Mushroom

Dinner: Mafaldine Cacio e Pepe, Rigatoni alla Vodka, and Chicken Parmesan.

Experience:

The experience is as follows, all appetizers and three entrees were brought to the table together, before drinks were brought to the table. As with most establishments of RPM’s “caliber”, it would be expected that courses are brought out staggered and to create the dining experience. The table was not big enough to hold all the plates brought at once.

We needed to get the waitresses attention to send back the entrees as we did not have any room to eat the food we had ordered, nor was it logically brought out. I even got up to the host stand to try and talk to someone. I have not been to a high end restaurant in Chicago which brings out a whole meal service prior to drinks arriving at the table.

With the three entrees sent back, we ate our appetizers. They both were great. We enjoyed the appetizers. The waitress apologized and we clearly stated we do not want the same plates to come back out for entrees as they would not be fresh anymore.

The waitress asked if we were ready for our mains and we replied yes. This is where the experience ended and we decided to leave.

The food given to us was the original three plates brought to the table. All three plates were held under the heating lamp until we were ready. The Chicken Parmesan had set cheese and was not meaty, both pasta dishes were cold. The manager and waitress said that new plates were made, however the garnish on the Rigatoni alla Vodka was the exact same basil leaves as when the original plates that were brought out. The food had been under the heat light for approximately 20 minutes and served back to us.

We spoke to the manager and waitress, and said we would like the check and paid for our drinks. The appetizers we ate were taken off our bill. We did leave a generous tip to the waitress.

In summery, for the level of establishment that RPM conveys itself to be, this was an absolute botched dinner service and quite unacceptable. Reserving cold food, lack of logistic serving of dishes, and receiving a whole two course meal prior to being served out drinks is an absolute failure.

The food may have been very good, however we did not eat at the restaurant past appetizers. It is embarrassing to send back orders and have a nice evening be ruined by poor service. We had full intention of enjoying and experiencing a well reviewed restaurant , however this is a failure from many different aspects.

Opinion: I would not recommend dinner here based on our experience regardless of how the food may be crafted.

Thank you

Update: reading other reviews, we are not the only people to experience a poor service at this restaurant. It seems to be a...

First time visitor! RPM Italian reservations were booked for today because it is my Birthday! Upon being seated, myself and friend waited approx 5 minutes before any waiter/waitress had spoken to us. We received stares, but not a word. When a waitress kindly arrived, she welcomed us. She stated although this table was assigned to another waitress, she would be happy to assist. Due to the time of a Chicago Broadway show, we requested if our full order could be placed and the kitchen could send, as food was prepared. The food was great (no complaints). However, approx 15 minutes into our dinner, our assigned waitress introduced herself, acknowledged my birthday and delivered us an alcoholic beverage (that we do not drink). And, in between time, we started to wonder, when the waitress would return. We observed our assigned waitress service the table in front of us six to seven times and the table behind us three to four times before ever returning. After approx another 15 minutes, we requested to speak to a manager, as perhaps there was some confusion with who our server was, and so forth. The manager ensured us all was good. After doing so, the assigned waitress returned to the table to apologize, which was not genuine and with attitude. Furthermore, it was then stated, "You all had ordered all of your food, there was nothing for me to do, so I figured I'd let you all enjoy." (We were not asked how the food was, if we needed refills on water, or if we'd like dessert). While I appreciate the efforts of an apology, I was left in shock. Simply disappointed. I wanted to enjoy my birthday. It was as if we were a burden. So, the manager, hospitable, returned, in which they acknowledged the error and requested if we'd like dessert. We kindly expressed, we hadn't been provided a menu. Out of all my experiences in eating at the most elite restaurants in Chicago, this is the first I've ever been treated as such, like an afterthought. I could have chosen anywhere to spend my birthday and hard earned money, and I chose RPM Italian. And while the food was great, atmosphere was beautiful and relaxing, the service below par. Typically, I considered the staff's day, because hey life is challenging. However, I wish service would have considered myself and friend with genuine kindness. You never know the things that people carry and unfortunately this was a special Birthday, that I wasn't sure I would see. So, yes kindness and consideration go far. The manager's efforts (desserts) and attentiveness to rectify the situation are greatly appreciated. Suggestion - if there is a table that a server wishes to not engage/service, regardless of reason, please re-assign another server who would gladly show up....

In a nutshell, this is a great restaurant if you want to grab a SNACK, valet your lamborgatti fastarossa, and flex your AmEx Black card. I don't really know what this place is trying to achieve, and I don't think they do either. I can only imagine the idea was "let's take the cheapest cuisine to make and up charge it 300%, then justify it with a pretentious vibe!". I honestly don't get the hype with this place. It's like a dance club when you walk in with loud house music, and lighting so dim you need the light on your phone to read the menu. I'm assuming they have the music cranked to drown out all the sirens from the fire station across the street, but I'd rather hear the occasional siren than have to yell over music the entire time. Now, let's rip into the food! Or should I say, the lack there of! Either, order A LOT of apps or don't order any at all. We ordered the truffled garlic bread and the Sicilian artichoke crostada. Both were highly underwhelming. I like garlic bread and LEGIT truffle, but this missed the mark. The first bite felt like a mouthful of garlic powder soaked in fake truffle oil delivered on a thin tasteless bread vessel. The crostada was my favorite! Sarcastically of course. Thin layers of crispy dough with a scoop of tasteless diced artichokes and overpowering Parmigiano cheese. I don't know what "crema" they're talking about on the menu, cause there wasn't any. I could have made this at home with 3 tortilla chips stacked, cut up some frozen artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's and grated some grated cheese on top and it would've been better. Now for the kids menu sized entree... I got the cacio e pepe just to see how it compared to legit cacio and my $17 handful of pasta failed to impress. I've made better at home. The pasta itself felt undercooked and doughy than an actual al dente, and the cheese and pepper was nonexistent for the first half of the portion. After a few mouthfuls I got to the bottom of the "plate bowl" and found a thin layer of a cheesy pepper "sauce" almost as if they threw that in first and then threw the pasta on top and didn't mix it up? Overall, this place is highly overrated and highly overhyped for what you get. For the same amount of money I could have gone to Gibson's got amazing cocktails, an even more amazing filet, and a dessert the size of my head! AND! I would've left with a fully belly and left overs. Instead I left RPM pissed and hungry. But hey, give it a shot for yourself. Don't say I...