Siena Tavern — Restaurant in Chicago

I visited this restaurant with excitement to try the menu, but unfortunately my experience was overshadowed by the behavior of one of the servers, Jesus. I arrived before 11:00 PM, well before the posted closing time of 12:00 AM, intending to enjoy my meal alone.

Despite multiple polite indications that I was comfortable on my own, Jesus decided to sit with me and repeatedly asked personal and irrelevant questions. He shared details about his personal life, including that he and his ex-wife separated, that he paid for everything, and referred to himself as a “protector and provider.” He also questioned why I wouldn’t be comfortable moving in with a man who owns a house. I stated multiple times that I was not interested in conversation or company and mentioned that if I wanted company, I would ask — but he ignored these cues.

He made comments like, “You’re going to eat that pizza all by yourself?” and “Oh, we were close a while ago,” even though the posted hours said 12:00 AM and it was only 11:20 PM. While I was trying to pay the bill, he asked, “Are you done yet?” and continued to sit and talk, including bragging about working in tech and asking personal questions, which made it very uncomfortable to eat my meal. I suggested he return to work since his colleagues may need assistance, but he dismissed this and remained at my table.

While the menu and ambiance are appealing, the lack of professionalism and repeated disregard for personal boundaries made this experience extremely uncomfortable. I do not feel comfortable returning, as the server made assumptions about my personal life, status, and wealth, and overstepped social and...

This review is from my Yelp account from almost ten years ago, with an update at the bottom: My husband and I visited Chicago for our 20th anniversary and made lunch reservations at Siena Tavern. The restaurant was hopping and very energetic but not wall-to-wall people. We were seated right away in a great booth facing the busy street. Our server came over almost immediately and brought us a "Happy Anniversary" card.

For appetizers, we ordered the very popular Coccoli and Waygu Beef Tartare. I must admit that I have never eaten tartare before and was very skeptical. After a couple glasses of nice wine, I dove right in. I'm not sure if all beef tartare is this amazing, but it was flavorful, creamy, perfectly seasoned and absolutely delicious. The Coccoli was also devine but I focused on the tartare and didn't want to fill up too much before our entrees.

For our entrees, my husband had the pasta in a jar. The pasta was brought out in a mason jar with a closed lid. Inside the jar were layers of pasta and other yummy ingredients. The server shook the jar and poured the mixed pasta creation into the pasta bowl. It was a very cool presentation and my husband ate every last bite. I ordered the Prosciutto Pear pizza with baby arugula. The crust was perfect, the arugula was extremely peppery, and the pizza was phenomenal.

Our server was fantastic, attentive and focused but never intrusive.

Of all the restaurants we visited during our anniversary weekend, this is the one restaurant I cannot wait to re-visit!!

UPDATE: We have since visited Siena Tavern several more times since this first visit. It is...

Yummy squid ink linguine or other Italian pasta dishes can be found at Siena Tavern. The pastas are made daily from scratch and so the noodles are fresh and delicious. The interior design is clean and plenty of booths or tables to comfortably dine in.

Food I had to get the squid ink linguine since it seemed like the most popular and unique dish that they served. The squid ink is used to create the black linguine noodles, but don’t give any kind of squidy taste which I thought was good. The noodle texture itself was very good and perfectly cooked. The pasta sauce was another part that I really enjoyed. It was creamy and just had a little bit of heat - not too spicy. The half lobster tail to top the dish off really made this pasta extra luxurious and delicious.

Atmosphere The interior looked nice and and looked like it would be nice for groups of friends or family with the number of booths that there were. The noise level was not loud. Large windows allowed east views of the street.

Pricing The prices seemed a little above average for pasta. The squid ink linguine was definitely on the pricy side but seemed justifiable given the squid ink and lobster.

Service Service was not good from my experience. Our server gave us attitude when we asked for one of my friends dishes to be made to-go when the food had not come out yet since my friend had to leave early. I can understand the kitchen can get busy and take a while for food to come out but I would have hoped for a better experience when trying to get a dish to just come out in...