Chemistry Chicago — Restaurant in Hyde Park Township

This restaurant is NOT WORTH THE HYPE! It’s simply instaworthy and that’s it! For starters, my husband and I visited Chemistry on Monday, July 22nd to celebrate our anniversary. I added that detail to our OpenTable reservation, but throughout my whole experience, it was never acknowledged, nor were we asked if we were celebrating anything. Not really an issue for me though! Just something worth noting. Moving on…we were greeted warmly by the hostess and the guy at the door who carded us, which was extremely weird bc there was a toddler dining and dancing in the restaurant and it was about 9:30pm. Again, not a big deal to me, but odd and worth mentioning. At this time, the restaurant’s vibe is not really busy but the music is very loud and they’re playing a mixture of hip-hop and r&b. Lots of people in there celebrating birthdays and so forth. It was giving a club-like vibe. Not an issue if that’s what you’re looking for, but we wanted more of a fine dining experience.

After being seated our server came and explained how to access the menu. We asked for tap water and began to scroll through the menu. We were never offered any popcorn like others mentioned being complementary in other reviews. We ordered the salmon strips as an appetizer. They were good! However, we were never given any sharing plates. Next we ordered the lamb chops and the airline chicken. The food arrived freaky fast and we were not given any utensils. We waited a while as we watched our server attend to other tables. I had to flag down another server to get our utensils.

Our entrees were very mid. I noticed the prices and even the look of the food was more on the level of Ruth’s Chris, but it definitely wasn’t giving Ruth’s Chris quality. The food came so fast there’s no way it was prepared freshly, nor did it taste like it. The lamb chops were full of fat and not well done like my husband requested, and the mashed potatoes tasted strange. The server never came back to check on us or ask how everything was.

They provide cards at the table to help you strike up conversation while on a date, but it’s useless when the music is so loud that you can’t hear each other. I wanted sooooo bad to like this place based on what I’ve seen on social media! I also wanted to support MY PEOPLE! But it’s a no for me!!!! This restaurant is not up to par at all! There’s so much room for improvement. The service itself was so bad. And it’s obvious when you force a 20% gratuity no matter the size of the party. Meanwhile you got the server practically begging for an additional tip, saying he barely gets any of the gratuity. SMH. Overall, I was extremely underwhelmed and disappointed!!!! I hate to say it. Idk if maybe I’m just not the audience they’re marketing to, but between the awful service, the mid food, the ratchet ambiance, and $150 later, I can safely say, we won’t be revisiting Chemistry.

It’s so much more to say about this experience and I don’t have the time or interest to go on. I’m really regretting not reading the reviews thoroughly before trying this place bc everyone who rated this place poorly is pretty much saying the same thing! And the fact that management doesn’t care to respond to the reviews, further let’s you know that they simply don’t care about ensuring that people have a high quality experience. There is potential here, but you MUST to set a standard of...

LONG POST

Chemistry dropped the ball. This NYE could’ve been planned better. I dined at Chemistry a while back and had a great time. So, I thought bringing in the New Year at Chemistry would be an amazing time. I thought wrong.

I purchased our tickets ($200) once I saw the post about the NYE event to secure our spot. I reached out regarding seating and any additional information about the night. No response. Seating information was given three days before the event. It was on a first-come, first-served basis, with a $500 minimum per table and a $1,000 minimum per booth and casino night. Here is where issues come in, which made it a horrible night. Doors were to open at 10 pm; we pulled up around 10:30 to see a line of people standing outside. We got in line and waited close to 30 minutes to be let in. However, while waiting, you see people having a good old time inside while many of us are standing in the cold watching security, letting people(assuming family and friends) cut the line. So if you wanted a table, it was impossible.

We finally made it inside, checked in, and were given a card to use for casino games; there was no coat check at the door. There was no room to move around. I found a place to stand but was told to move. At this point, I needed a drink; unable to get to the front bar due to it being crowded, we were told to go to the back bar. Walking through the restaurant to the other bar, we saw what could’ve been a coat check, but it looked like it was a rack where you are welcome to hang your coat—but got to the back bar, which was crowded in that small area. We headed back to the front bar and waited for help. It took someone who knew the bartender to get their attention to service us. We’re walking around with our coats, trying to find someplace to stand. We saw the roulette table. Mind you, this was supposed to be a casino night; there was one game, and this was back in a corner.

We ended up playing to make the best of the night. We were starting to have a good time, so another drink was needed, but this is where I was pissed. The back bar was looking light, so I went to get a drink. I was told the bartender had stepped away to handle something and that she would return in 10 minutes. Cool, no worries. But when I looked back, I saw some gentlemen serving drinks or making drinks to take with them. I went back to ask and was told I had to wait or go to the front bar while he passed a drink to his buddies, and another walked from behind the bar with drinks in hand. I explained to two of the gentlemen that this was ridiculous and unfair. One guy told me I would have to use Cash App to pay for a drink. Drinks continued to be made for their friends. So that was my cue to head on out. Due to how the night was going, we walked out during the countdown.

The managers should’ve been more attentive to all guests. I get it, it's NYE and a big event, but the execution was horrible. I felt sorry for those who paid to sit and had people hoovering over them and their food being passed through the crowd. The tables should've been replaced with high-boy tables to allow more space and additional casino tables to give the Harlem Night feel. SMH...

So let’s start off with the atmosphere. It is really nice, good vibes, and all around picture ready. With that being said the music is WAY too loud. We literally couldn’t wait to leave because we couldn’t even hear each other talk. It’s as if you are trying to have dinner in the middle of the club. I literally left with a headache. The chemistry question cards are nice, but you can’t even hear each other to engage. Most of the tables were dark, with no supporting lights. Mind you we went there to celebrate an early Valentines Day dinner. We definitely will be taking a take two somewhere else tonight. You had people there twerking being loud, BOTTLE SERVICE the same way they do when you’re at the club with the sparklers. Our waitress was very nice. No complaints. Now let’s get to the food. It came out EXTREMELY fast and not in a good way. It was as if everything is already made and it’s sitting there and brought out to order. We ordered appetizers. They came out in 5 minutes. The Alfredo sauce was not Alfredo on the “Alfredo fries” they also had too much garlic. The salmon strips were decent, but it’s was as if they took a store bought sweet chili sauce and just poured it on top of them. Both came out room temperature. Oh so our drinks were very sweet. Didn’t drink them at all. Our food came out 5 minutes after we ordered. Jerk salmon and garlic mashed potatoes. Came out cold, garnished it with a ton of dried parsley. Literally looked like it was just poured out on top. Potatoes weren’t garlicky and they had a taste as if they were cooked in dirty water. The mac and cheese was room temperature. The crust was hard due to sitting out. Had that dry look. We also had the Brussels sprouts which were warm. Oh and the Caesar salad. It wasn’t a salad after all of that dressing and cheese they put on it lol. The croutons were soggy which is also another indicator food is already prepared and just sitting. Croutons go on after the salad is plated - usually. None of the food was nasty. They just need to do better. One of the managers came over on her own and asked us how everything was. I told her the truth and she was very nice and respectful. I told her we didn’t like our drinks and they were replaced with two shots of vodka. The drinks were $16 a piece so we didn’t drink them and paid $32 for two shots of vodka because she didn’t take the drinks charges off. We ordered desert and let me say the fried oreos were delicious. We also got the bananas foster and it was definitely not what it was supposed to be. The bananas they used were either plantains or they were green and not ripe. Not sweet at all. The ice cream was good and the presentation the server did at the table side was great. I don’t believe she charged us for desert. Over all we paid around $250 including a $38 gratuity fee and an additional tip for our waitress. We also paid a $5 entertainment fee. For what exactly? Not sure. I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t recommend this place, but it’s not somewhere I would go to spend that...