Pinstripes — Restaurant in Oak Brook

We had reservations here for a party of 9 for Easter (April 9, 2023). From arrival to departure - and everything in between - this was a complete BUST all around.

Our seating was in the back end of the restaurant, but this was really not part of the restaurant, nor was this old area ever designed to be a restaurant setting. It seemed to be an old car dealership or "Midas" repair shop at one point - concrete floor/walls, high ceilings, 10-12 "garage doors", and large windows all around. No drapes or blinds, so for about an hour of our event the sunlight was in all of our faces based on where we were seated.

The tables were glorified outdoor pic-nick type tables, chairs were glorified folding chairs (just with cushions). Because of the other tables around us, we all felt like we were shouting to each other during conversation, because as described above, the acoustics/aesthetics was never designed to be a restaurant. This added on area might suffice for large gatherings or hall-type events, but it was never designed to be for dining or entertainment unless it becomes properly renovated.

From the get-go, the service was borderline awful. The servers seemed nice, but just lost or completely overwhelmed. We wanted separate checks (one check for 5, the other for us 4). Seems simple enough, but for whatever reason, the servers said that was not possible and gave us some reason which made no sense. We told them to just pretend we were 2 separate tables, but we were told that still could not be done. After about 7 minutes of discussing this, we just gave up. At the end, we had to divide our check up amongst ourselves.

Food was pretty expensive, and you didn't get large portions. No sides, at least for what we ordered there weren't any. Everything (soups, salads, even bread) was "extra" - and pricey. $7 for a small cup of soup? We asked for some plain cheeseburgers and even specified "patty and cheese only" and they came with everything, so those had to be sent back. Could we have scraped the stuff off, yes probably, but for $17+ a burger and fries, we sent them back. The size and quality of the burger was no different than what you would get at Culvers or maybe Buona Beef for about 6 bucks.

One of us ordered a beer which was $8, and it came in some type of wine glass. The amount of beer didn't even constitute a full regular 12 oz. bottle - ripoff.

Service was very slow, unorganized, chaotic. Various plates came to our table, but they were meant for another table. Some of our plates were either wrong (i.e. our cheeseburgers), or were missing things (our lasagna, which came without the meatballs that we asked for extra). A few minutes later, a few glasses of wine came to our table, which were also meant for another table - a few of our plates came late because they had been delivered to a wrong table. We had about 5-6 different waiters/servers throughout our 2 hours there, and nobody just seemed to know what they were doing. Just to get our check at the end took about a half hour - we eventually had to walk out and approach somebody at the bar (inside the actual restaurant) to officially pay our bill.

To conclude: We could not recommend this place to anybody, for any real reason - unless maybe you have a gift card that you have to burn, or are invited here for some work or family function and you HAVE to go. Couldn't even recommend the food or prices for a "to go" option, because nothing here was that special. You could get much better food or a burger at Outback or any other similar place, for less.

Service was bad (the employees WERE nice, but just bad service and policies - sorry. There should be no reason parties can't get separate checks), food was just okay (but overly pricey with small portions and no sides), the setting/seating/aesthetics/ambience of the old Midas or car dealership 'garage' in the back part of the restaurant was AWFUL. We would never come back here by choice, and we wish we could have a re-do for our...

I booked for two tables of eight each at the outdoor patio so we could enjoy a healthy breeze for a get-together. I have been bragging to my friends about the large outdoor patio with a trendy feel, even sent them photos of it. But when I got there I was “as a matter of factly” told by the host, that they don’t have large tables in that area. They could have arranged that since I made reservations two weeks before. We were directed to the open covered garage like area, but since reservations was for 5PM, the setting sun was shining too bright directly on those two tables, you can hardly read the menu, so we were moved indoors and was a little disappointed. The dinner menu does not offer a lot of choices, but their Margherita and Prosciutto Fig flatbread, along with their calamari took that disappointment away. The maple glazed salmon won my acceptance, and the Italian Jambalaya got thumbs up from my friends though the chicken was tough. The baby back ribs won the approval of only one of three people who ordered it. The Twenty Bench 2018 Cabernet was decent but pricey. The waiter was helpful, professional and knowledgeable, but he is overworked, so you rarely see him. I have to literally find him if we needed something. The service was extremely slow. But considering there were 16 of us in two tables, that is tolerable. Pinstripes has that upscale ambiance and would have been a nice chill place, if I was in the outdoor patio. Service could use some improvement.

Follow up I’ve reviewed this place before, but I felt I needed to again. My last experience here left a bad taste in my mouth. So I came back to see it things have changed, and I’m glad this visit was pleasant. I went for a late lunch with a friend for a post birthday celebration. A few cocktails was part of the plan, so I expected to stay and chill a little longer than usual. The lunch menu is very limited, more like brunch. I chose Pinstripes because of their airy and comfortable all-season patio. Wanting a more hearty lunch we both opted for their cheeseburger with an over-easy egg on top. The presentation made the burger very appetizing, almost gourmet. We also ordered top shelf Long Island iced tea. It was pretty decent, considering it was supposed to be top shelf, but I think it had more syrup than spirits. It was too sweet. Anyway, I must mention our server redeemed this place for me. This petite lady was very attentive, friendly, professional and very knowledgeable. A perfect hostess. She made sure we got what we came for, a very pleasant dining experience! She makes me want to come visit again soon. It’s people like this that gives a restaurant a...

Management at this location is a total joke, in particular "Jen" she's a total nightmare! I made a 8:15pm dinner reservation, which we showed up at 8:09pm (my shopping at Binny's, ended earlier than predicted... though very successful $1,200 later)... so we decided to eat at the bar instead. At 8:30 "Jen" told the bus Boys to put all the chairs on the tables... she apparently didn't care that paying customers were seated in the area waiting to eat. Of which caused us to feel rushed to swallow down $120 dinner (which our food didn't arrive until 8:45pm). When we paid the bill we offered constructive criticism, the polite and very attentive servers offered to call the manager over (Jen)... in the middle of explaining our dissatisfaction with her Management skills, she laughed at us.... Yes, she actually laughed at us. I knew by her body language, she didn't give two sh!ts about customers concerns and/or complaints.. so I immediately stopped talking to her. My boyfriend a business owner of, not ONE.. but..THREE businesses was VERY upset with how she dismissed our concerns. He went on to explain to her, he employees 1,800 plus employees and if one of his employees treated one of his clients how "Jen" did to us, he'd fire that employee on the spot. Now the "icing on the cake"... when we were walking out the door "Jen" called us "HILLBILLIES"... Wow! What an eventful night filled with one very ignorant person! Pinstripes, your in the service industry... why the hell would you place someone as ignorant as Jen, in the position to give customers the feel for what your company is about?! Shame on you guys!!!! This lady is going to drag down the success to this location! By the way, the "Hillbillies" she referred to are annually worth more than $150 million! It's sad, because we recently just discovered this restaurant in Mid-December and thought this place would've been an ideal location for our employee Christmas party... NOT ANYMORE! These "HILLBILLIES" will be taking our money, and business elsewhere! You can thank Jen for the loss of two...