The Aviary — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

If I could give this zero stars I would. This might have been the worst experience I've had. My friend and I were visiting Chicago and she really wanted to try this place. She said the drinks were specially drinks with unique twists so I was like sure, let's try it.

1. we had to prepay for the three flight menu beforehand which broke down to $100 a person. I see why they would do this because I think most ppl would complain that the drinks were not worth it and might refuse to pay....I know I would have

2. as an interior designer I'm embarrassed they paid for this design. The decor doesn't match the interesting and unique vibe they are going for. It's like ultra lounge concept mixed with wedding dress salon waiting area. So boring, tan, and uncomfortable. Normally it's a sofa banquette with a small table and a lounge seat on the opposite side. However they utilized the chair for a bigger group a couple tables down so my friend and I had to sit on the same side. It was just weird. This is why it's bad design: When you chose too large of lounge chairs you have to poach from nearby tables rather than pulling a few from the back bc they are too large to store more.

3. the drinks were AWFUL!!!! I can'tstress this enough. Sure, some came with interesting presentations, but in actuality the presentations were similar to what very high first year culinary students at the local community college would create: kitsch, ridiculous, and absurd. My friend got the one with bbq ice. At good restaurants something weird is usually an explosion of flavors. Not this. It was a freaking bbq flavored popcicle in the drink. To get the full flavor of the drink you had to wait for the popcicle to melt. That was like 35 mins. If you drank it before hand you missed the combo of flavor. But speaking of combo of flavors; it wasn't even good. There was no complexity in any of the drinks I tried. None. It was reminiscent of a college bar with cheaper liquor making "cocktails". All of my drinks were a bit more fruity but were so disgustingly sweet I couldn't even stomach them. One was called the "blueberry" it was was presented like a seeped tea. Waiting 20 mins for the drink to still be awful after it seeped was horrible. My first drink felt like there was fruity syrup in it. And my last one was so gross the bitter Italian liquor overpowered the pineapple juice and the weird boboa's in it.

What I concluded is that the last two drinks weren't over ice or anything and made it taste like a cocktail that's been sitting out for 4 hours: warm and sugary.

4. I agree with others about the service. I don't like the idea of ordering all three drinks up front. Once I had the first drink I would have pivoted my drink choices. Also it would have been good for the server to ask what your drink style was to make some recommendations. Some were presented normal, some fun and some absurd. I think presentation is part of the experience so it would have been nice to have some idea how it would be served. But once again, so childish in the some of the presentations.

5. we went on Aug 24th 2023, when Chicago hit record temps of real feel of 116°. The bar was fine at first but I think the air con broke in the middle of service. Me along with many other ppl were fanning ourselves with the menus and nothing other than "I'll tell the manager it is hot" was said. It was 80° in the restaurant. I couldn't finish my drinks bc of that. I felt like was going to pass out and I was afraid of I drank any more alcohol I would. Yet it was so hot outside that I couldn't step outside for fresh air. So $100 down the toilet because I could only finish 1 drink. Even with them being awful, I think I could have downed them, but it was so hot that I was sweating that I felt even getting a buzz would be irresponsible and cause a medical emergency

If you have money to burn on kitsch drinks, go for it, but if you want good cocktails; go literally...

Used to go a lot when it was in new york and it had to be one of my favorite places on earth. Back then the service and experience matched any michelin restaurant. Top tier in every way. Now, i am shocked that this place is tied to Grant Achatz name. The food was strange, nothing wow worthy and very salty. The drinks were decent but other than their signature aviary cocktail, the other cocktails mostly lacked the robust flavor profile i once so enjoyed at the aviary. The service was a mixed bag. The team members who brought us our drinks and plated were lovely! However, when i had spoke with someone at the front, the conversation was awkward and uncomfortable. I was surprised at the lack of effort towards hospitality. I am from new york so no stranger to people being rude or unprofessional but i would expect more from a restaurant of this level, and with this price tag. I also am in charge of hospitality for some restaurants myself so i know a thing or two about customer service. It just really puts a damper on the experience when you are super excited to go to a place, come out of state for it, on an airplane and then treated like you are a problem.

To explain, for those who may read this so they can avoid my mistake: the booking options are varied and if you do not book the full tasting menu (the most expensive one with the most cocktails) you will not have access to order certain cocktails on the menu. At the time of booking, i had no idea that we would be limited in which cocktails we were allowed to order. So i explained how far we came and how excited we were to try their most famous/ signature cocktails like what i had fond memories of in nyc, and asked if there was a way for me and my friend to order them. The conversation became a debate questioning why i wanted that and trying to push the other cocktails on me. After a struggle of an uncomfortable convo, the team member eventually offered for us to upgrade to the full tasting menu at an additional cost which were happy and elated to do! Perhaps it was my fault for not prefacing at the beginning with “we are happy to pay extra” but i still think the service is alcking here because in my eyes how i see customer service should be is always offer the optimal solution first. If i were them, off the bat i would say “i understand. We would be happy to upgrade your experience to the XYZ one where you can get those cocktails you are referring to, for an additional cost. Is that something you would be willing to do?”. Simple, and comforting.

The reason i write this review is not to bash a specific employee but really just in hopes that the reviews are actually read by a team member who cares. The Aviary used to be, in my eyes, the best cocktail lounge in america. Now, i would say it’s just not worth it. I hope it can get back to what it once was. Maybe this was just an “off” season for them.

Next time i am in chicago, i will definitely be back. I will of course update my review if the experience gets better. Nothing would make me happier than writing a glowing 5 star review and recommending this place to all my chicago friends, like i...

Cool cocktails, but a bit pricey overall due to the forced 20% tip.

We reserved in advance for the 3 course tasting around 830p for Sunday before labor day for 2. We were seated right away, coat checked, and brought to our table. The ambience is great here. Many dressed up but also many casual dressed. Our server took awhile to show up to our table which right off the bat felt a bit weird as we had no menu to look at while waiting for her. Finally she showed up to introduce us to the menu, but she wasn't giving us eye contact when speaking to us. She instead was staring off into the distance at something above us while talking (red haired girl with glasses).

Okay... So weird... Anyways we make our order of 3 drinks each, and a black truffle explosion each. We had just come from dinner at Avec (which is fantastic btw) so didn't want to eat them right away. She said sure just let me know when you're ready for them.

First course was pretty underwhelming, neither of our drinks were very unique nor had any interesting presentation. Note that the first course cocktails were all at least 20 dollars, so this first course was not anything special. They were both lighter drinks but not memorable. We took our time drinking as we wanted to pace ourself. We didn't finish until 45m in.

When we were done and got the second course, we were served the 20k blueberries under the tea as well as the Plug in Oaxaca. Both had interesting presentation and were delicious. We thought things were going well until we were suddenly served our black truffle explosions. We didn't signal the waitress at all to say we were ready for them. I guess we had to eat them!

So we did. And they were also kind of underwhelming. Yes they were delicious but dumplings are the type of things you want at least 2 or 3 of to make a judgment on whether you like em. So just going by the steep 15 dollar price for a single dumpling makes it overrated. Served in a bottomless plate, which adds to the coolness factor I suppose.

If things weren't worse enough we were served the third course cocktails when we were barely halfway through the 2nd course.

The third course presentation was also pretty fun. In the rocks had circular ice cube that you need to slingshot to break apart, and the cereal killer is served in a plastic bag which you take a sniff of cinnamon after they snip the bag. They are both stiff drinks, but neither are anything that interesting and unique from other cocktail bars we've gone to.

In the end we did spend about 3 hours here so we definitely made good use of the 65 dollar base (plus tax plus 20% tip), but don't think we would go back. Violet Hour has much more reasonably priced drinks with amazing service and great vibes.

Aviary is a more upscale cocktail bar that's overpriced with uncomfortable and awkward service, and forced fees. I do not recommend this as a must see for...