Best mac & cheese in the city of Chicago. Great restaurant, fantastic service from Eric, our server!! Highly recommend it!

4.5 stars, really! I've never been to the Lobby at the Peninsula and I loved it! I came for Restaurant Week, 2012 with 2 girlfriends. We loved the appetizer bar. I could have just eaten that for my meal. I went up several times for their fresh salad, grilled vegetables, cheese and they had the most delectable guacamole with crabmeat served in a martini glass. 2 of us ordered the scallops and 1 ordered the short rib with pasta. The serving was just right, especially after the appetizers we devoured. The desserts were just okay. The mini red velvet cupcake I had was a bit dry, but the fruit salad was scrumptious as well as the chocolate covered espresso beans! Although the website says the dress code is 'Smart Casual', many people were really dressed down. I don't think they will turn you away if you aren't dressed appropriately but it's probably best to err on the side of caution. The service was superb. They quickly cleared our plates and were courteous throughout our meal. I'll definitely go again before next year's restaurant week! read more

Delicious brunch, excellent service in an elegant yet casual environment. Plus the doors of the restroom stalls go all the way to the floor. First class! read more

Made advance reservations, took 15 minutes to get seated while there were many open tables, took another 20 minutes to get a waiter. Had afternoon tea at 3:45 and finally got served at 4:30pm. Sandwiches were stale - probably made in the early afternoon and sat out all afternoon. Tea was bagged tea and left in the bag, I would compare the quality of the afternoon tea, to a poorly organized Girl Scout event. Definitely not worth the price of $50 / person. read more

We ordered the afternoon tea. While the tea was rather good, the dessert was so-so. I don't think it deserves its price. However, the service was really great. read more

Went here for dinner and everything was great! My carrot salad was on another level! It included fresh organic artisanal carrots, and it also had quinoa... a combination of baked and fried quinoa that gave just the right amount of crunch. My pork chops with truffle soy butter dip was awesome, and my family's dishes did not disappoint. The crowds go to the Oak Room at Macy's, but the Lobby at the Peninsula is really the place for holiday memories. Our waiter even gave my daughter a Peninsula Teddy Bear as a holiday present. Well done! read more

A beautiful space, especially during the holidays with all of the Christmas decorations.

I dined here for afternoon tea on a Monday. The ambience was superb, with live music and a great view. The decor was classy and the service friendly. The tea selection was abundant and the food was delicious. Having been to several afternoon teas in the Bay Area, this was by far the best afternoon tea I've experienced. I wish I could find one comparable to the Lobby in the Northern California! read more

Great service, good focused menu, and fun wine list! Overall, was a great experience. Definitely not cheap, but you don't go fancy for a cheap meal. read more

My girlfriend and I went to the Lobby during the restaurant week. It was a such a beautiful setup. The menu was rather simple. But the food was awesome. When we had the first bite, our eyes got big! Yum! The service was superb. We plan to come back for the high tea. read more

Beautiful hotel and lobby, but the food was just okay and overpriced.

My husband and I went to the chocolate bar in the lobby last night. The space is attractive, the waitstaff friendly and attentive, as you would expect. A very good jazz ensemble played. The selection of desserts was beautiful and artfully presented... but for the most part didn't taste very chocolate-y. We definitely got our sugar fix last night, but not so much a chocolate fix. read more

This place has AMAZING Afternoon Tea, it beats any other hotel in Chicago. The tea is amazing and the selection is astonishing! They even have a vegetarian/vegan menu you can request! :) read more

it was just before Christmas and it was a Saturday night.... we stumbled across the lobby at the Peninsula.. and it was amazing !! From The Huge Christmas tree and The ambiance. Being made welcome and seated right away was just the beginning of our incredible experience. The Service was Impeccable and The Food was Delicious!! If you want to be treated like Royalty. The Lobby at The Peninsula is the place to be !!! read more

We went here on 1/18/2014. We were slightly early for our reservation and had to wait, even though there were at least ten open tables. We were sat between a table of ten and 16, quite loud. It seems as though that every table finished about the same time. I had to flag a server down to get dessert, I head to flag another server down to order a dessert wine, and still had to flag a server down to get the check. They were too busy clearing and re-setting tables. Also, the table to my right, the chef, Lee Wolen visited at least once, and the two sous chefs visited, one for at least a 1/2 hour. Once we received our entrees, we were ignored. The service at the end was horrible. I would not recommend this restaurant because of their terrible service. This is supposed to be a four star restaurant, sadly it is not. The chef also visited two other tables while we were there. Apparently, regulars are treated specially. The food was really good, but the service was considerably lacking. Also, a long walk to the restrooms. We were not offered the tasitng menu. The two women to my right were treated specially by the chef. That is unreasonable. The chef also visited two tables of regulars , while ignoring us. The service was terrible The management for the front of service is horrible. As a 4 four star restaurant, they should have impeccable service . read more

Very disappointed in The Lobby at the Peninsula. I booked a special brunch for my mother and I to enjoy. I was more than prepared to fork over the quoted $75/person for the meal- but when the check came, our meals were charged $110/person. Also- our 15$ mimosas (according to their menu) were charged 20$ each on our bill. When asked for an explanation, our server told us that this was a "special occasion" meal to celebrate the tastes of Thailand, therefore the meals and drinks were more expensive. At no point when I made the reservation was this discussed. I acknowledge that the expectation is the meal is pricey- but to not disclose planned up selling is poor taste and terrible customer service. UPDATE: I was contacted by the Lobby shortly after writing the review and they remedied the cost discrepancy. Great customer service and responsive. read more

You will enjoy this place. Very clean and the service is fantastic. The food is good and consistent. Great place for tea and relaxation.

Unfortunate tea selection for hi tea! One would expect a much higher quality than might leaf!! All of the high end restaurants supple rare tea cellars, shocked The Penninsula does not follow suit!! Truly disappointed for $75!!! read more

We went to The Lobby to have "Dia de Las Madres" (Mothers Day) breakfast with mom and I must say the family and I will most definitely be back again. The beautiful view of the city, the food was delicious but the best part of our experience was the service provided to us. From the young woman welcomed us and showed us our table to our server Jose. He took very good care of us. Helping out parents decide what they should order to making sure we had what we needed and not needing to look for him if we needed anything because he was on top of it all. The pastries before our food arrived were delicious. Thank you for making our Mother feel special as well as us. read more

This is a beautiful restaurant. Its a shame that the service really lacks the ambiance. I eat there for bussiness and for a family gathering. The waiter ALWAYS disappears half way through the meal. The food is just not that good, and it is expensive. We had lunch for four on Friday, no alcohol and our tab was $156, not including tip. read more

came back for chocolate buffet and am still loving it!

My quest of ticking all the Michelin's lead me here on a celebratory evening. I know there's a new chef since Lee left, but after glowing reviews online I was hoping for much better. First of, ambiance wise this place blows. Its literally a hotel lobby, with no restaurant feel, its generic as can be. Piano music, hotel guests, I was about 50 years to young to be here. The menu is boring and uninspiring, few choices jump off the menu as must tries. I started with the foie, classically prepared, very solid, but its tough to mess up foie. My wife had the salad, which was a total flop of mostly just mixed greens and light dressing which you could barely taste. I was excited by my entree a dover wrapped scallop. The scallop was quite good but way to small and expensive for a quarter dollar sized meal for $31. The pea sauce was overly salty and ruined the dish. Service was good. Overall, terrible atmosphere, overpriced and unimaginative. A skip. read more

Just there on July 9, 2016 for dinner with friends. First time. Reviews were good so I looked forward to experiencing the food in the Lobby. Very disappointed. Ordered the Baby Iceberg Salad to begin. That turned out to be a big hunk of lettuce cut into fours, with blue cheese dressing poured over it and about 3 dried tomato pieces. Next I had ordered the Beef Fillet Entree. The meat was basically cold sitting on top of something that was also cold. No seasoning on the beef. It was tender however. Due to my background, I ordered the fillet well-done, but could not seem to get that due to interruption of what is well-done. Most restaurants have better food. Do not know what the other reviewers experienced. Different time maybe. The Lobby Burger is about the size of a big-mac and not huge and some people claim. read more

By far, the best upscale Sunday brunch in town, and I think I have been to all of them! I loved the Four seasons before allium took over. And I was unimpressed with sixteen at the Trump. This was great. Peking duck was delicious. It wasn't a huge selection but they had a lot of delicious items and the service was impeccable. They gave our kids coloring books, teddy bears, etc. And the price wasn't too bad, either. I would go again. The music was great, too. A string quartet playing modern pop. read more

We dined here with some friends on our second wedding Anniversary.The atmosphere and decor is very posh, the service is premium. For my starter, l had the Mussels and garlic white wine sauce and a fish dish for my entree, both were delicious, l usually like to go for Mussels for starters and this was the best that l have had so far.A friend of mine told me about their chocolate buffet so l will be returning for that. This place is a definite must-go! read more

Came to this restaurant with my family after their brunch. Had the worst service. Maybe because they were in between brunch and high tea. Food was good not great. And they charged us more for the items we ordered that they were on the menu. We had to double check. Being that this is the Peninsula, I expected more from them. Won't be going back. read more

We went after dinner for some dessert and coffee. The walnut sponge and coconut pana cotta was fantastic. Unfortunately the service was subpar and they served us a watery hot chocolate that tasted like it came from a packet. read more

So I'm at the peninsula with some friends and so far I am not impressed. The chocolate buffet is overrated and frankly not that good. The service was OK especially since we waited 15min for them to bring us our coffee. Personally I think it's extremely over priced for what you get but I did have a great time that night! read more

We went there for Christmas dinner just yesterday night 12/23/14..the food was disappointing...Pork Shoulder was dry, the Jumbo prawns, you can have some prawns that's more tasty in some other places for less money. If you are a foodie don't bother. You are paying for the name Peninsula and maybe for the service but the food was not that great. read more

Afternoon high tea does not get better than this! They have a good collection of teas ranging from white to green and black, the high tea fare is amazing and you will end up eating a lot! Skip your lunch if you really want to dig in! Great place to hang with good company and service is always over the top here! read more

Wonderful afternoon tea. I love afternoon tea, namely because of the scones and lemon curd. I stopped by to have a relaxing afternoon by myself and I got the chai. I've been to a couple of hotels for tea and I enjoyed the pastries here the most. Although there were some components I strongly disliked, it left the best overall taste in my mouth. I really enjoyed the passion fruit tart, the scones were great (not the best, but still delicious and could've been warmer), the lemon curd had enough tartness and sweetness. What disappointed me was the chocolate chestnut pot de creme that seemed so special when a waiter brought it around. It was awful. No flavor and the chestnut tasted quite odd. The waiters were not as attentive as I've experienced previously, but there were a lot of people. I would definitely go back though! read more

Sounds like Tea in the afternoon and the chocolate bar get high stars here. HOWEVER if you are going for dinner, like we were, be prepared for the teeny-tiny portions and the fact that even after you pay your big bill ($155 for two people WITHOUT wine) you may need to stop at another restaurant on your way home to curb your hunger pains. Neither my husband or I are big eaters, but we do appreciate good food in decent portions. To be fair, the quality of the food here is excellent, we just didn't understand why The Lobby feels the need to skimp on size. We did tell our server our concerns and she graciously sent the chef from the kitchen who wholeheartedly thanked us for our feedback - but never sent out anything more for us to eat! In fact, my husband ordered the goat cheese/ beet salad for $14 and was charged $28 on the bill as he had asked for a larger portion. The sad thing was that even the "double -sized" portion was still much smaller than any salad at a comparable restaurant (and it was mostly just greens with a very small amount of goat cheese and beets on it) His main course consisted of three bite sized pieces of meat with a very small amount of sides (all for about $45) I won't bore you with the details of my dinner, but it wasn't much better. What a shame- as the quality was excellent. No wonder the restaurant was about 90% empty on both nights that we checked it out. When we did get our bill it was for the full amount and yes, the double-portioned $28 salad! When we mentioned this to our server, she graciously took the salad off the bill along with another item. We did appreciate the gesture, but would have preferred the kitchen to have simply sent out the missing part of our dinner.We sincerely hope that the managers of the Lobby rethink the sizes of their meals as we could then wholeheartedly recommend it as a great place to eat in Chicago. (A quick note- if you like a grand hotel lobby atmosphere and good food- check out the Four Season's restaurant. You can enjoy excellent service, decor, and food in an elegant setting- and go home feeling comfortably full. read more

I have done many tea services around Chicago over the years including the Peninsula Lobby a long time ago, however, this time around I was extremely disappointed. There were many reasons, and I have included a few in my review. Firstly, despite the place being nearly empty our table was not ready for a good 15 minutes after our reservation time. Secondly, once we sat down it took a very long time to actually get our tea and food. The teapots were very large, heavy and kept spilling tea down the sides onto the table. Furthermore, the holes in the tea strainer/sieve were so large that it allowed the tea leaves right through into our cups. My family and I requested vegetarian sandwiches two of which were good but the rest were literally bread with slices of tofurkey on them!!! I actually felt embarrassed for the Peninsula for thinking this was actually an acceptable item to serve at a high end hotel. When we ordered more of the two types of sandwiches we did like (fully expecting to pay extra if they asked), they brought us a couple and said that was all they had left! Not sure why they could not make more. The only reason I am even giving this experience a 2 is because the host offered to take pictures of us both while seated and near the flower arrangements as we were leaving, and took some of the best photos of my family with an iphone that we have ever had. But overall, this experience was not even remotely close to worth the atrocious prices. I am disappointed to say that after all these years of trying tea services around Chicago, I always go back to the Drake, where the service, food, and ambiance is all impeccable. The set up is more appropriate for a tea with sofas and low tables, and a harpist most days. The teapots are appropriately sized and weighted and their strainers actually do their job. They actually come up with creative vegetarian sandwiches that incorporate vegetables and dairy instead of fake meat, and most importantly, I have never had anyone tell me in the 10 years I have been going there that we could not have seconds (and never charged for them either). Overall, I would not recommend this experience to anyone. You will have a much better experience for a lower cost at The Drake. read more

I went to lunch at the Lobby at the Peninsula Hotel. I was very disappointed in the menu choices, the cost and the service. I had a tiny piece of salmon with some oily sauce for over $30. I went with 4 other people and have to say everyone's lunch was nothing special. The service while ok was nothing special as well. We split an appetizer, a flat bread which was good. And split a dessert and each of us had coffee. The bill came to $250 with tax and 20% tip. Parking was another $30 plus $6 tip. Just a big Ehhhh and I wouldn't recommend it nor go back again. read more

Only fair to update how well they have improved on their customer service. Attention of the staff improved immensely. Had afternoon tea today with friends and it was great. Service couldn't be better. Our waiter was very attentive always refilling our hot water. The apricot scones were delicious along with the creativity of their delicious sandwiches. I especially liked the salmon. The desserts were designed beautiful but just a tad too sweet, but included chocolate. Fantastic selection of teas. Since I live walking distance from the Peninsula, I have come many times since my last review, including going to the chocolate buffet and am now very impressed with their improvement in service. The chocolate buffet is magnificent and service there is also impeccable. read more

I can't believe all of these great reviews and wonder what they were eating so great??? What planet was I on because I have gone to all the high class restaurants and honestly I would have been happy going to "NATIVE CAFE" and eaten their fries instead.. These people either ate something so divine or I am crazy..... So let's begin with the bread - hard as rock. The bread has been sitting out for a while. The butter was gross.. The sample choice was a pea soup which was absolutely disgusting!!! Whoever made the Pea Soup had to be dumb..... No one in their right mind would say this pea soup was delicious... just because I am vegetarian does not mean I like all veggies... Next, the entree and apps menu is slim with absolutely no vegetarian options!! Can you believe such a high rated and class restaurant would have NOOOO Vegetarian options?? So they made some pasta for me and it was OILY and over cooked tomatoes. This place is way over priced, oily, and hard bread!!!!! Service was average at best and I gave him a 30% tip since we got a huge discount on our food. Lastly the desert menu option was shockingly unappetizing!!! I wanted to order some desert since their portions were small on the entrees. Overall, I will NOT be going there for a nice dinner.. No wonder the restaurant hardly had anyone around 5-7pm.. . That's a huge red flag - when restaurant is not busy during prime time hours! read more

A friend of mine and I were in Chicago to take the board certification exam in surgery. We figured we would need a study break while in Chicago, so we made reservations for the Pink Afternoon Tea at the Lobby. The Lobby is located in the Peninsula Hotel and traditionally serves classic afternoon tea. We were fortunate enough to be in town during October, also known as Breast Cancer Awareness month, so we were able to take advantage of their pink themed afternoon tea in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Afternoon tea is served in one seating and is pretty pricey, but well worth it. As part of the tea, you get your option of tea and are offered scones and a variety of sandwiches and pastries. Our waiter was very friendly and very attentive. We were even offered more sandwiches and pastries when were done with what we had been served. Of course, we ordered more! Will definitely be back again the next time I'm in Chicago. I'm a sucker for afternoon tea. It makes me feel all fancy and proper. read more

We dined at the Lobby Restaurant in the Peninsula while it was decorated for Christmas. After seeing this beautiful room, I was certain the food would be incredible as well. What a gorgeous place to enjoy a quite meal. The room was not very crowded on this Monday evening but I imagine that it is important to make reservations well in advance. The menu is varied and selections that are sure to please everyone. The house white wine is especially good. We started with the roasted shrimp cocktail -- six huge shrimp that were very tasty. My husband had the black Truffle Risotto with shaved parmigiana-reggiano and I had the slowly cooked Ora King Salmon with glazed carrots, baby bok choy, macadamia crunch (unusual and very good), and ginger-carrot white soy emulsion. Both dishes were exceptional. We also shared a side dish of Truffle Mac and Cheese, just to try it. The waiter asked if we wanted bread and we responded affirmatively but it was never delivered to our table. For dessert we ordered the molten chocolate cake -- this was the only disappointment. We were told that it broke apart and was substituted with a chocolate layer cake. This was done without even asking us if we wanted the chocolate cake. An error on the part of our waiter. I did enjoy the Peninsula Coffee -- peninsula blend, godiva chocolate, and grand marnier. Aside from this error, the meal and surroundings were spectacular. We'll definitely visit again. The clients were varied. It appeared that several of the groups of people were those staying in the hotel. Therefore, several children were in the dining room. Several tables were filled with couples. read more

I LOVE THE LOBBY! Classy and delicious! The service here is impeccable and they definitely aim to please! We missed Tea Time by an hour but the waiter was so kind and gave us a sampling of their cute pastries anyway :) So glad we got to experience lunch here! read more

I have a great experience having high tea with my sister on Sunday afternoon. The setting is nice and server is super friendly . We stay there for 2 hours and we enjoy the tea and food . read more