The name out front has Liva but when you google you will find it under a different name. Anyway, I came here the month of my birthday to celebrate and enjoy some delicious wines. This place is impeccable; I loved it here. The space, the cozy and warm feeling of a great atmosphere. I'm a sweet wine drinker so I was disappointed that this place only served the Martha Vineyard dry wine lover's wine. There wasn't a wide variety of selections on the wines or cocktails. My server Brandon mixed me up a nice and refreshing cocktail, which wasn't sweet or too dry. There were a few more people sitting at the bar with me enjoying the cozy space. Brandon was polite and attentive to his customers. The prices were decent, but I just wish there were selection on the wine list. Overrall, I did enjoy myself. read more

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Cozy atmosphere and a fun place to come for happy hour! They also have a tasting flight that was reasonably priced and came with 5 different wines which were all really good! The portion sizes for food are all small plates/tapas style. My favorite was the burrata toast and tempura cauliflower. I was excited to try the mushroom gnocchi but ended up not liking it. Overall I liked my experience and would come back! read more

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Wish happy hour would be in the rooftop but it's not unfortunately They only save the rooftop for event space read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The name Liva has Scandinavian and Finnish origins, with its meaning derived from the Finnish word for life or lively. This connotation imbues the name with a sense of vitality and energy, making it a popular choice for parents seeking names that symbolize a vibrant and spirited existence. We went for Valentine's Day The food and service were very good The scallops were great And the deserts were fabulous too There seem to be two or three sections of the restaurant, and one, to the right of the front entrance, was much more lively. I would ask to sit on the right side read more

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I had been wanting to check out happy hour at the Tasting Room at Chiago Winery (aka Liva) for a while and finally found a Friday that aligned with both my scheduled and the establishment's open hours (Wed-Fri from 4pm-6pm). The fact that this coincided with getting a fresh 'do (haircut and color) was the cherry on top. I stopped in on Friday, just after 4 pm. There were a couple of other patrons at the bar, as well as some unpacking of boxes going on when I visited. I did a 180, in that I opted for a cocktail (French 75) instead of wine. There are also a variety of small bites (think: charcuterie boards) to pair and share with the wines/cocktails. I appreciate that this establishment offers a variety of cocktails, as not everyone in a group might be an oenophile. There is not really a lot to see at this bar, as it is mainly geared to tasting, but I enjoyed savoring my cocktail. The server was kind enough to offer me a pour of one of the white wines from the tasting menu that I had wanted to try. As this space also functions as a wedding venue, and there was a reception going on at the same time in a different part of the space, I was pleased with the speed and friendliness of the service, given all that was going on. read more

Overall lovely place. At first I was a bit turned off, it was empty and it took about 4-5 min for someone to get my drink order. I also didn't love that, as a wine focused establishment, why they served an oaked Chardonnay in a small white wine glass. Those are my only two complaints. But, then I asked to move tables because sitting by the fireplace was too hot, and I felt like everything started turning around. I ordered their croquettes and they were fabulous. I got the fried chicken sandwich and my friend got the hash, we both liked our meals. I got another glass of wine and my friend has bottomless mimosas. They give you the OJ on the side, which I love, except they serve it in a mini tulip glass so more OJ spilled on the table than in the glass, I'd recommend getting mini carafes. They were really great about refilling his glass regularly. Over all lovely meal. read more

Cool concept for dinner and wine. The shareable food was yummy and the wine was surprisngly good -- I've found a lot of these urban winery type places to be disappointing. However, the server knew almost nothing about the wine! This was super disappointing considering that's the whole point of this place. They also didn't send out anyone to talk to us about the wine once we started asking questions, which was odd since the server didn't know the answers. I was torn between 3 and 4 stars, but ultimately settled on 3 given that I'd expect more wine knowledge from the servers at a winery! read more

The interior design is very cozy, spacious and beautiful. Very aesthetically pleasing. Probably my favorite part about the place. Service felt rushed, but we did come at 2:45pm, 1hr 15min before closing. The spicy margaritas weren't bad. read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place it's so beautiful, the ambiance it's what you need after a work day , hang out with your friends, family dinner or a date night. The service was amazing great variety of wines , good for happy hour especially for the "Old fashioned " lovers that it's just 7$ from 4 to 6:30 pm. The food it's good and the atmosphere is amazing. Plus in the summer time they have a great patio to enjoy up with music in the weekends or tables outside. Totally recommend the place. read more

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A finer dining experience with a pass. The price I paid did not reflect the service I expected. Reservations made for a group of 4. If your group is greater than 4, they might be able to accommodate you in standard seating well in advance. We were seated promptly, although it did take a bit to get greeted. It was 630 so some of the space was still empty. They allowed us to test three wines we had thought about and ordered the pinot Grigio. We placed our orders and they came out with each dish separately Chefs whim: the board was okay. Seems a bit overpriced considering you get two crackers and three slices of bread Potato croquettes: light, airy, creamy with a hint of bacon Smoked fish dip: over salted. You get three pieces of bread House made ravioli: probably my most favorite. I'd order this again. Duck: you could taste the cherry. I was not a fan of the rutabaga noodles. Lamb: the meat was over cooked. Service: started off strong but ended poorly. Midway through service, I had to ask the waiter on three separate occasions for water. It felt like they were extremely short staffed for the service they were offering. Lastly, we were just chatting for a bit (okay maybe 10-15 minutes) but we did get asked to relocate because they had people with other reservations. Just a note to consider. read more

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Warm and hearty meal at the new LIVA! Very friendly, attentive and welcoming staff all around. On a cold night it was great walking into the inviting dining room by the warm fireplace. Paired well with the wine and food. This is the old Zed 451 space that they have taken over to be a venue and restaurant. Hence they bill it as a restaurant AT the venue which is the Chicago Winery and no this isn't city winery. Seems to be a large restaurant group that brands itself in the various cities it's in. Dining is family style small plates with 2-3 recommended a person. You can build an extensive mixed board as well. We went with the ... - Potato Croquettes - light, airy, buttery deliciousness - Smoked fish dip - good - Grilled Shrimp - good - Short Rib - not a big dish but great flavors -Lamb Sugo - a pasta dish that was incredible, really creamy and perfectly cooked pasta Had some fresh baked cookies for dessert and the wine was above average - similar to Cooper's hawk. It's probably somewhere in between 4 and 5 stars. Really solid all the way around and good for many occasions. Have a sip of vino and share some plates by the fire! read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Potato Croquettes - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I was excited to try this place out as it recently opened up in river north. They have a great wine collection! We did a bit of wine tasting before ordering a few bottles for our table. We paired our wines with different cheeses and the manchego was a definite standout. Do try! We ordered the potato croquettes and they were good but not great since I didn't think the crème fraiche went well with the croquettes. I loved the roasted delicate squash salad and the beet salad. My friends tried the mussels and were raving about it. We also got the Serrano ham charcuterie and it was delicious. The ambience was chic, bright and delightful. I will definitely visit again. read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and cuvée. - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I want to start by saying the only reason I'm giving Liva 3 stars is because I've been there previously so I know that they can do better than what I experienced last night. We did the wine tasting tour followed by a reservation in the restaurant. The wine tasting was amazing. It was the second time I've done it and I was very excited to do it on Valentine's Day. Ashley did an absolutely amazing job getting the group comfortable with each other. It was us and about 5 other couples. She explained things very well and I learned things that I did not learn the last time I did the wine tasting. I loved all 5 wines we tried. The selection was a great variety of wines to try. We ended up buying 2 bottles of the wines we tried. After this amazing experience I was so excited to get to the restaurant and enjoy some food but unfortunately that's where things went downhill. The ambiance at liva is amazing and the staff are all very friendly and welcoming. The #1 thing I was looking forward to was the Chef's Whim. It's a charcuterie board that I believe is on the regular menu as an appetizer. However, when you do the wine tasting tour it comes with the Chef's Whim. I remember this being a fantastic board with a shocking variety of different components. All sorts of different meats, cheeses, crackers, jams, pate and other things. I was thrilled to see if it was the same or different. When we got to the table we were told for Valentine's Day it was a set menu for the night. It was a 4 course dinner. The menu looked good but my date and I were not interested in starting the course dinner. We wanted to start with the Chef's Whim that was already included in our wine tasting package. Our waiter explained to us that the chefs whim is part of the Valentine's Day dinner and tried to push for us to start the courses (he was just doing his job I get it). I told him we may do it but we just want the chefs whim for now and he went to put the order in. When the "chefs whim" arrived at the table I was shocked. Bruised old grapes alongside 2 poorly plated meats, a ridiculous amount of blue cheese on the plate. It was the complete opposite of the quality that I remember. At this point I knew for a fact we were not going to do the course dinner. I couldn't believe they would send out a "charcuterie board" that looked like that. It didn't even match the description on the menu. We both took a few bites and were not happy at all. We decided to just leave and get food elsewhere. This was a very disappointing experience and was quite embarrassing for me since I'm the one who hyped up Chicago winery and liva to my date for 2 months. This was something we were both looking forward to only to be greatly disappointed. Service was great but quality coming out of the kitchen for a simple appetizer was horrid. I would not recommend coming here on a holiday. Clearly they cannot produce the same quality of food if they expect to be very busy. It's a shame. read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - "Chef's Whim" more like Chef's nightmare - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We stopped in to check out this place since it was newly opened (3 months) and sat at the bar for a drink. They make their own wine so expected it to be good. We each had a glass of wine but it wasn't exceptional. Their craft cocktails looked very good so we tried one. Their craft cocktails are much better than their wine. We only had an appetizer which was very good and their brunch menu looked really good. The bar was really nice but the bartenders didn't seem the friendliest but I'm hoping that was because they were busy. read more

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The place is beautiful and nice for an elegant dinner; however the food isn't really worth the prices. I would just come here for the wine and drinks next time! We ordered a variety of dishes and drinks and were a big group though, so I appreciated the service trying to keep up with us. We had the burrata and croquettes to start- really nothing special. I liked the burrata and would definitely not get the small tasteless croquettes again. For our entrees, I shared the little gem salad and roasted chicken cavatelli with a friend. The salad was a nice fresh dish and portion. The pasta was okay and nothing special, though better than the sweet potato gnocchi that I tried as well. I liked my cocktail- the luchador love song was a fresh fruity take on a spicy margarita in a cool cup. It was quite popular in our group. read more

The ambiance is beautiful, very fresh feeling. We only went for cocktails and dessert. The espresso martini was made with super high quality coffee-- a nice touch. The only thing was that my mocktail with NO liquor was the same price as the cocktails ($16). Yikes. Esteban was a great server though! read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Espresso martini - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

LIVA was nice that it had a lot of seats, good vibes, great staff. Out of everything we ordered, the mussels were most memorable, had a firey-smokiness to it. Steak was a little too chewy for me. Overall, great place for a date or dinner with friends. read more

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Fairly new spot downtown, worth a visit for the wine and cocktails. We went during Valentine's and did the prefix 5 course menu. We didn't do the wine pairing since it was a week day, but we tried some wines and cocktails, and they were good! The food was enjoyable, but the items seemed mismatched. The cheese, charcuterie, and crudites didn't pair well with the rest of the menu. The oysters were fresh but felt naked (but they had a sauce). The scallops and steak were outstanding! The seafood platter was also great! read more

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From the moment I walked into Liva, I was blown away, the decor was chic and beautiful, the soft music was a bonus, the hosts and staff were extremely inviting. The food is delicious but the staff is the real reason to return. Some restaurants are so caught-up in creating a social media moment that good service and good for are often an afterthought. Not here, Liva delives on both. Food: We ordered ravioli.-Simply devine. Mouth watering and delicious. The short rib was packed with so much flavor, and I wanted to order more to go. Whenever duck is on the menu, I always try it. I was pleasantly surprised by their take of this dish. You have tontey the pomodoro. Yum. I inquired about the tasting room and was taken on a quick tour and samples of their wine. Our server Kelly made our night memorable. I highly recommend requesting her. She's simply amazing. read more

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Restaurant I'd very clean and organized, service is quick too. The sweet potato chips were a bit dry so I probably wouldn't get it again. read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Sweet potato chips and smoked yogurt dip - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

JASON IS THE MAN! Probably the best bartender I've ever met. His creative cocktail knowledge it's just perfect. 100 out of 10. -Dillon (also the man) read more

Two words: short rib! Would come here for that alone. Our drinks were delicious and very unique which we enjoyed. And everything we got was yummy! Might skip the salmon skewers for next time - didn't look glazed like menu said but they definitely tasted good. Service was quick and the restaurant is beautiful. Love all the natural light and the fireplace. read more

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Some friends and I stopped by Liva this past week. After months and months of anticipation, I have to say we were quite disappointed in the food and service...although the wine is outstanding. Let's start with the positive - the wine. Everything we tried was great. We even did a tasting after dinner - where you can try 5 wines for $20. Some standouts for me were the Albarino, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir. One thing I recommend in the tasting room is that they list by the wines what the wine tastes like and has hints of (kind of like the menu does). One oddity to note is that if you buy a wine in the Tasting room, it is half off what you would buy the same bottle in the restaurant. We found this very, very odd. Now - the service in the restaurant. Our server was a little scattered. We asked in the beginning if we could do 3 checks for our table of six and she said "no problem." She even appeared to take the orders on 3 separate sheets of paper. We ordered a few more glasses thruout dinner but no extra food. She messed up the 3 bills completely. You might think that the extra wine during the meal would have just been wrong...but no - even the food orders were screwed up. After speaking with the front desk, they said that the wonderful rooftop that Zed 451 had for happy hours would be available in the summer - but it would be for private events only. Quite another piece of disappointing news. And to the food - the true weak point to our table. We tried a variety of dishes between all of us and there was no dish that someone truly raved about. My husband and I had the Shrimp, Potato Croquettes, Short Rib, and Goddess Chicken. The potato dish was good and I would recommend that. Very light. The peel yourself 3 shrimp were good, but the white bean puree on the bottom was better. The short rib was a little dry but the caramel garlic sauce was good. The chicken was awful, and I seriously mean that. It was cold...not lukewarm, but down right cold in the middle. I didn't send it back b/c even with the cold chicken, we questionned the flavor and the rubbery texture on the outside. We wondered if it was cooked and literally didn't eat 3 of the 4 pieces. The white bean cassoulet served with it was quite good and I ate that. It would take a lot to get me back here - but if I wanted to have a glass of wine with a friend, I might. read more

We had such high expectations for LIVA as we did a wine tasting next door at the attached tasting room and thought the wine was delicious. Unfortunately, our experience fell very flat. We were promptly seated, but had to wait 15 minutes for any sort of service interaction... which was getting water. About 10-15 minutes after that, our waiter finally came by and we ordered a glass of wine. We should have immediately put our food order in, but didn't. Thankfully about 15 minutes after getting our wine, a manager came by to ask how we're doing and we said we still hadn't had a chance to order anything, so he took our order. The food was good.. the first few plates we got came promptly.. but the last one took forever. I think they forgot about it because it only came until after we asked about it. In a nice restaurant like this, the food cannot compensate for very poor service. A simple dinner with a couple of drinks shouldn't take almost 2 hours to complete. Especially when the dining room wasn't full. Won't be back here. Such a shame since the restaurant is beautiful and the food is good. read more

Back for more sampling of the menu. Started with the Chef's Whim charcuterie board. It was fun to work through the selection of meats and cheeses. We had to try the crudo again and it was outstanding. We ate light so that was it for the night. You can only order their wine brand which limits the appeal of the high quality restaurant. A reasonable corkage fee might help. read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Menu - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Stopped in for a quick bite the other night and was really impressed. Great service (sat at the bar) in warm beautiful setting. Food and drinks were solid as well. I ate the smoked pork pierogis served with sauerkraut and an apple brown butter slaw. I also had an old fashioned that was perfect. read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Smoked Pork Pierogis with and Apple Brown Butter Slaw - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The wine and venue are absolutely fabulous. Our service was also 20/10! However I really wanted to love the food but was super disappointed. we had the charcuterie board, gnocchi, mussels, potato croquettes and salmon skewers. For the amount of money we spent the food was subpar. I'd come back for wine but won't be dining here again read more

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We came for brunch and the lunch meat was warm and the fruit tasted like it had been sitting out and the sunny side up egg wasn't cooked all the way. Our waiter was very nice and suggested many things but one of my family member's drink had way too much sweet syrup in it. We left early and weren't too satisfied. read more

Delicious brunch today. Beautiful upscale atmosphere Attentive and professional staff. Food was gourmet Recommend Eggs Beny, French omelette and French toast was the bomb! read more

Ambiance is great however there was a huge draft by the table we were at. Service was ok. My husband has a dairy allergy and the potato croquettes had some type of crème fresh as the sauce so he couldn't eat it. I wish he would have told us give that we mentioned it. I love the fact that they source their own wine but although my Chardonnay had a heavy finish, I didn't feel that it was balanced. I really like my Chardonnay to be full flavored with a heavy finish but it may be that I didn't select the right wine that night. Food was good in general. I generally would've given them 4 stars, but they are new and the hostess was just incredible. I loved her bubbly personality. So we upped the score to five stars. read more

I was really excited to try this new place in my neighborhood after all of the wonderful reviews I read. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. To start, they only serve their own wines, all from the US. For a winery the wine selection was lacking, and for $15/glass it was a bust. The restaurant was also empty so we opted to eat in the bar, which also wasn't full on a Saturday night - red flag. We ordered the $42 charcuterie that our waiter recommended and it was fine, nothing better than we could have made in our own at home. Next came the ravioli which we liked, then the crudo which was totally overpowered by olives. Not good. Last we had the short ribs, salty but fine, again we expected more for the price and a restaurant in the city. The manager was lovely and bought us a round of drinks, and even with that we paid $220 for a very mediocre meal & experience. There are so many better places in the city to spend your money at. Skip it. read more

Absolutely a trap! Overpriced and mehh... I thought the concept was a really good idea and looks so nice from the outside but the ambiance is not what I imagined, the service is meh, music is really bad and food is terrible. If you just want to go here for the interior decor, then it's ok go in take a tour and go out! I never write bad reviews but I feel so scammed after yesterday's dinner, that I need to let this out! The waiter did say the plates were small so we should order 3-4 dishes, and we did but I feel like that is acceptable for a high price, when the food is absolutely delicious and high end chef stuff. These dishes were so average and the quality was like I made a quick pasta for kids at home... the cheese board was so tiny and not even gourmet, we ordered some heirloom carrots with labneh and they were just peeled carrots laid on the board and the pasta was so overpriced for a canned flavored red pasta. Please don't waste your money here with some other amazing options in Chicago! read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - The most basic cheese board and peeled carrots you can make a better one at home with cheese from the supermarket. - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Can't recommend this place enough! The service was chef's kiss with a bow, ambience . Their wine selection is unique and will have you wanting more. Best part is that you can go for brunch, do wine tastings or tours! And if you go upstairs to the terrace ask for Jay! First time there and can't wait to go back. read more

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We visited Liva at the Chicago Winery this past weekend and had a great experience. Our waiter, as well as all food runners, were very informed and helpful. All three of us tried different wines - the pinot noir, Barbera, and the Cuvee Noir. The pinot was very easy drinking, the Barbera was velvety smooth, and the Cuvee Noir had a little spice finish that was very memorable. All of the wines are made on site in the only working winery in downtown chicago, they bring in the grapes from all over the country. For plates we started with the chicory green salad, which was good but didn't stand out quite as much as the other dishes that we tried. Next we had the potato croquettes which were delicious. The cast iron mussels were next - the seasoning on the exterior of the mussel and the butter they were served with really made this dish. Then we tried the umami short rib which cut like butter. I am not usually a big fan of cooked carrots, but the way these were seasoned and cooked made them taste more like potatoes - we were all big fans. Finally, we ended with the mezze maniche pomodoro. This pasta dish was a healthy serving, but still felt light and fresh. Overall I would highly recommend checking out this new spot! I will definitely be back. My only critiques are that I wish they would introduce wine flights. I would like the option to try more without paying $16+ per glass. The other criticism is that our party felt it was a little pricey, although fairly similar to a lot of tapas places in the area. read more

Beautiful space, food and wine were awesome. Portions are slightly small but the quality and flavor exceeded expectations.

A great urban venue for wine and charcuterie. We were surprised to learn that all their wine is in-house! The waiter was very knowledgeable about each wine and helped us pick out the ones that worked best for us. His kindness made the whole night even better! I got the Riesling and it was lovely. The charcuterie is mix and match, so you can really make the board custom to your experience. The cheddar and manchego were perfect. The only downside was that we could've had more crackers, and had to ask for more for a small charge. I'd love to go back for a tour and tasting! read more

The Tasting Room at Chicago Winery - Wine Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I really recommend! The hospitality from the moment I came in to the moment I walked out was amazing. I came in on Monday t and got the special for half bottle Mondays. Thanks to both servers Dena and Crystal I had a great experience! They both were very informative of food and drinks. Food was great. Wine is delicious and have a different variety! I will definitely be coming back to see them! read more

Since opening Liva has been a lovely addition to Chicago. The food there is always top notch and I have always had a wonderful experience. When out with a group I prefer to order a bunch of food to share for the table and the portions here are an excellent size so you don't feel like you may be missing out on something. Additionally if you are not a wine drinker the cocktail menu provides excellent alternatives including delicious Non-alcoholic drinks so everyone can have a wonderful time. The dinning room provide a cozy atmosphere that is great for conversation amongst friends or a romantic date night. All in all I am so happy to have discovered Liva and always look forward to returning to see what Chef Matthew is cooking up. read more

Food was overpriced for what it was Server had no idea what she was doing Unorganized read more

Recently went on a solo date to this new spot in Gold Coast. I had heard great things and was thoroughly impressed by the staff service and their attention to the customer. Food was very fresh and exhibits a unique take on some Italian/American flare staples. Also, I highly recommend the potato croquettes!! Loved the overall atmosphere of the space too! It's dim lit which sets the tone for the evening. I went on a Sunday night around 6pm so could be different earlier in the day. Key Takeaways: great place to get a few cocktails/wine with friends, not too awkward for solo dates, or even date night. I will be coming back at some point for sure. read more

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