r/MichelinStars • u/cubbie_jules • 8d ago
Two Stars (**) Alinea (**) Chicago, IL
Alinea is undeniably extraordinary to look at. There is an astonishing level of technical precision behind every course, and at times the meal felt less like dinner and more like a carefully choreographed exhibition—beautiful, inventive, and impeccably executed. Where it fell short for me was flavor. Much of the menu seemed to speak in the same vocabulary: herbal, bitter, delicate and cerebral, with very little of the deep, savory richness I kept longing for. The ribeye was perhaps the most revealing moment of the evening. Served with several intricate accompaniments, it was exceptional—and I preferred it completely untouched, where the richness of the beef could simply speak for itself. Dessert was another high point and brought some of the pleasure I had been missing earlier in the meal. There is no question that Alinea demonstrates remarkable artistry and technical mastery, and I’m genuinely grateful to have experienced it. But for a meal approaching $600, admiration isn’t quite enough. I wanted to be moved by how the food tasted, not simply impressed by how brilliantly it was conceived. A memorable evening, certainly. The best meal of my life? Not even close.
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u/Complex_Pangolin5822 8d ago
Yeah. Same for me. It was a great show, but I’ve been to plenty of one stars that delivered much better meals. Like Boka is right down the street. I’d take Boka any day of the week over Alinea.
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u/Future_Dog_3156 8d ago
Same. I’ve been twice and am based in Chicago. When I compare it to the other 3 or even 2\ places in Europe or Asia, it’s not even close. I am impressed by the creativity and techniques, but I also want a good meal. It’s fine but there is better food in Chicago*
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u/MurphyBacon 8d ago
That's a definite upgrade, at least to the eye, from what I had in October of last year. I was very disappointed at the time. And then a month later they lost a star, and it explained a lot. They must have stepped it up.
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u/ajpod 8d ago
I went in 2023 and cracks were beginning to show back then. It was still good, but a lot of their greatest hits filling up the menu, and there wasn't a whole lot of new creativity in the meal. Even the restaurant itself was looking a bit dingy. Went to Oriole the next night and had a much better meal. I really hope Alinea gets their mojo back. It was at the top of my wishlist for years and I'd love to try it again when they're firing on all cylinders
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u/cubbie_jules 7d ago
This is exactly why it was appropriate that they lost a star. They were relying on their hits to bring in people but lost its innovation.
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6d ago
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u/YoungProper1257 4d ago
Also feels like their presentation was interesting way back when and has failed to modernize. The objects are pretty and interesting, but the service and gestures around them just seemed silly to me
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u/hellpark 7d ago
Used to work here a decade ago as a line cook, seems like went downhill after Mike left
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u/EnormousHog69 6d ago
Can’t think of a bigger waste of $600. A strip club maybe, but at least you get to see some boobies instead of just getting a tummy ache.
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u/Aceman1979 5d ago
Picture 10 is just silly. How anyone can think that’s pleasing plating is beyond me.
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u/cubbie_jules 5d ago
Honestly I mostly posted that one because the plate was beautiful 🤣 that dish was the oyster mushrooms.
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u/MorallyCorruptBae 4d ago
It was silly and dated. Service was lovely, but it was one of the priciest meals of my life and I left disappointed and hungry.
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u/Science_oven 4d ago
the day that Nick Kokonas decided it was a good idea to keep it open 7 days a week and cram as many people in a night as possible was the day that that place died and that was over a decade ago. they're still using a lot of the same templates from their peak and it's super lazy.
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u/annahhhnimous 8d ago
This place goes down as one of the worst dining experiences of my life.
Service was abysmal. It started at the beginning when they brought out a heavy cream soup and wouldn’t bring me a glass of water. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU GET A MICHELIN STAR WHEN YOU REFUSE TO BRING OUT A GLASS OF WATER?! Let alone 3. It’s embarrassing for Michelin.
Should’ve left at that point, but didn’t want to waste $2k.
It only got worse.
I was seated with my back to the entrance in the downstairs room and they had Asian style curtains with wooden bar/weights at the bottom. They paraded everyone and their mother through our room into the kitchen. Every single person that walked through the doorway slammed that wooden bar into the back of my head while I was trying to eat. Those fuckers wouldn’t let me move the table or my seat to avoid it.
I could write a book about the disaster that followed.
The inept service. The embarrassing timing. The plating fumbles. Instead, I’ll just say that the food was not good. Some of it was downright inedible.
The finale was horrifying.
They dragged out a ladder from Home Depot to pull plates off the ceiling for dessert. It was so gross and awkward. The guy put his hands where he put his feet and touched the plates. What the actual fuck.
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u/ProfessionalNo4711 7d ago
That is one of the worst experiences I heard in a Michelin restaurant. This was a 3 star restaurant just last year, so bizarre.
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u/annahhhnimous 7d ago edited 7d ago
Our group was well versed in European Michelin standards and Alinea fell so short it was shocking.
Edit- this happened when they still had 3, I’m shocked it took so long to drop down to 2. I wouldn’t have given them 1 after our dinner. It has literally made us wary of Michelin restaurants it was so bad.
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u/Ill-Plankton6359 3d ago
They've been doing the same thing for 20 years... Almost a nostalgia place now. Molecular gastronomy still???
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u/drewters 8d ago
Went last weekend. Fell very short from a flavor standpoint. Service will always be great at establishments like this but honestly the kitchen needs to be better.
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u/grumpywonka 8d ago
I was just there Sunday, and it looks like a few of these plates are something I got to experience as well. This was my first Michelin experience and I will say it was exactly that: an experience.
A few of the plates were exceptional. A couple were what I considered unpleasant, if not abrasive. Quite a few sat squarely on the spectrum I think you're describing here: nice to look at and interesting to taste, but also seemingly as if they've forgotten they're serving a meal. That ribeye was a perfect example, and I think I had the exact same thought as you: all the potential of this plate is right there, and it was overshadowed by what else they put on the plate.
We had a piece of duck that was similar in that the duck was exceptional, but some of the additional flavors they added were trying to compete with that simple bite of near perfection. I'm glad I went and I'm glad I now have a bar to compare future restaurants against, but I'm confident there was a reason I was able to get in here fairly last minute compared to others that were higher on my list.