Rhapsody

Came here for Restaurant Week and found the lunch to be good. I was happy that most of the menu/​dishes were featured and you really could select among many dishes. The lamb was tasty but not memorable. However, for a business lunch, this is a good choice.
* From my visit on 2÷23÷11

Great ravioli! great atmosphere as well even though youre nestled in the heart of the south loop. Really enjoyed my meal! The service was great too.
I wouldnt say this place is trendy by all means, but its definitely classic if youre in the area and want a nice fancy place to go for dinner.

I met two people for a business lunch here and found it to be just OK. I liked the fact that it wasn’t noisy and could hear the conversation. But the food was «meh.» I had grilled salmon with some beans and a smidgen of green sauce. I don’t know but I was expecting more.
The restaurant needs to put in new chairs. I sat down and sank way into the chair (note: I am not obese.) The webbing of the chair had given out and I could feel the wood frame of the chair.
I had a post-​lunch latte, which was in a tall cylindrical glass mug, about 1.5 inches across. Every time I took a sip I got foam on my nose. I would have appreciated a regular cup.
The service was perfect. Lunch for 3 was $ 110 without alcohol or dessert.

Came here with a larger group before the symphony. We had a good three hours of time before needing to be in our seats and we took full advantage of it.
The food was not the most amazing I’ve had in similar caliber restaurants, but it was still delicious. The standouts in appetizers were the spinach gnocchi and truffle fries. I got the skatefish (partly for the name) which was well prepared and melted in the mouth (always a good sign). The other entrees that I tasted were equally delightful. No items were overseasoned, as is apparently occasionally the case according to other reviews.
Service was excellent, both before the symphony and after when we returned for dessert and digestifs. While my dessert (marscapone) was scrumptious, I regretted not getting something a little more chocolaty, especially after seeing my companions chocolate items. Lesson learned.
I don’t live in the income bracket that allows for meals here for which I pay, however I would be more than happy to come back in similar circumstances. Especially with the same group of people. Nothing beats good company, after all.

So I never even heard of this place before and it took Restaurant Week to get me here. Daddy liked. We came here for a group celebration and it was great. I wasn’t really fired up to eat here until i tried the first course, the Pork Testa. It was freaking serious. The pork was cooked to perfection and the sauce and green leaves and stuff on top were the perfect extras.
2^nd course: Balsamic Glazed Short Rib Panini. If you’ve never had it… get it. The peppers and sweet onions were perfect with the tender short ribs. I mean it was slamming. I would say it was the best thing on the menu, but a couple people got the Amber fish (not sure that’s what it was actually called) said it was insanely good.
3^rd course (Dessert): Tartufo (I think it’s German). It was a chocolate cake (without flour apparently, but who cares) with cherries on top and the smallest sorbet ever. I love sweets and I was still blown away by how good this was.
Overall, this is a great place and I would definitely recommend it for an upscale lunch/​dinner. BOOOOM Rhapsody!

Went here for lunch during Restaurant Week. The food was decent, although I snuck a peek at the regular menu and was sort of sticker shocked. My flat iron steak would be $ 18 a la carte. It was not worth $ 18. My two shrimp appetizer was $ 12. $ 6 a shrimp? Really?
I’m glad it was all part of the $ 22 prix fixe menu. I’m not sure what my tartufo dessert would’ve been but clearly I was already ahead.
The ambience is nice but the service, despite our showing up at 11:30, was painfully slow.
If I want to pay $ 25 for lunch in the loop for equally slow service, I’d much rather go to Mercat. Their food is heads and tails above Rhapsody’s!

I made a dinner reservation here on short notice while trying to plan a night with friends. Rhapsody had an opening around 8:00, which is what I was looking for… so I booked it. Sadly, my friends were not fans, but I enjoyed my meal.
We started with a Blange wine recommended by the server, who was very helpful and knew the wine list very well. This was a perfect fit for us. My friends ordered the gnocchi (spinach and cheese I believe). I hate gnocchi, but they said it was some of the worst they have had and was undercooked and raw. Our server was great. He noticed one of the girls was not eating it at all and offered to take it back. VERY attentive. I had the skate wing and it was amazing. It was like a mild chicken-​fish taste and texture. And it came with capers, green beans, and potatoes. The potatoes were a little undercooked, but the capers with the fish was just an awesome combination.
Overall, great service and a tad pricey — but some great menu items.

We had a pre-​performance meal on a Sunday night, so my parents treated the wife, my brother and me to dinner in the city. It wasn’t mind-​bogglingly spectacular, and it was pricey, but overall I had positive impressions of the food.
For appetizers, we shared grilled calamari, the marinated seafood salad and roasted beets, although that one was mostly consumed by my brother. The calamari was very tasty and tender, not rubbery. I appreciate that. The marinated seafood salad was interesting (cold octopus… again, interesting) but held its own. And what little I had of the roasted beets was really good.
For whatever reason they really overload on the pine nuts here.
Moving on, dinner was spinach ricotta gnocchi for the wife (I’m not a gnocchi fan, but it had a good, deep spinach flavor) and cacciucco for me. Cacciucco is a Ligurian seafood stew, and although the broth wasn’t 5-​star material, I really liked how the seafood was breaded and pan-​seared just right.
At some point a piece of the sirloin ended up on my plate, and thankfully, it had the best crust of any sirloin I’ve had in recent memory… and I don’t even really like steak. I had bits of the capon and skatewing, and both were good (the latter being a very flaky but tender fish that had goodly amounts of flavor).
I ordered truffle parmesan fries… the parm was very good. The truffle, I could barely tell was there. My wife said it was there, so I took her word for it. Although somewhat thinly cut, they were still nice and tender on the inside. They came with ketchup and an aioli sauce that tasted a bit like Caesar salad dressing.
For dessert, we had the torrone tart (served with an excellent coffee gelato; the crispy texture of the tart was a nice surprise as well) and ricotta fritters (good for people who don’t like chocolate, but I can’t really get into non-​savory uses of ricotta… also, the vanilla gelato was speckled with vanilla beans and fantastic).
Overall, I thought Rhapsody delivered pretty good on «modern Italian fine dining» concept, and I’d be happy to come back.

As the closest restaurant to the Symphony (connected to Symphony Center), Rhapsody enjoys a captive audience. Elegant restaurant with good bar/​lounge area, formal dining room and outdoors garden area. Cuisine is fine but generally overpriced. Drinks menu boasts some interesting creations but was underwhelmed with my prosecco cocktail.

Somehow my reviews have jumped from penny pinching to lobster munching. A new job will do that to you. Especially one that will take you out to lunch as a welcome. This was quite the warm welcome.
Three of us started out with the heirloom tomato salad that obviously couldn’t be resisted. Heirloom tomatoes, basil, and buffalo mozzarella. Perfect. The other starter was a lobster bisque that also looked very good. That was a tough choice.
The real star for me, if one can compete with that salad was a lobster roll. I know, Chicago lobster roll, blasphemy, blah blah… you can call up the firing squad in a few. It was perfect, including a buttery split top bun. Lots of claw meat, light aioli, a little celery and onion for crunch. Wonderful. It came with fries which were ok but nothin’ special and some cucumber salad. I kind of didn’t care about any of that crap after trying to daintily bite into a lobster roll on a business lunch. Luckily someone else got it too, so I wasn’t the only messy one.
The menu is seasonal, so I’m sure many other options await. I hope to check them out soon.

Stopped here for lunch with a friend from out of town. We liked all the local and organic ingredients on the menu. We both ordered salads, and they were both fantastic (mine had chicken and spring vegetables on greens; my friend had a special dandelion salad with a duck egg). Both were amazing with the sauv blanc. For dessert, we shared the vanilla semifreddo with rhubarb and raspberries and it was fantastic, except that it had peppercorns in it. I don’t mind weird, but this was weird that didn’t work. (Am uploading pics).
We sat outside on the lovely patio (a little loud under the El, but whaddya gonna do?) and I have no complaints except of course, my constant complaint about the price of drinks in the city and that our server rushed us. However, he was very helpful and knowledgeable. I just felt like he wanted to go home.

Great location to grab a bite after attending an evening event at the Art Institute. I came here on a whim with my mom on a cold evening as neither of us wanted anything too over-​the-​top but didn’t want to go the chain restaurant or hotel bar-​eats route. I remember coming here over the summer and enjoying the cocktail offerings, but had not eaten anything. I am pleased to say that the food offerings bumped this place up another star in my book, as did the ability to get a table on Friday night with only a nominal wait time.
The wines by the glass offerings are solid. Both my mom and I started off with glasses of red – valpolocella and malbec, if I remember correctly. We shared the roasted beet antipasti, an excellent dish as it allowed the flavors to really show through. We both ordered pasta for a main course. My mom opted for the pappardele with wild boar ragu and I had the maccheroni, with mushrooms. Now, I will state that I have not ordered pasta in a restaurant in over a year, as the portions tend to be mountainous. The plates at Rhapsody made for a refreshing change as they were perfectly portioned and well executed.
Just when I thought the meal couldn’t improve, it came time for dessert. Our server, who had been very attentive, though not hoveringly so, throughout the meal, clued us in that we could order gelatos or sorbets by the scoop, as the option of ordering a trio might have been overwhelming. My mom went with the cranberry sorbet; I went with the salted caramel gelato, a perfect finish to the meal. In fact, the gelato was so good, I almost wish Rhapsody sold it by the pint. I hope this remains a stalwart of the menu for months to come.

I love that I’m getting all my friends addicted to deal of the day sites — you should never have to pay full price for anything! With that said went here the other day for lunch with a friend armed with a living social certificate. I’m pretty sure I’ve passed this place hundreds of times and have never noticed it so happy to try it for the first time.
We were seated immediately and noticed that the place was kinda empty for the noon hour but it filled up quickly and got pretty loud – too many power lunches going on.
We had the flatbread appetizer, it looked pretty but was slightly charred in various spots. I had the Harassa Salman with the quinoa and garbanzo beans – it was excellent. The salmon was seared very well had a a great crust. My friend had another fish dish that I can’t seem to remember what it was – but it looked good and she thought it was delicious. Service was attentive – glasses were filled, plates taken away promptly. Wonder if the vibe would be different for dinner because lunch was a little louder than I had expected for a sit down restaurant like this.

A ONE-​STAR REVIEW! My first ever. And I’ve had some pretty nasty food in my life. I guess this place deserves only one star because it is verrrrrrry mediocre food (at best), but pretends to be something much different than that. And, worse, it has the haughty air that no restaurant deserves to have.
I have been to Rhapsody twice. Once, early when I moved to town, I was at a show downtown on a Saturday night with a guest and they wanted a cocktail after our show let out. Since I was new to town, I didn’t really know where to go – we walked past Rhapsody and went in. It was maybe 10:30 at night, and their bar was filled with people — no chairs, and the possibility for quiet conversation. So, I approached the maitre d and explained that we would like to sit in the restaurant, but were planning on having just a cocktail. His response, «Welllll, I guess so. But, it’s going to take a while for someone to take care of you because we’ll take care of the real customers first.»
Niiiiiice. This, mind you, when their restaurant section was ²⁄₃ EMPTY.
So, we roll our eyes and go in anyway. The service wasn’t horrible, and our server was helpful. We had one cocktail each plus a cheese platter. The cheese were nice (but overpriced), but the bread basket was skimpy and we had to ask for more. My friend had a prosecco and I was fearful that they would serve something flat this late at night, but, they didn’t.
The SECOND time I went back, I went for a business lunch. My workplace was taking a small group of people to Rhapsody for lunch. Great, I thought! Now I can try it for the food, and, won’t have to pay for it myself! OK – I don’t eat meat. And, there isn’t much on the menu for this caveat. I had the one thing available to me – a gnocchi dish. Everyone else had lunch salads overflowing off their plates. Some had an accompaniment of fries. From here, I should have taken my cue — people who have been here before, and they order the salad. Uh-​oh.
My gnocchi dish — from the lunch menu, and costing more than their sandwiches — came out with about 6 small gnocchi. That’s it. No side dishes, nothing. It was supposed to be gnocchi in browned butter with toasted pine nuts. How hard it that, right? Well, each one of my six gnocchi was burned, as were my pine nuts. Burn the pine nuts, people, do it again! I was so frickin’ hungry during this lunch (which is quite embarrassing in a business setting) that I stole my table-mate’s fries. The fries are worth getting, by the way. But I had hoped to have a real meal.
So, this place sucks. And it sucks because the food is of mediocre quality. But it also sucks because it is resting lazily on its burnt and well-​placed laurels. It thinks it has its market cornered and identified — only «old» people go to the symphony, right? So, let’s prepare a menu for them. While that may have been true a decade ago, it is no longer true — especially at the CSO. C’mon, Rhapsody, take advantage of the tremendous opportunity you have available to you! Fantastic location! Partnership with the CSO! Great visibility! HUGE space! Now, just make some good food (and train your staff to provide better service) to go along with it. Your potential customers are a lot savvier than you’re giving them credit for.

Pros: Truffle fries are excellent
Cons: This special friend of mine that I go to 1^st base with and I asked to be seated outside. We were seated only to realize we were stuck between the noisy El tracks overhead and a really loud group of drunk middle-​aged waspy types. Yes, Docksiders and Polo shirts and white wine were present at their table.
We were prepared to deal with the unpleasant din in exchange for dining al fresco (which, btw, is NOT the same as the soft drink Fresca). Every so often the noise would cease and we were able to enjoy the silence, but as minutes passed with a waiter or two walking right past our table, it appeared words were very unnecessary. After about 10 – 15 minutes of this, we went back to the host stand and asked to be reseated inside, hoping for a server.
While a light calorie free soda with a hint of grapefruit may have made it tolerable to remain outdoors, we made the decision to forgo the garden in favor of some service that may actually allow us to utilize the groupon we were toting. Totes. This worked in our favor, as we did eventually receive some food and drinks.
With the exception of the truffle fries, the food seemed either underseasoned, or just oddly seasoned. The Berkshire Pork Loin could have been a great dish, as the pork was cooked perfectly, but it was served with this really bitter spiced fruit. I don’t understand who thought that would be a pleasant combination.
The asparagus «salad» (as pictured in the photo section of this Unilocal page) could have been delicious, but instead was hilarious. A very small amount of asparagus spears were topped with what was essentially a Scotch Egg, less the sausage, and half a slice of bacon. Despite being what was probably pound-​for-​pound the least healthy «salad» ever invented at the time, somehow it tasted almost like nothing unless your bite was fortunate enough to include a piece of bacon.
What really chapped our asses though, was the double espresso. They were out of espresso glasses. Fair enough, bring it in a coffee cup. What arrived at our table, however, would be an insult to the entire House of Maxwell. I don’t think it would pass for espresso or even coffee from a vending machine in a blind taste test.
At the end of our meal, I went in search of the loo and was invited to use the public water closet in the lobby of the adjacent building. Picture the best condition you’ve ever seen a port-​o-​john in. Now picture the worst. The stalls were somewhere between the two. I can’t believe a restaurant this size doesn’t have its own facilities.
Purell to the rescue.

My boss took me and my department to Rhapsody for my birthday lunch. It would not have been my pick but hey, she’s the boss, and she’s paying, so who am I to scoff at a free meal?
It’s walking distance from our office, but just far enough away that it’s never one of our usual dining destinations for special occasions. On that note alone, it was nice to go someplace different for a change.
The four of us couldn’t be more different in our food habits. One of my coworkers is a vegetarian, another doesn’t eat any vegetables, anything with sauces, or basically anything even remotely more adventurous than a hambuger. My boss, who’s on a perpetual diet, always orders a salad; the funny thing is she’s one of those people who thinks a barbecue chicken salad or a cobb salad is a «diet» choice.
Then there’s me: all I want is good food that’s well-​prepared. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; I just don’t want anything mediocre. Life’s too short for that.
We arrived for our reservation and I was pleasantly surprised at the space. It was lovely, airy, and modern. Fancy, but not too fancy, and there’s an outdoor garden adjacent to the dining room.
The vegetarian and I both ordered the spring asparagus risotto. My unadventurous coworker, to no one’s surprise, ordered a burger. My boss, however, deviated from her standard salad, and instead ordered the crawfish and rock shrimp po’ boy, proclaiming this to be the «cheat day» of her diet. Uh huh.
I was really excited for the risotto as the menu description sounded postively mouth-​watering: creamy risotto, fresh asparagus, goat cheese mousse, crispy shallots, orange syrup, and fresh herbs. It arrived and it looked wonderful. Sadly, it looked a whole lot better than it tasted. The risotto was glue-​y (the result of not being cooked properly), and the overwhelming taste was sickeningly sweet. I’m not sure if that was from the orange syrup, but there was absolutely no balance of flavor in this dish at all. It was utterly disappointing. My coworker that also ordered this dish didn’t comment to me one way or the other, so I have no idea if she liked it or not.
My other coworker was nice enough to give me a taste of her burger and it was very good; as were the fries. I’d probably give this place another try and order that.
I was hoping dessert would be my salvation, but my boss declined before I could order anything. Sigh. This could only mean one thing — that cupcakes from Sugar Bliss were waiting back at the office.
Crap. I don’t like their cupcakes.
Office birthday lunch = FAIL.
For now I’m giving Rhapsody 2.5 stars, but since it’s a lovely place and the other food looked great, I’ll likely give this experience the benefit of the doubt and give lunch here another try.

I’ve never eaten off the regular menu or sat in the regular dining room. This review is based on several trips for after-​work drinks and food from the bar menu.
Drinks:
They have a good beer selection, great (but overpriced) cocktails, and a decent wine list. I typically will have a glass of red wine or a beer. At $ 12 a piece, the cocktails aren’t good enough for me to spend my money on, but they are quite good.
Bar Menu:
Rhapsody serves up a great burger. Last summer it was a burger with pineapple and sriracha ketchup (which was great) but right now it’s a burger with triple cream brie, onions, and a red-​wine mustard. It’s freaking amazing. Kuma’s can go f#@k itself, cause I didn’t have to wait for this juicy, perfectly cooked burger to arrive at my table. The fries were also delicious. While i would give their burger a 5-​star rating, other items on the bar menu are more in the 3-​star category, and the shrimp cocktail is pathetic.
Service:
Top notch! They seem to be used to stuffy old people as patrons so they always seem to enjoy serving us young hooligans.

FIVE STAR EXCELLENCE. EVERY DETAIL EXECUTED TO PERFECTION. PAIRS PERFECTLY WITH YOUR SYMPHONY CENTER PERFORMANCE. DO IT!
Restaurant Week 2010 Dinner Prix Fix:
Starter: salad greens with winter squash and smoked candied walnuts
–minced feta was perfect size and flavor mix
–smoked walnuts added breadth of scope, candied was more like slightly sweetened and perfect loudness of sweet
–greens with a gentle bitterness which plays in balanced voice to the concert of flavor
–vouvray is the perfect accompaniment, adding yet another luscious voice of complimentary counterpoint
Main:
–seghesio zin from sonoma stings on the tongue while simultaneously going broad and breathy, ready for its food pairing, with anticipation
–daring presentation of pork belly is crispy and sweet. wow
–bitter greens so complex
–mashed potatoes (substitute for corn)
I’m so excited to be dining tonight. I’m about to see the Chicago symphony Live for the first time in my life.
Location:
–One doorway from the rotunda entrance to the Chicago Symphony Center
–very easy to combine with your symphony performance
–service timed well with performance start time.
Décor:
–inlaid drop ceiling circular forms break up the room and remind that the power of such great talent is right ere in the same building
Ambiance:
–«flourish» shapes in frosted glass separate from the El above and the snowy street astride
–screaming vibratoed sopranos and tenors in low volume present divos and divas rehearsing somewhere nearby. Excellent effect.
MORE:
–doubonnet rouge, check!
–water refill test (after gulping) passed with flying colors (12 seconds)
–prix fix menu includes wine recommendations… REALLY helpful, thank you!
–support staff is vigilant but not rushed, VERY professional!
–server extremely sincere and pushes right up against the line between professional and personal, great smiles, perfect!!!
–staff coordination and collaboration is flawless and elegant

Given that this place looks fancy and that they also have fancy names on the menus, their foods still seem overprice. The taste isn’t anything too spectacular nor impressive but you wont find any entres under $ 19 here.
Another thing is that I was here for a friend’s birthday and was dissappointed that they did not give some sort of free desert or sing happy birthday with you. When I asked the waiter, they said they will write something in chocolate if the person orders desert but otherwise, there is nothing special arranged. I feel that this place is at a disadvantage because I have been to equally nice & high end restaurants who were willing to shell out a free desert just to thank you for your patronage. And mind you, were were at a party of 11.

Rhapsody never evens comes to mind unless I have tickets to the symphony. I don’t know why as the food is consistently good, the service quick (they are used to getting the symphony goers in and out) and the ambiance is stylish without being stuffy.
On my most recent visit– we did not have to rush to get to the symphony– so once 7pm rolled around– we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
We started with a couple of appetizers– crab cakes that were quite good and a blue cheese fondue served with crispy bread. What can ever be wrong with CHEESE? Nothing says my Wisconsin trained palate!
Then on to dinner. I had the striped bass and my friend had the sirloin. Ans as sides, we added on some of the best mashed potatoes I have had in awhile (you could taste the butter and cream) and some fresh asparagus. While not a fancy dinner with swirls of sauces and decorated plates– it was satisfying, delicious and just what I expected.
We finished catching up over some coffee and by this time we were the only people in the place, but that didn’t matter. They didn’t make us feel rushed but just the opposite– they took the time to make sure our coffee cups were full and even comped us their Chocolate Symphony dessert which was an amazing concoction of lava cake, a chocolate peanut candy bar along with a chocolate lollipop. Yes– there really is such a place as chocolate heaven.
Next time you have tickets to the Symphony or are just looking for a place to grab some simple food without all the foam puffs and swirls that are all the rage these days– check Rhapsody out.
Oh and look around. There’s a pretty good chance that that guy sitting next to you will soon be up on the stage playing an instrument as many members of the Symphony eat there before the show. Hmm. . I wonder if it helps them play better?