Rittergut Wine Bar

We went back to Rittergut and had a fantastic time again. The bacon wrapped scallops with sweet pea grits, sage brown butter were amazing. Great service, also.

We went here on a Friday night before heading over to the Lyric Opera. Walked in — loved the dark, cozy atmosphere. My wine was excellent (but expensive — cheapest glass of red was $ 12 I believe and most were around $ 15). We had reviewed the menu online prior to choosing that restaurant. Much to our dismay, they were running a limited menu (very limited — maybe 10 items on it total between all the categories and no desserts) because their new chef was preparing a new menu. I think they should have updated their website, as we were quite disappointed after choosing the restaurant based on the (old) menu. I ordered the hummus, which was served with pita and bagels chips for $ 15 (really? bagel chips for $ 15?) Overall — Pros: great atmosphere, great wine. Cons: Food not great, overpriced. I get the impression that reasonable prices may be a thing of the past here.

Such a hidden gem. Just walk into the Intercontinental entrance and its off to the right. Other Unilocal reviews don’t do it justice… Had exceptional service. Marco was one of the best bartenders I’ve had between Los Angeles, New York, London, Montréal, Minneapolis and of course Chicago: this guy deserves mad props.
Of course, the chef also deserves credit for the great food selection. The pizza was amazing, as was the prosciutto and cheese plate. Simply delicious.
The wine selection is phenomenal and should never change. I hope they continue to offer such a large selection of wines from across the country and world.
Would highly recommend to someone looking for a place to grab a glass (or two or three) of wine after work or when visiting (as I am).

Please note this review is for Rittergut’s to-​go portion–
If I could give this place 6 stars I would. I could say the best thing about this place is the wonderful array of fresh sandwiches and wraps, the delicious soup, or the incredible hand carved turkey with roasted vegetables… but to be honest the #1 thing is the customer service. The people here are cheery, helpful, and quick with a sample. Highly recommended

Manager named Aaron was a f*cker and a smart ass, what a turd. Most of the other staff were nice, but this guy must of had it out for us and had an eye on my date. He over charged me on multiple beers I drank, was openly rude/​condescending about the questions I asked, and I felt like he was making a fool for asking where in france was napa. I mean, I dont know a ton about wine but its cool to get some insight on what we are drinking, everyone knows napa is in france and he seriously made me sound like a idiot in front of what might soon to be my future ex wife. Now maybe I sounded like an ass and my date knew it, was that whats I was catching?
didnt look out for me that night for sure. Either way, the point is, this guy I felt was overly rude to me and my date, there is no need to c**k block, douche obviously gets plenty of his own. I would of tipped a full 5% if he wasnt so RUDE! The cheese and meats were good. Wine did its job but tasted like an oaky after-​birth. I had a crafty beer to start that was delicious. I wont be back. Great music though, but I wonder if she who she went home with that night. I have my guesses though.
P. S. if you take this review seriously in any way, please kill yourself now.

I’ve been searching for a new wine bar since Bin36 closed/​relocated– the new location just doesn’t do it for me any longer. Rittergut was a great find. The location, at first, is a bit odd– it’s on the main level of an office skyscraper and a bit hard to find. The security at the front desk are polite and will show you the way– don’t hesitate to ask. Once you pass through the door, it feels like you’ve entered a cave– with an awesome bar. They seem to specialize in smaller, boutique wineries which is right up my alley. They serve flights which are at a decent price. They also do a great job with crafted cocktails and have an amazing craft beer selection. If you are in the West Loop area– or anywhere downtown and looking for a wine bar, definitely stop here.

Don’t bother with this place. We’ve come twice during business hours and they’re closed for a wedding. But they don’t pick up the phone to tell you. They just have a recording.

I came here only for happy hour so didn’t eat, but I loved it! Great spot right on the river. It was super nice and we sat outside. The inside is cool as well. I loved all the wine flights they had. I loved that they had one from Michigan as well, kinda cool and local. Our service was pretty good. Great wines and beers as well. I would love to try and food sometime!

We looked for somewhere to eat before a theater show and my wife found a ‘Living Social’ coupon for this place. After walking into the 10 S Wacker building and being directed to the correct entrance, we found a very busy place with most people drinking outside by the river. We were seated at a table inside that had two drawbacks — first the music was very loud and second, as the evening progressed, the sun in the west came in the window more and more so that eventually I was blinded. Luckily by then our meal was about over.
I had a Scotch egg and the jamon flatbread while my wife had beet salad and the duck flatbread. The Scotch egg was fine but the beet salad could have done with a more flavorsome dressing. Both flatbreads were pretty good but we preferred mine. Wines by the glass were expensive (I could only see one under $ 10) so we just shared a Riesling flight between us. Service was good but not overly friendly.

Our company had an event here as we were attending a conference in Chicago. I agree with a number of the reviews here that the service could be improved. Although the waiter was very knowledgeable about wines and made excellent suggestions, we felt he was not as welcoming as we would have liked. He appeared to rush us through our orders, but I guess feeding 20-​plus people at the same time is a challenge. The food overall was very good, but one person’s filet was definitely way undercooked and she had to order salmon instead. Overall, an average place, but Chicago has so many great restaurants to choose from that this would not be on my list of recommendations.

Very nice Wine Bar, but nothing to really write home about. If you are looking to go here for lunch, make reservations EARLY. It was a mad house starting at 1100 – 1300.
I opted for a glass of wine to go with my cheese and beat salad. It was good, but not amazing especially for the price. It cost me about $ 68 for two for snacks and drink.
The wine selection is pretty extensive and they are all good quality wines. Our servers recommended some great ones for us. That’s probably what was driving up the prices here, the good wines.
All in all, I don’t think this is a good place for a meal, however it is a good place for a glass of wine and a great view of the river. I’ve been to plenty of wine bars, and this one just isn’t one that is memorable enough to give it a higher rating.

Another fine experience here. I have lunch here at least monthly as I work in the building. I’ve never had a bad meal or bad service in 5 years. Don’t know why I never wrote a review before today.
Brought my husband for lunch today. He was hungry and stressed. After a delicious angus burger with better than average accoutrements and a nice pour of fine wine, my guy was back in his normal happy go lucky groove.
Thank you, Jess. You are a treasure. See you again soon.

Really enjoyed the wine and Tuna nicoise salad I had. My guest had a chicken sandwich that was huge and also great. Their service could definitely use some improvement however. The girl who seated us needed an injection of endorphins and our server was ok until the restaurant got crowded and then we never saw him again.

Rittergut Wine Bar is a lovely and inexpensive spot to go for wine and easy bites — particularly charcuterie. It’s a little hidden in the building just south of the Lyric Opera House and a wooden door behind the guard desk. Once inside you instantly forget that you’re in a high rise because it’s dim and rustic in a modern way. I’m sure it’ll be a real winner in the warmer months when they open to the river front!
We’ve enjoyed Rittergut Wine Bar twice so far: both for wine flights and charcuterie. In addition, we’ve had a few extra small plates to go along such as a Scotch egg and marinated olives. Considering the reasonable prices we’ve been absolutely delighted by everything! It’s a steal.
We sometimes have charcuterie for dinner and easily spend over $ 100 for wine, cheese, meats, crackers and other accompaniments. Rittergut Wine Bar gives us an alternative that’s easier, provides more variety, and cheaper!
The service has been knowledgeable, laid back, and friendly. I’ve been impressed with how the serves are empowered to pair cheeses and meats depending on the wines chosen. It’s been fun to see what they choose and then hear their explanations for their choices. The menu only shows a cheese plate but they’ve been flexible enough to add meats for the same price. Really. How can you go wrong?

Was at Rittergut last night. First time for me and definitely my last time. Bottom line here for me was the service. According to our check we had server number 806. I’d use his name but he never gave it to us. He was rude and treated us as if we were a bother in his day. He was also not very knowledgeable about the menu and never really answered any questions. The food was good and the wine list was nothing that one might anticipate for a wine bar. Will not return…

3.5 stars
This review is for the service and drinks. I’ve never eaten here, but I use this place as my «networking» spot. I work in the building and it’s very convenience to meet up with co workers and potential co workers, lol, here.
The atmosphere is more lively during the evening but if you go during the day or moreso when I go around 10am it’s quiet, dark, and a great place to have an informal interview or network.
The service is great and although there known for there wine I recommend on a cold winter day to get the hot chocolate! I got this last week and it warmed me right up :) One day I’ll have to sit down and try the food.

My experience was just okay here. I sat outside to enjoy the river and instead spent most of the night swatting flies away from my wine. Outdoor seating is great, but there need to be some bug zappers around. When a fly finally found himself in my wine and I mentioned it to the server, I did not receive a replacement, which was annoying considering the desired quality of this place.
Using the groupon was good– the flights were nice and the cheese and meat plate was delicious– though we could have used more bread, especially since some of the cheeses are soft and meant to be spread. The prices for subsequent drinks, however, were outrageous. If a flight costs $ 15, who would expect a full glass of one of the flight wines to be $ 20?! Stick with the flights– you get more wine for the money.

Really unsatisfactory experience on all fronts: wine offerings, food and service.
The wine flights tasted pretty cheap and didn’t pair with the descriptions. I had the Tour de France (French reds) and none had the notes listed in the tasting sheet. My friend had the bold reds and found them all to be pretty medium-​bodied. The charcuterie and cheese selections were pretty good and we enjoyed them, but did not care for the other selections. The mussels came in a weird cream sauce, which I’ve never encountered with mussels, and they were pretty barnyardy. The mushroom crostini was fine, but unremarkable.
Service was a huge turn off. Our server seemed disinterested and over it from the get-​go (mind you, it was only 6:15 on a weekday). Once we mentioned our Groupon he rolled his eyes and clearly checked out for the night. Here’s the thing: I get why Groupons are annoying, but your establishment offers them, so work it out. I know to tip on the pre-​discounted price, I’m not going to stiff you on gratuity, why are you stiffing me on service?
I will not return.

I was really excited about Rittergut (despite the unfortunate name). I was excited about getting a drink. I was excited about my date. I was excited about the dark underground look of the place. I was just all around excited.
Then I got to Rittergut and all the excitement vanished.
The service at the bar was so bad we left without finishing our drinks. If you know anything about me you’ll know that abandoning alcohol is something I only do in the event of fire or, well, I can’t think of another scenario.
My favorite part of the time I spent at Rittergut was when I killed a spider on the bar with a menu, handed said menu to the bartender and said «I just killed a spider with this…» as he walked away from me ignoring me «…you may want to lick it clean or throw it out». He literally didn’t say a word in acknowledgment of the smashed pest.
I may try Rittergut again (Spiders; you have been warned). I will. of course, let you know how that goes.

Pretty solid place for lunch in da loop, welcome change from the other standards like Rivers, South Branch, Lloyds, etc. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could.
Located in the CME building by Rivers, its a cool little place that does not have the super corporate-​y vibe. Would love to try their wines for happy hour.
I had the tomato bacon grilled cheese and tomato basil soup on a cold wintery day, pretty good, although not the best. Just ok portions.
My companions had the paella, niman ranch steak, and the turkey brie sandwich. All looked pretty tasty.
Service was pretty good too, had a quirky waiter and our waters were always filled.