The Drawing Room

The atmosphere was cozy with a touch of romantic class at the Drawing Room, Chicago! My friend and I were seated at a cozy corner table for two. The plush chairs had a side and back which made it very comfortable, and if need be, easy to push together to make miniature love seats, for tables of four!
Greeted by our personable and knowledgable waiter, we ordered drinks from the list of uniquely designed cocktails. Of course, wine and beer are available but the cocktails are really worth a try! I ordered what the waiter described as a ‘holiday’ drink, «Orange is the New Black» with hints of spices and orange. I ordered it because of the same name show on Netflix! I would describe it as two drinks in one. The spices are definitely dominate until the last few sips where a foamy sweetness with a hint of orange flavor takes over.
After ordering drinks, it was time to look at the food menu! Even with the short list of menu items, about five choices in each section of First, Second, and Main, it was hard to decide what to order. I could have chosen two items from each section! After narrowing down our choices, we asked our waiter what his favorite items were. He mentioned our top choices and it was an easy decision from there. We started with a First, Steak Tartare, reluctantly skipped the Second, and chose Pan Roasted MonkFish and Duck Confit as our Main. Everything was delicious. We left nothing on our plates except for the duck bone.
We never wanted for anything! The water glasses were always filled before they were empty. The food portions were perfect! We did not leave feeling stuffed but, honestly, very satisfied. The staff we came in contact with were very friendly and professional. The Drawing Room is definitely a place to consider for a date night, special romantic outing, or a nice dinner with the girls! I am already thinking of reasons to go again!
(Dinner ~ February 8, 2014)

Entrance takes you down a staircase into a subterranean oasis. Ambiance is dark with speakeasy sass and cozy. Seats are cushy little half couches.
We’ve come many times for dinner. Cocktails are beautiful and carefully prepared. Their menu is rather small, but reliably good.
Despite the location, it’s a little hidden Gem. And if you come on a weeknight it’s super chill and a great place to relax with friends or your person and talk about life.

Came here for a quick drink on a week night and liked the quiet, laid-​back vibe and conversation-​friendly music level. Drink was tasty & strong. Dining tables were cozy but it wasn’t open that night due to private event. Would love to come back and check out the food!

What a perfect little spot in the Gold Coast area!
I came here for drinks & dinner with my boyfriend. First. This place is hidden! You have to keep your eye out for it.
It’s more of a lounge than a restaurant. We sat on little couches with a table. We first ordered drinks from their cocktail list. So the reviews are right. Their cocktails are delicious! They are made with fresh ingredients! I had a drink that was made with cinnamon, apple cider and butternut squash. It sounds gross but was amazing! My boyfriend had a drink called the Peruvian trying to do me in and he really enjoyed it. We also shared a drink with lavender in it. That was my favorite! If you are coming here for drinks. skip the beer and wine! Just stick to their cocktail list and you will be satisfied!
As for food. pretty tasty! We ordered the mussels which were a hit! We also ordered the braised short rib. It was just ok. The reason why I say just ok because they fried it. I am not a big fan of m short rib being fried. Lastly we ordered the duck confit! It was cooked perfectly and mouthwatering! I recommend the duck! I am sure everything else on their menu is good too! Wish I could of tried it all!
Lastly… The ambience of the place is different. It’s in a basement so you don’t have any windows but it’s dark with dim lighting. It’s a great place for a large group to sit around and have a few drinks!

A cheerful but very young bartender made us some pretty good off-​menu drinks. By Chicago standards, I’d give the cocktails alone a solid three or even three and a half stars.
But far more exciting, who knew that there was someplace on Rush street where you could waltz in without a reservation on a Friday night and easily grab a seat in a quiet and cozy place and have a civilized conversation for several hours? I had no idea, and for that reason The Drawing Room goes in my back pocket.

My girlfriend took me out to dinner here a while back and it was delicious and lovely but most of all super cool and a little swanky. The unique vibe brought us back last night for drinks and because my friend was in town and I had to show her a good time. We sat at the bar and let me tell you, we had an absolute blast. Will took such good care of us and made us custom drinks based on our favorite movies and bands. As a bartender myself, it was so fun sitting there and watching them create all of these beautiful cocktails. We will without a doubt be back and thanks again Will and Azrehal (spelling?) You two just caught yourself some new regulars.

Ridiculously pretentious, BUT, I liked it. There were comfy loungy type chairs, and it was quiet when we arrived but getting busier when we were leaving around midnight. I got the «Light a Fire, Walk Away» which had just the right amount of spice for someone who’s not big on spicy drinks (or $ 14 drinks for that matter). Our waiter was pretty sarcastic, and at first I thought he was a tool (I had to bite my tongue when he called graham cracker CRUMBS on the s’mores dessert «deconstructed graham cracker») but then he started joking around with us and he was actually really funny. Overall I had a great time and would definitely go back again if I was with the right people.

Great drinks, I do recommend the burger and their pork tenderloins.
Good vibe, great food, the chairs are kinda low…

The Drawing room, simple affair both in appearance and in ideology, flavors are anything but ordinary. The food, though creative and delicious, cocktails that show the sense of complacency. Chicago’s gangster and Ricotta Gnocchi is what I gravitated too, damn glad I did. Service was amazing, the hostess from Austin was even better! from let me call you a cab, to making sure everything was perfection
Date night spot
Chill dark and cozy
cocktails that make you go hmmmmmmm

Incredibly charming atmosphere. Very small and intimate.
Drinks were out of this world!
Service was fantastic.
I went with three girlfriends and we shared all our dishes. The menu changes with the seasons and I don’t see any of the items we ordered on the current menu other than the tartar; which was super yummy!
I love this place for a date or a girl’s night!

Came here for cocktails for my birthday.
So I have to say upfront I’m probably biased because I’ve been to Violet Hour and Aviary and those places blew me away. But I guess all reviews are biased then because you’re comparing it to other places you’ve been to? I don’t know.
Perhaps the waiter also raised our expectations as he told our group that Drawing Room is known for some of the best cocktails in the city. Honestly, I just wasn’t impressed. The cocktails didn’t really seem memorable to me either. We had a group of 7 and almost tried each cocktail on the menu and nothing really was like «OMG this is AMAZING!» Instead, all I could think was… well… okay, this isn’t bad.
It’s a nice atmosphere though. I would definitely come here for a date if I didn’t want to go out to Wicker Park or the West Loop (Wicker Park is such a pain to get to from Lakeview).

Went for dinner on Friday night with my friends. We had reservation so we were seated pretty quick.
Their table and sofa/​chair was very low. My friends and I are petit so it wasn’t a big problem but for those who are taller I dont know if they would feel the same.
We had culinary cocktails since the server recommended that they have special recipes for those drinks. Drinks were good but one of my friend’s drink was too strong for her. When she asked if they can make it less strong the waiter said they can make new one but can’t make it less strong because they can’t change the recipe for it. Wish they could.
My friend had lamb burger but said she can’t really taste lamb. My other friend and I had the steak and it was really hard to chew. Only good thing was their cold pea soup.
I will not go back here though. With the money I spent there, I can go to better place with way better food.

Review is for drinks only — if you’re only doing drinks you HAVE to sit at the bar. Instead of ordering off the menu, the bartender asked us a whole series of questions, starting with what type of alcohol we usually drank, and then crafted each of us our own personal cocktail. Both drinks were ahmazing, the bartender we had was informative, helpful and really patient, since it took us a while to answer all the questions. Its expensive for a reason, worth every penny!
Great place to go to impress a date.

I came here for an event and the restaurant itself seemed like one of those hush-​hush restaurants with an obscure entrance: P We were able to try out some of their specials, such as the Arctic Char (came with pickled green zebras, red curry soubise, Japanese eggplant, lemongrass steamed jasmine rice, turmeric garlic chips, basil; the char was very fresh and the combination of the ingredients made it a light dish), the Bacon² (bacon wrapped braised pork belly, smoked eggplant purée, verjus, spiced pecans, celery leaf, grapes; these were delicious as the pork belly was very juicy and flavorful and the spiced pecans added a nice touch), and a burger (braised beef shortrib, mustard seed tomato chutney, oyster mushrooms, house smoked «bacon», sweet and spicy pickles; the braised shortrib was very tender and I enjoyed the house-​smoked ‘bacon’). The staff were friendly, and the ambiance was nice with the dim lights and the elegant feel to it all. I’m glad that I was able to check this place out!
+obscure entrance
+Bacon² (YUMMM)
+burger (with tender braised shortrib)

Drawing Room is located in a part of Chicago known as the Gold Coast. Around the area you see a couple big name fashion lines and also the Waldorf Astoria ($$$$!), but Drawing Room was a pretty down-​to-​earth kinda place with mixologist style cocktails. First thing the bouncer asked us was if we had reservations. While we did not, we were lucky enough to snag 2 seats at the 7 seat bar. Inside most were just lounging and drinking. I felt right at home with my suit and tie, but nice jeans and a button up would work for you here as well.
-=-Grandhattan-​=- The name changes often but it’s pretty much a whiskey sweetened up with bitters and vermouth. Classy and typical.
-=-Pepperoni Drink, name?-=- I love pepperoni, but just don’t know about drinking it. The liqueur used was more pepper than pepperoni. It didn’t work too well as a drink since it was hard to down, but definitely unique. I asked for it.
The big draw here comes from the live music room in the back called The Backroom. Our mixologist, Owen, was happy to walk us out to the back after we downed a couple of cocktails and some dessert. The venues are completely separate so you must close your bill out front to hit the back.

I’d put this at 3.5. I was meeting two girlfriends for drinks and small bites so we sat at the bar. The service was above average but not great. One of the bartenders did remake a drink for my friend when she didn’t like what she got so that was awesome. I’m a wine drinker but my friends both had cocktails and loved them. I would like a few more wine options but certainly not a deal breaker. They were in the process of turning over their menu to fall so some of the options were not on there but they did have a Carmenere by the glass so kudos for that.
We got the hush puppies. I would not recommend these. We all thought they were tasty but too dense and the potato would have been better had it been shredded but not bad. The scallops were okay but they really did not have that dark char on them that I love in scallops. However the accompaniments on the plate were awesome. The steak tartar was awesome too. That was all of our favorite dishes and would absolutely recommend it. The pork shoulder was sort of strange. It’s served sort of like a terrine with some things mixed into the shoulder. It was not what I would choose but it was not bad. It was just a bit surprising to have it prepared in that manner. Everything was slightly above average for this type of place but with so many awesome comparisons it’s hard to give it a four.

My first few times here were amazing. Loved the delicious cocktails crafted tableside, and the whole who/​what/​when/​where/​why of how the ingredients were chosen and put together as they were. I especially dug the dessert flight, which was four plates of heaven. I decided it was time to head here with my man, and show him the five star place my girlfriends and I were raving about. Umm, yeah. Total fail.
Dinner elsewhere ended early, and I figured we’d walk by and see if there was any chance they could fit us in, even though we were an hour early for our reservation. They couldn’t. Of course, they were able to fit the large group in front of us without a reservation, because they offered the girl working the front door a twenty. Oh, and when we finally got in, it was half empty on a Saturday night. Strike one.
They were out of a number of drink ingredients, limiting the selection. And horror of horrors, although we told the waiter the second we were seated we were there for the dessert flight, he didn’t mention they were out of all the desserts except the gelato until after we ordered our drinks. I should’ve known something was up when he refused to take our dessert flight order, saying he would get to it after taking care of our drinks. Strike Two.
The best part was the cockroach crawling up the wall that my boyfriend jumped up and smashed like a maniac while waiting for our check. The staff noticed, but did nothing. Strike Three. This place is out.

Underground, very sheik and classy-​like, Low to ground tables, dark
Just stopped by before going to dinner for a few cocktails
Nice ambience but a bit pricy

I went to the Drawing Room during restaurant week. I’d heard some good things and was excited to check the place out. We arrived and found our reservation had been made at the wrong time. Somehow we were down for 8:30 rather than 7:15. What was the most odd was that they offered that time. I asked for something around 7 or 8 and the person who has answered offered 7:15. Not a huge deal, just a little weird that I was offered one time and a completely different time was noted. There was an awkward moment, but the were able to seat us promptly.
The restaurant is beautiful, but I definitely get what others meant about the chairs. They are weird and something about them is slightly uncomfortable, but you get used to it. Our waiter, clearly an actor/​aspiring bartender, was personable and gave good drink recommendations. The drinks were very good, though I was slightly disappointed by the lack of a copper cup for my Moscow Mule.
The dinner was good, but not great. It’s definitely a place to go for cocktails first with food a secondary concern. Foodies can probably live without it. I am a cocktail lover for sure, and a well-​made drink will typically bring me back, but this is definitely a dinner place with a small bar better equipped to handle dinner patrons waiting for a table. I don’t know if I’d go out of my way go back, but if friends wanted to go I would.

Move over Charles Joly and make way for Cristiana Delucca at the helm!
This roll-​out-​of-​bed into dressy «breakfast» weekday girls’ night… say what? wouldn’t be complete without some cocktails to start the evening. For all of the cushy chairs in the lounge area, the best seats were at the bar. Upon first glance, nothing struck out as much as their past drink menu. For this lightweight, their shrub-​a-​dub-​dub and bubbs seemed like obivous choices. But then came the Ode to Aud with jasmine tea. Tasted super shrubbery, minty, with a fragrant tea essence. We had none other than Cristiana, artfully preparing the cocktails of our choosing, answering all of our noobish questions. We conversed while watching them cracking eggs, burning zest, immersing aromatics.
Sniff, sip, savor. Repeat.
Enjoy!