Travelle

I stayed at the Langham during a visit to Chicago, and ended up catching an early dinner here before my flight that turned out to be surprisingly good.
The lemon/​parmesan tortellini I had to start was refreshing and light, and the roasted prawns I had for the main course was also enjoyable. The prawns were cooked perfectly, served with a flavorful broth as well as toasted ciabatta with aioli. The mocha bombe for dessert was also tasty, with a light interior and not overly sweet.
Service was warm and professional, and the décor strikes a good balance between modern and inviting, making for a relaxing yet elegant dining atmosphere.

Ooh la la! Me and my bestie was looking for a last-​minute breakfast destination wow in Chicago. Of course I relied on Unilocal to help me find a place and this restaurant came up. So we walked a short distance from our hotel and decided to stay here even though the prices were a little bit more than what we were looking to pay. However the food was simply amazing. As well as the décor and service were top-​notch.
On Sundays, they had a nice buffet for breakfast that included anything from crab, sausage, bacon, eggs, smoothie and omelet stations, as well as fresh fruit. We decided to get something light — I got omelette. Again if food was simply amazing but I was taken aback by the potatoes. These potatoes were out of this world. They were season so well that my best friend and I almost got some to take on the bus home. My bestie got the French toast that was made from scratch and she really enjoyed how fluffy and light they were.
Overall I really enjoyed this restaurant I would definitely come back once I’m in Chicago area again. I think this restaurant should be on any Chicago traveler must visit list!

Review for the bar only…
Wow, what a cool place! It’s perched on the second floor, but has deceptively good views due to being perched right over the river. The space is beautiful inside, the service is great and they have a very large (almost overwhelmingly so) cocktail menu, of unique and top-​notch drinks. I had a Monte Carlo, on the waitress’s recommendation, and it was great.
To be fair, this was on a Saturday afternoon when the place was fairly empty, so I’m not sure what it’s like at night. But it’s a great place to people watch and tipple the afternoon away with friends.

My girl Emily and I met up here for dinner while I was in town for work. What a great little spot. When we were seated we noticed that the their kitchen area was wide open and it had little notes on the window for the day. It ranged from wishing everyone a great St. Patrick’s day, to the weather, to Happy Birthday shout outs to two of the guest that were celebrating with them that night. Very cute indeed.
I started off with an drink called Corn, Bread & Butter. It was brown butter fat-​washed with moonshine, cranberry, orange marmalade. Very unique and quite delicious. Next I ordered the Bbq Octopus with pork belly and sea island red peas. OMG That was so good! I swear I could have had three dishes of this as my meal and I would have been in heaven. For dinner I ordered the Chili Braised Short Rib with Red Beans and rice and smoked Sour Cream. Sadly I was too full to really enjoy it all and because I was staying in a hotel room, I couldn’t exactly take it with me. But I did manage to eat almost half of it and it was quite tasty. The short rib was a little bit more fatty than I would have liked but it was still quite good.
All in all it was a wonderful evening in Chicago with my fabulous friend and fellow Unilocaler Emily! The food, the company, and the service were wonderful and I will definitely come back again during my next visit.

This place — oh man. It is so good. I mean really good. I mean — incredible. For starters, it’s so chic. You come in the hotel entrance on Wabash, and you go to the elevators, and the lobby of this place screams class and elegance. When I got off the elevator on the second floor for Travelle– it was just… Decadent. It was dripping with gold. It just permeates the whole place.
If the ambiance wasn’t enough for you, the drinks will get you. Such original drinks, and the first couple pages are historic drinks brought back to life. They had drinks originally from the mid 1800s available. Truly this place really nails it with drinks. I am by no means a connoisseur, but the beverages and their selection was incredible. The prices reflect that ($$$$$). I had the Chicago Fizz– loved it.
Now for the food. Yes, it was similar to what I had experienced before with the drinks. It was delicious. My friend who came with me was also so impressed. I had the burger and fries for dinner, and I almost passed out. It was juicy and delicious. I just was so into it, and the service was on point. I felt the drinks + dinner + ambiance really sets this place apart. Try the flatbread starters. They are excellent.
Finally I would say this. The view is incredible, like so good. The thing is, it’s a dressy environment, great for small groups and just a good date night. Coming on your own and having a drink is great. No matter what you won’t be disappointed. The caveat of course is that with a couple of drinks plus starters and a meal, it’s about $ 70 per person. I mean it’s not too bad, considering what you are getting.
At the end of the day this place– it’s a treat– so indulge yourself to what is arguable one of the top ten places in Chicago and if anything else at least for the night you can dine the way you deserve.

I went here with my work friend, it was her suggestion. N my oh my! I just loved the place, the ambience, the service, food, drinks. Everything was great! We went there just for drinks to celebrate my last day at work and ordered some lychee based tea and a moscow mule. Both were good, the tea was one of the best… Moscow mule could have been a little stronger but was okay for that moment.
We were enjoying our drinks and suddenly the comes with 2 plates of awesome looking triffle with come panacotta on the bottom, raspberry coolie, and chocolate brownie topped with something that tasted like chocolate butter cream. With a gluten free chocolate cookie and a dark chocolate coated fresh strawberry on the side. It was to die for, I am not a dessert person but this was goooooddd!!! And the best part was, it was complimentary, they had some plates extra so. I guess now is the time when I shud mention, the lounge is reservation only, bar is not and bar is not that expensive.
Overall, awesome experience, will go there again. It is good for a romantic brunch, dinner, or just drinks with friends too…

Travelle was my favorite restaurant week lunch. The service is impeccable. The room is stunning. The food is scrumptious. I had the BBQ Octopus, Short Rib and Banana Cream for dessert. Everything tasted delicious and you could see the care for presentation.
Travelle is way above any typical lunch spot.

One great thing about Restaurant Week is that it allows you try different restaurants that you might not normally — as was the case with Travelle a few weeks back. I’ll start by saying that I love the inside of the restaurant in that it’s not overly crowded with the tables and the noise level isn’t too loud — whereas, many restaurants are today. I actually liked being able to see into the kitchen and thought everything «inside» the restaurant was very nice. Our service was also very good and our waiter was quite attentive. We didn’t have a window view, but that was fine for me since I’ve seen the view so many times before. I actually enjoyed having an inner table where I could people watch.
My husband had the BBQ Octopus, Short Rib and Banana Pot de Crème, while I had the Sausage, Spicy Chicken Breast and Cherry Cobbler. While all the food was good — it wasn’t great and it didn’t really stand out to me as a place that I would go back to. It really was so un-​memorable that I had some trouble trying to remember what I ate when we were there and it was only a few weeks ago.
I walked into the bar area to see what that was like and again — the atmosphere was really nice and laid back. It seemed like a great place to grab a drink with some friends and coworkers. However, with so many restaurants (at street level) in the area, would I take the extra steps to ride the elevator to go to Travelle? Probably not. Different story if I was actually staying in the hotel.

The restaurant is located inside the Langham hotel and the restaurant décor aligns with the hotel’s upscale and clean lines. I came for lunch on a Monday and the crowd was light. The bar area was closed but has window views of the river which is quite nice. I ordered a glass of champagne and the bottle was brought to the table which I appreciated because it can be annoying when the champagne isn’t super chilled and there are minimal bubbles. I also ordered the Burrata with Persimmons. I would venture to say it’s the best and most interesting burrata I’ve ever had and I will be dreaming about it for weeks to come! The only suggestion I have for them is to be sensitive to the amount of times they ask to clear the table, especially when the plate still has about half of the food remaining. I think we were asked 3 times just for our appetizer :(

This was probably our favorite RW 2016 lunch, being a close call to that provided this year by GT Oyster. It was also a treat to experience this 2.5 year old 2^nd-​floor business alongside the also 2.5-year-old Trip Advisor top-​rated 5-​star Langham luxury hotel housed in the old IBM building. The 3 RW courses were all well prepared with some fresh and refined tastes, and also presented beautifully (naturally). Service was top notch. My only real complaints with our Travelle experience were 1) more difficulty finding street parking for the location, and 2) the seat I had wasn’t all that comfortable with the curvature at back of seat cushion (I’m sure the design was more for looks). It turns out you can get 4 hours of validated parking for $ 14 if you eat here, and that’s not too bad for the area if you want to kill that amount of time (I paid $ 10 for metered parking). Anyway, wife had the baby octopus/​pork belly appetizer, mushroom ragu, and banana pot de crème dessert. We shared dishes and I had the baby octopus/​pork belly, chili braised short rib, and chocolate cake. The highlight for me was that baby octopus — it was a benchmark to remember — being a large, nicely grilled piece and yet so surprisingly tender and delicate. The pork belly was nice also, but not quite as succulent as a best ever serving. The short rib was tasty and also extremely tender, and this dish had a nice bit of Tex Mex flavor to it with the red beans. The mushroom ragu had a large variety and quantity of tasty mushroom slices and was smothered with a creamy and subtle coconut like sauce. The desserts were decadent, and you could feel the calories entering in, and staying put. The chocolate cake was good, and I personally liked it a bit better than the banana pot de crème, but it wasn’t not top notch moist. They have an open view kitchen area and except for the fact that the bar area was separated from the dining area, I didn’t find anything particularly odd about the dining space that some earlier reviews alluded to. The space is loud though. Overall, a great visit and experience for us here.

Came for restaurant week and once again service and food were spectacular. In my opinion, Travelle is a top 10 restaurant in Chicago.
For lunch, I had the salmon and short rib entrees from the restaurant week menu and both of them were expertly prepared. The salmon to a medium rare and the short rib maintaining shape but soft as butter.
I also ordered the grilled cheese of the day which was crusty, melty, and a very good restaurant version.

Such a solid disappointment. I’ll try to be concise.
1) Service was slow. The place wasn’t crowded and 3 people checked up on us but none of them were allowed to take our order so we ended up waiting a while for the waiter. He apologized but I was still a bit annoyed by the long wait.
2) We were craving eggs, bacon, and a wonderful breakfast but the menu had nothing but lunch options so we settled for squash soup and a broccoli cheese grilled sandwich. The soup was just okay. I liked the unique seasoning clump on top and think it saved the soup since the soup by itself would have been boring and bland. The broccoli grilled cheese was stuffed by so much cheese that I had to remove half of it to taste the bread and broccoli. I wouldn’t order this again.
3) Upon leaving, we were both super upset to see the breakfast buffet! We would have loved to have that and I wish the waiter would have said something!
Overall, we were underwhelmed. Glad we got to see what the hype was about, unfortunately our expectations weren’t met.

Travelle is a great place to go to if it’s just for some cocktails in their chic lounge or if it’s for a great dinner. I came for a holiday work dinner in December, and everyone had a great experience.
We had a private section for about 20 people, with a preset menu. We all started off with some appetizers — two flatbreads, a mushroom one and an assorted veggie one. The mushroom flatbread was great! We then had an option to pick between the field squash soup and the endive salad. I chose the butternut squash soup, which was very flavorful and light. For my main course I picked the mushroom risotto. It was great! Very tasty, a little heavy (but that’s expected with a risotto). I would definitely order it again. I finished my dinner off with the apple cobbler, which was more than enough to make my dinning experience excellent.
The atmosphere, the service, and the food all deserve 5 stars. The décor of the hotel lobby, the lounge and the restaurant is very tasteful. Some nights they also have some light live music in the lounge.

Quick lunch after a meeting in the building with my work colleagues. Server recommended the Walleye sandwich. All three of us took his suggestion. Dare I say this is one of the most perfect sandwiches I’ve had. The avocado was a nice touch, the walleye was lightly dusted and fried to perfection. I choose the side salad and again perfectly coated with a light dressing. I’m beginning to really love this place.

Drop the mic: Boom!
Travelle really delivered the wow factor. I took the elevator to the second floor and was greeted by iridescent metallic orbs suspended from the ceiling and smartly dressed employees — particularly the Dutch guy with a pocket square and the blonde woman with a My Little Pony tail swishing down her back. My hand brushed against the wall as I walked to my table and it’s slippery bumps surprised and thrilled me. The view of the city from floor to ceiling windows took a back seat to the glassed-​in kitchen stage which was the perfectly appropriate centerpiece to the dining room.
I was excited to go to Travelle ever since I saw it featured on the television show Check Please! I studied the menu and made a list of everything I wanted. The server helped me decide how to order my two cocktail selections: first the elaborate Corn, Bread & Butter followed by the mature Santiago Reunion.
The Corn, Bread & Butter is probably one of the most embellished cocktails you will ever have in your life. It is served on a wooden tray filled with crushed herbs and grains. There is a smoldering cinnamon stick (or something that looks like it), a two inch cube of cornbread, a small jar of marmalade, and the drink in a copper mug (like a Moscow Mule). The mug is filled with crushed ice from which protrudes a narrow straw. It’s embarrassing to admit that the clandestine drink eludes my description. It was a little sweet and everyone at my table really liked it but I wonder if all of the fanfare scattered the possibility of analysis.
The Santiago Reunion is like a smokey Manhattan. I absolutely loved it and would get it again. It’s unadulterated simplicity was bold in maturity. I would say that in comparison a Manhattan is bright with syrupy flavors like walking through a forest with light beams broken by the leaves and branches. The Santiago Reunion is the leathery face of a well-​traveled, strong individual walking through the trees.
We shared three starters: Roasted Bone Marrow, Roasted Cauliflower, and Endive Salad. We liked all three. M’s favorite was the Endive Salad and her least was the Roasted Bone Marrow. My opinion is the opposite of hers. We both agreed that we were unimpressed by the Roasted Cauliflower.
We asked our server if the meat was grass fed and he answered no. He explained that Chef Tim Graham prefers grain fed animals. We further asked if the corn and soy used in some of the dishes was non-​GMO to which the server reported, «Yes, the chef said that he uses all organic ingredients.» Um… I don’t know if you know this, but although non-​GMO and organic might often overlap they are not synonymous. So that answer influenced M to get the BBQ Octopus and I took a walk on the wild side and got the Soy Marinated Skirt Steak.
The BBQ Octopus left M in love with Travelle. In fact, she said that this might become our new anniversary restaurant. My Soy Marinated Skirt Steak didn’t lead me to agree with her. I appreciated that the flavor of the meat shone through. The thinly sliced radishes, cucumbers, and mango was a bright contrast to the characteristically tough and fatty meat; however, I think I prefer a more traditional preparation.
For dessert I was torn between the State Fair Cream Puff and the Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie. The server surprised us by bringing both and they were both incredible. I appreciated that both were rich with flavors but light in texture.
We weren’t paying but we think our bill was over $ 200 for the three of us. It was a delicious dinner in a chic setting. It seemed as if every detail was attended to. For example, the acoustics were perfect for comfortable table conversation balanced with background music and the muted voices of those at other tables. They accomplished this by having smartly carpeted floors and textured ceilings. I definitely appreciate a restaurant that is able to bring incoherent dreams to sharp focus.

Upscale brunching in Chicago located in the Langham hotel. Restaurant is upstairs with great views of the river and street. Came in a party of five. I had the power breakfast with quinoa, kale, scrambled egg whites– tasted great and definitely a good choice for the health nut. Another person had the spinach frittata and egg bruschetta and both of these were very good too. The winner of the table was the ham crêpe– absolutely fabulous! It is a pricey brunch. With drinks expect 30 – 40 per person.
Our waiter was awesome, so personable, attentive and professional. This was an A+ experience all around, would definitely come back and get the ham crepes!

Hidden away on the second floor of the Langham Hotel you will find this hidden gem. The prices are a bit on the high side although that’s often what you find when you are in the area especially when you have a hotel connected to you. Anywho it has a wonderfully cozy bar which I could see myself returning if I wanted to get away for a little drinkypoo before dinner here or elsewhere. The wine list is very good and has an interesting selection of beers and cocktails.
We came for brunch. They have a very pricey buffet options or an ala cart. We ordered off the menu and were very satisfied with the creative dishes that came out. The service was wonderful, friendly and knowledgable about both the food and the wine and beers they offer. Defiantly worth checking out if you are in river north.

Stopped in for a late lunch on a Saturday…
I’ve been here twice for weekend lunches and it’s very relaxed. Service by Lisa has been great, she’s very nice & always checks on you.
Had the White Gazpacho Soup, it was ok, super mild, adding some fresh ground pepper helped.
Next BBQ Octopus w/​pork belly. It’s light BBQ flavor was perfect as you could still taste the octopus. All the flavors worked together nicely!
Finished with the Turkey Club, this was a great sandwich! A nice combo of ingredients makes for good eating. The only thing was the crust of the bread is really hard/​crunchy so not for the delicate mouth: o

Beautiful space with high ceilings and lots of light. We went for a Saturday brunch. There is an extensive buffet, but we ordered off the menu.
The skillet we had was good, but the highlight of the meal was the Benedict. We selected the salmon, and it was an amazing blend of ingredients. The sauce was not a standard Hollandaise as is usual on a Benedict, but rather something much more citrusy and a perfect accompaniment to the salmon and the beautifully cooked eggs. Wedge potatoes had a strong herb flavor but were unremarkable. Service was attentive.
It should be noted that, although we did not have wines (since it was 10am), the wine list here is perhaps the most interesting in the city, with a very broad range of selections ranging from extravagant to affordable, and all very interesting.

A very luxurious restaurant/​bar. We went to the open bar, ordered drinks and appetizers. The ambience and environment is amazing; a great place for a date, especially for a first date. The view is just amazing!
We had the cheese platter, and the black bean fries, which was surprising very tasty, especially the green chili sauce that was very delicious. The chef recently changed up the menu to a more French contemporary than the previous Mediterranean, which I missed out on.
The customer service was excellent, and very fast.
I would definitely come back here to try the dinner menu.