Jean-Georges

A night at Jean-Georges in Logan Square is like being on a first-class flight…to Dallas. Yes, it’s a luxurious, intricate experience from take off to landing, and you’re hanging out 60-some stories up. The views are incredible and guests are as fawned over as a Greek god being hand-fed grapes in an old ass oil painting. But no amount of pampering can make up for the underwhelming food and massive bill. At the end of the day, you’re still just stuck in a humid town in Texas. 

photo credit: Four Seasons

Everything at the sky-scraping restaurant has been considered. Attention to detail is an understatement: your name is embossed on the menu, guests are offered champagne made from grapes quality-checked by French monks (yes, actually), handbags have personal suede seats, and we’re confident that if we told them the glass-walled dining room felt drafty, they’d wrap us in a custom cashmere blanket. The French restaurant is on the 59th floor of the Four Seasons (the tallest building in the city), so the couples and tourists filling the sweeping dining room look down at William Penn and call him broke while enjoying their caviar-topped egg toast. The six-course tasting menu is $218 per person, but as the rare wine flows and pomegranate candy wheeled around in silver trays gets tacked on, the final price will look more like the calendar year. 

photo credit: Four Seasons

photo credit: Four Seasons

It’s not that the food here is bad. In fact, some of it is fantastic. But other dishes are near-inedible, and for this price tag, it shouldn’t be a gamble. Some tweezer-arranged plates include an unforgettable crispy sea trout with a chipotle emulsion, or a perfectly cooked and tender wagyu beef tenderloin in a peppery scotch bonnet sauce that should be bronzed and made into a statue. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s the off-puttingly salty caviar milk bubble tea that we’d have to be bribed to drink again. Ultimately, there’s much better and more consistent food around the city (much of it in the same building). We suggest sticking with the a la carte menu so you can avoid the culinary rollercoaster and still have dinner with stunning views. Or save Jean-Georges for a night when money is truly no object, and you care more about feeling like Meghan Markle on Prince Harry’s private jet than what’s for dinner.

Food Rundown

The menu here changes every two weeks, but here are a few examples of things you might see.

photo credit: Four Seasons

Tasting Menu

While the $218 Land and Sea tasting menu has several standouts, it doesn’t consistently measure up to the views. We’re wowed by the bread course—including a fancy take on soft pretzels—and JG’s signature sushi, like expertly sliced yellowfin tuna noodles with just a subtle hint of citrus. For vegetarians, there’s the From Earth menu, where dishes like parsnip soup with coconut and delicata squash confit are just as beautifully presented and seasonally focused as the omnivore options. There are some less than memorable dishes like a bland seared duck breast and total misses. So it can be a night of dishes you’ll be glowing or complaining about all week.