The Most Expensive Tasting Menus In Chicago, Ranked

Chicago has so many tasting menu restaurants, there’s probably one hiding in your closet right now. These meals can be some of the most exciting in the city—but they’re often really long, and usually very expensive. No one wants to spend three hours and more than $150 per person on a meal that’s just OK, and that’s where this guide comes in. These are the best tasting menus in Chicago.

THE SPOTS

Oriole

Price: $325

Oriole in the West Loop is our highest-rated restaurant and will give you one of the best meals of your life for a high price tag. Despite the price, the environment here (which you enter through a non-working freight elevator in an alley) isn’t stuffy at all. Attentive servers provide just the right amount of context while presenting you with dishes that will reframe your thoughts—like a truffle pasta with the power to convince you truffles aren’t just a scam. And when it's time for the foie gras course (billowy foie mousse topped with blueberries on toasted brioche), you'll be moved to a counter seat in front of the open kitchen, because we can only assume the chefs want to watch your face while you eat it.

Alinea

Price: $325-$395 for The Salon, $435-$495 for The Gallery, $495 for the Kitchen Table

If you have a fancy restaurant bucket list, Alinea in Lincoln Park is probably on it. Of course, fame and 50-minute features on Chef’s Table don’t necessarily mean a place is worth your time (or in this case, several hundred dollars), but Alinea definitely is. The 15-course mish-mash of flavors is devastatingly good with Thai , Mexican , and French inspirations all at play. And a meal here is also guaranteed to be an experience—with theatrics (like fog machines), molecular gastronomy (egg “yolks” that transform into bread), and great servers (who are genuinely funny) you won’t easily forget.

Kasama

Price: $285

The 13-course meal, warm service, and spectacular food at Kasama in Ukrainian Village has us wishing every meal had an “instant replay” option. The menu changes regularly, but you can expect to find delicious Filipino dishes like squid ink pancit topped with serrano ham, or lamb belly kare kare—no matter what hits the table, each course is balanced, perfectly executed, and flows seamlessly into the next. And we’d gladly get stuck in a never-ending loop if it meant constantly getting to relive dishes like umami-packed mushroom adobo with mussel emulsion and their pear granita halo halo.

Schwa

Price: $195-$245

Schwa is a BYOB place in Wicker Park that serves an incredible 12-course dinner set to the soundtrack of alt hip-hop. This tasting menu spot doesn’t have a team of uniformed servers, wine pairings, or a hushed atmosphere. The chefs are also the servers, and they’ll casually drop foie gras pancakes in a raisin-miso broth on the table as if they aren’t about to change your life. The restaurant is tiny, the bathroom is in the center of the kitchen, and speaking of the kitchen, yes the table next to you just gave them a six-pack. The food is phenomenal, with just enough molecular gastronomy to let you know whoever’s cooking can’t be that drunk.

Valhalla

Price: $198

During Valhalla's $198 tasting menu, you'll encounter a letter opener and a giant egg-shaped salt block that looks like a prop from the set of Jurassic Park. None of this is typical dinner paraphernalia, but they're essential to this thrilling and inventive fine dining experience in Wicker Park from the SKY team. While sitting at Valhalla's 14-seat, spotlit chef’s counter, you'll scoop spicy ceviche, drag scotch egg-inspired lamb through tikka masala sauce, and watch an hourglass as the mushroom tea course finishes steeping. This could all be too much, but Valhalla’s showy aspects never overshadow the incredible food.

Esmé

Price: $265-295

This Lincoln Park spot has everything we look for in a dinner designed to make us feel as cared for as a cherished racehorse. The 12-15 course, three-hour dinner never drags, and each experiential dish is fun without being too whimsical. A singular charred rib with banana caramel, for instance, might come wrapped around a ceramic “bone” you eat like a Flintstones character. We’ve also had a savory sweet potato ice cream topped with caviar, and a canapé that tastes like a Cheeto from the future. Plus, the magician who did the restaurant’s lighting made sure everyone looks like they're naturally FaceTuned.

Cariño

Price: $190, or $210 for Chef's Counter

The towering chicharrón from Cariño’s 11-course tasting menu makes you gaze in wonder, like you’re reenacting the first scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey —or Barbie . It tells you everything you need to know about this Uptown spot: you’re in for a playful meal. Other courses follow suit, like a huitlacoche ravioli that has more forms of corn than we can track, or Tajin-topped oysters with a Modelo foam that channels the spicy, refreshing flavors of a michelada. And despite only having a few seats and a not-inexpensive $190 price, Cariño isn’t stuffy or overly formal—you could totally wear a hoodie and jeans to eat a tetela with a tiny hoja santa hat.

The Coach House

Price: $165, or $190 for Chef's Counter

This 25-seat spot, which, yes, is in a 100-year-old coach house, is hidden in the courtyard behind Lilac Tiger , the South Asian restaurant in Wicker Park from the same team. The Coach House serves an incredible $165 eight-course meal with dishes like momos filled with crab kulambu in a spicy black garlic sauce, chewy fara dumplings swimming in clarified beet butter, and chettinad fish topped with eggplant and crispy shallots. And while this place is expensive, it feels relaxed thanks to a chill playlist of South Asian pop and hip-hop. It’s only open on the weekends (with just two seatings a night), and once your dinner ends, you’ll be scheming to book your next reservation.

Smyth

Price: $325, or $25 for Chef's Table

Smyth in the West Loop feels like someone’s very nice family home, with wildflower-filled vases on top of bare wooden tables, and an open kitchen with drawings on the fridge. You can choose to do a 12-course seasonal menu for $325 or a $425 Chef's Table experience, and while it is expensive, it’s even less formal than Oriole. You’ll find dishes like avocado glazed in pistachio and peanut milk, and a cured-egg yolk dessert that’s in the running for one of the best ways to finish a meal, ever.

Atelier

Price: $170

Atelier definitely checks all the fine dining boxes. This tiny New American restaurant in Lincoln Square serves a $170 ($190 on weekends) 10-course tasting menu full of pretty dishes that graduated from Tweezer University. But the rustic tables, estate sale-ready plates, and hip-hop and bluegrass playlist keep it from feeling uncomfortably sterile. And like the music, each delicious course covers a lot of ground, jumping from crispy akara, to yuba noodle soup, to a cute mini apple cider donut with tiny edible flowers. Atelier is perfect whether you’ve been saving up to celebrate, or just want a nice dinner to spice up a very mundane Wednesday night.

Ever

Price: $325

Ever’s tasting menu experience ranges from “How did they do that?” to “Oh look, a foam.” You’ll find dishes like shaved and frozen hamachi plated with extra precision, and maybe a cauliflower canapé presented on a big log. This West Loop restaurant is the epitome of formal, with tables spaced far apart so you don’t have to hear other diners whispering about their wagyu. And as seen on season two of The Bear , the servers at Ever are incredibly synchronized—they’ll treat you in the way you'd expect during a meal that costs as much (or more) than a car payment.