Avenue M

Ambiance: Wonderful
Setting: Perfect
Food: Fine
I really enjoyed the experience of this restaurant more than the food. The party I was part of were longtime friends of the owners and therefore our service was excellent. Don’t get me wrong, all the food was good and the wine was very good. But for the prices they charge, there are better places in Chicago to get a steak.

Went to the restaurant Saturday evening for my bachelorette party with a group of 15. The restaurant was fully aware of this large party reservation and staffing was not appropriate to serve the table. The table ordered sushi and hummus as appetizers — the sushi smelled & tasted fishy (not good!), the hummus was good. We repeatedly asked for more bread (they only brought out 2 bread baskets for 15 people). When the food came out (at 10:20pm!!!) the plates were warm, not hot — but the food was delicious — half of our party ordered the Chilean Sea Bass (AMAZING item on the menu). As a note, the restaurant was nearly EMPTY — aka the kitchen was NOT busy and should have been able to accommodate our party more efficiently. The manager was made aware of the tardiness of the food, and did provide 2 complimentary bottles of champagne.
Overall, the dinner good items were good, the sushi was not good and service was a mess. It’s a shame because the place is super sassy and perfect for a night out.

I’ve been here a few times now and realized I hadn’t reviewed it yet. When I saw it only had 3 stars I knew it was time to write it up.
Avenue M is a great place to meet for a drink — glass of wine, vodka tonic, whiskey, martini, whatever your preference. The bartenders are well dressed, friendly and polite.
Being a health-​conscious diner means that I can be a bit particular when it comes to menu selection. Last week I ordered the shrimp cocktail which was presented nicely on a bamboo dish, followed by the Chilean Sea Bass. The sea bass nearly melted in my mouth and I would love to know what they did to wild rice that make it taste so delicious (it’s rice after all) plus the portion was rather significant.
We finished with the pan baked cookie topped with vanilla ice cream — it was cooked just right to make it taste like cookie dough icre cream… yummy!
The atmosphere is warm, sleek, urban and a bit noisy as you would expect from a trendy city restaurant.
Everyone from the hostess to the bartenders to our server, Ashley, were friendly, welcoming and inviting. It made for a fantastic dining experience.

This place it pretty good, but the food is overpriced. The outdoor patio is really cute, they have tables and come comfy chairs and couches. The inside is very sleek; a little pretentious for my taste. The food was decent, but for the prices I would have expected better. Our service was mediocre, nothing was messed up, but we found ourselves having to ask someone to find our server more than once.
Bottom line: I would come again for drinks on the patio, but definitely not to eat. I dropped a ridiculous amount of cash here, mostly on my marginal dinner.

I went to Avenue M for a sponsored party by PLS magazine, so I haven’t had their food and I don’t know what their usual clientele is like, but I had a great time. The drinks weren’t unreasonable and I liked the loungeyness of it all. The room setup is a bit weird and their downstairs bathrooms do annoy me, but I would like to check it out on a regular night.
I think it would be a proper place to start off your night before heading elsewhere.

Avenue M = cool lounge, shitty steakhouse. We came here last night for my birthday dinner and did not have the experience I was hoping for. First off the space is very beautiful. Loved the atmosphere. However, the service was PAINFULLY slow. Although the restaurant wasn’t terribly busy, there was only one waiter on staff which wasn’t near enough. With the prices you’re paying at this restaurant, you would expect a little attention from your waiter. We didn’t even see ours for about the first 20 minutes, and from then on our service was incredibly rushed and just overall half-​assed.
The food isn’t bad, but it’s definitely not as good as it should be for the price. We split the lamb lollipops as an appetizer. They were good, but really small and there were only 3 of them, not 4 like the waiter had told us. I had the stuffed chicken breast and he had the 8 oz. filet. The chicken breast was kind of tough and the fingerling potatoes weren’t fully cooked. The filet was cold. And it was the smallest 8 oz. fillet I’ve ever seen. I would actually guess that it was closer to 6. The twice baked potato was really good though! The creamed spinach the waiter brought us was in a really small dish and he promised us a second dish of it was coming, but it never did.
We weren’t offered dessert, just coffee or our check. I don’t plan to return here.

Avenue M is like the Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface of restaurants. She’s kind of foxy with maybe one or two redeeming qualities, but at the end of the day, she’s just an expensive coke whore that needs to get her life on track.
Let me preface this dining review by recapping previous non-​dining experiences at Avenue M… First time: Right when they first opened. Unappealing. Met up with fellow tribe members and realized that my money wasn’t as green as certain other people’s. Second and third time a couple summers ago: thought I was going to get shanked. Jailhouse tats abounded and Mr. thuglife and his rapey friend seemed like they would do anything to steal my former ladyfriend away from me for an hour.
Tonight, I went back to celebrate the inauguration of their new chef (read: drink and eat free shit). Well, the appetizers were embarrassingly hard to come by, and when we finally snagged a couple, they were… not good. The crab ravioli was truly bad and the salad was lettucey. Can’t complain about the free drinks though.
For whatever reason, my friends decided we should stay for dinner. I had the tomato soup which wasn’t very good, the 8 oz filet which was VERY good (yet not worth $ 34) and some brussel sprouts, which weren’t bad. They do serve a mean cup of coffee too.
The service was unbelievably slow. The server was really nice though, and comped us for a round and I think a bottle of White Star too, so that was cool.
What I found truly disturbing though, is the poor upkeep of the place. They have those 1 man bathrooms that are perfect for Tony Montana. I used two of them. Neither had any hand towels left nor any way to dry one’s hands. One of them didn’t even have a handle on the faucet, and I had to push this tiny thing up to get the water to go on. Forget temperature. It also had a space heater on the floor beneath the sink which I thought was a great idea. My idea of the perfect way to end a good meal is getting electrocuted in the mens room.
Anyway, if you want a good hearty meal in a sceney environment where you can drink the night away and hit on skeezy talent, I’d probably take Landmark over the Ave.

I’ve been here multiple times, for dinner, for drinks, for entertainment and each time I’ve had a very pleasant time.
Birthday dinner with a group of 10 friendswas delightful, a bottle of Veuve and a toast to the new year. The food was on par with the average smanchy type of restaurant in chicago, i didn’t find any interesting pairings which made my tastebuds do double flips but I enjoyed every bite.
The upstairs lounge is a great place to meet up with friends for a while and have a cocktail. I went on two separate occasions, aside from the birthday dinner and enjoyed the banter with the crowd. One night there was a jazz trio, pianist, bass player and vocalist. Excellent show. Entertainment is always on the list for making the night a little unexpected. hmmmmm.
I give Avenue M only 3 stars because it’s great but I’d like to see it be outstanding.

I had my doubts about Avenue M the moment I walked in the door. I tend to prefer smaller, more intimate restaurants and get turned off pretty quickly by the likes of large, ostentatious spaces like Carnivale and N9NE — it’s like eating at a circus. When the nuances of class and taste become overshadowed by trendy, loud décor and trendy, loud people my feathers get ruffled pretty quickly. The only saving grace is usually really fabulous service coupled with really fantastic food, and I have to tip my hat to Avenue M because they’ve converted me… from cynic to saved, I really had an excellent time at this luxe steakhouse.
Yes, it is trendier than Gibson’s and Ruth’s Chris and thusly the people who come out to Avenue M are a bit more on the dressed and coiffed side. If you want to debut your new fabulous dress and heels combo, this would be the place to do it. They have a pretty kickin’ bar and lounge scene upstairs so you’ll see people coming and going who just do drinks here for the night… I’ve done only cocktails and I’ve done dinner and both were pleasant surprises. My steak with bernaise was perfectly cooked and served up with roasted garlic — YUMMMMY! We also shared the leek and mushroom risotto with duck breast and it was some of the creamiest and most perfect risotto I’ve ever had. Shocking, I know.
The lounge upstairs has gangways that extend into the front room and look down onto the diners and bar action. It’s a nifty vantage point when drinking with your friends up there, but trust me, you do not want to be one of those diners down below; it gets way too loud! If you’re coming in for dinner request a seat in the main dining room which remains buffered behind a massive wall of velvet curtains and actually preens to the persnickety folk like me who don’t want to dine in a circus tent.
If you prefer a traditional, more conservative steakhouse this is probably not the spot for you, but if you’re feeling a little adventurous and up for some glitz with your grilled goods, dust off the party shoes and make a beeline for Avenue M.

I found a lot to like about Avenue M. Being in the industry, I had met the general manager when he ate dinner at my bar one night several months ago, and after listening to him chat about his vision of the place, I’d been meaning to get to Avenue M ever since.
Several months later, I was glad we had come. The décor was great and the food was fabulous. My date had the veal chop (which he enjoyed, although he would have prepared it a little more medium rare than medium) and I chowed on the delicious Miso-​Glazed Chilean Sea Bass. The server had no problem switching my rice out for asparagus, and overall we were very well taken care of. The wine list was great too, and we happliy sipped vino while we took in the scene.
Although we were feeling the laid-​back, yet upscale vibe, we also felt like we were surrounded by some real cheeseballs. The sharp-​dressed suit to our left was joined by three, annoyingly giggly trixies, and the suit to our right announced to his date «If you want a steak medium-​rare at a nicer restaurant, you should always say medium. Yeah, they always under cook it at the fancier restaurants. » We reveled in our self-​proclaimed normalcy amidst the interesting crowd that surrounded us.
My only real nag is that I am a dessert person, but after a quick glance at the offered sweets we decided that the dessert list at this place was a chef’s dessert list as opposed to a pastry chef’s dessert list. More of an afterthought, whereas the steaks and chops definately play center stage.
But after all, that’s what Avenue M does well.

For various reasons, last Friday had to be an early night, but we still felt like going out. My husband works in the loop and we live in Wicker Park, so Avenue M was a perfect in-​between point.
Clearly, Avenue M isn’t an after-​work type of place. There were only a few people at the bar, and even fewer diners. Hey, this just meant easier parking and more attentive service for us! Our server was really nice, making suggestions on not only her favorites on the menu, but also the things she DIDN’T like… I appreciate that kind of honesty.
We both had the tomato soup which was good, but not great. It’s reminded me of hot gazpacho rather than the traditional, creamy tomato soup. Tomato soup is one of those comfort food things, you know? You just shouldn’t mess with it. For our main course, we both opted for a nice piece of cow and we were not disappointed. Our steaks were perfectly cooked and well seasoned. After the soup, the bread basket, the steak, and two sides served family style, there was NO room for dessert, unfortunately. Too bad… it sounded yummy. I’d go back!

ICK. I only went for drinks and it was weird and gross. Seriously, the group was over 40 acting 20, complete with awful plastic surgery, overly processed blonde hair and faces pulled so far back that they all looked like they had permanent surprised look on their faces.
The guys were all suit types with really greasy hair, using their faux barbies as arm candy. The drinks were expensive, crowd was like a weird office party. Everyone knows it’s not a party until a girl is in tears… left before that happened, though I did see a screaming match btw two very classy people.

Ended up here with some work folks, as apparently it is supposed to be one of those places to go for the martini set. Eh, not my thing. I wouldn’t slam it, it’s just not my thing (can’t also judge the martinis as all I had was beers). It was just sorta huge and empty. I didn’t hit the outdoor seating area though, which could sway my opinion. Bartender was pretty cool. The bathroom setup is weird. You walk all the way to what seems to be another building, and there are a bunch of single room washrooms. Seems like a ‘be seen’ place.
I guess the jury’s still out on this place, but all the folks with similar taste to mine retreated to Delilah’s right after this.

Chicago meets Manhattan, without the attitude! I loved everything about Avenue M: the décor, service, and especially the food. The ambiance is so dramatic, but not over the top — very tasteful in every way. Our server (wish I’d caught his name) was so friendly, funny, and very honest in his description of the menu.
As for the food, think of Avenue M like an unconventional steakhouse. Everything we ordered was so fantastic: the food was very fresh and the portions were huge, so plan on sharing. Although I don’t eat steak, I ordered fish — as did most of my party — and they were all so delicious (Dover sole, salmon, and halibut). Even the boyfriend (vegetarian) was happy with his pasta. And for dessert, you would be remiss if you did not order the s’mores pie because it is well worth the splurge. A chocolate cake-​y center, surrounded by graham cracker crust and a browned marshmallow topping. Plus a side of vanilla gelato sprinkled with toasted coconut. As if that wasn’t enough, we also had a trio of sorbet (berry, mango, and key lime) that was insanely good.
I can’t wait to go back to Avenue M!

I’m in LOVE! The inside of Avenue M is like NYC, the outside is like South Beach. Wow, this place is fantastic! I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have the lychees to make the Lychee Sakatini. However, I was impressed with my ‘Bling’ martini and their specialty ‘Gin Sin’. I sampled some of the s’more dessert and the fries and EVERYTHING was delicious. Our waiter, Mark, was awesome, too! Very attentive and accommodating — even though, at times, we had demanding requests.
Our only complaint was that the a/​c was broken yesterday, so it was incredibly hot. However, that could’ve been due to the combination of no a/​c, loads of liquor and 10 girls crammed into a booth. ;)

I attended a private party at Avenue M and was absolutely wowed.
The atmosphere is almost minimalist (without being boring), trendy, and sophisticated.
The food was really good. our group had everything from sushi to crab cakes, to steak. everything was very tasty — but not extraordinary. I reccomend Avenue M more for the atmoshohere than the food.
we went to the lounge upstairs after dinner. so much fun. again, wonderful, trendy atmosphere. the DJ was awesome. he played so many fun old school songs. I may or may not have been dancing to some Bell Biv DeVoe.
Great time — I highly reccomend.

My friend and I came here for drinks because they were booked for dinner. I love the design and décor. Reminds me of Naha a little. The music was very loud, but the outdoor patio seems perfect for alfresco dining on a breezy summer night. Great music by the way ;)
The crowd here is a similar crowd that you might see at Avec or Mirai — age range from early 20’s to 40’s-50’s, well dressed professionals. I recommend Avenue M for small groups or girls’ night. Not ideal for romantic dates as you are not able to hear anything except the music.
I’m looking forward to trying their menu. Looks yummy.

After the snooty hostess at Juicy Wine Company told us it would be awhile before we were seated for drinks we headed across the street to Avenue M.
Ta Ta Chicago… HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO New York! That’s pretty much how we felt when we first walked through the doors of this swanky restaurant/​lounge that doesn’t quite look like it belongs in our fair city. We made our way past the dining customers enjoying their delicious looking steaks (& I don’t even like steak) and up to the lounge for a few drinks.
There was plenty of room to move around at first, although sitting down in the comfortable looking booths wasn’t an option because we were told they were reserved for private parties. Blah. However, by 11:00 this place was absolutely packed!
To the single ladies of Unilocal– this is where the men are hanging out! The ratio of men to women had to be at least 4 to 1 (age ranged from late 20s to mid 30s).
My boyfriend commented that this is the new White Star, but I found Avenue M way classier than the cheesy White Star that I had oh so many scandalous nights at in college.
The crowd on this particular night wasn’t exactly my scene, but Avenue M is a pretty swanky looking place so I may go back for drinks…& for dinner too!

Avenue Mmmmmmm… edicre
Not sure what all the fuss is about. Salads too big and unrefined.
I had the crab cakes as an entrée and they were good. Friends had the Dover Sole (so-​so and tough for sole) salmon (not bad but a little fishy– it was a Monday night)
Met the chef mid-​dinner service– while he was heading out. While I appreciate that he was there early in the week, he really should have stuck around.
No way would I go back,. And based on how many people were there would be surprised if I could return beyond six months.
Sorry Avenue M, I really wanted more. But good job with the décor.

Been to Avenue M a few times and each time it is as if I am at a different place as I have had 3 very distinct experiences.
The first time I came here (probably my best experience) — I sat at the bar with friends on a warm summer evening drinking wine and socializing. The bar is beautiful– dark woods with nice back lighting. I was envious, however, of the people who were eating dinner on the outside patio as it looked amazing with the smallish fruit trees and the grapevines overhead. I thought– hmm.. .I need to come back for dinner and sit out there– very romantic looking.
The next time I went, we were seated in the main restaurant and had a nice dinner. Nothing special as we just had steak and split the mushroom ravioli which was great. The food was good and the décor stylish and they were doing some type of photo shoot behind me the whole time which was a little distracting but interesting.
The weird thing was that we ordered coffee after dinner and the server had already run our credit card but didn’t tell us that the coffees were not on the bill. When we got up to leave– she chased us out into the bar area making a scene that we didn’t pay for the coffee. Geez– why make such a big deal over 2 coffees? Was it our fault that she forgot to put it on the bill? Then she didn’t want to take a credit card for such a small amount. Not a good signal for a finer restaurant. She would have gotten further with me if she had just let it go. No one wants to feel as if they are «dining and dashing!»
The last time I went, I was there for a private party upstairs in the lounge. It was so crowded I could barely get my drink to my mouth, people were spilling drinks on me and management kept asking us to move to the balconies. Move to the balconies? Are they kidding? Isn’t that where people get killed when there is over capacity and the structure fails? No way was I going to do that!
A better plan, and the one I followed was to go to another place in the neighborhood where my martini glass could actually make it to my mouth!
Avenue M has got the goods to be destination spot. It just has to decide what destination it wants to own– romantic dinner place, steak house or crazed bar! Until it decides its course, I’ll be choosing to go elsewhere!

I came here with a party of seven on Saturday for my friend’s birthday and was pretty disappointed with the whole experience. I think the biggest problem was that we were stuck at a table in the back of the restaurant which was flanked on one side by a waiters’ station and the bathrooms/​kitchen on the other. Behind us were the stairs leading up to the lounge area which were separated from our table by some sort of gauzy curtain so that every time someone came up or down the stairs the curtains would blow into the back of my head. During the whole meal I felt isolated from the rest of the restaurant because we were tucked into this weird corner and couldn’t even enjoy the scenery.
The food was mediocre. My friend and I shared a wedge salad that literally looked as if it could have been served up at Chili’s. It was a chunk of iceberg lettuce absolutely drenched in a thick, overpowering blue cheese dressing with a few tasteless cherry tomatoes and a heap of bacon bits. My entrée was a lobster stuffed chicken breast covered in this strange foam which was pretty good, but most definitely not worth $ 26. Drinks were decent, but seriously overpriced at $ 12 apiece.
The rest of the place looked pretty nice, but we didn’t stick around after dinner to check it out. There are a million other restaurants in Chicago that serve better food for this amount of money, but if you insist on eating here I would come with a date or 1 – 2 friends NOT a large group of people.