Markethouse

Was wanting to go for a while after seeing it on a trip to Galena before. Definitely a hidden gem! Excellent! Was everything I hoped for and more! The dressing on the creamy cucumbers was great and the crab salad yum! Had the Duck. So good! I highly recommend it! Dinners come with a cracker basket with Pâté and Garlic butter!!!

As of this writing, Markethouse serves breakfast only. I chose to skip the ordinary looking $ 21 hotel breakfast buffet and chose the $ 21 Blue Crab eggs Benedict instead. For this price, I at least expected a properly poached egg, but I got two golf balls instead. I walked across the street to West Egg and got a great Benedict for half the price. My advice is to walk across the street quickly.

Wandering around looking for a place to enjoy an adult beverage, we stumbled into the cavernous space that was fairly empty. Good for us right? Mehhhhhh. The drink were expensive and good if you were able to flag someone down to order one… So that pretty much sucked. We ordered a few drinks and found our way to another spot which was more interested in our service!

Great breakfast buffet at the Doubletree! Eggs made to order with all the usual breakfast items available: bacon, sausage, oatmeal, french toast, breads and spreads for toasting, cereal options. All was good!

Markethouse is about average for a hotel restaurant. We went for dinner and it was a smattering of American offerings, but everything seemed a bit on the heavy side. The butterscotch bread pudding is really the only thing to write home about though. The prices are expensive and catered towards tourists. The service is about average for chitown. Will not make a point to return.

The food were pretty good. Huge in size. My mom and I both had to take leftover back up to our hotel room. Free dessert if you stay in Double Tree (check your bathroom, they leave a sticky note on the mirror!).
My mom got a burger and I got mac and cheese. Our dessert was bread pudding, with salted caramel icecream. Love it!

At present they have switched to breakfast only which is interesting since they prior had been a dinner spot that focused on local produce. This restaurant always has struggled with business with promotions on
. I have not been for breakfast, but this is a FYI for anyone wondering

CLOSED. So I can’t slam them after my last trip there on Dec 20^th. Drinks were watered down so bad that the manager agreed they were watered and comp’d us. Question is why they were even served.
I hope they re open with a better management.

Was a little skeptical when I walked in. Restaurant was a bit empty for Friday dinner and the clientele that was there was, elderly, to say the least.
Wasn’t a huge fan of their famous pickles, just tasted like your average sweet pickle to me.
The fish and chips, though, was very tasty. It had a delicate, thin breading to it and the fish tasted fresh and flaky. Fries were pretty thick-​cut and resembled more of a home-​style fries texture than a french fry, but were pretty good nonetheless. I’d be back to grab this again.

We have 1 – 2 date nights per month, two kids and full time jobs keep us busy the rest of the time.
We make it a point to try a variety of Chicago’s most amazing restaurants, both old, new, $ to $$$$.
We’ve been to Markethouse 3 times and are planning our 4^th trip soon.
We have not been disappointed.
Food and service has been excellent and consistent.
We have tried the various menu items and agree with other Unilocalers, good stuff. Trout, bread pudding, burger, and the famous pickles and bread.
Note to Markethouse… keep the pickles and bread… it makes you unique
See you soon

Not bad. The food was good but wasn’t anything stellar. I like that they use quality ingredients for their dishes and that is what brought me here. I had the pot pie and it was very good. Wasn’t very tasty, but good. My dinner companion had meat and he said it was good but nothing spectacular either. For the prices, I expected more. The wait for the food seemed quite long as the restaurant was probably half-​full. Perhaps it was the preparation required for our dishes… It was a decent experience and I’d maybe return but maybe not.

Markethouse is our go to restaurant when we can’t decide where else to eat. We started eating here a couple years ago. Before, they offered complimentary pecan sweet potato bread and pickles, but no longer. Sad! they now charge $ 2 for it. We still like to eat here though. My favorite is the rainbow trout (21). You can’t get trout this fresh anywhere else, and the wild rice is great. Their lamb is also consistently good. We also enjoy the Mac and cheese, which is very rich. What’s best though, is the bread pudding (7). It comes with pecan ice cream, and it’s so amazing. If I lived closer, I would definitely be frequenting Markethouse much more often just for dessert! Also, the service is great. Juan is a great server– he is friendly, personable, attentive, and provides fast service. He even stuck a candle in the ice cream for the birthday boy! The restaurant is always clean, and has plenty of booths and tables.

Markethouse has nice décor reminiscent of a small pond with tall grasses and lily pads. There are large windows that look out onto the street level urban landscape which somehow ties in the flat screen TV playing football.
Our server was relaxed — verging on the familiar and (in that manner) nearly unprofessional. Luckily for him we found his banter amusing but I don’t think it would have meshed so well with the high fashion couple seated nearby.
I got two martinis and found both to be mundane and predictable. The bar at Markethouse has not caught up to the innovative locovore movement of the kitchen. I even glanced over the beer list and saw no craft beers — just macrobrews that you would expect to find in any gas station, apartment fridge, or concert across the United States.
The food was good. Between the two of us we had the chicken pot pie and ribs. The pot pie was delicious and perfectly sufficient as a meal of its own. The crust was philo dough and overlapped the edge of the bowl. Tucked inside were large chunks of vegetables and chicken — well portioned if not a tad salty. The glory of the ribs was in the sauce and fries. The large slab was cleverly placed on top of the bed of fries so that some of the barbecue sauce dripped down upon them. We didn’t even touch the coleslaw.
Our concluding opinion of Markethouse was that it was a good restaurant for two dollar sign comfort food. Other menu items included hamburgers and fish and chips. We were satisfied with the price of our meal: about $ 95 for two entrees and four drinks. Although Markethouse satisfied our need for that meal, I am doubtful that we would choose to return. There are so many other restaurants in the area that are crying out for exploration.

Good food with bad service does not a good review make…
At some point restaurants will learn that an excellent meal can be ruined by a mediocre waitstaff. I had the roasted chicken. It was good. I also had a side of the macaroni and cheese. It was really good.
Now that that’s out of the way… Brian, the waiter, was not good. Brian initially approached our table and said, «hey». Once I realized he didn’t actually know my friend, I was left confused, but I got over it. Brian quickly took our orders and filled our glasses. Then, Brian disappeared… For 30 mins. My water glass sat empty for upwards of 10 — 15 minutes as Brian, other waiters, and a busboy, walked by numerous times. Sometimes these people looked at my empty glass while holding pitchers of water. What? I had to stop one of them and ask for water.
We waited for about 30 minutes before our food arrived. Two other tables were provided with bread during their wait. Not Brian’s tables, though. No, Brian’s customers got to sit starving and dying of thirst while watching the customers of other waitstaff eat merrily and drink, but I digress.
Eh, I can’t say I’ll be back. Bad waiters make me feel that way. If you decide to eat here, I’d pay special note to the people with bread and water at their tables. Chances are they don’t have Brian as a waiter.
*A special note for Brian, if you’re reading this: I left you a small tip, not because I’m cheap, but because you were terrible. I would have told your manager at the time, but I was running late thanks to your slowness.

I’ve stayed at the Doubletree twice and got room service once and dined in once.
The pot pie was surprisingly amazing fresh and hot even when delivered to the room.
The dine in experience with juicy scallops and asparagus was pretty good as well

The night started off poorly. After receiving a voicemail and calling back and confirming the reservation, it was sad to see the hostess lost in her screen only to emerge stating, «I don’t see your name.» Fine not a problem, a quick glance around we spotted 6 empty tables and an entire section open (on a Saturday night no less! I had high hopes on a quick seat. Not so! We were told there was a 15 min wait (hey at least comp us a drink for losing our reservation and making us wait!). Then the bar tender seemed to be more interested in taking pictures of the girls at his bar than making our (non-​comped) drinks.
HOWEVER, everything turned when we were sat. The server was quick and courteous, the busser brought us some amazing bread quickly and made sure our waters were filled. The food was AMAZING. They make the mac and cheese the way I LOVE it… creamy WITH BACON! The fish and chips were way better than the Irish bar across the street and the one down the block, and this place isn’t even an Irish place.
Spying our neighbor’s food (cause that is what I do):
1. The loaded fries look fantastic. The guy who ordered them ordered them as a «side» and they are really entrée size, I mean they could easily feed three. He didn’t finish them and I was really tempted to ask if I could try his «leftovers».
2. The full rack of ribs was outstandingly huge. They must of come from a mutated cow that they grew into double the size (or is it that I’ve been getting smaller ribs at other places?). He also did not finish them and again I really wanted to ask for just one rib. «How much for one rib?»
We also had the bread pudding. We had a tasting portion at the taste of streeterville (which was a total flop of an event) and it was pretty darn good there. Here, it was twenty times better. The hot bread pudding with the cold ice cream on top hit the spot.
I can’t believe this place has been just down the street from me for over a year and I didn’t know about it. Go here. Love it. Oh and it won’t break your bank. I mean we got all this food and a couple of beers for about $ 50.

Incredibly delicious. Even the bread they serve in the beginning is fantastic and I couldn’t get enough of their homemade pickles. I ordered the scallops as my appetizer and the pot pie for my entrée. The scallops were cooked and seasoned to perfection! The appetizer comes with 3 scallops, but I probably could have eaten a 2^nd round because they were so good! A small frisee salad comes with the scallops which complement the dish perfectly.
The pot pie is really what loses the star. The flaky crust was absolutely delicious, but I felt some of the vegetables inside were a bit underdone. And I wish I had a little more creamy soup inside the pot pie to eat w/​the vegetables.
My friend also ordered the garden tomato salad, and it was very good as well. It’s very simple, but executed perfectly with high quality ingredients. The heirloom tomatoes were to die for! I didn’t try the crostini that she ordered, but it was a plentiful portion that looked beautiful.
We really wanted to try their signature bread pudding, which I hear is absolutely amazing, but we had to run. I definitely want to come back for dessert, the scallops, the bread, and the pickles!

Honestly, I felt a little under dressed… the hubby and I both in jeans, T-​shirts and a hooded zip ups. Despite our attire, our server was great and very hospitable even if we looked like starving students. The atmosphere was nice but for me personally it wasn’t aesthetically engaging; tons of brown/​tan, burnt orange and yellow hues.
We started with the hummus appetizer, it was served with an herb flatbread. Total fan of the hummus, nice portion with a lot of flavor. Not so much a fan of the flatbread. We also received complimentary bread and a small jar of house made pickles. O.M.G. the pickles were the best I’ve ever had; I want the recipe, they are amazing.
For my entrée I had the Chop salad; romaine, radicchio, hearts of palm, black olive, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, celery, goat cheese, corn, red onion, sweet & sour tarragon-​mustard dressing. There was a lot going on there.
The hubby had the 10oz Grilled Black Angus Burger, our server referred to it as the burger «adventure». I didn’t understand that reference until the burger came out. It stands almost 6″ off the plate; a half pound of beef stuffed with BBQ braised short ribs, roasted peppers, tomato, lettuce, melted white cheddar and topped off with fried onion rings. It looked like an adventure.

Group dining has its own frustrating challenges, so I took a leap and entrusted Markethouse to provide the atmosphere, while appeasing the varied palates of my 10-​ish coworkers for a professional dinner.
I say 10-​ish because we ended up with a couple more than planned. No worries, as they graciously accommodated with more chairs.
We started our meal with pickles and warm sweet potato pecan bread.
Between our salty used-​car-​salesman waiter service and lackluster drinks, the saving grace was our entrees.
A majority of the table ordered the trout and raved about it. A couple had the ribs which was by far, the heartiest between an entire corn on the cob and base of thick-​cut fries. One of my coworkers is notoriously known to be particular with her food. Unfortunately, her mac ‘n cheese came with bacon (even despite her requesting it sans meat), but loved her side of asparagus which harbored a nice smoky yet fresh crisp taste. Another one of my coworkers ordered the pork shank and marveled wide-​eyed at the foam on top of his dish. My meatloaf was decent. I wished the seasonal veggies presented in larger rustic cuts, instead of like it was from a bag in the frozen section. I thoroughly enjoyed my the twice baked potato.
For almost last minute planning and on a Friday during prime dinner hours, MH was a decent choice. Kudos to the staff for putting up with our crazy group, since half did not show up until thirty minutes after established reso time. The maitre’d up front was very accommodating about our seating time, though I could read the slight annoyance. I liked that they had a small lounge area where our group could wait and sip in style.
If you’re paying with plastic, they only accept up to 6 cards for groups.
NMH employees get 20% off the bill– just flash your ID!

Yum, had dinner here on a Saturday night. The restaurant caught my eye on our walk over and they didn’t have a ridiculous wait (unlike every other restaurant in Chicago).
They started us off with sweet potato and pecan bread, which was amazingly delicious. Seriously, I gotta look up a recipe for that stuff. We shared an order of mussels for appetizers, which was pretty good but a tad too sweet.
For the main entrees, I ordered the warm lobster salad which was one of their specials. The lobster was so fresh and well poached, and it was so tender that it was literally quivering on my plate. The flavors went together well, and I was warned that it would be small, but since I wasn’t too hungry it turned out to be the perfect size. I also stole quite a bit of my bf’s fried crab (also one of their specials) which was also really great and not too heavy even though it was fried.
They use locally sourced ingredients, le creuset bakeware, plus the service was excellent, as was the décor, AND they accept
. You really can’t ask for anything more.