Smith & Wollensky

Chicago, United States

3.6

22 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 312-670-9900
Website:
www.smithandwollensky.com
Address:
318 N State St, Chicago, IL, 60654
Near North Side
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
320 ftDearborn & Marina City
530 ftState & Wacker
620 ftDearborn & Wacker
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Local time (Chicago) 10:25 PM Wednesday, June 11, 2025

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Description

Specialties

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Smith & Wollensky is America’s premier traditional steakhouse. We are committed to providing you with outstanding hospitality and serving you the best steaks. Our U.S.D.A. Prime steaks are dry-​aged for tenderness and flavor and are hand cut on premises daily. Our acclaimed wine list, rich ambiance and personal waiter service are designed to provide you with a truly memorable steakhouse experience

The forest green painted wood exterior of the Chicago steakhouse contrasts with the sparkling white trim and latticework. Inside find a «turn of the century» casual elegance, with shining brass, polished wood floors and dark wood accents. The location offers intimate views of the Chicago River and Chicago’s famous loop. Adjacent to the Chicago landmark twin towers of Marina City & House of Blues, it’s a major player in the revival of the River North area.

History

Established in 1977.

Established in 1977

Smith and Wollensky oringated in New York City in 1977, and became one of America’s popular and preeminent dining destinations. Smith & Wollensky is America’s premier traditional steakhouse, committed to providing outstanding hospitality and delivering the best steaks that are U.S.D.A. Prime and dry-​aged for tenderness and flavor. We take great pride in the quality of our food, and hand cut our steaks on premises, and make our own pastries, french fries, salad dressings and soups fresh daily. We offer an acclaimed wine list and our rich ambiance and personal waiter service provides our guests with truly memorable experiences.

Meet the Manager

Regina A.

Manager

Regina Arendt began her hospitality career in a cocktail server role while attending DePaul University. It was in that role where she learned the values and intricacies of true hospitality that remain with her today. Upon graduation, Arendt’s experience served her well as she moved into the assistant food and beverage director position with a new Embassy Suites hotel in Deerfield. It did not take long for her talents to be recognized and sought after by the famous Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Chicago.

Smith & Wollensky brought Arendt into its family as a floor manager in 1998 and quickly promoted her to assistant general manager. She assisted with the launch and opening of multiple Smith & Wollensky locations before heading up the location in the city she most loves – Chicago. Since 2009, Arendt leads the Chicago team as the general manager with genuine understanding that every detail adds up to a complete, extraordinary experience.

Vicinity

Near this location:
1
ft
Wollensky’s Grill
318 N State St
80
ft
Skipper Bud’s
300 N State St
80
ft
Kimmel Gary DDS
300 N State Street
80
ft
Marina Management
300 N State St Ste 1
80
ft
Chapter 7 Now
300 N State St Apt 3729
80
ft
Angie Video Productions
300 N State St Ste C

22 reviews of Smith & Wollensky

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Place rating: 4
Humboldt Park, Chicago, IL
My husband brought me here to celebrate my birthday. We had reservations and it was very crowded. I wasn’t happy with the table we got because there was a screaming banchee ruining our experience at first but they left and then it was a lot better. The food was excellent. I had the coffee and cocoa rubbed filet with angry onions and he had the filet Oscar. With a delicious dessert of hazelnut creamer brûlée.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
I went here on news years for a quick drink and it was great. My friend and I sat at the bar and drank Irish coffees to keep warm on that cold night. The bartenders had a great sense of humor and they even gave us New Year’s Eve swag. We will be back again sometime for dinner.
Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL
Came here for restaurant week weekend lunch. Great options on the menu and fantastic service.
I enjoyed my wedge salad with chicken. Wife loved her burger.
I came here because I had seen the coconut cake featured on best things I ever ate. The cake was good, but not really sure how it was good enough to come up on that show.
Place rating: 2
Chicago, IL
Can I have a burger without hair please… I’ll give 2 stars because the waiter and valet guy was nice.
I came here for lunch with my friends during restaurant week (2016). I was greeted and seated immediately upon arrival so the customer service was good initially. yes I say initially…
Food for restaurant week 2016
Free bread — tasted ok… nothing amazing although I liked the presentation
Starter: Onion soup with oxtail — just tasted like normal soup, nothing too special about it…
Starter: my friends had the chicken with salad & it was just mediocre…
Entrée: Wollensky’s Butcher Burger — the burger itself tasted ok, but I lost my appetite after i found hair inside of the beef patty (looked like pubic HAIR… gross). The fries that came with it were cold and looked like end pieces. I think I would have enjoyed McDonald’s fries more than these slightly warm/​cold flavorless fries.
Dessert: Selection of sorbet — nothing too special here as well.3 different flavors of sorbet.
Customer service — good & bad. Initially it was good. up until I found hair in my beef patty halfway through my meal. It has happened to me in the past at other places & usually they don’t make me pay for the meal & they apologize. However, the way they handled the situation here was not great. They basically said that they would bring out another burger (i did not ask for another burger) & brought it out… but since i did not want it they just packed it to go (maybe because they just wanted me to pay for the meal.). If you found hair in your half eaten burger, would you want to continue eating another burger at the restaurant? Umm. well i definitely did not. i lost my appetite for the food there… I do not recall getting a proper apology from the manager either.
My friend also was not impressed when the server asked her to hand the plate over to her (when she was done eating)… umm we are not high maintenance, but isn’t it the server’s job to just grab the plate… or apparently times have changed and we should be handing the plates to the servers?
Valet parking ($ 14) — glad that at least the valet parking person was friendly. He noticed that my friend had left her phone in the car and brought it into the restaurant for her.
I’ve had better burgers and dessert for less. It is not worth it to come here for restaurant week or for burgers. I would not want to risk eating short thick hair again… gross…
I simply would not recommend this restaurant unless u don’t mind paying for hair in your food.
Place rating: 2
Near North Side, Chicago, IL
Even though I’ve been walking pass this place for years going to and from work I had never stepped foot in this restaurant until tonight. After dining here I don’t think I’ll be stepping foot in here again anytime soon.
The service was good and the food was just OK. Nothing worthy of a long review that’s for sure. Maybe I wouldn’t be so meh about this place had I selected items not on the restaurant week menu. One would think that if a restaurant is really good, all their dishes (on the restaurant week menu or not) would be delicious. Everything my friend and I ate we felt was OK, nothing special. Hell I would have thought my $ 18 crab cake would be amazing… sadly it was just OK.
So if you want an OK dining experience definitely check this place out.
Place rating: 5
Sioux Falls, SD
This was literally the best meal I ever had in my life (and in my girlfriend’s top ten). We both ordered the same thing ie., smoked ribeye with chimichurri, along with asparagus and a scrumptious potato-​based side dish. Neither of us have ever had a better steak! The cocktails were excellent, as was the service. First time I ever spent over $ 200 on a dinner tab for two, and it was so worth it! I plan on going back the next time I’m in Chicago, and doing it again.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
My boyfriend. The best boyfriend ever. Took me here for New Years Eve. We split the 14 ounce filet mignon, whipped potatoes and mushrooms it was out of control good probably one of the best steakhouses I’ve ever been to. Definitely the top 3.
Place rating: 3
Chicago, IL
Chicago just has so many great steak houses it’s tough. Honestly, I didn’t even realize this place was a steak joint. I would come for the view. Arguably one of the best in the City, it’s a great spot to grab drink after hanging out at the House of Blues or on Hubbard St.
You see the river and boats docked underneath and overlooks buildings across the way… makes it almost worth spending the extra bucks on the drinks. I did try the steak a few times and I think Smith doesn’t have to try as hard as other restaurants on Rush without the spectacular view. It’s just the way it is.
Great tourist trap. For regulars, there are so many other places. Still worth a visit!
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Well another awesome joint that I surprisingly never made an attempt to check out!
Some very good friends decided this would be our lunch choice and it was a very good one. Our server was very awesome… wish I could remember her name as she was very good to us in going over all the specials and was very good with describing all the different cuts of meat. She basically knew her stuff!
We decided to go with a bunch of starters for our group of 5. We got the crab cake which was as good as any that I’ve ever had, the potatoes which were prepared like hash browns and was very good but contained plenty of butter and the brussel sprouts which were good. For the main course I decided to go with the filet that was on special which was covered in onions and a red wine sauce… ordered it medium rare and it was awesome! There is a pretty chill bar to the left when you first walk in and they have some decent beer on tap… pretty good wine list as well.
Place rating: 2
Bensenville, IL
Smith and Wollensky describes their steakhouse as, «the ultimate best fine dining Chicago steakhouse in the city that knows its steak,» but they left so much to be desired. First impression the place looks and feels outdated, not the «dressy» attire recommended. Our server was good if that, I had to constantly asked for water refills and when questioned about what came sauce came with the bone-​in filet he had to revisit the menu to check. The meal started out fantastic with some wine and their delicious crab cake, real flaky crab meat, yum. However, when the steaks and side came out that is where things went down hill. The two bone-​in filet were overcooked and both came with different sauces that we weren’t aware of. My bone-​in ribeye was cooked perfectly, but it was tasteless, more salt and pepper please! I found myself constantly dipping my steak in one of the sauces for flavor. The worse part of the meal was the side of brussels sprouts with bacon & shallots, they had me at bacon, but wow these were under cooked, no flavor and the bacon was dried up, even the microwave bags of brussel sprouts are better. Overall, extremely disappointed in our meal, which we mentioned to our server and the manager was able to take care of the filet and brussel sprouts and let us know to come back in and he can take care of us, but it left such a dissatisfying taste in our mouth that I don’t know if we can really bring ourselves to come back.
Place rating: 3
New York, NY
Here is the thing, I didnt hate the food. I really hated the prices. Cocktails are $ 4 – 5 more than every other restaurant/​bar in Chicago. The salmon was over $ 30…for a piece of salmon over a few bits of kale. Thank heavens dessert was tasty or I would be compelled to give this a 2 star rating. I know this restaurant exists in NYC but they have to realize it is priced way too high for Chicago. I also agree with one other persons comments about service being a bit snobbish although it was nice having so many helping hands to refill water and remove plates. This place must be a tourist trap or one for people paying on a company business card.
Place rating: 4
Hercules, CA
Located in the Marina City complex, in an architecturally-​discrepant structure built over what was once the ice rink. There’s a pleasant outdoor dining area overlooking the Chicago River, under a tent-​like structure; this was in use at least into early November this year. Indoors, the overall effect of the room is rather formal.
Our party of three visited for lunch, and were seated immediately and served promptly in a lightly patronized dining room. Our waiter was friendly and efficient. All of us ordered the same things:
— Split pea soup. S&W assured us on the menu that this is world-​famous; puffery, perhaps (I doubt, for example, that it’s the talk of the souks in Marrakech), but indeed a superior example of its kind, rather dark green and stand-​up-​your-​spoon thick, with big croutons. I’d come back just for this.
— Pan-​seared scallops and confit bacon. (Treyf on so many levels!) Large, tender, perfectly cooked scallops; bacon is in the form of chunks, not strips. Surrounded by a sweet potato purée seasoned with chipotle peppers.
Full bar menu; rather pricey, with cocktails at $ 14, and a few higher. A fair selection of wines by the glass, ranging from $ 12 to $ 26. Good beer selection, including a rotation of local craft brews.
Good public transit access: two blocks from Lake on the Red Line, State/​Lake on the Loop «L» (if accessibility is an issue, Clark/​Lake is a block farther, but has elevators and escalators); two blocks from Michigan Avenue. Valet parking is available at Marina City, with a public parking structure a block away at State and Kinzie.
Place rating: 2
Oronoko Charter Township, MI
My wife’s and my outing here is still seared on my memory as the worst dining experience we have ever had.
The reason I have to give it at least two stars is because the food was very good. I ordered the salmon entrée, and the filet tasted very fresh and tender. The view of the chicago river from the outdoor patio is also very beautiful.
However, the service we received was TERRIBLE! We were seated fairly quickly, but our waiter was very rude and snobbish. He talked down to us acted as though his only desire was to serve the larger tables in his zone. In fact, he probably only checked up on our table a total of two or three times, and only in passing. We felt very unwelcome. I wish I could give this restaurant more stars, because many of the aspects of this place were four or five star status, but the service was poor enough to taint everything else in my mind.
I would absolutely NOT recommend this restaurant.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
My boyfriend and I dined here after living in the city for over 6 years. Easily the best service and view we’ve experienced from the city thus far. We both ordered the dry aged bone in rib eye with whipped potatoes and asparagus as our sides followed by their fantastic hazelnut crème brûlée, on the house I might add, with an out of this world pumpkin spiced dessert cocktail, hand made by their charming manager, Kevin. Our server, Mike, was incredible too, so down to earth and knowledgable about the menu. This is our new spot!
Place rating: 3
Chicago, IL
Review for the outdoor bar area and cocktails only. This place is swank. The outdoor patio is great, you can’t beat the skyline view up close.
Came in here for drinks, and while our wonderful waiter fixed it, I still wonder why this happened? We had glasses for water with limes, and our drinks had limes as well. They were the driest, jankiest, brownest limes EVER. .For a $ 14 cocktail, shouldn’t the limes be juicy and perfect at least? Once I called attention to it, all was well, but damn. .. bartender — REALLY?!
It’s because of our awesome, friendly waiter that I’ll come back to this place. Hopefully before it gets too cold.
Place rating: 3
Noblesville, IN
I haven’t been here in ages and honestly I’ve only been for fancy client dinners. Some college friends and I met up in Chicago for my buddies wedding and one of the guys suggested we go here for lunch. I was skeptical but always up to give it a try.
We were seated outside. The patio area was large. It was almost all covered by a tent like awning. It was a shame because we were there on a beautiful day. We had a large party (10 people) and were seated around 3 tall cocktail tables. It was awkward to say the least, but we wanted to sit outside so that was on us. At least they accommodated our wishes.
We started off with a bloody marry. It was good but not mind blowing. We moved onto beer. They had a ok selection of Revolution Brewing, one of my favorite local Chicago breweries. I got the Gorgonzola burger. I ordered it medium rare. The food came out quickly considering how many people we had with us and the large variety of food we ordered. My burger was good, but not done correctly. Medium rare was more like medium well. Both other people who got burgers were not happy with the temperature. Sadly we were in a hurry so we didn’t do anything about it.
Other than over cooking the meat, my meal was awesome. The cheese was rich and creamy. The red onions on the burger we’re just strong enough to balance the cheese. The vegetables were all light and crisp. The burger came with slaw and fries. The coleslaw was good but nothing amazing. It had a horseradish cream dressing which was nice. The fries were outstanding. Perfectly crisp but soft and warm inside.
I was disappointed that a steak house didn’t do a better job with the cook on my meat. I know it was just a buyer but at $ 16 I expect it to be awesome. All in my friends and I were satisfied but not wowed.
Place rating: 1
Birmingham, AL
I am actually writing this review in shock. Used to live in Chicago and three years ago I had one of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had my life at this location.
Sadly tonight was not the same.
For the record our waitress was fantastic.
We waited almost 90 minutes for food to come. I ordered the filet medium rare and it came out lukewarm at best.
My friend ordered a ribeye which was also lukewarm and our side order of mashed potatoes was cold.
Last 5 ½ years I have sent back exactly one meal: tonight’s meal.
The response from management to Smith and Wollensky was to microwave the food we sent back.
We gave up and left hungry after almost 2 hours of waiting.
The sad part is I recommended this restaurant with pride to my friend from Arkansas. Now we are searching for a Burrito.
When you charge people $ 70 for a steak you should probably get it right the first time.
Place rating: 4
Orlando, FL
In a city almost stuffed to the brim with steakhouses, Smith & Wollensky is one of the better known names. A mini chain (of 9) founded in New York in 1977, it is now owned by Patina Group.
The Chicago location looks and feels fairly venerable, although the interior is certainly modern, and the extensive patio is more light and airy than one associates with steakhouses.
As with all the major steakhouses, prices are high, because prime aged meat ain’t cheap. Lunch is a more economical option, and that’s when I tried it out.
After a nice serving of a complementary bread loaf (topped with herbs) I began with the split pea soup, which was in many way the highlight of the meal. Smooth and delicious, it had a great fresh pea flavor with a hint of smoke. My mother’s specialty was split pea soup, and this was better. High praise indeed.
Next I had the Wollensky salad, a huge serving of crisp lettuce with lardons, mushrooms, and (oddly) cubes of potatoes instead of croutons. I really enjoyed the vinaigrette dressing, and liked the salad enough to take the leftovers with me (which were a lot).
I finished with the steak sandwich, which was served with slaw, a pickle, and a side of fries. The steak was extremely tender and flavorful. I liked the horseradish sauce on the bun. The fries were just all right.
Any of these three courses would have been a complete lunch, making it an affordable option.
Service was very attentive, and there’s a nice view across the river.
Place rating: 5
Portland, ME
I ate here twice, during my FTW run.
Each time I sat at the bar and had the same (Irish?) bartender who was really cool.
I had the steak sandwich and the steak sandwich.
Was absolutely delicious.
One day I had an IPA, which had a nice punch.
The next day, I had a Makers Manhattan on the rocks (not UP, on the rocks).
In the afternoons I like to have my cocktails on the rocks. At night I will go straight for it.
It’s a lovely location right on the River.
I am a fan of S&W’s.
Been to the one in Vegas, South Beach, this one.
Real, real good. Can’t go wrong.
Place rating: 5
México, D.F., México
Los scallops de starter lo mejor, al igual que el crab cake. De plato fuerte el tenderloin trio, el tamaño perfecto, y pruebas de lo mejor.
Place rating: 4
Ventura County, CA
Old school, old money, steakhouse. There’s nothing «modern» about it and that’s exactly what I love about it. View from our table unfortunately wasn’t able to see the river, but maybe next time, that won’t be a problem.
We started off the Tuna Tartare — which was on a bed of avocado, cucumber, ponzu, and topped with a lotus chip. Really smooth (not fishy at all) taste of the Tuna, you know it’s there, but it didn’t assault my mouth, mixed with the rest of the ingredients was just right.
My entrée was the Filet Rossini, which is 10 oz. filet mignon with seared foie gras and madeira demi glacé. Being from California and missing foie (prior to the law reversal as of Jan 2015), it was just wonderfully sinful to enjoy this beef and fowl organ. The foie melted like butter and accompanied the steak perfectly.
Service was top notch (as expected from restaurants like these) and I can’t wait to come back and bring the Mrs. here and maybe go for a walk on the river after.
Place rating: 4
Dortmund, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Sehr schöné Lage, direkt am Chicago River. Wenn man in den USA ist und die Nase von Fast Food voll hat, dann kann man hier sehr gut essen!
Allerdings sollte die Kreditkarte noch etwas Limit zur Verfügung haben ;-) (wir waren für 1x Steak, 1x Lachs, 1x Cola, 1x Glas Wein) 120 USD los)
Die Preise dort würde ich schon als hochpreisig bezeichnen, allerdings gibt es in den USA ja auch nur billige Fast Food Tempel oder relativ teure Restaurants S&W gehört aber schon zur höheren Kategorie.
Die Steaks sind allerdings sehr zu empfehlen.
Man kann auch mit dem eigenen Boot in der Wassertiefgarage parken ;-) (siehe Foto)