Gilt Bar

Dane Chilton
Aug 7
2 min read

Chicago, Illinois – River North

Dinner – Summer 2025

Final Dane Score: 3.1 — Mixed.

All mood, little memory.

Gilt Bar is unmistakably stylish. Walk in and you're immediately greeted with a sweeping bar, glowing in amber light and backed by dark wood, brass fixtures, and what feels like a curated collection of vintage portraits and apothecary curiosities. It's sexy in a moody, prohibition-era sort of way. The lighting is barely there, and for better or worse, that’s part of the design.

The room screams atmosphere. There's a speakeasy downstairs which we asked about, only to be briskly (borderline rudely) told we’d need a reservation to even peek inside. The tone was off-putting. You can build mystery into a space without crossing into arrogance. That line wasn’t managed well.

The Meal

Gilt’s menu shares some family DNA with its siblings (Bavette’s and Ciccio Mio) both known for doing big, bold, elevated comfort food. Unfortunately, this time around, Gilt felt like the neglected sibling.

The Ricotta Gnocchi was served crisped and deep-fried. On paper, promising. In reality: aggressively heavy. Almost inedible. Overly fatty, dense, and somehow both soggy and too crisp. It felt more like bar food from a lesser kitchen than a signature pasta. Notably disappointing. We also ordered a few starters, including the tenderloin tartare and fried chicken sliders. Both were serviceable, and the sliders in particular had a nice tang and crunch. But nothing really stood out. It’s food that looks impressive, but fails to deliver.

The menu itself is full of the right words. I saw the truffle, bone marrow, burrata, orecchiette, ribeye; but it feels more like theater than performance. Everything reads better than it tastes.

The drinks are, without question, Gilt Bar’s strongest element. The wine list is solid, with a good mix of Old World and domestic producers, and our bottle was well-chosen and well-poured. The cocktail program is confident and considered. If you’re coming for drinks only, you’ll probably leave satisfied.

The Service and Experience

At the table, our server was kind, attentive, and improved the experience. But everything before that at the host stand, the welcome, the speakeasy interaction, was cold, transactional, and bordering on rude. You can tell when a restaurant is busy and trying. You can also tell when it’s just dismissive. Unfortunately, this was the latter. In a place this highly styled, service must match the tone. It didn’t.

Gilt Bar looks like a restaurant you’d fall in love with — low lights, clinking glasses, portraits on the walls, people leaning in, but when you scratch the surface, and it’s mostly style over substance. The food lacks character, the pacing felt abrupt, and the energy (while lively) didn't translate into warmth.

Maybe it was an off night. But with so many nearby options (and two far more successful siblings just down the street), there’s little urgency to return.

The Dane Standard

Category Score

Palate 3.0

Atmosphere 4.3

Service 2.7

Identity 2.5

Final Score 3.1 – Mixed.

Gilt Bar gives you all the right signals but doesn’t deliver what matters most. The drinks are strong, the room is beautiful, but the food lacks finesse and the service stumbles. You won’t regret going. You just may not remember it either.