It may be the most beautiful restaurant in Chicago. A soothing fountain is encircled by majestic trees that reach as high as the glass ceiling, all under a chandelier worthy of a royal palace. If you’ve never been here, chances are you’ve still seen the sunlit atrium of 3 Arts Club Café. A quick search on Instagram will return a dozen or more photos all taken from the exact same angle, at the entrance of the Grand Courtyard, where the symmetry of the dining area is best highlighted. Indoor space with an outdoor feel, it proudly shines in the center of a showroom full of inspiration.
Shaved Veggies Salad with Chicken
Is it a Furniture Store or a Restaurant?
As a kid, I’d collect Restoration Hardware catalogs and fantasize about $10,000 sofas and $5,000 mirrors for my bedroom. I was a strange kid, but I know many of you were just as strange growing up. Juice box budgets with champagne tastes we had. As an adult, I haven’t lost that thirst for opulent and aspirational decor. Restoration Hardware has hardwired their entire business strategy to appeal to a new generation of aspiration-aholics. They are to the retail furniture store world what Instagram is to Facebook — similar, but more image-driven and, frankly, better.
So here’s the deal: For over four years, Restoration Hardware (or RH if ya nasty) has been taking historic buildings throughout America and turning them into luxurious galleries, museums, and restaurants that not-so-secretly also act as furniture stores. Being culinarily inclined, Chicago drew the restaurant straw. Our RH is designed to be a playhouse with a fine dining, coffeehouse, wine room, and rooftop interior décor co-existing inside of a captivating furniture showroom. Recline on $10,000 sofas from their magazine while waiting for your table. Have a sip of coffee inside their model living room. Pretend to be on South Beach during a predictably unpredictable Chicago snowfall.
Date Night in Chicago at 3 Arts Club Café
This is one of my favorite date night spots, no matter the time of day. In fact, the setting is ideal for business meetings, an afternoon with the girls, or even a moment spent solo. Bonus: The menu is created by the same people that brought us the city’s best burger (according to many).
I recommend the Shaved Vegetables salad, which tastes as good as it looks. It’s loaded with baby greens, pecans, and colorful veggies mixed with cider vinaigrette.
Convince your date to order a lobster roll, a traditional bun stuffed with butter, mayo, sauce and lobster chunks a big as your face. The fries, — oh my goodness, the fries — are perfect in flavor and firmness. Have a few bites of their roll along with your salad, and you’ve got an unforgettable meal.
This isn’t a cocktail bar, although the bar could do well with a little help from Land and Sea, they do offer an expansive selection of wine and prosecco.
Have you visited 3 Arts Club Café? What do you think? Let me know below!