Tao Chicago

My husband and I went there when we were in Chicago. The place is super nice and the music and vibe is great. Regarding food we said I was vegan and allergic to spicy food and had to give back 2 plates due to not being able to make it non spicy. That was not great and ruined the vibe. There are some vegan dishes and really good drinks.

My first time at TAO and it was a great experience! Everyone on staff were lovely- from the coat check attendant to the receptionist team to our server and waiter, Andrew. I arrived a little later than my reserved time, but the wait for our table wasn’t bad at all. We used that time to visit the bar and take a few pics. Our round booth was located in a prime spot, which will be my preferred spot from now on. We sat in a semi-secluded area that overlooked the rest of the dining area with no other parties nearby. It was off on the side of the first set of stairs going into the dining area– it was absolutely perfect since the energy of the restaurant was extremely high with the music playing loudly and loud chatter from everyone trying to speak over it. Andrew tended to our table in a timely and friendly manner throughout our visit. We received our drinks, small plates, and entrees at great intervals. There was another server who tended to us as well, but I can’t recall his name. He was friendly as well. The food was really tasty and easily shareable. Between all of us we ordered sizzling soy chicken, shishito peppers, Chinese broccoli, lobster and shrimp rolls, triple pork fried rice, lobster fried rice, Thai sweet and spicy shrimp, honey glazed salmon, and the Cantonese cauliflower. My only critique is that the shishito peppers didn’t have any charring on them. It was the only thing we didn’t finish. The drinks were pretty tasty as well. My party either got the TAO-tini or lychee martini. The lychee fruit were so yummy! I was there celebrating my birthday, so Andrew gifted me strawberry sorbet which was absolutely divine with fresh strawberries blended in. Overall, my party and I enjoyed our time here and will visit again at some point. 8/10!

TAO is for sure a unique experience, the ambiance is amazing and I would consider going back just for that. The food was good but not wowing enough for the place. The dessert were actually good so another reason to go back. Definitely worth a try. The service was a bit slow and the place was so packed on Saturday night which I think it took that whole uniqueness experience. Also something to mention, we made a reservation 8:45 and we didn’t get our table until 9:30 which something I didn’t like that at all. If it wasn’t for my friends, I would’ve left.

Halloween at Tao was okay. It was very busy there. They gave my friend lower grade Henny when she asked for a higher grade one. Had fun with the DJ but waited until 1:30AM for the main act, Lil Jon to come out but by that time I was already tired. So lovely space they have at Tao just didn't like the super packed atmosphere.

Visits to Tao never disappoint. The service is always good & the food is always delish. Opted for bar seating this time, but wish I would kept my table reservation. I’ve sat everywhere in the restaurant & the booth is the best. I always start w chicken satay, 8 greens fried rice or olive fried rice & some rolls. The salmon entree is delish, but do not recommend the chicken wing lollipops, and don’t forget the fortune cookie!

I went for a business dinner with kind of low expectations. I was blown away by the atmosphere and food. The service was awesome for a large party in their private upstairs room. The Asian fusion food was wonderful and there was not a dish that wasn't excellent. One of the standouts was the Chow Fun noodles. I literally had chow fun from Minghin, my go-to dimsum place, the night before and Tao's was better. The building used to be the Excalibur night club. The only real complaint I had was that it was loud and hard to hear people talking.

I only got pictures of our drinks because we demolished our food as soon as it was brought to the table 😭 we had some of everything. BBQ duck fried rice, wagyu beef skewers, beef short ribs, lobster pad Thai, Hong Kong noodles and many more dishes I can't remember. But in short, everything was good. Nothing was a miss. Everything was a hit. But! This place is not cheap. Be prepared to drop at least 75 a person to really enjoy yourself. We had a party of 9 people and we spent roughly 120 a person.