Alinea Cuisine, Photo Credit: Alinea Restaurant
Securing a reservation at Chicago hot spot Alinea can be tricky. The acclaimed modernist restaurant from Grant Achatz consistently books up quickly and does not accept walk-in customers.
Sticking to its innovative personality, Alinea does reservations a bit differently. Rather than calling or stopping by to reserve a table, you have to pre-purchase your meal online. The cost of a dinner includes a tasting menu (the number of courses depends on whether you book the Alinea Kitchen Table, Gallery or Salon experience), a service charge that covers gratuity and taxes.
One thing to note: You are paying for a table, not a specific number of seats, at the Chicago restaurant. Therefore, it does not accept reservations for odd-numbered parties (though, you could pay for a table of four and just have three in your group). The only exception is that Alinea allows for one booking nightly for a single diner at 8 p.m. in the Salon.
Tickets are sold two months in advance, and usually they are released around the 15th of the month at 11 a.m. CST.
We suggest you follow the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star restaurant on Facebook and Twitter to get the most up-to-date schedules. Sometimes last-minute openings are announced via those social channels and you’ll have the opportunity to snag tickets to an unforgettable dinner that evening.
