Nellcote and RM Champagne Salon Review

Perfect summertime spot! Cozy outdoor space with beautiful decor.

A real gem that in the outdoor season has a superb patio. While the Champagne is expensive, the food menu is exceptional and very reasonable. Majority of items from appetizers to entrees are in the $8-$18 range and they encourage sharing so it's really fun and intimate. The staff are really amazing too. The hostesses are super nice and the servers are very professional. Even the manager TJ came by to say hello. Great local spot as well as a nice secret for the out-of-towner.

Celebrate the evening with some champagne after all, that s what RM Champagne Salon is known for! Relax by the (real!) wood-burning fireplace with french classics and a seafood menu. Or keep it light with cheese or dessert. Your date will love the options available. Look hard for it, otherwise you might miss it!

My favorite place in the city! This is the best hidden gem tucked away in an alley that opens up to shear beauty! Choose from lots of champagnes, wine or cocktails. I could literally sit here all night. Not too crazy about the food, but don't worry eat at Nelcote before and then grab drinks here.

An intimate bar with adorable outdoor seating and a great ambiance. Ordered oysters and drinks and enjoyed every minute of it!

Great ambiance and wine list. Food never disappoints.

Went there as part of my bachelorette party. It's a bit pricey (not too shocking for the area) but has a really cool vibe and the best cocktails I've ever had!

I love this place for its sexiness. If you want to go on a date, or a cute girls night out, this is the place. The chef is also willing to do a little more than just what's on the menu. They have oysters, and I was able to request them fried. They said it was the first time, but they came out great. Book the table in advance. Nice patio as well.

It might have been the Taste of Randolph going on at the time, but I had the hardest time getting the attention of the bartender/bar-manager for the outside bar. Nice space though, and nice enough staff.Just not enough staff for how busy they were. Nice enough wine, even if the still rose was a five degrees warmer than ideal.

But life is short, and there are places along the west loop that I love. So who knows if I will bother trying again.

RM is a true gem. It is hidden in an alley near the Randolph district. Discovering this place is as fun as being there. The decor is great, the drinks are great, and the food follows suit. If you want to impress someone, take a quick right down the alley to RM Champagne Salon Bar and they'll thank you later.

Great drinks. Very cool urban feel entrance and outdoor seating area. Great place for interesting drinks in the summer.

I wish I never heard of this place. It was a waste of time and money. The food wasn't good and was over priced. DO NOT order the oysters. They have a pungent fishy taste. Not creamy and firm, and also not cleanly shucked. There were little shell bits and I had to be careful as I didn't know on the first oyster I had and bit down onto a a tiny shell piece.

We had also ordered salmon tartare and that was okay... it wasnt anything special but but it was fine. It gave me the impression of the chefs just dicing salmon up into pieces and just slapping it together. As well, for a place that has steak and frites on the menu how can you be out of fried by 730pm?! Overall a very underwhelming experience.

At the end we asked for the bill and it took 20 mins. To be honest we felt like no one pays attention around the restaurant, so if we left without paying it would be on them as they wouldn't notice.

A bit of advice, save yourself some money and pain of eating at RM and go to Au Cheval -- reservations recommended.

Only thing that was nice about RM was the ambiance. I would never come back or recommend this place. Why this place had good ratings and reviews is beyond me.

Really great Champagne, very sexy atmosphere, awesome staff! Carlos was very knowledgeable and fun!

I would give this place a 5 star except the service was lacking. We had an 830 reservation and we showed up on time. It was a beautiful night out so we requested to sit outside. The host advised it would be 10-15 minutes and we could wait at the bar. Ordered martini's and waited. The martini was good- definitely strong as I like it. We waited for about 30-40 minutes and I finally went up to the host stand and asked and she had completely forgot about us. We were seated and waited like 10 minutes to be greeted which was fine because we weren't in a huge hurry. We ordered a bottle of wine and the formage cheese plate. Wine was good and the cheese was good but also very small portions to be shared between 4 people. We didn't see our waiter for awhile after that and we were all here for dinner and waiting to order food. Our waiter advise us that the kitchen is taking last call so we threw and order in quick. I got the steak which was so good, two of my friends got the burger which was also amazing, and my other friend got the chicken which he advised was good but I didn't try. I think the true winner was the fries. They were so damn good. Thin and perfectly salty and crispy. The vibe was very relaxing and fun. I would definitely go back here and I would 10/10 recommend- just be patient with the staff.

Came in without reservations, plenty of seating. Sat infront of the fire place on a cold night and it was perfect. The food was amazing. The oysters were fresh and the beef tartare was probably the best I've ever had. Beautiful restaurant, amazing food.. Worth every cent

We dined with a group of 10 people. The restaurant was unable to serve a number of their food and drink items because they ran out of ingredients.
And the food we were able to order was unimpressive.The worst part was their attitude- they weren t apologetic. In fact, they were arrogant and dismissive. Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world for food- there isn t room for this restaurant. Plenty of better options.

Fun little place off the street. Good music on Friday night. Good for dates

In my opinion, I think this place has the best burger in Chicago! I love this place!

I love this place! Only been here a few times, but it has the best patio I've been to in Chicago and a really cool atmosphere inside. It's kind of shabby chic like a French bistro, but less casual with dim lighting and chandeliers. What makes it so fun is you forget you are in the middle of the city. It really feels like you left Chicago. I tried a few plates here as well and the food was really good. My favorite was a homemade pappardelle with chicken. We also got a cheese plate and another small plate that was very tasty.

Best champagne lounge in Chicago ~ possibly the world! I just found a momento of our last visit ~ Our bartender removed the label from our favorite bottle and had it mounted on RM branded paperboard. What a fantastic evening. (...and for the guys who aren't as excited about champagne as I am, there's plenty of whiskey!)

Awesome location and reasonable prices on bottles of champs. We had a great time and look forward to returning!

What a fantastic setting! Great food! The steak tartar was amazing!!

Such a cool and quaint little place. The back alley is a great spot for a group.

Lovely, dark restaurant with a focus on champagne and spirits. Very trendy, so it gets crowded. Reservations are a must for large groups.

Went here for drinks for a bachelorette party, the patio was gorgeous and cute. We ordered deserts and our waitress came back and informed us that n o t h i n g on the menu was available, blaming it on the pre-made number of deserts they make. But come on y'all it's Chicago on a Saturday night with beautiful weather outside. People want macaroons. A few of the wine options we tried to order were also unavailable. Put a damper on the night but what really rubbed me the wrong way was how they asked everybody to leave. I understand there are neighbors and they have to follow rules for them but they REALLY could have asked more politely. We cleared out and stood by the door while we waited for people in our party to use the bathroom and were bothered twice that the server would (deadpan and not genuinely) appreciate it if we just went in or left. He could have just asked us to please wait inside. I'm a very patient and soft tempered person but the continued attitude we got from servers really peeved me. Would not recommend. Or at least you have MUCH better luck than us

My Table was wobbly, Loud music, Crowded, Parking nightmare
Hard to find, next to another restaurant

Excellent spot for girls' night out or a date! Love the selection of desserts displayed in glass booths - and who can resist a fireplace lit with old school candles? Now that it's summer, you can even enjoy sitting out on the patio! Just make sure to get a reservation since this place fills up fast!

We stopped in here for a drink and some dessert...the place has an awesome vibe all be it a little loud and could be mistaken for a club if everyone in the place wasn't seated. We had great service and the bite-sized desserts were just perfect for our group. Everyone enjoyed their drinks and we called it a night.

The design and feel of the restaurant was really cool. The atmosphere is really laid back and non-pretentious. The food was excellent and the drink menu, although small, was really good.

The bar tender was super rude. We walked in around 11pm. The door was unlocked and their hours stated they were at least open until 12. We asked if they were open, in return we were greated by abuse from the bar tender who stated we are closed and that we broke the clearly unlocked door. We were so shocked by his terrible behavior that we felt compelled to write this review. He was so rude and did not understand customer service. All we required was him to tell us nicely that they were closed

I'm not in the habit of writing negative reviews but feel compelled to this time. My husband and I went to RM to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We generally go to more formal restaurants for this occasion but wanted to try something more contemporary and fun. Our experience started on the wrong foot: When the hostess went to seat us, our table was missing a chair. That wasn't a problem, and the hostess quickly went to retrieve one. That chair I saw them bringing in from the rain? Yup, that is the one they chose to give me...without drying it off. It was so dark in the restaurant that I had no way of knowing this, so I started my meal with wet pants. Not fun.

While we looked forward to what seemed like a fun atmosphere, the reality was an incredibly noisy, almost intolerable, dining experience. We are talking nightclub-level volumes. (It was 8pm...) I literally had to yell across the table at my husband. We stopped talking mid-way through our meal. It was too much. When you have to repeat yourself 2-3 times to your waiter every time they speak to you, you know it is too loud. I'm young! I like noise! Not this. They definitely are sacrificing customer service in favor of ambiance.

To top it all off, it took over 40 minutes for them to take our entree order. (During that time, they brought us 4 appetizers that weren't ours...oy!) By that time, my ears and head just hurt, and I was ready to go. The food didn't make up for this either. It was fine. We forgoed dessert and headed elsewhere. Will not return or recommend to friends. Such a disappointment on a special evening.

One of my all time favorite spots for great cocktails and apps. Patio in the summer is perfect!

Your reservation site is not working for more than 6 days now and if we call for reservation was informed the booking site will be working as we cannot take reservation through call. And when walked in was told to wait for 4 hours. Either see that site is up or take reservations through call

My boyfriend and I decided to go to this restaurant because it was listed as one of the most romantic restaurants in Chicago. We made a reservation and we re a bit late so I think they gave our table away. We ended up waiting 30 minutes for a table. The hostesses were very kind though and gave us a complimentary glass of champagne for the wait. My main concern is that this is dubbed one of the most romantic restaurants in Chicago and its just not. I felt that the pictures online were not an accurate portrayal of what the restaurant looks like. It was very dark inside, and on top of that the music was so loud we could barely talk. It almost feels a bit like a night club because they have the bass turned up. The restaurant is also quite small (and popular) which made it very crowded. There was no where to wait except the bar area, but that area had tables in it as well so you end up being uncomfortably close to couples trying to enjoy their meal. Overall the experience was fine and the food was good. I just wouldn t recommend it if you re looking for a romantic date spot.

The best thing about this restaurant is the outdoor seating. You walk down an alley and next thing you know you feel like you are in a courtyard in France. It is a great spot to check out during nice weather. The inside of the restaurant is also very beautiful and cozy with a fireplace full of burning candles. Their cheese selection is huge! But don't worry if you are overwhelmed.. They have a fromager to help you pick! The pizzas are the best value on the menu and very good and easy to share. I'd also recommend visiting on a Tuesday when they have $1 oysters! Can't go wrong with $1 oysters :)

Had a great time on NYE! Open bar and plenty of champagne!

RM Champagne Salon is tucked away behind an unassuming building in the West Loop, right next to Green Street Meats. Once I turned the corner and saw the courtyard with couches and standing tables, I knew this was going to be my kind of place. The crowd had a good mix, with plenty of suits and more than a few hoodies. There is a unique vibe here that I loved. The drinks were great and I can't wait to come back for a few more. A new favorite for me.

Good ambience, small but solid menu, a little too dark and loud but an enjoyable place to eat.

Wonderful hidden gem tucked off of Randolph Street. Attentive staff. Cozy romantic ambience. Great drink menu. Keep the bubbles pouring!

The drink menu is awesome and the ambiance is exactly what you would want. My complaint is that they had a pop up shop with this terrible neon light that really hurt the eyes. You would think that a place like that could survive without low end gimics like this. It really hurt the mood of the evening and really bummed me out.

Visited this place with clients. Very dark inside (not an understatement, I thought I was wearing sunglasses at first) but this does make quite a nice atmosphere. You think it's more of a champagne "bar" from the description and website, but it's more of a restaurant inside. Also, being European, I was astonished at how expensive the champagne was! It's not cheap in the UK, but this felt particularly expensive!

Very nice. Excellent service, terrific atmosphere and of course the food was brilliant.

Great drinks and terrific food. One of the best in West loop

Sat at a bar area table on a Tuesday night in the winter. Interesting, intimate atmosphere. Great selections of bubbles and other drinks. Food was excellent and prompt. Service in the bar area is a little inconsistent and chaotic. You'll need to advocate for yourself and flag down the bartenders. I can't speak for the seated area.

I give it 3 stars because our initial experience was ruined by the hostess. She was blatantly rude and not accommodating to my party getting our table that we reserved. Our waitress was great as well as the food and drinks. Although, the steak was cold but it was still edible.

Fun and quaint environment. We had great service and a great time with friends!

A hidden, back-alley entrance gives this lounge a unique setting; the highlight was the movie set-like cobblestone patio just off the alley entrance; bubbles and desserts (small bites) seem to be the way to go

Great place to do brunch with your special someone or just hangout with friends.

Was here for a few drinks and small bites after work on a Friday. They have a nice outdoor patio section which is refreshing. When the place got busy I felt the service got a little slow. One of the cocktails I wanted wasn t available either right from the start. Their wine and champagne list is very decent though, although a little pricey. The calamari dish had more fried lemons and vegetables than actually calamari in it. I wouldn t order that again.

Great restaurant.. Excellent ambiance.. Food and appetizers were delicious. My husband and I went here for Valentines Day and we had a great time

We recently had our wedding ceremony/reception at RM and could not have asked for more. We instantly fell in love with the atmosphere and decor of the restaurant. The indoor outdoor combo was exactly what we were looking for. We worked with Annie who went above and beyond all of our expectations. She was attentive to every question making the entire planning process a breeze- simply amazing! Our guests were blown away with each course on the menu and we are still receiving great feedback. The service from the very start at the tasting to the big day was unparalleled. True hospitality. We cannot rave enough on how perfect our experience was and highly recommend!!

Number One: Free Wi-Fi!

Number Two: The Frappe Brunch Drink!

Number Three: Champagne (duh!)

Place looks really cool, could be a good spot if they lose the unfriendly staff. No service given. Could have had potential. Got rudely asked by who may have been a host for our id's but didn't even ask if I need a drink. Walked away and never came back.

Imagine a rich uncle's home library/living room. That is what I thought when I first arrived at RM. The comfy furniture and roaring fireplaces make this place very homey and intimate. And on a nice day, roam outside on their expansive back deck that also includes a bar. I've come here for the small dessert bites and the champagnes and wine. The desserts of macarons, taffy apple, whoopie pies, suzy q and more were all delightful. I'm not much of a wine person, but from those in the know, this is the place to go for those hard-to-find bottles.

This place has awesome european vibe. It has both casual and fancy vibe, whatever you feel like.Friendly staff, unique atmosphere as for Chicago. Eclectic crowd. Will go back again and again.

Absolutely terrible experience. Would never recommend. Went for my birthday and ordered a bottle of champagne. The only thing the bar tender said to us all night was to correct the pronunciation of the champagne we ordered. He did not check in on us at all after that. He did not pour a single glass from our bottle we ordered. He did not check in on us at all. No one did. We ended up moving tables and still nothing. Instead of ordering multiple bottles we finished the one bottle we had and left. I have never experienced such terrible service for the price. I was expecting a much higher level of service considering the bill. Would not recommend especially for the area there are some amazing places that have exceptional service.

Absolute gem. Good food, great cocktails. Would recommend the Hamachi Crudo.

Great place for a date night! Good music and atmosphere.

Delicious food, great vibe. Order took a long while, but atmosphere made up for it.

Food was excellent, the cocktails were delicious. Perfect spot for a date night!

When I first came here, I knew that I had finally found it. This was definitely the place. *THE* 3rd-date-close hot spot. Jokingly described among my friends as the panty-dropping date night place to be, RM provides this incredibly magical and romantic atmosphere in the heart of the city. While I do recommend coming dressed nicely, you probably wouldn't be turned away for being more casual in dress. I consider myself more casual in the pocket and was pleasantly surprised to find that there are champagnes and wines to be had at a wide range of prices and none of it would be considered low end or bad by any means.

They've changed things up and now offer full meal service but I have yet to try it. I've been told that they share a kitchen with Nellcote so you can be guaranteed a good meal paired with an excellent drink. I love love love both indoor and outdoor spaces and have added RM to my list of places to share with visitors that know their wines.

Lovely secret hideaway that you have to find. Great drinks and they do some amazing food - recommend the steak frites, but I've been with friends who can't help but order their delicious desserts.

To start, get the drink called the Seven Strangers. It is one of the most unique and balanced drinks I have tasted. Next, I highly recommend the steak frites. The steak was cooked to perfection and the spicy mayo that came with the frites was an excellent combo. Lastly, the lobster deviled eggs are to die for. They are so light and flavorful, however, the amount of lobster is minimal. Calamari was also a good dish. If you are not a fan of salt or grease, don't order the pomme frites. While I enjoyed them for what they were, even I found it difficult to eat the last of them with the heavy salt content. Don't order the macarons, they are not as good as they look. Not enough substance in the filling and outer layer wasn't as crisp as it could have been. Overall, a wonderful experience made even better by our attentive and respectful waiter, Carlos.

Incredible atmosphere. Recommend the salmon tartare.

Went here for drinks before dinner and loved it! The atmosphere is awesome- especially in the summer. We had a few hors d'oeuvres which were awesome and of course loved the champagne!

My friend and I came for dinner on a Monday evening. The place was pretty empty. The decor and atmosphere was very nice and romantic. It's definitely a good spot for a date. I requested to be seated inside at a booth seat along the walls. I wanted a bigger table since my friend and I tend to order a lot of food. However, the hostess said the bigger tables are a four top, and we can only sit at a two top table. I understand that there's only two of us, but the place was EMPTY. Why can't they just make me happy. Anyway, it didn't bother me too much, so our night proceeded.

I arrived just in time to order a dozen of their happy hour oysters. I enjoyed them by myself while I was waiting for my friend that was stuck in traffic. The servers were friendly, and made me feel completely comfortable being alone, nothing awkward. The oysters were from the East coast. They were sweet, but super tiny. I should have ordered two dozen instead of one. We ordered the lobster deviled eggs, the cauliflower side, chicken liver mousse, lyonnaise salad, summer squash, and roast chicken. The portions were on the smaller size. We had leftovers, but we did order a lot for just two people. Everything was just okay. Nothing particular was very good. We ordered the white chocolate Panna Cotta for dessert, and it was way too sweet. Also, I know it's Monday, but it's disappointing that over half the dessert menu is not available. My overall experience was so so. I can't say I will be back anytime soon.

Small, loud and not as expected. We had reservations for 8:15, but had to wait for an hour to be seated, even though we came on time. Place is very loud, we had problems heading ourselves. Did is ok at best. We ordered steak with fries, was way oversalted, and chicken that looked like a throw up. Drinks are overpriced. Would I go back? No.

Great cocktails, friendly staff, excellent salmon tartar.

Very cool ambiance for a date. Great food: simple but tasty.

Unique bar and restaurant tucked away in the heart of the West Loop. We stopped in for pre-dinner cocktails (and some pommes frites - delicious!) and sat at the bar. Bartender seemed a bit bothered at helping us, but I guess everyone has off days. I'd like to go back to try a selection of the champagnes they have on offer.

Had a few cocktails. Nice cozy bar. Had a good time. The jalepeno drink was extremely spicy

I know why this has received the amassing rewards that it has; RM has earned them! Fun, frivolity and class! TJ's attention to anticipate wants and needs carries over to all staff.