Chef Art Smith's Reunion Restaurant Reviews

We read about Chef Art Smith returning to Chicago, and six days after the opening of Reunion, we made reservations to dine there after a matinee at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier. Normally, we would have left the pier for dinner since previous dining experiences there have been mediocre at best, however, Reunion changed that with one delicious meal. First, the space is beautiful. Inside, it is bright with country accents and booths made of pieces of denim to add charm to the area. Outside is a lovely space with cafe lighting, picnic table style seating under canopies, and wrought iron tables scattered about. It will be a shame when winter comes and this area has to be closed off. When we entered, the hostess asked if we preferred indoors or outdoors. It was a beautiful evening, so we elected to sit outdoors. Our waiter approached quickly with menus and explained the history of Reunion and Chef Art Smith, and then went over the menu and pointed out what wasn't available yet. (We understood that since the restaurant had only been opened for six days, there would be glitches, so we were not surprised when we learned not all menu options were available yet.) He added that the menu will expand over time as well, which was exciting to hear, but there was enough there that promised good old Southern cooking at its best that we had difficulty choosing what we wanted anyway. Through all of our encounters with our waiter, he was nothing but friendly, funny, and professional. We started with two cocktails, an old-fashioned for hubby and a deliciously refreshing Barefoot in the Garden. Our waiter never pushed us to order dinner so we were able to relax with our cocktails. He checked back to see if we were ready to order but always said there was no rush. When we ordered, the meals arrived within a reasonable amount of time. I had the superb shrimp and grits. Thick pieces of delectably smoked ham joined the succulent shrimp swimming in delicious grits with tomato sauce. The portion was so large, I had to bring half home. I counted at least 10 juicy shrimp in the meal. Hubby ordered the catfish dinner, and between smacking his lips on the braised greens, he told me the catfish was outstanding. We had no room for dessert, but next time we will leave room. We considered the price point to be quite reasonable, and are happy Chef has brought Southern comfort food and Reunion to the pier. It is great to have a restaurant we can return to on the pier, and we will absolutely return. Make reservations so you are not disappointed! Above all, go!

Worst hostess and experience ever. Did not looked at us, more interested in her phone, and was in a terrible mood. We won’t be back.

The ambiance was average and the service needs improvement. The complimentary lemonade was a nice touch. Our waitress took I order and disappeared until it was time to pay. The food was good, nothing to brag about. I got the chicken and mash potatoes. The chicken was ok and the sauce did not add flavor .The mash potatoes was the best part of the meal. My sister got the catfish meal and was disappointed. I would recommend trying another restaurant at the Pier.

Beautiful restaurant, very comfortable. Friendly service, our waitress was from Ireland. We ordered the deviled eggs for appetizer, fried chicken, shrimp and grits and the chopped salad for dinner. We all loved our meals. For dessert we split the hummingbird cake….. so delicious! We’ll defiantly be back! Bonus was I loved the music playlist that was on while we were there:)

Reunion is an amazing restaurant with dining possibilities inside and outside. The food and cocktails are delicious as well as their fresh lemonade. The best comfort food I’ve had anywhere! Shrimp and grits, fried catfish and greens, mac and cheese, short ribs, fried chicken, etc. plus the servers are knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. I can’t wait to back there!

Nice time. Quinn at the bar was great. She said she is not going to waste her time not providing great service. We she didn’t waste her time at all. Wings were great too for a nice happy hour.

I had the fried chicken, a cocktail, and the hummingbird cake. My expectations were high because I’ve seen Art Smith on TV and I’ve always wanted to try his food. With the fried chicken being his specialty I was excited to try it. It was hot, juicy, and crispy. It just didn’t have a lot of flavor. The potatoes were delicious. The hummingbird cake was wet. I’ve made better myself.

One of my favorite dinner AND brunch spots in the city! I'm never disappointed when I stop by Chef Art Smith's Reunion. I always get the mac and cheese (a personal favorite) and this time I gave the pan-seared salmon a try, again, wasn't disappointed! Amazing flavorful salmon with a delicious vegetable mix. I will always recommend Reunion for an amazing dinner time!

This really isn’t a review. Host sat us. Sat at table for 20 minutes. Asked Host if anyone knew we were here. Sat for 10 more minutes. Left. I do suggest if you are able to place an adult drink order is to buy Chandon Sparking for $11 per glass. Their house wine is listed at 12 per glass and they are selling Chandon sparkling for $11. A bottle of Chandon is listed at $63 so make sure to order it by the glass. Wish I could have ordered a glass! Good thing they are located at Navy Pier!

Stopped here for lunch Saturday afternoon. As soon as the hostess told us they had seating inside with A/C we were sold. It was HOT out and we needed a good place to rest out of the sun. The service at this restaurant (and all of Chef Art Smith's restaurants) is above and beyond. We had multiple staff, not just our waiter, come by to make sure we were enjoying everything. My fiancé and I shared the church lady deviled eggs, crispy chicken sliders, and the summer blt. The summer blt was a bit messy. The hand cut bacon was not crispy enough for my taste, but I am sure the majority like that cook. The flavor, however, was there and really good. I would definitely like to come back in the fall or winter when it isn't so hot out.

When I want to eat Southern cuisine outside of the American South, I go for as original or southern trained as you can get. Having eaten at Chef Art Smith's other restaurants, I was glad to see Reunion at Chicago's Navy Pier. Now let's settle the tourist trap of mediocre food reputation now. Short version is I found the quality, quantity and service excellent. I would like to hope it wasn't just timing of a Tuesday at 1pm. It was a gorgeous day, not too hot and sitting outside was wonderful. I don't eat fried chicken often for a variety of reasons, so when I want it, it better be good and I knew Reunion wouldn't disappoint. As you can see from the photo, the CRISP on that chicken was perfection. I also ordered all dark meat, cause I think that's the only way to have fried chicken - IMHO. I was delighted the house hot sauce was on the side. Not only to use to taste, but it won't make the crisp chicken soggy. Wonderful deep hard crunch with enough salt and "hot" sauce made a perfect bite. Juicy chicken inside. I substituted a side of Mac and Cheese for the mashed potatoes. The Mac is made with cheddar and havarti with a perfect crisp on top. This meal was enough to serve two - I took half home. I thought it was a good value for $28. Tourist pricing? I am not sure. I felt the portion, service, location and quality were worth it. You'll have to decide for yourself. Highly recommend - bring many friends, share plates, enjoy the full bar and dessert (I passed). Make a reservation so you aren't disappointed. Personally, I think this is a high quality add to Navy Pier dining options.

We had a fantastic experience yesterday. Chef Chris came by to check-in a few times to see how our food and experience was yesterday. To say that we were blown away would be an understatement. We got the fried chicken sandwich, the best fried chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. You can taste that the ingredients are fresh and everything is homemade. I can attest to the mashed potatoes that they were fantastic, didn’t have to add a thing to them. Obviously we had to have dessert, that hummingbird cake was fantastic. I can see why a lot of celebrities ask Chef Art Smith to make that for them, including Pope Leo, which we found out that he personally cooked for the Pope recently. Everyone from the staff to the management of the restaurant to the owner himself was friendly and attentive.

We were meeting friends for a show on Navy Pier and decided to try out Reunion. Hostess and waitress were friendly, but the orders seemed to take longer to arrive than expected for a half filled dining room. Fried green tomatoes were good, as was the shrimp and grits. Chicken (which is supposed to be a specialty) was only ok.

After reading all the positive reviews, we had a fantastic supper at here's, and it was everything that the reviews said. Each item was exquisitely presented, authentically flavorful, and cooked to perfection. Throughout the evening, the service was kind, competent, and sincere. I had high expectations because I'm Italian, but this place really lived up to them. Strongly advised! We were so happy that we departed and are now eager to return.

Chef Art Smith’s Reunion Restaurant serves great comfort food. The fried chicken was excellent. The whipped potatoes were delicious. The service was wonderful. Being from the south, I preferred gravy with the chicken versus the hot sauce, so I didn’t eat the hot sauce.

Celebrity chef Art Smith has an impressive resume. He worked for two former Florida governors, once was personal chef to entertainment giant Oprah Winfrey and has appeared on more TV shows than Mickey Rooney. Now he is making a name for himself. He is the executive chef and co-owner of six restaurants and two non-profits that are known for his southern cuisine and signature comfort foods. One of them is located at 600 East Grand Avenue on Navy Pier in Chicago. Chef Art Smith's Reunion Restaurant is open from 11 to 9 Sunday through Thursday and 11 to 10 on Friday and Saturday. My wife and I started with deviled eggs with crispy ham, Navy Bean soup with Navy beans, kale and parmesan cheese and Chef Art's chopped salad with chicken, dates, heirloom tomatoes, red onion, goat cheese, avocado, croutons, grilled corn, almonds and vinaigrette. For her entree, my wife chose Art's famous fried chicken with whipped mashed potatoes and house-made hot sauce. I opted to chicken pot pie, a welcome sight but a rarity on restaurant menus, with pulled chicken, root vegetables, fresh peas and an all butter flaky crust. For dessert, we shared slices of hummingbird cake with a pineapple and banana base with cream cheese frosting and Belizean chocolate pecan pie with a cream cheese crust.

My friend and I had salmon with Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes and a kale and bacon with pecan salad, which were both delicious. Also the homemade lemonade was refreshing on a very hot day. Lastly the service was excellent. We highly recommend this place.

5 people, $170. Chicken was dry. Chicken sandwich didn’t come with what was said on the menu. Server was horrible. Only saving grace was the hummingbird cake (which I’m sure wasn’t made on site).

Look it’s obviously a tourist trap location so expectations should be tempered. But. This was bad. Seated right next to a busy table despite the section being wide open. Waitress took forever to come and greet us and take drink order. Drinks took forever to arrive. Food came slower than I would like. Positive note - the food was tasty. Nothing exceptional but a good enough meal. Hush puppies were bland and dry. Fried chicken was moist and flavorful. Chicken sandwich was actually the highlight. We never complain. So we didn’t. Until we had a snafu with a few incorrect items on the bill. They ended up doing the right thing - so good on them. But, it seems they are still working through some logistical bugs. If you’re in no rush at all and have no problem forgiving mediocre dining experiences than this is a fine place to be. But temper those expectations

Friendly waiting staff, quickly taken to a table and shown the menu, we shared the classic fried chicken with mash potatoes, the food arrived quickly and the chicken was good the mash tasty and we enjoyed the live music and watching the world go by, value wise it’s expensive for chicken and mash but appreciate your paying for the location. My one negative comment would be the server change the tip to 25%, this was a good meal but it wasn’t a 25% tip meal, I changed it to a tip that was more representative of the service, I noticed she did this to the table next to us and they changed it as we did, no where else we have eaten has selected a tip….so beware! This is not fair on people that don’t check

We both thought the chicken was ok. The mashed potatoes were great. The wait staff friendly. We paid 19.95 for two small pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes and a salad.

We really enjoyed!! Food and drinks really tasty. Good service we ordered famous chicken the mash potatoes was delicious. Kids menu was also great different options.

Absolutely fantastic! Went early. Sat at the bar. Food and drinks were to die for and hit the spot on a cold Chicago day. (Get the Chicken and Dumplings!) Brian, the bartender, was amazing and once we finished eating he gave us quite Chicago to do list with tips and tricks! We will definitely be back!

We arrived at the Navy Pier a little before our reservation time but they were happy to seat us. We had a very good dinner. Jersey, our server, was enthusiastic and efficient. Everything came out at the right time, she took care of turning down the music which to us was a bit too loud, and checked on us without being intrusive. All the food was tasty and we left satisfied. I would recommend Reunion.

Excellent good and service. Nice outdoor area. Great southern menu with variety. Beignets were delicious. Calamari was good, but watch for fried lemons! Will be back

This restaurant was filled with unruly children running around and screaming. When something was said to the children to behave the parents finally wanted to leave but not before coming to our table to say something about their children getting yelled at for running wild. It's clear that this is just another crap restaurant on the pier. Save your money and go to Kindlings in the Willis tower.

My family an I were visiting from out of state yesterday to celebrate my birthday in Chicago. My daughter wanted to try Reunion restaurant so I agreed. We approached the hostess, and we were asked if we had a reservation and , I told her that we did not. The young lady told us unfortunately unless we had a reservation we had to wait until 730. (It was around 5:30pm)They’re only doing previously scheduled reservations at the moment. So I politely thanked her and, moved to the side so that we could decide where we wanted to eat. While standing there, a white family walked up and, one of the other ladies asked if they had a reservation and they said they did not. She looked up and saw me standing there, put her head down and, said I’ll be back. She then came back with the same young lady who told me that we needed to have a reservation. ‘She”also asked the man if they had a reservation, he said no and she said OK. Come back and follow me and proceeded to seat that family. We were all in shock and thoroughly disappointed at this sheer act of racism

We had lunch. The restaurant is located at the Navy Pier and we chose to enjoy our food outside on a sunny day. The lunch menu includes a special where you can pair a half salad with a half sandwich or entrée. This turned out to be a good choice and service too was good. Prices reflect the good food and excellent location.

This is the first bar/ restaurant on the pier and definitely worth a look I got there at 2pm just in time for happy hour which is 2-6. Beers $3 each, I was sold. As I was solo I sat at the bar and was served by Autumn who was very efficient and friendly. I ordered some $1 chicken wings and they were perfect too, what more could you ask for? Cold beer hot chicken wings, sunshine, cool breeze a perfect afternoon.

I had seen this restaurant on previous trips to Navy Pier and kept it in mind for dinner. When perusing their website, I saw that they had a theater menu for a reasonable price, so I made a reservation for dinner on the day we were going to see a show at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. We ended up getting to the restaurant early, and they were able to accommodate us before our reservation. The drinks were delicious -- I had a version of a mocktail and my friend had an alcoholic drink. With the special theater menu, we ended up getting a crab cake appetizer, a salad, an entree, and a dessert. Well-worth the $45 price. We did got some choice in what we ate. I would go back again and explore more of the menu. Nearby tables looked like they had some yummy food that I would like to try.

Can’t rave enough! I had been to Homecommin at Disney Springs so I had high expectations and they were met and exceeded! Jersey was a great server and read the room very well. The crab cakes were Devine, as were the hushpuppies. The mashed potatoes were some of the best I have ever had (and like the ones at Homecommin, I can’t stop thinking about them). Location is great inside Navy Pier and accessible by bus. Can’t wait to return!

Good location for visiting the Navy Pier. This is essentially the only redeeming feature. The interior the restaurant is fine - we were there when it was quite empty so we didn't feel crowded nor did it feel noisy. The service despite the restaurant being mostly empty was extremely slow but the waitress was friendly and we weren't in a rush so that wasn't a big deal. The food, however, was awful. Borderline inedible, some dishes way too salty, others lacking any flavor and generally not well made at all. There were overcooked items, undercooked items - blech. You could see they were ambitious in designing the menu but the cooking was just awful. The final insult was that the it cost quite a bit, which we were prepared for but disappointed about given the quality of the food. I'd avoid.

Great food, drinks, and atmosphere. Our waitress Leslie was wonderful. There’s many choices at Navy Pier and we’ve tried them all. This is in the top 2!

Large portions (too large) of fried, fried, fried. And carbs. If both portions and prices were 40% less I would have been happier. But it was a table large enough for our party of seven and a happy ambiance that facilitated a great visit. And that was what we really wanted - a good visit. Dinner was secondary. Still the price was high and service only so-so. Eat here if you want a mega-portion of fried whatever.

Nice dinner. Good food and service. I had the fried chicken and my girlfriend had the chopped salad. Liked them both. We went here after going to the flyover. Place had a nice atmosphere and some outdoor tables. Saw one tv at the bar (crosstown game was on). I have not been to them all but I'm guessing this is by far the best restaurant on Navy Pier.

This is supposed be a great spot for fried chicken. They were all out. Out of chicken pot pie, the wings…a huge disappointment.

My daughter and I were in Chicago for the weekend and decided to try Reunion for dinner. It did not disappoint! The food was delicious and our waitress was wonderful! It was a beautiful evening, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the views If we're back in Chicago, we will definitely be back!