Restaurant in Chicago, United States
Mid-range Korean-British that earns its awards.
A Modern British and Korean restaurant in Chicago's Loop, Perilla earns its Pearl Recommended status at the $$ price tier — an unusual combination of OAD recognition, a Star Wine List #1 ranking for 2025, and accessible pricing. Chef Ben Marks runs a kitchen that overdelivers for the cost, and the wine program is serious enough to shape how you plan the meal. Booking is easy; the Sunday extended session is the most flexible entry point.
A Google rating of 4.3 across 220 reviews is a reasonable baseline, but Perilla's real credibility marker is its back-to-back placement on Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in Europe list — ranked #377 in 2024 and climbing to #421 in 2025 — combined with a Star Wine List #1 ranking in 2025 and Pearl Recommended status. For a $$ restaurant in Chicago's Loop, that combination of recognition at an accessible price point is unusual. If you've already been once, the question isn't whether to return , it's whether you've explored enough of the menu to justify the trip back.
Perilla is a Modern British and Korean restaurant at 225 N Wabash Ave, downtown Chicago, helmed by chef Ben Marks. The format is chef-driven, the price tier is mid-range, and the cuisine sits at an intersection that remains relatively uncommon in the American Midwest: Korean technique and flavour logic applied within a contemporary British sensibility. This is not Korean-American fusion in the casual sense. Think more structured, more deliberate, and more wine-forward than the average Korean spot in the city.
The awards data hints at a kitchen operating with a level of precision that overdelivers at the $$ price point. The Star Wine List leading ranking for 2025 signals that the beverage program is a serious part of the offering, not an afterthought. If you visited primarily for food last time, the wine list is the most obvious area to push further on a return visit.
Without verified menu specifics from the database, the most useful framing is what the cuisine combination implies for a return visitor. Modern British cooking at its leading is restrained, ingredient-led, and structured around a clear sequence. Korean flavour profiles layer fermentation, heat, and umami in ways that add depth without heaviness. Together, the combination tends to produce dishes that reward attention rather than speed. This is not a venue where you rush through courses.
The $$ pricing means you are not paying for theatre or ceremony, but the OAD ranking and Pearl Recommended status suggest the kitchen has earned its recognition on the plate. For a returning guest, the practical move is to push beyond your first-visit comfort choices and let the kitchen make more decisions for you, whether that means the tasting format if offered, or asking for the team's current recommendations at the time of booking.
The Pearl editorial angle for Perilla is worth addressing directly: does the food hold up off-premise? The honest answer, given the cuisine type, is that Modern British and Korean cooking at this level is leading eaten in the room. Fermented elements, carefully plated components, and wine-program pairings don't translate cleanly to a takeout container. If your primary goal is convenience, this is not the right venue. Perilla is worth booking for the sit-down experience. The Star Wine List ranking alone argues against ordering delivery when the point of the beverage program is pairing and sequence. Come in, sit down, take your time.
Perilla is closed Mondays. Dinner runs Tuesday through Sunday, 6 to 10 pm. Lunch service operates Friday and Saturday from 12:30 to 2:30 pm, and Sunday runs an extended session from 12:30 to 8:30 pm. The Sunday window is the most flexible entry point for a return visit, particularly if you want a lower-pressure service and a longer afternoon format rather than a conventional dinner booking. Friday and Saturday lunch are worth considering if the Loop works for your schedule , midday at a $$ restaurant with this level of recognition is a better value proposition than the same meal at dinner in many comparable cities. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you do not need to plan weeks ahead, but the weekend services fill faster than weekday slots.
Reservations: Easy to book; weekday dinner slots are most available, weekend lunch and Sunday sessions fill sooner. Budget: $$ , mid-range; expect to spend more if you lean into the wine program, which is the Star Wine List #1-ranked offering for 2025. Dress: No verified dress code in our data; the urbane downtown setting and mid-range price tier suggest smart casual is appropriate. Hours: Tuesday–Thursday 6–10 pm; Friday–Saturday 12:30–2:30 pm and 6–10 pm; Sunday 12:30–8:30 pm; Monday closed. Address: 225 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60601.
Pearl Recommended (2025). Star Wine List #1 (2025). Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in Europe #421 (2025). Google: 4.3 / 5 (220 reviews). The trajectory here is consistent: this is a kitchen and beverage program that has earned external validation at a price point where overdelivering is the whole point.
For context across the broader Chicago dining scene, Pearl's full guides cover Chicago restaurants, Chicago hotels, Chicago bars, Chicago wineries, and Chicago experiences. If Korean-inflected cooking is a priority, Atomix in New York City is the national reference point for the format at the highest level. For Modern British cooking with comparable ambition in a different context, Lazy Bear in San Francisco and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg show what the format can do with different regional ingredients.
Based on available data, Perilla operates at the $$ price tier with OAD recognition and Pearl Recommended status for 2025. If a tasting format is offered, the price-to-recognition ratio makes it worth considering, particularly given the Star Wine List #1 ranking, which suggests pairing options amplify the value. For comparison, tasting menus at Alinea or Smyth operate at $$$$ and require significantly more commitment. Perilla's $$ positioning means the risk threshold is lower.
No verified dietary policy data is available in our records. The safest approach is to contact the restaurant directly before booking. The Modern British and Korean cuisine format does incorporate fermented and umami-heavy ingredients that may present challenges for certain restrictions, so flagging requirements at the time of reservation is advisable rather than on arrival.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you are not dealing with a months-ahead reservation window. Weekday dinner slots Tuesday through Thursday are the most available. Weekend services and the Sunday extended session fill faster. A week's notice should be sufficient for most dates, but if you have a specific Friday or Saturday evening in mind, booking a few days earlier is sensible. This compares favourably to Kasama or Next Restaurant, where availability is tighter.
No formal dress code is listed in our data. The combination of a downtown Loop address, $$ pricing, and awards recognition points to smart casual as the sensible default. You will not be turned away in jeans, but the setting and peer recognition suggest the room skews toward a put-together crowd, particularly on weekend evenings. If you are coming from an office nearby, standard business casual works without change.
At $$, Perilla delivers a level of culinary ambition and beverage seriousness that is unusual for the price tier. The Star Wine List #1 ranking for 2025 and OAD placement mean you are getting a credentialed experience without the $$$$ outlay required at Oriole or Smyth. For value-conscious diners who want genuine kitchen ambition rather than a safe mid-market meal, Perilla is among the stronger bets in the Loop at this price point.
For a returning guest, Friday or Saturday lunch is worth trying if your schedule allows , midday service at a credentialed kitchen often runs at a lower intensity, which can mean more attention per table and a cleaner look at what the kitchen does well. Sunday's extended 12:30 to 8:30 pm window is the most flexible option if you want something between the formality of dinner and the brevity of a traditional lunch. Dinner is the fuller experience, particularly if you are engaging with the wine program, which is the most awarded element of Perilla's offering.
The venue data does not confirm a tasting menu format at Perilla — the listed format is chef-driven à la carte Modern British and Korean at a $$ price point. If you are looking for a structured tasting menu in Chicago, Smyth or Alinea are the more appropriate targets. Perilla's value case is built on creative Korean-inflected cooking at a mid-range price, not a multi-course progression.
Dietary accommodation specifics are not documented in Pearl's venue data for Perilla. Given the Korean and Modern British format, the menu is likely to include meat-forward dishes, fermented ingredients, and dairy. check the venue's official channels before booking if you have strict requirements, particularly around gluten or shellfish.
Weekend lunch on Friday and Saturday and Sunday dinner sessions fill faster than midweek slots — book at least one to two weeks out for those windows. Tuesday through Thursday dinner is more accessible and often bookable with shorter notice. Pearl rates Perilla as a recommended restaurant, and OAD recognition in back-to-back years means demand is steady, not casual.
The venue description points to a stylish, urbane setting with considered design details and a semi-open kitchen at 225 N Wabash Ave downtown. That context suggests neat, polished casual is the appropriate register — think a well-put-together dinner outfit rather than business formal or streetwear. The $$ price range confirms this is not a white-tablecloth occasion.
Yes, at $$ it is one of the stronger value cases in Chicago's chef-driven category. Back-to-back Opinionated About Dining rankings (#377 in 2024, #421 in 2025), a Pearl Recommended designation, and Star Wine List #1 recognition in 2025 represent a credential set that typically sits above this price tier. For comparison, Kasama operates in a similar price neighbourhood but with a different format; Perilla is the stronger option if Modern British-Korean is the draw.
Dinner runs five nights a week versus lunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday only, which suggests dinner is the primary format chef Ben Marks has designed around. Sunday lunch runs through 8:30 pm, making it the most flexible session if you want a longer, lower-pressure meal. If your schedule allows a weekday, Thursday dinner is a good entry point before weekend demand picks up.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
