Restaurant in Chicago, United States
Hard to book. Harder to skip.
Valhalla is one of Chicago's harder tasting menu reservations to land, and it earns the difficulty. Chef Stephen Gillanders runs a single chef's counter in Wicker Park with a multi-course menu spanning Filipino, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian influences. Michelin Plate (2024), OAD Top 400 North America (2025), and a 4.8 Google rating. Book four to six weeks out for weekends.
Getting a seat at Valhalla is genuinely difficult, and that difficulty is earned. Chef Stephen Gillanders runs a single chef's counter in Wicker Park where every seat faces the kitchen, the tasting menu shifts across Filipino, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian influences, and the beverage program is designed to keep pace. Valhalla holds a Michelin Plate (2024) and landed at #357 on Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in North America for 2025, up from #377 in 2024. At the $$$$ price tier, it is not a casual booking. But for a special occasion dinner in Chicago, it competes directly with the city's most serious tasting menu rooms. If that format suits you, it is worth the effort to secure a table.
Valhalla's room works in its favour for the right occasion. The space is described as cool and dark, with a single counter running the length of the kitchen — every seat is a front-row view of the cooking. That setup means the atmosphere is focused and intimate rather than buzzy or loud. If you are coming for a birthday dinner, an anniversary, or a business meal where the setting needs to do some work, the counter format delivers. It is not a place for a large group wanting private conversation; it is a place for two or four people who want to be absorbed into a kitchen's rhythm for an evening.
The noise question matters here. Counter restaurants at this price point tend to run quieter than open dining rooms, and Valhalla's layout supports conversation — the long single counter and dark room create a contained, low-distraction environment. Compare that with somewhere like Boka, which has a more conventional dining room energy, or Alinea, where the theatrical format can tip into spectacle. Valhalla sits closer to focused and immersive.
The tasting menu at Valhalla is ambitious in scope. Gillanders draws on Filipino, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian reference points across the same meal , dishes like white curry noodles with grilled mussels and lobster tsukune with smoked pimentón butter are documented in Opinionated About Dining's notes. Dessert has been called a highlight, with a marbled pavlova incorporating black sesame, lychee, and hibiscus. The beverage program runs cocktail and wine pairings alongside the food; OAD's notes specifically flag these as worth adding. Whether you take the pairing is a cost consideration, but at this price tier the incremental spend is usually worth it for the full experience the kitchen is building toward.
Multi-cultural range of influences is not fusion for its own sake , it is the defining characteristic of the menu and either the reason you book or the reason you do not. If you want a single-cuisine focus, Kasama delivers a tighter Filipino lens at the same price tier. If the range of references appeals, Valhalla is building one of the more distinctive tasting menus in the city.
Valhalla does not serve lunch or brunch. The restaurant opens Wednesday through Sunday at 5 pm and closes at 10 pm; Monday and Tuesday are closed. There is no daytime service listed. If your preference is a long weekend lunch format, this is not the right choice , look at Kasama, which runs a daytime pastry counter alongside its dinner tasting menu, for something that gives you a lower-commitment entry point. For Valhalla, your visit is an evening commitment by design.
Within the dinner service window, Wednesday and Thursday evenings will generally be easier to book than Friday and Saturday. If you have flexibility, a mid-week booking gives you a slightly less pressured room and a better chance of securing a reservation on shorter notice. That said, Valhalla's OAD ranking and Michelin recognition mean demand is consistent across the week , do not assume a Thursday is straightforwardly available.
Booking difficulty here is rated hard. Valhalla runs a counter format with limited seats, earned national recognition, and a consistent Google rating of 4.8 across 111 reviews. Plan for at least four to six weeks of lead time for a weekend booking. Mid-week slots open up somewhat, but even Wednesday and Thursday evenings at a ranked tasting menu counter in Wicker Park are not reliably available on short notice. No phone number is listed publicly; check the restaurant's reservation platform directly. If you cannot get a near-term table, Next Restaurant uses a ticketed model that can sometimes surface availability when conventional booking windows are closed.
Dinner only , Valhalla does not offer lunch or brunch service. The restaurant opens at 5 pm Wednesday through Sunday. If you want a daytime tasting menu experience in Chicago, Kasama runs a pastry counter during the day and a tasting menu at dinner, giving you more flexibility. For Valhalla specifically, plan for an evening booking.
Valhalla's format is a single chef's counter , the counter IS the seating. There is no separate bar area where you can drop in for individual dishes. Every seat at the counter is part of the full tasting menu experience. If you want a drop-in counter experience in Chicago's $$$$ tier, Smyth has a separate downstairs bar (The Loyalist) that operates more casually alongside the main tasting menu room upstairs.
No dress code is listed publicly, but at the $$$$ price tier with a Michelin Plate and OAD recognition, smart casual is the right call. Think of it like any serious tasting menu counter in Chicago: you will not be turned away for a nice shirt and dark trousers, but showing up in athleisure at a 12-seat counter will feel out of place. When in doubt, dress as you would for Oriole or Smyth.
The single chef's counter format makes large groups impractical. For parties of two or four, the counter works well and is arguably better for those group sizes than a conventional dining room. If you are planning a group of six or more for a special occasion, contact the restaurant directly to understand capacity , but be prepared to consider alternatives. Next Restaurant and Alinea have more conventional dining room setups that handle larger parties more easily within the Chicago $$$$ tasting menu tier.
Four to six weeks minimum for a Friday or Saturday. Wednesday and Thursday evenings are more accessible, but do not assume mid-week slots are freely available , Valhalla's OAD ranking and consistent 4.8 Google rating drive steady demand. If your dates are fixed and important (anniversary, birthday), book the moment the reservation window opens. No phone is listed; use the restaurant's online booking platform and set a reminder for when new dates release.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valhalla | Asian, Contemporary | $$$$ | Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #357 (2025); Ever affable and welcoming, Chef Stephen Gillanders seems right at home in his new location in Wicker Park. A single chef’s counter follows the length of this cool, dark room and gives guests a front-row view of the kitchen. The tasting menu is ambitious in its attempt to trot the culinary globe. Filipino, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian influences make their marks on a range of dishes like white curry noodles topped with grilled mussels and lobster tsukune with smoked pimentón butter and grilled lemon sauce. Dessert is a highlight, as in a marbled pavlova with black sesame, lychee and hibiscus. The beverage program is equally thoughtful, offering a wealth of cocktail and wine pairings that are not to be missed.; Named for the great hall of eternity of Norse mythology, Valhalla, led by Stephen Gillanders, offers a truly unique and pure dining experience. The restaurant provides a multi-course tasting menu that is meticulously crafted to embody the spirit of an eternal feast.; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #377 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024) | Hard | — |
| Alinea | Progressive American, Creative | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Smyth | Progressive American, Contemporary | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kasama | Filipino | $$$$ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Next Restaurant | American Cuisine | $$$$ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Boka | New American, Contemporary | $$$$ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
How Valhalla stacks up against the competition.
Dinner only — Valhalla does not serve lunch or brunch. The kitchen opens at 5 pm Wednesday through Sunday, so there is no daytime option to weigh. If you want a multi-course tasting menu with afternoon availability, Kasama in Ukrainian Village runs a daytime format worth considering instead.
The entire restaurant is a single chef's counter, so the counter is your only seating option — there is no separate bar area for casual drop-ins or à la carte plates. Every guest is on the same tasting menu format. Walk-in availability is unlikely given the OAD ranking and limited seat count; booking in advance is the only reliable route.
No dress code is published, but a $$$$ tasting menu with OAD Top 400 recognition and a Michelin Plate puts this firmly in smart-casual territory at minimum. Think polished but not black-tie — the room is described as cool and dark, not stiff or formal. Overdressing slightly is safer than underdressing at this price point.
Large groups are impractical here. The single chef's counter format is purpose-built for parties of two to four, and those are the groups who get the most from the kitchen-facing experience. If you are organising a party of six or more, the format works against you — Boka or Next Restaurant offer private dining arrangements better suited to larger bookings.
Four to six weeks minimum for a Friday or Saturday seat. Wednesday and Thursday are more accessible but should not be treated as walk-up nights given the counter's limited capacity and consistent demand since the OAD ranking. Book as soon as your dates are confirmed — the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday, which tightens the weekly availability further.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
