NoMI Kitchen

Should You Book NoMI Kitchen Again?

If you've eaten at NoMI Kitchen before, the question on a return visit is whether the experience holds up or whether it was the setting doing most of the work. The answer: both matter, both deliver. The seventh-floor perch above Michigan Avenue gives you a room worth returning to, but the wine program and ocean bar are what make the case for a second booking. For a special occasion dinner in Chicago with serious wine options and a flexible menu format, NoMI Kitchen is a dependable choice at the $$$ price tier.

The Room and the Setting

The visual case for NoMI Kitchen starts before you sit down. The seventh-floor position above 800 North Michigan Avenue puts you level with the upper stories of the Magnificent Mile, the views of Michigan Avenue from the lounge are a genuine asset for a celebration or business dinner where atmosphere has to carry weight. The NoMI Garden, open roughly May through October when weather permits, is the stronger option when it's available: a rooftop garden setting in a city hotel is rare, the crowd it draws (Chicagoans who know it, visitors who've done their research) keeps the vibe from feeling like a hotel dining room. If you're planning a warm-weather dinner, book with the garden specifically in mind and check conditions before you go.

The Food

Chef Terence Zubieta runs a menu built around high-grade sourced ingredients: uni from Santa Barbara, oysters from Washington, chicken from downstate Illinois, milk-fed pork from Wisconsin. The format is practical for groups with different preferences. At dinner and lunch, you pick a protein (options have included market fish over spaghetti squash and flat iron steak) and pair it with sides of your choice. The structure makes it easier to order as a table without negotiating a tasting menu format. The ocean bar is the standout section: sushi, sashimi, oysters have been a fixture here since the previous iteration of the restaurant, the tiger roll (snow crab, shrimp tempura, bigeye spicy tuna, avocado) is a reliable order. Desserts are a step above hotel-restaurant standard; the whipped choco-macchiato, a coffee-lemon panna cotta with baked chocolate mousse and caramel, is worth ordering.

The Wine Program

The wine list is one of the stronger reasons to choose NoMI Kitchen over a comparable hotel restaurant. Wine Director Corey Huber oversees a list of 285 selections with a 2,905-bottle inventory, priced at the $$$ tier (many bottles over $100, but with range across price points). The program skews toward California and France, with additional depth from Spain and Italy. For a celebration dinner where you want a serious bottle rather than a perfunctory list, this program holds up. Corkage is $75 if you want to bring your own. The cocktail program in the lounge is also worth noting: seasonal builds, brown-liquor focused, made with house bitters and syrups, with input from mixologists consulted across the country.

Booking and Timing

NoMI Kitchen is relatively easy to book by Chicago fine dining standards. You are not competing with the months-out lead times required at Alinea or Kasama. For a weekend dinner, booking one to two weeks ahead is a reasonable window; for a special occasion where you want a specific table or garden access, give it two to three weeks. The restaurant is open daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner, with brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, which gives you more scheduling flexibility than most destination restaurants. Dress code is smart casual.

Practical Details

Who Should Book NoMI Kitchen

NoMI Kitchen works well for: a celebration dinner where wine matters and you want a serious list without a tasting menu commitment; a business dinner where the setting does visible work; a warm-weather evening where the NoMI Garden is the actual destination. It is less suited to diners looking for a cutting-edge tasting format (for that, Smyth or Next Restaurant are better fits) or for Filipino-inflected modern cooking (Kasama is the answer there).

For more context on where NoMI Kitchen sits in the broader Chicago dining picture, see our full Chicago restaurants guide. If you're staying in the hotel or planning a night out that includes a bar stop, our Chicago bars guide and Chicago hotels guide have relevant picks nearby. For wine-focused travellers, our Chicago wineries guide and experiences guide are worth a look.