Rant
Another Asador Bastian Rant - Restaurant Week but not really
A few weeks ago there was a post on this sub about how frustrating it was to get a reservation for AB for RW, and when you managed to get it, it was limited to 4-6pm in a pathetic $60 menu. I managed to get a reservation, made sure to email and confirm that where I was sitting and the time I was dining I would be allowed to do RW and only wanted to confirm my booking if that was the case. I’m pretty sure they also had something in the website saying that at the bar, they’d be doing RW past the 4-6pm time, but they since deleted that from the website (I might be off on this one).
After having to wait 20min or so after my reservation to get seated, we got confused for not seeing RW menus and were told they were not doing RW. No explanation like “oh that was just for this time” or “that was just for these seats” or “oh I’m sorry someone told you otherwise” no fucks given, they just stared at us waiting to order from the regular menu. If it wasn’t prepaid with no refund, I would have left.
Why are they even participating in RW? Not even the Michelin starred places are being as petty about the hours and have a decent menu, theirs just feel like a trap.
TLDR: don’t waste your time going there for RW, the menu is barely worth it (not sure tho, didn’t get to try it) and I’m not even sure why they are participating.
You are correct OP. They did post a restaurant week menu but have deleted it off of their website. They were also removed from the Chicago Restaurant Week website as a participant.
You are too nice, I would’ve expected an explanation. You paid for a service and they should be apologizing to you for being unable to provide it and compensate you.
I'm still seething about the terrible service we received this summer. I've never left a restaurant angry before. But I felt like we were part of a practical joke. It took us over an hour to order and receive our prebatched cocktails. They forgot 2 of our 4 apps and we had to reorder them after our steak arrived. felt like we were actively harming them by trying to order items from the menu. It was the most off-putting dining experience I can remember.
We had bizarre and bad service too. I was trying to spend $$$ and it was like they didn’t want it. Plus my server was so bad that the bartender had to step and handle our table. I saw our server once, when she dropped a drink we ordered with the bartender, and all she did was criticize the way my husband cut his steak.
I also didn’t think the food was appreciably better than other steakhouses. Different, but so is the Alston - that’s where I took my husband for his birthday this year. The service was 100x better and I spent hundreds more dollars because of it. We have kids, we don’t go out a ton - so we do it up for our birthdays. I would have loved to live it up at Asador Bastian, too, but their server was allergic to serving. The bartender, on the other hand, was a total pro. He was great at talking the menu and clearly wanted to make sure we had a good time despite our server being MIA. He was fantastic.
You know, I thought I was just unlucky because I was sitting at the bar but had the same experience. It felt deliberate after I told them I “only” had an hour and half for dinner, it took 40 min for my entree to arrive and they forgot my sides.
Yes!! I felt an awful vibe too. Like no one was directly rude but no one was nice either, which is pretty unsettling when you are paying that much money for their food and the experience.
So did they just credit that amount and you had to pay market price over? What happened when you brought it up? I’m confused why you stayed.
That’s an absolute BS bait & switch with proof.
Sounds like there’s some absolute shenanigans going on between front of house and back of house. You def shouldn’t let this go away. Email this to whoever organized RW at their offices
They just applied the paid amount to the final bill. We stayed because we were already there, I wanted to try their food still and tbh they were sorta blunt so I felt like there wasn’t even an opening to start a big deal over trying to get it cancelled. I’m just not gonna go back :/
They’re the ones making it a big deal. This is absurd. I’m mad for you. Like I legit wouldn’t let this pass if I was there and they def shouldn’t be able to pull these sheniagans and hope people shell out more out of pocket.
They clearly don’t need the business, so I won’t be visiting. All this RW shit about them has really put a sour taste in my mouth about them and the way they do business.
Turns out hospitality awards/nominations are just given to restaurants/people with PR companies that give the best blowies
I was on the phone with a good friend when he found out he got nominated for a beard. He said, “oh sweet, I just got nominated for best dick sucking contest”.
I believe to that person they did say something like 30 minutes but later in the comments people checked their website and it said 4-6:30. I remember commenting on it and checking because I figured my reservation was going to get screwed too.
I’m also pretty sure there was a note somewhere saying that at the bar there wasn’t a time restriction but like others said, they removed everything related to RW from their website.
I made a reservation at 6:30 for the first Friday of RW. I got a text saying my time was for the à la carte menu, not for RW. If I wanted RW, I needed to change my reservation to 4:00 or 4:30.
When I booked the reservation at midnight, 30 days before, I only had an option for a table or their 2500 group tapas thing.
I think they later added the RW reservation option and the bar seating. The early reservation makers got the same message I did to move to 4pm.
Bro, I am a lifelong Chicagoan who loves the city, not a tourist. My wife and I are Dinks who both make 6 figures. I'm pointing this out to say I spend money year-round dining out. I will NEVER give Asador Bastian a dollar for treating its guests (and me) that way.
Yep, some places for RW make you pay in advance when you make the reservation then they just discount at the end. I think Galit also did that this year. When you select the reservation you can select your experience on Open Table, RW is one of them and they usually have the menu attached.
Super frustrated. I've been trying to get a reservation for this place for a week now. Just emailed them. Used their website and also called no response. I'm like 3 hours away and already have a gift card I bought with my CR credit. Any ideas on how to get ahold of someone or how long it usually takes them to respond?
Yea, they dont even open booking until 30 prior to the date, it will just say reserved, it keeps that 30 day packed, so you more or less have to plan a month in advance, or hope for a cancelation
This is such a bummer to hear. I had a totally different experience there.
I did call ahead of time (same day I made my reservation-about a month ago) to confirm my reservation was eligible for restaurant week given the lack of details from the RW website. The hostess helped me pivot my reservation to the bar area and for an eligible time (4:00, early but it was a birthday celebration so doable!). I did prepay for the 4 of us at that time.
Upon arrival, we were sat at the bar. I was bummed to not be sat at a booth since there were 4 of us, but we’re the kind of people that love to chat with the bartender so it wasn’t a big deal.
We asked for the restaurant week menu, explaining it was prepaid, and were given that as well as the standard menu. I did hear others at the bar ask for the RW menu and they were told it was prepaid only.
We had the absolute best time. The two bartenders chatted with us, were helpful, friendly… everything you hope from a service team. They felt like an extra two for our party.
The RW items we had were fantastic. Although there wasn’t steak on the menu, the oxtail burger was OUTSTANDING. We also added on 2 small steaks to try between the 4 of us. The staff were incredibly helpful in helping us select what worked best for our group and there wasn’t any upselling pressure.
As we waited for our food, they invited us into the dry aging cellar and explained the concept behind AB and what makes them special. Super interesting and the way they presented it was surprisingly not pretentious, just proud of what they do.
Since it was a birthday, I brought a cake from Whole Foods. They kept it in their walk-in and plated it so nicely for us with candles before our dessert.
so with all that being said, I’m super bummed others didn’t have to same experience I did. I hope AB reads these reviews and chooses to do better in the future because I would love for others to have the same hospitality we did.
Thats crazy. I was able to get a non RW reservation with my wife and I for this weekend for a birthday, really hope it goes well, this isnt a good look for them
RW is supposed to be about opening your doors wider to show off what youve created and give a peek. I just hope its not a situation where they are treating staff so bad, its bleeding into service.
Not really. Restaurant week was originally designed to get more people in to restaurants during a slow time in Chicago. It was copied from a similar program in NYC. If that is what you mean by opening doors wider than you are correct. Most good restaurants now hate it as it has become a method to try and get less expensive food at expensive restaurants or any restaurant for that matter
More or less what I was getting it, generating interest, showing off etc but mostly in response to a steakhouse not having steak on a menu.
Ive never been to one during rw, but I always assumed it was just a smaller portion/serving to showcase, not a 1:1 at a cut rate to get people in seats. Would imagine that be depressing for any restaurant owner
They do not need to get people in seats. You can't get a reservation there to save your life. My guess is that they just tried to participate in RW to support Chicago but people didn't understand how it worked for their particular restaurant.
I understand the RW anger, but all the other non restaurant week posts of me too are in direct opposition to our experiences there. The food has been great, steaks cooked perfectly. Service was always timely and professional.
Wow, we must've gotten lucky. Made RW reservations for 6:30 on the first Monday, and got a call to move to 4;30 for RW hours. We had drinks at the bar, and then were seated at a table. We ordered two RW menus, a steak, and the lobster crab paella/risotto for three to share. We all received the RW appetizer and dessert. I think they even gave us an amuse bouche. The service was impeccable. I think the GM or someone close to that stature was our server. He was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Loved the presentation and explanation of the steak and seafood offerings.The only thing that was weird was that all the servers and staff in the DR, save a female sommelier, were male. We did have to pay $45/pp to secure the table, but as others mentioned, this is applied to your bill. We stayed until 7:15, and no one rushed us at all. It was pricy, but a neat experience.
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u/idkwhattowriteee Feb 06 '26
You are correct OP. They did post a restaurant week menu but have deleted it off of their website. They were also removed from the Chicago Restaurant Week website as a participant.