Museum Cafe

My mom and I were at the museum and decided to have lunch here. There are several self service areas and counter service at other areas. I had a salad from the salad station. The server acted a bit inconvenienced that I asked her for something. Mom waited in line for the grill and ended up with a pastrami sandwich and fries. That service was a bit slow as they were busy and one of the cooks was not sure what he was doing. The other guy kept having to tell him what to do. You pick up desserts at the cash register. Mom had a donut and I had a cookie. Both were tasty.
There are lot of both indoor and outdoors tables. And you bus your own tables and drop off everything a tray station like in a cafeteria.
Overall a good experience. Not the best food but not bad. Mom’s fries were good.

Cold and over priced meal. My tomato soup just tasted like salt. The Mack and cheese was cold and hard. I would expect some quality in this museum. They offer wine, to mask the taste.

Come here out of convenience if ur hungry and dont want to rush through the museum.
I was glad that they had cooked vegetables (roasted cauliflower) which was pretty good and the turkey with wild rice was tasty w cheese though not sure where the turkey went… glad I came.

My favorite part of the whole meal was the raspberry donuts sprinkled with sugar but but the flank steak sandwich and the pasta salad was also really good. I’m not a huge fan of the brussels sprouts but even that was tasty. Portions are decent but if your not to hungry I suggest at least stopping by and sharing a snack so that you don’t lose your energy for the museum expiration.

The Museum Café has been one of my favorites for many years. I believe they used to have table service and now it is cafeteria style. The courtyard seating area around the fountain is a spectacular setting for lunch. One thing that really impressed me was the amazingly friendly service from the team that works here. Great training to provide a fantastic guest experience. You sure know how to hire very kind people. The food is more upscale as well as good tasting with moderate prices. I highly highly highly recommend lunch here for all museum visitors and it would be great to open it up to non-​visitors as well.

Visiting Chicago from California, I was concerned about finding food to accommodate my vegan lifestyle. Lunchtime found me at the Museum Café in the Art Institute of Chicago. Clarence, the manager, was assisting diners in this cafeteria setting. Upon asking him about vegan-​friendly options, he personally took me to the various stations that contained vegan menu items. I ended up ordering the Chef daily special, which consisted of pita bread, freshly made roasted red pepper hummus (thank you Chef John!), and assorted veggies (green olives, cucumber slices, tri-​color carrot and celery sticks, and heirloom tomatoes. Bread was warm and fresh, hummus favorable and spicy, veggies fresh and crisp. Round the meal out with a small (but generous) portion of fresh fruit. Thank you Manager Clarence and Chef John!

During a recent visit to the world renowned Art Institute, my friends and I had lunch at the lovely Museum Café. It has a great menu selection of gourmet sandwiches, soups, salads, pizzas, etc. Everything looked well-​made and appetizing. They also have a fairly wide selection of desserts as well as sweet treats that you can pick up by the cashier.
There is a large seating area with quite wide aisles (I make comment on this as I was with a stroller) and you can feel comfortable spending your time down here.
I made the rookie mistake of buying their bottled water, as I should’ve asked for a cup of water. Otherwise my large slice of cheese pizza and bag of toffee chocolates would’ve been $ 8. Not bad for a lovely Museum café.

This review is only based on their Thursday Night small plate special with drink pairings.
The drinks were decent, but the food was bad. Very disappointing. Some dishes came out warm, and it definitely tasted like cafeteria food. I really wanted to like it, but I just did not. On a more positive note, the dessert was actually pretty good, and the service was excellent.

Il s’agit du restaurant de l’art institute of Chicago. Un endroit très moderne, calme et à la décoration soignée où vous pourrez manger toutes sortes de plats comme des pizzas pommes/​cannelle ou chocolat/​chamallow, …, il y a aussi tomate/​mozzarella!, des poissons et des viandes, des légumes de touts sortes bien cuisinés, des sandwichs très variés tant dans leur contenu que dans les multiples pains utilisés, … Le résultat est très bon. Une pause reposante et agréable au milieu de la visige de ce magnifique musée.

«Simple food, well-​prepared at reasonable prices and served with a smile» is how I’d describe this café in the Art Institute.
I always venture in here for at the very least: a side of something healthy. I delighted in a side piled high of bok choy… They do veggies right! If you are more full-​on hungry, there’s always a full entrée or pizza slices or soup/​salad/​sandwich and dessert! They usually have a meat entrée as well as some kind of fish. I haven’t tried anything that has disappointed.
It’s a cafeteria style where you may view the offerings and have the dish loaded up before your eyes. (don’t forget that tray.) I once complimented and thanked one of the chefs and he was very appreciative — you could tell he took pride in his work! I like how that ethic shows through in his smile and his food prep.
There’s a nice selection of desserts as well — ranging from «gummy worm mud parfait» type thing to cakes and pies and cookies. There’s water, soda, juice and also wine.
Yes, the prices are more than «regular cafeteria» but it’s reasonable within/​adjacent to the Art Institute and I find it a satisfying value and very convenient. (Members always also receive the 10% off.)
The downstairs (where café is housed) has been recently remodeled and I’m looking forward to getting a taste of it!
Note: other food/​bev choices in/​adjacent to Art Institute (AI):
Year round:
Caffe Moderno — within AI, overlooking Griffin Court –soups, sandwiches, snacks, coffee, tea, water
Terzo Piano — adjacent to AI, more formal dining, reservation suggested
Summer:
McKinlock Court Restaurant (formerly Garden Restaurant) — courtyard dining within AI
Piano Terra — outside AI in North Garden (closed for the season as of 9÷2÷13)