Roy’s – Chicago

I’ve been here before for dinner and it was decent but came again recently and was seriously disappointed. Extremely awful service, the wrong orders were brought, everything took forever, and the food was cold and very meh. Also our bill had extra items on it we never ordered. The waiter didn’t seem to show any sign of caring or sympathy. Overall it was a very very frustrating and disappointing meal.

We went back after having a sub par meal and service on Mothers Day. The service was much better food quality was at a premium level. We don’t go out very often as a couple and when we do, we usually pick Roys. This experience was very good. Th

Ask for Katherine. Best service! The food is excellent and fish is fresh with savory flavors. The atmosphere is great with outside seating for warm day and hot days. I would come here again.

Lobster bisque, Roy’s trio, pineapple upside down cake. Unremarkable. Nothing good enough to bring us back.

Let me just start out by saying that Roy’s doesn’t even deserve 1 star. We had a 6:45 reservation for my mothers birthday dinner. Upon arrival, they told us they didn’t have a table for us even though we arrived at our time of reservation, telling me they were overbooked (not my problem). Fine. They took 15 – 20 minutes to seat us. Fine. Then our waiter served us and at the end of dinner, forgot about us completely. Took 30 minutes with my moms birthday cake. Then I had to wait another 20 minutes to get the tea for the cake. Needless to say, I am never coming back here again. Completely worthless and useless place.
Oh not to mention. They screwed up her cake by putting «happy anniversary» instead of happy birthday!!!

Sea bass and butterfish were out of this world. Great ambiance. If I were to comment on anything I would ask them to improve the tap water, it had a strong taste. All the best.

Met up with my mother and her friend for dinner and was amazed at the great service and food. They made the dining experience with my toddler so easy that she enjoyed herself without making a fuss. The chocolate soufflé was the best dessert I’ve had in a long time and is a must have.

Roy’s contacted me to go over my horrendous experience and told me that someone would be in touch with me. I gave them my personal number. No one had called. Awful customer service.

Over the years I have made frequent trips to Roy’s and after much experience with fine dining, I have to say that Roy’s is now on the meh level.
For drinks, I had the Pacific Cooler and it was very delicious and refreshing. So much so, that I almost ordered two, until I remembered that I was driving. I attended the Gold Coast food festival and fell in love with the Poke that Roy’s presented because it was so fresh and naturally I kept coming back for more. Unfortunately, it was not so fresh at the restaurant. For my main course, I ordered the Misoyaki «Butterfish» and it was delicious with the right amount of flakiness. I also ordered a side of the lump crab fried rice and it was terrible! Very greasy and too much seasoning took away from the actual taste of the crab, but maybe that was the point. At any rate, after about three bites, I was done and sent the plate away. Against my better judgement, I ordered the infamous chocolate soufflé and it has definitely lost it’s appeal. Nonetheless, I still tore it up, but in hindsight, I could have saved the calories for a cookie from Whole Foods bakery department.

Hoping to give this place another shot. We had never had a bad experience at Roy’s in San Diego, but here, not so much. Mother’s Day just seem to not work out for them during the early part of the day. After an hour and a half, we ended up leaving before getting our meal. They made it right, hence the 2 stars, but the corn soup was tasteless and the mai tai wasn’t the usual Roy’s mai tai. So even if we did get our food, I was already wondering how delicious is was or wasn’t going to be there.

We have been to Roy’s numerous times over the past 10 years and we have been going on Mothers Day for the past 5 years or so. The experience was poor.
We had a 10:45 am Res and things started a average and then got worse. The wait staff did not seem like they wanted to sell us anything but just ask us what we wanted, felt like we were at Applebee’s. Frustrating
The food took a long time, my daughters eggs were warm to cold and my wife ordered Ahi tuna rare and it came back well done. Our table was in a odd spot where the host and wait staff kept seating people making them walk right by our table. I had to get up a few times and had to squeeze in numerous times to let people go by us. The table seating staff could have easily walked people10 steps further in order to get better access for the new guests and less inconvenience for our table. Aggravating.
We asked about ordering the famous Lava cake and they said it would cause a lot of chaos if we ordered it so we declined. We then thought about it and said no give us the lava cake. If they did not want to make the Lava cake then don’t put it on the menu. We know it is Mama’s day and everybody is going out but we went to ROY’S a upscale restaurant in our eyes. Also the table next to ours left because they waited for over a hour to get there main course.
I want Roys to be good but they were not today and have been on a slow decline.
KPW

We have been to Roy’s with our family several times in the past, and it’s always been great. Unfortunately, today’s experience was disappointing as our meals took about 2 hours to arrive. Our meals were lukewarm to cold, and our server was absent for most of our waiting time. Two of our meals were comp’d, but the cost of the meals along with time spent was not worth it. I felt bad for families waiting with small kids for Mother’s Day brunch. Maybe it was a one time slip, but it will take some thought before returning.

I have been told Roys was one of the best spots in Chicago. We came for mother’s day brunch and the food took over an hour to arrive. When it finally arrived it was cold. We sent the two steak back and it took another 25 minutes. By the time we ate the rest of our 8 person party was done. The chicken and mashed potatos were good. The steaks we underwhelming. The manager did comp our meals. I will try it again just because ppl say it’s a great restaurant.

I have not eaten at the Chicago location of Roy’s, but this review is for the service. It was my parent’s anniversary tonight and I wanted to buy them a couple drinks while they were there. I e-​mailed Roy’s and within the hour received a reply from Rebecca, the Managing Partner. She sent me all of the information and forms I needed to fill out and was incredibly kind and polite. My parent’s called me right after dinner and were so incredibly happy with both the food and service! Rebecca had personally greeted them with a complimentary champagne toast and «Happy Anniversary» was written on their dessert plate.
My parents had an incredible anniversary and I cannot thank Rebecca enough for all the help and effort she put in! I would highly recommend Roy’s in the future based on their great customer support.

Went there for my birthday in late October, early before a show. Was kind of empty when we got there, but very crowded by the time we left. We had a drink at the bar before being seated — awesome bartender. We had their version of a Moscow Mule with their homemade ginger beer. It was out of this world and the bartender explained how the ginger beer was made and a lot of other things — she really was excellent and very friendly.
Nice atmosphere, a little on the bright side for me.
We had the butter fish, which was done to perfection. The staff was obviously tipped off and wished me a happy birthday when we were seated and there was a plaque type of thing at the table noting my birthday. For desert they brought a nice complimentary desert with candles, but thankfully did not sing. Great place — would go back and strongly recommended.

Excellent Seafood. Awesome service. And the wine list, and the chocolate muse are heavenly.

ALOHA! That’s how they greet me when walked in there. Gave me a good vibe of Hawaiian culture. I love Hawaiian cuisine. I have been to Hawaii a few times and found out about Roy’s restaurant back in 2007 when I wan there. I go to Roy occasionally. It’s one of the best fine dinning restaurants in ChiTown.
I had a couple dishes to start. The crispy spring roll was delightful and Auntie Lei’s Aloha roll was wonderful, the sauce that came with was so pretty (picture below) and it tastes as good as it looks.
For main course, I always ordered Ahi and Mahi Mahi when I come here. But tonight I had Misoyaki «Butterfish» it was out of this world. It melt in my mouth and so delicious. I can eat 2 of that and will skip dessert. The furikake really added an amazing flavor into this dish.
I ate so much and couldn’t even move after my main course. It proved how much I enjoyed my food there. I felt quilty that I didn’t have room for dessert, I was planing to order the worlds’ best dessert «Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé» Flourless chocolate cake with a molten hot center-​Raspberry coulis — Vanilla bean ice cream. It’s a must order dessert if you come here.
The drinks were good, I really enjoyed my 1988: Finlandia Grapefruit– SOHO Lychee– Patron Citrong. Roy’s lsland Mai Tai was too sweet for me but this drink is very well-​known at Roy’s.
The service was outstanding. They made me feel like a queen. Come in for inspired bites and enticing cocktails during their Aloha hour. The bar bites start as low as $ 7. You will love it… Mahalo.

After writing my previous review, I received a message from the restaurant indicating they would like to contact me. Hoping they were going to restore my confidence, I gladly responded with my phone number. Well guess what fellow Unilocalers; they never called!

Had 7:30 reservations but the restaurant could not seat us. After waiting 30 minutes we were told it would be another 15, maybe longer.
We did not stick around.

I had the butterfish which was very well cooked but if you don’t like sweet entrees this might not be for you. The ambiance is good as well. Overall the experience was good.

I have been to this place more than a few times and really do like the place. I had a recent experience where they manager did a great job of helping us with the matter. What I thought was a hair most likely was a kitchen tool brush hair or something along those lines. In the heat of the moment, I waited for the manager to come over and showed him what we were dealing with. He had handled it professionally and apologized for the mishap.
Although the manager had done his job, the waiter we had seemed to think he was done waiting on our table. There was a period of over 20 minutes where we did not see him, nor did we get any service. After that, we only saw our waiter once after that, to drop off the drinks we had ordered 20 minutes prior and the manager seemed to manage the relationship there after.
I commend the manager for helping us out but feel the wait staff took a different approach to the matter. Not very professional for a place that an average dish is $ 30+, plus appetizer, dessert and drinks. You would expect better. I am not going to say I will not go back, but I hope the management will see this and teach the staff how to manage this type of situation.

Roy’s is probably one of my fave restaurants in Chicago. I read reviews here saying casually that it’s just a chain. Yes, it’s a chain but it’s a chain of Roy Yamaguchi and Roy’s foods are awesome! I have always been a fan of Roy and I became a bigger fan when he was on Top Chef Master. He really was a fantastic chef and just seemed to be a nice guy.
Needless to say, I have dined at Roy’s countless of times. One most memorable time was with my sister when she came to visit me from Nepal. It was such a fun time and that day I ordered a miso soup that to this day I have never found better. That miso soup changed my life it was so good!
Another fun time was new year’s eve some years back where I dined with a bunch of my dear friends and had an absolute blast. Everything was just perfect that night.
I have always stuck with fish dishes when dining at Roy’s. Hawaiian fusion restaurant… it just makes so much sense! The misoyaki butter fish was so good and that fish was so flaky fatty it was like nothing I had before. The white fish with polenta was also a favorite. You really can’t go wrong with the fish dishes here. I’m sure their menu has evolved but their core menu of fresh fish would be the way to go.
For desserts… must try the Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake. So good! The chocolate cake was also delicious though I tend to shy away from this overdone dessert. However, theirs was pretty tasty if I recalled.
I guess for being able to own over 30 restaurants, Roy knows a thing or two about cooking and restaurant management. Though he is not here running it, he has a good team in place as I always loved it every time I visited. It’s just a nice but not pretentious restaurant that serves good food. It does not remind me of handsome Steve McGarrett’s hot body of Alex O’Loughlin. It’s more Chin Ho Kelly or better yet, Adam Noshimuri’s Ian Anthony Dale. Either way, I’d say yum each time.