The BISTRO At 151

Buffet was ok

Cooks in canola and olive oil. Uses local ingredients

Blame Mother Nature for making me eat here.
The blackout curtains at the Hyatt are lovely, making it easy for me to oversleep this dreary morning. We did have time to go eat at a real brunch spot before cabbing off to O’Hare, so we left the hotel lobby.
Then BOOM! — torrential downpour, which totally killed the idea of eating elsewhere. Well, there’s always Bistro 151.
For the super-​not-​low price of $ 22, you get an all-​you-​can-​eat breakfast buffet. They do have an omelette bar and beef salami. In retrospect, I should have asked to have salami in my omelette.
In short, only eat here if you have to. Damn you, Nature.

When I travel, I like to make each meal matter. I do my best to avoid remaining in a hotel for a meal, or getting anywhere near a chain, unless my dining companions demand it. I aim for unique eating experiences representative of the particular city I happen to be in.
Unfortunately, the person I was to have breakfast with one morning was in no mood to wander far from the hotel, even though I was able to track down some awesome Chicago brunch spots, and so I settled. And by settling, I mean — there was nothing wrong with the breakfast buffet here, but if the only positive about a particular restaurant is that there are no negatives, then there’s no need for me to eat there.
There was the standard hotel breakfast buffet fare pleasingly prepared, but nothing so wonderful about the spread that you thought, «Wow, I can’t wait to get back THERE!» or wanted to get back home and tell your friends about the amazing meal you had.
So the bottom line for The BISTRO At 151 is – you won’t hate yourself for eating there, but you’ll know in your heart you could have done better had you only dared to step outside the confines of your hotel. Which, I guess, is a universal truth of all breakfast buffets.

We were staying at the Hyatt Regency and decided to get a snack and drinks before going out for a later dinner. We would have been better off going over to the CVS across the street and getting snacks off the shelf. The cocktail glasses stunk of dirty dish water, the kids mac and cheese looked like it was chiseled out of a day old pot somewhere in the back of the kitchen. Service was horrid — waiters seemed clueless and argumentative when I asked for an actual clean glass. NOT impressed.

Order a steak salad thinking that it would be a healthy choice. It came with a large mountain of fries on top. Way to ruin my diet!
The vegetable rigatoni had rigatoni that was undercooked. The Mac and Cheese was quite good though. The caramelized onions that came with the burger were very sweet and delicious.

My experiences here have all been with the breakfast buffet. I travel a lot and this is the best breakfast buffet I’ve ever seen. It is expensive ($ 25) but it was included in my room deal. If it wasn’t for that there is no way I’d pay $ 25 per person for breakfast. Decent atmosphere, great food and the wait staff was always friendly and attentive.

This is a review just for the breakfast buffet (which by the way is open until 1 PM on Saturday and Sunday). The omelet station is great, standard, but great. Omelet stations make you feel like you are on vacation. The selection and freshness of the buffet are above average, but the price is WAY too much for what you are getting. I guess it’s typical hotel rip off pricing, but they should offer SOMETHING special for $ 22/​person buffet.
The ambience is OK. The Hyatt is really trying to make you feel like you are in a garden outside with all of the trees and babbling brooks in the lobby. The main thing that really thwarts the Hyatt’s attempts is the overwhelming smell of chlorine. Chlorine is better than mold so I guess it’s a good effort.

So, I am staying at the Hyatt and have a breakfast voucher I decide to go use. I approach the host stations and see a lot of people. I ask if all these people are in line and she says, «yes.» I until what time breakfast is served and she says 10:30. I get into line not happy as it is 10:16. After I few minutes I see a monitor that says breakfast Sat-​Sun til 1pm. I think, maybe she is confused about the day or I am. So I ask again and she says 10:30. I point to the monitor and then she says the buffet is open until 1pm. I am a little ticked about inconsistent information so I decide to return to my room and eat later. On the way up, I see a lot of empty tables and I get a little more irritated.
I return at noon for breakfast — the place is empty. The hostess asks how my day is going. Now, let me say that I work retail and I always tell my staff: «Dont ask a question you dont want to know the answer to or deal with.» I tell her it sucks because I tried to eat earlier and they did not seat people at the tables. She walked away saying, «well, if you feel that way…» Uh… I do feel that way.
I get the buffet and the chef at the omelet station was GREAT! Made me a great one! Thanks! I stock up my plate, return to my table and start to dig in.
I asked for water twice which the waiter could not remember, BUT, in the middle of taking a bite, he interrupts me and asks how I am paying for breakfast as I need to settle up. WTF? This is the Hyatt and I am a guest here and you cannot wait for me to finish my plate, let alone the fork-​full in my mouth to get payment. You really think I am going to bolt? Maybe people do at the $ 22 price tag and lousy service, but I planned to stick it through. So, I munched away and tossed him the breakfast coupon.
The entire time I am eating to left and right of me are dirty tables — no one is cleaning them. I get up to get some fruit to return to find that my newspaper was taken. I ask them and suddenly there are blank looks on their faces. One guy gets me the WSJ but I was reading the Tribe. Really ticked, I finish and start to leave.
Another hostess asks if all was okay on my way out. (See note about about asking questions if you don’t care about the answer). I explained about being asked to pay mid-​meal and my paper being swiped and not replaced. They had that glazed «Hurry up, finish, and leave» look and that is just what I did. They obviously did not care.
If you are staying here and breakfast (or any meal is included) — well, enjoy but do not expect a lot. If you are actually thinking of handing over real money — don’t. There are several places that are much better within a block or two of the property. You will be happier their — Trust me and the others that review this place!
The hotel is GREAT though — I placed a separate review.

I wanted a quick lunch and didn’t want to get bundled up to go venture outside the hotel, so I decided to try The Bistro. I was by myself, and unfortunately was seated in the back instead of at a table with a nice view. Oh well, I didn’t plan on staying long.
I ordered the tuna on ciabatta bread which came with a small side of fries. The tuna was good, but was strong on the onions. I wish the serving of fries had been larger since they were really good. The iced tea was perfect, and my server came to refill it a few times.
I don’t know why you would eat here if you weren’t staying in the hotel or meeting someone staying there, but if you are and want a bite without going outside, it’s not bad.

We had lunch here. We walked right in and were seated immediately. The staff was some what disorganized. We wanted to order the half soup and salad, but they had no vegetarian options for the soup and they would not substitute in the lentil chili. So we ordered a tuna sandwich and a reuben. Both were ok. I am still searching for the best reuben. The food was served rather quickly. But it took them a while to deliver the check and box our leftovers.
Would I go back? No.

We stayed here for our couples weekend and decided to hit this for breakfast before heading home. (09÷14÷08)
We sat down and were going to order off the menu, but given that most breakfasts were $ 13 – 16 and the buffet was $ 22, we all opted for the buffet and it wasn’t bad at all.
The problem with the weekends here is that the «interactive omelet» station has a line a mile long. We laughed that they called it «interactive» because that would mean that you could help in either cooking or putting together your order, and there’s no way they’ll let you touch an ingredient here.
The buffet is pretty good. The oatmeal wasn’t so good, but the Eggs Benedict were okay, the bacon and sausages were fine, the prociutto was a little too thick but still tasty and the pastry selection was pretty good. I much preferred getting as many trips as I wanted and even multiples of the same food that would have cost me $ 16 for one plate.
Our waiter was good and attentive. We had plenty of juice and coffee fill-​ups and he brought us water pretty quickly.
All it all it wasn’t bad, but $ 22 + 15% hotel tax just takes it to a level that makes you re-​think it for the future.

It wasn’t difficult to give this place, a restaurant at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, one star. We had, bar none, the worst service I have ever encountered in my entire restaurant-​going life. And it was easy to say that — no need to ponder other bad experiences. And it wasn’t just one waiter either — the poor service continued to what the kitchen sent out, and to the floor manager at the end when they screwed up our bill. That bad.
So we arrived, and there was a bit of confusion over seating us. We sat, ordered a beverage, and it came. But then we had to wait for-​EVER for someone to come and take our food order. And we were pretty hungry and exhausted (why we ended up not leaving the hotel for dinner).
The first real issue came with our meal order. I had a per-​diem, so I figured I’d order some extra vegetables. My chicken only came with one side (potatoes), so vegetables would be nice. And the menu, clearly in large type, noted I could order an extra side for $ 5. So I did as such. And thus began, I swear to god, a 5 minute haggle over me ordering the extra side. He said I couldn’t do it. I noted the large text in the menu. He said «you can order one side» and I said «one side comes with the meal, I want to order a second side for $ 5» and he said «no, it comes with one» «I know. I want (etc)» «…I will do it for you, potatoes» «and the vegetables?» «no I can… (etc)» «LET ME SHOW YOU THE MENU» — and he was STILL confused. *Finally*, somehow, I got it through to him.
Then my husband ordered. It went smoothly, but of course his meal got royally screwed when they brought it out. Which, of course, took FOREVER. Oh yes, we were nearly the only food-​ordering people in the place, but we waited forever for our food to come. And when it did, my husband got one piece of salmon on his plate. That’s it. One piece of salmon on a big white plate. W… T… F.
His meal, which he actually read out the entire description when ordering and pointed at it in the menu, was supposed to come with asparagus, some olive salsa (or something), and the salmon. He got a piece of salmon with a glob of bernaise or something on top. So we told the waiter, and he said «no that’s what you ordered», and we said, no it comes with vegetables and something olive based, our waiter again told us we were wrong. So we asked to check the menu, and he handed it to us (!!! oh yes, that level of service), and we do the leg work and show it back to him. He reads it, looks at the plate, and finally clues in.
So back the salmon goes, and I gave my husband some of my dinner so he had something to eat after the grossly long wait.
Finally, his proper dinner comes out, and we can eat. And lo and behold, the food wasn’t that bad. My chicken was tasty, as was his salmon. The sides all sucked — my vegetables were cold, his olive stuff apparently wasn’t great, my potatoes were pretty gross. But at least the main protein was good/​edible/​tasty even.
So long story long, the bill arrives. And of course, they charged us wrong. Remember my sides? Well, they charged me for two, not the one extra one. (And can you believe they didn’t comp my crappy steamed vegetables — which were pathetic, cold, and small and they actually billed me $ 5 for them after all the mistakes? Oh yes) Anyway, so I had to go back, and do all the explaining again for that $ 5.
Did I get an apology? Of course not. Oh he blamed the computer system and all. Did the manager say anything? Nope, she just scowled as she ignored us completely. Did I tip? Surprisingly I did– but it was only there to worse than giving nothing at all.
Worst… experience… ever.
Note — Their hours note breakfast and lunch, but you can eat a dinner there too (service comes from the bar, but you can sit and and be served at a table). At night you get a partial menu from the Bistro. Most of the dinners are on there still, so you still have a half-​decent selection. But should this matter? NO. Stay away from this place unless you’re starving and there’s no where else to go.