McCormick & Schmick’s

Over the past 15 years, I’ve patronized McCormick & Schmick’s on many occasions, at different locations. My family and I learned that there was a location in Skokie, and, since we were shopping in the area, decided to stop there for dinner. Luckily, the place was not crowded at all and we were seated promptly. Now, I would love to tell you about the food; unfortunately, we never had an opportunity to order. After waiting at our table for over 15 minutes, watching several waiters walk hurriedly past our table serving other customers, without so much as an inquiry about whether or not we would like some water, my fiancé determined that it was in our best interests to leave. As we put on our coats and made our way to the door, the host did inquire about the abrupt exit and, when we relayed that no one had even bothered to pour so much as a glass of water for us, much less take an order, he asked if he could somehow assist us. We appreciated his effort – he was sincere and polite – but that level of poor customer service was unacceptable and our dining experience was negatively impacted to the point that we did not wish to stay. Having waited tables in my early 20s, I cannot recall being so negligent that I would continually walk past and un-​serviced table (even if it was not assigned to me) without at least asking if the patrons were being helped. This is pretty basic in the restaurant industry. So, we went around the corner to Uncle Julio’s, which was crowded, but provided outstanding customer service. I will not patronize this location again.

Having arrived a little after 12:20 p.m., the place was still relatively empty so we asked to sit in a booth but could not be accommodated. I noticed that there wasn’t much communication from the host, the manager and the servers — perhaps they’re a tight knit team and on the same wavelength — telepathically.
Our food came out slow, the ordering process was slow, the extra water came only once and I had to get up out of my seat to ask for mayonnaise. Moreover, the bill came back slow and it was incorrect. Gosh, we were heading into an early dinner at this rate but unfortunately this wasn’t an all you can eat — all day long establishment. And believe me, I can eat for at least 4.5 hours consecutively if and when I need to so Ginza of Niles beware, you’ve been put out on notice.
Anyway, back to the long waiting periods, I was glad to finally step out and walk around the mall.
Oh, the food you may ask? The crab soup was very tasty, the complimentary bread was airy and light, the beet salad was generous and awesome. The salmon was very well done, especially the spinach — neither over nor under cooked. The burger patty was huge with a lot of melted cheese on top. The crime brûlée and crêpe de chocolate were decent but I almost forgot that was being served at the end because of all of the waiting.
Note to self: Food was pretty good, bring War and Peace or Moby Dick to read for next meal.

This is a good restaurant with nice service. I came here the first time with my friend and we are all satisfied with everything. Really impressed!

This was the worst service I have ever had. Our waiter forgot our drinks. Tried to get the bartender to make them for free, at which point they got in a fight. Our server then put the drinks in and we had to wait again for them to be done. We got things we didn’t order, didn’t get the things we did order, and they brought the things they forgot after we were done with our other food… not to mention everything was burnt… I mean really burnt… I was really expecting better.

I often go to this restaurant on my lunch breaks! I have personally only tried whatever is on their happy hour menu. I love that this place gives an opportunity to have their awesome food for under $ 8. You just have to go there between 4 – 6 on week days ;)
Needless to say, the food is amazing, and the service is prompt.

I went here awhile ago to meet my old college family. Our «older siblings» were moon to New Orleans so we wanted to say goodbye. We only ordered appetizers and we talked the whole night. The appetizers were average. What I do like was the laid back atmosphere. No one bothered us and the restaurant let us stay as long as we wanted.

Came in for New Year’s Eve dinner. We got all dressed up even though the majority of the crowd was a little more casual. The ladies at the hosts booth took a whole to decide where to sit us like it was so crowded, which it wasn’t.
The Caesar salad was delicious, however my truffle fries was very dry and tasteless and the filet mignon had no character.
I didn’t say anything to the wait staff because I didn’t want to ruin the evening for my husband and I.
I would go back again however my choices would be different.

We made the mistake of going there for Christmas in 2014. The food took over an hour and a half to arrive. They offered no explaination until I hunted down a manager. They didn’t even offer us additional bread or anything to tide us over. Half our dishes were poorly prepared. It took a lot of effort to even get those dishes removed from our bill, not to mention any sort of compensation for their horrendous service.
To add insult to injury, they have now called me on my cell phone to let me know that they are open for Christmas and New Years of 2015 & are asking me if I want to make a reservation. The first time they called, I told them that I really didn’t appreciate the interruption and asked them to remove me from their list and delete all record of my phone number. Apparently, they thought I might change my mind if they tried again, as they called half a day later.

Lunch there today. Cocktail, in this case a beefeater martini, was perfect. Soon as I walked in, the bar area was besieged by people saying that their food had not arrived. Two gentlemen sat down next to me, and in one case it took 40 minutes to get soup. I subsequently ordered some Fried shrimp with sautéed spinach, and after watching the long wait time for food, informed them that they had 12 minutes to produce an entrée. They did and it was good. And obvious management problem here, as customers are experiencing long wait times for food, that otherwise would not detract so markedly from the experience.

$ 50 for KIng Crab legs and they were overcooked. Service was decent, décor was nice, but food was awful. Wife had fish that was overpowered by almonds. We dropped over $ 100 and it was one of the worst seafood dining experiences for us in a long time.
While it’s a chain, this location seems to not be properly managed. Will not be coming back here.

The happy hour menu is still good (the cheeseburger is delicious and the best deal in town), but there is no way that a Guinness should cost $ 6.95 each, especially if it’s not served in an imperial pint glass.
Yes, yes… the price of the drink offsets the discount on the food, but this is a bit much.

The food was very good and the service was excellent. Our server Mathew was very gracious and antentive. The décor was nice and the atmosphere was good. We did go around 9 in the evening on a wendesday as I noticed on some of the reviews it was a waiting game. I also have to say the deserts were outstanding.

Oh well… last time coming here. i, ll stick to my mortons in rosemont .was here in 2013 and it was crappy, 2 years later same bad service. wont be back here, ever.

Where do I begin. Had a reservation to sit outside. The hostess was great. She sat us and told us who are waiter was. Then 5minutes a family of three came and sat outside. The waiter comes out walk pass my husband and i and gives the three glasses of water. So as he was walking back in side my husband stopped him and told him we were here before the family of three. So my husband went to the hostess and ask for the manager. So the manager came out and walked right pass us to walk inside to the hostess then he came back out. As he walked to the table instead of approaching my husband he comes to me. I ask for bread they had no butter to be served with. I’m not sure about this location when it come serves. After all of this I was not sure if I wanted to order. I was willing to go next door for pizza… so its time to check out and my husband pulls out his president card club. And the waiter was like wow he even apologize even more. He said they just don’t give those out to anybody…

I hate giving bad reviews, but helping Unilocalers are my priority.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy eating here. My friend lives around the area, and we wanted to grab a quick bite and ended up here.
Pros: Service. Upon arriving, the host was very friendly and sat us quickly. The service was great! The presentation of the food was very nice, to say at least.
Cons: Quality food. At this place, you can easily spend anywhere between 15 – 40 dollars and it should guarantee satisfaction. However I did not find it here. I ordered the Lobster Cobb Salad. After staring at the excellent presentation of my entrée, I finally man up to cut it in half. I notice the salad that they used was ordinary lettuce you can buy at your local grocery market (not the springmix, but the ICEBERG kind). If you don’t know why I’m upset, there are zero (0) nutrition at all. I paid $ 23 for a drenched ranched salad with blue cheese, avocados, and a small layer of lobster meat.
— — — — -Update — — — — — — — -
Management did contact me and was friendly enough to invite me over again. I’m willing to try again and see if they will win me over. I’ll let you guys know~

Let me just save you the time and gas money. DO NOT COME HERE. I was invited for a funeral luncheon and had the worst service. My mother (who speaks no English) ordered a lemonade and was quickly answered back with a monotone and rude «I do not speak Spanish» and was shown a very ugly back.
The server continued to ignore our table, seeing that not once, not twice, but three times people from our table had to get up and ask a different server to help us.
The same server then smacked my sister in the head with his elbow «by accident». I understand everyone has a bad day. I forgive one maybe even two rude actions. But the unnecessary amount of rudeness was ridiculous.
Apart from the service, the chicken was delicious. But if this place is known for their steaks, then you obviously heard WRONG. I eat a lot of steak and this is by far one of the worst.
Oh well, never going back there.

We came on a busy Saturday night without a reservation but dealt with that by getting on open
and making one within 10 minutes.
The atmosphere was loud and crowded, mostly older crowd. The décor was a typical chain steak restaurant.
We ordered steaks and a fish dish. Just ok. The service was ok as well. Overall it was an average restaurant experience for a seemingly more upscale establishment.

My husband and I have been here for happy hour at the bar, where they have a nice menu selection and good drinks at reasonable prices, and we also had a date night here which was so good that it prompted us to join their frequent diner/​rewards program.
This was my mom’s pick for our Mother’s Day dinner, and they did not disappoint. Upon checking in our table was ready, and our server «M. Korbakes» was not only polite, but consistently attentive. The cocktails were fabulous!
Our steaks were cooked to perfection, the bourbon glazed salmon was to die for, and the ultimate mixed grill was a wonderful combination of our favorite seafoods. As well, we always enjoy the wedge salad, the chopped salad, and even though I was hesitant to let my 11-​year-​old daughter order the bowl of lobster bisque at $ 13.95 (they only have one size), she loved it! And the generous clump of lobster in the middle made the price close to worth it.
They can be pricey ($ 200 for our party of 5), yet this is a lovely place for special occasions or when you want to treat yourself. Our evening was paced right so that we weren’t rushed and were able to relax to enjoy, despite the crowd. We even stayed and had after dinner drinks (Spanish coffee for my mom, Millionaire coffee for me… both delicious!) While my daughter enjoyed the flourless chocolate cake.
After we got home, my husband showed me the email where this one trip earned us a $ 25 dining reward. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to going back.

I live literally a couple of blocks away and have been here for Happy Hour and private events, so have not had the luxury of dining ala carte here.
I am a big fan of their Happy Hour because they have a great menu selection for great prices with cocktails that are priced reasonably as well. They had a $ 5 burger on the Happy Hour menu that I thought would be a small sandwich, but it was like a half-​pounder for sure!
At their private events I have had their beef medallions and salmon which is good, but nothing to write home about. When I have attended events at another steakhouse, they were kind enough to serve me a different dessert like ice cream because I don’t like cheesecake, but they wouldn’t substitute it here so that was a ½ star off what I would have rated this place.
Compared to other steakhouses around the area, this is not my first choice.

Went here last night w my ma and husband for his bday dinner. Should have listened to previous reviews before making reservations
Let’s start w the good: 1 star bc it is so aesthetically appeasing. Beautiful décor and setup
1 star: half a star for the coconut shrimp apps
Half a star for my pecan crusted tilapia
Now the bad: took FOREVER for our apps to come out
Then, even longer for our soups and salad to come out
Then, the main entrees…
Mind you, it was a Wed night reservation w about 5 other tables dining. Maybe they only had one person in the kitchen last night.
Won’t be back :(