The Signature Room

This weekend I crossed one more item off my list for the year. Matt and I ate at the Signature Room, on the 95th floor of the Hancock Tower in Chicago.

A lot of people I know have been before and I’ve heard the stories and reviews of what it’s like. I thought it would be a fun experience to add to my list. See, in all honesty, I’m more the type of person who would get excited to gather friends and drive to a small town diner. But, when compiling my list of things to do for the year I wanted to add a few things that would stretch me.

I didn’t bring a camera, not knowing if it would be acceptable. Unfortunately, once there, there were constant flashes going off around us while waiters were snapping guests with the amazing view behind them. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of Matt and I all gussied up to remember the occasion. He did capture the above picture from his camera phone though.

We debated making dinner reservations or just waiting in line for drinks and dessert in the “lounge”. Once we got there we saw the loooooong first-come-first-serve line for the lounge, I immediately doubted myself and we considered just going elsewhere entirely. I’m so glad that we didn’t and I ended up calling and making reservations for dinner. We enjoyed ourselves walking around the magnificent mile, killing time until our reservation.

I’ve been up to the observation deck in the Hancock tower before, but I forgot how fast and high the elevator goes. Your ears pop while you go up. When we exited the elevator I was just thrust into the unexpected, in a very good way. The ceiling is super high, with windows all the way around. It was just beginning to be dark out and you could see the beginnings of clouds in the air right outside the windows. The restaurant is HUGE and completely dark with basically a single tea light on each table for lighting the entire place. Once it was completely dark out the lights from the city just popped and you realize why the restaurant is kept dark. It all adds to the romantic atmosphere.

We had an excellent evening and I highly recommend others to experience it at least once in their lifetime. You can request window seats, but make sure you ask for the city view. A coworker of mine asked for window seats, but were seated near the water and there isn’t much to see there. Oh, and dinner, it was delicious and filling, but the price you pay is really made up in ambiance, rather than what appears on your plate.