Senza

People may come here because of Senza being gluten-free, or because Senza is gluten-free fine dining, but they will come back because it's really good. The bread is excellent, served with a maple-butter that was far better than the bread/butter option I've had in many other Chicago restaurants. The cocktails are fun, delicious and gorgeous. The parsnip soup is divine. The scallop is tasty, unexpected. We did wine pairings with our meal and they were outstanding. The "white chocolate" dessert is a great way to finish your meal. And, the bathrooms are the best bathrooms I've seen anywhere in a long time. They are cute, clean and roomy. Bathrooms can tell you a lot about a place, and these tell me how much the owners and managers care.

This is my first yelp review.  We went for our anniversary and had a wonderful time.  Food was fantastic (and neither of us are gluten free), ambience was perfect (nice buzz and energy but still quiet enough for us to talk easily), and service was friendly and good.  I loved every course and was full by the end.  My husband, who can be a glutton, loved the food too but was a tad bit  hungry despite eating half of my entree. To be fair, we had the four course, not the nine course tasting, and he does weigh 225 # or so he says.  They have intimate tables for two with side by side seating which added to the romance factor, although that means if you look ahead, you may be staring down at other people eating directly in front of you; this could be considered free entertainment except the couple in front of us didn't say a word to each other the entire time.  Several staff wished us a happy anniversary and they did give us a small glass of sparkling wine which was a thoughtful touch.  We had the bourbon cocktails which were also delicious.

Oh Senza!  You showed such great promise.  You've got the right look, the right idea but whoever is managing you needs to be shown the door.  It is rare for me to review so highly at first and have to update with such a low score.

I went for brunch today...sat down and saw the menu was only price fix.  $24.00.  I scanned the items and nothing, I mean nothing, looked good.  My friend and I expected a normal ala carte menu so I called her and she said it was not what she was looking for.  I had to leave!  

After a coffee and a side, the price would have been more, per person, that we paid in total down the street for three courses and 2 coffees.  BTW, the place we ended up had a 30 minute wait.  It was packed.  I think on a Sunday in Lincoln Park, this is pretty standard issue stuff.  You should be packed too, if you were doing it right you would be.

In regards to the brunch menu, there was nothing on option 1 even remotely breakfast-y.  The great thing about brunch is one person can go with breakfast options while the other might go with lunch options.  Perhaps, if you had 2 breakfast items in each category and 2 lunch type options, I might consider coming again.

Overall, you need to re-think this price fix thing.  I'd have been thrilled with a breakfast sandwich, maybe the awesome beignets to split and a fancy, $5-$6 coffee.  Isn't $15 per person better than $0?