Pump Room – Chicago, IL: As far as pop culture goes, the remodeled Pump Room within the Public Chicago Hotel (formerly The Ambassador East) will always be reminiscent of the iconic restaurant of the late 1930’s which many famous all-time greats used to dine in and had inspired references in books, songs and even the perfect backdrop for movies over the years.

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You may be hit with a deep case of nostalgia but it seemed almost inevitable that this landmark needed to be updated. The new Pump Room still has that swanky appeal but with a more modern and trendy approach. There were booths on the sides and the whole place generally felt very open and roomy.

The light treatment that was used included circular objects that looked like little planets spread out all over the room to seemingly create the right atmosphere. Another interesting feature was all the pictures of the original restaurant’s celebrity patrons which would certainly attract a lot of attention from the guests.

Pump Room was loud and packed when we got there and the crowd belonged to the mid-30’s and above bracket - a mix of businessmen and those who were out for the night, possibly for some downtime after hours. The service was excellent throughout the night but we almost concluded otherwise when the initial waiter assigned to us was so horrible that we had to ask the manager to assign a different waiter to our table.

After going over the menu, we tried their wonderful Kale Salad and their homemade Bowtie Pasta with veal meatballs and smoked tomato sauce was really nice.

We also liked their Public Burger with grated farm cheddar, herbed mayo and pickled jalapeños and a side of fries as well as their Caramelized Beef Tenderloin.

For our entrée, aside from the burger, we ordered their Colorado Lamb Chops with an olive and pecorino relish which was ok.

As for desserts, we had a good sampling of everything... cheese cake, carrot cake, a warm chocolate cake and homemade doughnuts. They were delicious, tasty and a nice way to end our evening at Pump Room.

All in all, the dishes that Pump Room offered were somewhat similar to RPM Italian but we have to say that the latter was better of the two. They did have a good wine list though.

The Pump Room could have gotten a Bombastic rating from us but because of the bad service at the beginning, and their lackluster food, we rate them Almost Bombastic.

What I liked: The Public Burger and the Beef Tenderloin

What I didn’t like: The horrible service at the beginning

Rating: Almost Bombastic

Address and Telephone Number:
Pump Room – Chicago, IL
Address: 1301 North State Parkway, Chicago, IL 60610
Telephone: 312-787-3700

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