Alinea
Fine dining restaurant · Lincoln Park ·
Avant-garde tasting menus featuring theatrical presentations and innovative cuisine
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/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67043576/23312.0.jpg "Alinea by CDC/Alissa Eckert, MSMI; Dan Higgins, MAMS")
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![Alinea by Matthew Gilson [Official Photo]](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62561393/alinea.0.0.jpg "Alinea by Matthew Gilson [Official Photo]")
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Avant-garde tasting menus featuring theatrical presentations and innovative cuisine
"Another prix fixe landmark, embodying Chicago’s long-standing reputation for boundary-pushing dining." - Sharan Kuganesan, Oset Babür-Winter
"A molecular gastronomy icon that was downgraded to two stars in this year’s guide." - Jeffy Mai
"Known as a molecular powerhouse in Chicago, it dropped to two-star status last week, stealing some thunder ahead of the ceremony." - Melissa McCart
"Chicago’s fine dining beacon has lost a Michelin star—and announced it before the official guide was even out. Grant Achatz revealed on Instagram that the restaurant has been demoted to two stars in the 2025 Michelin Guide, noting the team’s continued devotion to “pushing creativity, rigor, and the pursuit of perfection” and vowing to keep that commitment “until the back door of 1723 locks for the last time.” Long a symbol of three-star excellence since Chicago’s guide debuted in 2011 and still one of the city’s most iconic restaurants, it marked its 20th anniversary with pop-up residencies around the world even as recent reviews from the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune questioned its relevance in today’s fine dining scene—making this downgrade a dramatic shift for the local dining landscape." - Jeffy Mai
"Made major waves when it opened in Chicago 20 years ago, scoring three Michelin stars and putting theatrical, maximalist, surprise-packed tasting menus on the national map with powders, vapors, edible puzzles, and trompe l’oeils; it functioned as America’s answer to El Bulli and left a lasting imprint on modern restaurants and cocktail bars despite the waning novelty of molecular gastronomy." - Eater Staff