Tips For Getting Into Chicago's Most Popular Restaurants

If you've tried unsuccessfully to finagle your way in, by bribery or pleading your case, to the hosts at some of the city's most popular restaurants, now you may not have to. Or, at the least, you'll be able to cut your wait times down from two hours (or more) to 45 minutes or less. We've uncovered insider tips that will put you one step closer to these smokin' hot tables, that, to say are in "high demand," would be an understatement.

Kuma's Corner: With a wait list that builds to well over two-hours, especially on weekend evenings, you may wonder what the secret is to getting into a place that serves an "Iron Maiden" burger. With a laundry list of house rules, including, "Our kitchen is only 16×6. Please be patient," you know you'll be waiting for a table longer than it takes Keith Richards to write a chapter for a new book. And with lines forming before Kuma's even flings open its doors, your best bet of actually nabbing a table (not a bar seat), is to get there as soon as it opens, which means at 11:30 am Monday-Saturday, and noon on Sunday. In this case, the early worm gets the bad-ass burger.
Tip: Get in line before Kuma's opens its doors.
2900 W. Belmont Ave.; 773-604-8769

Girl & The Goat: Season Four "Top Chef" winner Stephanie Izard may be cooking up some imaginative dishes, like the delectable roasted cauliflower with pickled peppers, pine nuts and mint, but that won't matter much if you can't get in to taste it. Although it's not well publicized, Girl & The Goat takes walk-ins (reservations for a party of two are booking into July!). Even on a Saturday night, you may only have to wait a mere hour for a table. Not bad for a place that has 2,017 Yelp reviews. But if you can snag a coveted seat in front of the bartenders, who are slinging pretty cocktails to the beautiful crowd, you'll forget that 45 minutes has gone by before the hosts shows you to your table.
Tip: Walk-in at any time. Both the bar and lounge offer the full menu. Shortest wait times are before 6 pm and after 9 pm.
809 W. Randolph St.; 312-492-6262

The Bristol: Sometimes rules are meant to be broken. While the Bristol strictly enforces its no-reservations policy (with rare exceptions on certain holidays), for those who may not want to bear the weekend waits that stretch to two and a half hours, there's another way. A little-known secret is that you can actually reserve a table at the Bristol through foodietheapp. But beware: If you're a no-show, you'll likely get blacklisted.
Tip: You can book a reservation through foodietheapp. Just don't tell too many people about it.
2152 N. Damen Ave.; 773-862-5555

Next: While the jury is still out on how to score a table from Alinea's Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas' tickets-only ultra hot spot Next, if you haven't signed up by now (there are more than 22,000 names), don't fret just yet. Rumor has it that once Next is up and running (it's scheduled to open its doors on April 6), a few lucky walk-ins may actually snatch one of these sizzling tables. These walk-in friendly coveted spots could be announced on Next's Twitter feeds.
Tip: TBD

Comments

[PalaceOfWisdom]

12:22 PM on 04/01/2011

Maybe next we will be given tips on how to eat. "Bring food to mouth. Move jaw in a steady up and down motion. Swallow. Repeat until no longer hungry."

[ninjasrolled]

12:00 PM on 04/01/2011

If you are reading these tips and eagerly writing them down...you are probably a suburbanite and should stay home.

I've never had to wait at these places, but then again, I don't smell like Schaumburg.

I am totally kidding! Or maybe not.

[sheputstheLinPAIN]

01:55 AM on 04/01/2011

Could Kuma's just open another location, already!?

[random100]

03:08 AM on 04/01/2011

If you haven't tried it yet Bad Apple on Lincoln is another good place, not as good but good and reasonable prices on burgers and beer and there is lots of beer to choose from. And I have never had to wait more than ten minutes.

[sheputstheLinPAIN]

11:15 AM on 04/01/2011

ThankS!

[Kramerica Industries]

12:05 PM on 04/01/2011

I agree - the Bad Apple has some pretty good burgers and an excellent beer menu. It's no Kuma's ( hey, no disrespect) but you can get in with little to no wait and have a great time.

[60699]

12:11 AM on 04/01/2011

Really? Waiting in line 2 hours for a cheeseburger? And I thought I was wasting too much time on Huffpost........

[General Public]

06:59 PM on 03/31/2011

According to capitalism, if a restaurant has a lot more people wanting to eat there than it can allow in, it can simply raise its prices, and at high enough prices, supply will equal demand. Clearly these restaurants are failing to respond to market pressure, since their owners obviously don't understand capitalism. If nobody comes to your business, lower prices, and if too many people come, raise prices. It's not that complicated. Long lines and waiting occur when something high-quality is available very cheaply or even free. This can be avoided by having the business owners simply act rationally in how they set their prices. Higher prices will decrease the number of customers at a restaurant, but it will make more money off each person who does show up, plus then the restaurant can spend even more on getting the best ingredients, chefs, waiters, etc. Or a restaurant can expand to be large enough to fit all its potential customers inside, without raising prices, and make more money by having more customers. And if there is too much empty space, they can lower their prices to attract more customers. It's not really that complicated. It is strange that these restaurant owners don't even understand introductory freshman-level microeconomics.

[Wadayatink]

07:40 PM on 03/31/2011

Because people waiting at your restaurant consuming drinks brings in less total revenue? Alcohol is cheap and its where the margin is.

[random100]

03:09 AM on 04/01/2011

Sarcasm sir.

[BlindChance]

08:21 PM on 03/31/2011

Lemonade Tycoon?

[tonewheel]

06:19 PM on 03/31/2011

Helpful article.

So the hot tip is to show up really, really early, or arrive about the time most people are going to bed.

[Nicole Votta]

03:59 PM on 03/31/2011

I had my doubts, but Kumas is well worth the wait.

[Don Giovanni]

04:13 PM on 03/31/2011

It's better with ear plugs.

[Robert Oswald]

05:07 PM on 03/31/2011

Old much?

[Michael Blane]

11:33 AM on 04/01/2011

While I like Kumas' burgers, I find that Crabbby Kim's (yes, bbb) on Western at Waveland has great burgers with little or no waiting.