I Dined at Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel, a Gilded Age Landmark

The Palmer House hotel has a long history in Chicago.

From the first hotel’s opening in 1870 and its total destruction soon after in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to its second location’s construction in 1873, its expansion in 1925, and its rise to prominence in the 1920s as a hub for entertainment, Palmer House was Chicago staple throughout the peak of the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties.

The hotel, which was bought by Hilton in 1945, is located in the Loop district of the city, right in the heart of the downtown and within minutes of art museums, event spaces, and the Instagram-famous Cloud Gate, also known as The Bean.

The hotel is surrounded by other ornate Gilded Age buildings constructed during the city’s rebuilding after the fire, and it became an icon of Chicago’s resilience.

It was deemed “the world’s first fireproof hotel” after its 1873 construction.

The hotel’s grand lobby, which has been preserved since its construction, is inspired by Bertha Palmer’s French heritage and her friendship with Claude Monet.

The lobby features 21 ceiling frescos by French painter Louis Pierre Rigal depicting Greek mythology. They’re illuminated by 24-karat-gold-dipped chandeliers designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, per the hotel’s website.

The Empire Room, the hotel’s signature ballroom, was added to the hotel as its fine-dining restaurant in 1933 for that year’s World’s Fair. Soon after, it was converted into a supper club, and it served as the hotel’s signature nightclub, welcoming performers like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong.

When visiting this historic place, my girlfriend and I chose to sit as close as possible to its magnificent decorations, like the Tiffany-designed bronze winged angels statues on the grand staircase leading to the Empire Room.

I spent my night taking in the views with every sip and every bite.

In order to enjoy the beauty of the lobby, we sat at the low lobby tables rather than the other options available: These included the bar, upstairs at balcony tables, or inside the Lockwood Restaurant, which was located in a separate, far less ornate room.

Despite sitting at the Lockwood Lobby Bar instead of the restaurant, the server allowed us to order from the restaurant’s full menu.

While dining, guests can enjoy the live music the hotel puts on from Thursday through Sunday. The live guitarist performed acoustic instrumental versions of modern songs, like Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Lady Gaga’s “Shallow.”

While the live music added to the space’s romantic ambience, realizing I was hearing a slowed-down, stripped version of “Despacito” did snap me out of my Gilded Age fantasy just a bit.

The three TV screens mounted throughout the lobby also snapped me out of the old-timey bubble, although I understand their purpose, especially for the many hotel guests who use the space as a lobby.

Nothing says functional preservation like watching a football-game screen next to a gold Tiffany chandelier on a marble wall.

Looking at the menu, I debated between getting a tropical drink from the seasonal summer menu or a crafted house drink. Many of the latter offered modern takes on classic cocktails like old fashioneds, martinis, and Manhattans. They ranged from $16 to $18.

Given the hotel’s luxurious touches, the prices for drinks and food seemed low to me, but if I considered the prices at a regular hotel bar, they made more sense.

Despite being beautifully preserved and having a fascinating history, the Palmer House today is a rather mid-scale hotel. The hotel’s 1,641 rooms are renovated and furnished in a standard contemporary fashion, and room prices per night are often a standard $250.

Sitting at the lobby, I noticed my slightly overdressed vibe better matched the ceiling frescos and gold chandeliers than the rest of the guests, many of whom sat around the lobby in T-shirts and sneakers or with their suitcases.

I eventually decided to go for a classic vibe, in honor of the space.

The Palmer House martini, unlike a traditional martini made largely with either gin or vodka and a wash of vermouth, more closely resembled a spritz, combining citrusy mandarin vodka with sweet plum bitters and crisp Moscato wine.

The Palmer House blackberry Manhattan was also a slightly sweeter, more palatable version of the classic cocktail it honored. It featured plum bitters and switched the traditional sweet vermouth for an amaro.

The drinks, which were $16 and $17, respectively, were nicely crafted and felt elevated. I enjoyed how they offered a modern and unique take on the classic cocktails that might’ve been served around the time the first Palmer House opened.

To start the dinner, I ordered the Margherita flatbread, one of the appetizers on the menu. Topped with tasty tomato sauce, balsamic-coated tomatoes, and fresh basil, the cheesy flatbread felt like an elevated version of a traditional pizza.

The $16 appetizer was filling. Even after splitting it between the two of us, most of the flatbread ended up in a to-go box at the end of the night (and tasted great out of the air fryer the next morning).

As my main meal, I went for the orecchiette dish, which featured grilled chicken breast on a bed of creamy pasta featuring guanciale-and-leek sauce and Broccolini, topped with Calabrian chili breadcrumbs and ramp pesto.

The flavorful dish tasted fresh, silky, and creamy. The standout element for me was the ramp pesto, which amplified the freshness of the dish and showcased a regional ingredient.

The dish made me think of how chefs throughout Palmer House’s history would’ve used seasonal ingredients, back when you could only eat whatever produce was in season in the region you were in.

I couldn’t visit this historic hotel without trying its most important contribution to the world: the brownie.

Created for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, or the Chicago World’s Fair, at the request of Bertha Palmer, the original recipe for the chocolate brownie — although they didn’t call it that — was crafted to be easily transported in a lunchbox. Per the hotel’s website, Bertha Palmer had asked the hotel’s chef to craft a dessert that would be “more unique than a piece of pie or cake” and “like a cookie, but denser and more decadent with chocolate.”

Today, the Lockwood Restaurant serves the same original brownie recipe, dressed up on the plate with a chocolate topping, strawberries, and brownie crumbs. It costs $13.

I bit into a slice of history, and it was nothing like a brownie I could get anywhere else. The brownie was nutty and tart-like, while also being very chocolate-rich and fudgy. Topped with finely chopped walnuts and apricot preserves, it felt luxurious and more dimensional than the boxed brownies I’m used to.

Even though it is and functions as a hotel lobby, the Lockwood Lobby Bar was an amazing and unique experience that I wouldn’t be able to recreate anywhere else.

Sitting under the French frescos and the Tiffany chandeliers felt like stepping into a Gilded Age painting, or like dining inside a museum exhibit.

Although not being a hotel guest made me feel like a bit of an outsider, its casual vibe provided a sharp contrast with places with dress codes or hard-to-get reservations. The lower-than-expected prices felt comparable to other bars in the city, but this one came with beautiful surroundings.

I’ll definitely be heading back, and whenever I’m in Chicago, this will be a go-to spot.