Secrets of The Walnut Room at Field's / Macy's

A trip to Chicago during the Christmas season is just not complete without a visit to The Walnut Room at Macy's on State Street. Located on the 7th floor of the former Marshall Field's department store, The Walnut Room is celebrating its 100th birthday this year.

While the restaurant is open throughout the year, Christmas is the most popular time to enjoy a meal here. Visitors flood the walnut-paneled rooms to view the Great Tree decorated annually by famous fashion and home designers including Vera Wang and Waterford. This year, Martha Stewart designed the ornaments and styling of the Great Tree and was on hand to light it on November 10.
If you decide to visit The Walnut Room during the holiday season, be prepared for quite a wait which on the weekends is often 2-3 hours long! The restaurant starts seating for lunch at 10:30am. Once you receive a pager from the hostess, however, you can shop throughout the store until your pager lights up letting you know to return to The Walnut Room for seating. Here's a secret for a short wait: visit The Walnut Room for dinner on a weeknight (Monday through Thursday)! Your chances of sitting close the Great Tree are much better (although you can see the tree from any place in the restaurant) and most tourists are at plays or elsewhere in the city while native Chicagoans are on their way home from work. Even a dinner seating on the weekends will be a shorter wait than dealing with the lunchtime crowds. Lunch crowds usually peter out between 2 and 3pm. The restaurant is open until 9pm until right after Christmas when hours are scaled back to 8pm until January 6.

The food at The Walnut Room is usually very delicious and includes Mrs. Herring's Famous Chicken Pot Pie, a caramelized salmon dish, delectable pot roast, and a kids' menu which includes mac and cheese. The restaurant offers signature desserts like a Yule Log, an ice cream snowman, or a slice of Frango ice cream pie among several other plates. Adults can be seated at the new Wine Bar or enjoy an after dinner drink or a glass of Poinsettia - a blended champagne drink - with their meals. Dinner is usually between $15-$25 per person.

The Walnut Room is open for breakfast from 8 to 10 am until December 31. I have not made it to the breakfast serving yet, but I'm sure it is delicious and just as delightful as the lunch and dinner menus. If you decide to go, enter the store at Randolph and State Streets and you'll be escorted to the seventh floor.

Since the restaurant is so crowded, the wait service is not always the greatest. Sometimes you will get lucky and sometimes you will wait quite a while. A piece of advice is to bring PLENTY of patience with you for both the wait to be seated and the wait to be served. There are usually plenty of managers around (managers wear red name tags) so flag one down if you are having some trouble.

Many children (and adults!) will enjoy a visit from the the Fairy who glides around the restaurant sprinkling fairy dust on visitors who make a wish - but be careful, that fairy dust gets everywhere!

Another thing to know is that the restaurant does NOT accept reservations for ANYONE - no matter what! I promise you that the hosts and hostesses will NEVER accept a monetary bribe. There is usually a manager standing at the podium helping out and any bribes taken result in the immediate termination of the Macy's employee. Please don't even think about jeopardizing their jobs!

If you only want to visit The Great Tree without dining in The Walnut Room, continue up to the 8th floor of Macy's on State Street where an ideal viewing station is set up for taking photos. There is also The Treetop Cafe on the 8th floor which is an express version (fixed menu, fixed price) of The Walnut Room with seating around the top area of the tree looking down into the famous restaurant.

The Great Tree will be taken down on January 6, so be sure to stop by before then to get the full Christmas in The Walnut Room experience! Afterwards, starting on the Randolph Street side of the store, be sure to visit the outside windows along State Street to see scenes from The Nutcracker presented in partnership with The Joffrey Ballet. If you are visiting Macy's with children, don't forget to stop on the 5th floor where the new FAO Schwarz department is housed and there are plenty of photo opportunities with stuffed animals that are larger than life including elephants, horses and a magic dragon!

The Walnut Room and The Great Tree
Macy's on State Street
111 N. State St.
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Macy's main line (312) 781-1000
The Walnut Room Hotline (312) 781-3125