Schwa Restaurant - New American restaurant in Chicago - 1466 N Ashland Ave, USA

Delicious and creative menu in great atmosphere. We celebrated our anniversary here and had an amazing experience. The chefs were attentive and even accommodated gluten sensitivity by making a gluten free version of every dish that tasted just like the original

What a fun night! If you’re looking for Michelin quality and innovation without to pretension, this is it. Loved being able to byob from my own collection and doing shots with the kitchen. The food was incredible and inventive. Mind blowing flavor combinations. Took off a star for the amount of food. Was put off that some of the 12 courses were combined. For instance a drink and bite meant to be consumed together counted as two courses and this left me wanting when the final course came. A fantastic experience though.

My roommates and I had the pleasure of treating ourselves to Schwa and it blew our minds! I had read a lot of things about Schwa beforehand about how the restaurant had a very untraditional vibe and id seen complaints that the music was too loud, the chefs were drinking and/or smoking, etc… Makes me feel bad for those people for not appreciating how unique Schwa really is. That being said, when I walked in, I almost thought I’d been punk’d. The restaurant is one of the smallest I’ve ever seen filled with 4 spray-painted graffiti art walls and oddly nostalgic informal black dining chairs and tables. The whole restaurant can seat probably 20 in max capacity. The chefs also dress relatively informally and handle most of the serving themselves, which is unique and cool to see! I loved that the chefs came out each time and described the dishes. It definitely added to the experience. An important thing to note is that the restaurant is BYOB style. We brought 3 reds and 1 white which paired well with the experience, however hard liquor is definitely acceptable too. Also, you pay for the entire meal when you book the reservation, which is great, since you don’t have to deal with the bill after you’re 4 bottles in. The restaurant’s decor, the BYOB aspect, and the informality of the environment made it clear to me right away that the focus here is on the food. As it should be. The food itself absolutely blew my mind. I found myself licking many of the dishes clean. Each of the 11 dishes is about the size of a big bite: I recommend breaking them down into tiny pieces to fully enjoy them. There was not one dish that I didn’t utterly savor, but I thought the squab was the weakest of the bunch. Nothing against the preparation, just that the animal tastes rather dirty which is hard to overcome. My favorite dish of the whole night was the truffle raviolo… I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. We asked to have a repeat of that course but they said we’d have to make another reservation. At the end of the night, we took a shot of Jameson with the chefs! All in all, Schwa was everything I was hoping for and more. The vibe was awesome, the staff was friendly, and most importantly: the food was incredible. Highly recommend!

Enlightening dinning experience! The Staff is dope and being served by the chefs was cathartic. BYOB will forever be my favorite way to do a tasting menu. It was such a great break from the norm. Food was unique and felt like art on a plate. More like street wear got turned into a Michelin dish. Fan-freakin-tastic As a customer I always want to feel as apart of the place I'm eating at as possible. I want to feel served, I want to feel the passion, and when I go to a place like Schwa I never want to question whether or not I enjoyed my time. I want to be on the car ride after eating picking apart each dish, each flavor, the presentation, the atmosphere, just because of how fantastic the experience was. Schwa was this but also left me inspired to create and be my best self. Which was a unique feeling I have never gotten from a dinner.

This was an amazing meal by a a few very talented and creative chefs. The concepts and the flavors they put together are mind blowing. And while you look at such small plates you can see their passion and enthusiasm in every dish. There is a reason they are a Michigan star restaurant and while reservations were a challenge the experience is worth every penny. You do not leave hungry

The presentation is great and that’s about it. The food looked far better than it tasted, not a single course was memorable. The ambiance is non existent and the music is so loud I couldn’t hear the waiter or the person across the table from me.

Schwa had been on my to go list for a while and it did not disappoint. Each course was well presented and tasted fantastic. The interior is small but has a nice intimate feeling, dimly lit and with art that makes you feel underwater. Highly recommend a trip, make sure to check regularly for openings as reservations fill up quickly!

Our evening at Schwa was the most exciting food experience I’ve had in a long time. The chef du cuisine, sous chef, and line cook were all extremely kind and knowledgeable. Each course was remarkable and delicious, each leading gracefully into the next. Our party had some dietary restrictions which were all accommodated beautifully. My favourite bites were the gravy biscuit in the first course and the pretzel ice cream in the penultimate course. I loved my dining experience at Schwa and I hope to be back one day soon!