Arun's, Chicago
4156 North Kedzie Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618
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Arun's
715.8 mi4156 North Kedzie Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618
ClosedOpening at 5:00 PM
Parking
Price
Good for Kids
Takes Reservations
About Arun's
Even in his early days of crafting culinary masterpieces, Chef Arun Sampanthavivat spoke as if his life was a perpetual swan song. In 1998, the New York Times began its article "The Great Chefs Go to Him To Be Dazzled" with the words, "To hear him talk, you might think he's a man with regrets." Later on, Sampanthavivat described his numerous four-star reviews as a blessing and a curse . . . "I have to live up to every word they say." Wolfgang Puck added another potentially bad omen by calling Arun's "probably the best Thai restaurant in the country." Cursed or not, it still earns acclaim nearly 15 years later, most recently from Chicago magazine, which characterizes the eponymous eatery as "a treasure" whose "tiniest elements amaze."
At his Albany Park mainstay, Chef Arun builds elegant arabesques, filling his tasting menus with spiced pork lar atop grilled sweet pepper, and sea scallops drizzled in kabocha chili sauce. This attention to detail and workmanlike approach extends to the dining room, which is decorated with Thai artwork curated by Arun himself. Even the website's gentle piano music was composed by the tireless chef, further showing that, in the culinary world, he's the closest thing we have to a genuine auteur.
Customer Reviews
4.5
based on Groupon 267 reviews
100% Verified Reviews
All Groupon reviews are from people who have redeemed deals with this merchant. Review requests are sent by email to customers who purchased the deal.
Reviewed on
Craig
5 ratings|2 reviews
Hi: We had high hopes for dinner. We were celebrating our 10 year anniversary here. We told them of this when we made the reservation and they said that they would make a note of it. If they did, they must have misplaced the note as they never acknowledged it nor said anything. Besides that we have a lot of comments. 1. when we arrived at the restaurant, there was no one at the front door to greet us. It took a minute or two for someone to acknowledge that we were there and offer to seat us. The lighting in the restaurant is shockingly bright. It reminded us of a clothing store. Very bad and harsh. The decorations are dated. The table tops have an acrylic covering on them. for a high end restaurant experience, we thought a nice white table cloth or a real glass table top would be appropriate. Also, they had chair rails made out of acrylics lining the wall. Very tacky.
On the positive side the food was delicious. Nice presentation. Well spiced.
However, for the experience and the price it is not worth it. Years ago Arun's was a real hot restaurant. To get back to that level they need to up their game. Here are some suggestions.
1. new lighting. much softer. remove the florescent and can lights.
2. nix the plexiglass
3. Offer lower price options. Many years ago Yoshi's was a high end place. He reconcepted...kept a higher end, but not the wallet breaking prices and has done very well over the years.
4. make sure someone is at the door to greet folks as they arrive.
5. make certain to acknowledge a special occasion.
Thank you for providing this opportunity to review the restaurant. I'm happy to talk to anyone about our experience.
Kevin
Top reviewer
Helpful reviewer
75 ratings|46 reviews
The 12 course chef's tasting is incredible. The tastes have to be experienced there,,,I don't even think they do take-out/delivery.
Susan
4 ratings|3 reviews
Expensive, so wait for a Groupon!
Mary
Top reviewer
12 ratings|9 reviews
Get a Groupon if you can, as this restaurant is quite pricey!