In Chicago, The Walnut Room is an incredibly fun, and beautiful place to visit during the holiday season. While this restaurant is open year-round, the months of November and December are exceptionally magical times to visit!
The Walnut Room is a festive and charmingly decorated restaurant (for their chicken pot pie) located inside Macy’s on State Street in Chicago. The restaurant includes delicious specialty holiday drinks, a variety of excellent food choices-with the chicken pot pie being above and beyond- actors dressed as fairies that “grant wishes” to guests; and build-your-own snowman ice-cream sundaes. The atmosphere is lively and enjoyable for all ages. The scenic city views from the windows in the restaurant are a must-see. Additionally, the huge blue and green Christmas tree filled with ornaments in the entrance to the restaurant is also absolutely gorgeous and a perfect photo-op!
As you walk up to Macy’s in the city, you can see their famous holiday window displays. This Macy’s was originally a Marshall Field’s, a legendary department store founded in 1852. It became famous for high quality merchandise, luxury goods, and incredible customer service. Marshall Feild’s started the State Street Christmas window tradition in the late 1800s, along with the tradition of the Walnut Room at Christmastime. These windows used to feature toys and merchandise and became extremely popular. The streets of Chicago would flood with children and families eager to see the new additions to the windows.
Although Marshall Fields was eventually bought by Macy’s in 2006, Macy’s kept the windows and Walnut Room tradition alive. The restaurant and the windows bring in many Chicago families each year. It is a major cultural landmark for Chicago – and so much more than simply just holiday marketing-it is a huge piece of Chicago history!
My family and I were lucky enough to make a reservation before it was entirely booked. (Booking reservations starts as early as September due to such high demand.) We went on a Tuesday afternoon, and I had the best time. It was so magical for my younger sisters, and the food was beyond excellent. The Walnut Room overall is an amazing environment and really helped me get into the Christmas spirit. I would highly recommend looking into the rich history of the Marshall Feild’s/Macy’s and booking a reservation for the Walnut Room, as my family will continue to do each year. Christmas traditions are the best, and this is my absolute favorite one!
