Macy's 1907 Holiday Tradition
The Walnut Room on the seventh floor of Macy's State Street is the 1907 dining room that has hosted Chicago's holiday lunch tradition for over a century. The room is dominated by a 45-foot Christmas tree during the November-through-January season.
The cooking is traditional American tea-room: the format expects the holiday-tradition register rather than restaurant ambition, but the kitchen has held its standard for generations. Pot pies, sandwiches, the chicken pot pie that families request year over year.
What to Order
The Mrs. Hering chicken pot pie — the dish the room has been serving since the early 20th century. The Frango mint dessert; the holiday tea menu in season. The format is unfussy and appropriate to a department-store dining room.
The Tree
The 45-foot tree from late November through early January is the experience. Reservations during the holiday season run six weeks ahead; the surrounding choirs and carollers are part of the tradition.
Best Occasion: Birthday
A Walnut Room birthday — particularly during the holiday season — is one of Chicago's most cinematic family-celebration moves. The tree, the historic interior, the family-tradition register — combine into the kind of memory that the city's better celebration rooms are built around.