My friends wanted to grab dinner and suggested this new place on Illinois right by Navy Pier and the following thoughts went through my head: 1) OMG, it's by Navy Pier, it's going to be terrible, 2) OMG it's new, it's going to have terrible service, 3) OMG it's new, it's going to have terrible food.
I am very pleased to share that I was wrong on all counts.
Quay has both a bar area and a pretty dining area. I would, in the future, head to Quay to watch a game [who am I kidding? I don't watch sports. But I do often hang out with people who watch sports, so I'd go there with them] and skip the dining area.
For a bar it's super clean and cute, and not pretentious. 
The dining area was actually surprisingly cute. I am a sucker for good decor and ambience. It really makes a HUGE difference in where I want to eat. I was a little nervous when I walked in and it was this polished because we had brought BabyWP and I was worried she'd not be received well. Once again, I was totally wrong. The waitstaff was totally happy to grab a high chair for us and catered to the little miss all night, even more than to us! They brought a non-stop string of baby friendly food items for her to munch on which was seriously super appreciated, by both myself and BabyWP.
And speaking of the waitstaff, they were really great and you wouldn't know the restaurant had only been open for 3 days. Yes, 3 days. They knew what was on the menu, and they knew what they were doing.
And as for what the adults ate. I opened with chicken thighs with a Korean BBQ sauce. It was delicious. Surprisingly so. I would eat that again. And I have actually. Haha, loved those chicken thighs. [btw, all the pics have been stolen from the Quay website. That was not my actual dish of chicken thighs]
For my entree I went with the scallops. It had promise but was unbalanced. The scallops are sweet, which is fine and expected, but then it was paired with a sweet parsnip puree which was also super sweet. It was too much sweet and not enough acid. There was a bit of shortrib to add a little savory, but not enough.
And for dessert I had the Banana Tres Leches cake. I'm a HUGE fan of banana desserts. Yes, I'm allergic to bananas and they make my mouth and throat itch, but it's really worth it. I heart banana desserts. I also love the mushy goodness of a tres leches cake, so I was really excited for this dessert. And, well, it was a disappointment. It had this random bit of pineapple on the plate that had nothing to do with anything and didn't fit the flavors at all. And then the cake itself was rock hard. It was really gross and weird. Not the texture you expect from a tres leches cake at all. So disappointing.
For my entree I went with the scallops. It had promise but was unbalanced. The scallops are sweet, which is fine and expected, but then it was paired with a sweet parsnip puree which was also super sweet. It was too much sweet and not enough acid. There was a bit of shortrib to add a little savory, but not enough.
And for dessert I had the Banana Tres Leches cake. I'm a HUGE fan of banana desserts. Yes, I'm allergic to bananas and they make my mouth and throat itch, but it's really worth it. I heart banana desserts. I also love the mushy goodness of a tres leches cake, so I was really excited for this dessert. And, well, it was a disappointment. It had this random bit of pineapple on the plate that had nothing to do with anything and didn't fit the flavors at all. And then the cake itself was rock hard. It was really gross and weird. Not the texture you expect from a tres leches cake at all. So disappointing.
So in sum, the food was good enough, but not great, and pretty pricey. I would skip the dining area and just go for apps and sit at the bar and watch a game.
I give it: 2.25 stars
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