We lived just north of Chicago for four years and I'd never heard of the Walnut Room. Vic was a very junior enlisted sailor and money was tight so our trips to the Windy City were limited to a couple of bus trips from the base that didn't really give us a chance to explore. I'm not even sure we saw the famous Marshall Field's department store windows.
Having lunch in the Walnut Room beneath the Great Tree at Marshall Field's is a Chicago holiday tradition that continues today even though Marshall Field's became Macy's in 2005. You can imagine the elegance of years gone by and many people have memories of the Walnut Room and the Marshall Field's era.
While not the first restaurant ever opened in a department store, because initially Marshall Field believed firmly that merchandisers should not get in the business of feeding customers, a Mrs. Hering and Harry Selfridge changed his mind in 1890. Mrs. Hering was a saleswoman in the millinery department who heard her customers complain that there was "not a decent place to eat on State Street", not that a lady would dine unescorted. Mrs. Hering set a table and shared her homemade, family-recipe chicken pot pies with her grateful customers who began bringing their friends for a little lunch in the millinery department.
Harry Selfridge recognized a profitable opportunity and convinced his boss to give it a try. Marshall Field's opened its first tea room in 1890 with five tables. In 1893, the tea room was expanded to the entire fourth floor. The tea room then served 1500 people a day. It was the first elegant, full-service dining establishment in a department store.
The building that houses the Walnut Room today opened in 1907. What became the Walnut Room also opened that year and was the largest restaurant on the seventh floor. It was originally called the South Grill Room but it was later renamed the Walnut Room for the warm wood paneling of Circassian walnut. In December of that year, the first Great Tree was delivered at night when the store was closed. For over five decades, the tree was a 45-foot real tree but in the early 1960, the store made the switch to an artificial tree.
Generations have made annual holiday visits to the Walnut Room to have lunch under the Great Tree and the nostalgic experience continues today.
Photos here (and text borrowed liberally from the same article): https://wendycitychicago.com/the-walnut-room-the-great-tree-at-marshall-fields/
Celebrating the Holidays in Chicago at the Historic Walnut Room: https://www.forbes.com/sites/judyko...-at-the-historic-walnut-room/?sh=62b592360043
Walnut Room Menus (including Mrs. Hering's Original Chicken Pot Pie): https://macysrestaurants.com/walnut-room/
Who are our Illinoisans/Chicagoans? Have you ever visited the Walnut Room?
Having lunch in the Walnut Room beneath the Great Tree at Marshall Field's is a Chicago holiday tradition that continues today even though Marshall Field's became Macy's in 2005. You can imagine the elegance of years gone by and many people have memories of the Walnut Room and the Marshall Field's era.
While not the first restaurant ever opened in a department store, because initially Marshall Field believed firmly that merchandisers should not get in the business of feeding customers, a Mrs. Hering and Harry Selfridge changed his mind in 1890. Mrs. Hering was a saleswoman in the millinery department who heard her customers complain that there was "not a decent place to eat on State Street", not that a lady would dine unescorted. Mrs. Hering set a table and shared her homemade, family-recipe chicken pot pies with her grateful customers who began bringing their friends for a little lunch in the millinery department.
Harry Selfridge recognized a profitable opportunity and convinced his boss to give it a try. Marshall Field's opened its first tea room in 1890 with five tables. In 1893, the tea room was expanded to the entire fourth floor. The tea room then served 1500 people a day. It was the first elegant, full-service dining establishment in a department store.
The building that houses the Walnut Room today opened in 1907. What became the Walnut Room also opened that year and was the largest restaurant on the seventh floor. It was originally called the South Grill Room but it was later renamed the Walnut Room for the warm wood paneling of Circassian walnut. In December of that year, the first Great Tree was delivered at night when the store was closed. For over five decades, the tree was a 45-foot real tree but in the early 1960, the store made the switch to an artificial tree.
Generations have made annual holiday visits to the Walnut Room to have lunch under the Great Tree and the nostalgic experience continues today.
Photos here (and text borrowed liberally from the same article): https://wendycitychicago.com/the-walnut-room-the-great-tree-at-marshall-fields/
Celebrating the Holidays in Chicago at the Historic Walnut Room: https://www.forbes.com/sites/judyko...-at-the-historic-walnut-room/?sh=62b592360043
Walnut Room Menus (including Mrs. Hering's Original Chicken Pot Pie): https://macysrestaurants.com/walnut-room/
Who are our Illinoisans/Chicagoans? Have you ever visited the Walnut Room?
