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Home / Businesses / Geja's Cafe

Geja's Cafe

Super GemLincoln Park · Fondue Community-sourced, unverified
📍 340 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Geja's has been melting cheese for Chicago since 1965, which makes it older than most of the people it's currently seating for anniversaries.

$$
The beef tenderloin fondue leads into a chocolate finish that turns dinner into a genuine occasion — this isn't a quick stop, and it isn't supposed to be.

John Davis opened it on Wells Street in Old Town as a hangout for artists and writers, then moved it to this below-street-level spot on Armitage in 1971 and brought the original bar along; it's still in the room. He started the Geja's Wine Society in 1969, and the place bills itself as Chicago's first wine bar as well as a fondue house. CNN named it the best fondue dining in North America in 1993, and in 2015, the year longtime managing partner Jeff Lawler took over, a USA Today reader poll called it America's most romantic restaurant. The format is the Premier Dinner: Swiss Gruyère cheese fondue, a salad, an entrée course you cook yourself in a pot at the table, and a chocolate fondue to finish. The restaurant's menu pages list The International (beef tenderloin, Gulf shrimp, chicken) at $72 a person and The Connoisseur (adding cold-water lobster tail) at $87, with a vegetarian dinner too; confirm current prices when you book.

It's dim, candlelit and soundtracked by live classical and flamenco guitar. Book on OpenTable (parties up to six online, eight max by phone), and know there's a $25-a-head no-show fee and a 4% operational fee on every check. The historic building isn't wheelchair accessible. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Specials at Geja's Cafe

(2)

Geja's Cafe

Iconic/Notable
The Premier Fondue Dinner: Cheese to Chocolate
Lincoln ParkCommunity
Directions

Geja's Cafe

Iconic/Notable
Live Classical & Flamenco Guitar by Candlelight
Lincoln ParkCommunity
Directions

Hours

Mon-TueClosed
Wed-Thu5-8:45PM
Fri5-9:45PM
Sat4-9:45PM
Sun4-8:45PM
📸 See more of Geja's Cafe
📅 Reserve on OpenTable 🥡 Takeout unconfirmed 📞 (773) 281-9101 ✉️ Email

Amenities & accessibility

❔Takeout: unverified
🚫Not wheelchair accessible
📅Reservations accepted
🚇Near the CTA Brown/Purple Line (Sedgwick)

Location

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