truly a beautiful restaurant. if you’re looking for a romantic, intimate, and classy restaurant, here’s the place for you! not only that, the view that overlooks the city is incredible. I always ask for a window seat! marvin was our favorite waiter, we were lucky to have him twice! once for my boyfriends birthday, and once for my 21st! the food is amazing, and i got to experience having my first glass of wine:)

We’ve been to Ascend for dinner and for happy hour, and were impressed both times. Our Happy Hour experience couldn’t have been better—small bites, great drinks, their amazing dessert selection, and an incredible view across the lake. Highly recommend!

Highly recommend! We went for a special occasion and it was amazing. Enter from Bellevue Way to Lincoln Square South and the restaurant is on 31st floor. Highly commendable service and ambience. The views are great and food was delicious. Drinks are strong and presentation of the food was excellent. Would love to go back!

The food was very good and the view was amazing! We had a great server named Fae who was very kind and funny. The desserts had amazing presentations, including the dry ice.

We had another phenomenal meal to celebrate a high school graduation. Everything was perfect and service remained phenomenal. Our table also had a beautiful view. We tried their sushi for the first time, a few different roles. That was outstanding. Then the grad really loved her dessert. Another wonderful evening

Ascend is a premium dining experience at the top of Lincoln Square South. Everyone knows that by now. A slightly less known aspect of Ascend is their premium happy hour experience. The quality of food and presentation for HH is no less than other meal times. HH hours are on their website and includes weekends - a big bonus in my view. HH is offered in the bar area; sit on one of the comfy looking chairs or sit by their fireplace. The ambiance is terrific during cool early evenings or late hours. Service is smooth and elevated even in the bar area. If possible, sit with a wider view of the bar area; the people watching is entertaining. Use the bathroom where a giant salt rub awaits your handwashing. Parking is plentiful in the garage. The Food: Wagyu Beef Cheek Bao Sliders, $21 - 4 Stars These are smaller slider bites but expertly prepared with wagyu beef cheek, pickled daikon, and sunomono. Rating would be higher if it's a wee bigger. For the bigger appetite meat eaters, get the burger instead. Nori Vinegar Dusted Fries with truffle aioli, $8 - 5 Stars A person can inhale these. So good! Sushi Tacos - King Salmon & Ikura, $16 - 5 Stars Sushi Tacos - Tuna & Tobiko, $16 - 5 Stars These crazy concoctions with crispy wonton, ginger carrot slaw, wafu daikon oroshi, and fresh mango, topped with seafood options are the bomb! Salmon Ceviche Hand Roll x2, $16 - 4.5 Stars Cilantro, onion, Aisan pear, tomato, avocado, ume vinaigrette accompany the salmon ceviche. Also a winner. Also sold as a single. Ascend Steakhouse Wagyu Burger, $26 - 4.5 Stars This is definitely an elevated burger - dry aged & wagyu blend, white cheddar, egg, crispy shallot, arugula, frisee between brioche buns. Hubby was satisfied with this burger. We ordered oodles of HH food and had a great experience. Know that you're paying more for the overall vibe. Especially for HH, I think you'll find the food enjoyable and the ambiance to be worth the extra.

The food was exquisite, but the service was definitely the cherry on top. We went to celebrate a 30th birthday, and couldn't have chosen better! Minh was attentive and energetic - for being our first time at the restaurant he made us feel right at home. Bruno complimented the service as well, and this was one of our best dining experiences thus far. Great views from the 31st floor as well!

We went to Ascend to celebrate a family event. What a treat! We had a series of appetizers and nigiri that everyone enjoyed (and hat tip to the humble and yet amazing Caesar salad!) and steaks, tuna takaki, and scallops. My son said his nigiri was the best he'd ever had. Where this place shined in the food category in my opinion was the desserts. Wow! The pastry chef is a genius. The mushroom chocolate experience was phenomenal. The Skyfall dessert was clever and creative. The other category where Ascend really excels is the service. Our head server was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, the sommelier was terrific, and all the staff made the experience great. I wish our table hadn't been shifted on the side. It was a quiet night and our out of town party could have had more opportunities for views. It's a pricey experience, but I'm happy to say it was a treat worth having!

Make sure make a reservation because it would be a headache trying to get in (and it's obviously for good reasons). The views are spectacular, but the food is where it's at. Kirsten was our server and she was amazing, informative and really friendly. Hamachi: 5/5, must try Beef tartar: 4/5 Dry aged porterhouse: 3/5, too dry and salty Kuroge filet: 5/5 Miyazaki filet: 4.5/5 American wagyu filet: 3.5/5 foie grass butter: 1/5, terrible and too aged for our liking Truffle Mac and cheese: 5/5 There is an automatic 20% tip and random 2.5% surchage (-1 star) Only drawback is that being a high end steakhouse, they don't take us to the back to pick and weigh our meat. And for that reason, I would not put them in the top tier steakhouse but a tier right below.

This spot is purely for vibes and service and definitely for a special occasion. We came here with a large party for dinner, and got seated at one of the large round tables in the corner. Service throughout the night was super formal and attentive which was expected for such a fancy place, and very nice. They start you out with bread service which is three types of bread, all small bites. They were good but not that memorable. For my main I got the hamachi truffle roll, which came with 8 pieces for $27. The hamachi piece was pretty small, and it was wrapped with a generous amount of rice, a dollop of mayo and truffle, mandarin orange slice, and shavings of purple yam on top. The roll itself tasted good, though I preferred it without the orange. I think for sushi though I prefer when the fish is the star, and this didn't feel like it was. It still did taste good though. For dessert we got the magic mushroom, which was definitely the best item of the night. The chocolate mousse was delicious and the oreo crumbles on top complemented it well -- definitely get this! Overall, it's definitely a spot for a special occasion. I would maybe come back to try the steak as that's what they're known for.