Crying Tiger Chicago is the River North night you dress for when you want Southeast Asian shareables, maximalist design, and a table that actually feels like a celebration: Lettuce Entertain You’s room at 51 W. Hubbard Street (the former Hub 51), led by chef partner and James Beard Finalist Thai Dang (HaiSous) with managing partner Amarit Dulyapaibul. Named for the Thai grilled-beef dish suea rong hai, it opened October 14, 2025, and nearly a year later it still feels like one of the city’s more electric group dinners: sweet, sour, salty, spicy on the plate, emerald tile and tiger motifs in the room, and a front bar that makes the arrival feel like an event.
Why Crying Tiger Chicago still has people excited
Crying Tiger delivers a particular theater: a ~140-seat Southeast Asian shareable-plate house built around the balance Dang and Dulyapaibul chased through Bangkok, London, Sydney, Vietnam, and Hong Kong before open. The menu brings chilled and warm salads, housemade curries, whole fish, and desserts from pastry chef Juan Gutierrez, with beverage partner Kevin Beary on cocktails and wine director Richard Hanauer on a 75+ bottle list tilted New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.
David Collins Studio designed the room (open kitchen, front bar, winter garden, sidewalk patio, and a 10-seat private dining room) the kind of maximalist envelope that makes a Friday feel intentional before the first dish lands. Downstairs, Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club is now Kevin Beary’s standalone cocktail lounge, its own destination under the same Hubbard address. Official house paths: cryingtiger.com, @cryingtigerchicago, phone 312-736-0183, valet at 59 W Hubbard.
The food: shareables with sweet-sour-salty-spicy pull
If you come hungry for a silent tasting pilgrimage, this is the wrong night. If you come ready to pass plates and chase heat and crunch across the table, Crying Tiger is the kind of room that rewards a real party. Press and The Infatuation’s April 3, 2026 review (8.0) keep returning to the same color without freezing a priced menu: prawn toast, khao soi, clay pot / lobster pad Thai, green papaya, hamachi crudo, Hong Kong pork / stir-fry lineage, and the tiger dessert. Treat unposted prices as unconfirmed and confirm what is pouring when you sit: LEYE rooms rotate.
There is a particular joy in a River North table that does not apologize for being fun. Crying Tiger’s sweet-sour-salty-spicy line wants you talking with your hands: passing prawn toast, arguing over the last bite of clay-pot noodles, ordering one more cocktail because the Thai tea milk punch still has people curious. The room’s twin dining rooms and open kitchen keep the volume of energy high without needing a tasting-menu script. You feel the night as hospitality theater: Beary’s bar in the mix, Hanauer’s Southern Hemisphere bottles on the list, Gutierrez’s desserts waiting at the end like a wink.
The prawn toast is the kind of first bite that makes the table lean in: crisp, rich, meant to be shared. Dumplings and clay-pot noodles show up as the warm, communal middle of the night; and pad Thai becomes a showpiece when lobster enters the pot. This is a room made for a group dinner, so enjoy the maximalism: emerald tile, packed twin dining rooms, cocktails that keep pace.
On the glass: Beary’s program has shown coconut fat-washed sbagliato energy, a Thai tea milk punch clarified with cognac, and a salted plum tequila soda with blanco, pickled plum, calamansi, and Singha soda, plus Singha as the house beer and that Southern Hemisphere–leaning wine list. The point is hospitality with color.
The room and the River North feeling
Find it at 51 W. Hubbard St., Chicago, IL 60654, with Hubbard and Dearborn corner energy in River North. Hours: Sunday–Thursday 3:00–10:00 p.m.; Friday–Saturday 3:00–11:00 p.m.. The winter garden and sidewalk patio change how a warm evening feels; the open kitchen keeps the night kinetic. Bring a table that wants shareables and conversation. If you want Thai Dang’s more chef-forward statement night, HaiSous remains his other Chicago address. Crying Tiger is the LEYE scene machine, and it knows it.
Nearly a year after the October 14, 2025 open, the scarcity pattern is familiar enough to plan and still sharp enough to matter. Compared with high-demand Tock-only tasting rooms, Crying Tiger is more public: OpenTable plus a Dorsia members lane. Compared with a casual River North dinner, Friday and Saturday still behave like a midnight-drop problem. That middle band is exactly why the night stays on calendars: accessible enough to chase, scarce enough that a confirmation feels like the start of the celebration.
Thai Dang, Amarit Dulyapaibul, and the house point of view
Thai Dang is chef partner: James Beard Finalist, HaiSous, with earlier Lettuce alum history via L2O. Amarit Dulyapaibul is managing partner, with restaurant-ops roots through his family’s Thai restaurants. Kevin Beary (Three Dots and a Dash / Bamboo Room / Gus’ Sip & Dip) leads beverage; Richard Hanauer wine; Juan Gutierrez pastry; group Lettuce Entertain You; design David Collins Studio (also Tre Dita). The lower level’s Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club is a separate room and booker from the dining-room OpenTable: velvet lounge energy stacked under the same address.
How to book
Reservations live primarily on OpenTable: inventory opens 30 days out at midnight. After the drop clears, shoulder seatings around 4 p.m. or 10 p.m. sometimes reappear about a week out. Parties of 9+ go through the restaurant’s events team. Members of Dorsia Chicago can also book through the app with a prepaid minimum. Infatuation called it one of the harder reservations in town in April 2026, so plan ahead, then come for the shareable Southeast Asian night, the David Collins room, and a table that feels like a River North celebration.
Who Crying Tiger Chicago is for
This is for groups and date nights that want maximalist hospitality with real spice and crunch: people who will pass prawn toast and clay-pot noodles without treating dinner like a scorecard. Diners on Yelp rave about the design and the Thai flavors. Come ready to celebrate.
A few practical notes
- Address: 51 W. Hubbard St., Chicago, IL 60654 (River North; former Hub 51).
- Hours: Sun–Thu 3–10 p.m.; Fri–Sat 3–11 p.m.
- Book: OpenTable · 30-day midnight · Dorsia members path · 9+ via events.
- House: cryingtiger.com · @cryingtigerchicago · 312-736-0183 · valet 59 W Hubbard.
- Downstairs: Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club (separate lounge / booker).
Crying Tiger Chicago FAQ
What is Crying Tiger Chicago?
A Lettuce Entertain You Southeast Asian shareable-plate room from Thai Dang and Amarit Dulyapaibul at 51 W. Hubbard St. in River North (former Hub 51). Opened October 14, 2025. Named for the Thai grilled-beef dish suea rong hai.
How do I book Crying Tiger Chicago?
OpenTable 30 days out at midnight: opentable.com/r/crying-tiger-chicago. Shoulder times around 4 p.m. / 10 p.m. sometimes appear about a week out. Parties of 9+ go through events. Also on Dorsia Chicago for members.
What are Crying Tiger Chicago hours?
Sunday–Thursday 3–10 p.m.; Friday–Saturday 3–11 p.m.
Is Crying Tiger Chicago hard to get into?
Yes on prime Friday–Saturday: Infatuation called it one of the harder reservations in town as of April 2026. Plan the 30-day midnight drop; use shoulders and Dorsia when the grid is empty.
Is Crying Tiger Chicago Vietnamese?
Southeast Asian broadly: Thai, Vietnamese and regional shareables. Sweet, sour, salty, spicy is the house line.
What should first-timers order?
Infatuation shortlist color: khao soi, prawn toast, tiger dessert. Press also flags lobster pad Thai / clay pot noodles, green papaya, hamachi crudo. Confirm the live menu; prices unconfirmed unless the house posts them.
Is there a cocktail bar downstairs?
Yes: Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club, Kevin Beary / Lettuce’s cocktail lounge on the lower level of 51 W. Hubbard. Separate room and booker from the dining-room OpenTable.
Crying Tiger Chicago is still the River North Southeast Asian night worth planning for: shareable plates, a David Collins room that knows how to dazzle, and a table that wants company. When OpenTable opens a date you love, take it. Then put the phone away and chase the sweet-sour-salty-spicy night you came for.
Published by ChiVibe. See our editorial standards and contact us about corrections or collaboration.
