Dorsia Chicago: How the $200 Members App Actually Works

Dorsia Chicago is not a restaurant. It is a members-only reservation marketplace run by Elomi Corporation d/b/a Dorsia: partner rooms hold back a dedicated table allocation (or last-minute leftovers) off public Resy, OpenTable, and Tock, and members lock those slots by prepaying a restaurant-set minimum spend that applies 100% to the bill. Chicago went live July 15, 2026. Basic membership is about $200 per year. Booking is app-first — iOS Dorsia Members Club, with an Android build that exists but is not the FAQ-canonical path. The public site at dorsia.com/restaurants/chicago is a roster, not a calendar. This desk piece is an access utility: what Basic actually buys, how Instant Book and Custom Request differ, when Dorsia is worth opening versus the public bookers ChiVibe already tracks, and what the Sep 3 Chicago roster looks like after early churn — including Heat 5 rooms like Arla and newly listed Kumiko.

What is Dorsia Chicago?

Dorsia Chicago is the Chicago city directory inside a national members app. Legal entity: Elomi Corporation (Miami Beach), payments via Stripe. Official FAQ and Terms frame the product as prepaid Instant Booking slots in the app, plus Custom Requests when the exact date/time/party is missing. Marketing lives on www.dorsia.com. Invite-token checkout lives on book.dorsia.com — not a browse-all-Chicago inventory UI for Basic members. Apply path: dorsia.app.link/home into the App Store listing for Dorsia Members Club.

Crain’s Chicago Business (via a July 2026 LinkedIn excerpt of the piece) put the Chicago launch at July 15, 2026 with a founding roster of 17 restaurants and a typical ~30-day advance window. That matches the official FAQ’s Basic booking cadence. Premium (~$5,000/year) and Premium Plus (~$25,000/year) add Fun Coupons and earlier inventory windows; this piece is about Basic, because that is the tier most ChiVibe readers will actually evaluate against a Resy or Tock habit.

How does the Dorsia Chicago $200 Basic membership work?

Basic is about $200 per year on the official FAQ (noted there as increasing soon). You see posted Instant Book inventory and pay the posted minimum spends. You do not get Fun Coupons on Basic. Fun Coupons are in-app points (~$1 = 100), attached to Premium / Premium Plus, with no rollover and no resale.

Practical flow inside the app: pick city, date, party size; open a Chicago partner; if Instant Book times are up, prepaid min spend locks the slot immediately. If the slot you want is missing, Custom Request proposes a per-person minimum; the restaurant accepts or declines; the card is pre-authorized and released if denied. Same-day customs often answer within a couple of hours; future dates usually the next day. Typical Basic window is ~30 days out, with some last-minute returns from cancels. There is no published weekly “drop” clock the way Tock or SevenRooms morning releases often have.

Cancel and modify only in the app. Emailing Dorsia or calling the restaurant to change a live hold forfeits the min spend. Default Terms policy: cancel 8+ hours ahead → 100% back as Dorsia dining credit (not a card refund); inside 8 hours → 50% forfeit; no-show → 100% forfeit. Some venues publish stricter Need-to-Know windows in-app. The named member must be present; reservations are non-transferable under the Code of Conduct. ChiVibe will not invent per-venue dollar amounts — those live on Instant Book tiles and change with demand.

Which restaurants are on Dorsia Chicago right now?

As of a Sep 3, 2026 fetch of the public directory, the live Chicago roster is 15 venues:

• Alinea
• Alla Vita
• ARLA
• Asador Bastian
• Boka
• Crying Tiger
• Galit
• Girl & The Goat
• Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club
• Kumiko (new vs the Aug 26 public snapshot)
• Maple & Ash Chicago
• Momotaro
• Pizz’Amici
• The Aviary
• Tre Dita

That is down from the 17 names on the Aug 26 Press / directory snapshot. Dropped since Aug 26 (roster churn only — ChiVibe is not inventing reasons): Next Restaurant, The Office, and Zarella Pizzeria & Taverna. Treat the public page as a living partner list, not a permanent Chicago canon. Always re-check dorsia.com/restaurants/chicago before you plan a week around a name.

Which Heat rooms on Dorsia Chicago actually matter?

Public bookers stay primary. Dorsia is a parallel held-inventory path, not a replacement for SevenRooms, Resy, OpenTable, or Tock.

Journal Heat ≥4 names currently on the Sep 3 Dorsia Chicago directory:

• Arla — Heat 5. Still plan around the public SevenRooms window first; Dorsia is a second lane if Instant Book shows a held table.
• Kumiko — Heat 5, Open, Want to Go (Julia Momosé, 630 W Lake, West Loop). Newly listed on the Sep 3 directory and absent from the Aug 26 fetch — the clearest roster add of the early Chicago period. Do not invent a Dorsia booking URL; public SevenRooms remains the desk’s primary Kumiko path unless Instant Book is open in-app.
• Crying Tiger — Heat 4 (Lettuce Entertain You).
• Galit — Heat 4 (public Resy still matters).
• Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club — Heat 4 (club/nightlife inventory, not a tasting dining room).

Alinea remains on both Dorsia and public Tock (Gallery / Salon / Kitchen Table tickets are a separate allocation). Seeing Alinea on the Dorsia roster does not mean Tock is empty or irrelevant. Same rule for every dual-platform room: two inventories, two rulesets, two cancel policies.

When should you use Dorsia Chicago instead of Resy, OpenTable, or Tock?

Use Dorsia Chicago when:

1. The public booker is empty for your date and the room is on the live Dorsia roster. 2. You are willing to prepay a restaurant-set min spend and accept wallet credit (not always cash) on cancel. 3. The named member can actually attend. 4. You will manage the reservation inside the app, not by calling the house.

Stay on Resy / OpenTable / Tock / SevenRooms when:

1. Public inventory exists at a face-value table without a prepaid min spend. 2. You need flexible cancel-to-card refunds the restaurant’s own policy already allows. 3. The room is not on the current Dorsia Chicago directory (or just churned off it). 4. You are hunting bar walk-ins, Afterhours, or other non-Dorsia products the marketplace does not sell.

Basic is not a golden ticket. It is a ~$200 annual option on a thin held-back supply. For ChiVibe’s Heat 5 chase rooms — Arla, Kumiko, Alinea — the desk still leads with the public clock and treats Dorsia as a backup when Instant Book is real.

How do Instant Book and Custom Request differ on Dorsia Chicago?

Instant Book = posted time + posted minimum spend + immediate prepaid charge to lock. What you see is what you can take now.

Custom Request = you propose date/time/party and a per-person minimum; the restaurant accepts or declines; card pre-auth only converts if confirmed. Useful when Instant Book is blank for your night. Not a free hold — treat the proposed spend as real money you are volunteering.

Neither path is a web browse on www.dorsia.com. If someone forwards you a book.dorsia.com link, that is an invitation token for a specific booking flow, not city-wide inventory search.

FAQ

What is Dorsia Chicago? A members-only reservation marketplace for Chicago partner restaurants — not a dining room. Partners allocate tables off public platforms; members prepay min spends in the app.

How much is Dorsia Chicago Basic? About $200 per year per the official FAQ (flagged as increasing soon). Premium ~$5,000 and Premium Plus ~$25,000 add Fun Coupons and earlier access windows.

How do I book Dorsia Chicago? In the Dorsia Members Club app after membership. Instant Book prepaid slots, or Custom Request if the slot is missing. www.dorsia.com is marketing; book.dorsia.com is invite-link only.

Which restaurants are on Dorsia Chicago in September 2026? As of Sep 3, 2026: Alinea, Alla Vita, ARLA, Asador Bastian, Boka, Crying Tiger, Galit, Girl & The Goat, Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club, Kumiko, Maple & Ash Chicago, Momotaro, Pizz’Amici, The Aviary, Tre Dita. Next, The Office, and Zarella dropped since Aug 26.

Is Kumiko on Dorsia Chicago? Yes — newly listed on the Sep 3 directory (absent Aug 26). Journal: Heat 5, Open, Want to Go. Public SevenRooms remains the primary access path unless Instant Book is open in-app.

Can I cancel a Dorsia Chicago reservation by calling the restaurant? No. Cancel/modify in the app only. Calling the restaurant or emailing Dorsia forfeits the min spend. Default: 8+ hours → dining credit; inside 8h → 50% forfeit; no-show → 100%.

Does Dorsia Chicago replace Tock for Alinea? No. Alinea Tock tickets and Dorsia Alinea holds are separate allocations. Use whichever inventory is actually open for your party.

Is Dorsia Chicago worth $200? Worth it if you will use held inventory at roster rooms where public bookers fail you enough times to amortize the year. Not worth it as a status badge or as a substitute for learning SevenRooms / Resy / Tock clocks on Heat rooms.