Had a recent meal there, perhaps around a month ago. Everything was just as fantastic as I'd remembered it. Hadn't been since April and loved the new menu structure. I like being able to choose the amount of pasta I want now.
Things do feel a little different without the old GM Erin Philips, but great people move up in this business... I believe she is one of the finest people in restaurant management in Chicago. That said I thought service was on point and still just as warm as ever and the food was incredible. Special mention of the grilled romaine salad, spicy pepperoni pizza, and the legendary cacio e pepe.
Balena is still frankly in my top five favorite venues in Chicago (which consist of Alinea, Boka, Balena, Fat Rice, and Grace).
Sorry to hear that there have been some negative experiences recently. I would definitely follow up with the restaurant and provide them feedback. Boka Group restaurants tend to really want to know feedback, their culture is such that they really want to know (not all places do...). I bet they would attempt to make it right for you.
"People are too busy in these times to care about good food. We used to spend months working over a bonne-femme sauce, trying to determine just the right proportions of paprika and fresh forest mushrooms to use." -Karoly Gundel, Blue Trout and Black Truffles: The Peregrinations of an Epicure, Joseph Wechsberg, 1954.