Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Filling Station
Dinner 10/20/08! Adding comments 3 months later and have eaten here a couple of times since the October dinner. A big reason for the multiple visits is that the restuarant was added to the American Airlines Rewards program and we'll pick this restaurant over similar family dining restaurants like TGI Friday's, Houlihan's, Corfu, Chili's, Old Towne Pub, etc. The appertizers are really good including the nachos which seems to be my family's current favorite! I like that this place has a tuna dinner entree which is rare for family style restaurants in the area. While I definitely like a peppercorn/seaseme crusted ahi tuna meal better, this fully cooked tuna steak is very good. The restuarant is very family friendly even with the bar atmosphere. There is plenty of room between tables and there are TVs playing both sports and extreme videos (bloopers and crashes). Value for the money is as good if not better than similar family style restaraunts and we'll be going back for the food and AA miles!
Chessie's in Barrington, IL
Had their Sunday Brunch on 10/5/08 . My family went with my parents and meet some relatives here for brunch before my older son's football game. What a great find for a really good brunch at a great value. The brunch was I believe $16.99 at the most and included a very large selection of foods. We got there when the brunch opened and all the food was hot and very good. Had all the standard breakfast fare along with some meat, potato and vegetable selections. I'm editing this review 3 months afterwards and I remember thinking this is a great place for brunch and has to be one of the best values around. This surprises me all the more since it's located in Barrington, IL which is the only downside since I live almost a hour away. I highly recommend this place and can't wait to get back there again for their Sunday Brunch.
Egg Harbor
Lunch 9/30/08! Adding review comments almost 4 months later. My parents were visiting from Florida and my wife had taken the day off work, so the 4 of us went here for lunch. I use to work near one of these regional chain restaurants in Barrington and like the food. The place reminds me very much of the local Manor restaurant, but without serving dinner. The food is very good (especially the home fries, instead of french fries). Service was good. I would return, but not seek out a visit.
Citizen Kane
Dinner 9/29/08! Adding my comments 4 months after the fact, so some things are a little hazy. Our family went here with my parents while they were visiting from Florida. This is another place that is on the American Airlines Dining Rewards program and was a factor in picking it. We were all very happy with the food and service. Nothing special stands out, but it is definitely a place we will return (and I will write a more detailed review).
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Houlihan's at Geneva Commons
My family went here on Tuesday night after my oldest son's football game. My in-laws were in town to watch the game and while his team got blown out, he threw two touchdown passes so we decided we were hungry and needed to celebrate his good game at least!
Normally I like to try local or at least regional places instead of going to national chains, but have to admit I really like Houlihan's and wasn't at all upset on the choice of this place. The food is really good and the service was above average.
My father-in-law got a half slab of ribs along with the potato soup and loved both of them. He said the meat was falling off the bone. My mother-in-law got grilled shrimp and enjoyed it. I have seen her order shrimp a lot when dining out, so I take her giving a shrimp meal a thumbs up a good sign. My wife surprised me and ordered a steak which was very good. I got 1 bite :-(, but it was good even if my likes her meat medium well and I like it medium rare. My oldest son decided to get the nachos appertizer as his meal. In other visits (2 I can remember), our family has ordered this huge appertizer to share before a meal. The chicken on it has just the right spiciness to give it a kick without being overpowering. It is on the big size for one person, but my son is 12 and growing like a weed and put it away with no problem. My younger son (7 years old) ordered off the kids menu and got the quesadilla with fries and the strawberry applesauce which he doesn't like. Finally I ordered the tuna wontons as my appertizer and my older son "helped" me by eating half of it. This appertizer is one of the reasons I like Houlihan's so much since it has the great flavor of ahi tuna with a crispy wonton wrapper. The little salad garnishing the plate is also good with an Asian flavor. I decided for a light meal since I'm trying to lose weight and I wanted dessert. I got the ahi tuna salad which was absolutely great!
To finish off the night we got desserts and were informed it was "Free Dessert Tuesday" which means 1 free dessert per 2 adult entrees (the children's meal comes with "free" ice cream already). Since we had 5 adult meals (my oldest not ordering off the children's menu), our waitress told us 2 free desserts. I mentioned that last time they rounded up and she said, "Sure, we can round up, 3 free desserts." My son and I got the seasonal special - root beer float. This is served with a chocoloate chip cookie (2 this time since they were smaller) and has a glass with ice cream in it and then a little pitcher with the root beer for you to mix. I really hope they keep this dessert on their seasonal menu or add it to the regular dessert menu. My wife got the oreo crust snicker ice cream dessert and said it was very good. My mother-in-law got the pecan pie and also finished it while saying it was good.
Our family belongs to their email club and usually try to use our email coupons as an excuse to come here. Even without the coupons, the value for the money is very good in my opinion. This particular bill was picked-up by my in-laws, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Again, please post comments or give your experiences.
Normally I like to try local or at least regional places instead of going to national chains, but have to admit I really like Houlihan's and wasn't at all upset on the choice of this place. The food is really good and the service was above average.
My father-in-law got a half slab of ribs along with the potato soup and loved both of them. He said the meat was falling off the bone. My mother-in-law got grilled shrimp and enjoyed it. I have seen her order shrimp a lot when dining out, so I take her giving a shrimp meal a thumbs up a good sign. My wife surprised me and ordered a steak which was very good. I got 1 bite :-(, but it was good even if my likes her meat medium well and I like it medium rare. My oldest son decided to get the nachos appertizer as his meal. In other visits (2 I can remember), our family has ordered this huge appertizer to share before a meal. The chicken on it has just the right spiciness to give it a kick without being overpowering. It is on the big size for one person, but my son is 12 and growing like a weed and put it away with no problem. My younger son (7 years old) ordered off the kids menu and got the quesadilla with fries and the strawberry applesauce which he doesn't like. Finally I ordered the tuna wontons as my appertizer and my older son "helped" me by eating half of it. This appertizer is one of the reasons I like Houlihan's so much since it has the great flavor of ahi tuna with a crispy wonton wrapper. The little salad garnishing the plate is also good with an Asian flavor. I decided for a light meal since I'm trying to lose weight and I wanted dessert. I got the ahi tuna salad which was absolutely great!
To finish off the night we got desserts and were informed it was "Free Dessert Tuesday" which means 1 free dessert per 2 adult entrees (the children's meal comes with "free" ice cream already). Since we had 5 adult meals (my oldest not ordering off the children's menu), our waitress told us 2 free desserts. I mentioned that last time they rounded up and she said, "Sure, we can round up, 3 free desserts." My son and I got the seasonal special - root beer float. This is served with a chocoloate chip cookie (2 this time since they were smaller) and has a glass with ice cream in it and then a little pitcher with the root beer for you to mix. I really hope they keep this dessert on their seasonal menu or add it to the regular dessert menu. My wife got the oreo crust snicker ice cream dessert and said it was very good. My mother-in-law got the pecan pie and also finished it while saying it was good.
Our family belongs to their email club and usually try to use our email coupons as an excuse to come here. Even without the coupons, the value for the money is very good in my opinion. This particular bill was picked-up by my in-laws, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Again, please post comments or give your experiences.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Rex's Cork and Fork Sunday Brunch
I ate here back in February of 2008 and posted the following on our Mill Creek neighborhood website. I came across that post today and it gave me the idea of starting this blog - along with my horrible experience at the Oscar Swan Brunch. I'm not even sure that Rex's is still doing their Sunday Brunch, so make sure to call ahead if this interests you.
Just tried the Rex's Cork & Fork Sunday brunch. It was $16.95 for 11 and up and $9.95 for 3-10 years old. It was on the smallish side, but everything tasted very good. Here's a sampling as I remember:
Cinnamon French toast with Strawberry topping or syrup
Scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs with steak
Eggs benedict
Sausage
Bacon
Rice
Salmon Floretine
Beef Brisket
Desserts
small box cerals
Strawberries and bananas
Ceasar Salad
Bread and danishes
Milk and orange juice
Coffee and tea
I thought the food was very good and tasted great! The food stayed hot and you got a nice selection of food and was a very good value for your money. Obviously I would run (not walk) to this buffet if it is still around over the Oscar Swan one.
Just tried the Rex's Cork & Fork Sunday brunch. It was $16.95 for 11 and up and $9.95 for 3-10 years old. It was on the smallish side, but everything tasted very good. Here's a sampling as I remember:
Cinnamon French toast with Strawberry topping or syrup
Scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs with steak
Eggs benedict
Sausage
Bacon
Rice
Salmon Floretine
Beef Brisket
Desserts
small box cerals
Strawberries and bananas
Ceasar Salad
Bread and danishes
Milk and orange juice
Coffee and tea
I thought the food was very good and tasted great! The food stayed hot and you got a nice selection of food and was a very good value for your money. Obviously I would run (not walk) to this buffet if it is still around over the Oscar Swan one.
Oscar Swan Sunday Brunch
Just tried the brunch at the Oscar Swan on 9/14/08. The lady said they were suppose to have a big special brunch related to the Festival of the Vine, but because of the rain, just had their "normal" brunch. The normal brunch is $12.99 per person and both of my boys aged 7 and 12 had to pay full price. The brunch is very small! It had blueberry pancakes, bacon and "Oscar Eggs" - scrambled eggs mixed with vegetables (spinach, tomatos, etc). There was also a bowl of cut up fruit and two types of lemon pound cakes. The last item was some english muffins and raspberry jam. Did I mention it was small? I felt the $13 price tag was a rip-off and my sons were especially disappointed in the offerings. They don't like blueberries and the egss were "gross". We asked and had the cook bring out some plain scrambled eggs. However, to pay $13 a person to eat eggs, bacon and some fruit is way too expensive! I understand you are paying for the "charm" and "atmosphere" of eating in the "mansion" as they call it, but can't recommend the place and will not return.
Isabella's Estiatorio
I have been to Isabella's twice. Once was a few years ago and we remember the awesome chocolate lava cake. We were told that they don't serve that every night, so to call ahead if that was going to be a deal breaker on dining there.
The main reason this restaurant stays on my radar is that they are part of the American Airlines Dining Rewards program (formerly iDine). Basically I get AA miles everytime I dine at this restuarant and all I have to do is use the right credit card to pay for it - one that I have registered with the program. Trying to eat at restaurants with the Dining rewards is something I like when using our limited dining budget to eat out.
The last visit was in July of 2008 to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. I called ahead and made sure they had the lava cake for the weekday night we went there. Here's my review:
I don't mind paying money for a good meal, but I want to think afterwards about the food and not the money spent. At Isabella's all I can think about and "remember" is how much it cost me and what little value I think I received for that money. My wife and I ate 1 appertizer, 2 entrees and 2 desserts (no beverage besides water which was free!). The total bill was $115 with tax and tip. I can barely remember what we ate, but do remember we got grilled scallaps for the appetizer which was $12, but only contained two quarter-sized ones - only $6 per bite. The meals were good, but not worth the $30+ price. We both had the chocolate lava cake which is one of the reasons we came back. Unfortunately they ruined the dessert by adding some type of fruity syrup to the cake.
I have a hard time recommending the place when I don't feel the value is there. I believe there has to be better restaurants in the area when paying this type of money. I haven't been to several of these restuarants in the past few years, but would readily try any of them before going back to Isabella's: Fisherman's Inn, 19 West, Fire Fox, Al Capone's Hideaway, St. Charles Place, Ju Rin, Rex's Cork & Fork, etc.
The main reason this restaurant stays on my radar is that they are part of the American Airlines Dining Rewards program (formerly iDine). Basically I get AA miles everytime I dine at this restuarant and all I have to do is use the right credit card to pay for it - one that I have registered with the program. Trying to eat at restaurants with the Dining rewards is something I like when using our limited dining budget to eat out.
The last visit was in July of 2008 to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. I called ahead and made sure they had the lava cake for the weekday night we went there. Here's my review:
I don't mind paying money for a good meal, but I want to think afterwards about the food and not the money spent. At Isabella's all I can think about and "remember" is how much it cost me and what little value I think I received for that money. My wife and I ate 1 appertizer, 2 entrees and 2 desserts (no beverage besides water which was free!). The total bill was $115 with tax and tip. I can barely remember what we ate, but do remember we got grilled scallaps for the appetizer which was $12, but only contained two quarter-sized ones - only $6 per bite. The meals were good, but not worth the $30+ price. We both had the chocolate lava cake which is one of the reasons we came back. Unfortunately they ruined the dessert by adding some type of fruity syrup to the cake.
I have a hard time recommending the place when I don't feel the value is there. I believe there has to be better restaurants in the area when paying this type of money. I haven't been to several of these restuarants in the past few years, but would readily try any of them before going back to Isabella's: Fisherman's Inn, 19 West, Fire Fox, Al Capone's Hideaway, St. Charles Place, Ju Rin, Rex's Cork & Fork, etc.
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