Montarra — Restaurant in Algonquin

We wanted a date night for our anniversary and so began my quest to find the right place for me and the wife. There was no budget for this dinner but the only restraint was that it had with be within a reasonable driving distance. I was looking for some fine dinning options. Immediately 1776 restaurant popped up in my head and we tried to make reservations but they were closed on this particular day, darn. This is the second time now where we tried making reservations at this place and they were closed but not to be deterred because every time we couldn't get there the backup restaurant has always been fantastic and this was no difference.

We arrive at Montarra for our reservation time at 7:30 pm and I'd be lying to you when I tell you that I've driven by this restaurant at least a thousand if not 10,000 times before and it's NEVER caught my eye. I just always assumed it was just chain restaurant even through I've never heard of Montarra before. But I digress. I went on my trusty GOOGLE app to find some more information about Montarra and right away the excellent rating and plating caught my attention. This was the spot we're going to celebrate our anniversary.

Once we get in I tell the hostess that I made reservations and she replied with, "happy anniversary" and my wife was pleasantly surprised already. Was this a sign of things to come as to how outstanding the service is at this place? We will see. We get placed in a dimly lit dinning room, which sets the mood nicely. Right away as we sit down my wife mentions how cold she is. And to her credit, the table they sat us at had a draft but it wasn't too bad for me but for her she kept her jacket on.

We were greeted and I went with a beer and my wife got wine. We started our meal with the bacon wrapped scallops and french onion soup and the soup of the day which was chicken with wild rice.

The service was excellent, like a wise seasoned vet playing in his 15th season. He was a smooth talker and just made the night extremely relaxed and enjoyable. The bacon wrapped scallops arrived and under it was a bed of perfectly cooked Spanish with pecan maple butter. Believe me when I tell you this, the Spanish was the best thing I ate all night. It was again cooked perfectly and paired with the pecan maple butter, I could have just ate a plate of that buy itself. Oh man. I didn't even touch upon the bread rolls and butter that they serve you before the meal. That was delightful in itself but I didn't want to fill up on that!

After that was their world famous french onion soup. And I'm a french onion soup snob. I like it only a certain way and that's with the cheese melted on top of it, just like how Around the Clock does it. But again, the presentation and soup itself is amazing and a must-have if you like FOS. I tried some of my wife's chicken and wild rice soup and that was delicious as well, creamy and deep with flavor.

For dinner I went with the Waygu Bavette Steak over potatoes and green beans which was off their special menu. My wife went with the Lump Crab & Artichoke Stuffed Jumbo Mushrooms and Creamy Truffled Cauliflower.

For me the Waygu steak was OK. I wasn't a fan of the puree they used but to each their own, it was still good. My wife enjoyed her meal as well.

Overall, Montarra is a HIDDEN GEM and I'm mad at myself for not going here sooner or having any of my friends or neighbors tell me about this place. But now I will make it my duty to tell every single friend, neighbor, family member about this special place.

Executive Chef, Joshua Lynn has created a downtown Chicago dining experience right here in the Algonquin area and I thank him for it. The wife and I will be back to try a bunch of other things on the menu and thank you again for making our...

Worst meal of my life. I am baffled by all of the positive reviews. We visited Montarra when it first opened in the late nineties. I don't remember much about that visit except that I didn't like it and didn't want to return. So much time had passed, so many good reviews, one would think it would have been a better experience this time. Nope. No internet in the nineties so I can't go back and read my old review, lol.

We were celebrating my birthday and our daughter's new job. The hostess noted the special occasions when we checked-in, which was nice. Unfortunately, our server did not bring it up nor ask. Not a huge deal but it would have been nice touch if he did.

It was busy so it was not too surprising when our appetizer took awhile. I assumed it was a "fancy restaurant delay", where they are trying to give you time to chat and not rush you. The server came by and made an excuse, kitchen backed-up. When we finally got it - cold. The server totally lost credibility for his excuse. The only plausible explanation was it was prepared long ago and sat waiting. His only way to save face was try to blame the kitchen. We're not stupid. We also noticed it didn't taste that good. Our daughter selected it because she had a similar dish in her college town. She commented on how it was so much better there.

Then another long wait for our food. Finally it comes. Cold. Again. Worse yet, tasted terrible. I might be able to overlook a cold meal because flavors that "wow" will come through at any temperature. Not in this case. I had the scallops, our daughter had the salmon, my husband had a steak. For what it's worth, my husband did not have complaints. All my daughter and I could talk about was how bad our food was. She didn't finish hers so we took it home along with the leftover brussel sprouts. Reheated and served warm, they were still bad. Poor flavor profiles, that's the easiest way to explain it.

Upon reflecting on the food, it was as if it was not prepared to order. The brussels sprouts and salmon seemed like they were made days before and reheated (although not reheated enough because they were cold). That could have been true for everything else, too, except the steak - maybe.

Or could it be that the server was over-burdened since he was responsible for bringing the food out rather than like at other restaurants that have someone helping the server deliver the food to the table? Maybe it was because we sat outside and were far from the kitchen? I don't know.

I totally lied when I was asked how the food was. What could they have done about it at that point? Say "oh, sorry, you don't have to pay"? Exactly. No point bringing it up. Plus my husband has an extreme fear that when you complain, restaurant workers will spit on the food.

I don't normally write negative reviews. I am hoping this will be taken as constructive criticism. Check the flavor profiles, have someone monitor the food delivery and give the servers some help.

On a positive note, my cocktail was good, my red wine was good, my husband enjoyed the chocolate cake. Presentation on the plates was nice. The server was pleasant and funny. Unfortunately those things do not make up for the poor food quality. I hope Montarra gets their act together. I won't ever find out though. They had not improved in 25 years. I'll be in a nursing home by the time I would be willing to eat...

Disclaimer: I don’t want this review to be bashing anyone, I just felt compelled to write it.

I don’t really write reviews for places but Ive gone here twice now and the experience was relatively similar so I feel like I need to. First time I came here was about a year ago, so I don’t remember much besides the main issue I had. Ordered the filet and wanted it cooked rare, and didn’t want any demi-glace. When I received my steak it ended up having the glace on it anyways, which wasnt a big deal and I wouldn’t have said anything. The steak ended up being cooked more medium rare/medium than anything close to rare. I said something to the server and she was very helpful and had it replaced immediately. The replacement was cooked the same, and I didn’t even bother getting it replaced again. There were a couple other minor mixups, but its been so long I remember them, and the restaurant went out of their way to make things right in the end.

Fast forward about a year, we decided to give the place a try again. Ordered the bulgogi eggrolls, and found them to be pretty good. I ordered the filet again, and asked for it cooked rare and it was cooked probably about the same it was last time. I also felt like my steak was somewhat under seasoned, and some of my other family members felt the same about theirs. My dad got the New York strip steak, and said it was a texture similar to shoe leather. Family shared the mac and cheese, and we felt like it had little flavor. The service this time around was a little disappointing as well. I will say our server was extremely kind to us, but between receiving our entrees and the bill, she really didn’t come more than once until the very end. The busser lady however came around several times and was extremely helpful at keeping the table clear. I even believe she was here last time we were here and it was the same story.

Overall, for the price I really feel like you can do better. My family eats out at restaurants like this often and I feel like we have good experience to judge places compared to others. I cant comprehend spending $520 for five adult entrees and two kids’ meals after tip for the quality of food we received.. Id go to Jamesons and save a couple dollars, or an even cheaper restaurant than that and most likely get better food/service than we...