La Grande Boucherie Chicago — Restaurant in Chicago

2024-04-19, 2:30-4:15pm: LA GRANDE BOUCHERIE CHICAGO

2/5 Stars

A group of three dined on, and a fourth member thereof merely sat by, the following, sharing all and leaving very full:

Food 3/5:

Two rounds of Table Bread Coffee (bland but thankfully not scalding hot) Coca-Cola Tap Water

From the Lunch Menu:

SOUPE À L’OIGNON $18 (Traditional French onion soup, croutons and Gruyère) - Served warm not hot, slightly salty but that was preferred since a couple of recent competitors made theirs far too bland. This soup was full of cheese, bread and onion and enjoyed by all.

Two orders of LES ESCARGOTS $26 (Snails, shallots, lemon, parsley and garlic butter) - Much more substantial than expected! Not nearly as flavorful as hoped but certainly meaty. I spooned several pieces into the French onion soup as I wondered whether they were previously frozen.

LES MOULES À LA POULETTE $34 (Steamed mussels, bacon, leeks, shallots, white wine and thyme, toasted baguette) - Two co-diners ate the mussels while I dipped into the great sauce with bread.

Two cheeses from the FROMAGE listing, names unremembered because we went with our server Teodora's (name posted by request) recommendations, $12 each, served with honey, candied nuts, and grapes - The meager cheeses were fine but their accompaniments made them shine. They're priced too high.

LOUP DE MER $48 (Branzino, eggplant caviar, confit tomatoes, aged Parmesan shavings) - Very meaty fish with great flavor. But was it previously-frozen like the escargots?

PROFITEROLES $18 (Choux craquelin, Vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate 66% sauce, vanilla Malagasy Chantilly) - This dessert's sauce hit Bliss.

SORBET - Passion fruit $13 - Far too icy in texture for preference. The profiteroles were had first and their dairy spoiled our taste buds.

Service 1/5: Teodora asked to be named but not our other server. The other server was very attentive and much more so than Teodora. However, our honest request, made a total of three times, to each of our two servers for a third lightweight and tiny table to accommodate all of our dishes was outright ignored. And this in a dining room that was almost empty. Teodora also should have known that the menu had been changed 1.5 weeks prior to our visit. (Read: NO LES SARDINES, which the one of who didn't eat came solely for, and which Teodora said was available until right before her shift ended.) One wondered whether she lied about availability of items to keep diners buying until her shift ended at 4, which, conveniently enough, was right when the sardines were supposed to be available, per Teodora. Perhaps our servers were merely following the draconian dictates of a manager. Perhaps this was Teodora's last shift ever at this restaurant. The possibilities are legion.

Atmosphere 3/5: Fabulous floor and ceiling. French? From what year? The grand size of the interior certainly was not French for a restaurant. Maybe it's Mall of America French. Its background music was fine but comprised of mostly schmaltzy Italian-American tracks that were found at several Chicago steakhouses of times past.

The dining area was quite empty. Nevertheless, two small tables were all that were allotted to our group of four, which had ordered quite a number of dishes, each of which were served on massive (prior steakhouse tenant?) dishware and cutting boards. There was just no room for all the food and dishware that was set out. Around 4 pm, older Millennials arrived to spend their time and money not on food but drinks at the bar, very much in line with an already-forgotten media...

Good food but slightly overpriced. Exceptional service.

Went after work with my wife for appetizers and cocktails as an early anniversary day treat. The atmosphere is unquestionably good. Great decor and overall look, so you will enjoy the feel of the dining experience.

The food (appetizers) is good overall; we ordered the tuna tartar, snails, side of fries, and smoked salmon. The snails were very good, cooked well and not overdone, with a balanced flavor and the portion was just right; I highly recommend the snails as you will not be disappointed. The tuna tartar portion was smaller than what I have ordered at other places but the flavor combination of the tuna with grapefruit was a pleasantly good experience; I recommend ordering the tuna tartar but I would say you will need to either order two of them or something else because of the portion. The smoked salmon was ok, nothing to write home about. It came with a side of sliced boiled egg and a salad mix, with a spread. Honestly, there was not really anything that stood out about the smoked salmon or noticeable and the portion was small. Funny enough, the salad mix was more flavorful. The side of fries were good and came with mayo and ketchup dips on the side. While the portion was small for fries in general, as an appetizer it was actually a decent portion.

The prices though were high for the food portion and flavor; $28 for the tuna tartar, $34 for the smoked salmon (quite outrageous as you could have had a whole meal at some places for that price point), $28 for the snails (though the portions were good, still a little high), $13 for the fries.

The cocktails we ordered were the Blazer Noir, house French martini, La Vie en Rose, their version of old fashioned, and Le Diable. Hands down the best cocktail we liked was La Vie en Rose. Phenomenal rose flavor balanced well overall. I strongly recommend ordering this cocktail. The other we liked was the Blazer Noir, it was on the sweeter side with a fruity profile. The house French martini was good as well though nothing special. Still I would recommend it as it went well with all the appetizers and did not disrupt the palate. The old fashioned was not my cup of tea so to speak. It was a bourbon and tequila mix old fashioned but it came off more as tequila than an old fashioned like you are used to. It was not that good. I did not like Le Diable as its flavor was definitely not for me. It came across as too smoky and almost like a sharp cheese. It might be for someone else, but I did not enjoy it. The prices for the cocktails ranged from $18-$20.

The service however was exceptional, especially our server Mark. We will probably go back next time for dinner because of the service (and combined with the great atmosphere) as everyone was on point, professional, and courteous.

Overall, this is a good place to go to for cocktails and appetizers as the service and atmosphere are perfect for it. However, the prices were a little high for the appetizers.

As for parking, this is in downtown so you're either going to try and find street paid parking or a parking garage, which depending on the time you may have a hard time finding parking. This is downtown Chicago parking after all, i.e....

The food and music was great, the atmosphere and host were impeccable, the Pain Au Chocolat was perfect, but the waitress service and management was lacking, plus the mini madeleine's were very dry.

I highly anticipated trying this new River North restaurant during Easter weekend. We were visually enveloped in the charming fusion of a Parisian cafe and a Parisian butcher shop as soon as we stepped in the door. The check in and coat check were elegant and swift. Despite having made reservations weeks ahead of time, we were awkwardly sat at a table in the main walkway next to the bar so each time a party arrived and their table wasn't ready they crowded the bar, the walkway and were a mere inch from our cafe table. French cafe style dining is meant to be close and intimate, so seating closely to other patrons it to be expected. The bar placement however, wasn't well thought out. On multiple occasions our waitress and server struggled to attend to us because of the walkway congestion even though the restaurant wasn't packed. When the bar cleared out we enjoyed the posh atmosphere as well as the jazz until the music abruptly stopped for half an hour. Our server was as attentive as she could be considering the crowded walkway and pleasant but clearly was new and had no interest in French Cuisine. She insisted on us not using the French words listed on the menu and instead explain what we wanted in English. For example, when we asked for a Pain Au Chocolat, she responded, "oh you mean you want a chocolate croissant?" When I asked for pommes frites, she responded, "sure I'll bring you french fries." We started with a decadent Pain Au Chocolat; it was absolutely perfect. Thank you pasty chef! Then we enjoyed some french staples, Le Croque Madame, Le Croque Monsieur, salad and pommes frites. My family has enjoyed these French staples all around town but had the best and most flavor infused version here. The salad was fresh, ripe and vibrant. For our last course we ordered coffee and mini citrus madeleine's. Coffee service was swift, it was strong and soothing. I waited a while for desert and it arrived in a plastic to go box. The server apologized and returned to serve it on a plate but it wasn't worth the wait as they were the driest citrus madeleine's I've ever had. Consider using more butter or adding a bit of custard or glaze instead of powdered sugar. Although the menu is quite extensive, we didn't wait long for the food to arrive. There's no denying the beauty of the building or the quality and flavor of the food, but some logistics and training are needed to bring this place to a point where it can truly be experienced more than visually upscale. Patrons are paying for and expecting a consistent fine dining experience but not fully getting the return on their investment. When the manager stopped by our table they didn't even ask about our experience, just complimented us on our outfits and hats. Perhaps they were stressed due to the holiday weekend, but considering my party came in early before the crowd I'm not quite sure why that would have factored in. Since I was so impressed with the chef and host, I will give it...