The Dearborn — Restaurant in Chicago

I’m mixed on this one, it was my first restaurant I visited in the city this trip. I ordered quite a few different dishes for my kids and I got to try a variety of different foods.

First I’ll start with my drink, I asked the server’s recommendation and he pointed me in the direction of the blue switch. I know this is already a tough place to be in as a server. Everyone’s tastes are unique and you might not be on the same page. Unfortunately apparently we weren’t, the drink I got looked like rinse aide for a dishwasher and tasted like it too. I have a pretty diverse pallet for alcohol, drinking reds, whites, bourbons, beers, tequlias the list goes on. Needless to say I’m pretty easy to make happy. Nevertheless at the cost of $17 I was sure to finish it wincing on every chug.

The menu feels a tad chaotic and narrowing down what to order was challenging it seemed. I got the kids the hot chocolates which they very much enjoyed and I pushed them to try some new dishes (for a kid that is).

Tried the Peruvian style ceviche for an appetizer, I really liked it, the kids not so much, but don’t let that reflect on The Dearborn 😂. I did manage to get 3/4 of them to try a bite.

For entrees I ordered a strip, my daughter the fish and chips, other daughter got the Midwest fried chicken (typically an app but she eats little). My boys both got burgers cooked medium. For the burgers that come with fries I’ll state that they come with more than enough to share if someone else at the table is wanting some fries to pick at. We ordered an additional side for my daughter’s mid west chicken and we had so many fries left over that it felt like such a waste.

My strip was good I think, my daughter who ordered the fish and chips decided she suddenly wanted steak and we ended up sharing, as in she demolished most of my steak. The mashed potatoes it came with were “mid” as the kids say.

I saw lots of people comment that the fish and chips were bland. Perhaps this is true, I am an uncultured rube that uses tartar sauce. With the sauce I found it to be delicious, wonderfully tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.

My daughter’s Midwest chicken was good as well, really enjoyed the flavors and I thought it was a unique dish. The boys burgers were fairly mediocre. They also ordered bacon on it which came at a $5 up charge for each.

That leads into my reasons I feel so mixed. I actually started by rating. this a three but as I went dish by dish I realized the food was good and our server was really great. My biggest issue came down to price.

As I mentioned it was my first stop in the city, we didn’t exactly just all order burgers. We did get an app, they got hot chocolates, I had a couple drinks. Plus as I’ve learned now everyone in Chicago apparently loves to put on an additional 3.25% instead of raising menu prices. It’s listed as optional but you have to be the cheapskate to ask for it to be removed. At the end of the day I had some sticker shock at the over $300 tab (post tip). I know stuffs expensive in the city I guess I just felt a bit of a disconnect between price and value. I liked the food, but I can’t say I...

This was a WONDERFUL place to randomly stop in for lunch for my girlfriend and I. We were greeted cheerfully right away at the host station. When everyone is a good mode, I am in a good mood, and everyone here was very happy and the service was great.

We were seated very quickly, and our waitress, Olivia, I am sorry if I got your name wrong :( , shortly greeted us after. Her service was astounding, and her knowledge of the menu was extensive. She helped us pick from starters (since everything sounded good). We ended up getting the octopus, which I love octopus, and it was absolutely astounding. The flavors of the sauce and seasoning worked well together to make a great starter.

Olivia made sure to nudge us in the direction of the truffle fries, which did not disappoint, for both of our entrees. My girlfriend is a huge fish and chips fan, and that is exactly what she ordered. She and I get disappointed by soggy fish and chips, but this was the EXACT opposite. The fish and breading had flavor, in addition to having a perfect crunch. Easily one of, if not the best fish and chips both of us have ever tested.

I am a huge burger fan, so I went with the burger with some additions. The bacon was a great addition to the burger, as unlike in some places where it is a bland add on, was thick and juicy and added to the flavor of the double pattied burger. Even though I was getting full, I had to finish the whole thing it was just THAT good.

We had tea (we loved the loose leaf pots), and some chocolate (and other stuff in the cookie I can't remember). Even though we were full, we managed to finish one of the cookies. It had that perfect texture, not too chewy, not too crunchy.

At the end of our meal we had the pleasure of talking to Sarah, the assistant general manager, about the restaurant and our meal in general, which my girlfriend loved hearing about. Combined with Olivia's amazing service and Sarah's personal touch at the end, we will definitely be coming back the next time we are in Chicago.

Thank you for such an awesome...

We walked up on this restaurant on our way back from the river dyeing. We caught the initial dyeing on the river and then decided to go find a restaurant before they were all full and we would not be able to get in. This restaurant was actually located on the same street as our hotel was on just a few blocks north. What caught our attention was the window seats available that had a good view of the city. Also we were able to catch a glance of the food being served by some of the people eating inside already, so we thought we'd give it a shot. We asked for a table for four, we were greeted and seated immediately. The only scary thing was we were taken through the restaurant down the hallway to what appeared to be the very back of the restaurant. There were some table set up with a private bar. It was hard to determine whether we were being isolated or treated like VIP, lol. Either way the service was excellent, the food was different but very very good and we enjoyed ourselves very much. What I was hoping for was a window seat to enjoy our meal and watch the crowds from St Patty's Day go by. There really isn't anything negative I can say about this visit. We started off with the spicy chicken soup and the Parker House rolls which were very good. We then continued to our main meals. Keep in mind this was a limited brunch menu that they had for St Patty's Day. My brother had the fried chicken, my Comadre had the All-American breakfast, I had the salmon Florentine Benedict and the wife had the pork carnitas chilaquiles. Absolutely delicious. Very different. Meals were very well served with great presentation. I recommend getting here early because the place was extremely full when we left about...