The Fat Shallot — Restaurant in Chicago

I want to start this review off by saying that I have had nothing but the most exceptional experiences with the folks behind the counter. Top marks on customer service and I'm sure the owners are just as lovely with how much love there is for their brand here in Chicago. That being said, having tried over half the menu, the food is overrated. Here's a breakdown of the invididual items I've tried:

Truffle B.L.T.-5/10 Thick cut bacon is fried ahead of time and left to harden and congeal until it ultimately makes it to a sandwich. Serious jaw workout. Bacon so hard you'd hazard cracking a tooth. It's loaded up with bacon which would be a plus if it wasn't so unpleasant to eat.

Corned Beef Reuben-3/10 Their "House made" corned beef is the driest corned beef I've had the displeasure of consuming. Not sliced either, you get big chunks of dry jerky-like beef. It's like if someone tried to make corned beef ropa vieja and left it to cook for too long.

Buffalo Chicken-6/10 I've never been a fan of chicken tenders in a sandwich. That being said this is not a bad implementation of the concept. The only impressive thing about this sandwich was the bun that somehow managed to keep everything in place until the very end. Other than that, nothing to write home about but I'm also the kind of person that doesn't like Buffalo sauce on anything other than traditional Buffalo wings. Your mileage may vary.

Truffle Fries-1/10 Full disclosure I got this free when I visited during their first week open at this location. They were simultaneously soggy and undercooked. It was as if they fried them in a fryer with the heat not turned up all the way. Some of the worst fries I've ever had and I'm glad I did not pay for them. I certainly avoided them upon return visits.

Conclusion: I've heard many people sing praises for The Fat Shallot but I'm personally unimpressed by the the food. Haven't been particularly satisfied with what I've tried and am not motivated to try the rest. If I'm being completely honest I could probably make an equivalently good turkey sandwich or grilled cheese on my own for less (the only remaining sandwiches I haven't tried). Great customer service, verging on being excessively pleasant, is what keeps this score from...

Sad to say I won't be ordering from here again. When this location opened I was so happy that I could get a sandwich on Gluten Free bread. At that time I had to be GF and there are not a lot of GF options in the food court, so this was great news for me. I have previously tried a few of their sandwiches on GF bread and all were delicious. During the Grand Opening I remember the manager telling me that I could get any sandwich on GF bread. Well, today was the second time in the past couple months I was told I could not sub out the bread on their breakfast sandwiches. All of their breakfast sandwiches are normally served with a Pretzel bun. I have had their breakfast sandwiches on the GF bread and also the Sourdough in the past but today (again) when I asked to sub it out, the cashier asked the cook and she said, I could not do that. Both times when I was denied substituting the bread, it was by the same female cook. Either they do not have enough inventory to sub out breads for their sandwiches OR that cook is simply uncooperative. Both of those scenarios are bad for business and unfortunately you have...

I would have to agree with some of the other reviews. Customer service was great but food was meh. I've heard about the Fat shallot and decide to try this location close to me. I ordered the chicken sandwich and the sauce tasted exactly like red hot's buffalo sauce and the chicken tenders on the sandwich was 90% breading. I figured the chicken would taste much better than frozen chicken tenders. Maybe the other locations...