Mother's Apron Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Deer Park

Been excitedly waiting for Mother's Apron to open ever since I saw their banner. Wasn't sure how it would be, but was hopeful. Finally dropped in after they had been quietly open for 2 weeks - had no idea they were open. The staff is friendly, ambiance is clean, not smokey, beautiful and modern Korean. I'm very glad it's not fusion all over the place. It's good to have solid flavors from one Asian country, well represented.

I had the LA Galbi for lunch. The meat was tender and tasty, but still had to grab the bone and pull a bit to get the meat off. Perfectly seasoned with a lightly sweet and savory sauce with onions. It's delicate and doesn't have sweetner dumped onto it for flavor - this is very different. Deliciously BBQ smokey for that summer flavor in the fall - it's just what I wanted to eat...and I didn't have to drive all the way to Glenview to eat it. It's a bit pricey for a regular lunch (there are less pricey options), but it definitely is quite a lot of high quality meat and food that is made well. I'd be more than happy to gather family and friends and here for meals.

Here are the reasons I didn't give 5 stars right off the bat (they are still settling in and maybe need a bit of time to work some details out):

The beautiful wooden seats (at some tables) would be more comfortable with a seat cushion.

For 2 people at the table, one person got the complete silverware set: metal chopsticks and a metal spoon. The other person got metal chopsticks and the takeout bamboo chopsticks rolled into their cloth dinner napkin. If this is nicer dining, I would love to have my dinner guests all have real silverware at a sit down meal.

People usually want cold/ice water - they offered that in a nice carafe to keep on the table. But I asked for hot water for an elder and myself. Nobody came by to refill or ask if we wanted more hot water. It wasn't busy.

The Galbi came out sizzling hot and smelling delicious! The soup that comes with it was barely luke warm. The rice was semi warm too. Maybe some other customers didn't like super hot soup and rice? I thought these were basics. Again, it wasn't busy, but we did walk in a little after 1pm, knowing they'd be closed at 2:30pm. I was hoping the basics would be covered.

Would love to give them 5 stars soon because in a post Covid world food quality has gone down, prices have gone up. Mother's Apron has clean flavors, quality ingredients and I am OK paying the price to enjoy a quality meal with loved ones. Maybe they just need a little more time to finesse details. Super excited for them and hope they do well. I already know the next few dishes I want to try.

Deer Park is lucky to have them. Here's hoping Mother's Apron knocks it out of the ballpark! I know I'm...

My husband and I were excited to enjoy date night and were able to find an early reservation to bring our 10 month old along with us. We arrived and were impressed to see the beautiful open kitchen. The food was impressive and the cocktails- delicious. However it seemed clear to us that our 10 month old was not welcome- multiple times were we encouraged to use a booster instead of a high chair because the high chair was in a "high traffic" area. At this point in the evening, there were only a handful of seated tables, however cognizant that we didn't want to interrupt any workflow for the staff we offered to move to a different table but were told everything else was reserved. At the end of our meal (approximately 6:30 pm) we asked to see a dessert menu, but were informed by someone, who was not our server, that the kitchen was too backed up to serve dessert. I've never been to a restaurant that refused dessert. My husband and I have enjoyed dining at upscale restaurants many times and truly have never felt more unwelcome in any establishment. I'm disappointed to say that although we enjoyed our meal, we will not be back to support...

I’m usually skeptical of all positive reviews on a new-ish restaurant (it’s been open for 6 months) but you can believe these for sure. Went last night and had an amazing meal. As a Korean, I’m pretty picky with my Korean food — the service, food and ambience are all fantastic. Most Korean places in the NW suburbs are all small mom-and-pop style joints; this one is modern, more upscale, and polished (though more $$). Authentic flavors and the seasoning on everything was perfect honestly (no fusion here thankfully 🤞🏻). Banchan is very well done and a good representation of high quality Korean banchan, short rib bbq was super tender, and we couldn’t resist by ending with some red bean shaved ice (Korean summer dessert staple - wish there was more milk in it though). Definitely leave room for dessert!!

Also highly recommend the soju flight and the makgeolli flight, especially if you’ve never tried any! Cocktails looked interesting, too.

We will be back to try other foods! Highly...