Evanston Corner Bistro — Restaurant in Evanston Township

Wow! In my experience, when I go to a restaurant in the same building as a hotel, I'm usually skeptical, fearing overpriced, low-quality, small portions. Not here. The food is moderately priced, great quality, and offers picture-perfect portions. They had a large patio, but my date and I decided to stay inside near the bar. Tyler was our server; he was funny and a bit cheeky. He knew when to stop by with a refill and when to let us enjoy our time alone. On his recommendation, I tried their Espresso Martini made with tequila. I'm not typically a tequila drinker, but he sold me on it. Let's just say I didn't think I would ever enjoy tequila like that. Tyler was honest about the menu. I am spice-averse, and he told me what he has had and what he likes. Nervously, I ordered the Buffalo marinated crispy cauliflower, but it was perfectly seasoned, fresh, and crispy. I had the Iberico Pork Skirt Steak, and it was tender, juicy, cooked to perfection, and the flavors blew my mind. To finish off our meal, I ordered the Salted Caramel Bar. It was so good that I ordered one to go. With dessert, I had their lakefront punch cocktail to close out our meal. When heading to the bathroom, I noticed a really nice upstairs banquet space. It looked pretty classy and unexpected in a good way. Overall, this is a really cute spot for a date or a business lunch. There are plenty of options with local drafts and non-alcoholic cocktails. You'll find vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free menu items. The portions were spot on for the price and the flavors were chef's kiss. The only thing I didn't like is there is a 3% fee for credit cards,...

I really wanted to like Evanston Corner Bistro, but they are unfortunately too far removed from a legitimate restaurant to be enjoyed.

Let's start with the positives:

The ambience is excellent -- everywhere from the lobby to the bathrooms was really clean, welcoming, and chic. Very much the type of place I would like to go for Sunday brunch (though I did not, we went for dinner). The cocktail I had was great. Everyone working in the restaurant was really friendly.

Now to the unfortunate negatives:

My medium rare filet was, to put it very politely, rare. Upon sending it back, it came back after a second cook, to put it very politely, rare. I did not demand a replacement, I merely asked the waiter to let the chef know. The presentation on the filet (it was steak frites) was much less $44 and much more highway diner. It also just wasn't very good, even on the more-cooked side parts. They very nicely comped us ice cream for the mishap with the steak, although we didn't ask for it and unfortunately my dining partner was lactose intolerant. The problem is that it showed up on the bill. When we alerted the waiter to this, he insisted discounts were applied where necessary. We pushed back and eventually the manager came over and admitted to the mistake and we had the ice cream refunded.

I really am not the type to make a fuss about minor mistakes. I try to enjoy every meal regardless of its shortcomings, but every shortcoming here added up to an experience that was extremely under par. There are lots of great restaurants in Evanston, and this is not...

We visited Evanston Corner Bistro for our first time during brunch, and based on the photos online, it looked like a great spot. We got sat immediately (which I can't say for other locations we tried before this, all of which had a wait), and got told we were being served a bunch menu. Totally fine, except we got breakfast menus, and after asking two servers if this was correct, they both agreed. This definitely led to some confusion as other tables around us got burgers, salads, and more while we only had breakfast options.

The biggest issue has we had during our stay was a lack of attentiveness. We were there for going on 2 hours, and during that time other tables who arrived after us got their food and finished most of it before we even received our meals. When we did get our food, it came out lukewarm and was generally underwhelming. Given the wait, we really wanted to give it a chance, but were not rewarded.

One of the four servers we worked with was a gem, though, so I do want to thank her. She was the only person to apologize for the wait, and while I don't think she was assigned to our table, she went out of her way to make us feel attended to, which I really appreciated. I do hope the manager I spoke to takes the feedback I provided to heart, because when we spoke, he was under the impression nothing was wrong, which was definitely...