Froggy's French Café — Restaurant in Highwood

Just got home from dinner at Froggy's. We went there about a year ago and had a good experience. Tonight, it was completely the opposite. We almost never do reviews like this but tonight was something that inspired us to say something.

We arrived right before 5PM without a reservation and asked for a table for two. The hostess was immediately and overtly annoyed by this. Literally, and we are not exaggerating, huffing, puffing, and stomping around, trying to find us an “open” table. There was only one occupied table in the place at that time and 3 people at the bar. She did us a big favor and gave us an open table – and made sure we knew it was a favor to do so.

The waiter was ok. He forgot one of the items we ordered. So, we decided to just skip it. But in general, the food was just bland and boring. Beef Wellington, tough and overcooked with little flavor other than the sauce on top of us. Pastry dough was an afterthought. Fillet of Sole, again…bland, little flavor, and nothing interesting. None of the dishes were hot. Escargot was, again, bland and boring. Tonight was the first night that I felt like I needed to put salt on a seafood dish.

We are not foodies or food snobs. We are not demanding or picky. We have eaten all over the US and all over the world. We are not hard to please and haver BOTH worked in the restaurant industry, serving and cooking. So we understand how tough it can be and are not picky.

Needless to say, the entire hour we were there, the place was no more than 25-30% full. So we were left wondering why there was such a song and dance about not having a reservation.

We are both 50 and were by far the youngest people there. Lots of very elderly regulars who are apparently treated like royalty but if you are not amongst that genre you do not seem to matter. But I suspect when this genre disappears, so does Froggy’s – as it seems to be folks holding on to memories of what it may have been in the past. The table next to us (yes, eventually there were 2 other tables in our area) was saying something along the same lines and that they should have opted for Del Rio. We almost went to Del Rio and sorely regret that we did not.

At another point during dinner, even the host was in the area and screaming about something happening on TV with some of the other regulars. Much more list a rowdy sports bar than a nice French establishment. Completely obnoxious and startling.

The bill came. It was not correct but at that point we just wanted out of there, left cash, and left. No one ever asked if we needed anything else or how things were. The food came out shockingly fast - perhaps this explains why nothing was hot and everything was bland.

What a waste of money and time. Complete disaster and disappointment. You will get better food at McDonalds, spend a lot less money, and they won't be annoyed that you did not have a reservation. My only regret other than the food, the price, and everything else is that I was not quick enough to record the drama from the hostess at the beginning as it would have been fun to share and would have made a great YouTube video.

To sum up, this place is just terrible (order in, go to McDonalds, or microwave a...

I went to Froggy's the other night with a friend for a midweek dinner. It is definitely not the first time I've been there, but it may be the last.

First of all, The servers were really in the weeds and seemed to be really understaffed. I understand that it gets busy, and things get delayed. Nothing really got delayed, but we were looking for them a lot for water and stuff.

Secondly, but most importantly, was the food. The oysters we had were good and fresh. However, their escargot variation was weird, especially with the peapods. They were out of anchovies for the ceaser salad, but after tasting it, I don't think they use anchovies in the dressing. The flavor of their dressing along with the raw shaved beet was not good. Our main courses were just not good. I ordered the Bouillabaisse and it was terrible. It was like a weird tomato-based sauce with over cooked proteins. The lobster has no meat in the tail, and their was no lobster meat added, as the server described in the special. Not only the weird sauce, no toast points or Rouille... They served it with mashed potatoes and vegetables that stuck out like a sore thumb. On top of that all, my mussels weren't de-bearded... I couldn't eat them.

The desserts weren't any better. We had the passion fruit mousse and the poached pear. The mousse had a strange texture, like they didn't allow whatever gelatin mixture they used to set up correctly. The taste was ok, but got drowned out by the raspberry sauce. On the poached pear, where is the pear? All I tasted was poaching liquid and that's it.

For the price and quality, there are tons of better French options around the area. I guess if I feel like normal french cuisine, that a true Frenchman would be proud of, I will across the tracks and down the street to the other French option.

Honestly, I think they are way passed their prime and need to revamp everything before I come in again, especially their menu...

Please note that this rating is based on my last visit and not for the number of visits over the many preceding years.

Froggy's has been THE go-to special occasion place for us for more than 35 years. It has never disappointed. Five stars every time....birthdays, anniversaries, or other special events. Recently, on the occasion of our wedding anniversary, we chose Froggy's again as our celebratory venue What a let down! I didn't see the mushroom soup on the menu, which I always order, because it is so rich and tasty. To my delight, it was the special soup of the evening, To my dismay, it was the worst mushroom soup I have ever had.....watery in consistancy, almost flavorless in taste. Salad was next. I ate mine in spite of a bland dressing and then nearly finished my wife's. She was disappointed....I was hungry! My entree was the Veal Blanquette Casserole in Black Trumpet Mushroom Sauce. Lovely presentation, but that's where it ended. The dish was 85% vegetables and mashed potatoes. The small pieces of meat that were in the dish were very fatty. Also had, what appeared to be a stem or other chewy substance. Cake with Dark Chocolate & Praline Mousse with dark chocolate sauce partially rescued an otherwise disappointing meal. Bottom line? Anybody and everybody can have an off day. We have had an enormous run of great meals there, so I guess it was bound to happen. Was it Covid related, or some other unknown circumstance? I don't know. Will I go back? Probably. Everyone deserves a second chance, particularly when this place has been so good over the years. But I'll wait until Covid has departed. I can only hope this isn't an indication of the decline...