The ANNEX Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Lake in the Hills

OK, here is what I will say. We tried somewhere new, and here’s the verdict:

Was anything wrong with this place in terms of the food or service? No, not at all.

On a scale of 1 to 5 star how would we rate it? I’d say a solid 4 1/2 to 5 stars.

The food was actually really good. I’ll attach some photos. As an example, I got the wedge salad for dinner with the French onion soup. The salad was GIGANTIC O_O. Absolutely massive wedge salad. Legit like almost an ENTIRE head of lettuce (lol). I even told the server, "um what? You've got to be kidding me" (lol). I ate 1/4 of it and took another quarter home leaving half of it lol. I ordered mine with steak. It was an entire wonderfully seasoned skirt steak. Cooked perfectly, medium rare, seasoned well. All of it was good. Very impressed.

My husband got the chicken Milanese. He liked it, didn’t love it but liked it. I tried it and I thought it was excellent. Our server recommended it (she was incredible by the way). I am sorry to say, the accompanying salad it came with had a horrific dressing that had WAY too much vinegar. The server told us that it was their in house made dressing. We mentioned the excess vinegar and she was super gracious and kind. That was the only negative thing I can say about the food.

The appetizer we got was this like grilled smoked sausage and Greek cheese with tomato thing. It was good - not worth $16 good - but it was good. Even the house provided bread they gave us was really good. It was just like a simple charred bruschetta style bread with Greek spices with a very delicious Greek style olive oil. The restaurant was very Greek focused.

As I said earlier, the service was fantastic. The staff was incredibly welcoming, very, very kind people, all of that was great.

All of that said... we would not go back. Not because the food or the service, but the place itself wasn’t our vibe at all. The clientele was much much older than we were - I would say 65+ and up. I had the most melanin of every person in there (and I’m 75% Hispanic, but don’t look it at all .). The only other people that were there that weren’t of a certain age left about halfway through our meal. The female of the pair looked directly at me, gave me kind of a negative side look, very serious and a bit scary, very downtrodden and very… conservative if you will. They seemed to be put off that two men were dining together (clearly as a couple). Don't get me wrong - neither my husband and I were walking rainbows or anything tonight. That said, the entire vibe made us a little bit uncomfortable.

It’s basically a two-part establishment. The side we were in was a restaurant with a bar and it was very “Vegas” themed I guess is the best way to put it. Talking briefly to the owner, he kind of had that vibe as well. Directly next to the restaurant, owned by them also, is an adult game room so it has like slot machines, video poker, stuff like that. Not our vibe whatsoever.

At the end of the day, I’m really glad we tried it out, and it was reasonably priced for what we got (for two people it was about 60 bucks) including everything, so it wasn’t bad. The service was awesome from start to finish. We truly had zero issues with any of the food, any of the service. That said, we highly recommend people try it - who knows - you may absolutely love it as your next spot. For us, the bar was sort of right in the middle of the restaurant and was a bit intrusive, the clientele was completely devoid of diversity whatsoever, and we felt a bit uncomfortable from a few of the customers there. It just wasn't for us but we hope for you...

August 6, 2024 - wanted to try The Annex Restaurant and Lounge for a bit and finally today was the day. 100 percent exceeded our expectations. We were greeted like family by Pete and Sarah. Welcomed to join them any where in the restaurant and we chose bar seating. Love it... comfy high back stools and a flat bar top, easy to eat at! The ambiance is beautiful, friendly and comfortable. The menu was amazing and hard to choose from but the cocktail/wine/beer menu was just as tough to choose from. We enjoyed the company of Sarah, friendly and attentive and so welcoming. She is so very knowledgeable about both the food and drink menu's. My husband chose a few Gin based cocktails that he really loved... I stuck with wine (Sarah was kind enough to let me try several Rose... chose the Greek one and it was amazingly light and refreshing.)..... We stared with the Greek inspired chicken lemon soup (amazing took some home too!!) The octopus that was amazingly prepared... sesame toasted bread with Greek olive oil and seasonings...... off to Saginaki some of the best we've had! A fresh Greek salad.... And then for the entree's.... Lamb chops (husband had two orders he was in love with them)... Chicken Milanese ....crispy, flavorful and so much I took the rest home.

(Our bill was more than average based on the amount of food we wanted to try and the amount to drinks we tried…. Great pricing on all dishes)

We met Alex, another bartender/ server who was just as friendly and welcoming to us. We appreciated the time they spend taking to us... about the menu, drinks and the restaurant. Over hearing them with other guests or on the phone... you can see they all take pride in the restaurant and in the team. Super impressed and look forward to heading back for another awesome visit!!

No photos this time... wanted to immerse ourselves in the experience of The Annex Restaurant and Lounge...next time

Meeting Sarah, Alex and Pete was a joy and a blessing .... So welcoming, friendly and attentive.

Janis John Kohler...

The Annex Restaurant and Lounge in Lake in the Hills, IL had been open just one month when, our Friday night dinner club of 6 people, made a visit on June 7, 2024. Each of us tried a different entree. We shared 2 appetizers: zuchini fritters and saganaki. We often had fried zuchini, but prepared as a fritter was new for us and everyone agreed it was really tasty. The saganaki was served with pita bread and was very good as well. Next came the entrees. These included baked Red Snapper, Crab cakes, Chicken Malanese, 8 oz Filet Mignon, a Reuben Sandwich (all of which were regular menu items) and Atlantic Cod, which was a Friday special. Everyone gave 5 stars to their meals. Desserts are not on the menu, because offerings are decided daily. We shared 2 of the 3 desserts available on our visit: Strawberry topped cheese cake and chocolate cake. WOW! I want to mention 2 things about my Reuben sandwich meal. I choose fries as my side. They were thin cut, but came out luke warm. My Reuben sandwich was a whole new experience. The corned beef was not in layered slices, but 1 inch thick cuts that had been slow roasted several hours and practically melted in my mouth. The flavor was fantastic. After our meal, the owner sat with us and asked for feedback on the food and service. We had all agreed, half way through our meal, that we would be back to visit The Annex again soon, and let the owner know. I mentioned the luke warm fries to him, which I did not complain about to our server because the sandwich was so filling. The restaurant is nicely decorated and has about 14 tables that can seat 4. One side of the seating is fixed booth and the other sides are chairs. Their layout is such that they can put 2 or more tables together to accomodate larger groups. There is also a lounge and they have a gaming area that is under...