Milwalky Trace — Restaurant in Libertyville

As you walk in, a big portrait of Chef Lee Kuebler sits high on the wall.You might think he is still in the kitchen. He is not, he left for Elawa Farms. In the kitchen you will find Chef Jose. It could be an issue and it wouldn't be obvious until you taste the food. The written menu contains a few deceptions, if you have been dining here long enough, your palate remembers...the Kale salad, used to be so good, you would clean the plate... the roasted squash, roasted pepitas, aged cheddar cheese, all gone...they were replaced with toasted Brussel sprouts and Parmesan...not the same Kale salad. Once it hits your taste buds, you look on the printed menu and you see the changed ingredients, in small print. The Short Rib dish is missing the parsnip puree, replace by risotto, with pomegranate and Feta cheese ( not a good combination). Same thing, even if you haven't read the small print on the menu, your taste buds know the dishes are not the same. I asked the waiter why and how they changed, he mentioned it was Chef Jose's decision. And that is how I found out Chef Lee is no longer there, although his picture adorns the wall so proeminently. Change could mean progress, not in this case! We waited too long to be served, food was not good, changes weren't communicated, in short, bye-bye Milwalky Trace...it was good eating here for fifteen years,...

So I'm still waiting to get in. This will be a live critique. So the restaurant opens at 10 am. No reservations accepted. Big mistake! We walk in at 10:06 am and the "trained" hostess tells us the wait is only 45 minute wait. It is now 11:30 am. Still waiting. Let's see what happens. OK so called to check how things are coming along and the hostess said half of our table is ready?! She will text us when it will be ready. (11:33 am). So we are seated now. Yay! We order our drinks and they are amazing! We are waiting for our food and the owner introduces himself and says I hear you want to talk to me. I didn't recall asking to talk to him but OK. He defended his hostess which I loved! He said it was the last day of the Sunday brunches and normally the wait would have been a 45 minute wait. I don't know about you folks but an alcoholic brunch on a Sunday is not an "in and out" meal let alone the last brunch for a restaurant. I wish the owner identified the wait time since they had our phone number and could have updated us easily. Being transparent as far a being the last brunch and anticipated longer wait times should have been conveyed to all employees. Long story short we enjoyed a very delicious brunch. The owner ultimately generously covered our visit and made the situation right. Thank you Milwalky Trace. Don't be so...

Completely agree with one of the reviewers “Law Abider”. When we sat down and asked our waitress questions, she convinced us that the food were sharing portions, they are not. We thought the food was mediocre and not with the price whatsoever. We got lamb chops and sweet potato gnocchi (pictured). The gnocchi came with about 13-15 pieces of the pasta and a big dollop of sour cream, so I basically paid about $1 dollar per pasta. The pasta tasted burnt to me so when I asked the waitress she said it might have been the coffee they put in it. I’m not sure. We were there Tuesday night so the drinks were $5. The Moscow Mule and Cosmopolitan sure weren’t worth more than that. The cosmo was fine but the Mule tasted as if they had freshly juiced ginger and poured it in a cup because I couldn’t taste the soda or the alcohol. This place is definitely not...