Buttermilk — Restaurant in Naperville

This is a restaurant to go to when you are prepared to have conversations and wait. We were seated immediately in a little table smashed up against an extra glass door. The first thing we did, is to pull the table away from the glass and give us a little space without a door handle protrusion.

Then, we looked at the huge menu. It is very organized and easy to read, there are just a lot of enticing options. The coffee, juices, and brunch beverages are vast and intriguing. The ambiance of the restaurant is delightful. It is clean and bright accented with iron and white details with an added touch of giant bovine decals. Then, we notice our sign that we are table 207 and we are allowed 90 minutes to sit there.

We decided on our dishes. I didn’t know what to order, so I chose one of their menu choices that had the little milk can icon. About 15-20 minutes from being sat, we are greeted and our drink order was taken. The coffee arrived promptly and my coffee shop barista table mate said the coffee was “ok.” I had a Diet Coke and it was served with a ton of ice and a side carafe for a refill. Super cute idea and with me being a little dehydrated after fasting, I was ready to drink. The large amount of ice in each container made it cumbersome. My glass had ice to the rim. I was getting ready to put my straw in the little carafe but instead, I did the micro refills.

A lengthy amount of time later, our meals arrive. My table mate ordered a skillet and I was envious to her what she called “sub par and greasy” breakfast.

My choice was highlighted as a favorite. It was called the Alabama Hot Chicken Benny. Man! This dish looked great but was truly subpar. It was greasy and flavorless. I was super hungry and we waited probably a solid 45 minutes for food and I have already fasted for a solid 16 hours, so you would think I would scarf it down quickly. Nope. It was just a hot mess and I struggled to find anything worth eating. Most of my dish was left behind in a bland greasy mound. There was no spicy “hot” anything on it. There was no bbq sauce. There were some weird blips of an aioli on top that’s about it.

As we left, I felt ill and so did my table mate. Not ill from a food poisoning type illness but more of an ill from chugging-a-quart-of-vegetable-oil ill. It was pricey and nasty. The kicker was that it was also on Groupon and I didn’t know. So, two plates, a diet and a fair priced iced coffee drink was well over $60 with tip! I paid full price. Maybe it wouldn’t have hurt as much if I didn’t pay full price. Never again. I don’t care...

I came because I wanted to have their stuffed biscuit, which I've had multiple times. I was very surprised and confused as to why, instead of a biscuit, they now serve it with a flour tortilla? The menu has not changed and still says "baked biscuit" as of June 2025. No, this was not an undercooked biscuit either. It was 100% a flour tortilla filled with egg and made into a dome burrito. Was it good? Yes, but it's not what I ordered nor what I expected.

We arrived at 11am, the restaurant was not busy and still waited 10 mins for our server to come to our table with water. There wasn't a lack of waitstaff either that I could see. The service today was slow for it being a Monday, and it didn't really feel like we were a priority. There were other patrons with much bigger groups that arrived after us who were immediately given water and were asked for their drink order. To be frank, this felt a little discriminatory.

As far as the atmosphere, the staff needs to be made aware that putting up the blinds on a sunny day while you have cars parked outside results in a sun glare that is very uncomfortable to your patrons that are sitting and facing the windows. I was told the blinds could not be put down simply "because." Silly excuse to give, but OK. I also noticed several cars parking in the handicap spots to pick up food orders, which prevents other customers from using the spots when trying to park. This is something that Buttermilk should address or designate a spot specifically for food delivery service pick-ups.

The waffle was just OK, nothing compared to the almond pancakes. I would skip the waffle and go for the pancake instead. The fried green tomatoes were also not very memorable, I would skip these as well. While the batter was crispy, the fried green tomatoes were overcooked and way too soft. The ranch dressing had more flavor.

Overall, we ate because we were starving, but if given the choice, I think we'd go somewhere else next time. It'll be a while before I give them another try at an average...

I've been here a few times but our last visit was a nightmare so I'm updating review.

We came with our two kids and ordered their kids meal right away as they were very hungry. We were attended to maybe once every 5-10 minutes. It took 10 minutes just for someone to come to our table and bring water! I would say roughly 10 minutes after placing coffee and kids orders the waitress finally came to take our orders. Our food came after 10-15 minutes but the kids meal that we were prioritizing didnt come before our food and didnt even come with our food!

So here we were, resetting the timer and waiting for a kids meal that we ordered 30 minutes prior. We ended up sharing our food with the kids while we were waiting on theirs.

The omelette that I typically order was overcooked/smelled burned. I thought it was an honest mistake and sent it back but the replacement was not much better. I could only eat half of it.

While all this was going they brought out the kids meal, which was way too hot for consumption. Clearly they rushed through it because of their mistake of not brining us our order and while doing so they thought burning the outside and leaving the inside uncooked was the answer.

We had no choice but to take it home to go as it was too hot and the kids had enough at this point. I am writing this review now because the kids tried to eat their chicken fingers at home and it's RAW inside. Rubbery texture that when trying to break off like a regular finger, it bends like soft plastic.

I have been to this place 5-10 times before but will never be coming back. Not only has the food gone down in quality, but I spent $70 for 3 meals that were below...