Beatrix — Restaurant in Oak Brook

Great place to meet up with friends and good food!

First of all, at the point of this review, Beatrix in Oak Brook had only been opened for 2 weeks. Reservations were easy to make.

Service: The staff was friendly. Server was patient. Managers and supervisors came around and greeted us. I arrived with a group of girlfriends and we never felt rushed.

Food: Nice selection of food. You just need to know that on Saturday they serve a brunch menu until 3pm. So, if you are looking to have a variety of lunch selections you may want to make your reservations for after 3. The brunch menu felt limited. It looked good, but I didn't want pancakes at 2pm. They do have great prime burger available on their brunch menu. We opted for ordering appetizers off of the brunch menu and then waiting until 3pm to order our meal. Even after ordering right away at 3pm, the food did take slightly longer to get to us than we were use to.

Appetizers: They have a good selection of appetizers. We ordered hummus and avocado toast. Both were great!

Meal: The pan roasted chilean sea bass. It was a very small portion for the price. It was good though.

The prime burger. We ordered it well done. It was a tad dry, but I attribute that to ordering it well done. Kennebec fries come with, which is basically regular french fires with a fancy name. It is a good size burger. It tasted great.

The skirt steak chimichurri was okay. It lacked flavoring.

The chicken bebe was delicious. Perfect amount of tender/flavor.

Dessert: CHIA PUDDING - (chia seeds, coconut milk, pomegranate). All of the flavors burst through. I highly recommend it.

OH MY! CARAMEL PIE - (shortbread cookie crust) SOOO tasty. This is one to definitely share with others, as it is really rich in flavor.

Coffee and pastries: Full disclosure: I do not drink coffee, but I was with an avid coffee drinker who was amazed by their HONEY CINNAMON LATTE.

We were also given complimentary angel food cake muffins topped with chocolate (Chocolate Angel Food Muffin) at the end of our meal. They were delicious.

AMBIENCE:

We never felt rushed (and we did take our time). The place didn't seem to be overcrowded. When we were finished we perused the coffee and pastry area. The have a wonderful selection of stuff. There are lots of little nooks and sitting places to have a coffee and pastry.

By 4:30p.m. we noticed a higher volume of customers.

Parking will be an issue here as it is Oak Brook and there are lots of restaurants around.

Final word: Yes, I will be back. Four stars because of the brunch issue and the items can be...

Valentine's Day Dinner was a bit of a letdown ... was expecting more. It was just Meh. 😶 The menu is very limited for one. For appetizers, we both had the Vegan Tortilla Soup - it arrived lukewarm. I believe soup should always be served hot. It was just a creamy broth with 4 small Avacado chunks and some Tortilla Strips ... nothing to write home about. There was only one special, Lobster Tamales. I ordered the White Fish Scampi with Broccolini. I should have known better when our waiter told me it was a new menu item but I ordered it anyway. The whitefish was lumped with breading almost as think as the filet. Not a true Scampi taste. Where's the garlic? Breading was too thick for authentic Scampi. Broccolini was underdone and tough to eat. My husband enjoyed his trio of Lobster Tamales so he gave me one, which was delicious, and I gave him my Whitefish Scampi, which he agreed was not prepared correctly in true Scampi Style. He did not like the Broccolini either. Next, for dessert, which was limited to only 3 choices ... on Valentine's Day??? We split the Tall, Dark and Handsome Chocolate Cake. The presentation was pretty. But that's where the fun stopped. If you can imagine a hollowed out piece of chocolate cake filled with 2 or more inches of thick dark chocolate ganache, that's what we had with a dollup of whipped cream and chocolate sauce on the side. The ganache was too thick and sweet and there wasn't enough cake to offset the richness of the ganache. What was good? The vibe was fun, the restaurant is roomy, tables not too close together and the music playlist was great. Would we go back? Not for dinner. It wasn't worth the price. *Note - I did pass by the pastry coffeebar area. That looked fairly appetizing with their great selection of giant cookies and muffins. Yum. So we might stop in while shopping at the Oakbrook Mall for a cup of coffee or a muffin but that's about it. Valentine's Dinner at Beatrix was a bit of a disappointment for a Lettuce Entertainment Restaurant. Sorry, but that's the...

Betrix is located at the outskirts of Oakbrook Mall. Best way to get here is by using Google maps as some car navigation just take you to the mall and you have to search.

We have been to Beatrix a few times and like always our experience was great. Some tips to know before you go here:

This place gets very busy so recommend you make reservations online before going. Their online reservation system is easy to use. They have a coffee area and a dining area. If you are waiting for a ta le then you can enjoy some nice coffee in the waiting area. Staff was friendly and helpful. They have enough servers but still can be overwhelmed due to the number of guests. All Covid protocols were followed. Staff were wearing masks and sanitizing tables between guests. Menu are online only and you can scan the QR code to get it. Bathrooms are very clean.

We went here for brunch so below is our experience specific to that food only.

The best brunch item was their Baked French Toast. It comes with 2 big toast that is hard from the crust and soft from inside. The toast is topped with Raspberries but you can substitute it with strawberries. It also had powered sugar on top so you almost don't even need syrup to eat. We ordered 3 plate. You have to try this when visiting the restaurant. Cauliflower grit was good. It comes with fried egg on top and is a good option for non sweet or something other than traditional omelet. Mushroom Burger was very flavorful and fresh. Very good option for vegetarians. Chicken Tinga was average. The chicken came in light curry and side of tortilla. Their fresh juices were good but it comes with lot of ice. That diluted the taste.

Tips; This place is part of Lettuce Entertain so make sure you check in and give your code to get points. If getting fresh juice then make sure to ask with very little ice. If getting hot tea then you can always ask for extra hot water when it runs out.

Overall, a...