Untamed Chef — Restaurant in Peoria

Worst experience for my family lunch after a funeral. I live out of town and wanted to plan a lunch for my family after my grandmothers funeral to help ease my mothers stress. I spoke with Rebekah the owner and and she was extremely nice and accommodating. I ended up renting what I was told was the main dining room and the outdoor patio. I explained, in detail what I wanted, banquet style as guest would arrive at different times and what the menu would be. I went with her recommendations which included a salad bar, I paid extra for the upgraded salad bar, ziti and meatballs and cheeseburgers, chicken strips and Mac and cheese for the kids and for the adults that didn’t want the pasta. I asked for all of the food to be out when people arrived. Rebekah told me not to worry, she would make sure everything was perfect and that she caters events all of the time. I was under the impression that Rebekah would be at the restaurant during the event, as most owners would be when someone rents out the their restaurant for a large event.

Fast forward to the lunch and all of sudden my phone is blowing up, my sister, my brother, my aunts are texting me saying they have been there for 30 minutes and they still didn’t have drinks, the one and only waitress that was working the lunch had only addressed half of the guests. There was no food out, no one greeted them and told them where to go or what to do, they were left just guessing. This is the first time I texted Rebekah and she said don’t worry I’ll call now. I realized she wasn’t even there, she had hired one waitress for an event of 30. After my phone continues to go off, I decide to call the restaurant myself and tell them to please get the food out. One tray of meatballs and ziti comes out for 30 people and what my family described as cold stale garlic bread. They were given paper plates and plastic silverware. When all the meatballs were gone, my family realized no more food was coming and half of them had not eaten. They started to order the cheeseburgers, Mac and cheese and chicken strips and the waitress told them no, they weren’t allowed to eat from the kids menu. I specifically asked Rebekah to make sure anyone was able to order from the menu and paid for each guest to have what they wanted. The Mac and cheese was being made to order, which I still don’t get if you’re catering to that many people and my mother, who just buried her mother had to go and ask the chef for food for my family. The female chef was so rude to my mother, snapping at her and telling her she’ll have to wait. It’s been 45 minutes, half the guests don’t have food, and are being told no they can’t order and one cheeseburger came out for my nephew during this time. My father ate a bowl of cucumbers and that’s all because he wanted other people to have food. Some of my family just left because they were so frustrated. My mother called me after to thank me and told me everything that had happened. I was embarrassed and so disappointed that after a funeral my family was treated like this after paying over $1,000 half the people didn’t eat, my mother and aunt were disrespected, they never even were given the patio and I was told that a head count would be done so if not all the guests showed up any money left would go to my mother in a gift card. 25 people showed, only about 15 ate and I had to call the restaurant myself twice to handle the situation and my mother wasn’t given any gift card. I was completely taken advantage of being out of state, I don’t even care about the money as much as the way my family was treated after my grandmothers funeral. I’m adding photos of the plates my family ate and the chicken strips that were grilled, thin pieces of chicken with no seasoning on a toothpick. If I owned a restaurant and had been paid well to take care of guests, I would have been there to make sure it went perfectly, instead she understaffed, under prepared and never even came in to help when things started going wrong. I highly recommend you find another venue or caterer...

The food was good, but not great. The atmosphere was slightly above average outside, but mixed with the poor music selection wound up being a let down. However, the service was amongst the best of the best. Let me break down our 3.5/5 star experience at Untamed Chef.

Atmosphere - 2.25/5: I don't expect a custom playlist, but honestly when I'm spending $40 on a steak, I also don't want to listen to Radio Disney. My wife and I choose to sit outside, and there is nothing fancy about the outside other than the chairs are very comfortable (3.5/5). The inside however looked beautiful, so I'm sure that may have been a better experience (maybe next time). Ultimately though, we would suggest a more classy or unique selection of music that compliments your décor. Personally, I don't want to hear Let it go (frozen) and You're Welcome (Moana) when I'm on a date night with my wife (1/5).

Drinks: (3.1/5): I had the booze berry (2/5) and ginger based drink (4/5) while my wife had an amaretto (5/5). Drinks were good, but a little overpriced (2.5/5). I also got a water, and my wife got a fountain drink. My water was North Peoria tap water and tasted terrible, and the ice cubes in my wife's soda made the soda taste bad to her. From a fine dining establishment, you typically expect spring water is provided, so this was a bit disappointing (2/5).

Food - 3.8/5: We ended up waiting nearly 45 minutes for our food when the restaurant was at about 25% capacity. Not a deal killer as stuffed chicken (my wife's order), can take some time to cook. However, comparable price/cuisine options in Peoria generally serve bread with a bread oil-dip or butter as a holdover to complement any drinks ordered. Unfortunately, at Untamed Chef you have to pay $12 to $13 for this from the appetizer menu. Order: I ordered an 8oz Filet Mignon as it was indicated to be a patron favorite. I chose a medium cook on my steak, and my side choices were the garlic smashed potatoes and honey glazed carrots. Steak (3.5/5): My steak arrived and was on the well-done side of medium-well, it definitely wasn't medium. However, that said it was probably the juiciest well-done I've had, so honestly it didn't wind up being a big deal (4/5). The seasoning and sear were average, as it was more of a grill-cook over an even pan sear (3/5). Garlic smashed potatoes (5/5): Easily the hero of the dish. The texture was perfect, the garlic was present without being overwhelming, and overall a side I would say ranks amongst the best I've had at restaurants in Peoria. Honey glazed carrots (3/5): First let me say the flavor was there. Amazing honeyed flavor with the perfect savory balance that complemented the carrots (5/5). However, the cook for the carrots was extremely inconsistent with 25% perfection, 25% pretty close, and 50% undercooked and too crunchy (1/5). *Mac & Cheese (5/5): While this was a dish my wife ordered, I wanted to comment that from a guy that hates Mac & cheese that this was delicious!

Service (5/5): Our waitress was amazing. Very nice and conversational with the perfect amount of checking in on us to see if we needed drink refreshes. She presented suggested favorites when asked, and all around greatly improved our experience. Additionally, the cook provided my wife two of the stuffed chickens as they were on the small side. That is a prime example of what excellent service looks like. Bravo.

Conclusions (3.5/5): Perhaps it was a rough night, or the dishes we tried weren't the optimal dishes for our Untamed Chef experience, but ultimately we weren't wowed overall. The price to quality ratio wasn't there, and the outdoor atmosphere with Disney tunes left us feeling more like we were at Chilis than a $38 plate, $10+ drink, $97 check-for-two establishment. The lack of complimentary bread/appetizers, and the use of North Peoria tap water really detracted from our experience. The service was phenomenal, and ultimately would bring us back to try again, but I wouldn't say that Untamed Chef made our top 5 fine-dining restaurants in the...

The worst experience ever! Please see my review of this restaurant on Yelp, Facebook and google reviews! I would like to address the owners rude response, I do not think you should be in the hospitality business if this is the way you treat customers who had issues with your restaurant. Rebekah, the owner stated I changed the menu and it was my fault for the poor service, lack of food, the stale garlic bread, the raw burger they served my 11 year old nephew, for the waitress and chef being rude to my mother and aunt when they asked for food , guests being told no they can’t order from the menu I paid over $1,000 for, half of the guests left without eating because they weren’t attended to, guest ate off of paper plates with plastic silverware and only one waitress for my 30 guest lunch which was for my family after a funeral for my grandmother. Rebekah, there were no menu changes, I asked for your recommendation for the food as I am from out of town. You created the menu, I approved it. The only change I made was to pay more money so that my guests could order from the kids menu if they wanted and pay extra for your recommendation of the upgraded salad bar. My sister, was definitely your nightmare, as she had to constantly text me to let me know my mother, who just buried her mother, hadn’t even received a drink nor been greeted by anyone after being there for 30 mins. I asked you to take care of my family, I paid you well to do so and you didn’t even show up, you understaffed, you told me I rented the patio and the main dining room, the patio was not available. You lied to me, you took advantage of me, you treated my family with complete disrespect after a funeral. You then respond to my complaint with rudeness and more lies. It’s my mistake honestly, for trusting you and your business with such an important and...