Craft'd — Restaurant in Plainfield

An easy five stars. It's probably harder now than it's ever been to run a successful restaurant, but these guys are doing it right, and I hope they keep it up.

After shopping in Naperville, we needed somewhere good to eat but every place that wasn't fast food had an hour or more wait! We pretty much resigned ourselves to just heading home and not dining anywhere, but I figured we might be able to find somewhere good still that was open late and along the route home (along 59 south to 55).

Well, we saw this place on the GPS and that it was open late and highly rated and it was just the vibe we were looking for, so we took a chance.

When we first pulled up the lot was absolutely packed, so we thought, "oh no, this is gonna be a long wait too. Let's just go use the bathroom and see what's up." Well, despite being packed, we were basically able to be seated immediately at a nice, spacious and comfortable booth that was isolated and private. (Perfect if you're feeling introverted. lol) There was great live music playing at a wonderful volume that wasn't overbearing at all.

The server was terrific. Friendly and professional. Fast and thorough. The drinks and appetizers came very quickly despite the place was packed! I was baffled how their kitchen got the food out so quickly with that many people there. We probably had our meals on the table no less than twenty minutes after we walked in the door! It might have even been 15!

The quality of the food was excellent and the price was very fair for the quality and portion size and the restaurant's location and just the sheer size of their operation overall. The menu was great with a nice variety too. Again, the prices were extremely fair.

The variety of beers on tap was mind blowing. Probably 20 or more. This is something becoming harder to find these days too. The drink menu alone was enormous. Some would say the drink prices were high, but I thought they were pretty average of what you would expect. They were generous portions and high quality so you definitely didn't feel you were overpaying at all in my opinion.

Well, there was really not a single bad thing to say about this place. It was certainly a welcome find after striking out at like five places ten miles up the road. I'm not sure how they're doing it so well, but they sure are. So many restaurants today are a disastrous, overpriced joke and this place is definitely not one of those by any stretch.

Worth mentioning, there was no ATM on site if you prefer to leave a cash...

There's no way these pictures do justice to what I experienced tonight. I was hesitating even posting them because I don't want to insult what I tasted by an inadequate picture (kinda like taking a picture of the Sistine Chapel with your cell phone; you just don't do that).

Here's my bold proclamation:

The Peanut Butter & Pig burger is the best hamburger I've ever had in my entire life.

I'm 40.

I've been eating burgers since before I developed memories.

This is the best burger I've ever eaten, ever.

It's the perfect blend of sweet, savory, juicy, and just all around amazing. Pretzel bun, double patty, maple sugar covered perfectly cooked bacon (aka "pig candy"), and the juice of some mythical well of happiness that seeps through it.

I also ordered their signature salad as a side. More pig candy = more winning

We stayed for a while and chatted with Holly and Josh at the bar (with sweet Linda hustling around the place like a hurricane of kindness), and Josh recommended the Hot Chicken and French Toast. Since we had made room visa vie our good friends known as booze and time, my friend and I split one between us, with sweet potato fries as the side.

The extremes are bold on this, and as spicy as it is, it's impossible to stop eating because it's so damn tasty. The sweet potato fries came in handy as they were delicious and provided relief to the heat.

We also had an Uber Eats customer cancel an order, so they asked if we wanted the Brussel sprouts. The menu says "lightly oiled and seasoned", but fortunately that's an inadequate description. They had sat out for a little so they were soggy, but they were STILL amazing. More of the sweet/spicy contrast.

If I had won the $1.4B lottery, I'd invest at least $20m in this company to get this to as many people as possible. I'm not sure when I'll be back in Plainfield, but hopefully it'll be soon!

Excellent service Amazing food Beer selection for days Nice decor Music was "meh", but nobody is perfect, right?

I wish nothing but success and a meaningful life to the owners and staff there. God bless and thanks for the unexpected treat!

*kudos to the Hampton Inn I55 front desk agent for the...

I remember going to Craft'd before the pandemic, and they were amazing so when my husband asked me today where I wanted to get food from for a late Mothers Day dinner, this is where I picked. We ordered for pick up thinking it would better support the restaurant vs getting it from a delivery service. We were there 2 minutes before the time they gave us to pick up, so we were not late at all.

First, I will start with the positives... the signature salads were amazing. I love the poppy seed dressing, though it is hard to mess up salads. My son had a burger he enjoyed, and my littlest guy was just ok with his chicken strips...they were small and very thin, but I didn't expect much else from the kids menu. He did really like the chips.

Now for the negatives... Our giant pretzel was over cooked and burnt on the bottom, my husband and I both had the bourbon chicken. The chicken was very overcooked and dry, the mashed potatoes were dry and crumbly and the surface was very dried up and crusty, and the green beans, which I usually LOVE, were not seasoned AT ALL... they were just grilled (to the point of being burnt) green beans. Then we get to the carrot cake... I ordered 2 orders of carrot cake, thinking for $12 per piece the 4 of us could share them... and we got 2 slices of about an inch wide each in a box with a bit of melted whipped cream, because the hot and cold food was all packed together in 2 bags instead of the hot in one and the cold in another. $24 for 2 pieces of carrot cake that together would have been a single piece anywhere else.

I don't know if they are trying to recoup cost at the customers expense, or if they just don't care about the quality of food going out to take out orders, but it left a lot to be desired for the enormous price we paid. Today's take out orders are tomorrow's dine in customers... except for this one. I can't see myself spending that kind of money again for food that is THAT disappointing. I would rather spend that on a restaurant that delivers quality food.... unfortunately we are out a good part of $ as my husband and I both threw our meals out and settled...