City Works (Mellody Farm - Vernon Hills) — Restaurant in Vernon Hills

04/04/2024

After my son's Navy Boot Camp graduation, he expressed to me and his dad that he was in need of a fat, juicy, and delicious hamburger with some SWINE on it, lol. He stated that he was tired of the military food that he had to endure during basic training. I found this restaurant on Yelp and I'm so glad that I did. Upon entering this establishment, we were greeted by one of the friendliest hostesses that I've ever encountered. She asked if we preferred a table or a booth and I was happy that she gave us the choice on where we would like to be seated. She handed us the menus and told us to enjoy our visit. Next, our server came over and introduced herself as Angelica. She was also friendly and welcoming. Angelica exercised great customer service skills and professionalism. Moreover, for our drinks, my son ordered a lemonade, hubby ordered an Arnold Palmer, and I ordered a White Sangria cocktail and a Golden Honey Margarita on the rocks with salt on the rim. We all enjoyed our drinks, especially me, lol. The White Sangria was refreshing and bubbly. I think I liked it more that the Golden Honey Margarita, which was also tasty. As for our food, we started out with some appetizers while we browsed the menu. We started off with the spicy shrimp and the crab fondue. Although they were not spicy at all, I absolutely loved the spicy shrimp appetizer! They were flavorful and fried to perfection with a nice crunch to them and drizzled with a red sauce. The crab fondue tasted amazing and would have tasted even better if I did not have to play tug-of-war with the toasted bread that it was accompanied by. That bread was so darn hard that I felt like I was going to pull my teeth out from all the pulling and tugging, which discouraged me from fully enjoying this appetizer. I let my son and my husband have at the crab fondue while I stuck with the spicy shrimp, lol. My son was so hungry for some food other than military food that he didn't seem to notice how hard the bread was. He and my husband devoured every bit of it, lol. Now for our main entrees, my son knew right away which burger he wanted as he looked at the menu. Remember he stated he wanted a burger with some SWINE on it? Well, there was a Bacon Cheese Burger sitting on the menu with his name written all over it. My husband is a burger lover as well, but chose a burger without the swine, the City Works Burger. I ordered something a little on the healthier side, pan seared salmon accompanied by a mixture of vegetables which included butternut squash, Brussel sprouts, tomatoes, and corn. We all enjoyed our food to the upmost. Everything was absolutely delicious! My son said that his bacon cheeseburger was soooo good and that the bacon was nice and crispy. My husband said that his burger was divine. They were both so fat-full by the end of our son's celebration meal and were sitting slumped over in their seats, lol. The salmon on my entree was cooked to perfection, possessing a moist and flaky interior with a juicy and tender texture. The vegetables were as equally as delicious as the salmon. Overall, City Works is a lively establishment with a vibrant and energetic ambiance that serves great tasting modern American cuisine. It is centered in the Mellody Farm Shopping Complex of Milwaukee Ave. in Vernon Hills. They are fully equipped with several large HDTV's which is great for sports fans and such. Customer service is amazing. I highly recommend them for anyone who is from out of town visiting the Chicago area. You will definitely find delicious and excellent quality food here! Thanks for making my son's graduation celebration dinner an awesome dining experience. We felt right at home! It was as if we never...

City Works is a fantastic option when eating in Vernon Hills and especially Mellody Farm. The food is great, the waiters were great, and the TVs provided a nice atmosphere to watch sports while eating. I actually ended up eating here twice in a row because the nearby breakfast restaurant accidentally gave away my family’s table so we just went to City Works. Even the breakfast/brunch items are good. I got some pretty fancy chicken and waffles that were so sweet yet savory. There are some problems, though. First off, there was an unmarked leak right over a seat at my table, likely from condensation from the air conditioning. Next, the servers accidentally started giving my table the wrong food, and then realized it was at the wrong table and served the same dishes to another table. A plate that has touched my table should not be served to another table. Lastly, the atmosphere was weakened by the hallowness of the dining area and also that one of the side big screens wasn’t working. These cons didn’t really affect my dining experience, so I still give City Works a high rating!

Edit: I came here again for my birthday and the food was fantastic. I had the City Burger, which I highly recommend. I also had Nashville Hot Popcorn Chicken as an appetizer; the chicken was very good and quite spicy. For dessert, I had the PB Snickers Pie, which has an Oreo crumb base, then peanut butter mousse, then caramel and peanuts, whipped cream on top, and caramel and chocolate sauce on the plate. Oh baby this was one of the best desserts I have had in a while. I bumped the food rating up to 5 stars because of the burger and the dessert.

Update: Back at it, City Works in Melody Farm. The food was amazing, both the BBQ Chicken Flatbread and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich were full of unique flavors. The flatbread was pretty big and had a great balance with the sweet tangy BBQ sauce controlling the dynamic. The grilled cheese had brisket and the bread was golden crisp. The service, however, wasn’t golden. The waitress was clearly rushing to close and didn’t really talk to us. I’ll keep my...

I so wanted to like this place. Took my family here tonight after my daughter's end of year dance recital. My wife was not real interested in going, but we convinced her. Now I feel really bad about it. Sitting for an hour before our entrees came, told 30 minutes prior that the kitchen was working on them and then again 15 minutes after that that the impossible burger was just being plated. The waitress was young and did not know how to handle the situation. When the food did come, the burgers all seemed fine but the chicken sandwich (bun and chicken) was dry and hard as a rock. The chicken and the fish & chips must have been sitting under the warmer for a long time (I suspect the burger order was 'lost', but the other 2 meals were made and instead of bringing them out, they sat them under the warmer). Of course the chicken sandwich was for my wife, who had not eaten all day and was not interested in coming here in the first place. Needless to say the restaurant did nothing but deduct the chicken sandwich, which was immediately sent back (and nothing ordered in return). Why serve food that was in that condition? We had already waited an hour, would have been better to be honest about the situation and bring fresh food (and offer a dessert or something for our trouble). Seems the staff here could use some customer service training. Suggest going to Shake Shack instead if you're in the area....Danny Meyer knows the importance of the customer experience. I am not one to leave bad reviews, but in this case the business did not even attempt to make things right when given the...