Bar Parisette — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I hate writing reviews like this. Sadly, we were really disappointed with the food/service at the restaurant. The service: once seated, it took close to 15 minutes to get our drinks and, oddly they brought only half the drinks while the rest of the party continued waiting. In ordering the second round, the same thing happened. Although the staff was very nice, the service was slow which made no sense since the restaurant was not very crowded. The food: we ordered the oysters (which were part of the happy hour menu of $2 each) and they were really good. As were the olives. However, the rest of meal was somewhat flavorless. The food, like the drinks earlier, came out staggered for half the table. Leaving the others to wait or start to eat. The halibut was cooked well but had absolutely no flavor and it arrived luke warm at best. The chicken, also arriving somewhat cold, lacked in flavor as well. The two steaks ordered were just ok, but the fries were all over cooked. Our friend had the steak tartar and enjoyed it. We were really looking forward to having a new french restaurant in the area, but don't think we will return unless it is for the happy hour menu of oysters and olives. ...

We dined at Bar Parisette tonight. Service was excellent. The round leather booths are elegant and comfortable. Ask for one when you make your reservation. Chef Madalyn Durrant ran food to tables, which was nice because it provided the opportunity to compliment her on our favorite dishes. We ordered everything on the menu, except the chicken liver, the tartare, the lamb, and the burger. While everything was good and competently executed, the best items, which are truly exceptional, are:

1. Carrot Salad (honey, coriander, honey, Moroccan olive)
2. Sunchokes and wax bean salad with pollen
3. Halibut en Papillote with root vegetables
4. Roasted Chicken with carrot caramel
5. Soft Serve Ice Cream (salted vanilla/blueberry lavender twist)

I liked the spaciousness of the restaurant, and there are some beautiful and fun design elements, like whimsical wallpaper, sparkly gold epoxy floors in the washroom, beautiful light fixtures, and those beautiful round leather booths.

Many of the wines are a bargain, including $8 glasses that were uncommon and memorable. Matt Sussman made our evening extra special by sharing his wine knowledge.

2829 W Armitage...

My experience at this restaurant was disappointing.

Let’s start with the appetizer—I ordered steak tartare, which was my mistake, as I didn’t realize it was completely raw beef. Unfortunately, it was not to my taste. I asked the waiter about it, and he kindly offered to replace it with something else. I opted for the céleri salad, which was actually very good. However, I found a large walnut shell in my salad, which I felt under my teeth. Since they had already offered the replacement for free, I didn’t mention it and just left it on my plate.

For the main course, I ordered steak frites. While ordering, the waiter asked if I was okay with it being raw, to which I specifically said no and requested it to be cooked medium. And yet, when it arrived, it was raw. To make matters worse, they didn’t even provide a proper steak knife.

Service was another issue. It seemed like they were short-staffed—we waited too long for the waiter to take our order, and while other tables had water bottles, ours did not. We had to wait quite a while just to get a refill.

Overall, it was not a good experience, and I wouldn’t recommend...