Longman & Eagle — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I’m giving this place 2 stars because the food wasn’t terrible and the service was excellent.

I came here as someone who isn’t from Chicago and was looking for something different to eat on a Sunday evening. I was a little skeptical looking at the menu online because I have a very picky tasting pallet but I still decided to give this place a try.

Our waitress was amazing. She gave phenomenal service and answered all of our questions. But I was very disappointed in the food.

We started with the vegan dip and the liver spread. I personally didn’t try the liver spread but the others described it as lacking some added taste to cut the intense flavor of the liver.

Moving on from the apps, we ordered 4 different dishes: Chicken Milanese, Swordfish, Tortellini and the Smash Burger. The swordfish came out first and the portion size did not amount to the $30 price tag that it came with. I also felt that the taste of the fish was hidden under the intense amount of flavor from the added toppings on top of it.

Next we had the Smash Burger which, while it wasn’t terrible, it gave the taste of plain cheese burger you could get from any other restaurant.

A bit after we got the Tortellini and the Chicken Milanese. In regards to the Tortellini, it was great. I personally love pasta so I found it wonderful but we only received 8 pieces and even if we didn’t share the dishes and I had gotten it on my own.. that would not have sufficed as a main entree. Also, the Chicken Milanese was amazing as well. I really think this was the only dish I couldn’t complain about due to the flavor and the amount matching up to what I was anticipating when choosing this restaurant.

Overall, I wouldn’t go back to this place nor recommend it to anyone I know. I think they need to rethink the pricing of the menu vs the actual portions that are being delivered or heighten the flavor profile of the dishes to make you forget the lack of food...

Longman and Eagle: a no reservations, casual dress eatery with a clear affection for niche ingredients, classic american fare, reasonable prices and exceptional value. Absolutely delicious. I cannot wait to go back.

The service was impeccable: the stated wait time was longer than we actually had to wait, which is always a wise policy. Our server was the ideal blend of available without being intrusive, and the interaction between ourselves as diners with the staff was casual enough to be friendly without verging into the obnoxious. Further, the staff was willing to claim the blame for our mistakes (I brought a bottle of wine that I new was likely to have a crumbling cork, but I forgot to mention this before they opened it. The server apologized and made a phenomenal effort to make sure no cork got into the decanter...not her mistake, but nicely handled.)

As for the food: one would expect most dishes to be average, a few to be exceptional, and a few to be unpleasant. Overall, our experience was heavily skewed towards excellence. The large majority of the dishes were both exquisite in taste, lovely in presentation, and exciting in conception.

In short, Longman and Eagle was fantastic. It exists at a nearly ideal intersection between familiar types of dishes executed in unusual ways and combinations, between a pleasantly special environment that is still comfortable, and between luxury food at reasonable prices.

As a final bit of perspective, it is worth mentioning that some other restaurants that I would personally compare in terms of the quality of the food would be Blackbird and Sepia. In my opinion L&E exceeds the Publican and the Purple Pig in terms of raw dining excitement, although they are in tone and presentation somewhat of a piece.

I would wish you good dining, but if you're going here, it...

Update again 2024: Yes, Longman and Eagle has become our regular spot when in Chicago. This time we were celebrating a major family event and the team at Longman and Eagle put together an amazing pre fixe family style menu for our large party. Always a great time with wonderful food and cocktails.

Update 2024: Had the pleasure of visiting again and still one of my favorite places to grab a fun cocktail and a delicious meal.

This place is a gem hiding in plain sight. We stopped in around 4PM looking to grab dinner but the kitchen opens at 5; we grabbed seats at the bar for cocktails while we waited. The bar staff was very friendly and we learned they were serving their family meal in the back room. The staff jokes around like brothers and sisters, great bunch of people creating a fun atmosphere. The cocktails were very good and the hour went quickly. Moved to our table for dinner and ordered. Every dish that came out was superb. This is just a local bar/pub but they don't seem to know that. Highly recommend the pork neck meatball (insider tip - add an order of focaccia, it's not on the menu but they will happily do it), delicata squash with goat cheese, caramelle pasta and branzino (beurre blanc was delicious). Everyone in our party picked a different dish as their favorite so you know they were all great.

Since dinner was so much fun we decided to go back for lunch another day. Again, the staff was fun and friendly and the food was amazing. I got the breakfast sandwich with sausage stuffed bacon (who ever thought of this needs an award) but asked to substitute the english muffin with their house-made sesame onion bialy. What a messy heavenly lunch. Again, everyone was very happy with what they ordered but I will stick with my choice next time I am fortunate enough to...