Grillhouse by David Burke, in Schaumburg

This new restaurant just opened two and a half weeks ago, and it looks like I'm the first here to post a report on dining there. Four of us had dinner there last night, and it was excellent in every way!

The restaurant itself is quite large, with a spacious dining room and lots of rooms for private parties. It's modern and lovely. At the entrance, check out the fireplace with bricks made of Burke's signature Himalayan salt! They have a large parking lot. It's located just west of Woodfield Mall. (The former occupant of the space was a restaurant called Entourage.)

The menu is typical for an upscale steakhouse, with dishes that are appealing, although not as unusually creative as David Burke's Primehouse downtown. But every dish we had was excellent, not a clunker in the bunch. (I'll try not to repeat that each one was excellent - but it was. ) We started with several Caesar salads, along with two appetizers. The grilled octopus was incredibly tender, and the crab cake fritters offered a great contrast between the crispy outer crust and the tender, moist crabmeat inside. My companions ordered the dry-aged New York Strip and the Ribeye and pronounced them great. I had the beef short rib, which was tender and tasty and not overly fatty; it was pressed into a rectangular shape, served over a delicious bed of wild mushrooms and pasta. We ordered three sides, which probably weren't necessary; they were good albeit nothing all that unusual (green beans, potato puree, and creamed spinach). The desserts were really top-notch, much better than you find at a typical steakhouse. I love a really good financier (a French cake made with almonds) and their warm pear financier was one of the best. Their warm apple tart was also an excellent representation, better than most. The dinner included bread service consisting of thin mini baguettes served warm, accompanied by butter served on top of a small block of their Himalayan salt.

Service was efficient and friendly, with the only service flaw being an overeagerness by the bussing staff in clearing plates before all diners were done eating. (We mentioned this to the hostess on the way out and she called it "waitstaff 101" and promised to follow up on it.) The dining room was mostly full, and the noise level was rather loud, but not oppressive; it did not inhibit our conversation or force us to shout, like at some downtown restaurants.

I read in one of the reviews that this location is not owned by the David Burke Group the way others are (e.g. David Burke's Primehouse), but I'm not sure how that matters to those dining there.

All in all, this was an excellent meal, and we look forward to returning to the Grillhouse by David Burke again in the near future.

Grillhouse by David Burke
1301 American Lane
Schaumburg, IL 60173
847.517.1600

Visited during Restaurant Week for dinner. Three courses for $33. The portions were the same size as the regular entrees. My dining partner and myself both started with the lobster bisque which contained a shrimp wonton and diced apples. The bisque was poured from a carafe tableside. Points for presentation. The shrimp wonton filling was reminiscent of a dim sum shrimp ball. The top of the wonton wrapper was a little too thick and gummy. The bisque was very good; velvety, rich and delectable. This tasted like the same lobster bisque that is served at David Burke's Primehouse. I had the beef short rib with black truffle mousse on a bed of house made cavatelli. The truffle mousse was plated tableside and the short rib was fork tender. It came in a cream sauce that wasn't overpowering and had plenty of mushrooms. My dining companion got scallops on lobster risotto. You can discern pieces of lobster meat in the risotto and it was very rich. It also was topped with a handful of string beans. There were four large scallops and they were exquisite. My dining companion actually liked them more than Bob Chinn's Day Boat Scallops. We both went with Chocolate State of mind for dessert. The cake part wasn't dry but it wasn't moist either. As for bang for your buck, this was one of the better Restaurant Week deals. The entrees by themselves were each $29 and $31 respectively which made the $33 three course restaurant week menu a good deal. We will definitely return and my dining companion already has his eye on the Roasted Duck Breast, which looked extremely appetizing. The only thing that was a little out of place was hearing Green Day, 'Time of your Life' in the background. On a Tuesday night, the dining room was half full but the lounge was hopping.

thanks for review mkess, I work 1/2 block from Grillhouse & have been wondering about it.