Harmony Grille

I'll be at Schuba's for the "Arrested Development" premiere Monday night, and since I'll be headed right from work, I may as well have dinner at their restaurant. It's been a few years; any highlights there? I remember their fried chicken being decent, not as good as Evanston Chicken Shack or Hecky's but ahead of my one taste of Cajun Charlie's. Still around that level? Any other high (or low) points are appreciated.

Well i'll tell you parking still sucks around there.

grant wrote:Well i'll tell you parking still sucks around there.

I've never owned a car, so it's happily not an issue for me. But the times I've gone with friends, we've never had a problem with that parking lot a block or so west of the club on Belmont.

I like their fried chicken and the mac & cheese. And the crabcakes are pretty good. But for god's sake, do NOT order the french onion soup. If I was French, I would have gone into the kitchen and bitch-slapped the cook.

I want to get better at posting about food outings...had dinner at Harmony Grill last night before a show at Schuba's, so I'll start there.

I thought dinner was surprisingly good for a restaurant attached to a bar/venue. Here's how it broke down:

* Service was whip-fast (water on the table instantly, menus and a pile of foccacia-ish squares quickly followed). The bread was fairly dreadful--stale, flavorless despite the melted asiago on top--so avoid it at all costs.

* Siena salad: mesclun mix with the requisite cranberry, gorgonzola, candied walnut toppings. A nice portion, but the lettuce was a bit wilty, and gave off an old basil-ish flavor.

* Smoked tofu chili: A strange combo, but it worked. The chili had a nice kick, though the ensuing heartburn kinda sucked.

* Reuben sandwich: Take a pass. Whatever meat they're using is cut wrong, leathery, and the cheese was a stringy, bland mess.

* Crab cakes: Rave reviews from the eater, though I didn't try.

* Mac-n-cheese: The layer of buttered, browned bread crumbs on top is worth the order alone. Everything underneath was perfection: mac had a nice toothy bite, and the creamy, buttery, cheesy blend that held it all together was good enough to lick from the dish. The "small" portion was plenty enough to go around the table for a tasting size.

* Cheddar cod: Deeeelish. The woman who ordered it swore she wouldn't eat it all because she didn't want to go to the show in a full-on food coma...and promptly scarfed the entire serving.

Unless I lived in the neighborhood or had an insatiable craving for that mac-n-cheese, I probably wouldn't make a point of going to Harmony. But if you're going to a show at Schuba's, it's definitely a good option.

Harmony Grill
3159 N. Southport
773.525.2508