Oak Tree Restaurant

The Oak Tree in 900 N. Michigan has reopened. Had lunch there with the missus today.

Nothing has majorly changed, cuisine-wise, and that's a good thing, in my opinion.

The decor has been freshened up considerably, with currently fashionable dark woods and suchlike. The menu, though, while graphically redesigned, has pretty much all the old familiar favorites on it.

Responding to a time when all people are going to be more price-sensitive, they have kept the prices reasonable for the quality and the neighborhood, and done it by making some smart choices, I think. For example, with the curry chicken salad and fruit platter, they have reduced the portion size of the chicken salad, but compensated by surrounding it with a greater variety of fruit. In other words, they've reduced the amount of the more expensive ingredient (the chicken), and filled out the plate with more of the less expensive ingredient (the fruit). But the fruit was wonderful! And the new portion of chicken salad is plenty anyway--there was always more than you should have been eating before.

The turkey club, likewise, was not a three-decker, just some turkey and bacon on some white bread. BUT--the turkey was excellent; it was the real kind, thick-sliced from an actual turkey, not the processed kind full of water and sodium. The bacon was in the upper tenth percentile of all bacon eaten. And the white bread was baked on the premises, and tasted like it. So while the eyes said, "Hey, what kind of club sandwich is this?," the tummy said, at the end of the meal, "I am fully satisfied in every way." Once again, shrewd choices have been made to keep menu prices down in the Global Economic Depression, while keeping quality up--perhaps raising the quality bar higher even than it had been before.

Now that I think back on it, I think the counter is gone, but I couldn't swear to it. I think that's where they found the space to put the bakery, which sells a variety of fresh breads and such, which we didn't inspect.

Long live The Oak Tree. We were nervous about a possible "reconcepting." There was nothing to be nervous about.

Oak Tree Restaurant
900 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
312-751-1988