Grape in Westmont

Went to Grape tonight.

Good staff, many of them Serbs. They have a Serbian menu of specials. Being Italian and Irish, I can't vouch for the authenticity.

Two couples. We had:

Beef Stroganoff- prepared tableside, not over noodles. The beef was excellent, the sauce was great, it was the best dish of the night. I would definitely order this if I went back.

Sea Bass- Good piece of fish, buttery, firm, and moist, with sun-dried tomatoes and light cream sauce. Great, but at $28 bucks, a bit pricey for the burbs.

Lamb Chops- OK, a bit overcooked. Even if cooked right, there are better lab chops out there.

The 4th dish was off the Serb specials. It was rolled up pork with a type of Serbian cheese. It looked like a deep fried sausage. Not my type of food.

For apps, we had some decent escargot, and our friends had the scampi appetizer before we arrived (long story- my son 12 y.o. passed out in the shower in the a.m. and had to get stitches, plus tests at Good Sam- he is fine).

Between us, we had the above, plus 3 salads and 1 soup and creme brulee for dessert.

For drinks, 4 glasses of wine, and about 8 beers total. Total bill was $263 before tip.

I'd go back- the staff was very accomodating, but I can't call the place great. I thought it was a bit expensive. But the service was great. They really care about what they are doing, and the hostess, Vladana (she of the outstanding (yet classy) belly shirt), wanted to know what we really thought about the food.

They've been open for 8 weeks.

Address, please?

244 N. Cass Ave
Westmont, IL 60559
5 - 10 PM, M-F

Sorry, no idea about phone #

Just had to chime in here, as a friend and I went to Grape a couple of weeks ago. My friend and I being female, we didn't notice any belly shirts, but our main observation on the place was that the waiters were HOT!

We decided to order from the Serbian menu, and for an appetizer chose the Serbian salad. This consisted of four melon-ball sized balls of spiced, spreadable cheese, accompanied by a couple of olives. Fortunately a basket of bread had been brought to the table, so we ended up spreading the cheese on that. I don't know how we were supposed to eat it, and it wasn't my idea of a salad, but it was quite tasty!

For an entree, we both ordered the breaded pork, which was rolled and filled with cheese and resembled a torpedo, among other things. The breading was a golden color, and when sliced, the white soft cheese oozed out, so it was dubbed the "meat twinkie." And me without my camera!

The flavor was good, about how you would expect pork and cheese to taste, but the meat was a little pink and my companion was a little squeamish about that. Also, the portion was quite, ahem, large, so the dish was quite filling. (ew, sorry!)

We found the dessert menu underwhelming. The only unusual item to me was crepes suzette, but I'm not really a big crepe fan and we ended up skipping dessert in favor of coffee alone. Was a bit surprised that they did not offer cappuccino in a fine dining establishment.

All in all the bill came to about $74 for sodas, appetizers, entrees, coffee, tax and tip. A tidy sum in my view, although it is a lovely room and they did have a pianist and an excellent strolling violinist.

I enjoyed the ambiance, the service and the inadvertently comical entree, but am in no rush to go back....