wolfgang puck grand cafe in evanston

My Mother's coming to visit and really wants to visit "the wolfgang puck restuarant" I've never been. Does anybody know what the price range is there and does anybody have any recomendations???? I've searched for it on the forum but to no avail. Wolfgang's website doesn't even have a menu. I would appreciate any information anybody has.
Thanks

It's ok. Good desserts, good burgers, good tortilla soup, good drinks, good service. Very comfortable, easy cheap parking at the garage across the street, and, of course, as convenient as can be when you want to take in a film at the fine Evanston GoogolPlex. Mom will like it. Take her to a movie, too!

Absolutely nothing memorable about WP's in Evanston. Overpriced, overrated. Well, maybe not overrated, but it certainly leave me questionning Puck's reputation. Here's to the value of public relations.

If you must, go for lunch, have an Asian salad and be done with it.

So many much better restaurants in Evanston.

I think if it weren't called Puck it would be less disappointing. It's a perfectly OK place--just nothing special. I agree there's a lot of "good" about it.

I must take exception only to sundevilpeg's reference to "easy cheap parking" across the street. That garage confuses the living bejeesus out of me every time I go in. I don't know what it is about it, but I follow the signs and can still end up circling the same level three times without progressing to the next one. That garage is actually a disincentive to my seeing movies at that theater (or going to Puck's afterwards); only when that theater is the sole place playing a movie I want to see do I end up going there.

Chicgail, not to be argumentative, but you're sort of missing the point. We all know there are better places in Evanston, but the OP's mom specifically asked to go there - this isn't the time to get creative. Have a salad, some tortilla soup, a burger, a nice dessert, and see a movie, and you keep mom happy. If she wanted to go to, say, Oceanique, or Trattoria DOC, she would have asked!

Riddlemay, I occasionally have the same problem with the parking garage - it seems to be configured to confuse. What's more embarassing is that I/we use it frequently - the Customary Dining Companion loves the Evanston GooglePlex's auditorium seating and interesting choice of movies, and I use it EVERY SINGLE &*?! SATURDAY during farmer's market season. You're not alone!

As for price points, I went to Wolfgang's once and have never returned. Here's why: I ordered the "chopped vegetable salad" for $7 or $9. I got a plate with what could only have been an entire $.60 bag of thawed frozen mixed veggies dressed with a basic viniagrette (you know, the ones with the factory-cut squares of carrot.) It tasted like it, too.

Granted, that was the only item I ordered there, and hopefully, hopefully it wasn't representative - but I think this is not a place where you're getting bang for your buck, if value is a concern.

Everything you have all said is what I was expecting. I feel my mom just wants to go there because its wolfgang puck. Being that I live in evanston, I never really heard anything about it. And mom does live in chicago, so she's had some of the best food the city has to offer. I was afraid she would be dissapointed. She wants to go there but at the same time she asked what I knew about it. So I figuted I would ask you guys.

Go across the street to Chef's Station for a much better meal - without the upcharge of a famous name who rarely, if ever, visits his namesake.

I've heard wonderful things about chef station, any dishes that I can't go there without trying??? Any recs??

Chef's Station menu changes, so I can't recommend anything specifically, but it all depends on what you and your friends are in the mood for - I've never had anything there I was disappointed with.

babyd28 wrote:I feel my mom just wants to go there because its wolfgang puck. Being that I live in evanston, I never really heard anything about it.

Not to knock Wolfie too harshly... the guy has some good restaurants... but the cafes are NOT among them. It's been a while since I've been in one, but a baby step up from Cheesecake Factory with a similar vibe is what I remember. So, decent enough food, but nothing that would be in any way notable coming from any other chain restaurant. Though he's become an irritating caricature of himself, Puck can turn out some good grub. But if he's what your mother is looking for, don't bother with the cafes. They're the bastard children of Puck the endorsement hound, not Puck the chef... and it's a massive, massive difference. If she's dead set on it, hey, I understand how that goes, but expect disappointment.

Dmnkly wrote:If she's dead set on it, hey, I understand how that goes, but expect disappointment.

That is, if you ever get out of the parking lot.

sundevilpeg, I was really glad to read I'm not alone in this, and feel especially validated (no pun intended) that you find it this way even though you park there on a regular basis. Because every time it happens to me, I say, "Oh well...I'm sure if I came here more frequently, I'd eventually learn the secret of this confounding place." To know that you go there all the time and still can't figure it out makes me know they've really got a problem there.

Just as an FYI, Puck no longer owns this restaurant. He sold it to Art Hill, the real estate developer who has his office in the same building (behind the Chili's.) This happened 3-3 1/2 years ago.

Thanks Lynn, that explains a lot. I'm not saying the place was Spago back then, but now it's not much better then the Puck's Cafe at Ohare in the United Airlines terminal. Originanly they had a few good seafood items (they had a raw bar when it first opened, but that barely lasted a year) and they had lots of infused vodkas for special martinis. Then all of a sudden they only have a few.

Do they still do that? Clear tanks of vodka filled with candy canes or cherries etc?

I haven't been in there for awhile, but mainly because of what I call the 'Chili's effect' where movie goers either go to Chili's or Puck's, waiting to get in, when they could walk a few blocks to dozens of other less crowded choices.

And that garage is like an M. C. Escher painting. I'd rather street park, especially on Farmer's Market days.

I also agree about the parking lot - I often park on Church and Chicago (or at the Library, if I'm going to be less than two hours) in the lot under the mid-rise. It's a bit of a walk, but not too bad.

A worse parking lot is the one under the Best Western - the extreme incline on those ramps make me feel like a cracker tumbling down a conveyor belt...

The parking under the best western is scary. when i was leaving i had to ask my friend if that was how you got out the incline is so steep. it feels like you're going to fall off the edge!!!

My only problem with the Best Western parking lot is that the public spaces are always full whenever I try to go in there. Also, as much as I hate to be a contrarian I've never had any trouble with the Maple Street garage.

babyd28 wrote:I've heard wonderful things about chef station, any dishes that I can't go there without trying??? Any recs??

I've had my best culinary experiences there with the tasting menu, and in the past it's been a very good value, too. They also have wine flights with the tasting menus, but the wines were not as impressive. Be sure to reserve, tho, since I think they were on Check Please within the last couple of months (altho with the weather we've been having lately, that may no longer be a problem).

If this WP outlet is in any way similar to the now closed WP location in Warrenville, I'd not recommend it. While the menu was interesting the food was bland. However, I did enjoy the soups.

Full Disclosure: I had other issues with this location (service, cleanliness, etc.). I sent an email to the corporate offices and received, what I believed to be, a sincere response. My family was asked to return (at their expense), but they closed before we got around to it.

Flip