Asiago Restaurant: Schaumburg

Last weekend, Mrs Ramon, B, and I set off to Woodfield to buy more accessories for B’s Build-A-Bear. Decided to eat “around” the mall rather than in it and ended up at the Streets of Woodfield.

B ruled out Shaw’s. We liked Big Bowl when it first opened, but have been vastly under-whelmed by the food the last two times. Maggiano’s just seemed like too much. So went current and former LEYE choices.

We were left with some noodle place that I was sure would disappoint and the Asiago Restaurant. Asiago it is!

The room had a quite pleasant décor. High ceilings with the inevitable exposed duct work was somewhat obscured by some distressed wooden beams. Some light fixtures resembled artichokes. Several large tables had lazy susans in the middle.

You order at the counter where all the food is laid out for your inspection: entrees, pizzas, sandwiches, salads, and desserts. Do not expect authenticity – I doubt “Tilapia Bruschetta” is available in Italy. The salads looked particularly good and I’m not that kinda guy. Many wines are available by the glass.

They give you a number and bring the food out to you. The table was comfortable. Both my chicken parmesan and Mrs Ramon’s eggplant parmesan were quite delicious. The marinara sauce was light, sparkling fresh, with an appropriate sweetness. The coating on my chicken still had a bit of crunch. Both dishes tasted surprisingly like veal, which we judged a good thing. My penne was slightly over cooked, perhaps, but that’s the norm. The mozzarella was high quality. Portions were generous. B said her spaghetti (really linguini) was the best ever and they accommodated her request for olive oil so she could dip the tasty bread sticks we ordered.

I was expecting to be disappointed but was instead pleasantly pleased. While it was not exactly cheap ($35) for a meal where we pretty much had to wait on ourselves, I did not feel as if we overpaid. I don’t mind waiting on myself and would prefer to get my own drink refills than wait for a waiter. It’s ironic that I hate picture menus but love seeing the food before I order it, like at Mitsuwa. We left a couple bucks on the table, but nowhere near the 20% that would normally apply.

Back home googling I was shocked to find that this is not (yet) a chain – I had just assumed it was. They are soon to open one in Chicago, and I believe I saw the tenant panel at a new condo development on Harlem around Northwest Hwy (unusual location, if you ask me).

We will be back. You could do a lot worse in this mall eat mall world.

Asiago Restaurant
Streets of Woodfield
Schaumburg
847-330-0777

(double posted at Yelp )

-ramon

Asiago has appeared here before and I see now that they closed their shop on Randall Road in South Elgin. We were not impressed with that location and found the food pretty bland as you can read from my post last August.

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... ght=asiago

Ramon wrote:We liked Big Bowl when it first opened, but have been vastly under-whelmed by the food the last two times.

Has it been more than a year? Big Bowl has seriously upgraded since LEYE bought it back from Brinker.

Here's a post of mine from last year, and I think it's improved further since.
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=61041#61041

I can't think of many local Chinese restaurants using fresh water chestnuts, house-roasted nuts, their own candied citrus peel. The hot-and-sour soup, which starts with fresh pork broth, is among the best I've had. And I'm addicted to the house-made ginger ale.

Also Big Bowl(city):

I'd always meant to eat there, but hadn't until last month. I own Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients and have been curious as to his hand in sourcing and menu programming as per the above-mentioned.

Now, I dig a good Kung Pao chicken...this entails the correct balance of soy-salty and sweet and the fragrance of whole dry-fried red chiles(um...I'm probably in the minority, however...I eat these...or, rather, nibble on them...the smokiness and heat are integral to a decent prep of this dish imo).

So...had the opportunity to dine with a friend in the Viagra Triangle(he wanting pasta for a carb load)...me, wanting to offer something better outside the neighborhood...him, short on time...it occured to me to suggest Big Bowl.

Na und?

Their Kung Pao is pretty damn good. A smaller portion for a higher price(than the typical Chinese-American dive), but full-flavored...and replete with my much-coveted whole chiles.

Very good.

The potsticker combo less so...the dumplings were nothing more than what's available at any Asian grocer freezer case(I'm sure they're made in-house). The trio of dipping sauces diverting if none of them quite what I was looking for...

Anyway, if you can see beyond the typical yuppie s/m crowd and get to the food...good eats(this opined from my, admittedly, tiny sampling of the menu)...if you want kung pao yr good to go.

Dining companion ordered kung pao with noodles and enjoyed it well enough tho' deemed it a mite spicy(and he doesn't eat the chiles).

LikestoEatout wrote:Asiago has appeared here before and I see now that they closed their shop on Randall Road in South Elgin. We were not impressed with that location and found the food pretty bland as you can read from my post last August.

That one didn't last long, and with good reason. We tried it once, expecting to enjoy it, and, like you, were quite disappointed.

I've eaten at the Schaumburg Asiago several times and at work (right in the Woodfield area) we get catering from there frequently. Always been good. Their catering is

IMHO, it's worlds above the other very casual Italian in the immediate area... Pompei. Done pick up & dine in many times, trying to give them a chance, on different items and I've always been disappointed.

Re Big Bowl, I'll say this for it--I ordered something described as "hot" at the Ohio St. location, and to my amazement, it was hot.

riddlemay wrote:Re Big Bowl, I'll say this for it--I ordered something described as "hot" at the Ohio St. location, and to my amazement, it was hot.

Riddlemay,

What did you order that was hot/spicy and was it good/tasty or simply hot/spicy? I'd like to know in the unlikely event I find myself sitting down to eat at a Big Bowl.

Regards,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Riddlemay,

What did you order that was hot/spicy and was it good/tasty or simply hot/spicy? I'd like to know in the unlikely event I find myself sitting down to eat at a Big Bowl.

Regards,
Gary

I wish I could remember. It was more than a year ago. (I actually tried to remember before posting, because I knew this would be useful information, and if I could have come up with it with an acceptable level of confidence I would have.) My best, hazy, recollection is that it was an eggplant dish. And it was good/tasty in addition to being hot/spicy.

Hubby and I went by this place on Friday while in route to see Sweeney Todd at the AMC Loews next door. The lights were off and there was a handwritten "CLOSED" sign on the door, along with a legal notice of some type having to do with trespassing I believe.

The website Ramon posted is still up, but you get a lot of file errors.

Kim