Norton's [Highland Park]

LTH,

Had the pleasure of going to Norton's in Highland Park this week, though I was a bit apprehensive as a client of my wife's suggested Notron's so Mr. Rib Maven could try his favorite ribs which usually leads to me nodding, smiling and trying to find something, anything, polite to say. Though in this instance I was in for a pleasant surprise.

I liked the place the moment I walked in, Jeff, one of the owners, welcomed us like he really meant it, set us up at a table, even though the other couple had not arrived, made sure we had drinks, and generally made a couple of obvious first timers comfortable. Menu leans toward upscale bar food, which is appropriate as Norton's is ostensibly a bar, though with comfortable tables, no cig smoke and good service, with a few dinner entree and specials.

We started with a nice sized portion of shredded onion rings, crisp, greaseless and served with a kicky horseradish sauce on the side. Ellen had tilapia baked in parchment paper, Jeff said this was a big seller and I can see why, nice size portion of fish resting on a bed of fennel, onion, carrot and celery, which lent the mild fish additional flavor.

Norton's Tilapia in Parchment Paper


Bob and I had ribs and his wife a nice looking blackened salmon sandwich w/sweet potato fries.

Blackened Salmon Sandwich (missing a bite )


I freely admit I'm particular when it comes to BBQ, which in my world view absolutely necessitates interaction with wood smoke, Chicago style baked, slathered with sauce then crisped under a broiler, pork ribs are not BBQ and, frankly, it irks me more than a little when restaurants call them such. I'm not saying baked ribs can't taste good, just that typically this type of rib is baked/steamed or (god forbid) boiled into submission, slathered with a sticky sweet BBQ sauce and crisped under a grill. The 'eat it with a spoon, it's all about the sauce boss' meat jello school of pork ribs is, to say the least, not my cup of tea.

Right off the kick Norton's gets points for not calling the ribs BBQ on the menu, Jeff being up-front about baking them in a pizza oven, and making their own BBQ sauce. The moment arrives, ribs come, both Bob and his wife are waiting for my reaction, my wife is positioning herself for easy access to kick me (hard) under the table if I say anything snarky, but, as Gomer Pyle says, "surprise, surprise" not bad, not BBQ, but pretty darn tasty baked ribs.

Norton's Baked Ribs


Norton's Chicago style baked ribs were the best example of the style I've had. Very meaty and the piggy flesh still had come chew, though they were more tender than I like, and the sauce, while sweet for my taste, had elements of tart. A run under the broiler lent a nice crispness and caramelization, and, while the cole slaw was forgettable, I liked the sweet potato fries.

If I lived in the area I could easily see myself going on a regular basis, I'm betting the burgers are quite good and the place has an easy going feel I like.

Norton's


Enjoy,
Gary

Norton's Restaurant
1905 Sheridan Rd
Highland Park, IL 60035
(847) 432-3287

I work in HP and hit Norton's frequently for lunch. I think the quality of their food is outstanding, as is their hospitality. It's a bit pricey but that's Highland Park. The pricing is in line with other places in town but the quality is at the very top end of HP's offerings.

I've never had their ribs -- like you Gary, I smoke my own and have become very snobby about them over the years. But, I just may give them a whirl, now that I've seen your take on them. I usually opt for their over-stuffed, outstanding and somewhat non-traditional club sandwich, chili or a burger. They turn out a very nice order of sweet potato fries too. Indeed, everyone is very accomodating at Norton's and that's another reason why I keep going back. But the food is great and no amount of great service could keep me returing if the food weren't spot on.

Sometimes, if I arrive early to pick-up my order, I'll sit at the bar and enjoy a Blue Moon from the tap with a wedge of valencia orange. A nice pre-cursor to lunch

=R=

Although I have no credentials to rival Gary's or ronnie_suburban's, I do consider myself a self-styled burger curmudgeon. Now I don't mean that in the sense of kobe beef+foiegras, would-you-like-truffled-fries-with-that? snobbery. I'm more interested in whether the burger is a good representative of its type. I'm just as happy with a place known for what ReneG termed "sliders and such"* as I am with an Allen Bros. burger home-grilled on a perfect summer night. Unlike Gary, I have no public attempting to persuade me of the charms of their favorites, but I have been known to summon all my diplomatic skills to endure an evening of "best burger" claims. I am happy to say that my experience with Norton's burger paralleled Gary's experience of their ribs. Norton's burger falls into the "nice hunk of meat" category vs. the 30's style burger oft discussed on this board. The cheeseburger exceeded my expectations in terms of 1) quality of the meat, 2) grill expertise (nice browning while maitaining cool center) 3) adequate melting of cheese and slight browning of bun, which in its own right was good--not too sweet as some buns are these days. Service was attentive, even on a busy Saturday evening, and we weren't rushed out, even though we somewhat overstayed our allotted time slot. I'd definitely return to Norton's regularly if it were nearby.

*"Sliders and Such" is the name of the dive burger joint I'm going to open in my next life. (after paying ReneG for the trademark, of course).
Come to think of it, might be a nice name for a virtual dive chatroom. . . Does anyone know if such a thing already exists? Could make a nice SIMS add-on. . .

HI,

I live a short walking distance from Norton's and never visited until yesterday due to these posts.

My intent was to get the hamburger until I read the description, "lean and juicy." I don't consider lean or low fat hamburger to be very flavorful or even juicy. At $9, which is steep for a half pound hamburger, I would rather go to Charlie Beinlich's which is roughly a ten minute drive for me.

Instead I had their steak sandwich, which was a strip steak, grilled and served on garlic bread. I was definitely in for a red meat fix. I didn't particularly taste the garlic in the bread and somehow the meat seemed bland to me. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good, it was definitely neutral.

I did like very much the sweet potato fries, which were crisp on the outside though nicely soft and sweet on the inside. They were definitely worth a return trip.

I am intrigued by the baked ribs. While eating them in-house, you're not allowed to split a plate. Instead I will order them on take-out just to satisfy my curiosity.

While I wasn't in love with the food, I can understand people's response to the friendliness and efficiency of the staff. I presume it was the owner behind the bar who does keep tabs on everything going on. I will certainly give this place another try, maybe a corned beef sandwich or a Rueben.

Regards,

Greetings,

I visited the owner's previous store - "U Dawg U", in Niles/Skokie more than once and the food there was always average fast food but the "circuses" were above average.

So I tried NORTONS. Nicely breaded but rubbery/overcooked/frozen Calamari. "Bland as a napkin" French Dip" Italian beef sandwich, and the worst French Onion Soup I have ever had - imagine bathtub caulking instead of cheese floating on the top of your soup bowl. The french fries were below average/typical frozen fries.

The calamari had canned (Campbells)? soup as the base for it's marinara sauce - I am not exaggerating! Just soup with thickeners and a touch of cayenne pepper. The french onion soup tasted EXACTLY like the the au jus Dip for the French Dip sandwich. Again, I believe, from a can. The cheese was virtuallly impossible to eat or dispose of.

Again, better than average circuses if you like to watch Norton walking around kissing the regular's wives at their tables. Other than that, the worst fast food experience I think I have ever had and an expensive one at that.

I eat at/take out from Nortons all the time. It is very close to my house and is nothing if not consistent. It is a very friendly, neighborhood place that does several things well...not great.

We eat here because this is the kind of place where you are not embarrased to take a one year old. It is loud and they dont mind him eating off of our plates. There are lots of other kids around...always. They give you free popcorwn when you walk in, it is a kid friendly kinda place....in spite of nothing on the kids menu for less then $7.00 (we just dont bother with ordering for our son)

They have a good turkey burger and a nice bbq chicken salad. they have a nice patio (front and back)and pretty decent sweet potato fries. You can get in and out of there quickly if you eat early even on sat night (this is a big deal with a baby). The owner used to run Mages on Dempster, then Irvings in Wilmette and then U Dawg U. Simply put, this is a great local highland park place that isnt that different from what I am sure are other great little places like this from Joliet to Antioch. We eat here because it is good and easy...and my wife is a popcorn-a-holic

4 items done consistently well at Norton's:

Burgers
Club Sandwich
Sweet Potato Fries
Chili

I've had a bunch of other tasty items there but these are the ones I find myself going back for. It's a solid place, especially for its genre. It never would have occured to me to order calamari there because it just doesn't seem like a 'calamari' kind of place to me.

And yes, they are very nice there. When I go there to pickup carryout and it's not ready -- usually a function of my arriving early -- they never fail to offer me a beverage, on the house.

=R=