The Stained Glass Wine Bar, Bistro & Cellar

All:

Couldn't find this place discussed on LTH. Could anybody shed some light on this venue for me or else help guide my blind ass to the distro where this restaurant might be dissected on LTH.

Thanks!

P.S. - Thinking about trying the place out this weekend. I hear that the wine is good and that the atmosphere is a loud, French-bistro-type setting.

The Stained Glass Wine Bar, Bistro & Cellar
1735 Benson Ave.
Evanston, IL
@ Benson and Church

I like Stained Glass a lot.

Scroll through this thread and you'll see an excellent writeup from Chinola, with a few followup comments from yours truly.

There are several other mentions, but that's probably the best link.

We had dinner at the Stained Glass last night with another couple. This place has been on my radar for years but for some reason a visit has eluded us. We made up for that last night.

I dont mind living on the North Shore, but come Saturday night, or any night when we go to the trouble of booking a babysitter and actually making plans with another couple, I like to go out to eat in the city because I find that the North Shore lacks restaurants like Sweets & Savories, West Town Tavern and May Street Market, in other words, trendy but laid back dining "destinations" not just stops on the way to a movie at Northbrook Court.

I was impressed by what is going on over at the Stained Glass. We had a great meal, several great wine flights and didnt feel like we were in suburbal hell. We will definitely return.

We started by sharing five appetizers among the four of us. We had the Thai-Spiced Beef Salad with baby bok choy, organic baby greens,wasabi mayonnaise and soy vinaigrette, the escargot (which was prepared in a non-traditional panko crust), the baked artichoke with spinach, mushrooms, gorgonzola cheese and brown caper butter, a surf "flight" and the grilled crabcakes. Everything was delicious, fresh and prepared in an interesting way. The artichoke was huge and very savory, the cheese and brown butter really worked together nicely.

For dinner I had the Tuna Trio which consisted of tuna sashimi, Pastrami spice crusted tuna and tuna tartare all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. My wife and dining companions had the Halibut, rack of lamb and filet. The filet was served with a “pot-au-feu” of braised ox tail and beef shortrib which was just stellar. Everyone was very happy with their meals.

The wine program at the Stained Glass is really nice. They offer 30+ wines by the glass and have 10 or 12 pre-grouped wine flights which consist of 3 half pours which run between $12-$20. The flights are grouped by reds and whites and descend from lighter to more full bodied choices as the flight progresses. One complaint my wife had is they do not offer any pre=selected flights which progress from white to red or vice versa. They were very accomodating and allowed her to put together her own flight which she enjoyed immensely. The flights are an excellent value and the pours were very generous.

I am very happy that we discovered The Stained Glass and they were able to accomodate us with a reservation on short notice. The restaurant was hopping, the service was friendly, the atmosphere was definitely non-suburban and most importantly the food and drink were excellent. I hope some of you enjoy The Stained Glass as much as we did.

The Stained Glass
1735 Benson Ave
Evanston, IL 60201
847/864-8600

iblock9 wrote:I dont mind living on the North Shore, but come Saturday night, or any night when we go to the trouble of booking a babysitter and actually making plans with another couple, I like to go out to eat in the city because I find that the North Shore lacks restaurants like Sweets & Savories, West Town Tavern and May Street Market, in other words, trendy but laid back dining "destinations" not just stops on the way to a movie at Northbrook Court.

The Stained Glass is an excellent restaurant in this genre, but it is not the only such restaurant on the North Shore. Evanston has a bunch more, including Chef's Station, Oceanique, Jacky's Bistro, Jilly's Cafe, Quince, and Pete Miller's. Further up the North Shore are Michael in Winnetka (my personal favorite of this entire group) and Gabriel's in Highwood. If you include more traditional French food, you've got three bistros, Miramar and Froggy's in Highwood and Cafe Central in Highland Park, and one high-end splurge restaurant, Carlos in Highland Park. All of these are excellent "destination" restaurants, as good as (or even better than, IMHO) the places you mentioned in the city.

nsxtasy wrote:All of these are excellent "destination" restaurants, as good as (or even better than, IMHO) the places you mentioned in the city.

I dont disagree that all of those restaurants mentioned are excellent. I haven't been to Quince yet, but all of the places you mentioned are not what I would describe as young, trendy laid back or hip. Fine restaurants but not what im talking about.

iblock9 wrote:I dont disagree that all of those restaurants mentioned are excellent. I haven't been to Quince yet, but all of the places you mentioned are not what I would describe as young, trendy laid back or hip. Fine restaurants but not what im talking about.

It's odd you should say that, because I would not describe Sweets and Savories or May Street Market (or the Stained Glass) as any more "young, trendy, laid back or hip" than Chef's Station or Michael or most of the others. In fact, if anything, I think Chef's Station and Michael, in particular, are MORE "young, trendy, laid back and hip" than those others, with the same casual/fun vibe as S&S only more so, as reflected in touches at Chef's Station like the denim pockets holding the flatware place settings, and the seated backsides painted on the wall above the dining room, and in Michael Lachowicz's personal style and friendliness at his namesake restaurant. To the contrary, when I ate at May Street Market, I found it somewhat more staid and less casual than most of this group (and I was hoping the food would be better than it was - not that it was bad, but some of the dishes, like the bleu cheese cheesecake, sounded terrific but didn't wow me in person).

To each his own, we found something to our liking in The Stained Glass that we havent typically found in suburban restaurants in general, although we like plenty of suburban restaurants too. Nsxtasy what are your thoughts on the Stained Glass?

iblock9 wrote:Nsxtasy what are your thoughts on the Stained Glass?

I'm not all that much of a wine aficionado, so the food matters more to me than the wine. And from the food standpoint, I think it's excellent, based on the last time I ate there, a few years ago. (The fact that I haven't been back is not any reflection on its quality, but rather, a reflection on my tendency to want to try new places more often than returning to ones I've been to, even ones I've liked a lot. Sometimes fate intervenes, though, such as today, when I planned to try Guan for the first time but found them closed, tried Cuetzala Gro but found them closed too, and ended up going to Campagnola, which I've been to several times and really loved tonight - see associated topic for details.)

We have dined at The Stained Glass a few times and every time it has been great. My favorite is the Filet Mignon potato galette with oxtail “pot-au-feu” and shallot Cabernet butter, the addition of the oxtail puts the typical offering of Filet Mignon over the top of most restaurants, and the very tasty potato galette adds another dimension to the entree. We usually finish the night with the Port Flight which is a good bargain.