McCormick and Schmick Old Orchard

We happened by there today. We didn't know it was coming or that it had opened, but I asked and they've been open a couple of weeks. We did some shopping and called to see about a 5pm reservation. It was no problem to get a table at that time. We brought our two young children. They don't have chocolate milk but they have a kids menu with all the usual choices to make them happy. There was only one sparkling wine on the menu but it was Moet, so I was happy. The rest sof the wines by the glass seemed reasonable. We ordered a dozen oyster, a sampler platter because we didn't recognize any of them, but one called Imperial Cove from Samish Bay, WA was outstanding. The others were tasty too. Husband wished there was a dollop of horseradish on the side of the cocktail sauce like at Shaws, but there was just cocktail and mignonette sauce. I had the New Bedford Scallops with carrot ginger broth and bok choy. The broth was more like a puree and I couldn't detect any ginger and the bok choy was sadly overcooked. This dish could have been 10 times better. I could have made it better myself. The scallops themselves were fine, fresh and sweet. Husband had a trout dish with mushrooms and asparagus. We couldn't find any mushrooms. We were suspect about it being trout because the fillet was so thick; it was like no trout we'd ever seen. It tasted good though. There were some accompaning mashed potatoes that would have been good if they were hotter. AT the temp they arrived, they were quite stiff. They have warm french bread and butter on the table. There are some nice tables in private alcoves. At 5pm it wasn't busy. By the time we left at 6:15 there was a half hour wait. Overall, I am being very tolerant of the whole experience because I am so happy to have another choice at Old Orchard. I get full just thinking of Maggiano's. Next time, I will order something like grilled salmon hoping that things will improve after they are running for a while. We didn't order dessert because small children can only behave for so long. But we could see that they bring the tray around for you to view the dessert choices ( with all the usual suspects in the line up.) Our server was good and she handled the kids well. We will go back because we were jonesing for decent seafood in our locale. And I think a restaurant needs to run for a while to adjust to their customers etc.... Good luck to you McCormick and Schmick, may you live long and prosper (and improve)!!

I've eaten at McCormick and Schmick's in other cities and have found that they're far better at grilled fish dishes than they are at dishes that may require a more deft hand in the kitchen.

As a rule, it is never great. But, it's always a good fallback when traveling in a strange place where one might not have a lot of time to research dinner options.

My subjective experience (it's hard to remember flavors from years ago and A/B them to more recently experienced flavors) is that M&S--the one on Chestnut--was pretty good when it first opened, then became mediocre. (One factor may be that in recent years I've only been there for lunch, and ordered from the lunch menu--maybe if I had dinner there again I'd think they were better, but maybe not.) It's not just that they're "not all they could be"--it's that they don't do a very good job of cooking fish! No matter what I've had there lately, it's been overcooked, dry, and flavorless (at least in terms of any flavors that should be emerging from the fish itself). Are they doing this on purpose, i.e., gearing themselves to people who want to go to a fish place but who don't really, when it comes down to it, like fish? Could be. There are probably more people like that than people who actually enjoy fish, so maybe that works for M&S as a business plan. But it's weird and ironic that a place that hangs its hat on fish should do fish less well than five hundred other places in the city that just offer it as a choice.

riddlemay wrote: But it's weird and ironic that a place that hangs its hat on fish should do fish less well than five hundred other places in the city that just offer it as a choice.

Red Lobster comes to mind as another one.

We've been there twice for group business dinners (OK, drug company presentations) and been roundly disappointed. Can't be certain that the multiple service gaffes we've experienced in the second floor banquet rooms apply to main floor dining, but wouldn't be surprised. Twice in a row, tables set with missing silverware at some of the seats (took the three of us who were seated without knives over 20 minutes to get them after multiple requests of our servers.) Really dirty wine glasses. And most importantly, not very good fish -- too-salty salmon one time, and overcooked tilapia the second. Not to mention mediocre crab cakes that had way too much filler and what tasted like a too-heavy hand with the Old Bay. We were looking forward to going there on our own dime, but no longer.
>>Brent

riddlemay wrote:It's not just that they're "not all they could be"--it's that they don't do a very good job of cooking fish!

My husband said something similar in response to my saying that next time I would order something simpler, like grilled salmon. "When youcall yourself a seafood restaurant, every fish dish should come out of the kitchen prepared correctly - not just the easy ones!" They go to all this trouble to tell you how their menu is printed daily according to what they get in... but they need to spend some time on getting the fish in harmony with the other components on the plates and of course, making sure they don't ruin the fish by cooking it too long/too little or oversalting. In our case, the oysters/fish/shellfish on the plates was good and cooked properly, it was the sauces and the sides that were in need of some fine tuning.

My husband and I were there with two other couples Saturday night, Dec. 29th, too. We had a 7 p.m. reservation and were given one of the round tables in one of the curtained alcoves. Our table was the best part of the evening. We hadn't eaten at McCormick & Scmick for many years. We used to go to the one on Rush St. We found the food to be mediocre last night with, for the most part, very small portions. Our sourdough bread was not warm. We had a bottle of New Zealand sauvignon blanc which was very good but, after pouring the wine, our waiter just left the bottle sitting on a napkin on the table. He did not keep it iced and never returned to pour it again. The crab chowder was cold and had to be sent back. I had the same scallop dish as mentioned above, with the same results. I found the scallops to be salty, the bok choy to be limp and the "sauce" a puree. My husband had the walleye which was overcooked. The plain grilled salmon and white fish were fair so they couldn't even properly cook a plain grilled fish. And the white fish portion was a joke it was so small. Our table also had the breaded tilipia which the person thought was very good and he got two large pieces of fish----the most generous portion of any of our selections. Someone else had the stuffed salmon. We had one order of the apple pie for the table which we enjoyed. I forgot to mention that the runners who brought our dinners had no idea who had ordered what. They looked at a dish, guessed as to what it was, announced what they thought it was and then placed it in front of someone. They thought the salmon was trout. When corrected, they twice tried giving the salmon to my husband who had ordered the walleye. Pluses were that they kept bringing more bread (even though it was never warm), refilled our water glasses and coffee. We also were left alone, even after paying the check, and not rushed out of there. All in all, I picked it and was sorry that I did. We won't be back.

Unfortunately, our experience at the Schaumburg location last month mirrors the less than glowing reviews here.

We decided to start with an appetizer that was described as a flash fried tempura tuna roll. Imagine or surprise when the plate came out with 5, 1/8 of a inch thick, slices of what looked to be raw tuna. We inquired with our server if this was the right appetizer and he said it was. On closer inspection we could see a paper thin layer of tempura around each slice. The tempura layer was soggy and cold.

My husband had the seared tuna with cucumber salad. He said it was perfectly cooked and a very good quality piece of fish. However, it was a very small portion and he left the restaurant a little hungry.

I ordered the cashew crusted tilapia with hot butter rum sauce. I was very excited to try this dish, as Davis Street Fish Market had a similar one on their menu that I loved, but took it off the week M&S opened as Davis Street was afraid they would be accused of copying a national chain (Full disclosure: my hubby is a server at Davis Street).

The Tilapia was overcooked to being chewy and rubbery. The cashew layer was bland and tasteless. It was topped with a delicious tropical fruit salsa, but the Hot Butter Rum sauce was also very sweet. So pairing with the salsa made the dish a bit "sugary".

The service was very attentive and the wine list was good. Overall, we decided that we probably would try the place again for lunch or maybe for some shellfish dishes. However, With both Shaw's and Davis Street a stone's throw away, plus some good sushi restaurants, M&S won't be at the top of our list for destination dining when it comes to seafood.

Kim

tonirogerspark wrote:I am being very tolerant of the whole experience because I am so happy to have another choice at Old Orchard.

There are two other very good seafood restaurants in the immediate vicinity, both serving very fresh seafood, both just south of the mall on Skokie Boulevard: Don's Fishmarket, a long-time independent favorite just south of Old Navy on the east side of the street, and Bonefish Grill, a recently-opened location of this national chain on the west side of the street in the same strip mall as Edwardo's.

We had a horrible office Christmas party lunch at the Schaumburg location recently. Random points:

1. My walleye was lamely prepared, dusted in cornmeal and baked with no other sauce. Bland, which is tough to pull off considering how tasty of a fish it is.

2. Tilapia portions were generous but unmemorable tastewise.

3. Grilled shrimp and steak "special" for $18.95 was a joke; 5 shrimp were dinky and not grilled while the 5oz top sirloin was so raw that the guy at our table (who loves medium rare) couldn't even eat the center of his.

4. He was forced to order that weak special because we were informed the corporate policy is to not allow the dinner menu to be offered before 4pm...so basically he couldn't order a "real" steak like he wanted to. What a senseless policy on the surface, not offering the dinner menu when someone requests it...only at a corporate place would you see such a policy.

5. Many of the wine prices by the glass are a joke...the 8oz glass of Ray's Station cabernet goes for $13.50...a good wine but highly overpriced...I bought a bottle of it at Binny's a couple days later for $10.99.

6. Of the 4 appetizers we ordered, all were average at best.

7. Service was fine but nothing great.

...I guess it goes without saying that I'll never be back to a McCormick & Schmick's on my own dime. It is a complete headscratcher to me as to how they keep opening these new locations.

I also ate at the schaumburg one a few weeks ago and had the tilapia as well. like you said unremarkable. While I thought the portion size was great the taste was not there. The description makes you salivate but it was surprisingly bland. My wife had the salmon on a plank. Which was good but not great. I make a way better salmon.
We started with the muscles which were pretty good though skimpy in portions compared to other places. There were probably 15 in the order. The sauce was good as well, so at least I could use my cold bread for something. Then had a cucumber salad which while tasty the menu led us to believe it was a bit nore. We also had the lobster bisque. A favorite of mine so I try it at every restaurant. This had to be the most peppery bisque I have ever had. I actually thought I would start sweating. Different but not great.
We also brought our daughter who ordered lemonaid. Fresh squeezed but with very little sugar added. She could not drink it as it was closer to pure lemon juice.
Over all I thought the fish was fresh but not exciting. Both entrees were cooked fine but lacking in complexity and overall taste. But still, It is way better than the Damons that was there. One more note ...Almost 15 percent tax on the meal..................damn schaumburg is getting pricy.

I have some pics but am confused on how to post em....any help would be appreciated[/img]

davecamaro1994 wrote:I have some pics but am confused on how to post em....any help would be appreciated

You need to upload them to another website, one which is publicly accessible via links from external websites. Once you do that, you can right-mouse-click on the photo (when displayed on that website after uploading) and look under "properties" for its URL (website address). Copy that URL into your post here, preceding it by "[ img ]" (with the brackets but without spaces or quotes) and following it by "[ / img ]" (again, no spaces or quotes).

Bigmamma wrote: We found the food to be mediocre last night with, for the most part, very small portions.

That about sums it up in a nutshell.

After much indecision about where to go for dinner last night, we happened upon McCormick & Schmick ( Old Orchard ). After being led to our table by a less than enthusiastic hostess, we were greeted by a friendly-enough (albeit) low-talking server --- I couldn't understand a word coming out of her mouth.

The bride ordered a Mahi Mahi dish which was grossly overcooked, accompanied by rice, which, could only be described as "crunchy". I ordered Alaskan Halibut which was also semi-incinerated, served with a lukewarm side of mashed potatoes.

I would have normally complained to the management about things such as this, but, I didn't have it in me last night. We just wanted to get out of there---

2 salads, 2 entrees, 2 soft drinks, = $ 69.00 (before tip)

Ugh. I'm not a complainer. I'm just not. I'm usually too hungry to complain and then... too tired. But last night was pretty bad.

My wife and I were heading to Renga-Tei and, of course, learned it was closed on Tuesdays. As we were figuring out where to head next - WHAM - we were involved in a auto accident. (Not my fault - WHOO-HOO!) One hour or so later, after exchanging info the with other driver and the Skokie Police Department, we were too hungry to care and whatever good ideas we once had were doused by the auto mishap. We both needed a drink.

We almost went to UBAA Inn. Notice "almost." This was the second major mishap of the night.

Instead, at McCormick and Schmick's, I started with the Maryland Crab Soup - it REALLY tasted canned. I don't know that it was, but the veggies did not taste fresh and the crab was very hard to locate.

I ordered the Ahi Tuna and it was cooked properly - seared on the outside and otherwise rare. The fish itself was fresh. It was served with Asian-ish accompaniments such as wasabi-like paste, picked ginger, some pieces of rice-laden nori rolls, cucumber salad, and soy sauce. It even came with chopsticks. But the tuna was seared in a CAJUN seasoning. I think the menu said, "blackened." I'm not sure what I was expecting... but it didn't work. Not even close. Emeril seasoning met Japan and, um, no.

My wife's brie stuffed salmon was over-cooked. Generally I think brie fixes most things in life, except this salmon.

Our dessert was a trio consisting of creme brulee, bread pudding and a berry cobbler. I'm a sucker for bread pudding, so I really can't give an accurate account on that dish, but two others were just okay. By this time my second gin and tonic had hit, my neck was sore from the accident, and I wanted to go home. Fool us once...etc.

riddlemay wrote:My subjective experience (it's hard to remember flavors from years ago and A/B them to more recently experienced flavors) is that M&S--the one on Chestnut--was pretty good when it first opened, then became mediocre.

That's been my experience with M&S. Precisely.

Nowadays, when I want good seafood in the northern suburbs, I drive right past M&S and go to Mitchell's Fish Market in the Glen Town Center in Glenview. As with any seafood restaurant, there are three ingredients to success: (1) absolutely fresh seafood, (2) appealing preparations, and (3) flawless execution. And they are superb with all three. I ate there again yesterday for lunch. I passed up the kung pao calamari (which is superb) and instead had their tasty mussels to start out. I followed this with their "shang hai seafood sampler". I like their shang hai preparation, in which they steam seafood and serve it with a soy-ginger sauce; the sampler consisted of a strip of salmon, two nice-sized shrimp, and two nice-sized sea scallops. Yum!

I wish Shaw's was still in Deerfield.

nsxtasy wrote:

riddlemay wrote:My subjective experience (it's hard to remember flavors from years ago and A/B them to more recently experienced flavors) is that M&S--the one on Chestnut--was pretty good when it first opened, then became mediocre.

That's been my experience with M&S. Precisely.

Just idly wondering, now, whether there was a change in ownership that caused the downward shift in quality when it happened. Like, when M&S opened its first locations here, the business was still owned by the original owners, but then they sold out to the consortium that owns Fuddrucker's, or something.

riddlemay wrote:Just idly wondering, now, whether

RM,

Have you been to M & S pre and post ownership change? I'd be interested in your take/comparison of the food, service etc.

Gary

G Wiv wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Just idly wondering, now, whether

RM,

Have you been to M & S pre and post ownership change? I'd be interested in your take/comparison of the food, service etc.

Gary

Oh yes. I've posted about it upthread. But I forgive you for not remembering that, because it's been a while (in terms of time, if not in terms of how far you have to search upthread).

(But first of all, an ownership change is a conjecture on my part, about which I'd like to know more. When a place falls off a cliff, it's natural to wonder whether a change in ownership is the reason, and I'm wondering.)

Rather than repeat everything I wrote in the post I've linked to (which nsxtasy excerpted just yesterday), I'll simply add that M&S, when they first opened here, seemed to be everything the bad M&S is not. The fish tasted fresh. It was properly (i.e., not over-) cooked. Flavors of grilling were prominent. Waitstaff gave the impression of knowing something about the food they served. The place reminded me (albeit in a very different setting) of the late, lamented Chestnut Street Grill. (On the service point, I haven't experienced "bad" service at the new M&S--waitstaff remains friendly and competent--but somehow the service feels generic and uncommitted to the particular, presumed ethos of the restaurant. But since the food itself is also less committed to that original ethos, that's hardly surprising.)

Thanks. We walked in and walked out Saturday. Something did not seem right at the front of the house and your reviews confirm my suspicion. I really liked the one in Baltimore. So maybe they are all not bad places for fish. I like the fish course at Al Primo Canto and Kinzie Chop House better. Yep, the Brazilian meat place does fish.

So it was decided that my grandma's 87th birthday was to be celebrated at said restaurant. Considering it's a few blocks from where she lives & venturing further would prove difficult, in no way was I going to complain.

As for the meal, the family had a bunch of shrimp appetizers (which looked decent), but I passed to save room for the main course.

I was deciding between a mahi-mahi (miso glaze) and the ahi tuna (sushi style). I got the mahi-mahi, my mom got the tuna & we split. I'd done the miso glaze once prior at cheesecake or grand luxe and it was surprisingly good. This however... The fish was dry, the sauce not so good & the wild rice dry. If you're going to serve a dry piece of fish, at least give a good amount of sauce to compensate.. The tuna however was very good. Considering it was served "very rare," it couldn't have been overcooked. It had great flavor. Came with the usual soy/wasabi/pickled ginger fix-ins. Definitely a solid bet.

As for dessert, we shared five (amongst the eight of us) - an apple pie, a creme brulee, a chocolate lava cake, a "chocolate bag" & a black raspberry sorbet. They pie & brulee were pretty standard. I liked the lava cake. The bag wasn't to my liking & the sorbet was great to wash down the huge meal.

Ultimately, I see this place as rather hit or miss. The waitress commented that they change the menu twice daily, so it might be hard to give a recommendation.. Basically, pick a piece of fish they can't overcook/mess up.. A sushi-grade tuna is pretty safe considering you can't overcook something when you only cook it for about 30 seconds. And for dessert, the lava cake or sorbet would be a safe bet too.

Nothing special, but I wouldn't object to eating there again knowing what I know now.

nsxtasy wrote:

riddlemay wrote:My subjective experience (it's hard to remember flavors from years ago and A/B them to more recently experienced flavors) is that M&S--the one on Chestnut--was pretty good when it first opened, then became mediocre.

That's been my experience with M&S. Precisely.

Nowadays, when I want good seafood in the northern suburbs, I drive right past M&S and go to Mitchell's Fish Market in the Glen Town Center in Glenview. As with any seafood restaurant, there are three ingredients to success: (1) absolutely fresh seafood, (2) appealing preparations, and (3) flawless execution. And they are superb with all three. I ate there again yesterday for lunch. I passed up the kung pao calamari (which is superb) and instead had their tasty mussels to start out. I followed this with their "shang hai seafood sampler". I like their shang hai preparation, in which they steam seafood and serve it with a soy-ginger sauce; the sampler consisted of a strip of salmon, two nice-sized shrimp, and two nice-sized sea scallops. Yum!

I agree 100%. If you want seafood in the Northern Subs head to Mitchell's Fish Market. I've eaten at Mitchell's many times and the food is fresh, simple and consistent. They also have a fair priced wine menu and nice comfy booths.

I've been to the M&S in Skokie 3 times since it opened and I've been disappointed each time (the first visit was my choice. . the latter two were to attend dinners set by others).

I won't elaborate other than to say that there wasn't a single dish that stood out in my head from these visits, and on my last visit the king crab legs were flavorless and the shells were not hard. They didn't crack as much as they tore. . but hey - there were the official crab legs of the tv show Deadliest Catch!

Ghazi wrote:king crab legs were flavorless and the shells were not hard. They didn't crack as much as they tore.

Lobster and crab shells are soft after they molt. Another indicator they may have just molted is whether or not the meat completely fills the shell. If there was room to spare and a soft shell, then this may be crab harvested soon after molting. Ideally, it is best to get crab and lobster just before they molt, because the meat really fills the shell.

Do you think you had a crab harvested just after molting?

Regards,

Ghazi wrote:I've been to the M&S in Skokie 3 times since it opened and I've been disappointed each time (the first visit was my choice. . the latter two were to attend dinners set by others).

Is that going to be 3 strikes and they're out for you?

I sometimes will go to a place more than once, even if I had a so-so meal when I like the vibe of a place, if I see something else that looked good, or if they have a big menu.

Cathy2 wrote:

Ghazi wrote:king crab legs were flavorless and the shells were not hard. They didn't crack as much as they tore.

Lobster and crab shells are soft after they molt. Another indicator they may have just molted is whether or not the meat completely fills the shell. If there was room to spare and a soft shell, then this may be crab harvested soon after molting. Ideally, it is best to get crab and lobster just before they molt, because the meat really fills the shell.

Do you think you had a crab harvested just after molting?

Regards,

Interesting point. The meat did not fill the shell, which i guess would indicate it was post-molt. Beyond that, however, the legs were flavorless and it really seemed as though they'd been sitting around before they were served, as they were almost lukewarm, rather than hot. I'll have to head to Bob Chinn's to redeem myself.

McCormick and Schmick Old Orchard serves butter at the correct temperature and has very clean bathrooms.

fin

gastro gnome wrote:McCormick and Schmick Old Orchard serves butter at the correct temperature and has very clean bathrooms.

fin

No comment on portion size?

SueF had gotten a pair of $50 gift cards to here, so we thought we'd try it out after an afternoon shopping at Old Orchard.
We ordered just one entree in order to try a number of other things.

App of calamari frito misto: the carrots were an odd choice, but the fried artichokes with the garlic aioli, and the jalapeno slices were nice additions. Calamari itself was tender and crisp-breaded, and a generous portion. The only knock is that their marinara is rather chunky and thus is less than optimal for dipping.

The monthly special of crab and corn soup was quite nice; I could have done with a crabbier flavor -- cream was more prominent.

The walnut and blue cheese salad was pretty darn good too.

The entree was where they fell down. We ordered the shrimp trio, figuring there'd be fun things to share on there: stuffed, scampi and fried shrimp. When it arrived, though, it seemed like a bit of a joke: a big pile of green beans, a big pile of orzo, and the other half of the platter looking rather empty, with eight, rather small-looking shrimp: two stuffed, three fried, three scampi. All were tasty (although the scampi were overcooked -- hard to grill them at that size), but I felt like for half the $27 price, Fred Gobster would have been a better choice -- no worse for quality and certainly better on quantity. Literally, the shrimp portion was half the size of the calamari in the app.

Service was friendly and attentive, and we've got the other GC to spend... but we'll choose something else for entree, or perhaps just feast on starters.

Mr. Pie and I went to the one in Rosemont last month for our anniversary. We found the entree (mahi mahi with a macadamia crust and chile lime sauce served on udon noodles with veggies) incredibly bland, and considering the prices, don't see a reason to return. It was a shame, considering they supposedly specialize in fish.