Central St. Cafe, Evanston

Wednesday, the inimitable Evanston Lunch Group™ visited one of Evanston's newest venues, Central St. Cafe. Quick impression - simple foods, high quality ingredients, with many of the primary ingredients made in house.

But before ordering, we had to make fun of the menu. The dinner menu features several "pasta's" and "entree's," and spaces before leading parentheses appear to be an infrequently exercised option.

What we ordered:

Handmade Burratta is described as being filled with heavy cream - the center was a bit creamier than the exterior, but it ddidn't exactly match the description. The tomato and basil side turned it into a do-it-yourself caprese (although there is was a separate caprese salad, presumably more traditional, as well as a caprese sandwich, also on the menu).


House-smoked Salmon had a nice, not-overpowering smoke on it, which went well with the mixed greens lightly dressed in a hazelnut vinaigrette. It was one of two smoked salmon dishes — the other being a Norwegian lx-style salmon.


One of the more interesting openers was the "Classic" Caesar Salad — lightly grilled Romaine, proudly proclaiming "no eggs" in the dressing. Not exactly classic, but it worked well. I especially enjoyed the slight char on the lettuce.


Croque Monsieur was offered either Panini-style or French-style (i.e. finished on a Panini press or pressed and sauteed in a skillet). With the French Couple joining us, we went with the latter preparation. It was a tasty version of this old classic sandwich.


The Greenfield Farms Herbed Pork Loin panini was good, but not exceptional. I think a little stronger herb treatment might have improved it. Bread was very good.


St. Germaine — a combination of chicken breast, tomato, arugula and brie, was a little tough to eat, being served on a large roll. But the flavors balanced out nicely.


Central St Cafe's Grilled Cheese panini uses smoked gouda, and teams it with Nueske bacon and oven-roasted tomatoes. Again, a nice combination of flavors.


A Tomato Bisque Soup was slightly chunky, and had a fairly intense tomato flavor.

Prices are reasonable — the priciest item on the dinner menu is the NY Strip steak, sliced, at $16.95. The wine selection for purchase in the market section looked fairly extensive and well-chosen. The beer selection had some interesting choices, a few standards for the unadventurous, but thankfully I didn't see any BudMilCoors products.

Central St Cafe is a great addition to the neighborhood, which shows some real promise. With so many seasonal items on the menu, it'll be interesting to see how the offerings evolve with the seasons. It's not a bad choice if you're in the mood for someplace casual, and you're in Evanston or environs. There's a tiny parking lot, but metered street parking isn't tough.

Central St. Cafe
2800 Central St.
Evanston, IL 60201
847-864-4444

I've eaten at dinner Central Street Cafe a few times. The food is fresh with some interesting twists, overall it is pretty solid with a couple of minor misses. For the price it is a good choice for a casual dinner/lunch or you can enjoy a couple appetizers and a glass or two of wine, the wines are well chosen and affordable. Since there are no reservations accepted I recommend getting there early or late, anything after 7 and the wait can be a little long (1 hour) during the weekend, though you can enjoy a glass or two of wine while waiting.

Stopped in for a quick lunch at Central St. Cafe. Found the space quite odd (part dining room, part wine cellar).

I ordered their Croque Monsiuer




Friend ordered their Roast Beef




Offered chips or salad as a side. Though my sandwich was tasty, given the price I don't think I'll be rushing back what with Evanston's other sandwich options.

Very nice shots. The beef looks a bit dry. Did you try it? If so, how was it?

=R=

Very nice shots. The beef looks a bit dry. Did you try it? If so, how was it?

Beef was fine, no problems there. The bread was the tough part. The bigger problem was, I also thought the onions were a little off -- a little undercooked and bitter I think. On the other hand, the mesculan salad on the side was great, will probably try a salad next time

I suppose I should have posted on this place when we ate there back in December.

We moved to the neighborhood mid-December (about five blocks away) and one Friday night found ourselves at loose ends, so we toddled on over. They were doing a fairly good business and most tables in the house were full.

I didn't post for one simple reason: things just didn't make a particular impression. Everything was "fine" but nothing was so particularly good that we've gone back in the two months since, closeness and relative lack of options notwithstanding. (You have to understand: we moved from Andersonville/Lakewood-Balmoral where the options were extraordinary, including multiple GNRS in walking distance.) My recollection is that everything was good but nothing particularly noteworthy. My one distinct memory is of the Lovely Dining Companion's app: asparagus wrapped in ham (no, not prosciutto). The ham slices were very good, but they were so large and so thick that the asparagus got lost. It was like eating rolled up slices of (very good) ham.

I don't remember the glass of wine I chose but I do recall that it was one of the best "by the glass" choices I've had in years. And I remember that the portions were so huge that we ended up taking a lot of food home.

I'd go again, I guess, but don't see us rushing.

P.S. Now, then: we ate at Quince about a month ago. I haven't posted on that either. But THAT was a meal. Wow! Absolutely stellar. We will go back there soon and, I hope, often.

Gypsy Boy wrote:(You have to understand: we moved from Andersonville/Lakewood-Balmoral where the options were extraordinary, including multiple GNRS in walking distance.)

The options along Central Street itself are limited, but when you take in the rest of Evanston as well as nearby areas, the options are every bit as extraordinary. Examples include GNRs like Edzo's and Al's Deli for lunch; upscale places including not only Quince but also Oceanique, Chef's Station, Campagnola, and the Stained Glass; ethnic places like Thai Sookdee, 527 Cafe, Cross Rhodes, Yolo, Libertad, Kabul House; deep-dish at Malnati's and Giordano's (some people like Burt's too); Walker Brothers for breakfast; and, if you like to cook at home, purveyors like the Spice House and Zier's Prime Meats. Explore with an open mind and you'll be pretty darn impressed with what's close by.

Including Mustards Last Stand and Little Island, both serve great burgers and hot dogs, but for premium dining you might consider Bluestone, very popular with locals and for breakfast definitely try Symphonies, a notch above regular places.

I suppose Bluestone and Symphonie's are OK, but I'd go to Prairie Joe's Diner 10 out of 10 times before either of those. And I'd rather starve than have to eat at Mustard's Last Stand ever again. Awful. AWFUL.

I'll second Prarie Joe's. Surprisingly good and inventive. Although I have not been there yet, I have read good things in this site about Charcoal Oven, which is also nearby.

Jacky's on Prairie just re-concepted as Hota, featuring Latin fusion cuisine. I haven't yet read any reports here about what it's like now, and haven't been there yet either.

Don't forget Poochies, Herms, Pita Inn, Edzo's, Bop and Grill, Soulwich, Hoang Leong, Avril and you are
within striking distance of Argyle and Devon and Katsu, Wolfys and Juliana on Peterson as well as any number of great Korean places. I wonder if Evanston may be the burger capital of the world right now? We do have to annex Dempster, though.

And last but not least WASC.

bw77 wrote:We do have to annex Dempster, though.

Duly noted. We will begin building a wall of fried salami along McCormick, posthaste.

Evanston: the reason Skokie never became a great naval power.

bw77 wrote:Evanston: the reason Skokie never became a great naval power.

Bolivia shares their pain.

From Chicago magazine's Dish column:

Dish wrote:Evanston’s Central St. Café landed Dave Najman (Glenn’s Diner) as its new executive chef.

Central Street Cafe is closed. I have mixed feelings; the new owner was definitely a step in the right direction (imho) but he's gone now too.