Last night at Braxton's Seafood Grill in Oak Brook.

Hmm, I was going to say lots of great things then I remembered the beginning...

My Mom and I got there 20 minutes early and they didn't want to seat us, said our table wasn't ready. We said fine, we'll have a drink at the bar.

Now maybe I just don't know bars, but it was 6:40pm on a Tuesday night. We sat at a little table by the bar and just as I was about to give up on service and go to the bar to order drinks, a waiter comes by and takes our order. Then it was another 5 minutes before he brought our order which was just one mixed drink and one glass of wine.

Then another one of our party came along and tried to get our table. They told her it wasn't ready and they'd have it ready "closer to our reservation time". It was 6:59pm and our reservations were for 7pm. Well, then, the rest of our party showed up and they asked if we'd want to wait "a couple more minutes" to have a table in a "private room".

Now is where it started to go good. It was only a couple of minutes to get that table, and it was a great type of table for a group who only sees each other once a month and is there more for the talk that the food really.

Our waitress was named Janet, she was an older woman with light colored hair (blond or gray, I'm not sure). She was really wonderful.

Well, we ended up skipping appetizers and salads mostly, most of us ordered scallops in one form or the other, and only one of us didn't finish her entree.

My scallops were indeed smoked like they said, and cooked just perfectly. I decided to go crazy on the carbs and got the wild mushroom risotto and the sage potato gratin. I really liked the potato gratin a lot. I finished the risotto, it was good enough for that, but it was only some shitake slices to make it "wild mushroom".

We then proceeded to split a three scoops of ice cream dessert and a box of cookies dessert. The waitress had recommended these. Really good ice cream and very nice cookies.

Well, now they have all of our email addresses and birthdays and we'll probably end up going back.... Janet made us feel really welcome and she was a good salesperson as well...

It turned out to be $46 a person (a couple mixed drinks, 2 bottles of wine, entrees, 2 soups, one appetizers, and 2 desserts and 7 people).

Nancy

Have you looked at Mon Ami Gabi in Oak Brook Court? Cute bistro atmosphere and food. I've had several "dinner with the girls" there.

http://www.monamigabi.com/oakbrook/about/

Reza's, discussed upthread, is nicely decorated and comfortable and has a range of food that will work for almost anyone. I don't think it would be out of the comfort zone of your group. Had a group dinner there with some picky eaters but everyone was happy.

You mention Westchester Inn in your original post -- it's not the type of place you're looking for. It's basically a strip-mall diner with really solid Bohemian food, but that caters more to the elderly lunch crowd in my experiences there. I'm not sure they even sell liquor.

I would also avoid Grotto -- good food, but basically a steakhouse and IMO it wasn't worth the nearly $100/person tab for an outing much like you describe (cocktails, appetizers, shared sides, dessert). We went there just a few weeks ago. Try Ruth's Chris or Capital Grill if you want to spend that kind of cash, imo.

A few suggestions in the area that I don't see upthread that are along the same lines. A few are chains but I've really had nice experiences at them:

Around DOC wine bar, check out Brio Tuscan Grille.

Redstone Grill in Oakbrook Terrace.

I second the suggestion for Cafe Amano. They have recently added a small boucherie next door with some of the products from the restaurant as well as some other specialty items (including farm fresh eggs, yum).

I've also had a few nice lunches at The Reel Club, also at Oak Brook mall, but have never been there for dinner.

I'm sure I'm missing a few places (I've worked in the area for ~10 years and dine out after work with girlfriends pretty often). I'll check back if I think of anything else to suggest.

I've never had a bad meal at Westchester Inn. Good & plentiful Bohemian food (I just don't like their yeast kolacky). Very simple, formica-table type place. For more upscale atmosphere, try Bohemian Crystal...Westmont, I think. Actually closer to Oak Brook than Westchester Inn. Similar menu & quality, just a bit fancier (I usually opt for Westchester Inn...).

Looking for a place in Oakbrook to take a client for dinner and I'm not really familiar with the area. I would appreciate recommendations.

bw77 wrote:Looking for a place in Oakbrook to take a client for dinner and I'm not really familiar with the area. I would appreciate recommendations.

I go to that area a lot for business lunches. Many of the best places for a client dinner are in the mall (Oakbrook Center*, on 22nd between Spring Road and 83, right at the exit from I-88 westbound which requires you to use the manual toll lanes). These include:

Reel Club (seafood)
Mon Ami Gabi (French bistro)
Antico Posto (Italian)
Maggiano's (Italian)
Seasons 52 (American)
Wildfire (steakhouse)

Another good choice is just across the street, on the south side of 22nd:

Tuscany (Italian)

If your client is staying at the Marriott, that's next door to Tuscany and across the street from the mall. If the Doubletree, that's also across the street from the mall, to the northwest.

If I had to choose the best of these for a client dinner - an upscale place with very good food that is also comfortable and not overly loud - my top pick would be Reel Club, with Tuscany a second choice.

*Oddly, the town's name is Oak Brook (two words), but the mall's name is Oakbrook Center (one word).

In and around the Oakbrook mall is a good choice. The list above is just a small sampling. There are also Gibsons, The Clubhouse and The Cheesecake factory and a few others. Across the street is a Ditka's steakhouse. A little further west there is a Devon Seafood and Steak, and as you continue west there is a McCormick and Schmicks, Bennihana, Kona Grill and more.

It really depends on budget, taste and transportation needs. Im sure if you narrow it down for people here you will get some good suggestions.

You'll be about 10 minutes away from Vie Restaurant in Western Springs, which is a GNR. That's where I'd go, and avoid all those ho-hum chains, which you could have anywhere.

=R=

Vie Restaurant
4471 Lawn Ave
Western Springs, IL 60558
(708) 246-2082

ronnie_suburban wrote:You'll be about 10 minutes away from Vie Restaurant in Western Springs, which is a GNR. That's where I'd go, and avoid all those ho-hum chains, which you could have anywhere.

=R=

Vie Restaurant
4471 Lawn Ave
Western Springs, IL 60558
(708) 246-2082

It's funny, until nxstasy's post I did not realize how many Lettuce Entertain You resturants are in the Oak Brook mall. You are correct that a bunch of the resturants in the area are of the "chain" variety. My question to the poster was more about getting a little bit more in terms of specifics. There are many places near Oak Brook that are better than what is in the mall, but if they are limited by budget, transportation or dietary preferences then it obviously limits the choices. In addtion, is it an out of town client looking for a more "Chicago" resturant?

Vie is an excellent choice. Katy's Dumpling house is relatively close also and is another GNR

FWIW, four of the restaurants I mentioned - Reel Club, Mon Ami Gabi, Antico Posto, and Wildfire - are part of Lettuce Entertain You. Seasons 52 is part of the Darden restaurant group. Tuscany is part of the Phil Stefani restaurant group. Maggiano's is part of Brinker International, although it was originally started by Lettuce and there is still a cooperative arrangement with Lettuce in certain areas (e.g. gift card program, banquet booking). I believe Vie is still independent, although Perennial Virant, Paul Virant's other restaurant, is part of the Boka restaurant group, another one of those ho-hum chains.

thetrob wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:You'll be about 10 minutes away from Vie Restaurant in Western Springs, which is a GNR. That's where I'd go, and avoid all those ho-hum chains, which you could have anywhere.

=R=

Vie Restaurant
4471 Lawn Ave
Western Springs, IL 60558
(708) 246-2082

It's funny, until nxstasy's post I did not realize how many Lettuce Entertain You resturants are in the Oak Brook mall. You are correct that a bunch of the resturants in the area are of the "chain" variety. My question to the poster was more about getting a little bit more in terms of specifics. There are many places near Oak Brook that are better than what is in the mall, but if they are limited by budget, transportation or dietary preferences then it obviously limits the choices. In addtion, is it an out of town client looking for a more "Chicago" resturant?

Vie is an excellent choice. Katy's Dumpling house is relatively close also and is another GNR

I think you could do a lot worse than LEYE and the companion in this case may prefer something safe and conventional, which would make one of these chain outposts the perfect fit. But personally, I mainly try to eat at -- and take people to -- places that cannot be found elsewhere. I greatly prefer one-of-kind-type places. Some may refer to Boka Group as chain but since they only have 1 of each restaurant in their group, I don't really consider it a chain. These are all, at least for now, completely unique restaurants.

In any case, if the main purpose of the meal is to get some business done, that's the path that should be followed, regardless of where it might land any of us.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Some may refer to Boka Group as chain but since they only have 1 of each restaurant in their group, I don't really consider it a chain. These are all, at least for now, completely unique restaurants.

As are many of the Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, including Reel Club and Antico Posto.

nsxtasy wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Some may refer to Boka Group as chain but since they only have 1 of each restaurant in their group, I don't really consider it a chain. These are all, at least for now, completely unique restaurants.

As are many of the Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, including Reel Club and Antico Posto.

LOL, I'll take Vie, thanks.

=R=

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

Therob suggested I be more specific as I really didn't provide any details. The two guests are from Shanghai. I will have my car, so transportation is not an obstacle. I would normally try to choose a sort of spendy place to "impress" them. Since Katy's was mentioned, it crossed my mind that they might enjoy some Chinese food since they will have been away from home for more than a week. They are very well seasoned travellers.

bw77 wrote:Therob suggested I be more specific as I really didn't provide any details. The two guests are from Shanghai. I will have my car, so transportation is not an obstacle. I would normally try to choose a sort of spendy place to "impress" them. Since Katy's was mentioned, it crossed my mind that they might enjoy some Chinese food since they will have been away from home for more than a week. They are very well seasoned travellers.

That's a risk, because they may judge a place serving their own nation's cuisine based on its authenticity (how similar it is to places back home) rather than whether or not it tastes good. Nothing against Katy's, of course - just saying that it is difficult to predict how it would meet with their expectations. (Suppose you were in China and your host wanted to take you to a local burger place. You might be thrilled, or you might be apprehensive. Just sayin'. )

If I wanted a place that was particularly comfortable, I'd choose Reel Club, just because they have overstuffed spacious seating, booths offering privacy, not overly loud, etc.

If I wanted to show them modern American food - and by that I mean, not just places categorized as contemporary American, but food that is particularly creative and delicious, and thus representative of what our best chefs are turning out - I'd choose Vie.

Or, if you have the opportunity, you might also mention possible choices to them in advance, so you can use their input to guide your choice. For example, it's possible they came to visit our country hoping for a good steak, in which case Gibson's might be just the ticket.

If you are able to ask them what they prefer, that would be best. Otherwise, being of Asian background and having had visitors from Taiwan, I think they generally would enjoy either seafood or a good steak. I think Reel Club would be an excellent choice. I think taking them to Katy's would be risky. I am a big fan of Vie, but I'm not sure they would like that. It might be too different, if that makes any sense.

Just to throw one more choice out there...

Parker's in Downers Grove is just down the road from Oak Brook, at the Highland Avenue exit from I-88. Their seafood is outstanding, the best in the Chicago suburbs (yes, better than Reel Club). Another plus is that they also offer authentic, certified Neopolitan pizza, so there are two different cuisine specialties on the menu. It's an upscale restaurant, suitable for impressing. And although this isn't why I'm suggesting it, you can also get 30 percent off there if you reserve through savored.com

nsxtasy wrote:Just to throw one more choice out there...

Parker's in Downers Grove is just down the road from Oak Brook, at the Highland Avenue exit from I-88. Their seafood is outstanding, the best in the Chicago suburbs (yes, better than Reel Club). Another plus is that they also offer authentic, certified Neopolitan pizza, so there are two different cuisine specialties on the menu. It's an upscale restaurant, suitable for impressing. And although this isn't why I'm suggesting it, you can also get 30 percent off there if you reserve through savored.com

Had a business dinner there not too long ago, and never bothered to post about it. I would describe it as your typical corporate restaurant trying to please everyone. Out-of-season tasteless produce marred a salad as one would expect. Unevenly cooked, mushy salmon finished the deal. Sadly, I fear ending up there again with the same group, but that's part of the job I guess.

That's quite the opposite of my experience in numerous visits there, including a lunch and a dinner within the past year. Perfectly cooked seafood in creative and delicious preparations, excellent fresh salad, efficient friendly service marked each meal.

Ate at Parker's tonight. Jazz pianist in the lounge in a comfy booth with the hubby added to a nice evening. Food was very good. Lobster roll was adequate for the price @ $21 w/a balanced slaw and sweet potato fries that satisfied. Delicious bread service, three types of bread, included bean dip and butter to spread. The other half had the beef short rib and was very pleased with it all as it included roasted potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and fried onions. Nice selection of wine with option of 3 or 6 oz. pour, though on the pricier side. Beer and rail mixed drink = same price @ $6. Two entrees four and 1/2 drinks just under $100. Service was only ok. Drinks came out slowly....a portion of the short rib was meant to be taken home but taken away and never returned? Great entertainment in the lounge--excellent jazz pianist played all the favs, no vocals. WIll certainly return. Want to try weekday happy hour w/half price food menu.

Parkers' Restaurant & Bar
1000 31st St, Downers Grove, IL
(630) 960-5700 ‎
http://www.selectrestaurants.com/parkersamerican/

Thank you all for the help. I'm almost afraid to mention it, but now its been shifted to lunch in the loop. I am on familiar ground there. I will be set next time Oak Brook comes up.

Anything that adds useful content is good for all of us bw77

Hope your lunch goes well!

Stefani Group to Revive Restaurant Space Near Oakbrook Center. Osteria 22 will replace Tuscany Oak Brook

https://chicago.eater.com/2019/7/18/206 ... an-suburbs