Crosby's Kitchen - meh

Crosby's Kitchen
3455 N Southport
Chicago

Even with the kids eat free deal from 4-6pm, I'm not sure how so many parents feel it's worth it to go and eat uninspired bland food.

It was hard to taste the lobster in the lobster deviled eggs. The pieces of lobster were small. Crab cake was very good. The only highlight of the meal. Nice chunks of crab and the slaw made a tasty accompaniment. Salmon was thin and dry. Chicken was dry and small, considering it was supposed to be a half chicken. The leg of lamb was a bit tough and not very tasty. The piquillo pepper did not help matters. The vegetable of the day was asparagus and was cooked nicely. The skillet cookie was gooey to the point of feeling it was undercooked.

On a positive note, the service was very good. However, the food was extremely underwhelming.

Ate at Crosby's kitchen last night. The place was nearly full at 7pm and I thought they really did a good job of making the space cozy. The menu features several rotisserie items and appealed to my desire for comfort food on a crummy damp night. We started with a glass of their Autumn Sangria, which sounded intriguing and was DELICIOUS. Red wine sangria with spices and a fizzy finish. I would probably go back just for a few more glasses of that. We each ordered entrees, which come with sides. I wasn't super hungry, so I didn't get a salad or dessert. I had the pork chop with mashed potatoes. It was a very large portion, the chop was good, but I was super spoiled by an amazing pork chop that I had at Bavette's last week (which may have been the best pork chop I've ever eaten!) so it paled in comparison. The mashed potatoes were really good and my dining partner had the BBQ salmon which she enjoyed. She also had a side of the daily vegetables, which was a really delicious mix of yellow and green summer squash. Overall, I wasn't blown away by the food, but it's a nice, reasonable neighborhood joint and I would try it again!

Same folks as Dunlays, D.O.C Wine Bar, and Smoke Daddy, whose sauce they feature here. This place looks and smells great - hardwood accents, open rotisserie, plenty of space. Food was completely serviceable; I do wish the salad had larger warm pieces of the rotisserie chicken rather than cold shreds, but the ingredients were fresh. Tuna poke was clean, acidic, and very good, with only minor macadamia nut overkill. Skillet of chocolate chip cookie shared among friends was delicious, though how are you going to screw that up. They aim comfortable and conservative, and I don't think the prices are particularly compelling, but I'd return.

We don't go out much with the kids. They are great with the kids - aged 5 and 2. The food is fine but uninspired. It is in the "with kids" rotation with Frasca, Bad Apple and Coalfire.

I had lunch at Crosby's Kitchen today and I thought it was SUPERB. It's been a few years since the above reports so maybe they've changed their menus and/or chef; I don't know because this was my first visit there. Regardless, I ordered three items and loved all of them.

This is the crab toast, brimming with crab, and with a nice contrast of textures and tastes between the crunchy toast, the creamy smooth avocado, and the tasty crab:



This is the cornbread, served in a hot skillet, so moist and delicious that it didn't really need the accompanying honey butter:



These are the mini filet sandwiches with bleu cheese and candied red onion, cooked to a perfect medium rare:



Service was extremely friendly and accommodating.

I loved this place and thought the food was awesomely delicious. If I lived closer, I'd probably be dining here on a regular basis.