Park Grill at Millenium Park - surprisingly good

When I first suggested Park Grill at a dining option on this board, it was in response to a post seeking a spot to take an out-of-town visitor. I mentioned that I thought the location was great, but that I had not tried it so I could not comment on the food.

Having since dined at Park Grill twice for dinner, I can say that the food is very good, shockingly good in my opinion since this place has all of the makings of a tourist trap. Decor wise, a few aspects of the place make me think "cheap," including the benches along at least one of the walls, although I'm guessing that this place was anything but cheap to construct (just the way I see how our city works). But it is generally dark toned, although I would not describe it as clubby. It is also loud, quite loud depending on where you sit. That's about as much as I can point out for flaws.

Once you get behind these flaws and perhaps your lowered expectations, there is some very good food to be had and if you're doing the downtown, pre-theater route, this is probably my number one recommendation.

Park Grill starts you off with fresh bread, which type has changed on my two trips. Last night, a wonderful salt crusted white bread and what appeared to be a multi-grain sunflower bread. But the best part of the bread service is the fantastic olive tapenade that you will not be able to resist. The tapenade was what woke me up on my first trip to the possibility that I was in for a much better than expected meal.

As for appetizers, on my first trip, I tried the grilled cheese salad which included some sort of multi-grain bread filled with gorgonzola, with greens and figs (although this is on their regular menu, I can't seem to find this on their online menu, so my description is slightly vague). The flavors and combinations were very good -- my only complaint (and not a very significant one) is that the bread was slightly tough to cut through with a knife.

Last night for an appetizer, I had the Slow Cooked Beef Short Rib Gnocchi. The short rib was braised in red wine and the gnocchi were slightly crispy on the outside. Although there was supposed to be some fresh horseradish, I don't recall tasting it. Perhaps that is because I was absolutely blown away by the flavor and texture of the short rib. It was about as good as it gets. Although at $10 I thought the price was slightly steep, this dish was really fantastic.

For entrees, the duck was fantastic -- perhaps as good as I have had. It was slow cooked with chestnuts, parsnip puree and apples and the flavors were excellent, and the duck cooked perfectly. At $21, not a bad deal.

Last night I had the Forever Roasted Pork, which is slow cooked pork (shoulder I believe) with ginger and smoked cheddar corn grits. Most of this dish was excellent, although a very small portion of the pork was overcooked. But the flavors were outstanding, and the smoked corn grits a great match for the pork.

Although there were a number of desserts that sounded excellent, I was too full on both occasions (and time crunched too) to partake. But I look forward to returning because the food was quite good and the service excellent. I have found out that they are skilled at speeding up or slowing down the pace of service if you wish, depending on whether you're going to the theater or enjoying a relaxing evening out. One last note is that Park Grill offers a well-sized list of wines by the glass.

But most importantly, this is a place that is turning out some very good food. So if you are entertaining visitors, there is no need to avoid this place as a tourist trap.

Park Grill
11 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago
312.521.7275
(Reservations on OpenTable)

I am planning on going to Park Grill for lunch since we are going to be at Millennium Park. Which burger is better? The Kobe burger or the Park Grill Burger (Angus)?

I heard that the herkimer cheddar is pretty good on the angus burger.

I was there a couple of days ago for lunch and had the Angus burger with cheddar. It was pretty good, but marred by being cooked just short of well done when I requested medium. So it ended up a bit dry.

Can't comment on the Kobe burger.

We were told that the Park Grill burger (served at the Park Grill restaurant) is the same as the Plaza Burger (served at The Plaza at Park Grill). This is the Angus burger (and not the Kobe burger).

The Plaza at Park Grill is an outdoor eating area just outside of the Park Grill restaurant. The menus at the Park Grill restaurant and The Plaza at Park Grill are not the same.

Park Grill serves the Angus burger only for lunch, but The Plaza at Park Grill serves the Angus burger for both lunch and dinner.

We ordered this Angus burger with Herkimer cheddar (cooked medium). It came medium as ordered. My husband said that it was the best burger he had ever had. We also liked the cheese. I would highly recommend the burger to anyone who wanted to dine in the Millenium Park area.

I absolutely love this restaurant. I don't mind paying a little extra for food that I know will be good. I enjoy sitting by the window and watching the ice skaters in the winter and the lovebirds and families in the summer.

The Kobe burger here is phenominal. My husband (who is sort of an aficianado in that area) said that it was one of the best burgers he's ever had. He now compares every other kobe burger to it. His was ordered medium and was spot on.

I've had the Angus burger and it was delicious, although a little overcooked for my taste (I like some red meat in the middle).

In the winter they have a delicious butternut squash ravioli with goat cheese. It is so bold yet simple, and one of my favorite dishes here. The pumpkin tomato soup however, was boring and bland, and I make a much better version at home with just 4 ingredients, but the salads are so crisp and fresh you forget about any short comings.

The presentation is always great, the food is consistent, and the staff is friendly.

I agree that this could have very well turned into a tourist trap, and I'm just so glad that the integrity of the food has remained intact here. I feel no qualms about coming here with family or friends who are here to visit the city. It's a great tourist location with fantastic food.

I've only been there once, and it was a year ago, but the experience was so dismal that I doubt I'll ever return. A braised pork belly didn't cook long enough for much fat to render, and the meat was tough and chewy. Worst of all were the horrific cocktails at Park Grill, including something they called a mojito, which consisted of some artificially flavored "mojito mix" poured from a giant laundry detergent style jug. One tiny sip was all I could muster. Maybe things have improved.

I had a similar experience to Kenny....the food was just awful and quite expensive. It's been a while though......maybe they made some improvements??

Maybe...but almost all the positive comments are about the burgers, not other dishes. And everyone I saw at lunch was ordering some sort of burger/sandwich.

I haven't been to Park Grill for anything but burgers in the more than 2.5 years since I started this post, so I'm really not sure if there have been changes since my earlier visits. Then again, opinions on any restaurant will differ . . . restaurants will all have off nights (although I agree with Kennyz that using a mojito mix would be more than disturbing to me at a place of this caliber) . . . and of course, maybe I just have bad taste . . . who knows. But I'm also not sure what qualifies as one person's "awful" without knowing more about the meal and the problems encountered. That being said, I'm sure I'll return to Park Grill for a pre-theater meal to see if it still impresses me, and in the meantime, I find it an enjoyable place to sit outside and have a pretty damn good burger.

I think a lot of people mix up the Park grill and the Plaza grill.

maybe. i'm surprised they haven't done more to distance themselves from the plaza grill in terms of naming.

the plaza grill (which isn't well marked as having its own identity--in person or online) is one of the most horrific food experiences i've had in chicago though. i'm quite certain i've posted about it here somewhere, probably falling into the same confusion as others by referring to it as the park grill (though i did mention it was the plaza...).

In case there is any doubt, let me confirm that the terrible cocktails and pork I described upthread most definitely came from the Park Grill, not the Plaza.

The Park Grill may have the tastiest over priced hamburgers in the world, but I'll never patronize it out of utter disgust over it being yet another dirty example of Daley administration connected insider dealing. According to this week's Reader article:

"As the Sun-Times reported, the Park District gave the restaurant a sweet deal to boot, agreeing to pick up the cost of their water, gas, and garbage collection, which together may cost taxpayers at least as much as the restaurant pays to use the space.

Even better, the grill was exempt from property taxes."

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/st ... id=1153186

Even better, the grill was exempt from property taxes."

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/st ... id=1153186[/quote]


WOW!
Having read that I will NEVER eat there again. Thank you so much Sandman for bringing that to my attention. As much as I loved eating at this place, and was okay with over paying because I loved the location so much, I'd rather pack a ham sandwich and eat it on the bench than give them another dime of my money. I absolutely hate being taken advantage of, and in this case, there's no reason to be. There are too many fine restaurants in this city to be scammed by this one.