RL

Last night two friends and I had a very enjoyable meal at RL. This restaurant is usually on list of places to have a nice autumn/winter drink on Michigan Ave, but I rarely eat there. We decided on RL because the restaurant is very cozy and offers some classic American dishes that suit picky eaters (one of my friends is an extremely picky eater). Our meals tasted really great and I am inspired to add RL to my list of "nice evening out" restaurants.

Of three of us, one had a filet with truffle-port wine sauce. Her dish smelled and, according to her, tasted amazing with the truffles really coming through in the sauce. Her steak was a perfectly cooked medium and extremely tender. My other friend and I had the Dover sole with Meyer lemon butter sauce. The fish was perfectly cooked, light and flavorful and the Meyer lemon sauce was awesome. I had recommended this dish to my friend (the picky eater) and even she cleaned her plate.

We had first courses of garden salads or tomato soup. Both the soup and salad were a tad large for a first course, but everyone seemed satisfied with the flavor. My one friend and I shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (not an especially good bottle as the wine list prices are somewhat inflated at RL).

Overall the service was great, the food was great and the room was just as cozy and inviting as you could wish. It is a great autumn/fall destination for a nice evening out.

Cinny's Mom wrote:My other friend and I had the Dover sole with Meyer lemon butter sauce.

Did they bone it tableside? Did it look like it was really Dover sole? I'm asking because many places "substitute" some other type of flat fish for Dove sole. I'm assuming that a place like RL would serve the real deal.

Yes, it was real Dover sole. They brought it over to us and then boned it for us tableside (two tables back to be precise because of the position of our table). The waiter said it is one of their most popular dishes.

I had lunch at RL just before Christmas last year. I thought it was wonderful! I had the scallops with a cucumber tomato salad in a white balsamic cream sauce. I ablsolutely loved it. My friend who can also be quite picky had a bbq beef sandwich and ate most of it. Although I have not been back, my friend and I constantly talk of returning. The experience was great and we loved the cozy atmosphere.

That filet with the truffle-port sauce used to be even better. It used to have seared foie gras on the top.

My husband and I took my mother to RL for Easter brunch this year and we enjoyed it. We all had the lobster bisque which was delicious and had a decent-sized chunk of lobster in it. We had crab cakes and quiche as well and both were excellent. The service was top notch and we were seated in a booth which I had requested when I made the reservation. I would definitely go back and agree that it's more of a fall/winter place.

I don't remember the exact article but I remember reading about the "voted best Chicagoland burgers" (at that time - summer 05 maybe). Coming in at number 5 was Paradise Pup. And, I think, the RL Burger was among the top 5 (If not top 5 definitely top 10). After reading this article I swung by there for lunch and tried one. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. The quality of meat was amazing. I guess I was less shocked about the quality of the meat and more shocked with the fact that they knew how to make a great burger with it. I ordered it medium rare and it was beautiful. It was almost too pretty to eat. It was so juicy and the color, oh the color, almost like a pomegranate's hue. I don't know if I could compare it to any other... The texture was kind of like a very tender filet mignon. It didn't taste like a filet-m, it just had the same type of texture...? I may not be explaining it very well, but it's the only way I can think to describe it... in any case it was great. I highly recommend.

~GS