This place was pretty bad, and shame on me for not checking the reviews first. Sheesh…read more
I needed a quick bite before my flight out of O'Hare and came across this spot near the back of the M gates. The location itself is appealing, and there was plenty of open seating both at the bar and in the dining area. There appeared to be about four or five employees working at the time, and the restaurant was clean.
The waitress was very low-energy and nonchalant, although she was mostly attentive. I originally ordered the Shrimp Spaghetti, but she told me it wasn't available. Usually, restaurants let you know which menu items are unavailable before you order, or at least when they hand you the menu, but oh well.
I ended up ordering their burger instead. The menu isn't very large, but it includes a few pastas, salads, burgers, and a decent selection of beer and cocktails. In hindsight, I should have trusted my first instinct because I passed two burger spots on the way here that probably would have been better choices.
After I placed my order, I noticed the two cooks were pretty engrossed in the Bears game on TV. It was a little while before they finally headed back into the kitchen to make my food. I also ordered a Diet Coke, which turned out to simply be a bottle pulled from the cooler with the other soft drinks and bottled water.
Once the burger came out, I could immediately tell I probably wasn't going to like it. The top half of the bun was lightly toasted, but otherwise there wasn't anything on it. Everything was piled onto the bottom bun: the burger patty, some type of cheese, onions, and what tasted like either aioli or horseradish sauce.
The burger was EXTREMELY salty. Not just a little over-seasoned. It was unbearably salty. I took two bites and couldn't finish it.
Unfortunately, the fries weren't any better. They had huge chunks of Parmesan cheese on them, somehow had almost no salt at all, and were slightly overdone. I didn't enjoy those either.
When the waitress asked if I liked the food, I told her the burger was way too salty. Her response was basically, "Do you want me to take it, and do you want the check now or later?"
That was it. No concern about why I barely touched the food, no offer to replace it, and nothing taken off the bill. The total was around $25 for the burger, fries, and Diet Coke. I could have asked for a manager, but I honestly didn't have the time before my flight and just wanted to get out of there.
To make matters worse, shortly afterward I became queasy and had to immediately head to the restroom. I obviously can't say for certain the burger caused it, but the timing wasn't great.
The low reviews for this place are right on the money. If you need to eat at O'Hare, don't make the same mistake I did. There are plenty of other options.
I added an extra star because the restaurant was clean, and once the cooks actually got back into the kitchen, the food came out fairly quickly. I can't speak for the bar or cocktail service, but as far as the food goes, I absolutely do NOT recommend eating here.
