Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.
Sometimes social media can be a good thing. We discovered that there was a new Portillo’s open on Randall Road in Algonquin. We are addicted to their chocolate cake and have waited in the drive through for half an hour just to get a couple of slices. While in line, we noticed that right next door was another new restaurant called Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant. It was lunch time and we were hungry, so after buying our cake, we went next door for lunch.
Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant
1740 S. Randall Road
Algonquin 60102
(224) 231-6888
www.chwinery.com
Directions: Take Rte. 47 to Algonquin Road, East to Randall Road, South to restaurant.
Estimated Travel Time: 16 minutes
This trendy upscale modern restaurant is ginormous. When you walk in, there is a wine tasting bar on the right that was packed with patrons looking over their huge selection of wines. Unfortunately, we won’t be reviewing any wine in this article since our knowledge of wine ended with Boone’s Farm and Strawberry Hill. Remember those???
Even though the restaurant area was very large, room dividers were strategically placed to give the illusion of much smaller areas. This made the room acoustics much better. You can actually talk to someone without raising your voice.
Nancy and I decided to forego an appetizer since most of the selections are in the $17 – $18 range which was close to the price of their lunch sized entrees.
The waitress brought over the most delicious warm pretzel bread which turned out to be the best we have ever tasted. Jim finished every last crumb!!!
Because I ate most of the pretzel bread, Nancy decided to try the Pretzel Crusted Pork Chop ($20.99 for a lunch portion). This was a boneless pork chop with barbecue maple glaze. It was served with Mary’s potatoes and roasted broccolini with crumbled candied bacon. Nancy switched out Mary’s potatoes for Betty’s potatoes which were shredded potatoes with white cheddar and scallions. She never had broccolini and she loved it, especially with the candied bacon. The pork chop was to die for and Betty’s potatoes were a nice spin on her mother Dolores’ scalloped potatoes.
Jim spotted something totally different, the Cooper’s Hawk Chicken Giardiniera ($18.99 for a lunch portion), and wanted to surprise his taste buds. This was Parmesan-breaded chicken and house-made pickled vegetables, served with Mary’s potatoes. The potatoes were whipped with butter and cream. This dish proved to be a winner, winner, chicken dinner. The chicken was thin and crunchy, and the giardiniera was tangy with a hint of heat. The potatoes were creamy and luxurious.
Even though we had chocolate cake in the car, you can never have too many desserts. We decided to keep the cake for a later date and ordered the Banoffee Pie ($10.99) to share. This was a graham cracker crust tart filled with bananas, a toffee filling and topped with fresh whipped cream. Do not pass up this dessert, it is decadent!!!
What can we say. The food was awesome and the service was top notch. It’s good to have a restaurant of this caliber close to home.
FYI: This restaurant is handicap accessible.
The price for an unexpected lunch out, $64.75, another new restaurant close to home, priceless…
Jim’s take: My meal was out of the ordinary and very delicious, plus I still have chocolate cake for the next day.
Nancy’s take: OMG!!! That little piggy who went to market for little ol’ me sure was tasty. I usually don’t order pork in a restaurant, but I made an exception today and I’m glad I did.
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com.
