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.
For most people, going to a courthouse ranks right up there with getting a colonoscopy or having a root canal. Fortunately, the Woodstock Courthouse has been transformed and the lower portion is now a restaurant called the Public House of Woodstock. I must admit, Nancy was a bit disappointed when she found out it was not a working jail since she loves men in uniform.
Public House of Woodstock
101 N. Johnson Street
Woodstock 60098
(815) 337-6060
www.publichouseof woodstock.com
Directions: Take 47 North to Lake Avenue, Left to Rte. 14, Right on Madison to Square
Estimated Travel Time: 24 minutes
Getting there is a bit tricky. To locate a parking spot, you find yourself repeatedly driving around the town square as if you were in the movie Ground Hog Day. If you haven’t seen the movie, it was about a Ground Hog Day celebration that was repeated day after day. For those of you who don’t know, this movie was filmed there and every year they continually run the movie for free in their theater. For those of you who don’t know, this movie was filmed there and every year they continually run the movie for free in their theater. Okay, we’ll stop repeating ourselves. We’ll stop repeating ourselves. Oops, we did it again, sorry…
The restaurant is on the street level and it is handicap accessible. Your hostess will guide you through the various rooms to your table. Unbeknownst to most people, there is even a designated area set up for their holiday brunches.
I started drooling when I saw one of my favorite appetizers on the menu, namely the Papas Italiano ($10). This was potato chips (they seemed homemade), garlic cream sauce, Parmesan cheese, crumbled bacon, prosciutto, diced Roma tomatoes and chives all layered together. To our surprise, this was really an appetizer that could serve four people, but we sacrificed ourselves and ate the whole thing. Jim loved it, but shockingly I thought there wasn’t enough garlic in it!
Nancy found the Seafood Diablo ($20). This should have been called Seafood Nancy since everything she loves was in one dish. It consisted of shrimp, crab, a lobster tail, and spaghetti in a spicy tomato cream sauce that was absolutely delicious. It also had a kick that can really sneak up on you. Her dish came with either soup or salad and she chose the Caesar salad.
Because Jim is a “Wild and Crazy Guy” he ordered the Chop House Burger Gone Wild ($14.95). This was a huge burger topped with Bleu Cheese, Cherrywood Bacon, tempura battered wild mushrooms, crispy onion straws, and a demi glaze served with garlic Parmesan fries. This was a very unusual and tasty burger, and the garlic fries were the crowning touch.
Nancy was stuffed by the time her dinner arrived, so she had two forkfuls to taste and took the rest home in a doggy bag. So I was on my own tonight for dessert. I went with the Salted Caramel Crunch Cake ($7.99). This was a vanilla cake with a salted caramel crunch and creamy custard topped with caramel sauce. Honestly, I could have skipped dessert.
The “verdict” is in and this restaurant is “guilty” of serving delicious food and “not guilty” of criminal prices. The Seafood Diablo was definitely the winner on the court “docket” today.
The price of our day in court was $63.65, court adjourned!
Jim’s take: My guilty pleasure was the Pappas Italiano. Nancy’s pasta is a definite keeper.
Nancy’s take: My pasta dish was “seafoodlicious” and a steal at that price. I didn’t taste Jim’s burger because of the fungi. It looked really yummy.
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com.
