Charcoal Grill and Rotisserie - Kenosha, WI

We have been dining at this restaurant for years, mainly for lunch. They have the best chicken dumpling soup in the area.

Last night we decided to go there for a quick, inexpensive dinner. We enjoy rotisserie chicken and they are not many places in Kenosha that serve chicken cooked this way.

My first question is: why has the Kendall Jackson salesman not been in there? I think a restaurant should have more than one brand of wine, especially if half the restaurant is a bar. I hate having cheap wine as my only choice. Not that KJ is my favorite, it's one step up from what they serve.

We started with the chicken dumpling soup and it was not as good as the hundred other times we've had it. Something was totally different about it.

Our server brought out our entrees while we were still eating our soup, which is a hugh pet peeve of ours. She apologized as she arrived at the table, but our feeling is that she just should have waited.

Now we realized that not only was the soup different, but the quality of our entrees was not up to the standards we've come to expect from this restaurant. Plus they have removed all the sauces that they used to have on the tables, so I had to ask for BBQ sauce for my chicken and she brought it in a small bowl. I don't believe it was Sweet Baby Rays, which is what used to be on the table. You may think this is minor, but I've been putting that sauce on most sandwiches I've ever ordered there.

The vegetables were a green been and carrot saute and it was horrible. I can't even begin to tell you why. The taste was nothing I've ever had before. It didn't look like there was a sauce, but the carrot didn't even taste like a carrot and I wasn't even going to try a green bean.

I hope this change isn't permanent. I'd hate to write this restaurant off.

www.charcoalgrill.com

Bank Lane Bistro - Lake Forest, IL

One word, "Wonderful"...


This restaurant sits on the second floor of another good restaurant called South Gate Cafe and you overlook the quaint town square of Lake Forest.


We almost always get the tasting menu where they create the meal for you, we love surprises. Regardless, everything is fresh and exciting. From first courses like Black Truffle Infused Cauliflower Soup to the Sweet green pea dusted Australian Barramundi as a main course, you will not go wrong enjoying an evening here.


The service is exceptional and the prices reasonable for a restaurant of this caliber. Executive Chef Michael Gottlieb has a talent everyone should enjoy.


http://www.banklanebistro.com/

Sailor Dan's - Kansasville, WI

This used to be Auctioneer's Inn which failed for many reasons. My opinion is that it probably failed because of poor service and a change in management. The nice thing about Auctioneer's Inn was that it had character and some of the dishes were quite good.


Sailor Dan's has none of this. The restaurant now looks like a bar in a bowling alley. The food is over priced and poor quality.


Our meal started out with warm bread that had been heated up in a microwave. It was rubbery and uneatable. It is hard to believe that in this day and age everyone knows you cannot heat bread in a microwave.


We also had salads, which were good, not great.


My wife had Sherry's Dijon Chicken, which should have been called Sherry's De Jonge Chicken. She ordered it thinking it would be in a dijon sauce, but was surprised that is was actually a de Jonge prepration with garlic, butter and breadcrumbs. The chicken had a rubbery texture and a very strange taste. It could have been freezer burn, not sure, but she could never eat more of the chicken and only ate the pasta with the sauce. The de jonge sauce was actually quite good, just not what was expected.


I had the Porterhouse Steak, not bad actually, not very tender, but very flavorful.


This cost us almost $100.00


Overall the place is a bar, it really is not a place to go out and have a meal that is anything remotely of good quality. I can see this place hopping on the weekend with a bunch of bikers livening up the place. Go for the drinks, don't go for the food or atmosphere.


We'd give you the website, but from we can tell, they don't have one.

South Gate Cafe - Lake Forest, IL

This is certainly one of our favorite places to stop by for lunch in Lake Forest. Great soup and sandwiches and you can dine outside on the patio. Lunch aside, their dinners are fantastic also.


Tonight I was by myself and I had a spicy squid appetizer and the wild game plate, which consisted of: Duck, Boar and Kangaroo. It was fantastic! The squid was tender and the game had so much flavor I would have liked seconds. I ate out on their patio and the service was excellent.


I just happened to be in the area the next night and thought I would try the restaurant again. This night I ate in the bar and once again I was very happy with the food. On the other hand, the service was terrible. I received my salad before my appetizer which came out just before my main course. The waitress was rarely seen and obviously had little training. I'd recommend you stay out of the bar area and stick with the main dinning room or patio where they keep the good wait staff.

Even with this bad service, I highly recommend South Gate Cafe; this was the only time I have been disappointed.

http://www.southgatecafe.com/

Sanford - Milwaukee, WI

Located in an old family grocery store, Sanford has been serving the Milwaukee area for 19 years.

The food is a mix, but I would say the menu we hadwas more French or Mediterranean.

The décor is modern with white table clothes, but don't let this fool you. It is a very relaxed atmosphere. Two of us showed up in jeans (they were nice jeans, but jeans just the same), and we did not feel uncomfortable at all. Most were dressed business casual, only a few men had jackets.

Most likely the food will be different when you go since they try to use fresh local ingredients. We had two appetizers, one was a roasted morel mushrooms with ramps. It could have been a meal it was so large. The other appetizer was Lobster Benedict. The description on the menu said it was: Seared Serrano Wrapped Lobster and Poached Quail Egg, Lemon Herb Salad. I wish they had said the sauce was a dill sauce, I hate dill. Even with the dill, though, it was good.

For our second course we had a soup which was a Parmesan Broth with Prosciutto and Grilled Scallions, Parmesan Flan. It was light and rich at the same time, very creative.

For our main course we had the: Chargrilled Strauss Veal Loin and 17 Hour Veal Breast , Crispy Onion Potatoes, Tart Apple and Endive. The veal loin was good, but the veal breast was out of this world. The apparently marinated it is some sort of pressure unit for 17 hours. All I can say is FANTASTIC.

We also had the Elk, which was a little gamey, but if you like game we think you will like it.

This was our first trip to this restaurant. For years now we wanted to go, but just kept forgetting to stop by. After this experience we will certainly be back.

http://www.sanfordrestaurant.com/

Geneva Chophouse - Grand Geneva Resort, Lake Geneva, WI

The food is good, the service is great (if a little stuffy) and the atmosphere is perfect. Eating outside is a great choice if it is available and if the bugs are too bad.

For an appetizer pick the tuna tartare. If you venture off the steak menu, choose the Sea Bass, very nice. As a side, get the lobster Mac and Cheese.

Ahhh, not sure if we would recommend this. If you really like steak houses this might fit the bill, but in a word, over priced. There are many places it he area where you can get a good steak at a much lower price.

One word of advice to the managers put a wall up between the kitchen doors and the dining room. All night there was a constant commotion going on there and it is very distracting. A nice panel or something could block it from your guest trying to enjoy a relaxing evening.

http://www.grandgeneva.com/dining/dining_geneva_chophouse.asp

SOPRA Trattoria - Lake Geneva, WI

We saw this restaurant when we were driving through town. It has been in operation since March. We have been to Lake Geneva several times over the last several months, but we had not heard a word about the restaurant.

Sopra is an Italian restaurant with a modern flair. The atmosphere is comfortable and inviting. The only thing that was strange was the spot lights on each table, they should be dimmed a little, they were a bit blinding. This is our first experience at the restaurant, so we can't give you a detailed description of the menu, but we can tell you what we had.

We started our meal with the steak tartare, if you like tartare, this is a great one. Just enough spice.

I had the roasted beet salad and my wife had the Sopra salad. This is the only part of the meal we did not care for. The beets were great on my salad and the goat cheese went well with it, but the frissee was nasty. I honestly don't know what the attraction is with bitter greens.
Regarding the Sopra salad, my wife just says, "Yuck!" Next time maybe we will get two appetizers.

For a main entree, my wife had: Scallops - Pan-seared scallops layered with brie cheese and fried potato rounds, served with a fennel cream sauce. This was a hell of a meal, the fennel cream sauce was very unusual. We will have this again.

I had : Veal Chop - Pan roasted veal chop basted in thyme and garlic, served with caramelized garlic porchinis, shaved parmesan and roasted radicchio. I will have to say this was the best veal chop I have ever had. It was prepared perfectly and the flavor was out of this world. I could have done without the radicchio, once again what's with the bitter greens?

Over all I guess it comes down to will we go again, and the answer is yes. Next time, though, I hope the chef will allow us to have salt and pepper at the table. Even if we did not need the extra salt and pepper, I hate when a chef thinks he or she knows better how something should be seasoned.

By the way, the service was exceptional and the wine pours were generous, always a good sign.

http://www.sopratrattoria.com/