Hi! Our names are Charlie and Louie. We have been friends for many years. Charlie is in the 4th grade and he is 10 years old, and Louie is in the 5th grade and he is also 10 years old.

Recently we were asked to go to lunch at a new restaurant with a reporter from the Chicago Tribune named Monica. We were very excited to try the new restaurant and have a free lunch, no budget. (The Tribune paid for the meal.)

When we arrived at the restaurant, we saw that it was called Reel Club. Our parents said it was a seafood restaurant. One of us (Louie) was very happy because he loves fish. The other one (Charlie) was not happy, because he dislikes seafood. He was worried that there wouldn't be anything that he could eat.

When we walked into the restaurant, we thought it was fancier than we expected. It was modern, big and open and the seats were very comfortable. It looked fancy, but we were OK dressed in T-shirts and sport pants.

Right after we got there we went to the bathroom to wash our hands and we thought the bathrooms were cool, especially the flat sinks that drain over the back edge -- like an infinity pool.

When we sat down and got our menus they were easy to read and one of us was happy to see that there were lots of things on the menu that weren't seafood -- like hamburgers, chicken and a kids menu, but we are too big to order off the kids menu because we eat too much. One of us was happy to see so many seafood choices like fish, shrimp, calamari and clam chowder.

The server came to the table quickly and was very nice and asked what we wanted to drink. We both had root beer, which was very refreshing. We ordered calamari and a bowl of clam chowder to start. The clam chowder was creamy and rich. The calamari was a little chewy and spicy. We think that especially with kids they should warn people that the food might be spicy.

While we were waiting for our food, one of us tried the warm cheese bread on the table. The bread was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside -- quite delicious. Louie has a dairy allergy so he couldn't eat the bread.

For our main course Charlie had chicken brioni, which means it is Parmesan crusted (this was explained on the menu), and broiled wild salmon with rapini, which is like broccoli. The chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. All around, the chicken was delicious and Charlie even ate the leftovers for dinner later that night. The salmon was moist and the sauce made it taste creamy. The rapini tasted like it was soaked in too much butter. The salmon was good enough that Louie ate almost all of it, not leaving enough for leftovers.

We tasted some fish and chips and didn't think it had any flavor and was a little too crispy on the outside. We also tried some shrimp cocktail, which was on a huge plate with a pile of ice -- 10 pieces of shrimp and four sauces. The shrimp tasted good, but the size of the plate and ice was a little too big.

Overall, it was a good experience with both the food and the service. We think that other kids would like the restaurant, but it is probably more a grown-up restaurant than a kids' restaurant.

THE REEL CLUB

272 Oakbrook Center Drive, Oak Brook; 630-368-9400.

*Find out if restaurant critic Phil Vettel agrees with this review, PAGE 7

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