Chalkboard: User Reviews

We've now been to Chalkboard twice in the past few weeks and had great experiences both times. The food is nuanced and of high quality. The fried chicken lives up to the hype. The mac & cheese is divine. The duck had so many different flavors, but still tasted light and delicate. The deep fried pound cake is a delight, with red peppercorns adding texture and flavor. The wine list is very thoughtful and accesable, with many spectacular finds, though could be half the length and still excellent. The place has a very French feel, with the pacing of the meal and the service (in a good way). Highly recommended.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Last night my wife and I had the good fortune of going out for dinner with friends. Wanting to try a new place, for us, we chose Chalkboard. It was our misfortune.

This is my first review of any restaurant that I have felt the need to write about. I do not know the owners, or have any reason to strongly dislike this restaurant other than the fact I spent 2 hours and $200 sitting through an amazingly amateurish restaurant experience.

The Decor

When you enter the restaurant it reminds me of a store like Z Gallery. You get a lot of flash and metallic finishes, but closer inspection reveals that there is plastic underneath the shiny golden finish. In this way, Chalkboard tries to jazz up a generic boxy storefront on Lincoln Avenue. With a combination of faux metal and leather finishes and odd porcelin collections, along with the namesake chalkboard, there is a strange combination of furnishings that never fit or really give the patron any idea of what the restaurant is about.

Wine List

A casual glance lists several interesting wines by the bottle at silly mark-ups. Earth to Chalkboard owners...with the dow down over 40% this year, you'd think it would be a good idea to put some moderately interesting selections on your list for under $40/btl.

If you choose to order by the glass, your selections are limited to 3 whites and 3 reds of generic wines which really leave the diner with no options other than red or white.

The Food

The food should be the main event at all dining establishments. Some restaurants have a culinary theme by nationality or food type ie. steak, seafood, vegetarian,...Chalkboard seems to throw a random selection of foods at their Chalkboard menu and hope that some work out.

I would best describe Chalkboard's cuisine as Fraternityesque. To those uninitiated in fraternity ways, it means taking what your food service delivery man drops at your door and preparing it simply...and fried. Chalkboard makes liberal use of the deep fryer for appetizer, entrees and desserts.

My fryer selection for the appetizer was the calamari, which was done with a home made tartar sauce, this was the best dish of our evening. Other appetizer selections included mussels, pate, and mixed salad... all were drastically underseasoned.

For entrees, my dining companions had the fried chicken, that the waiter proclaimed to be the 'best in the city'. A half chicken arrived on top of mashed potatoes. the chicken was whole and uncut making eating the thing completely unweildly. Take a note from KFC or Popeye's and cut the chikcen into pieces to help people eat it. Additionally, the bird was again underseasoned.

I had the boulilbase. It was a random assortment of fish pieces and shell fish in a neutral broth. There were two nice scallops on top, but unchartered waters remained underneath. The lowlight of the dish were two crawfish. I adore crawfish but these critters announced their arrival with a stench. To say the least the dish was a failure.

Our waiter suggested we order the mac and cheese and truffle risotto as sides. We did. Who eats this stuff? The mac and cheese was so heavily doused in cream and cheese that all cheese flavor and texture was obliterated by the soupy pile of cream underneath. I actually hope people try Chalkboard's black truffle risotto as it will keep the price of truffles down for years to come. There were several shavings of the most ordinary and dead-scented truffles on a pile of poorly cook risotto with a ring a oil. This dish could do Mario in.

Dessert

All I have to say is that I had the pound cake. My guess is that the fryer made an appearance here as well? Let's just say it was inedible.

Service

Our server seemed nice enough. Open your eyes. When you see 4 appetizers, 4 entrees, 2 sides, and 4 desserts virtually uneaten would an appropirate question be ' can I do anything?'

Bottom Line

This is why I am hesitant to try new plac

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I recently went to this resturant and did a preset 5 course meal with wine pairings. I was amazed at the quality of the food, no rubbery seafood here. The wine pairings were perfect. the only negitive is that the courses were to large and I walked away too full and alittle drunk.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I thought it was a very good restaurant. It tailors to the upscale crowd as if you go there for a BIG meal, you may leave a little hungry. I had the steak special and thought it was very nicely made, a glass of wine, and my wife had the tenderloin special. We thought it was a very nice place for a romantic nice out. I wouldn't agree though that if you're looking for a cheap and quick meal that this would be the place. As long as you know that up front, it's worth a try....

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Underwhelmed and disappointed about says it for me. And perhaps a little bit foolish for paying so much.
Heard alot of positive buzz about Chalkboard, liked the concept and the personal touches on the display menu, so a friend and I gave it a try early on a Sunday night.
We got a great welcome, the staff was friendly and informative, and enthusiastic about the food.
Menu selection was limited, which is not a bad thing - it gives the kitchen the opportunity to concentrate on doing what they do best, and is really a part of what I understood to be the concept of this place.
With all this positive lead-in, what a disappointment the meal was. I was seduced by the description of one of the chalkboard specials for the evening - fish (in this case trout, replacing the unavailable salmon) and osso bucco, served over celery root puree with roasted (?) brussel sprouts and wild asparagus garnish. Their version of 'surf and turf' as our waiter put it.
The good news is that the celery root puree, the first thing I tasted, was wonderful. The bad news is that it was the best thing on the plate. A few stalks of wild asparagus, nicely arranged over the top of the dish, were also great, but how much credit can you give for garnish? Kudos to the chef for knowing enough not to do anything to it - this delicate ingredient was simply slightly warmed and served au natural; the delicate flavor and texture was allowed to shine.
But as for the stars of the plate, the fish and the osso bucco? Well, the trout was unexceptional, not bad, but also not good. As others have said about the food here, just all right.
But the osso bucco, well that was NOT all right. It was dry and pretty much inedible, I left all but the first bite on my plate. And where was the little treat that any ossu bucco should include - a bit of the marrow bone? Nowhere to be seen, although at first I though one of the bits of meat was actually bone, that's how hard it was. Even after hitting it with my fork a few time, I still wasn't sure. The first bite told me everything I needed to know.
And the worst news of all? The entree together with a glass (not really, seemed more like just a few tablespoonsin the bottom of a glass) of nice wine, cost my friend and I over $100.
We chalked it up to experience and went elsewhere for dessert.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Finally got to eat at this highly raved about restaurant. But to my dismay was not happy. Had a special with their version of surf and turf-rainbow trout and osso bucco. The osso bucco was dry, overcooked, trout so so. Wine by the glass very$$$ for a big glass and a little wine. I will not be going back.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Having tried to get a reservation a few times and not having any luck, we finally managed to grab a table last night. It was well worth the effort. The food is excellent -- creative and fresh. It was difficult to make our choices as there were a number of items on the menu that were intriguing and that says alot for a small menu.

The waiter was very knowledgeable and attentive even though the place was packed. The prices are on the high side, but that is the cost of good food. My husband had the fried chicken and it was well seasoned and delightfully crunchy. He didn't like the sausage gravy on the mashed potatoes so I was scooping up quite a bit. I had the cassoulet and it was very flavorful -- a real winner.

I thought the ambience was just lovely -- intimate bistro feel. I look forward to visiting many times in the future.

I have to say that I think Metromix reviews are becoming somewhat useless as they are heavy on panning places. If you read Metromix before dining anywhere, you'd never eat out again.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I have no idea what happened to some of the previous reviewers, but I couldn't disagree strongly enough. Chalkboard is simply one of our favorite dining destinations in the city. Warm and intimate, with a menu that is to die for. Go, go, go. You will love it.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Not sure why the negative treatment toward Chalkboard, the food was amazing, the service was top notch and the entire staff very friendly and helpful. We had a multitude of dishes at our table and they all sparkled. I would recommend this place to anyone and everyone.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

The first thing I noticed when I walked into Chalkboard was that it sure wasn't Tournesol anymore. The decor was pretty cold and uninviting. There just wasn't anything that pulled me in and made me want to really be there.
Our waiter was nice but never asked us if we'd like a drink so it was not until the first course came that we actually got a glass of wine. I really needed a glass of wine when I GOT there, not 25 minutes later.
DH got the 'cassoulet'. It was pretty expensive for not very much food and although he said it was OK, it was NOT cassoulet. Call things what they are. It was some duck with some white beans. Cassoulet that does not make. Our male friend got the boullibaise (sp) and thought it was great. Our female friend and I got the fried chicken with some sort of weird mashed and gravy. It was a pretty unatractive plate with a white glop covered by a big hunk of frien chicken. It needed some seasoning besides the fennel seed in the sausage gravy. A little salt and pepper come to mind. Being more than lukewarm might have helped too. The first few bites were fairly tasty--except for the lukewarm bit but after that it just didn't taste good. There was very little flavor than the fennel seed in the whole dish. That is apparently their signature dish. Not a good sign.
Then DH and I got desert. Our friends were smart and didn't. DH said his flourless chocolate cake was 'pretty good.' He usually raves about anything chocolate that is good so it must really have been just OK. I got the 'spicy chocolate pot au creme. A better name for it would've been pot au spackle. It was like a big pot of glue. They put something spicy in it but it didn't seem to be stirred in well because I didn't taste in in most of the bites but every once in a while it was WOW! there it is. I have to admit that I ate it because the chocolate taste was good. It was jus the texture that sucked. They need to think pudding, not spackle.
Even though the room was 1/3 to 1/2 full when we left, there was no 'life' to it. All in all I would have to say that you really don't want to spend $200+ for four at this restaurant. There are far too many places where you'll get a lot, lot more for that money. I predict they don't stay in business for long unless things change a lot.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review