The Grocery Bistro: User Reviews

I ate at the grocery bistro for dinner yesterday and had the best food and the best time. It is BYOB (which I love) and there is a really cute wine store next door which is perfect! I ate the oysters on the half shell and they were the most delicious oysters I've ever had!! I also had an awesome salad with a bacon dressing, currents and a poached egg on top!! It was sooooooo good. The place was really packed for a Wednesday night and there was a really great vibe in the room. My server was really sweet and knowledgable of the menu. The Grocery Bistro was great and I highly recommend it to all!!

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Wow- The Grocery Bistro rocks. The menu has a selection of small and large share plates so you can order for yourself or be kind to your dining companions and share share share away! We decided to share everything from the crap app to the fried oysters (yum) and a delicious soup special...fennel and cauliflower soup with a hint of anise was like sex in my mouth. Sorry but it was just that good. For entrees we had the stuffed trout; beautiful presentation and delicious plum and mint stuffing. Fantastic. Also, the steak with a corn puree and tomatillos was perfection. The pork tenderloin was cooked to a perfect med rare and served with melt in your mouth polenta. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the chocolate crepe but I should note that I'm not a huge chocolate fan anyway. I suggest you go to this place and check it out. I'm a big fan and will defiantly be back. cheers!

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I've been to Grocery Bistro several times and was very impressed the first couple of times I went. However, that was not the case this past week. I am not sure if it was an off night, but the food was bland, over-salted, and several of the dishes came out cold. It also took an hour to get our entrees (hence the cold dishes). The service was just average, and the hostess seemed very snobby. The restaurant itself still has a good, lively atmosphere about it, and I really like the fact that Grocery Bistro is a BYOB (there's an excellent wine shop right next door). Given that I have had excellent experiences in the past, I will give Grocery Bistro one more chance. I hope to not be disappointed again...

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I live near the zoo and she lives in the Hancock. So it's 7pm on a Monday night, I've just picked her up at the Metra train station and we want somewhere close by. I pick the place and bring the wine. Our first time here and we're kind of into recession dining, so a byob with good food is the goal. Big storefront, high ceilings, attractive design, very nice. All of the smaller tables are taken. Owner greets us, says that a table for two should be leaving soon, would we like to wait at the large communal table. Sure. We like the table and stay. Olive antipasti excellent, ask for the bread. Cuke gaz and squash puree are both Excellent. I have the halibut, she has the burger. The halibut is perfectly seared and the fava puree with roasted radishes and pea shoots (I actually finished them), grerat. Burger with fried egg came out a perfect pink medium, juicy, flavorful. Again, everything excellent, especially the homemade catsup that comes with her fries. Food reminds me of MK, but half-price. And sure, it's noisy, but communication is no problem.
After reading all the "rude" stories below, I'd like to comment on the owner. He's kind of a serious guy with a brook-no-fools attitude, all business. That said, he greeted us, seated us, came by to chat, answer our "first-timer" questions, shared a glass of our wine (WS93), and told us about his new project, Pasha. We try to go to restaurants where the owner is somewhere on the premises, looking after things, and where we don't have to worry what the discount will be on the scratch-off coupon. Just a nice evening.

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After hearing about all the hype and rumors about the greatness of this place we just had to check it out. No disappointments here! The crab app and fried oysters were divine. The grilled salad was so summery, crisp, and delicious. The pork with grilled nectarines was beyond good as was the flank steak. I wasn't the biggest fan of the trout but my friend raved about it. I'm not really into fish that don't swim in the ocean anyway. Did I mention the polenta rocked?? Oh and don't leave without the fries. For dessert we had the herbs de province panna cota which was herbacious, sweet, and tart. Also, the goat cheese mousse was divine. As far as the ambiance is concerned, its defiantly very loud and has a hip urban vibe. The art on the walls is by local women (which I think is pretty cool) and I guess is available for purchase. I have my eye on one in the front....

I suggest you make reservations now!

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We had dinner at Grocery Bistro two weeks ago. We live right in the neighborhood and had been wanting to try Grocery ever since it opened. In short, after our experience there on a Friday night I am not looking to return.

When we arrived there were several open tables. We waited a full 10 minutes at least at the front door before a hostess even greeted or acknowledged us. We were then seated at the very end of the large, communal table. It then took another 20 minutes at least before a server greeted us - even just to say, "Hi, I'll be with you in a moment". It got to a point where I considered leaving altogether.

We ordered the Tuna Ceviche appetizer which was tasteless and looked as if it had gone through a blender.

I ordered the Risotto and my husband ordered a steak. Both were good and I actually really enjoyed the risotto. While the entrees were good, I think what overall left me with a bad taste in my mouth was how rude the management (possibly owners) seemed to be. I observed in several situations the management being rude to other staff when the situation didn't seen to warrant this. I think management is foolish to think that restaurant patrons do not sense this and notice the tone it sets for the restaurant as a whole. In another situation another manager or owner was particularly rude to my husband as he waited to use the restroom. There is absolutely no excuse for this.

I go out to dinner to relax and have an enjoyable time... not to be made to feel uncomfortable by inhospitable acts.

In the future, we will pick up our bottle of wine at Perman and take it to Izumi Sushi or another BYOB where we are made to feel welcome!

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Went here Friday night with a 9 pm reservation. Since it is BYOB (yay!) we brought some bubbly and a bottle of white wine. The $5 corkage fee is completely reasonable.

Started off with some appetizers - we all split the bruschetta (OMG so good), oysters, tuna tartar and the salad with apricots. Everything was super delicious. Next came entrees - I had the halibut, which was divine. We split all four desserts... very creative and innovative! The crepe with chocolate was my hands-down favorite. In fact, I would go to The Grocery with a bottle of bubbly and just order the crepes. Delish! Chef Monica has done fabulous job with this menu... we were so complimentary of the food she came out to say hello!

The room is a little noisy but it died down after we got there so it wasn't a huge concern. The staff is all friendly and personable, and prices are totally reasonable.

Overall, big thumbs up. Loved it, and would definitely go back!

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I had a great dinner here. What first made me interested? BYOB. Not to mention the reviews had me curious.

The food was very good: fresh and inventive. The cucumber gazpacho got my feet tapping and definitely refreshing on a hot night. And the marinated tomato salad with feta and olive tapenade was quite tasty although aside from the tapenade it's a salad I make myself fairly regularly and this was delicious. Tuna ceviche w/ watermelon, gorgonzola polenta and so many other things that I wanted on the menu that I couldn't decide... Which brings me to the service. I love when the wait staff is honest with you instead of praising everything on the menu. Our waiter was super nice (and super cute), but I feel like I was served by every member of the staff at some point from the hostess to the bus boy to the owner (I think) and was extremely happy with everything. The main things that make this place awesome are the addicting truffle fries and that it's BYOB. There's a Dominick's around the corner to pick up a couple six-packs (or wine if that's your thing). The girls at the front are really nice too.

I'll be back for sure!

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Oh wow I don't know where to begin! We started with the fried oysters which were beyond perfect. The review below must have been expecting deep fried ones, which these certainly were not, and thank goodness for that! These oysters were perfectly pan fried with a to-die-for champagne mustard cream sauce. Mmm. We also had a tasty curried crab and wonton app as well as the grilled romaine salad. Both were great. For entrees we tasted the halibut which was perfectly cooked with a fava bean puree and yummy roasted radishes (don't knock it till you try it) and the plum stuffed trout with almonds and mint, which had a beautiful presentation and great flavor components. We were super stuffed for dessert but had to have the chocolate and bacon toffee, yes you read that right...bacon toffee crepe...oh.my.god. Heaven on a plate!! All in all this place is fantastic and affordable to boot. Defiantly has moved on up since the last chef. Mmmm I want to go now!!

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My wife and I visited this restaurant last weekend. I was so disappointed that I had to register to Metromix just to write a review. The presentation of the fried oysters was not appealing - they came out looking very grey and unappetizing. The breading was soggy and tasted like the skin of fried chicken. We also ordered the shucked oysters which was topped with tobasco gelee and a cucumber/cilantro granita which completely overpowered any taste of the oysters. I also had the flank steak for dinner. The medium rare was cooked appropriately but the flavor was just okay. There was just nothing special about it. The staff was polite, but not friendly, and looked a little confused throughout the evening. The hostess looked a little annoyed when we told them that we did not want to sit outside. Though we didn't bring in any alcohol, the place was BYOYB - we heard the waitress tell the customers next to us that it was a $10 corking fee per bottle. Outside the restaurant was a parked van with a big sign asking customers to boycott the restaurant due to some conflict between the owner and the chef. Perhaps this was the reason why the staff looked confused and food was poor at best.

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