Merlo on Maple: User Reviews
My wife and I ate here last night. We've eaten here before with friends from out of town and had a nice meal. Last night was nearing the end of a White Truffle event on a special menu. Wild Boar was also featured. We started by splitting an appetizer, and then waited 30 minutes for the entrees. Do you know what it feels like when you order a $42 entree, and then when it's placed in front of you it's a scoop of arborio rice with 5 small morsels of wild boar on top, swimming in olive oil? How about when you chew the bite-sized piece it takes about a minute and a half to finish it? Not to mention there was less than 1/2 teaspoon of truffled shaved on top. This is NOT Italy.
Then I looked over to my wife's plate and her "slightly pounded" veal chop was 1/2 centimeter thick layered with dried out prosciutto?
In addition our waiter made the selection of wine for us, and of course he chose the MOST expensive glass of wine on the menu. $19 each glass. He didn't tell us the price until the check came. Including tip...$177.00
Overpriced and poorly delivered. A heavy hand from a "boar'd" chef. No thanks.
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This was my first and last time at this very over priced restaurant. Service was average at best. Waiter spoke in a fake italian accent and consistantly mispronounced many of the italian names. I have had similiar quality italian fare (many even better) at several other little local italian restaurants... nothing all that mind-blowing here....... except the price tag! I was looking for some original plates, but found pretty standard stuff. Plan on spending literally 3-4 hours to complete your meal. Wine by the bottle approx 4 times retail. Only redeeming quality were the several "little" dining areas which provided somewhat of a shared semi-private dining experience.
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The entire experience was terrible, especially the food. Everything had mushrooms and truffles. We couldn't find anything on the menu that stuck out and looked appetizing. The La Fiorentina was terrible, there was no flavor and it was very tough. The service was very snobby and it took forever for us to get water and bread. I'd save your money and go somewhere else. We will never return and definitely will not recommend this place to any friends.
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This restaurant is glaring proof that high prices do not guarantee a fine dining experience. The food was lackluster at best, and the Florentine beefsteak was almost too tough to eat. There was nothing special or even mildly interesting about the presentation - unless you consider the simultaneous removal of stainless steel heat covers exciting. (Picture a square of dry lasagna alone in the center of a scratched white plate.) The service was only tolerable, but I'm not sure the waiter was entirely to blame. There was a definite lack of interest in accomodating diners. Even though the dining room was barely half full, the kitchen refused to separately plate a shared first course, and the waiter never asked if we'd like to have our leftovers (in my case, half my dinner) wrapped. I suspect that, unless this restaurant improves significantly, dining there will be a one time experience for most. I only hope this review will prevent someone else from wasting their time and money. There are much better alternatives in the city.
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A lot of the food is good but there is a strange pace and mood in the entire restaurant.
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Embarrassing to take out of town guests here.
By dkc from River North, October 26, 2008
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Taking 3 out of town guest here on Friday night and I was embarrassed. I had eaten here before on other occasions and it had worked. This night was a disaster mostly due to a very bad waiter, who did not listen, ignored us, continued to push food that we did not want. We waited sipping water for 45 minutes and finally had to ask again for the bottle of wine that we ordered and if we could have bread while we waited to order. The fish special tasted very fishy (not fresh) and when I told the waiter he argued instead of listening. I could go on and on. Just do not go to Merlot. The attitude and quality is bad.
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I will certainly be back and recommend to all!
By Melissa from Old Town, April 19, 2008
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This place is a must do and is sure to become one of your favorites if you enjoy fine, authentic Northern Italian cuisine. It's tucked away in a neat old historic home and has a romantic intimate feel. On my firsy visit I noticed that the owners (I was told she makes all the hand-made pasta and sauces herself fresh each day) were both there and seemed to know many of the guests that were "regulars" which is always a great sign. Our server was extremely knowledeble and fun and made excellent recommendations since there were many good looking options on the menu. For apps. we had the imported buffalo mozzarella wrapped in prociutto an the eggplant parmigiano both were great. The pasta is to die for - don't expect huge "American" portions. My favs are the tortelloni in sage butter & tagliatelle with bolognese sauce. The pepper crusted tuna was out of this world! Don't pass on desert, get the zabainoe...I had no idea what it was when I ordered it but trusted my server and was glad I did! Again - it's pricy, but worth it in my opinion.
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This place knows what great service is all about. A colleague reccommended this restaurant as a nice place for a first date. This restaurant is "Spot On"; the food is delicious and fresh. We had a wonderful waiter, very attentive but not over bearingly so, on a very crowded Saturday night I felt like a VIP even though I was a first timer. This place is romantic in an elegant unassumiing way, a great date restaurant.
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Excellent service & fabulous food. This is trully a hidden treasure in the heart of the Gold Coast. The feel of this restaurant is warm and inviting. The wine selection was wonderful, our server suggested we try a bottle of Nebbiolo, it was great. The food was delicious, I had the ossobucco and my husband had the green and yellow pasta with veal ragu (we shared)...both were excellent choices. The ossobucco is the best I have ever tasted. Dessert was amazing, tasted even better than it looked. I love this place, it is definately on my list of favorites in Chicago.
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My boyfriend took me there for Valentines Day. I do not eat red meat or fish - but since it is an italian place I didnt think that would be a problem. The menus were set and when asked about a vegetarian option the waiter said he had not even looked at the vegetarian menu so was not sure what was on it. The waiter was awkard, not knowledgeable about the food and bad service. The meal was severaly over priced for the portions. And the menus for Valentines day were not exciting - we expected something more diversed. Instead every course pretty much had mushrooms in it. This was our second time trying the restaurant and will not be heading back. Poor service, small portions, and staff that is not knowledgable about where they are working or what they are serving.
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 37 users:
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