Wine. Red. NOW, damn it. Thanks.
It was one of those days. We needed wine the second we sat down. Screw the white, we thought, because this was really more of a haven’t seen my girlfriend in a while and need to bitch about work/love/roomates/life so a little red won’t hurt nobody-sort of night. Lucky for us, Chelsea Grill in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood hooked us up with a delicious bottle of California Pinot Noir for somewhere in the 30s less than five minutes after we sat down. Score. In fact, all of their wines were between the $30-$40 range, which really showed off one of Chelsea Grill’s strengths: pricing. In these rough economic times, blah blah blah, Chelsea Grill is one smart bitch–no mains over $20, most around $12-15, and affordable wine. The food is slightly upscale comfort food, so think meatloaf, spaghetti, mac n cheese, etc. For the most part, it was pretty good. We started with the housemade chips, which I believe were $2 USD. But don’t quote me on that one. I was well into glass #1 of the Pinot by that point.
These were good–crispy, slightly warm, perfectly salted…but I did wish there was a bit more to them. Maybe some dip or some seasonings other than just salt? Maybe I’m just a whore for dip, but when I see a chip, I feel an urge to dip and I don’t like to ignore my feelings. What did help was the other appetizer we ordered, the buffalo shrimp. The extra sauce made for a lovely dipping sauce for our chips.
Now, these shrimp were pretty good, but they tasted exactly like buffalo chicken wings. While I wanted buffalo shrimp, I also sort of wanted it to be presented in a slightly more upscale, delicate way. Instead, the shrimp were coated in breadcrumb (I think panko) and tossed in a full strength Buffalo wing sauce. For a comfort food appetizer, the strong sauce really overwhelmed the shrimp flavor. It tasted delicious, but it tasted exactly like a chicken wing. The shrimp was really just a vehicle for transporting Buffalo wing sauce. That being said, this bitch likes some buffalo wings, and I ate them all. Perhaps if more were served, the dish would feel more balanced. Four shrimp does hardly an appetizer make. For mains, my friend went for the burger with fried egg. Because like any red-blooded American, she appreciates and even relishes the added cholesterol in yolk form on any of her foods. And that is part of the reason why we are friends.
It was meaty, it had a fried egg on top…there was really not much wrong this burger. It was loved and devoured by all. I went with the spaghetti and meatballs.
This, much like the buffalo shrimp, was just okay. The sauce was decent enough, but nothing about the dish from the meatballs to the pasta to the sauce really stood out as something I might crave later. It was a huge portion, mind you, but I’d rather have a small portion of a really good spaghetti than a large portion of mediocre. We finished off the night with their creme brulee ($5 USD).
It was a great a price, and a pretty damn good brulee to boot. Then again, I’m sucker for any sort of sugar-crusted custard. In the end, one might think I hate Chelsea Grill because I was a bit nitpicky about a few dishes. Fair enough. The fact is that for the price, food and location, Chelsea Grill is a solid restaurant. I think there are some definite hits and misses, but it is a place I would try again because the hits were delicious and affordable. Like the wine. Oh, how we loved on that wine. ~LTG! ****************************************************** Chelsea Grill 4520 N Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL 60625 (773) 989-4200 Appetizers $2-$8 Mains $10-$18 Desserts $5
