Chez Elle

Ever since I sent a one word email to Stella, "Interested?" and a link to Chez Elle's website, I knew we were going to eat there the first chance we got. Stella loves crepes and we would drive to Liberty if there were a crepe stand there (don't tell me if there is, I don't want to go to Liberty).

Saturday was the day, the kids spent the night at their grandparents' so we could explore the place without distraction. We showed up about 10, got a bitchin' parking spot right in front of the door and got one step in the door. The line at the counter nearly reached the door. Little did I know that this wasn't an indication that Chez Elle was super busy, just that the owner, Ellen, was the slowest cashier ever. We stood in a line about 10 people deep for a solid 20 minutes. We watched as Ellen fumbled with the register, couldn't run a credit card through the swiper and handed change back with 2 hands. It was an atrocious display.
In my mind, a cashier has 2 responsibilities to the customer. Either be quick to get people on their way or be very charming and get to know the customers. She obviously failed the first responsibility as she could barely run the register. But, she failed the second one as well because she could barely run the register. A suggestion I would give would be to give her numbers to push on the display so that when the customer orders by number, she doesn't have to translate it in her head to the name of the crepe so it can be input. Then when the ticket for the kitchen prints out it would have the number of the crepe on it instead of her having to write it on each ticket. Even this wouldn't be that big of a problem if she didn't move at a glacial pace.

I only harp on this because every other part of the Chez Elle experience is wonderful. A wide variety of crepes can be had, savory, sweet or breakfast as well as a couple of salads and some bakery items. They also have a coffee bar with a rather quick barista, she could make a latte quicker than the owner could ring up a customer.

I got the crepe they call The Madame, I prefer to call it the #24. This also lent to my frustration with the counter lady because I wanted to call it the #24 and she insisted I said I wanted The Madame in order for her to ring it up. I really enjoyed that emasculation in front of middle aged women and hipsters. The Madame is a Nutella and banana filled crepe. I can't pass up Nutella in a dish that lends itself to its use. Stella got the #9 or Petite Maison, a crepe filled with spinach, Gruyere and sauteed mushrooms. Stella also got a cafe mocha and I had a regular coffee. Our total was around $20.

We were given a number and sat down in the dining room. It's a rather charming dining room with a French motif. We were seated near a map of the Paris metro system which was quite interesting to look at. It took less than 5 minutes for our crepes to arrive and they were quite a generous portion. We were a little worried they would be a little skimpy.My crepe was just wonderful. Every time I have something with Nutella I wonder why I don't have it every day. I would have enjoyed a little more banana in it, but I could barely finish the thing anyway so I guess it didn't matter much. Stella liked here crepe just fine after she added some salt. My coffee wasn't that great and Stella didn't think much of her mocha, though it did have a little bit of artistic flair to it.Aside from the awful counter service (Ellen was friendly, but friendliness doesn't overcome our frustration with standing in line for 20 minutes watching her screw up over and over), Chez Elle was quite a nice experience. I'm certainly willing to go back and I hope that the ordering system is improved on my next visit. Once it is, I think the kids will enjoy it. We made them a Nutella banana crepe at home the next day. It will certainly be one of the best breakfast spots in the city in one of the best neighborhoods (Westside Local and Bluebird are within a block) once the kinks are worked out. It's also a wonderful place to go if you're heading to Boulevard for a morning tour (as we were). The brewery is a scant 5 blocks away.

My happy plate or Chimpo's underwear? You decide.

Family Dining Chronicles - Cheddar's

Where to begin with Cheddar's(in the Oak Park Mall parking lot along 95th St.)? When they were building the place, I was like Chimpotle and thought I'll never eat there. Then the commenters on his post really persuaded me to give it a shot because it was different from all the other fast casual restaurants. I knew from reading about the place in other cities that they supposedly had really good chicken fingers (which is NOT a reason to go to a restaurant).

We packed up the kids one night a couple of nights after they opened and got there about 5:15, hoping to avoid the crowds. We were afraid the all of Johnson County would be there, the way they were with the Mimi's 100 yards away when they first opened. Luckily, we got there and were able to be seated right away. Immediately, the kids were completely engrossed in the giant fish tank at the front of the restaurant in the waiting area. It made for some nice entertainment for the kids while we waited to order and get our food.

Our service was pretty prompt in helping us and we ordered enough fried food to kill a navy. Stella got a fried shrimp platter, I got a chicken finger platter* and we ordered chicken fingers from the kids menu for the kids and an onion ring tower for an appetizer. Then we waited. For my money, one of the keys to being a family friendly restaurant from a parent standpoint is to be quick about getting the food out. We, as parents, only have so much time before things go south and the kids get bored or start fighting or any number of things. Cheddar's didn't quite meet this test. If it weren't for the fish tank to entertain the kids, things could have gotten ugly. Cheddar's is kind of loud so your kids being loud isn't going to draw a lot of attention to you. The booth we sat in was raised which also gave us kind of an island effect where I felt that we were somewhat isolated from the rest of the restaurant which took away some of my anxiety.

*I firmly believe that no one over the age of 18 should order chicken fingers in a restaurant. If you can't find something a little more adult to eat, then maybe you should go with a hamburger. I only ordered the chicken fingers because I read they were a house specialty (clue that you're eating crappy food; chicken fingers are a house specialty).


The onion rings came and they were quite tasty. I did get about a week's worth of sodium in each ring and I probably flustered the waitress because she had to keep refilling my drink. The dipping sauce that came with the rings was another super salty southwestern style concoction. It was best to just stick with some ketchup. When the main courses arrived it definitely was enough to kill a navy. I had 4 or 5 really big chicken fingers and a solid helping of fries. Stella had at least a dozen butterflied shrimp and the kids meal had 3 big chicken fingers. Stella shrimp were butterflied in such a way that each half had a complete coating of breading around them so that they were more like 2 fried shrimp connected to one tail. I had to admire the ingeniousness of getting that much breading on fried shrimp. I'd never seen it before. The adult chicken fingers were different from the kid's chicken fingers which I found odd. My fingers had a breading that looked a little like extra krispy KFC while the kid ones had a more standard flour breading. I've got to say, my chicken fingers were pretty decent. The kid ones, though, were pretty bad and the kids didn't even really like them. The fries were genuinely awful, I was only able to eat a couple. You can get other sides to go with your meal and I'm pretty sure I would order parking lot snow sludge as a side before I ordered those fries again.

I'm not a health food nut and my kids eat all manner of crap, from frozen chicken nuggets to mini tacos to frozen pizzas. We counterract that with plenty of running around, playing and walks (when the ground isn't covered in snow). I grew up eating all manner of crap, but I played baseball every day that it was warm enough and I didn't weigh 110 pounds until I graduated from high school. What I'm saying is, I think that moderate exercise can pretty much make up for whatever kids are eating. But, I really don't think, in good conscience, I could subject my kids to eating at Cheddar's more than once or twice a year. It's like the Hardee's of the fast casual concept. Stella took my 4 year old girls back last week for lunch while they were waiting on new glasses. Stella got a bacon cheeseburger that had 8 pieces of bacon on it. She had to play 3 straight hours of Rhythm Parade on Wii Fit just to work off half that burger.

We weren't able to eat all our food, so we brought home about 5 chicken fingers and 5 shrimp and at least one serving of french fries. But, the food is so heavily breaded and fried that it doesn't microwave that well (I probably should have put it in the toaster over). The kids definitely didn't like the leftovers the next day, so all the extra food doesn't make Cheddar's that great of a value. Our tab was about $35 for the appetizer, 2 entrees, one kid meal and 3 drinks. I can't recommend the kid meal. If you have 3 or more kids, just order an entree for them to share. Any less than 3 kids, share your entrees with them. You simply won't be able to eat all the food anyway and it doesn't keep well enough to have the leftovers. The food is good enough at Cheddar's, but I'm a firm believer that it's pretty hard to have bad tasting fried food.

Family Dining Chronicles - Foster's Grille

I formulated an ingenious plan today in the shower. You see, Stella was going to be gone all day today, until well after the kids were going to be in bed. I had to come up with some way to entertain the kids for the full 14 hours of their day. My plan was kids shows in the morning, watch "Iron Man" together complete with popcorn for lunch (they ate really big breakfasts, don't judge me) then some free play time, then an early dinner at the newly opened Foster's Grille (119th and Metcalf behind the IHOP), with maybe a cameo by Stella. That would get us to the evening which would mean we could play a game (Blunders, Making Learning Manners Fun could be the game) or Wii Fit Rhythm Parade. That's a good full day that would keep the kids in line.

Foster's Grille intrigued me because they have hot dogs, hamburgers and hot wings in a kid friendly atmosphere, but not so kid friendly that they don't have beer on tap (in fact they had 5 taps, nothing more exotic than Boulevard Wheat). This is just the kind of place I'm looking to take my kids to eat. I'm hoping for good food, just because I have kids doesn't mean I'm checking my taste buds at the door. Unfortunately, that is exactly what places that cater to families have decided to do, dumb down the food to the point that it no longer has any taste (at best) or tastes awful (at worst).

Foster's appeals to more than just families so I was hoping for some good food. When we walked in the first thing the kids noticed was the Nascar looking car on the ceiling with Minnie Mouse hanging from it. My 2 and a half year old likes to point such things out by yelling "Minnie Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Minnie Mouse" as loud as he can upon seeing Minnie Mouse (or Lightning McQueen or Woody from Toy Story or any character from any movie he may have seen). Luckily, Foster's Grille is just the sort of place that can absorb a little kid's yelling. Not that it's loud or full of unruly kids, just that the noise doesn't strike anyone as annoying. The music is turned up loud enough to combat any kid noise and there's plenty of things to look at without having to get upset at someone else's unruly children. Since I have 3 kids under 5, this is the perfect atmosphere for me.

The ordering system at Foster's is a little different. You go up to the counter and get a menu pad and check the items you want, one sheet per customer, a little like ordering sushi at Kona. You can fill it out at the counter or or take it back to your table. The problem is, not all the menu items are on the pad and there didn't seem to be a place to write in additional items. When seated, my back was to the menu board behind the counter so I didn't know what other items there were nor did I know how much anything cost. I would have liked to have gotten onion rings, but I had no idea how to actually do that. I ended up getting 2 cheeseburgers with fries and fountain drinks along with 2 glasses of freshly squeezed lemonade. All the burgers and sandwiches come with fries and a fountain drink, so when I saw the price of the burgers, $8.95, I was taken aback but with fries and a drink, it seems in line with every other place of this type. I also ordered 3 hot wings, just to try them. I liked the option to just order any number of wings that you wanted. The whole meal cost $25, I can shave $5 off that total next time.

The food came out in short order. They called our names, we acknowledged it was us and they brought us our food. I split the kids' cheeseburger in 3 pieces and it was plenty to feed all of them. They also shared the fries which I would guess were about 50% more fries than you typically get with a meal. And the fries were just perfect wonderful specimens, the fries you wish Five Guys had. The kind of fries that scream to have malt vinegar poured over them instead of dipping them in ketchup. The kind of fries, you can forgive a substandard hamburger for. They were very nearly the perfect french fry, nice and crisp on the outside, fluffy fresh on the inside, nicely salted and wonderfully flavored. Seriously, go for the fries, don't substitute a garden salad for 95 cents. If you do, I will punch you in the nuts.

The cheeseburger was cooked very nicely to medium instead of medium well like most burgers. I enjoy that. I'd like to say the burger was great, but it wasn't. It lacked flavor, a little salt would have gone a long way. The cheese was plentiful, and helped bring a little flavor, but not quite enough to say this was anything better than an average burger. The hot wings, though, were very good. I wish they had other flavors other than buffalo, but, sometimes menu simplicity is warranted. I don't fault them for keeping it simple since the wings quite tasty, juicy and left me wanting more. I may even go with the wing entree (12 wings with fries and drink for $9.95) next time.

I love lemonade and drink a lot of it. I can safely say that the lemonade at Foster's is definitely not worth $1.85. It just wasn't very good. It didn't have the tartness I look for in lemonade.

The kids enjoyed themselves immensely which is saying something since no crayons were involved. I've yet to find the key to figuring out why the kids like certain restaurants and don't like others. But, restaurants that have crayons, ironically, are typically not that kid friendly. Foster's just didn't need to stoop to the crayon pandering. They also had enough food items that I can enjoy that I think we can keep Foster's in the rotation for family dinners. I should also note that the staff was super friendly and very willing to help out an outnumbered parent. I received multiple offers of help with carrying drinks, getting anything we might need like lids and straws etc. Some of this can be chalked up to a new staff on the second day open, but I think training shows. I think going forward we'll think of Foster's Grille staff being very friendly.

This is the first in a continuing series of family dining posts. It seems that most restaurant reviews in town leave out the family dining aspect of restaurants and eating out with my family is 95% of my eating out experiences. I know I'm not alone in this, so hopefully these reviews will be helpful to those of us in a family way. As stated above, what I'm really looking for is restaurants my kids will enjoy and have good enough food that I can enjoy them too. We're not taking the kids to Bluestem or Extra Virgin, so we need to find quality restaurants that are cheap enough that we don't mind if the kids don't eat everything on their plates. Also, I don't like the name I've given this, so if you have any better ideas, leave them in comments.