Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Review: Public House Chicago

Public House Chicago is one of those places that has a restaurant-like feel during the day, but at night it apparently gets crowded with the late night bar scene. I'll be honest, I've only ever been at Public House for the food and never late at night to drink - so this review pertains to their food I had at lunch. Word for the wise: many tables were filled when I arrived, so if you have a big group or even a client lunch, I recommend calling ahead and reserving a table.

I started by having their fried Wisconsin cheese curds (cheese and fried things are my two weaknesses). The curds were surrounded by a soft, breaded outer shell and accompanied with marinara and ranch-like dipping sauces. I'm actually not convinced the second sauce was ranch because it didn't leave a strong taste in my mouth like ranch dressing does, but I liked it and would ask for it on a burger or sandwich. I was very satisfied with the curds, although a bit greasy. They were perfect having been out the night before.


For my main course, I ordered the fried chicken sandwich, which had american cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and a "special sauce." This is where I went wrong - I assumed in my head that the special sauce would taste similar to McDonald's sauce, since pretty much every other place that has a special sauce mimics McDonald's Big Mac sauce. Alas, this special sauce tasted like what I thought was Frank's Red Hot sauce, and I was not having it. I like Frank's, don't get me wrong, but I have to be in the mood for a buffalo sauce. So with that being said, I managed to eat half of the chicken sandwich, still feeling bitter that the special sauce wasn't so special.


I ordered the parmesan-garlic fries as my side. They were a good mix of parmesan and garlic where I didn't feel my breath was so garlicky that I needed a piece of gum right after the meal. You can also see the parmesan cheese on the fries when they come out, which I like the reassurance that the cheese is actually on my food.

Takeaways:
  • Order some cheese curds as a starter
  • Only order the fried chicken sandwich if you like the taste of Frank's Red Hot sauce, otherwise ask the waitress to leave the special sauce off
  • Get parmesan-garlic fries instead of standard fries if you want to add a kick to your french fries

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