Wildwood Tavern, Niles

spinynorman99 wrote:Rumor has it (well, more than just rumor, their Facebook page confirms it) that Wildwood Tavern opens tomorrow on the Indian burial ground at Caldwell and Touhy.

Tried to get in over the weekend but the wait time was crazy. Reports from neighbors who visited were somewhat consistent in that the food was "fine" but service was a mess. I'll wait a few weeks for things to settle down. However, a quick glance at their menu raised some concerns that the price points appear to be high. And anyone hoping for a return of Myron & Phil's chopped liver will be happy to see that it's back, but $9 more than the previous "free."

Wildwood Tavern
6480 West Touhy
Niles, Illinois
(847) 677-6663
Facebook

spinynorman99 wrote: And anyone hoping for a return of Myron & Phil's chopped liver will be happy to see that it's back, but $9 more than the previous "free."

9 buck side dish!

http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/213/Q3/

kenji wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote: And anyone hoping for a return of Myron & Phil's chopped liver will be happy to see that it's back, but $9 more than the previous "free."

9 buck side dish!

http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/213/Q3/

Well...to be fair to Mark, the $9 chopped liver also includes "..pickles, pickled green tomatoes and red peppers, chopped egg, chopped onion & flatbread." (Flatbread?!) Yes, if they give you enough it's probably worth it, but back in the day at M&P we'd chow down on the relish tray for free AND get more if we asked for it! (In retrospect, that's probably why they're charging for it now! )

Like others, I will wait to visit Wildwood Tavern until the service kinks are worked out. But according to Mike Kessler's pic of the menu, the only real carryovers appear to be ribs, skirt steak & whitefish. No pepper steak, no 'Pritikin' chicken, I don't see any Green Goddess dressing either, although I suppose it may be available. I guess the price points are OK.

What gets me--with the caveat of not being or even wanting to be a restaurateur--is that this menu is very similar to many, many other joints around, heavy to the BBQ culture which in my eyes is already a ship that has sailed. This is not 'clubby' in the least, not that I expected it, though. It was evident all along that Mark had a different vision for this place. Is it the upscale Jewish/West Side Chicago restaurant culture that has died instead? Certainly hope not.

I had so many good times at M&P over the years that I wax nostalgic when even thinking about it. It was our go-to special dinner spot from ages 15-40 for me. That's saying a lot.

jnm123 wrote:What gets me--with the caveat of not being or even wanting to be a restaurateur--is that this menu is very similar to many, many other joints around, heavy to the BBQ culture which in my eyes is already a ship that has sailed. This is not 'clubby' in the least, not that I expected it, though. It was evident all along that Mark had a different vision for this place. Is it the upscale Jewish/West Side Chicago restaurant culture that has died instead? Certainly hope not.

I had so many good times at M&P over the years that I wax nostalgic when even thinking about it. It was our go-to special dinner spot from ages 15-40 for me. That's saying a lot.

In the year since it was announced I guess I'm guilty of developing some expectations of the place. The interior has been gutted and not much more. It's neither Myron & Phil's nor is it L. Woods or EJ's. It's very austere considering the time it took to open. As for the menu, I was somewhat surprised at the price points. The local paper ran a feature and it said the average lunch tab would be $9. The only possibilities of hitting that were the chopped liver appetizer or a grilled cheese sandwich (and that's excluding tax and tip). Our go-to spot when we don't feel like cooking is the Garage, about a mile or so away. Nearly all of their menu items are under $10. I realize they're different types of places, but the Wildwood prices make it difficult to impulsively stop in 1-2X a week (as we do with the Garage in the summer).

if two people go and have an appetizer, say two alcohol beverages total, one entree each, whats the total price going to be for the meal?

kenji wrote:if two people go and have an appetizer, say two alcohol beverages total, one entree each, whats the total price going to be for the meal?

https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=565EF219

Looks like anywhere from $60-95.

spinynorman99 wrote:https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=565EF219

Oh, dear.
"Deserts"

BrendanR wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=565EF219

Oh, dear.
"Deserts"

Perhaps its a reference to the area being a Dessert desert?

jnm123 wrote:
Well...to be fair to Mark, the $9 chopped liver also includes "..pickles, pickled green tomatoes and red peppers, chopped egg, chopped onion & flatbread." (Flatbread?!)

Translation: Matzo for Goyim.

Buddy

spinynorman99 wrote:

BrendanR wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=565EF219

Oh, dear.
"Deserts"

Perhaps its a reference to the area being a Dessert desert?

Perhaps it's an homage for the previous incarnation's "St. Luis BBQ".

There are problems of punctuation and syntax in the menu's introductory paragraph, also. Perhaps not the most relevant test of whether a restaurant is good or not--but a useful way to weed it from consideration if you value the English language as much as you do chopped liver.

Hiring an editor for a couple hours' work would have been so easy...

I'da dun it for a free meel and pye.

Heh.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:

jnm123 wrote:
Well...to be fair to Mark, the $9 chopped liver also includes "..pickles, pickled green tomatoes and red peppers, chopped egg, chopped onion & flatbread." (Flatbread?!)

Translation: Matzo for Goyim.

Buddy

I like that!

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:Translation: Matzo for Goyim.

Early Saturday Wildwood Tavern lunch. Freedman burger for the bride, turkey BLT for me. Sandwiches were large, tasty and came with terrific fries and slaw. Supper Club Platter, aka chopped liver and pickles, $8 and matzo called matzo not flatbread.

Supper Club Platter



Attentive personable service, comfortable room, reasonable pricing. We will be back soon.

Who nu?

Buddy

G Wiv wrote:We will be back soon.

[/quote]
but can we count you a fan?

Glad to hear, after what sounded like some questionable decision-making on Wildwood's part, that they're keeping the Myron & Phil's flame burning.

My experience was much different than Gary's. I have been a life long Myron and Phil patron and was really hoping to like this place. The burgers were ordered medium rare but came out dry and cooked through. The fries were cold and both the fries and cole slaw were tiny portions. I did tell Mark about my experience and will return again one day but not soon. There are way too many great places to eat...

Good Morning, LTH members, I want to thank you for everyone's input over the past couple of years going back to Myron and Phil's. I remember the heading of the Myron and Phil article "Everything changes", I see this great new layout for this web sight and states that everything changes. We hope for the better. A Philosopher once said " the only thing that doesn't change is that everything changes ". We have moved on from our location at 3900 Devon and are at our new home at 6480 Touhy. The Myron and Phil thing could not be supported in today's market at that location or maybe any location. A New concept that embraced my father and uncle's brand but allowed us to expand into a different market was our only option. We are now open 5 months. We are still having some growing pains but we have gotten much better. I would like to erase the first 3 months out of my brain. I think we have the best of what M&P's had to offer, the free chop liver (that everybody paid for at M&P because it was built into the price), is available for those who want it. You would not believe what we use to throw out at M&P. We have the salad dressings and the slaw. The most expensive item is the Skirt Steak, sorry can't help it, it's not the cheap cut of meat anymore. We have so much to offer beyond the dinner entree's, BBQ and burgers are part of it but we make great pizza. This bar is nothing like M&P's bar, we are getting great action at it. I just wanted to reach out to you all and thank you for your support. Hope to see you LTHers soon and raise a toast to change.

How great of you to post here. And brave.
I, for one, appreciate your candor and have always held your family's work in high esteem (Loved Billy and Company years ago!)
I will definitely come in now that I see your post.
Restaurants usually need time to work out the kinks.
Your willingness to come here and post speaks volumes about your integrity.
Best wishes.

Had a great lunch here today with some co-workers. A few highlights included the Onion Loaf, which reminded me of the glory days at Hackney's but this version was crispier and less greasy than what I remember having at Hackney's. I also had a wedge salad, which was a towering beauty generously bedazzled with pungent blue cheese, crispy bacon bits and diced tomato (the tomatoes could have been better but hey, it's February). My request for blue cheese and thousand island dressings was accomodated without hesitation and both dressings were great. The Original Myron & Phil’s Skirt Steak was quite possibly the best skirt steak I've ever had in a restaurant. Not cheap at $28, it was still a solid value -- a massive portion of flavorful, tender and juicy steak, cooked perfectly to medium rare and topped with those spectacular signature burnt onions. I ate as much of it as I could and will have the rest for dinner tonight or lunch later in the week.

A shared appetizer of sausage pizza was piping hot and tasty but not quite the highlight as the aforementioned items were. However, the Down Home Fish & Fries were really nice - as crispy on the outside and as moist on the inside as one would hope for when deciding to order it.

Fwiw, service was friendly, helpful and excellent overall.

1.1 miles from my office. Today's lunch was definitely a reason to get up from my desk and live a little. Hey, it's ok to not brown bag it every single day.

=R=

You probably meant "without hesitation."

I'm really glad to read this review. We happened to drive by the place a couple of months ago and I was disappointed (for the restaurant's sake) that the signage at the corner of Touhy and Gross Point was a very "temporary" looking banner stretched over some other (presumably pre-existing) sign. The make-shiftness of it didn't send the right message at all. I'm glad that what's going on inside the restaurant shows confidence. (And hopefully a permanent-looking sign that reflects this confidence is now in place.)

riddlemay wrote:You probably meant "without hesitation."

I'm really glad to read this review. We happened to drive by the place a couple of months ago and I was disappointed (for the restaurant's sake) that the signage at the corner of Touhy and Gross Point was a very "temporary" looking banner stretched over some other (presumably pre-existing) sign. The make-shiftness of it didn't send the right message at all. I'm glad that what's going on inside the restaurant shows confidence. (And hopefully a permanent-looking sign that reflects this confidence is now in place.)

Indeed, "without" it was. Error edited.

Fwiw, the temporary sign is still up (could be for any number of reasons, some beyond the control of the proprietor) but it doesn't seem to be scaring too many folks off. The lunch crowd was good today, without the restaurant feeling excessively full.

=R=

Excellent. I hope to get there before too long.

Signage usually needs approval through the village boards, sometimes separate from the build out approvals. Assuming this might be the holdup in this situation??

WestRidgeFoodie wrote:Signage usually needs approval through the village boards, sometimes separate from the build out approvals. Assuming this might be the holdup in this situation??

A reasonable guess, but very unlikely. They had occupancy in 2014 and originally anticipated a late 2014 opening which extended well into 2015. That would be the longest signage approval in the history of the area. Niles is so desperate for development of that area that the mayor would likely have put the sign up himself if they had one ready

We got screwed by the sign guy so we have to start from scratch. We had a very cool setup for the sign. Now we are just replacing the panels and the lights. I hope in the next 3 to 4 weeks.

Sign's up! Mazel tov!

spinynorman99 wrote:Sign's up! Mazel tov!

Lo and behold (was there last week and saw it for myself ). . .


Wildwood Tavern 16.0421

=R=