I can’t say enough about Glen Prairie. I had been driving by the restaurant on Roosevelt in Glen Ellyn for many months and repeatedly thought to myself how horrible it must be given that it’s a “hotel restaurant”. It’s attached to the newly remodeled Crown Plaza hotel. I’ve now learned that it’s not a “hotel restaurant” but a restaurant attached to a hotel. Touche 
So how did I find out more about this gem? About a month ago I was bored and started searching on Twitter for tweets from folks nearby and noticed that someone from Glen Prairie had done a tweet. A bit more research and I was shocked to find that Glen Prairie was getting great reviews from lots of people. It tries to be organic and local in what it does, but not off the deep end. The chef shops at the local farmers markets and local growers and merchants. It’s still about the food not the “organic mission”. I appreciate that. If you’ve eaten at the shaved head, no flavor, $30 organic peanut butter and jelly sandwich restaurants and been turned off by the local food movement you should give Glen Prairie a try. They do it right. It’s not cheep ($20-$30 a plate) but it’s not unrealistic by any means for the quality and taste. I’ve never left hungry, but I’ve never left stuffed either. The portions are proper sized. Not gut busting gigantic or froofroo tiny.
So for one of my “date nights with the wife”, we went to Glen Prairie. Actually, I tried to call ahead and get a reservation but they were full. Shocked I tell you…shocked! Busy in this economy. The lady offered to call me back if a table opened up so I gave her my phone number. Since we were going to drive past the Glen Prairie anyway (we were heading to a movie that night) we decided to stop in and take a chance at sitting at the bar or catching an open table. We showed up and the bar was open so we sat down. The architecture and style is gorgeous in a clean lines/architectural way, which I like. Checking out the small menu and I was stunned by the different offerings. They have bison? Seriously?! How many times have you sat down at a new restaurant, or an old familiar restaurant for that matter, and you can’t find a single thing on the menu that just jumps out and grabs you? I literally found _everything_ on the menu calling me..including the Salmon (I don’t typically like fish). David, the bartender, made several suggestions for food and drinks so Melissa and I went with his recommendations. A few minutes later my phone rang and it was the Glen Prairie telling me a table had opened up. Seriously?! They actually called me back? I waved to the lady on the phone across the room and we had a good laugh with David.
Towards the end of our meal the chef (Danny) came out from the kitchen and we got a chance to chat with him at the bar. He talked with us for a few minutes. I told him about finding him on twitter and we complimented him on his food. He was very gracious and genuinely seemed to be in love with food. That’s what I want to see in the guy cooking my food! We truly felt like they cared about our experience and immediately felt at home. After we left I was raving to my wife about how good it was, and trust me…I don’t do that often.
So that was our first trip…. obviously I was going to come back.
So tonight we had another “date with the wife” night and I took us to Glen Prairie again. I had been reading Danny’s tweets about his new specials and even the tweets sounded delicious. How often do you see someone raving about bacon? That’s my kind of guy! Again we decided to just wing it (on a friday night) and when we walked in the door David shouted across the dining room (we came early so the tables were mostly empty) and waved us over to the bar. He remembered us? I’ve only been here once! David directed us to the specials…not that it was going to take much…that’s why I was there.
Holy cow. The venison was unbelievable…even though I did have to break the kitchen rules and ask for medium. Melissa had the pork with IL peaches and Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon that was out of this world. It was seriously the best smoked bacon Melissa and I have ever had. I don’t know what to say…I wish we had date night every weekend. I’d have them engrave my name in a chair at the bar.
It’s my new favorite restaurant.
I’ve seen that place too on Roosevelt, and thought it was a hotel restaurant too. Glad to know how good it is – thanks for the tip, my husband and I will have to try it!
Do you recall them having any interesting vegetarian entries? Your posts are mostly raving about the venison, bison, and bacon… but wondering if it would be appealing to us local veggies and vegans.
I guess I do rave on the meat items! I didn’t really notice if they had vegan or veggie specific items. They do have a local farmers market roasted vegetable plater that probably has whatever is in season. It does include goat cheese which may not be an option for you. Also a baby eggplant dish with mozzarella. We had the grilled sweet corn and tomato bruschetta which would work for veggie and it was very good. I also see they have a hummus starter.
They are on twitter as GlenPrairie. If you are into twitter you could drop a note and ask!