Chez Joel

I'm here in Chicago for business, but also tacked on a couple of extra days to visit a friend who lives in downtown. Her question to me was, "Where would you like to eat?" I replied, "Somewhere with outdoor dining!" She introduced me to this fabulous French restaurant in a charming part of town near a park with "lightening bugs" (bugs that light up like sparks!) called Chez Joel.

On a pleasant summer night, you can eat al fresco -- but we had to wait an extra 20 minutes for a table, even though there were plenty of seats indoors. Believe me, it was well worth the wait. The spacious patio, featuring lively French music, was filled with tables - lit with candles, creating a cozy atmosphere. For starters, we couldn't decide between the cheese & fruit assortment plate or duck and chicken liver pate plate...so we ordered both (accompanied by a plentiful basket of slices of baguette)! Excellent combinations, actually. Surprisingly, the servings were generous -- which was surprising to me because each plate was reasonably priced: $7.95! Perhaps it's because I'm used to eating in California. But I thought it was a great price for what we got. I ordered the steak au jus with pomme frites for my main course - $20.95 (in the SF Bay Area, the same meal would easily cost $28-30). It was juicy and cooked just right! The pomme frites were definitely the highlight -- fried to perfection: thin and crisp. Makes my mouth water just to thinking about them! For dessert, we ordered the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream (which was actually a lava cake...scrumptious and decadent!)

I would certainly return to Chez Joel during my next visit to Chicago. The food was excellent, the service was superb and the experience was overall...just delightful! :)