Chef’s Corner

Many have asked me why I haven’t given Chef’s Corner a review yet. I never wrote a review until now because I felt the review would be too one-​sided. Instead I decided to help Chef out in other ways like helping him understand social media like Unilocal and facebook or help translate for him.
I helped him out because I consider Chef a friend of mine. How we become friends doesn’t make much sense to me. I started stopping by because I didn’t know how to cook and became a regular because the food was better than any other place in Naperville (better ingredients for a fraction of the cost). Soon we started talking about basketball, his experience with the Bulls during the early 90s and how Drazen Petrovic was on the same level as Jordan at times.
Next thing I remember, Chef started teaching me how to cook. Taught me about organic foods and what ingredients make a great salad, showed me how to shop at farmers markets teaching me to avoid resellers and find the farmers. Let me purchase my fish/​produce from his restaurant. He literally changed my eating habits and how I look at food.
With that said, today is the last day that Chef’s Corner will be open. (Oct 22^nd)
If you were lucky enough to eat here, you probably had the best burgers/​salmon salads/​fish fry/​rosemary white bean soup/​goulash/​salmon sandwich/​chicken salad/​chef salad/​crab cakes/​hangar steak/​chicken kabob/​kobe beef burger/​blue cheese dressing/​cevapi that you ever had.
If you were lucky enough to be a regular, you were furtunate enough to have met someone that literally works his ass off but still tries to make you feel like family.
For those of you that didn’t give this place a 5 stars: you are entitled to your own opinion. I suppose you didn’t like the speed of his service or the lack of seating inside. Either way, you are a clown and there are plenty of seats available at McDonalds for you.
Thank you Chef for all that you have done.

Last Call for Chef’s Corner? Stopped there today for my Chef’s corner fix and confirmed LisaH’s tip that there is a realtor sign on the property and «we are closing in a month» …“lost our lease” signs all over the windows. Chef told me that catering would continue, but when I asked him if he was going to find a another place in the general area he just looked at me and said… I have a chef job downtown (sounded like Chicago). A bunch of us are really going to miss the burgers, steak sandwiches, soups, gelatos… etal that he has been serving us here for years!
So, don’t put off that last visit or you may not get another chance.

This is definitely a great place to eat. But don’t come here with the expectation that you’ll be lavished with great service and such. The owner is a very conversational guy (used to cook for the Chicago Bulls) and does some amazing food.
Steak Sandwich — Cooked about medium. It’s seasoned on its own and costs about $ 13. The bread used for the sandwich is nice and soft and compliments the steak really well. He cuts it into a half (diagonal style) and uses some organic salad to help top it off with tomatos. This is a must try!!!
Cevapi — Sausage looking beef that comes in a bun. He seasons it prior to putting it onto the grill that nothing is needed in addition to it.
Kobe Beef Burger — A burger that requires no ketchup or mustard or extra seasoning. This burger costs about $ 10 but is well worth it. The only thing I thought could be better was that it felt heavy in the stomach after eating it.
Gelato — I’ve tried their blood orange gelato along with their pumpkin orange gelato which he makes from scratch. Both are to die for!!! They taste so fresh and compliment the rest of the meal well.
Service — While he cooks, you can talk to him and he has so many stories to share and he explains how he cooks his food and what makes his food so awesome. I love it!!!

Best burger I’ve had outside Chicago proper! In fact, I really liked Kuma’s (a while back), but I’d take the traditional/​classic one at Chef’s Corner any day. It was very juicy, not overdone, but not too rare. Simply flavorful. And it helps not having to wait in the cold for 2 hours before they can even take your order…
I’ve also tried:
— the Kobe beef burger, which though fancier, is drier (I preferred the traditional).
— the grilled chicken sandwich. It was unlike any I’ve ever had — instead of the usual dry and dull piece-​o-​meat, you get a perfectly grilled breast that’s been soaking in some ridiculously delicious lemon/​citrus-​based marinade, which makes the white meat tangy, juicy, and savory. Also, the secret sauce, tomato, and greens (yes, greens — not plain old lettuce) combine to make the whole thing into the best chicken «sandwich» you’ve ever had
— the rosemary white-​bean soup. It was great. I did not go there for the soups, but it was definitely way above average.
So if you don’t go for the burgers, you can’t go wrong. Everything seems to be made with care, and often from scratch — just ask the chef, he’ll tell you about it! Even their random blue cheese side dip (no idea what it came with) was great — in taste, and texture. And I don’t consider myself a blue cheese fan — the usual store-​bought ones have that strange, chemically/​fake taste and homogeneous consistency.
Oh, and the outside seating is fantastic during the summer :).

The first time my husband and I brought home burgers from Chef’s Corner, we sat in our dining room, eyes closed, savoring every bite like a religious experience. You may think I’m exaggerating, but that Kobe beef bleu cheese burger will make you see the face of God…
The atmosphere is adorable, with beautiful outside seating… but the true gem is the chef himself. He takes pride in EVERYTHING he makes, and he knows what he’s doing. If he recommends something, ORDER IT. And I don’t care if you’re allergic to bleu cheese, you are committing a crime if you don’t try it.
All his food is homemade, from his fresh coleslaw to his delicious gelato — the man is a culinary genius. He is kind of like Naperville’s own «soup nazi» which just makes me squeal since we are surrounded by chains and fast food as far as the eye can see.
I actually hesitated about writing this review since I want to keep this place my little secret, so don’t tell your d-​baggy friends please :)

I live a well struck 4 iron from this place, but the last time I was in the building, it was called Dooley’s (sometime in the early ’70’s perhaps). We’d hop on our Schwinn Sting Rays, fly down the hill on Chicago Avenue, and load up on penny candy. My visit brought back some fond memories-​I digress.
I’m not going to regurgitate the party line but I will concur with most everything: the food is wonderful, the chef and his wife are most amiable, and the prices are very reasonable. But it’s hot in there, brother. I understand the concept of making the most of what you have, and humble beginnings and all that but I would have to recommend the alacritous replacement of the A/​C unit. We will definitely be back!

Believe the hype, this place is a freaking gem. I came here with the baby and the baby daddy on Mother’s Day. We walked in, and the Chef automatically gave us samples of the chicken salad (awesome) and the beef barley and chicken noodle soups (hot and radical). I opted for the steak sandwich, and the baby daddy got the kobe beef burger. When he tried to get American cheese on the burger, Chef politely told him no and suggested a different cheese for the burger. I couldn’t agree more — American cheese is pretty lame-​o.
The food was awesome and the portions were huge. I think you’ll read that in a lot of these reviews. I fell in love with the back yard of the restaurant. It was like eating in someone’s completely picturesque backyard… complete with lush green grass, big leafy trees, and plenty of picnic tables covered in red and white checkered tablecloths and flower vases. Totally cute, completely fun and enjoyable experience. Ahhhh, I can’t wait to go back.

Cevapi. Get it. It’s really really good. Really good. And the bread. I swear, I just wanted to lick it all over. Even though that’s seriously gross.
My husband also reported that his burger was great, and he’s pretty sure that if they didn’t bake the bun it came on, someone else did so very very recently.
We were going to sit in the picnic grove, but it started to rain. The inside is tight, but comfy. We have to go back.

I can’t bear to give this place a poor review since everyone seems to love it. I hate when my favorite places get reviewed poorly.
No issues. We ordered things that aren’t the super-​faves among the rest of you, so I can see why I was underwhelmed. I’d probably give my veggie sandwich ³⁄₅ stars. The bread was the best part, then the peppers. But I just cannot even understand why I’d pay nearly $ 6 for a sandwich with 2 pieces of processed cheese. Ickness.
My husband had the angus burger and though he said it was good, he also commented on how fatty it was. Like it sat on the grill and the fat was never squeezed out = full fat. He wasn’t in love.
The fries were SO incredibly salty– and coming from a girl who sometimes eats salt straight from the salt shaker, that’s shocking. But really… the whole fry was covered. It was WAY worse than McD’s.
We’re beginning to understand the Chi-​town food methods. People like heavy foods, plain and simple. I’m from the land of freshness and un-​fried… hard to get used to! To order a steak on bread as an entrée is crazy talk to me… but to some, it’s heaven!
Not sure we’ll be going back. It’s good because it’s greasy. To me, it was just heavy and underwhelming. And… I MUST have real cheese.

I don’t know why it’s been so long since my last visit. Probably about a year has gone by since I last ate here! So many places to eat in town… but this is one that should not be ignored!
I must iterate that you have GOT to try the steak sandwich. I think the cow would thank the chef for making it into this sandwich (in fact it might want a bite). This is not a shaved Philly-​cheesesteak-​style thing: we are talking a whole steak (the chef pulled it out and showed it to me), grilled, sliced into chunks, with provolone melted on top, all on a toasted roll. Occasionally hard to get your mouth around because the steak chunks did not want to be contained in the roll (oh, boohoo, my life is tough), this sandwich was more easily wrangled with a fork at hand to mitigate overflow.
The steak sandwich is $ 11.45, which seems like a lot for a sandwich, but what you’re really getting IS a steak and more. So actually it’s a good deal.
My boyfriend got the grilled chicken sandwich (also yum), and we split a HUGE box of crispy, crunchy, fresh-​from-​the-​fryer, peppery fries. The blue cheese dressing the chef gave us to dip them in was so chunky and thick that it was like moartar: delicious, delicious moartar. I envision slathering it on a wall, putting up cracker «tiles» and then eating them all off.
This place is more convenient for takeout in the winter, since there are just a few small tables; in the summer there is the «picnic grove» out back as well.
They’ve also got quite an extensive catering menu too!
This is not a case of too many cooks: there is only one chef, and he will tell you what he thinks and is not shy about self-​promotion (telling you that his soup is the best in town and so on). But why shouldn’t be he – he’s right! Go visit him today, and early — others already know the secret, and he sells out quickly.
Bön appetit!

I came back and introduced another colleague to Chef’s Corner. Chef had on this Friday a salmon sandwich and the fish fry for those observing Lent. I wasn’t doing that, but I had the most excellent salmon sandwich anyway.

This was a great place to grab a quick dinner. Both my wife and I tried this for the first time, and based on recommendations we decided to go the steak sandwich route. We definitely were not disappointed, and I’d say they are worth their $ 11 price tag.
The owner was the one cooking and was super nice. He let us sample some gelato and macaroni salad, and then threw in some fries for free so that we could try out the blue cheese dressing (which I reluctantly tried given that I hate blue cheese dressing, but ended up thinking it was the perfect compliment to the fries).
Next time I stop by I definitely want to try out the Kobe burger because I was pretty torn between the steak sandwich and that. I’m sure that will be just as impressive though.

DELICIOUS!!! Is the only way I can describe this place. We’ve tried the cheeseburger, grilled chicken sandwich, chicken salad sandwich, beef barley soup, and tomato basil soup. Each of these items were remarkable. The cook is an internationally trained chef and he makes EVERYTHING from scratch… he even cuts up his own cabbage for the cole slaw. The chef/​owner gave us some homemade bleu cheese to dip our fries… OMG…the bleu cheese dressing is this perfect concoction of whatever goes into bleu cheese dressing and HEAVEN!!!
Everything we’ve eaten from there is the best I have ever had. The chicken salad is creamy and ridiculously good. You can taste the «chef» in everything. The cheeseburger is thick and made with top quality beef. The soups are 100% homemade and I just get this warm fuzzy feeling with each spoon… Chef’s Corner is definitely a hidden gem!

We’ve been coming here occasionally since late last spring and always leave with happy super-​full tummies. It’s off the beaten path of the downtown area and fairly easy to overlook, so we actually weren’t aware of it ’til I was doing a little Unilocal browsing.
Many people seem to order to go, though in addition to the 2 small tables squeezed in near the register, there are a few more by the counter near the front door. (Easy to miss, especially if you’re short like me.) In the summertime, there are also picnic tables to eat at as well.
Hubby has tried and liked various items like cevapi, steak sandwich, etc, but really seems attached to the kobe burger. And he loves the gelato when it’s warm out. Fortunately for him I’m usually too stuffed to steal much.
The grilled chicken sandwich is my personal favorite. Definitely not your typical slab-​o-​chicken breast and iceberg wedge on a bun. (And with all the messy gooey goodness on it that goes with those lovely greens and tomato slices, not exactly the tidiest or most lo-​cal variation either.) I also like the soups in cooler weather — so far the rosemary white bean has been my favorites.
When we eat inside or we pop back in for a moment after eating at a picnic table, Chef’s always checked up and asked how we liked our food.

Eat.Here.Now.
Bring an appetite. Chat with the oh so friendly Chef. And taste whatever samples he offers. Trust me.
I have a new favorite food and it’s name is Cevapi. Thanks to Ericka A for accompanying me to this corner of Naperville. She and Chef got into a discussion about Bosnian food and I learned so much! In between tastes of the Tomato Basil soup (warm, creamy, fresh tomato flavor) and the chicken salad (great flavor and the dressing is rich but not heavy at all) our cevapi cooked away on the grill as the lepijna warmed as well.
There’s a lot to choose from on the menu – burgers, fish, chicken, grilled veggies and salads and everything is made to order. Do NOT forget the gelato, that is totally worth a bit of a calorie splurge as well (If you’re counting calories I mean). The white hazelnut was tasty, creamy, flavorful. All the gelato is made on site. There are nice picnic tables set up in the shaded area next door which if you’re lucky to visit on a nice day, it’s a perfect setting to enjoy the great food.
The cevapi meat sausages were amazing – very meaty with good flavor – not greasy at all. The meat, topped with onions, garden fresh tomatoes, piled on the warm fluffy lepijna bread was a flavor explosion! I did bring an appetite (I ordered a side of fries too) but the servings were huge! I could only finish half of the cevapi and we barely put a dent in the fries. The lucky hubs of mine got to enjoy my leftovers at home. The home-​made bleu cheese that Chef insisted I have for the fries was so good. He also insisted I taste some of their home-​made coleslaw – that was so amazing as well! Like I said, just do what Chef says and you’ll be set. I’m coming back for the chicken salad for sure and there’s probably more cevapi in my future.

Chef’s specialties are a certified cure for depression. When I get a case of the frownies I come in for my dose of the good stuff. I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more chevapi!
When I moved to Naperville I was über-​sad because I was sure that my Balkan lifestyle was over. Seeing all of the generic American, «Mexican-​fusion» and fast food places had me convinced that NaperVegas was a cultural void. Enter Chef’s Corner to fill that gap in the Ville, my stomach and my heart.
Chef has fish, chicken, steaks, burgers, salads, grilled vegetables, ice cream, gelato and more. If you have a group of friends with different tastes then this is the best option! It is the perfect combination of ethnic food for the bold and grilled goodies for the less adventurous. The menu is vegetarian and meatatarian friendly. The only way you couldn’t find a meal here is if you were a raw vegan or a fruitatarian. Even then, I bet Chef could accommodate you. He is THAT amazing!
Everything looks and smells delicious. I can only imagine how most of it tastes, but I can’t tear myself away from the chevapi. They are some of the most perfect little meat nuggets on the face of this planet. Chef makes them the right way and nestles them between homemade lepinja bread! He doesn’t add baking soda or use overly fatty meats, so they stay just as plump in the end as they did when they hit the grill. Other places serve you rubbery, fatty, dessicated ghosts of a sausage. Don’t be fooled by imitations! Come here and get the real deal!
I also put my Ericka’s Eastern European Seal of Approval on the hazelnut gelato — think Nutella! and the lemon cream ice cream. It’s vanilla with a hint of lemon, not overly sweet and not artificial.

Chef’s Corner = Jelena’s Delight. Okay, so maybe chef won’t go for the name change, but just thought I’d make the friendly suggestion.
Have you ever seen a business with a 5-​star average rating on Unilocal?Well, I can tell you I’ve only seen it a handful of times, and I’ve read thousands of reviews. And, after eating here last night, I can vouch for the perfection that is Chef’s Corner.
A little background on the owner/​chef. Chef Vedad hails from the Bosnian town of Trávnik but left after the war ravaged his restaurant, his town, his life. He’s both big in stature and personality, but don’t let his European flair intimidate you: he is as simple as he is complicated (he respects classic French sauces but like my father, throws together a mean marinade of olive oil, lemon, parsley and garlic for fish and poultry). He’s a gifted storyteller, as most men from the old country are, and he’ll amuse you if you let him. You can watch him prepare your food with great deft and care, and yet he never skips a beat: the man is a natural.
The menu is heavy on grilled eats such as chicken, fish, steak, and cheeseburgers (Kobe and Angus), sandwiches, housemade soups as well as the underground specialty, cevapi. Of course, if I visit a restaurant that has cevapi on the menu, I will order it. Even on subsequent visits!
The eatery is quaint but Chef’s charm and easy banter fill the one room restaurant with all the soul you’ll ever need. After Chef finished our orders of cevapi, we took our goods outside to eat at a picnic table on the front lawn. There’s also an area behind the restaurant with additional picnic tables which has that classic backyard look and feel; a slice of Americana. Naperville nostalgia? I got it now.
On to the cevapi. Chef doesn’t use baking soda to plump his uncased sausages as some butchers do. Just pure beef, which he showed us before cooking. He dresses them classically with deep red tomatoes (from his garden), coarsely chopped onions and sour cream all nestled in housemade Bosnian lepinja bread. His bread is different because he grills it so it has a nice slightly crispy outside and chewy inside. And, it’s not the huge portion that some restaurants serve with their cevapi, so the focus remains on the flavor of the sausage. And who needs all that bread anyway?
I would’ve preferred authentically prepared kajmak to the sour cream, but the quality of the meat alone dictates cevapi sublimity. Your restaurant may be 80 miles away roundtrip for me, but it’s already close to my heart. Bravo!
Oh, and don’t forget to try the white hazelnut gelato or lemon cream ice cream… splendid!

If it’s good enough for Tony Kukoc (and Bill Wennington), it’s certainly good enough for this little lover of all things Balkan. Plus, it’s a great excuse for me to do my impressive Tony Kukoc impression.
Now, you may have already heard of this quaint little grill and deli located just a brisk walk from downtown Naperville since it’s pretty much famous on Unilocal.This teeny tiny little joint has the highest Unilocaler rating of any restaurant in Naperville; it’s practically the Hot Doug’s of the burbs and I fear that what I’m about to tell you is going to make it not only a contender for the quality of food, but also for the infamous line.
Now, before I get too far into this, I should probably give you a little Croatian:101 so you’ll have some phrases handy on your visit… because you are SO going to want to visit.
Good Day– Dobar dan! (Doe-​Bar Don)
Please — Molim (Moe-​Leem)
Thank You — Hvala (Fvah-​Lah)
Croatia — Hrvatska (Hur-​Vot-​Skah)
Heaven — Cevapi (Cha-​Vop– Eee) … okay, that’s not really how you say heaven but it might as well be. Cevapi (also known as cevapcici, depending on region) is a Balkan dish of grilled minced meat.
Now say it with me, People. ‘Cause it’s Cevapi Time in Naperville!
Chef Vedad Vrselj is a master of his craft and from the second I walked in and saw Cevapi on the menu, I knew we’d be fast friends. Now, I’m not Croatian and I don’t even eat meat but I know when it’s time to bow down to the meaty Gods and show some mutha lovin’ respect. I made sure to order up 2 orders of the cevapi meal for both my Daddio and my Boyfriend, of whom I vacationed in Croatia with last Summer. While Chef made up my cevapi orders he also grilled me up a veggie salad of epic proportions and fed me innumerable amounts of his favorite non-​meaty items while we discussed the good life in Croatia and which islands are best to vacation on, I think we both agreed upon Split, birthplace of NBA great, Tony Kukoc. See how I brought that full circle, folks?
Now, I’m pretty sure the faves of the locale are the fresh burgers, the steak sandwich (3 people ordered multiples of them in a span of 5 minutes), and the grilled salmon. I’m sure you’ll love and enjoy all of those things but my specific reco is for the cevapi. My Dad, who is not familiar with Croatian eats, came to me the next day to ask what it was he ate and where he could get more because it had been on his mind all day. Also delicious was Chef’s vegetarian tomato basil soup of the day. So good that I actually came back the next day to get another quart of it… and of course some more cevapi for my fave men. Oh, and don’t forget to get yourself some of Chef’s homemade blue cheese dressing (good on EVERYTHING really– it’s his pride and joy) and defo don’t forget the gelato. I bought a pint of Chef’s favorite, the chocolate hazelnut (basically tastes like creamy Nutella goodness) yesterday and a quart of it today, though the blood orange and coconut flavors (with fresh coconut mixed in) were swoon worthy as well.
Now, the place is very small. You’re basically walking into the kitchen and ordering and the seating is very limited… like 4 people max in the entire place BUT, in the nicer weathered months, they have a gorgeous picnic area with lots of large tables, flowers, and nature to sit out and enjoy your goodies. One other interesting tidbit about Chef’s Corner is that Chef gets his veggies from local, organic farmers and in the Summer he uses tomatoes fresh from his own home garden.
Upon leaving on my first visit, I made sure to text the good word to all my Croatian hunny bunnies. Soon after I got multiple responses begging me to come back with them to this magical eatery. To that I replied, «Come back? I’m never going to leave.» Now I just need to figure out how to get my mail forwarded here.

I went to Chef’s Corner for lunch and had the Steak Sandwich and a side of fries. My firend had the Ham & Cheese Panini. We called ahead for the order and in ten minutes it was ready when we walked in the door.
My Steak Sandwich was cooked to order (medium-​rare) and the grilled,/toasted bread and cheese with fresh leafy greens rounded out the sandwich nicely. The fries were good, steak fries with salt and some seasoning I believe.
Since it was a good day (mid 60’s and sunny), we decided to take advantage of sitting outside at one of the several picnic tables behind the restaurant.
The 5 stars is justified, and the menu has several options I’m looking forward to eating.
If you’re looking for that small, unique lunch or dinner venue in Naperville, Chef’s Corner fits the bill.

Met my mother-​in-​law here a few days ago… you must drive out and get your hands on some of the homemade apple celery root soup. Have mercy!
The pumpkin custard was great too.