Peppercorn Restaurant

I totally disagree!!! Although it doesn’t completely measure up to what you could find downtown, in Oakbrook or Naperville, it is one of the few places in our little corner of the world that offers a menu that uses ingredients with such creativity and innovation. We usually go there when we want to have a halfway decent «fine dining» experience without having to drive a long distance. True, the atmosphere is a little noisier than it should be and I’m not sure about the turnover of the waitstaff (or the ease of finding someone who knows the difference between sautee and grill in an area that doesn’t even have a decent sushi place or Starbucks!!!). As far as the prices, have you been downtown? I work there and can tell you that $ 15.00 MAY be able to get you lunch (unless you want to go to Subway or McDonalds). Yes, when they opened up and we ate there for the first time, I was quite pleased that there is a restaurant that serves fresh seafood, food that is (by local standards) a little beyond ordinary, and YES BROCCOLI in our neighborhood. To find such a rare treat, especially in an area where most of the dining scene consists of greasy spoons where local entertainment consists of watching drunks roll out of Henry’s at 4AM, is a treat indeed (and well worth the $ 15.00 price tag!!)

Ravioli filled with apple glaze and cinnamon+a plum mushroom sauce and broccoli= I am going to vomit. Some things in this world should never be together, and this entrée along with at least twenty other disheartening combos are found on the menu here. I had to search pretty hard for something that sounded normal. And even the house salad I ordered (Not to mention the fact there is nothing on the menu under $ 15) had some never before seen ingredients. The ambiance of the place has much to be desired. I am not sure what they were shooting for, but somehow I felt like I was dining in the pit of hell. The wait staff was under trained, and when you asked about a menu item, or at least our waiter, just looked at me blankly. There was only one redeeming quality about this place– A really good banana split martini. O.K. maybe two good qualities. It was right next door to the bowling alley– I ran over there after I left to grab a hot dog– I should have done that to begin with.