20018 North Rand Road
Palatine, IL 60074
Cook County
Phone: (847) 358-4448
Fax: unknownWebsite: no website on fileEmail: no email on fileHours: unknown
by Sunni Y. on Why do I still come here. The food is not great and the drinks are overpriced. But sometimes the atmosphere is still enjoyable. This is of course if you are Korean. I think my white friends feel funny when I bring them here.
by Jannette Rothstein on What's the sign of a fabulous restaurant? I simply cannot get this deelish memory out of my head -- and it's been weeks since I've eaten there. My restaurant habits tend to be that of repetition and fear of trying somewhere new. Having been a vegetarian for over a decade, new menus were more an exercise in fear than a potential find. So a few weeks ago when I was feeling adventurous, I loaded the kid and the boy in the car and asked who wanted where and what to eat. The regular short list of restaurants offered nothing in the way of interest for any of us, and, desperate, I pulled out the Sidekick 3 to get some ideas. Ryan said he wanted a burger, so I searched for "best burger near [my zip code]" and a reference to Delux Burger popped up. It was relatively close to home, so off we went. Arriving, the outside of the restaurant is a little deceptive. It's in a Safeway shopping center and if you're not looking for Delux, you're likely to miss it altogether. It's a tiny little place with a tiny little patio but (by virtue of being nestled in a shopping center) there's plenty of parking. Moms & Dads: I was a little nervous that an exclusive little diner like this would be the type to be unfriendly to kids, but that's definitely not an issue. Space is scant, but we sat on the patio and it was comfortable. The menus were skinny and long and consisted mostly of the beer, wine, and liquor selection, which might have been their original focus from the start (but I don't know that for sure). Their hours are 11am-2am, so I think they're really hoping to serve a post-club-but-not-done-partying segment in the wee-er hours. I perused to find something other than beef or chicken (I don't eat either) and was thrilled to find a grown-up grilled cheese (3 cheese, oven-roasted tomatoes, baby arugula on a demi-baguette). Shortly thereafter, I saw it. The delux Fresh Fish sandwich. The idea of a grilled cheese was interesting given the ingredients, but I wanted something less rich and more flavorful, and here it was, offered up to me in a single menu entry like a hand-picked wildflower from a wide-grinned, grateful, not-expecting-anything-in-return toddler... From the menu: Grilled Mahi Mahi marinated in sake and orange juice with wild herbs, served on a toasted, handcrafted brioche bun with redleaf lettuce, all-natural beefsteak tomatoes and red onions accompanied by sides of creme tartar and cucumber-pear medley. One word describes this sandwich: Divine. It was hot and perfectly cooked. The fish was light and the flavors were magical. The bread wasn't overpowering and the lettuce was proportioned -just enough- to give you a taste and a different texture, but not take the spotlight from what the real star was. I couldn't get enough of this sandwich. Sadly, though, it came to an end much quicker than I'd desired and yet I was still craving more. How often does something so good and good for you leave you so breathless and wanting more? We had also ordered a "shopping cart" of sweet potato and regular french fries (the kid loved that, though toddlers + things on wheels atop on high surfaces are surely a recipe for eventual disaster), and I snacked on those to curb any further temptation to order another sandwich. At $10 a pop, I didn't need to scarf these things like snacks. The kid had a kids-friendly grilled cheese which was a panini-based creation (very simple) on a bed of french fries, though she didn't want anything to do with those fries when the shopping cart fries were also available and, by virtue of their container, much more tasty! Ryan had a burger and he liked it, too, but I honestly remember very little of our outing as I was too busy flying high on my mahi mahi experience. Time kinda stood still for a little while and for that I must recommend Delux Burger to anyone who likes to eat stuff that tastes really good.
