Ceres’ Table

The two reasons that drew us to this place were that we had a Groupon and it’s very close to where we live. As convenient as it is, I don’t think we’ll be returning…
Don’t be fooled! …although the menu looks like it might kinda fancy, it was very basic food. The baccala’ cakes was basically fried mac and cheese balls with very little flavor. In terms of flavor for everything else we ate, if you like to eat spoonfuls of salt, I highly suggest you eat here! I do enjoy adding salt to anything I’m cooking but in the end, we couldn’t even finish our main courses after everything else we were eating because everything was just too salty. That being said, I think it was quite overpriced for the quality of food.
The atmosphere was nice and the bar area looked cool as well — if I was in the area and wanted a drink I would probably stop here. The staff were all extremely nice, although they forgot to give us one item we ordered and charged us for it… but that’s our fault for not double checking the receipt.
The only things that would really bring me back here would be my desperate need for a drink and the good conversation with the friendly staff.

It was dark and cold, early on a Thursday evening when we ventured out into the elements up Clark Street to Ceres Table. We were the first people in the restaurant, and the eerie silence really matched perfectly the gloomy evening.
The food, fortunately, didn’t match the atmosphere. The two of us shared the squash gnocchi as an appetizer. I got the pork belly special, she got the veal brisket, and we shared polenta. Everything was very flavorful and well done. I wouldn’t quite say perfect, but the flaws were pretty small (gnocchi texture was squishy not fluffy, some items were very salt-​heavy, etc). There were some highlites, notably the purée and pickled cabbage under my pork belly and the roasty farro under the brisket were really tasty and very fall-​appropriate.
When I think of the other upscale options along Clark Street north of Ceres in Andersonville, I can’t really think of a better one. In reading other reviews, maybe we were lucky to be there early when it was slow to ensure good service. We were also Groupon users, and detected no hint of discrimination from our server. The drinks weren’t outrageous, but maybe an ounce or two smaller than you’d get for the same price elsewhere. Whew.

Ceres’ Table has become so reliable for unpretentious and affordable upscale dining. They just introduced a new fall menu, which seems unusually meat-​heavy. Pescetarians will get by all right, but strict vegetarians will struggle outside of the starters list.
For carnivores, there are some real treats. Without realizing it until it was too late, I put together a three-​course meal comprised of nothing but pasta. In retrospect, I should have started with a salad, but the reason for my final selections was that I couldn’t decide between two enticing dishes.
So I started with the fusilli with bolognese sauce, shiitake mushrooms, white truffle oil, and parmigiano reggiano (delicious); then my wife and I shared the pumpkin gnocchi with sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, and garlic sauce (lovely and interesting even when omitting the pancetta). But for my main course, I hit a grand slam: cavatelli with wild boar, baby spinach, leeks, and pecorino. Outstanding! And a giant portion! This was one of the best dishes that I’ve eaten in recent memory, and I brought two-​thirds of it home.
The dessert menu was another stumper, as we gave serious consideration to the chocolate olive oil cake, the plum tart, and the pumpkin crème brûlée. Ultimately we chose the rice pudding with poached pear and crispy almonds. It was a satisfying end to yet another great date-​night dinner.

Ceres Table was a perfect date spot to take the boyfriend for his birthday. We went around 7:30 on a Thursday night and were seated almost immediately. The wine list features a lot of less-​common Italian wines; luckily for us, the waitress knew her stuff and explained the by-​the-​glass options. We went with a full, but not overpowering Sangiovese.
For starters, we ordered the arancine, which I could eat as dinner themselves. They came with a buttery tomato sauce and a fresh green sauce and were stuffed with an artichoke heart. So creamy and cheesy and crispy – Think of fried Mac and cheese’s elegant Italian cousin.
The menu is small. There’s a definite Italian influence, but you won’t find endless pasta and breadsticks. I found this kinda refreshing. I ordered the Sicilian meatloaf and the birthday boy got the ricotta gnocchi. The meatloaf was fine; it was overshadowed by the MASHED POTATOES. Seriously, some of the best I’ve had in a restaurant. Also, the fried onion strings were a little much; I could’ve used about half of them. The red wine sauce livened up the dish with some tang and echoed the traditional ketchup meatloaf topping. I didn’t get a chance to try the boyfriend’s gnocchi. (I wasn’t about to make him share on his birthday, after all). But, he ate mushrooms. Voluntarily. That’s actually a first.
The atmosphere was perfect for talking. There was a low din of noise, but nothing too rowdy. The service was great – I don’t think my water glass stayed empty for more than a minute the whole night– and we got our food pretty quickly. The price was fair for what we got, but we were even luckier since I had the groupon! The hostess was very thoughtful and came to talk with all the tables.

Good food. Terrible service. Waitress ignored us after taking our order.
Averted her eyes to avoid being waved down. Bummer.

HOLY MOLY this place rocks!!!
The server knew her stuff, the food came out in perfect timing and the owners will always make sure everything is to your liking!
Relaxed, clean atmosphere with a certain
«buzz» that lets you know you are in the right place to get an amazing meal, and great drinks!
Last Thursday of the month they have a special tasting day, I can’t wait!
Mondays are «local and pro day» which I will be taking advantage of !
Also rumor has it if you get towed by the horrific lincoln towing next door and bring your receipt in, you will get a dessert!
AWESOME! Thank you for a great first experience and we will be bringing our friends in soon!

My boyfriend and I decided to check out Cere’s Table for two reasons: his uncle recommended it after his last visit to Chicago and we found a Groupon which motivated us to go to the city for a date night. We were super excited when we got a parking spot right in front of the restaurant and didn’t have to pay the meter! Overall, Cere’s reminded me of a better version of the HB Restaurant, just less crowded and better food. Based on the food alone, I would give them 5 stars, but the service just didn’t cut it.
It took a minute to be acknowledged by our waitress. We immediately ordered drinks and two appetizers (we couldn’t decide and they are small). The arancini was creamy deliciousness. The Waygu Beef Carpaccio was very flavorful and perfect. I was sad that our table was not brought bread like the other tables, because the sauces on these appetizers were so awesome I would have soaked them up!
We ordered our entrees. I decided to be adventurous and tried the Chocolate Fettuccini. It did not taste like chocolate. It was amazingly savory. They put a raw egg yolk on top that you mix into the pasta upon arrival… very cool. I was disappointed that I overheard our waitress telling other tables about the specials of the day. We were not told about anything. I had table envy.

Yes after 3 times I can say this is a gem!!! We love this place. My only gripe is small — I wish they’d change the menu more often.
I’m glad I came back to see the spring items. The pork chop is gone so my boyfriend had the chicken thighs. He loved them more than that pork! Can you imagine? A Cuban liking chicken more than pork?!
I had the raviolis with shrimp. Amazing! It was springy and had a wonderful broth. Just right. We started with the buratta which is always a hit. We just needed more tomatoes and bread w/​it.
For dessert we tried the banana bread pudding. OMG yes! It was wonderful without being too rich.
I’m taking my dad here.

Warm, friendly service, pleasant, buzzing ambiance, and delicious foods. I had the artichoke salad followed by the porchetta on white polenta. Wonderful.
I had mentioned that I was gluten-​free on my OpenTable reservation, and they were very attentive to that.
I would like to come back here each Saturday. Really.
And there was street parking right in front!
My only complaint was a lack of interesting dessert for a g-​free person. Neopolitan ice cream? Myeh.

I ate at Ceres’ Table for dinner with two friends from out of town after seeing the restaurant on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list. We came in about half an hour before the kitchen closed; we did feel rushed by the waitstaff, to be honest, although the hostess and busboys were super-​sweet.
Our pasta dishes were delicious, if not especially memorable. (Think top-​notch pasta, not «inventive» or «groundbreaking.») I almost inhaled my Spaghetti Carbonara, the special of the day, and would have devoured my friend’s ricotta gnocchi if she let me. I stuck to an entrée and a glass of wine for around $ 25 total.
My friend’s cocktail was both delicious and strong — nothing stingy or light-​handed about it, a plus at an upscale-​ish place!
All in all, a delicious meal at a reasonable price!

Closed.

This is a Restaurant Week review, but considering Ceres’ Table didn’t have a set menu, you could just pick starter, entrée, and dessert from the regular menu, I feel like we got a good sense of their offerings.
My friend and I split both the beet salad and arancine because why not try as much as we can. The beet chunks were very flavorful and who doesn’t love the combo of beets, shallots and pistachios. Very good. The arancine were perfectly cheesy and I enjoyed the sauce under them. I’m not usually a huge artichoke fan, but these were nice.
I went with the osso buco and I am not ashamed to say I took that bone and scraped the marrow out. I am glad I did, because wow. So fatty and beefy and good. I should have held on to a piece of bread for that. I’m impressed I didn’t suck it right out of the bone, but I have a little bit of dignity. Not much, but enough not to go there. The meat was very tender and the accompanying mushrooms, caramelized onions, and risotto were perfect. My friend got the whitefish which came with lobster ravioli and kale, both of which she loved. The fish itself apparently could have used a little citrus though.
Desserts we shared again and I’m glad because her choice of the chocolate soufflé cake, apparently award winning, was amazing. I was still thinking about it today. The coconut cheesecake was fine, but my favorite part of that was the roasted pineapple. The cheesecake itself was a bit heavy on the crust and could have been a bit more coconutty.
The atmosphere was nice but not pretentious and the service was friendly and attentive. Definitely a winner.

Wow, great, delicious food! Fritto misto was very tasty, but the winner is spaghetti alla chitarra, sea urchin and crab. Awesome! One of my favorite pastas ever.
Had two desserts: peanut butter oreo tart and cannoli. Both ok, but by my opinion way too sweat. The ingredients for both desserts are combined very smart way, but it is a pity that the finish flavor is just sugar.
The service was excellent.

Ok, I admit, this location is growing on me. I know I made a stink about the cemetery last time, but, it had a charm last time I visited, so I will give it the benefit of the doubt (plus, having no restaurants across the street makes it easier to park).
Anyway, the food is amazing and the service is wonderful. I really enjoyed my visit — and the trout was divine last time I ate there.

We went here on a Gilt City deal.
I think I paid like $ 60 for two glasses of prosecco, two apps, two entrees, a side and two desserts. So lets say, it was DEFINITELY worth that.
We had the sliders and the arancini to start. Both were really good. The arancini were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The sliders were also very good. They were slightly a little too dense, but really flavorful.
I had the seafood stew and it was yummy. I tried the lamb. It was good as well. Neither were overwhelmingly amazing, but well worth the deal. The side of the polenta was AMAZING. It was cheesy, creamy, perfect. I could definitely eat a bowl of just that. It was truly great.
We had the chocolate tart and peach upside down cake or something. Both were good.
Street parking is EASY! This is kind of a weird area because there really isnt anything right around. If you walk north, there is stuff and if you walk south, there is stuff. Nothing right there.
Overall, I was glad we went and tried it. Would I go back? Maybe. The reasons are:
1. its really far from me so its kind of annoying to get there
2. if I was paying full price, I would definitely think it was overpriced, but well worth the great deal we got on Gilt City.

I came here for dinner with two friends. We ordered:
1. Sicilian seafood stew — delicious. It arrived at my table as a bowl of freshly steamed seafood: mussels, clams, calamari, and trout sitting on couscous, with fresh herbs on top. They then poured a cup of rich, tomato-​based seafood broth, which was so great at complementing all of the flavors. I practically licked my bowl clean.
2. Confit rabbit leg — just okay. My friend ordered it and I had a bite. The rabbit tastes like chicken, except not as tender and almost gummy. I wouldn’t order this.
3. Pasta Cavatelli — just okay. My other friend ordered it and I tried a piece. The pasta texture doesn’t feel like pasta, and I don’t know how to describe it. The flavors were only okay. I wouldn’t order this either.
4. Chocolate soufflé with berry coulis — pretty good. It’s not the most delicious chocolate-​based dessert that I’ve ever had, but I’d venture to say that it was solid
5. Peach neopolitan — just okay. I expected ice cream and this wasn’t ice cream lol.
Overall, decent meal. If I hadn’t liked my dish so much, I probably would’ve left a lower rating since my friends’ items were all misses. But I really liked the stew (get the stew!)

This would’ve been an easy 5-​star review if it wasn’t for the service. In fact, the service was so bad that I debated 3 stars. It’s not often that you get a nearly perfect meal that is totally eclipsed by slow and inattentive service.
When Ceres’ opened, we couldn’t wait to try it. We live just a few blocks down Clark, and I can’t believe it took us nearly 2 years to get over there. My wife and I went for a romantic date night, and we really liked the atmosphere.
We also had high expectations for the food with the recent Michelin nod and all. The food did not disappoint. We weren’t enticed by any of the entrees and stuck with small plates instead. We tried 6 – 8 things and all were delicious. Standouts were the arancini (which were the best I’ve ever had), the pasta with wild boar ragu, and the grilled octopus. The «In Bloom» cocktail is also the perfect girly, light martini.
However, despite my having read about the terrible service and going in with low expectations, we were still disappointed. The hostess and manager (chef’s wife?) were very nice, but our waiter was horrid. We did our small plates in 4 courses and after having been there for an hour, we’d still only received one course. The waiter seemed disinterested, and he didn’t come to check on us often. Thinking back on it now, he never talked about the food. Never gave any explanations. Never highlighted seasonal ingredients or new dishes. To call it a lackluster experience would be an understatement.
We also saw the manager apologize to another table (with a different waiter) for their food being so delayed.
It’s really unfortunate, too. Ceres’ has a lot going for it, and we wanted to love it. If the service improved drastically, we probably would. (But I’m not sure we’ll give it another go anytime soon.)

Deciding on where to eat during Restaurant Week became a painful debate between me and my friend. Ultimately we decided to only go to Ceres’ Table, and it ended up being an awesome decision.
The host at the front offered to hang our coats by the door, and we were seated promptly. Our waitress was over pretty quickly to explain some things on the menu. I’ve been salivating over this menu since the reservation was made, so I knew exactly what I wanted. We shared the arancine and gnocchi. The arancine are balls of risotto, peas and goat that are fried to crispy perfection. They are the heightened, fancy version of mac and cheese fritters, and I could’ve made a meal out of them. The gnocchi were creamy and delicious, and they didn’t skimp on the truffle sauce.
For the second course, I knew I wanted the duck leg confit. It was moist, and I hardly needed a knife to cut it. Accompanying the duck were lentils, carrots, black kale, duck sausage, red wine sauce and caramelized apples. Everything was so good. My friend and I hardly even talked once the entrees came, because we were so focused on eating. Priorities. I tried a bite of her beef cheek, which was tender and flavorful. Surprisingly, a standout was the brussels sprout side dish. The outsides were crispy, the insides were soft, and the balsamic made them absolutely delicious.
I’m not a huge fan of dessert, but the pear tatin and chocolate crème brûlée were both satisfying and not overly sweet. We didn’t try the cocktails but were told the In Bloom is good. Their beer menu is on the small side but reasonably priced. The wine list is more extensive, but very few of them are sold by the glass. However on Tuesdays bottles of wine are half price. Very tempting.
The décor was nice but nothing too special. The service was awesome. Our waitress was really attentive and gave honest opinions when we asked for suggestions. We read Unilocal reviews beforehand, so we were aware that the owner would come over and say, «Hi this is my restaurant!» It took a lot not to laugh, but since our meal was so fantastic, we only had good things to say. We are definitely coming back.

My buddies and I were hungry… and we just got through looking at the Michelin Guide when it first came out.
Naturally, we didn’t want to drop down $$$$, so we turned to the Bib Gourmand section. Lo and behold, Ceres’ Table popped out. So with our trusty smartphones, we Unilocal’d it and saw some great reviews (some by some friends!). What could go wrong?
Not much, that’s what.
Ceres’ Table is a very modern and contemporary restaurant. The teal-​ish walls and restaurant name are bold, with very dim lighting highlighting various parts of the restaurant. Booths, bar stools, square tables, and tallboys fill the quaint space. I definitely felt underdressed. It says casual, but it’s probably best to look presentable. Think «just got outta work and I’m going to have a drink and dinner with some coworkers.»
The food was definitely on point. I ordered the barramundi, a sea bass served with artichokes, carrots, onions, and a citrus-​wine sauce. Eloquently plated. Exquisite taste. Part of my reduction of stars has to do with portions. I wish we would have ordered more, though that would have gone out of the Bib Gourmand-​ness of our meal… and I wasn’t about to dish out another $ 20ish for some more grub.
The most interesting part of the night definitely had to be when the owner (Carolyn?) came to our table near the end of our meal to ask how things were. Normally that would be fine and dandy, but she just popped out of nowhere and before saying «hello» she jumps into our conversation saying «This is my restaurant!» It was definitely a conversation stopper. I mean, what do you say to that? «No, it’s actually that gal’s restaurant. She stopped over a few minutes before you did.»
Interesting meal, to say the least. I’d be open to head back to Ceres’ Table to see how their menu changes as the seasons change. Until Next time, Ceres.

I’m going to start off by saying that the blue cheese potatoes my husband had with his pork chop were nothing short of magical.
I got ahead of myself there. I’m focused again…
My BFF and her husband suggested this place for our night out this evening. I had no idea this restaurant had opened but since it is a short walk from our place, my Mr. and I were in.
Décor is sparse. Minimalist. Nice.
Our server was friendly… but a couple times I wondered if he was in the weeds. There was a big lag from the time we were sat until we placed our order. Not that big of a deal. Honestly, my favorite thing about our server was that he talked my husband into the pork chops that were the special for the evening.
I’ll get to that later.
So we started with the gnocchi and the octopus. I only had one bite of the gnocchi because our friends are seafood challenged but I thought it was incredible… smooth and rich. The octopus… MMMMMM… really delicious. I’ll definitely order it again.
Entrees: I had the bouillabaisse per the recommendation I read here and it was good. Very good. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and while I usually avoid the bivalves, I enjoyed them here. My friend had the venison ragout and her husband had the boar pasta. Their plates were clean so I’m assuming they liked it but since I’m trying to convince them so Unilocal,I’ll leave it at that.
My dude… he was ready to go with the lamb shank until the waiter mentioned the special was a pork chop with blue cheese potatoes and roasted shallots. He went with that.
I was allowed two bites… and oh… they were a magical two bites. Two bites I’ll be dreaming about for a while.
Dear Dude That Owns Ceres’ Table,
Please add the pork chops to your regular menu. We’ll be there twice a week.
Love,
Natalie S.
We shared the banana bread pudding and the pistachio crème brûlée. I am such a sucker for crème brûlée and this one did not disappont. Loved the banana bread pudding too.
A bottle of wine, two appetizers, four entrees, one side, two desserts, a cup of coffee and 20% tip… $ 200.
Not bad at all.
We decided that we easily scored the best table in the place. We were in our own cozy corner behind the host stand and it was great for conversation but the rest of the place was kinda loud.
Bonus: corkage fee is $ 20… but it’s waived if you order a bottle of wine from them first.
There’s not a lot along this stretch of Clark so this place is a welcome addition to the area…
… and I’m always glad when I’m close enough to walk to a bitchin’ meal.