Sprout

Sadly Sprout has shuttered; while it had dropped off in quality over the past year, prior to that it had been an outstanding venue and will be missed. Best of luck to the staff of Sprout in their future endeavors.

Cons:
— LONGEST DINNER OF MY LIFE: a hopefully 1.5 hour dinner turned out to be a 3 hour dinner
— I did not care for the grilled cheese… maybe it was their off night because I thought it was extremely salty
Pros:
— The best New York strip I’ve had. Hands down. Considering that cut is not even in my top 3 favorite I was blown away at how delicious and tender it was
— Beautiful interior, not as trendy as RPM, but it is gorgeous in its own rustic sort of way.
In a nutshell I think the food most resembles North Pond… sort of wholesome but elegant at the same time.

In the year since our last visit, all of the charm and quality have faded away at Sprout, though the pretentious pricing lingers on.
The exquisitely calibrated tasting extravaganza has been replaced by an eclectic, eccentric pot-​luck menu reflecting no particular theme and, even worse, stunningly hit-​or-​miss execution.
The scattershot offerings made it difficult to fashion an appetizing or sensible meal out of the motley menu. The pork sliders and grilled octopus were tasty starters but the portions were minuscule and dearly priced. The teensy but costly monkey-​bread and pickled-​beet starters were not worth the calories, or the hefty prices charged for them.
As to entrees, the rack of lamb consisted of only three overpriced chops and the short-​rib selection was a fulll-​monty ripoff consisting of only half of one short rib and half of one scallop.
The Flintstone-​style serving of grilled prime rib made up for the quantity lacking in the other two dishes, but it proved to be the worst selection of all. Though seemingly cooked to a pleasing pink, the meat was so tough, so dry and so gamey that we sent it back for a full refund of the outrageous asking price.
The random menu, inconsistent quality, sloppy preparation, amateurish service, cheesy portions and indefensible pricing suggest this restaurant, sadly, is suffering an existential crisis. Until there is a successful intervention, stay away.

I have only visited once for dinner, and really enjoyed it. I think it was an off night in terms of the crowd, because there were lots of empty tables. But the food and cocktails were great. I was really impressed with the refinement of the dishes. I remember having a soup that was elegant and delicious, as well as a vegetarian mushroom risotto that was scrumptious. The atmosphere was serene and nice, but not too fancy. This would be a good place for a chill date, fancyish dinner with parents, etc. Since it’s on a slightly less scene-​y stretch of Fullerton, it’s not as see-​and-​be-​seen as other places in Lincoln Park, I think. Great, fresh food in a slightly relaxed but upscale atmosphere. I like it.

We came here for my birthday dinner in November 2011 (way late on this, I know).
There was a tasting menu offered, and it was all pretty unexciting. Most of the time we were like, wow we’re paying a lot of money for something that’s just OK.
The meal was pretty forgettable (for real, I don’t even remember what we had) but there were a few things that stand out: great cocktails, good dessert (mine had popcorn in it and was the savior of the meal), and a little dish that was a play on grilled cheese. The «bread» part of it was actually cheese that had been cooked crisp on a flat top. It had an apple slice inside and came with Scrumpy’s cider. We were blown away by it.

I treated my other half to a birthday dinner at Sprout after reading several positive reviews about the joint and also after having had a wonderful experience at the Chef’s new brunch location in Lakeview (Frog ‘N Snail). We ate much earlier than we normally would because we had another event to attend, so at 6:30 pm on a Saturday the place was pretty empty.
We started with some of the signature drinks from the bar and were immediately impressed. We have been hitting up a lot of mixology places as of late, and Sprout’s offerings were complex and delicious.
We opted for the prix fixe option without the wine parings. This option includes an amuse-​bouche, a starter, an intermezzo, an entrée, another intermezzo, and a dessert. We opted for 6 different selections so we could sample as many offerings as possible.
The initial amuse was NOT GOOD… an asparagus gelatin that tasted as bad as the idea sounds. We were a whee bit terrified thinking we were doomed to an overpriced but unappetizing evening of similar plates. Thank goodness it didn’t end up that way.
The foie gras and veal cheek starters were bursting with flavor and oh so tasty. I opted for the lamb entrée while my dining companion chose the salmon. Once again neither failed to impress. The final intermezzo was Sprout’s take on a grilled cheese sandwich. Words almost fail to describe how utterly yummy it was. The desserts (a spiced cake and the «corn» option) rounded out a wonderful meal.
You are going to drop some dough to dine there, but Sprout is worth the indulgence. Get someone to take you for your birthday :-)

I uh (nervous)… I know we have only seen each other a few times now and uh (sweating)… I just want you to know that I think you’re great, (swallows hard) like amazing even… Um, you know when two things match er uh fit, yeah FIT, they just (fidgeting a little)… I guess what I’m trying to say is… (mind goes blank because I’m thinking of you and then can only think old school) DO YOU WANT TO GO STEADY OR SOMETHING (really, didn’t mean to shout it)?!
It’s not like I’m in love with you or anything. I mean the Duck is mind blowing, the Halibut, The Rabbit, the Scallops, the soups, the salads, the desserts, and even the white bean purée instead of butter for your bread… THE EVERYTHING. OK, OK, I may be in love with you! BUT, it is a healthy love, nothing weird… right? I mean you like to be eaten and I like to eat (ok, that sounded weird).
The atmosphere is classy and warm, which goes the same for the staff. Oh and then there is that Dale guy. Some Top Chef or other ;)
So in short, your answer is???
p. s. Thank you Gilt City for your deals.

This was a case of a restaurant where I struggled to find something on the menu that excited me. So, when that happens, or when everything looks good, I ask the waitress for suggestions on what are her or patrons’ favorites. Upon asking for suggestions, our waitress proceeded to go into minute detail describing each dish, in no way helping me narrow down selections. Rather than answering the question, she gave me more information than necessary. She did the same when I asked for help in selecting a drier white wine, as unfortunately, I am not familiar with French varietals. Service was awkward the entire night.
For a starter, I had the scallop and for entrée, the rabbit. Neither were bad and neither were fabulous.
The ambiance is super cute.
Even with this mediocre review, I’d be up for going back. Since the menu changes fairly frequently, I’d just check out the menu ahead of time to make sure there was something on it that would capture my attention.

Rather disappointed as I had high hopes for Chef Levitski after Top Chef. Came here to use up my voucher and was given a special menu. Next table’s entrees from the regular menu seemed much more generous. The veal cheek appetizer and trout entrée were perfectly executed. Also had a bonus course of kicked-​up grilled cheese sandwich and cider, which were ok. I liked the different flavors in the sandwich but thought it was kind of greasy. My dessert was a total FAIL. The peanut butter ice cream was so salty I couldn’t get past my first bite (and I NEVER leave desserts unfinished). Service was rather cold and distant.

Okay, giving 2 stars is serious business. I truly thought that for the type of restaurant it strives to be, it’s decidedly a 2 star in its class.
Found this place through Gilt city. At $ 88 a tasting menu for 2 seemed worth a try. We both added wine tastings as well. These came out with the courses so slowly, I wondered if they forgot we added them.
After a lengthy discussion with my dinner companion about why she didn’t care for foie gras (too heavy) she decides to go with the sweetbreads. For those not in the know (including us at the time) sweetbreads here consist of a dish centered around cow brains.
I opted to go the safe route and went with the potato. Turns out, the potato was a soup. It was creamy but overall a little too heavily salted.
I wish I could say that the brains were delightful, but they were on the heavy-​side. Also, this may be my provincial side making an ugly appearance, but I just couldn’t get over eating brains.
Next we both got the filet. It comes on the rare side, so luckily I like that. The quality of the meat and the cooking technique were nice, but the sauce was a little too much. I vacillated between liking and disliking it on each bite. It reminded me of hoison sauce, but really not as good.
We had almost finished our filet course and they hadn’t brought out our wine pairing. I stopped eating because I wanted to save something to pair the wine with so the waiter stopped by to ask if he could clear our plates. I told him that I was actually just waiting on the pairing before finishing. He apologized for the late delivery and brought them right away.
The intermezzo surprise was a deconstructed grilled cheese with a sparkling hard cider pairing. The grilled cheese was my favorite part of the meal, though the components made it too heavy to want more than a few bites.
For dessert I got some sort of grape mousse and my friend got the chocolate. The chocolate was rich, and not nearly as good as the chocolate I’d just tried at Graham Elliot. The grape mousse was tasty and refreshing, but it failed to be memorable.
Overall, this meal was very hit or miss with many of the flavor components ultimately not coming together quite right.
For the final price tag, there is an entire list of other restaurants I’d hit before coming here again.

I bought a bloomspot voucher (79 bucks for two 3 course dinners) and brought my husband here on a Saturday night. We had to make a reservation before 6 or after 8 or something like that based on their rules which I thought was kind of lame. Anyways, we made a reservation for 6. When we arrived the restaurant was pretty empty, but it was early so it didn’t seem that strange. The ambiance is nice and the servers were attentive; however, I found the food very disappointing and for this reason, we won’t be back.
For the first course, I had the pumpkin and apple cider soup. It was lukewarm and the flavors were pretty bland. My husband had the sweetbreads and those were better than my soup, but nothing special. For the main course, I had the salmon which was well cooked but the portion was really small. My husband had the steak and he was also shocked by how small the portion was. Although the meat was nice and rare. Then they brought out a apple and cheese grilled cheese sandwich as a free taste from the kitchen. This was paired with a little glass of apple cider. This was probably the tastiest course we had all night. The flavors were great and the cider was awesome. The bread was also really crispy and thin. We enjoyed this. For dessert, I had some sort of lemon cake and my husband had the chocolate dessert. The desserts were meh.
I feel like more effort went into the plating than the actual cooking. I also found all the accompaniments on the plates to be a bit pretentious. All the foams, dusts, and elements that didn’t really add to the flavor of the dish. Overall, we were not impressed and found the food to be overpriced.

I went with the intention that I’d have a good meal. After all Top Chef Dale L is highly esteemed. However, it surpassed any expectations I brought to the table.
The décor, candidly, didn’t impress me. Very reminiscent of a relative’s home. But it represented the character of the menu. Deconstructed elements (like exposed brick walls), elegance (like the furniture), and surprising features (such as the fixtures and lights). This is reflected in the cuisine and thus, authentic.
About the menu. When I was young I read Bret Easton Ellis and his lengthy fine dining descriptions and thought them quite outlandish and hyperbolic for comedic effect. How naïve and provincial I was! My untrained palate had no idea of the kinds of ingredients and juxtapositions of such could be made.
They have a good wine list and cocktail list. We had Aviations– a gin cocktail botanical in taste.
We ordered:
Foie Gras with banana, cocoa nib, miso, and mushroom.
A bit unctuous and rich. Inventive take on a French standard.
Scallop with sepia, Buddha’s hand, scotch bonnet, and avocado.
Buttery scallop, the Buddha’s hand citrus brought out the flavor, and the scotch bonnet lent a peppery kick. Great! All parts complemented each other.
Salmon with cauliflower, escarole, faro, and meyer lemon.
Nothing about it stood out to me.
Ricotta with kumquat, kale, truffles, and garlic.
The shining star! Very savory.
Everything was well plated and artistically presented.
The service, though, good, was a touch mechanical.
I would recommend it. If you’re looking for an imaginative twist on French fare look no further than Sprout.

Dat soup… so freaking good. In my top 3 soups ever. If you see the English Pea Soup on the menu, don’t miss out! Speck, purple haze, radish, mint — that’s pretty much how all the dishes are listed on the menu, so you never know how it’ll be prepared. The soup is served cold, with thin sliced rolls of speck (juniper ham), stuffed with purple haze goat cheese, and also some radish & mint. All the flavors just went so well together, making for some damn tasty soup.
First off, I really dug the dining room, which had high ceilings, stone walls, hardwood floors, and was brightly lit. Felt like I was in a large cottage. The service was great and overall very friendly. Nobody likes a crabby pants.
We got the tasting menu, but I couldn’t resist ordering the Foie Gras — banana, cocoa nib, miso, mushroom. I was disappointed at first that it was just some mousse, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. Just the right amount of sweet and salty. I also really enjoyed the Ricotta ravioli… all I remember is truffle + garlic.
The Rhubarb beignets were okay, but the meal overall was great. My friend wasn’t as happy with her dishes, so I guess I made the right picks. English Pea soup FTW!

I’ve been wanting to try Sprout for quite some time as a HUGE Top Chef fan and I really enjoyed Dale when he was on the show. He was just so gosh darn likeable! When a Gilt City deal popped up for $ 78 for 2 starters, 2 entrees, an intermezzo course with sparkling wine pairing and two desserts, I jumped on it!
When we arrived at the restaurant at 7pm, we were surprised it wasn’t packed to the brim and there were just a couple other tables seated. We valeted our car for $ 10 (he had us pay before he parked our car which was weird) and he parked our car right across the street as someone pulled out, dang nabbit!
Sprout is GORGEOUS! The restaurant is just beautiful in the main dining room and amazingly decorated. It has a organic yet elegant feel with a lot of natural light pouring into the dining room. The atmosphere and décor is just awesome and I absolutely loved it.
The service was spotty. The person I would like to call a maitre d (but is not quite the right word in this instance) was on top of everything. He knew what was going to every table and was walking around every so often to check where everyone was in different courses. The servers were all very nice but at one point brought the wrong food out to our table at which point we saw the normal $ 12 rhubarb portion had 3 donuts included and when they brought us out the correct order for us we only had 2 donuts. It made me wonder how much smaller all of our portions were on the Gilt City deal and if it truly was a deal in the end. My guess is no and we probably broke even but it did get us in the restaurant finally! There was also some kind of huge iced tea shortage or chilling issue which our waiter was extremely apologetic about but my friend didn’t get his iced tea until we were almost done with our entrees. Apparently they had to ice it as it was warm which is okay as they explained it to us… but because of the long wait it may have been a nice gesture to take the tea off our bill. Of course I’m not holding that against them though.
Now on to the food! Dale has been extremely creative in his dishes and hits some out of the park. Some of the others end up being overcrowded with ingredients and simply missed the mark for me.
Bread & spread included with meal — Loved it! The bread was absolute delicious and I loved the spread to put on it! We devoured it up!
Foie Gras $ 15 — We ordered this to add on our to our special menu and I honestly could have skipped it. It was so rich and a bit too sweet for me. In my opinion it didn’t highlight the main ingredient properly as the foie gras was in mousse form and the plate was just packed with ingredients like bananas, mushrooms, miso, walnut bread, and cocoa nib– it overwhelmed my taste buds.
Licorice Salad $ 10 — Holy licorice! This salad was TOO much! I could only eat a few bites and then couldn’t touch it. Presentation was gorgeous-​it was on all dishes actually. But this was just way too licoricey! It was pretty inedible.
English Pea Soup $ 8 — An amazing soup! They go fancy and pour the cold soup right at your table. It’s such a good pea soup, words can’t quite describe it properly but we both loved this mucho.
Salmon $ 19 — Meh. The salmon itself was perfectly cooked and I enjoyed it. Once again though, way too many ingredients on the plate and I didn’t find they meshed well together at all. The salmon in the dish was enjoyable for me but the other components simply were not.
Ricotta $ 18 — AMAZING! I loved my friend’s ricotta so very much. It was two pieces of the pasta but man was it good! I wish I would have got this dish instead of the salmon and would highly recommend it to others.
Intermezzo Round of Celery Gelato — It was a good palate cleanser and served it’s purpose but I’m not a fan of celery and did not enjoy this. My friend absolutely loved this. To me all I could taste was celery and to have it in gelato form was just not good for me at all.
Rhubarb Dessert $ 12 — Good, not great. Nothing I would write home.
Chocolate Dessert — Tons of components once again. These elements on their own ranged from not good to good but when all put together in one bite, tasted great!
Sprout is a beautiful restaurant with some dishes being amazing and a lot of the dishes underwhelming. I’d go again and try new dishes but would not get the foie gras, licorice salad, salmon, celery gelato, rhubarb or chocolate dessert again.

I came here on a Wednesday for a 6:00 pm reservation. Beware: As I am an out-​of-​towner, I wasn’t aware of the brutal traffic situation to get here from the Loop. It took over 30 minutes! When I got there, I was surprised to see the restaurant fairly empty, only a couple seated tables in the very front section.
The staff was attentive and friendly and offered up some insight on how to interpret the menu descriptions. I would’ve loved to try the tasting menu, but instead opted for an appetizer and entrée. Following the suggestions of my waiter, I chose the Veal appetizer and the Rabbit entrée. The Veal was super tender but the escargot tasted somewhat bland. The Rabbit was served two ways and tasted great. I was a bit surprised to see the blueberries
My friend had the Zucchini for dessert which I tried a bit of. It was an experience of flavors that I thought would never work together. Zucchini topped with curry… carrot ice cream… beets…chocolate crumbs…
Overall, it was an interesting dining experience. There were some unique combinations of flavors that were completely new to me… some that worked well and some that were just OK. The presentations were lovely for every dish.

My wife and I love the city of Chicago but traffic can sometimes be a hassle. One way to enjoy all the city has to offer is to go in on Sunday mornings. Nope, we are not headed to church but rather to brunch. As we prefer to avoid lines, we are trying all the places that will let you make a reservation and luckily, Sprout was one of them.
We parked right in front, the waiter and manager even assured us it was legal. We had morning cocktails and with bacon buns. Yes, you read that right, bacon in the buns. I could eat those every Sunday. I then had an omelet with seafood and it was probably the best omelet I have ever eaten. Trust me, I have eaten a lot of them.
Great service, wonderful food and no traffic. I love Sundays.

Brunch at Sprout was a magical, perfect day. The morning sprouted with great weather and sun, a portend of wondrous events yet to happen.
We arrived early so my husband pulled up right outside the restaurant and I ran in to see about valet, which they don’t have for brunch. Our waiter came all the way outside to tell my husband he could park right outside the place, no meter, no problem. It was like a fantasy come true!
We had reservations but we were early enough that we wouldn’t have needed them as it didn’t get crowded until we were leaving. I was glad we were early because the tiny tables are close together but we felt like it was very spacious as people were scattered.
It was such a good day with sprouts of fun and sunshine that we started off with cocktails. I had the Afternoon delight because two of the four ingredients are on my loved list — raspberries and prosecco. Cheers! We then split an order of bacon buns. Say it again, bacon buns. Only the best bread you will ever taste. They are Red Hen Bakery bun dough chock full of delicious bacon. Chock full!
I followed that with a lamb eggs benedict which was simply amazing. It had polenta and green onions with the lamb plus a poached egg, peas and pea tendrils topped by perfection in a sauce. What a dish!
The service was sublime; my favorite part was that if you left the table, they folded your napkin. When my husband returned, I told him I had done it. Then just because I am immature, I left to use the bathroom and sure enough, my napkin was folded. My husband told me he had done it and we had a good giggle. The coffee and oj were fabulous. It just was a perfect day, a sprout of love and happiness!
Before, if you said the word sprout, I thought of the Jolly guy’s sidekick,. Now I just smile and think of marvelous flavors AND a folded napkin.

Sprout scored big points in every category – food: stunning, service: perfect, ambiance: beautiful.
We were seated promptly when we arrived for our brunch reservation in the dining room closest to the street which had huge windows and was flooded by natural light. The seating was a bit cramped but I didn’t mind it because everyone around us was very serene and subdued (translation: no screaming kids) and we were able to have a normal conversation at an audible level.
Our server took great care of us. He gave me some good suggestions and I decided to try one of his recommendations, the steak and eggs. Didn’t know half of what I was eating, but it sure tasted good. The steak was tender and juicy. My eggs had what I thought was salmon in it (but according to the menu it was crab, apparently). Whatever it was, it was delicious. Fingerling potatoes and sambal (chili sauce) rounded out my dish nicely. My dining companion liked his marengo omelette. My bloody Mary went perfectly with the meal.
The food here was 5-​star worthy because it was done well, presented well, packed with flavor and creative (you won’t find rabbit and lamb on a brunch menu in too many places). This is how brunch should be done – a little bit of the traditional with something unexpected, or with a twist. I will definitely be back to try some of the other yummy dishes.

I think I found this place on OpenTable and found out that the chef was Dale Levitsky from Top Chef (one of my fave shows) so we decided to give it a try. Came here for Sunday brunch. Make OT reservations as it gets pretty busy. We were quickly greeted by our friendly server. Although they had a great cocktail list, I ordered regular coffee instead, which was surprisingly good.
I was going to order their waffles, but it turns out the chef took it off the menu that day so I was bummed. Therefore, I ordered the Steak & Eggs instead, which is not what I would typically order for breakfast, but sounded good. It came with crabmeat, fingerling potatoes, sunny side egg, and Thai basil so it definitely had some Thai inspiration to it. Flavors were really nice. Took a bite of the other dishes and they tasted good as well. I could tell that all the ingredients were fresh. The portions were just right that we finished our plates and didn’t feel stuffed. Also ordered the Fries with Wasabi Tobiko Dip to share with the table. That was an interesting taste, but I liked that it wasn’t too spicy.
Service was attentive as she came to check up on our coffee refills from time to time. Overall, a great place for brunch!

What do you do when you can’t afford eating dinner at Sprout because you’ve spent it all at Girl and the Goat?
Eat brunch.
And what a delicious brunch it was because two words: BACON BUNS.
Sweet, soft, Lithuanian buns filled with savory bacon. It is very fun and reminded me of an Asian BBQ Bun.
For entrees, we also got the Rabbit Hash with apples and Goat Benedict. My dining companion was a bit disappointed as she found an egg shell in her hash, but she proceeded to finish off her plate as the food brought very interesting textures and flavors together. I enjoyed the Lamb Benedict because it used peas in a new way I’ve never experienced — instead of the usual English Muffin, they made a crunchy crispy pea croquette.
My dining experience here was nothing but spectacular — our server was attentive (he even chased me down when I forgot some papers) and the staff here have a great sense of humor.