On the Side Restaurant & Catering

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My first time trying On The Side and I am not impressed. I will start off with the positive, and then express the areas for improvement. On The Side is very welcoming and the décor is a little strange but they make it work. It is a clean restaurant which is a HUGE thing for me. It’s a very strange set up though, you order your food at a counter like a fast food joint then they give you a card to put on your table, then later serve you the food. Me and my husband went there for breakfast and it was very ordinary. The meals looked very plain when she served us, presentation is not a priority at this restaurant. The menu was very small pretty much the place to go if you only want an omelette. I had two eggs with bacon (pretty standard). The bacon was very rubbery and not cooked or warm for that matter. My toast that I had with the meal was obviously served with probably the cheapest bread you can buy. The breakfast needs some kind of hash browns or something. Portion size is not great. My husband didn’t mind his omelette, although he said it was kinda bland. We should have stayed home and made breakfast ourselves. I would honestly rate this place with one star, but I can’t overlook the friendly staff and how clean the place is.
I am gonna give On The Side another shot since the owner was so receptive to my review and seems very genuine. This is not a trait seen now days it seems, just back to the basics… customer service and Tom seems to have it! Going for round 2! :)

My boyfriend and I can never decide where to eat because neither of us is very picky. We happened upon this place while driving around seeing if anything sparked an appetite. The menu isn’t very big (which is awesome when you don’t know what you want to eat). Everything I’ve ever eaten here is amazing. The descriptions seem simple enough, but the food is exquisite. The menu changes from week to week. On our last visit, I had a grilled veggie sandwich that had a black bean hummus spread and balsamic glaze on it. It was seriously one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. I’m just bummed out that it’s not a permanent item on their menu.
We received a complimentary beignet while we were waiting for our food. I had already been contemplating ordering one for dessert so it was a nice surprise. But it was so delicious now. I’m going to have to order it every time we go.
If you are in the area check this place out. It’s so awesome.

Great food, unique menu. BBQ sandwich is delicious, they make their own sauce very well I might add. Salmon sandwich very fresh fish, cooked to perfection, I love the décor in there hardwood floors exposed brick and about a hundred different shaped mirrors on one wall and artistic photos I believe for sale on the other. I’d rather it be a full on restraunt rather than an order at the counter joint only because the menu is detailed and a bit confusing but the everchanging menu is nice I just feel to rushed at the counter. Overalls love this place and I will be back many times looking forward to these beignets on Saturday.

Cute restaurant. Went on Saturday morning to try the beignets… they were excellent. Got both the powdered sugar and the cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon sugar were good, but I will definitely go back for the powdered sugar ones. The other food offerings looked good, will go back for lunch. Great addition to downtown Elgin.

I’ve been here a few times now to support those little guys. My first time there I was not so happy, I bought a… from what i can remember a white chocolate cherry scone that tasted quite sour to me. I went back because I cannot complain on one visit. I have now had their 3 cheese penne, clam chowder soup, cream of mushroom soup, prosciutto and apple salad, and a few nibbles of their desserts. After that first visit everything has been wonderful. I love the interesting little surprises put into their food. It’s much more risky than anything in Elgin and I feel like it all works together in the end. The staff are oh so kind and truly has a passion for this place. I cannot wait to go back and try something else!

Visited On the Side yesterday for the first time. Went for lunch. Everything about it was fantastic — the atmosphere, the food, the staff, the reasonable prices, even the utensils. I ordered the spinach salad with chicken and roasted vegetables, which comes with a balsamic vinaigrette. I was offered a choice of brioche roll or spicy corn muffin and chose the brioche. The salad was delicious, as was the roll! My friend and I shared a dessert of key lime cheesecake with triple berry sauce — also delicious. I took home a selection of cookies/​bars and shared them with my husband after dinner. They were, you guessed it, delicious! Everything is homemade, including that fantastic brioche roll. If you want to eat fresh, real food that’s imaginative and delicious, go to On the Side. I will be back, and I’ll be bringing my friends with me.

We have been here a couple times now and we love it. It is good food at a great price. I hope this is a sign that downtown Elgin has turned a corner.

Lovely food! Thanks for the amazing cream cheese whoopie pies, Tom! Well done. Nice place for a business meeting, also.

This gem of a breakfast & lunch spot in the town where we live opened over a month ago & I am just now hearing about it?!? Since they opened on Dec. 10^th I will blame the blur of the holidays for somehow missing it.
To make up for lost time, and to have plenty to go on for a well-​rounded first review, we tried several items from the menu. Or was it because everything was delicious & we were being little piggies? Perhaps.
Their menu is on the small side but what owner & chef, Tom Creighton, does have is a good mix of items made from scratch with quality ingredients. Plus several items on the menu change daily/​weekly so you can come back often & try new things. Check their website ahead of time to see the daily offerings & find out what they have planned for the coming weeks. Everything on the menu, including all the hot & cold side options sounded good & weren’t your same old boring items you see everywhere else — it was refreshing & inspiring! Tom is also quite the baker so there are a number of baked goods available. Here is what we tried:
–Biscuits & Gravy — one large delicious biscuit atop the best sausage gravy I have ever had
–BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich — excellent sauce, plenty of tender meat, sauteed onions, mixed greens & good bread (I took half the sandwich home, though I wanted to eat it all!)
–Lentil Rosemary Soup — I’m a fan of anything with rosemary. Chocked full of lentils & diced veggies, great broth.
–Bread Pudding with Grand Marnier Sauce — warm & comforting & ooooh so yummy! The sauce alone will have you wanting to lick the bowl.
–2 muffins to go: Almond Pear & Apricot Orange — We both loved the Almond Pear the best but both were quite good.
They had a good amount of business while we were there, which I was very happy to see since they just opened a short while ago. As their name implies, everything is «on the side» so you can tailor exactly what you want & not have to pay for things you don’t. If they are busy the ordering process may take a while as they explain the concept of the menu to first timers (who would think the concept of «on the side» would be so hard for some customers to understand?) — but I’m sure this will speed up as people become regulars & as the wait/​order staff gains experience. Once we placed our order the food came out in about 10 minutes — a darn good turnaround time for quality food. Tom even came by to check on each table from time to time & see how everything tasted.
I also love the look of the restaurant — exposed bricks, hardwood floors & one big wall filled with all different shaped mirrors (the woman’s decorating touch of his wife, Phyllis, according to their website). I know we will be coming back regularly to try new offerings. I’m already daydreaming about one of next week’s soup specials, Pumpkin Gruyère & I hear his Whoopee Pies are phenomenal.