Jacky’s on Prairie

‘Spent $ 250.00+ and all we got for it was a decent cup of coffee!
Is this place riding on its reputation or what? We went here last year for Thanksgiving and everything was great — wonderful. Last night? UGH!!!
First of all we were all crammed in like lemmings as they reduced the hours they would be open. It was loud, there were screaming children, the food was terrible. I felt like I was on a crowded Greyhound bus being served food from a diner. Even the salad was so blah I thought there was something wrong with my tastebuds until other people noted the same thing.
The gnocchi was just weird — little bits of something scattered on the plate — looked like an appetizer instead of an entrée. Some bits were edible but, as I say, there were very few of them or anything to gnaw on — I was still hungry afterward.
The dessert was supposed to be a warm tart which but it was still cold. The pumpkin ice cream was good so for our $ 250,00.00 we got decent ice cream and coffee.
We don’t mind paying good money for a good dinner but last night was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had.

I’m not sure why restaurants try to do the special fixed priced holiday dinners and fall short in the quality and execution. The one thing they didn’t fall short in is the price. We had heard that Jacky’s was a fine quality bistro snuggled in Evanston. Well one thing was right, it’s in Evanston. Their attempt at thanksgiving dinner was a dismal failure. My first piece of advice, serve what you have on the menu. The soup they served which was not what was offered on the menu was a tasteless orange colored sludge. When we asked what it was we were told that it was a sweet potato soup. My guess is that the chef boiled sweet potatoes mashed them in the water and served it. It was the most tasteless thing I’ve ever been served. This was replaced with what was foundry called clam chowder Ha. Served cold with little resemblance to anything with clams I have ever eaten. By the way I don’t think it was supposed to be cold. The turkey entrée was served with under cooked sweet potatoes and still was cold. When it came to desert the one thing they couldn’t screw up, ice cream, was not available. Everything else needed salt which was not available on the table and took 10 minutes for a waiter to find. The drinks and wine were grossly overpriced and the service was nonexistent. Don’t waste your time with this ripoff. The Subway around the corner would be a better choice.

Two words: perfect experience.
Had reservation via open table and got seated right away. From beginning to end, service was perfect. What brought the experience to five stars rating was the food.
Ordered from the tasting menu ($ 42 per person that day) and every dish was exquisite. Clam corn chowder had subtle notes and was outstanding. The lobster with grits was really nice. Best of all was the dessert. The panna cotta was truly out this world and memorable. It was creamy as expected but the hint of orange blossom water made it unforgettable.
Overall, perfect food, perfect service in a nice quiet setting.

I just had an amazing lunch at Jacky’s on Prairie. Chef Silva served up some seriously delicious food. Jacky’s has always been a favorite spot for dinner but this was the first time we had their lunch. WOW, why have we not eaten here more often? The food was to-​die-​for, the wait staff was friendly and attentive and the atmosphere was welcoming and relaxed. They have a lunch tasting menu that will cover all the bases or a la carte. Don’t make the mistake of skipping dessert, it is the perfect finish to a perfect meal. Seriously, get in there and you won’t be disappointed.

My wife and I went to Jacky’s last weekend to celebrate her birthday, not really knowing what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised by how nice the interior of the restaurant was, and everything just got better from there. We did the four course tasting menu with wine pairings. Every course was excellent — the fish course was so good we asked to have it again. The service was attentive without being intrusive, and they were nice enough to bring us extra desserts for our occasion. We ended up getting seven total courses (scallops, fish, steak, dessert, another dessert, fish again, ANOTHER dessert), all paired with great wines.
When you go to a higher-​end restaurant like this, you expect the food to be good. Jacky’s exceeded our expectations in every aspect of the experience, which made it great.

Awesome outdoor dining. Very different and delicious menu. I had lamb shank. Sounds heavy but wasn’t with a cucumber sauce. Bf has stuffed trout. Yum, yum, yummy. Nice patio dining.

After I wrote this review I was actually contacted by Jacky’s and they gave us a full refund on our meal. I thought this was a very nice gesture.

Awesome, creative food and great service. Been to Jacky’s twice now in the past six months, and each time left VERY happy.
We never order cheese in restaurants, but we had the opportunity to try some Affinois (sp?) cheese ice cream that they prepared and it was shockingly good, having never considered a union of salty cheese with ice cream. Highlight of my meal, each other part of which might easily be the highlight of any other meal. Also, we had the prunes for dessert and they were great.
Side note: Although it’s probably not a good place for kids during dinner, we took our 10-​week baby, who is generally well behaved, and the staff was happy to accommodate us. We sat in a booth and kept him in a car seat.

Delightful!
In traditional Jeff; before considering anything we had a dessert with our pre-​dinner drink at the bar, this was a grand decision! The chocolate terrine was out of this world served with a house made salted carmel ice cream that was stellar!
before taking our seat, we pretty much decided we would be doing the chef’s 4 course tasting menu plus a course of Foie Gras to boot, with the wine pairings as well…
The prompt formal perfectly timed service commenced, Miss M and I were immediately impressed!
Fresh warm baguettes and multi grain dinner rolls were delivered with soft butter and a perfectly roasted garlic clove swimming in a delicate olive oil bath… Perfect!
Next a wonderful rice prepared with squid ink topped with lobster and finished with anchovy was our first indication that they had their act together in the kitchen for sure, this was accompanied by champagne and really set the mood right!
Foie Gras was the next course, it was divine, simply delicious! A very subtle yet diverse array of flavors and textures were presented in such a way, that makes one ask is their any other way that this should be done? A succulent buttery creamy beautiful moment of Foie Gras is marinated in wine then given a little heat treatment to put a perfect brulee seal on top then kissed with a peach all cuddling up to a juicy disc of duck and pineapple, with a perfectly aged balsamic and bitter fresh green to create an exquisite dance from the toast point to the tongue! This was delivered with a sweet white dessert wine…
I have to say at this point and through the rest of the meal our only complaint-​the wine pairings, and had the pairings been more on point I would absolutely give Jacky’s a sparkling 5 stars! This should not keep you away because the food and service is amazing!
Our next course was a delicate trout perfectly boned scaled cooked and accompanied with tidbits of nature that just accentuated every moment of this beautiful fish!
Now a steak presentation with shallots a variety of fine fungi, and love for sure, I ate every last moment, and at this point Miss M was filling up, the courses were huge for a tasting menu, so I helped her finish the moments of happiness on her plate as well!
Our waiter Jose brought over a dessert amalgam for us to tour, including candied nuts, aged cheese, prunes, and a cloud of lemon creaminess that I wanted to float away on! This was excellent, we even loved the port pairing! As full as we were, dancing in our memories was that delicious first note of Chocolate and salted carmel, you guessed it, Encore! The chocolate terrine was even better in the second act!
As we waited for our cab we sipped on some more champagne and ended a grand night!
Bravo!
Jacky’s Bravo!

It had been about 6 years since I’ve been here. And my experience the first time around was much fonder.
On V Day, the options were a 4-​course tasting menu, 6-​course, or a vegetarian tasting. The quantity on the first 2 courses was small (heads up), but I guess you’d expect a 3-​bite portion as part of a tasting menu. The thing was that the quality wasn’t there though. The oysters (each of the 3 had a different flavor/​accompaniment) were really fishy and saltwatery tasting. Pork belly was the second course; it was fatty and delicious.
Thank goodness the striped bass third course was much more substantial in size. I liked the actual fish, with its crisp skin, but the chef seemed to be a little overambitious in the combination of flavors in the sauce on the bottom of the plate that was mixed with the veggies. It was just too tart, imbalanced, and a little sour and didn’t work well with the fish.
Dessert was a mini trio of shortbread with caramel and raspberry sauce (kind of bland), a chocolate tart (the best one; really rich, like a chocolate bar pudding), and berries (very tart).
Service was attentive; the waiter had a long day and forgot parts of the description of the courses, but he was courteous. So in a nutshell, for a $ 90 pp meal (including drink, tax, tip), I’d just want to be blown away by every aspect of the meal, and that just didn’t happen. Heart. breaking.

I should have checked their menu but Blind Faith café, which is completely vegetarian, recommends Jacky’s. It’s not vegetarian but taht night (or week) they offered two (2) vegetarian dishes, a «vegetarian trio» and a gnocchi dish.
They served us a complimentary butternut squash soup that would be excellent if it wasn’t as sweet and if the taste of ginger wasn’t so overpowering.
I went with the trio but really disliked «due (2)» and liked «uno (1)» of the small sample-​sized portions.
1. Wild mushroom terrine — excellent.
2. Kabocha squash-​green curry soufflé — very fluffy «egg». It only tasted like egg. Not even the thin slices of roasted red onions changed it’s flavor. It’s served in a small, cast iron, cup-​like dish which makes it look great but once it «deflated» it ended up looking like scrambled eggs. Not tasty at all.
3. Acorn squash risotto — creamy and topped with a lot of cheese. the rice was completely un-​cooked and very hard. The server brought out a «cooked» version of it but it didn’t make up in flavor.
I shared a «chocolate terrine» for dessert which was almost frozen – it wasn’t ice-​cream or sorbet, very confusing, not great. I’m still not sure why they charge a $ 1 extra for it.
Can’t say I’ll be back.

I came here for lunch during the week and had a good time. The service was nice and they where exited about the food.
I had the octopus starter and it was nice. Not too chewy, and that can happen when it’s grilled.
For my main I had the Bouillabaisse. It was a nice treat. The spice was perfect in it I must say.
Last I shared the the chocolate and Grand Marnie Terrine. It was well balanced, but I do have to say the portion size should have been half of what they gave. It was very rich.
I would like to come back for dinner.

Kelly and I dined here as part of a group recently, and were able to take advantage of a special menu. Not all the items we partook in were available on the main menu, but I consider them to be representative of the craft of the chef, which is substantial.
The dinner started out with an amuse of oyster covered with a bit of pancetta, maple syrup granite and lemon compote. This was the only less than perfect note of the evening — the oysters were not as fresh as they could be. This misstep was soon forgotten, however.
The meal rapidly picked up with the appetizer — a Duck Trio of seared foie gras, duck egg and truffle brulee, and a dab of duck confit. This course was divine — the foie gras was perfectly seared, the brulee had the smoky flavor of duck egg combined with a healthy dose of truffle, and the confit was fatty crunchy goodness. I was particularly impressed by the crème brûlée twist, which was worthy of Longman & Eagle or The Publican.
Chef Silva kept the hit parade hopping with subsequent entrees. A fish course followed — seared scallops dusted with American caviar atop a cauliflower purée — that provided a crunch to the meaty scallops and a creamy counterpart.
To my pleasant miscalculation, the dinner could indeed get better. The main course was a tour de force — pork belly wrapped roast pheasant, with figs and roasted chestnuts in a muscat-​calvados sauce. It was shockingly good — the pork belly infused the pheasant with a juicy and smoky burst of flavor that was paired perfectly with the fig and apple notes in the sauce. This was a dish I would come back for. I have not previously had the pleasure of devouring pheasant, and the years upon which I have missed out made me sad. But only until I had another bite of this beautiful dish.
Surprisingly, I still had room for dessert, another generous trio — pumpkin flan, chocolate terrine, and tangerine sorbet. The pumpkin was a gorgeous example of fall flavor, but I can never get enough chocolate and the trio of chocolate flavors was enough to make this stand out on its own. I’d order it again without hesitation.
Above and beyond the food selections, I was doubly impressed with the wine pairings. The trio of duck had an Alsation Pinot Gris which was every bit as sweet and luscious as a Sauternes. The scallops were perfectly paired with a white Burgundy, and the pheasant was washed down with an earthy, old world Bordeaux from Pomerol. Completing the tour of French wine country, dessert was washed down with a Banyuls — a dessert wine that does not get nearly enough accolades.
Chef Silva, who I understand has been at Jacky’s less than a year, definitely has this restaurant on a unique and flavorful track — a superb marriage of American cuisine with French influences. Many, but not all, of the selections I was privileged to taste were on the menu, and hopefully with the onset of fall many of them, especially the pheasant, will become regulars. Jacky’s is a must for locals and worthy as a destination dinner for those of us in the city, as well.

Great food, awesome variety, yet a small menu! The Cobia was excellent. Great service… The only change I would make would be to have music on the patio… it was one of the last days of summer nights, and I wanted more of an ambiance transferred from the inside of the restaurant to the outside.

I loved Jacky’s. I had a groupon, and went recently for dinner. The atmosphere was romantic, with low lights, white tablecloths, but not in anyway pretentious or fussy.
Bread was served with butter and roasted garlic in olive oil. I had to stop from eating too much! We ordered the gazpacho and the chile relleno special for an appetizer. The gazpacho was so good, refreshing with a splash of olive oil that made the flavor more complicated. Crunchy croutons and avocados on top too. The chile relleno was stuffed with pork and beef and had a walnut cream sauce, topped with pomegranate seeds… gorgeous and yummy. We had to eat it slowly to savor the flavors!
We shared the paella, which was very rich, lots of seafood, and very fresh. I wish we had more room to try more dishes. The sole for two was being served next to us, and smelled divine, and the duck three ways was plated beautifully, I wanted to ask for a taste.
The servers were knowledgeable, more so on the food than the wine.

Jacky’s on Prairie is a solid 3.5 stars, but since they gave me free alcohol, they get a .5er on the house. Now we’re even, Jacky.
So, while the door notes that they open at 11:00, it was locked when we arrived. I think 11:30 is kind of late to open for a place that serves brunch.
The space is really nice, except that it has office-​style drop ceilings, which don’t totally fit in. They gave us free mini-​beignets and a prosecco mimosa, which was good but tasted much too much like champaign for me to possibly enjoy. (Yeah, that’s right, I hate champaign.)
The food was the highlight. Having a groupon, we ate too much, but rather enjoyed the Bacalao Catalan Style, which was poorly described by the staff, but was a wonderful cod, tomato guy served on top of a lovely potato purée. I also rather enjoyed the crêpe and the gravlax. Everything was very well made.
I’m not sure I’d drive to the far side of Evanston just for Jacky’s, but it’s a good option if I was in the area for a solid and reasonably priced (not cheap) brunch.
EDIT: After noting that I have Great Lake four stars, I had to move Jacky’s to 3. It’s a good solid choice, but not a destination. My apologies for ruining the sanctity of my own rating system.

We have been here a few times since the new owner took over. I always read the other reviews before I write one. I have to say, I am a bit confused by some of them. Seems either people love the place, or hate it, with two giving it one star. Obviously one of the reviews isn’t based on the food. To me the food must be terribleand restaurant must be horrid to give it one star. And I don’t think, based on the reviews, that either are justified.
Each time we have gone here, there has been a significiant imporvement over the prior visit. This last one couldn’t have been better. We enjoyed an unusual appetizer of a stuffed Poblano pepper. It was in honor of Mexican independence, but it was not at all like a chile relleno. First it was not deep fried. It was light, with a crème fraîche sauce and a touch of heat. Excellent!
I had a salad made from heritage tomatoes which was wonderfully fresh, tasting like it just came from a home garden.
My wife had a fresh Arugulla salad and the boulliabase. The salad was very fresh and tasty. The boulliabase was loaded with fresh seafood, including a large sea scallop, clams, squid, fresh fish and mussels. She loved it.
I had Moroccan Lamb. It was served with a small pot of what appeared to be leg or shank, with potatoes and lentils. Wonderfully flavored. It also came with a perfectly done, meaty chop, with a great sauce.
Service was excellent. A bottle of Amity Willamette Valley Pinot was reasonably priced and a perfect compliment.

Jacky’s on Prairie is NOT to be confused with Jacky’s Bistro. The ownership has changed many months ago, and so has the name.
I had fortunate opportunity to dine at Jacky’s a few weeks ago. I went with my carnivorous colleagues. I am a fan of Chef Silva, who is executive chef at Blind Faith Café as well. As you know, Blind Faith Café is a vegetarian restaurant, but from what I’ve been told, he cooks up some amazing meat dishes here. I would say that Jacky’s is contemporary American with French flair.
The mood of the restaurant is not pretentious. The warm dim lights and dark woods create for a sophisticated atmosphere. There is even an outdoor patio for those beautiful summer days/​nights. We’re not talking about lawn chair seats, but sturdy tables and white cloths. The kitchen has a window for diners to look through. Anyway, I didn’t look at the menu beforehand but our waiter Lowell is pretty knowledgeable of the menu. The service of his support staff was quite efficient.
I ordered the ratatouille and my vegetarian colleague had the gnocchi. My ratatouille was fine, but not terribly inspiring. I envied my colleague’s Gnocchi, which had a light, summery sauce with hand-​made (!) gnocchi. The menu offers a few (not too many) dishes for vegetarians, for those carnivores/​vegetarians looking for a restaurant that caters to both diets.
My carnivorous colleagues (who insisted that I add their opinion to this review) had the French-​Vietnamese Clams and Foie Gras for appetizers and scallops (special of the day) and Moroccan Lamb. They absolutely adored their food, saying that everything was cooked perfectly. That’s right, nothing overcooked. Their food was flavorful (i.e. not overly spiced), yet delicate. The foie gras came in three «tastes», duck meat, duck egg, and the foie gras itself. They were pleasantly surprised to find Profiteroles, a type of french pastry, on the dessert menu. Apparently, it is quite uncommon in the States. All of the food was presented in an artistic manner.
Overall, we had quite a satisfying meal at Jacky’s. My only complaint is the ratatouille, which I know is a peasant French dish. It lacked in flavor, but such is the nature of that dish. Anyway, the Chef himself even came out and spoke to us for a few minutes. He seems to be very philosophical about food. Jacky’s is certainly one of the few upscale and *original* restaurants in Evanston. Highly recommended.

This place is a bit overly fancy, especially given the limited food choices. They have excellent wine. And the food is good, but not great. Not really good enough to warrant the price tag, in my opinion. That being said, going here and not getting the profiteroles would be a disastrous mistake. I’ve gone more than once, but only because I had coupons or gift cards, which brought the price of the food down to where it probably ought to be.

Jacky’s on Prarie (what it’s now called) re-​opened after a plumbing disaster (so I heard) this summer. Everything seems the same but the name.
I visited a few times pre-​name change, the first was a few years ago. I had the Steak and Frites, which was dee-​licious!!! Perfectly cooked steak, good red wine, really excellent. The profiteroles are also scrumptious and beautifully plated.
The second time I went I ordered the Steak-​Frites again, and this steak was just not as good. Such a shame, but could have been a bad cut of beef, whatever.
The third time I went with my husband… it was winter… and the only thing I remember was that my feet were FREEZING the entire time. Jacky’s is cozy — but only from the knees up! :P
My hub and I went again today for lunch. It was still cold from the knees down. I even wore my yummy boots as I had remembered the chill… to no avail. Ladies, take note: The women’s restroom is super warm and cozy as they have a space heater in there! That’s what I’m talking about!
I had to ask the attentive Hispanic/​Italian/​definitely not French server what the soup of the day and pasta of the day were (he seemed to be in a rush to take our order, or maybe honestly forgot, who knows). He told us the pasta of the day was a rigatoni with baby spinach, mussels, and sausage in a cream sauce. I’m a sucker for cream sauce so ordered that.
The pasta came with no sausage. But did have lots of peas, which is fine because I love me some peas. I didn’t want to be a pain so looked it over when it arrived and asked to make sure (as his accent was a little hard to understand) «was there sausage in this dish?» and he said «yes, is very small». Ok that’s fine, I guess I just needed to dig around some more. After some eating (the sauce was super rich and therefore super yum) and digging I found no sausage. I called our server over again and pointed this out, and he disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later he came back with a dish of finely chopped… ham. Saying «the sausage is so tiny, chef said it is on the mussels in the sauce…» or something.
So, I don’t know if they were out of sausage, which is fine, but then TELL THE CUSTOMER THIS! Before you put in the order! And what if I was allergic to peas or something? Or was Jewish and couldn’t have ham? Not that the sausage wasn’t pork but I’m sure I would have asked before ordering if that was an issue!!! But then again I would have had to have them hold the mussels too so I guess I’m going nowhere with this. Point being I feel like they hoodwinked me into accepting ham instead of sausage. Maybe even thinking «the dumb girl at table 23 will think this is sausage… heheh heheh… «(Beavis laugh). Please.
Regardless, the dish was vastly improved with the ham… I mean who doesn’t love peas, ham, and cream? The mussels I could have done without. I think I need to speak to Jacky about this.
When we were offered dessert menus of course we took a look, and then ordered the roasted figs with goats cheese, walnuts and honey. I mean, how good does that sound??? It was then our server smacked himself in the forehead and informed us that they were out of that item. Well, at least he told us instead of bringing us some roasted ham drizzled with maple syrup with a side of velveeta and filberts, I guess.
So yeah, maybe our server was in a rush because we came in at 1:30 (they serve lunch until 2pm I believe) and didn’t want to be bothered. Which really bothered me. Oh well.
One good thing was that we didn’t pay for the pasta. During the week we ate there they were having a buy one lunch item get the second one free special. Still doesn’t make up for the idiocy I encountered…
All in all, memorable… for all the wrong reasons.