Mirabelle

The setting was nice and relaxing. Free flow buffet with about 6 stations made lines non-​existent. Food was variable. Rolls were terrible (brown and serve that they forgot to brown) hard for steamtable serving was disappointing (e.g. salmon was wonderfully seasoned but overdone). On the flip side mussels were wonderful, mushroom penne also. $ 35/​per person plus a bottle of wine at restaurant prices (wine list was OK — nicely selected for variety but not huge) made it an OK big city meal.

Unspectacular food that is well presented and in a lovely setting. They try and I’ll give them credit for that. The views are nice and the fact that you are at Ravinia Festival for a show makes the experience more palatable.

We were at Ravinia last night for a concert in the pavilion. I had looked at their web site beforehand and knew I wanted to try the Park View restaurant. We went in to the building and the hostesses just looked at us. They didn’t greet us and after standing there for about 10 seconds looking at them look at me (it felt like 100 seconds) I finally said «We would like to eat.» They all just laughed and one hostess said we can dine on the patio or she also recommended the grill a couple of doors down. I was completely insulted. We weren’t dressed up, but we didn’t look like trash either, but I don’t feel that should matter at all anyway. It was a concert being held outside, so yeah. If someone wants to give you their money, clothing shouldn’t be an issue. Just so you know I was in a sundress and my boyfriend hand on blue jeans and a polo. So eating at the Park View wasn’t even an option for us. I thought maybe they used same chef for both, because it’s in the same building? I doubt it. The food at Mirabelle was dreadful. It was cold, overcooked, and bland. I did like the goat cheese and flat bread, but that was all. All the other sliced cheeses looked like they were drying out and same with the salami, from stilling out too long. If I’m paying 80 dollars for dinner, I expect to have something better than goat cheese and flat bread. The steak was cold and over cooked. The turkey was cold but it wasn’t a bad flavor. The shrimp in the pasta was WAY over cooked. The chicken was overcooked so much that it was hard on the outside. The kale salad was bland and the pieces of kale were not cut up into bite size pieces so you had to wrestle with your salad to cut it up yourself. The roasted potatoes were cold and mushy. The apple crisp was tasty but it was runny like soup and just spread all over my plate. The Chocolate mousse tasted like jell-​o pudding and the white chocolate tasted like vanilla soft serve. Our waitress Bianca was a doll. and so was the bus boy. I wish I could remember his name. I wasn’t really sure how to tip a waitress when you eat buffet style, because I don’t like to eat buffet style. But I just tipped as normal because we always had fresh silverware, dirty plates promptly removed, and full water glasses. This was a $ 100 mistake I will NOT be making again. I wish I could have spent that money upstairs, but hey, if they don’t want me in there spending my money, I will just dine out before I go to the concert.

Killerrad restaurant at Ravinia Festival.
They have a menu that changes daily and an enormous buffet. The last time I was there, some standout dishes included a corn risotto, a couscous salad, and for dessert, peanut butter and jelly shots. And loading up on the cheese and lavosh station is totally understandable… It’s amazing.
A few complaints: The night we were there, the quality of the fruit wasn’t so great, the bread pudding couldn’t be severed with the serving utensils provided, and they had a crab-​yellow watermelon salad that was pretty bland and watery. But: my very picky younger brother had about six plates of mussels– and if he leaves a restaurant happy, it’s often miraculous.
So many vegetarian options, and so convenient when picnicking gets too cumbersome. And the menu is available online, so you can be absolutely sure there will be something that appeals to you:
(There will be.)