Prairie Grass- a North Shore treat

Highly Recommended ***** During our days of residing at The American complex in Highland Park, we heard many a resident talk about a dining spot “just down the street” by the Great Frame-Up, called Prairie Grass. Most of what they spoke about was making sure to go on a Wednesday night when their famous burger was half price. After weeks of hearing about the burger, we took a Wednesday night (where we did not have a play) and made our way to Northbrook. The exact address is 601 N. Skokie Blvd, so they are between Lake Cook Road and Dundee Road. While the building appears more office type then fine dining, the actual restaurant is very comfortable and even when crowded as it was last night, never loud.

Our grand-daughter Caitlin, who is in culinary school, was in town so she and her mother joined us for dinner. Caitlin is very big on “farm to table” and loved the fact that Prairie Grass supports Green City Market and local farms. Chef Sarah Stegner, came to our table to say hello and make sure that we enjoyed some of the current dessert choices- I will get to those later. We began our dinner with some excellent “starters”. The Grilled Luxury Heirloom Pumpkin Wedge was absolutely amazing (made with goat cheese, honey butter and toasted Pumpkin seeds- wow! Even a non-pumpkin-eater such as me, truly enjoyed the flavorful seasonal treat. Our other starter was the shrimp “spring roll style” with some tasty, spicy sauce. We also tried their Caesar Salad (they have a special dressing that has just the right flavors) and it was large enough to share.

For our entree’s, we did do one of the burgers which is grilled to perfection with a Blue Cheese topping served with some magnificent wedge fried potatoes and a grilled tomato and onion that make it special. By the way, a bun is optional, and I for one see no need to add one as they serve some pretty tasty bread. The sirloin Burger is considered Chicago Magazine’s #1 burger and I heartily agree. It is worth the trip to Northbrook, even on a day that is not Wednesday! Our other plates were the “Cedar River” all natural prime Filet (8 ounces of succulent meat, prepared to perfection. Chef Sarah promised true medium and she was on-target! We also had the Grilled Wild Alaskan Salmon served with a stack of grilled veggies that were absolutely amazing and added some extra veggies with the grilled broccoli. There was plenty for all.

When it came to dessert, we ordered a slice of Double Chocolate Cake, which could have fed us all, but again Chef Sarah wanted us to taste some of her favorites (and it was Caitlin’s birthday, so we were brought the Sticky Toffee Date Cake (to die for!), the warm chocolate cookie with ice cream, and being the fall season,their special Mom’s Pumpkin Pie. I will tell you that both my daughter and I are not pumpkin pie lovers, but both of us truly enjoyed every bite of this special dessert. Our server, Jose, knew what we would like and made great suggestions, knowing that we had ordered enough to satisfy all of our tastes and hunger. It is always a pleasure to dine somewhere where they never rush you or make you feel that you are not ordering enough. There are many more items on their menu that looked great, so we are planning to make another trip to this North Shore treat (that does not have North Shore prices-very family orientated).

Prairie Grass is located at 601 N. Skokie Boulevard in Northbrook. Make reservations at 847-205-4433 or visit them online at www.prairiegrasscafe.com.

Plenty of free parking and very close to the Edens expressway, so no matter where you live, the trip is easy and the dining experience a pleasure.