The Clubhouse in Oakbrook has been around for quite some time. I remember going here almost two decades ago for drinks after work. At that time, I remembered it to be upscale, pricey, and a place that could be compared to many upscale steakhouses in the area.
I decided to go and check it out on a random weekday to see if it still held any of the same qualities I remembered from the past.
I walked in around five in the evening with my wife. I had no reservation and thought it would possibly be very busy and that we would not be able to get a table. To my amazement, it was not that busy and we had full choice of where we wanted to sit.
The restaurant visually seemed the same, but something was very off. It had a feeling of a definite downgrade from when I last visited. It felt cheap and rundown.
Our waiter greeted us kindly. He took our drink order and left us to look at the menu. One thing that definitely did not change was the prices were still expensive. Most appetizers were 15 dollars on up and a cheeseburger was 25 dollars.
Our waiter came back to take our order. We ordered the fried calamari in a sweet chili sauce and the spicy empanadas. I ordered a hamburger and my wife ordered their Chicken Romano, which was chicken breast and angel hair pasta in a butter sauce.
The appetizers arrived and they looked very good. The calamari was fantastic and the empanadas were not bad, but as their name, they were very spicy.
My hamburger tasted microwaved and charred to a crisp. My wife’s chicken dish was satisfactory, but nothing great.
I was going to complain and send the hamburger back, but our server got into a verbal match with some very unruly guests. Our waiter ended up having to be fully focused with these patrons, who were trying to get their entire meal for free. We waited for stretches of 15 minutes at a time to get a hold of him. I just ended up eating my burger and patiently waited to ask for our check.
The entire bill was over $100 and it definitely was not worth it. Between the slummy atmosphere to the high prices for mediocre food, I will definitely not be returning. I give The Clubhouse Oak Brook a rating of 3 out of 10.
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