Montarra

Mu husband and I come here for special occasions. They’re one of the few restaurants that keeps the menu short. Id I’d rather a restaurant concentrate on dishes they do well instead of offering tons of lackluster dishes. While we have had a couple misses, overall they’re winners.
We’ve never ordered entrees, because we always do small plates and a dessert. We always get the bacon scallops and the stocky toffee pudding.
The best part is that you leave satisfied, but not stuffed like a glutton.

Came here on my birthday with my parents. I have nothing but amazing things to say about this place. First of all, when we walked in the door, they wished me a happy birthday AND they put «Happy Birthday Erin» in the menu! What other restaurant (anywhere) does that?
They truly care about their customers. Not to mention, the food is outstanding. It is expensive, but you get what you pay for! You won’t be disappointed coming here!

Took my husband here for his Birthday. Why I have never been here until now. This place is a Gem. Started with French Onion soup which comes in an onion and hands down Best soup and presentation. Broth so rich. My daughter had the scallops which were amazing, I had the salmon delicious and birthday boy had scallops and shrimp. All meals amazing. Had to try the desserts we did doughnuts with ice-​cream and came with a side of expresso Great over the ice-​cream. Chocolate flourless cake amazing. Server was wonderful and helpful. Had a martini my only draw back it didn’t come in a Martini glass, but was good. Very upscale place and yes we will be back!!!

I wanted to like this place but after 2 visits I have to give it 2 thumbs down.
The first time started out ok, service seemed good until a large party arrived shortly after receiving our food and our table of 2 was forgotten. Maybe i’m in the minority here but I firmly believe that in any establishment ($$$+ especially) the patrons shouldn’t have to flag down a waiter/​waitress to get service; that being said my Moscow Mule was never replenished and my $ 30 severely under cooked steak went uneaten. By the time the waitress came back my date had finished his 16 oz ribeye (which was luke warm by the time I insisted he eat without me) and I had lost my appetite. My steak was comped and we left.
I recently gave them another shot and this visit started out good too, great service… then 2 of 3 steaks came out under cooked. I’m no chef but I’ve watched enough cooking shows to know just by the feel if a steak is cooked properly so it’s really irritating to me that ³⁄₅ steaks at this place were not cooked properly… my son decided to eat his but again mine was too bloody but luckily our waiter was on the ball this time and I was able to send it back. It was ok… under seasoned (our waiter seemed to disappear for the last leg of our trip so I had to go to the bar and ask for salt…) and either the quality of meat was garbage or the knives were because my BF and I had to massacre our meat to eat it. When the bill came it wasn’t ours… paying the bill took almost as long as trying to eat a steak at this place…
It’s an expensive lesson but next time I want steak I’ll stick to Outback for dinner and Ruth’s Chris for date night.

I want to give this a higher rating but I was very excited to get the French onion soup in the actual onion. Unfortunately, they ran out of onions (huh?) and said they would serve it in a glass bowl. Very disappointed.
That being said I really enjoyed my meal. I got the 6oz filet with the boursin cheese and mushrooms. The filet was the best I’ve ever had! I’m a huge fan of wildfire and in my opinion, this steak is completely better!
I definitely want to go back and get the onion soup in the onion.

Went here for our 5 year anniversary and it was fantastic ! Both ordered steak and scallops. Steak cooked perfect! a little red and scallops melted in the mouth and had an excellent flavoring. I also got a pumpkin alcoholic drink and it was tasty that was my dessert.
Will definitely come here again!!! Also before the meal instead of bread offer a thin seasoned cracker and also yummy. Great atmosphere at night. dim lighting it was romantic.

A group of us went here for a work party and everything was fabulous. I had the truffle filet with brie it was so good I wanted to order another. My coworker made the awesome judgement call and ordered an assortment of desserts for the table to share. Everything was heavenly. Stop reading this review and go!

Probably the best restaurant in the area.
Food has always been great — really top notch. Best date night, group dinner or celebration place around for great food lovers.

Great place for date night Ahi tuna and lobster rice fantastic
Pomme frites a great side
My date had the encrusted salmon again very good
4 stars as you just have to knock our socks to get 5 stars

Not even sure how I have not reviewed this place, as it is one of the best restaurants in the Chicagoland suburbs. My wife and I have spent numerous birthday/​anniversary celebrations here. Food is always outstanding, and the service is always friendly. The restaurant is kind of broken into three areas: one for the bar, one dining area that is draped off and kind of private/​romantic, and one general dining area. The bar can be loud at times, but we have had a meal in there and it wasn’t unbearable. Most of the time, we sit in the general dining area, which is very nice in itself. More on the quiet side over there. This past trip had us there for the Tequila tasting dinner that they had in the center, draped off room. What a great meal that was! Five courses, each with a shot of Tequila and then a mixed cocktail featuring that tequila. Probably best to line up a designated driver if you come to one of these dinners :-)
One item of note, that I think should be a mandatory order whenever people come, is the Bacon Wrapped Dates. These are so good, that I have found myself at times calling in a to go order of just these dates. They are THAT amazing. Like, if I were to have a final meal, they would be my appetizer, AMAZING!
If you are looking for a special place to take someone for a romantic dinner, or a celebration, don’t hesitate to make reservations here. I HIGHLY recommend them!

Delicious find. We had a group of 12 and they happily accommodated us for dinner. They had a good wine list, lovely ambience, great food. We shared the crispy pork belly lettuce wraps, foie gras (my favorite), the tuna flatbread & the duck summer rolls. Other favorites at the table were the petite filet mignon crisps and the Tuna tartare. We all ordered a few apps/​small plates and shared because we couldn’t decide!

Don’t have any second thoughts about coming here and getting a culinary nirvana. Service top notch. Presentation lovely and simple. Atmosphere interesting and organic. Food so interesting and paired with such flavorful fresh veggies fish beef and cheeses. One dish better than the next. Outstanding. Our server Erin was fabulous always thinking ahead and aware of what we needed. Prices in line with the quality of the food. Hats off to the culinary team at Monterra

Everything was cooked to perfection Excellent service! My husband is particular but he loved the entire experience!!!

Delish! First time in… new favorite spot. Everything was great! Atmosphere, great for «date night»
Drinks, apps, steak, seafood & peanut butter cup cheesecake for dessert. Yum!

We love Montarra grill! Very eclectic atmosphere and unique food selection. Great place if you want to feel like you are in Chicago but don’t have to deal with the traffic and parking!

Montarra has great food, but a little pricey. We ordered olive tapenade, which was good, but not spectacular. We also ordered the small plate crispy shrimp tacos, amazing and huge. Comes with two tacos, and filled with fresh, yummy ingredients. For the main course, which by now we were pretty full, we split the large plate lobster roll sandwich. The presentation was very cute with a mini fry basket filled with kettle chips, but seemed store bought versus homemade. The sandwich itself was really good, but being too full just picked the lobster off the roll. All in all, we will be back.

I can’t even explain how excited I am that we found Montarra.
My husband and I came here recently for my milestone birthday. Upon arriving, the hostess was incredibly friendly and accommodating. She wished me a happy birthday and gave us printed menus specially for my day.
Our server was incredibly kind and knowledgeable. She did a fantastic job on making sure we had everything we needed, but not being overly obnoxious and intrusive through our meal.
We enjoyed cocktails, beer, and wine — all pleased with our selections. Our server recommended the special for our appetizer, which was a brie and fresh corn risotto with pork belly. Okay … this is where I have no words, really! It was so delicious! The risotto was not mushy, just the perfect consistency. The brie flavor was present, but didn’t reach that ‘funky’ taste that brie can have. It was perfectly balanced with the sweet corn and the pork belly, which was seared to perfection and not fatty. A great way to start the evening!
Our main courses were phenomenal as well. While I can understand why some other Unilocalers weren’t happy with the portion size, as I see it it’s better to have quality over quantity. I ordered the confit garlic crusted filet mignon, and it is hands down the best filet I’ve ever eaten. Oftentimes, filet can be quite flavorless, but this filet was incredibly tender, moist, tasty, and cooked to the perfect medium. The garlic crust?! Amen. Amazing. My husband ordered off the specials — a sea bass with poblano and cilantro basmati rice. He really enjoyed it and said the fish was fresh and cooked perfectly.
We were too full for dessert unfortunately, but it gives us an extra reason to come back to Montarra to sample their desserts! We’d even come back for just drinks with their delicious homemade parmesan flat bread. Yum yum yum! Our hats off to the chef. Thanks for a great experience!

Love their brunch. We came here 2 years ago for Mother’s Day and decided to try Easter Brunch. Such a variety! We had a delicious strawberry and spinach salad as well as breads to get started. They had great breakfast items like bacon, sausage, crème brûlée French toast, biscuits, gravy, egg casserole, etc. They had the most awesome macaroni and cheese and borsin mashed potatoes. A great cold seafood platter with peel and eat shrimp, mussels, and salmon. Their lamb with mint-​jalapeño sauce and their rare sirloin were just delicious. Finally, lots of desserts cut small so you can sample many of them. It is pricey but the quality is there. We already have reservations for Mother’s Day!
I must add our waitress was stellar. Our son has a peanut allergy and received an Easter egg: inside were Reeces Peanut Butter cups. She quickly grabbed the egg, went back and washed the egg, then brought it out again with a dollar inside. If you are served by Andrea consider yourself very blessed.

We celebrated Valentine’s Day early at this modern American restaurant and boy, were we surprised by the look and feel of the inside. The space with the Chihuly chandelier was taken up by a small private party, but we were seated in a comfortable tall booth. My wife commented on how, with the shades drawn down, you could easily forget you were in the country, let alone in the Algonquin area. The ambience was classy, but not too dark and the service was attentive and patient.
Most of the food was excellent, fresh and full of flavor.
For starters, we got the Maine Lobster Won Tons, which we do not recommend. Though one piece had a giant portion of lobster claw, the others didn’t seem to have even portions. The wrapper was fried perfectly, but the flavor did not stand out as unique.
The other starter was on the specials menu, and it was an Arugula Salad with an Egg and pieces of bacon. I don’t remember the dressing, which makes me sad, because it really tied all the flavors of the dish together. Highly recommend this if it’s on the menu when you get there.
For entrees, I got the Bouillabaisse Montarra, because I’m a sucker for seafood. The mussels were my favorite part, tasting like they were just picked from the sea. The scallops and shrimp were also cooked perfectly tender. The soup was a wonderful combination of savory spices and I made sure to finish until the last drop.
My wife got the Churrasco Skirt Steak, which was cooked exactly to the medium rare she requested. My favorite part of this dish was the Sweet Potato/​Chorizo Hash, which merged the salty and sweet so well.
Why did this place fall short of 5 stars? The hostess! She didn’t welcome us warmly when we came in, and though we had reservations, she simply said, «Two?», grabbed menus and immediately turned to walk away. When I let her know we had reservations, she dismissed it as if to say, «Can’t you see we have plenty of open tables?» On the way out, she was busy fussing with papers at her station and I had to say goodnight in order for her to look up and acknowledge that we were leaving.
Is this a deal breaker, no. Will I come back… sure. I just want a full experience from beginning to end, especially when I go a little out of my budget to treat my wife to something nice. I will definitely upgrade to 5 stars if I get a hello next time I come in.

The service was just «ok» not very sociable or friendly (still gave her good tip) .Pricy, and small portions, and over rated. I don’t mind spending $$$$ if the food was GREAT! Just a «okay» taste. Not good, but not the best for what I spend (good presentation) (Longhorn steak house is much better not as expensive bigger portions and taste GREAT).
I ordered 2 10oz of filets and seafood (don’t recall name) dish. Don’t think I will be back. One time is good for me. Too EXPENSIVE for a «ok or average restaurant» and this is not «high notch» restaurant.