Distinctive Cork

Practically licked the plate when I tried the red snapper with Cajun sausage and beur blanc sauce. My husband had a burger worthy of consumption with a glass of a select merlot. Really a steal for the cost, you will have an amazing dinner. I would have given it 5 stars for the food but the restaurant could have used a few palms or something to give it a bit more of an intimate feel, colors are deep reds and dark woods which worked.
This is definitely Naperville’s best kept secret.

when did this place close?!
The owner’s wife baked delicious cakes, now i’ll never get a hold of her again :(

This restaurant is closed

We ate Distinctive Cork last evening and we really enjoyed the experience. Four of us each got a different wine flight and did a lot of sharing and tasting of each others favorites. It was nice to be able to try a variety of wine at an affordable price.
Our food was very good also. I had the crab cakes and they were excellent. Our service was good and the ambience was nice. I love frequenting smaller, independent restaurants and will definitely be back!

Love Love Love this place. It’s become one of our favorite little spots to go when we want to avoid the craziness of downtown Naperville but still want great food and great wine within driving distance of home.
First of all, anywhere I can go and get wine flights I am happy. It’s a nice way to try a bit of everything. The last two times I was there, one of the owner’s actually took care of us. He’s an extremely nice guy with a ton of knowledge about wine. He gives great recommendations and can tell you exactly what to pair with. I would recommend the Cocunut Crusted Tiger Shrimp or the chef’s selection of cheeses and the seafood risotto. As far as wine goes I usually go for the cab flight or the rediculous reds. If you want a bottle of something great to drink all night get the Malbec. SO GOOD.
As far as the ambience, it is very trendy with an upscale feel. You can get a hightop by the window which at night when the lights dim can be very romantic. They usually have live music on the weekend as well.
One of my absolute favorite things about this place is that they actually have a great craft beer selection. So ladies, if you man isn’t a wine drinker there is something for him as well!

Came here on a Saturday night. It’s a nice little hidden gem. Food was decent and our server was friendly.
I was surprised at my wine experience here (after all, it is a wine bar). I had ordered a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. They were out of it and the server came back saying they were out but another SB one (can’t remember the name of it) was much better. Much MUCH better.
«So what’s so great about it?»
As nice and friendly as she was, I was disappointed that she couldn’t articulate why that glass was that much better. It would’ve been nice to know how dry it was or what kind of notes it had. Actually, it would’ve been better if she asked what kinds of wine I liked and steer me in that direction.
All in all, a nice place.
One last thing, I’m really surprised to see Scott’s reaction to the John B’s ⁶⁄₂₇ review, especially in this economy. Had I seen that before going to Distinctive Cork, I probably would’ve gone elsewhere. There are so many other places to choose from.
The 3-​stars don’t reflect his response to the Unilocaler but I have to admit that even I would even hesitate recommending this place.

Don’t bother buying a restaurant. com certificate for this wine bar — alcohol is not included in your purchase total. It’s a wine bar — what do they think you will spend your money on?
The foursquare coupon for half off an appetizer… yeah, good luck using that one. Bites to Share don’t qualify. What is a bite to share if it isn’t an appetizer???
The waiter couldn’t have been more distracted if Jennifer Aniston walked in naked…
The food was good, the wine & cheese were good — but overpriced.
*** Response to Scott — I disagree about what Unilocal is for. I think it is to communicate the experience we had at your restaurant. We didn’t have a food/​wine experience and a separate
experience — we had a singular experience. Part of that was a disappointment that we were unable to use the coupon. Yes, we should have read it closer — that’s why we didn’t complain to a manager. We made a wrong assumption, and you know what they say about making assumptions… But that doesn’t mean we are out of line for posting a warning to others to look closer before buying.

Food was great. Wine was great. The space was a touch small, but it was great for a little place in a stipmall.

Great wine bistro. Excellent, representative short wine list and good beer selection — not things you find just anywhere.
The portions are big! The significant other unit and I gave this place our first try on a Friday night. There was a good crowd but there were a couple of seats still available.
We each ordered the daily soup as our starters, which came in largish bowls. I had the tomato basil, which was overly salty but tasty. He had the carrot ginger, and he said it was filling because of the large portion.
I then had the asparagus risotto with wine demi-​glacé. Delicious and a largish portion – had to take more than half home.
He had the seafood risotto, which was just as large as mine, and had a hidden shrimp in the middle of the risotto.
They have three main dessert offerings. We shared the bananas foster crêpe.
This is a jr/​small burrito sized crêpe folded around a cinnamon-​infused sour cream mixture. A couple of sliced banana rounds circle the confection, and the plate is ladled in a very sweet homemade caramel sauce. A little cloying. I will be bold and suggest they decrease the caramel sauce to just artistic drizzles over the finished plate, and instead, increase the amount of banana rounds.
To go along with my dinner I ordered a glass of the Malbec, which I seem to have grown fond of recently. This was a new label for me (Catena Mendoza 2006), and I liked it for its zesty qualities. He had a glass of the Hennepin Belgian style saison beer and really liked it – so much so that he had two.
This restaurant looks like it’s well-​attended for first dates and older couple double-​dates, as well as girls’ night outs. The music was a little techno-​trancey at times, where a little subwoofer could be felt, but the volume was always below what you’d consider interruptive of pleasant conversation. There wasn’t a din in the room, the atmosphere was mellow and very pleasant.
I really like the menu, the homemade quality to the food (there is a little wait) especially. A great, local, and unique – in my eyes – wine bistro without having to take the long drive out to Lombard to visit DOC.
Will definitely return to try the sharing plates and appetizers we can share as entrees.

I guess when you ask Scott the Sommelier (I doubt if he’s bonafide, but he’s a nice guy with reasonable knowledge) to surprise you with a nice earthy pinot, and he brings you a nice earthy pinot that you later discover is $ 16 per glass, you shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, what is he going to do, bring you a glass of Ernest and Julio’s finest supermarket, sold by the gallon, vinted two weeks ago bong water?
If you partake of anything alcoholic, and really, why go here if you don’t, be prepared to dust off the high limit gold card. Our bill for two couples was $ 300. That would be O.K. if the food was better, and the wine wasn’t something you can readily locate in the liquor department at Jewel.
I must say, I enjoyed the seafood risotto, and Dave raved about his pasta dish, but Sue and the wife found the scallop dish to be inedible.
Por lo general (I like to pepper my reviews with foreign language phrases so you think I’m A) cool or B) smart or C) Multi-​lingual when in reality I’m none of the above) we had a really good time here. As I said, Scott is a cool guy and he made our visit very enjoyable. The location is great-​ample parking, close to downtown, and in a pinch, walking distance to my crib in case I should partake in excess of the $ 16/​glass pinot. And the space is commodious yet comfortable and if you choose the right table, cozy and intimate.

My wife and I had some friends from Evanston out and decided to try the DC for dinner on a Friday night. The food we all had was really good from the calamari and veggie roll appetizers to the «small dishes» that we each ordered (ahi tuna, sirloin sliders, pork tenderloin and meatballs). The wine and wine flights we had were also good and went well with the food we chose. The problem was that the service was pretty bad. Our waiter was more infatuated with a table of young women (maybe a wedding party get together??) and we had to constantly be trying to flag him down to get service.
Would be four or five stars if not for the poor service because the food is good and it is conversation friendly.

What an absolute let down.
To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement.
My wife and I decided to revisit the spot of our rehearsal dinner for our 1 year anniversary. Making the reservation was easy and Scott, as usual, was very helpful.
However, when we arrived, the restaurant wasn’t too busy and a man greeted us asking us «2?» and we mentioned that we had a reservation as well, to which he replied, «well, that doesn’t matter. we’re not that busy right now. there’s a spot for you.» I don’t know, I thought even noting in the books that it was someone’s anniversary and just saying «oh, I see here you’re celebrating your anniversary with us tonight. Wonderful, congrats» would have been fantastic. Nope.
So, we peruse the menu to see that it hasn’t really changed at all over the last year. Sad. Scott seemed to have such a love for food that, aside from the daily specials, we thought he’d be eager to mix things up with the seasons. We thought wrong. It’s nearly frustrating because the menu is short and if you’ve been there a couple of times then you’ve had the menu. So why go back? The service? I wish we had some.
Our «waiter» took our order for 2 soups, Scott’s meatloaf and lamb chops (medium rare). Easy enough, right?
Our soup took 15 minutes to come out. Our food took an additional 45 minutes after the soup arrived. I still remain baffled to how that took so long, especially without any updates from the server and with a ½ empty restaurant. Maybe it was made from scratch, I don’t know. Even if it was or wasn’t, why not, at least, check on the table and see how things are going?
By that point we were both frustrated. DC is an hour drive and the intent was to be mildly romantic and reminisce about the great meal we had a short year ago. Unfortunately that needed to remain a memory because this experienced soured the whole thing. Too bad.
On a non food note, they say you can tell how well a restaurant is run by the cleanliness of its bathrooms. The men’s bathroom = disaster zone. Dirty, tiles up off the ground but nice paint colors and art. The women’s bathroom was a dirty bomb as well. My wife said it looked like the floor hadn’t seen any attention in weeks. Gross.
We had hoped to make visiting DC a yearly tradition for our anniversary. Now, we’ll remember it as the place we held our rehearsal dinner at that once had a great bartender, good service and once-​tasty food.

Okay, I am going to start off this review and let you know that I am not going to compare Distinctive Cork with a wine bar in the city or in Napa. I am going to say that I am so happy that there is someplace to go in the western suburbs where you can sit with a friend or date, have a glass of wine…(or two or three!) and something delish to eat. I have been to Distinctive Cork quite a few times in the last few months, and each time the service was pleasant, the wine was good, and they went above and beyond to provide my date with something to eat even though the kitchen was closed. Yes, it is located in a strip mall… but I wouldn’t let that stop you… it is a great place to chill and drink wine.

What a great little spot to wine and dine in Naperville! It’s a bit away from downtown, so you’re away from all the craziness and don’t have the parking woes; on the week night when my parents and I went for dinner we had no wait and were only accompanied by a shower of some sort and another table of diners.
We started with one of the cheese and wine plates; I got a Riesling (Kung Fu Girl, served in an impressively hefty wine glass) and my parents split a bottle of Mirth Chardonnay (25% bottles on Wednesday nights), and we got the «Flight School» plate that would go best with the two (as discerned by the bartender): two goudas and a peppercorn salami. The aged gouda was more cheddarlike but not as sharp, while the herbed gouda was soft, reminiscent of blue cheese without being so tangy. The peppercorn salami set both off nicely, and the wine went well with all.
We had a leisurely nosh on that course before the server inquired as to our interest in entrees. There were plenty of dishes that I would have happily tried, but I was allured by the seafood risotto (shrimp, scallops and crab with fresh spinach); I always like to try risotto in a restaurant to see how it compares to mine!
Dad got the Chesapeake Bay crab cakes, and my mom got the papardelle pasta with alfredo sauce and grilled chicken.
Everyone had a wonderful meal. My risotto was wonderfully creamy, with toothsome shrimp, large pieces of scallop and lots of parmesan cheese. I was definitely not dissatisfied, but after a bite of my father’s crab cakes I was a bit jealous of his dish as well: crispy, pan-​seared exterior flecked with bits of red bell pepper, topped with caramelized onions and sitting atop a pool of a delicious creamy sauce.
My mother’s pasta was also tasty (she thought homemade), with alfredo sauce and chicken as the crowning glory. All of our meals paired well with the wine.
There were a few small glitches (water-​spotted water glasses; only I was given a knife sharp enough to hew through the harder aged gouda, as opposed to the butter knives my parents had on the table [I didn’t have a place setting originally]; no salt and pepper on the table [I know restaurants want to think their food is perfectly seasoned, but I always want more pepper!]), but not enough to mark down appreciably. I would definitely return here and tell all my wino friends.
For the discerning diner and the distinctive drinker, this place is a corker!

I think the Distinctive Cork is a gem in a sea of monotonous chain restaurants that is Naperville. Sure, you can go to Hugos Frog Bar or Catch22, but you can go there in Chicago as well. DCork is a neat quirky gem.
If you love wine flights and cheese, this is a great place for a date or to relax after work.
Our cheese plate was BIG as far as cheese plates go. (And for $ 14, you really get your money’s worth for cheese. We could have easily shared it with 4 people) I’ve gotten cheese plates at wine bars in the city that were half that size for that price. The pinot flight was nice, and our server kicked in another sample for free. He was really nice and knowledgeable about wine and parings, which was great.
As for the food, it was delicious. I enjoyed the melt-​in-​your mouth crabcakes with spinach, and the lamb with cherry sauce was excellent (although we would have preferred it to be less rare in the middle.) Their desserts were tasty too– Bread pudding in a yummy sauce was the better one, although nothing was wrong with the truffle-​like flourless chocolate cake too.
I noticed that the other reviews didn’t like the small plates or more bar food like meatballs and pizza. While we didn’t try them, the entrees at least were really good. It might be worth ordering a entrée to share.
I think the décor is really cool and cozy. It was unfortunate that their acoustic CD was on repeat, but we liked the songs so we didn’t mind listening to them the second time through. It was not crowded, but for Monday, I wouldn’t have expected it to be. I’m sure it gets busy on the weekends (closed Sundays, btw).
Also, they are on
where you can get $ 25 certificates for $ 10 (sometimes less!) but they go really quickly. No wonder since this place is such a find.

So there aren’t many places in Naperville to go for late night drinks. If you want to go downtown Naperville parking is tough… so this place is default.
I went there Wed and Thur night of this week. They have a good alcohol selection. Eclectic variety of beers, okay selection of wines. We were there from 10−11pm and this place is filled with stay at home moms having a great time getting out of the house. Take that for what you will. The desserts are okay, nothing special. I tried their duck eggrolls and was not impressed.
Overall I give the place an A for effort, it seems like they put in a lot of thought into the place and it has a good ambiance for stay at home moms. I give them a B-​/​C+ for the food.

Ty and I did Sunday brunch with the Olson party girls, so you know the company was excellent and a fine time was enjoyed by all. Now, down to b’ness…
1 Unilocal-​star for the tasty (and real) bloody marys.
Zero stars for the rest of our experience: cold french toast, orthodontic-​bending concrete waffles, uncooked bacon, mediocre biscuits and gravy (how is that even possible?), and so on.
Fool me once… Ty and I will take our future brunch-​age and the party girls elsewhere.
Brunch at the D-​Cork… AVOID!

I was yet another Unilocaler at this venue Friday night. I didn’t eat, didn’t even drink the wine (it gives me a headache), so I’m writing a review about the atmosphere.
I didn’t like it. The place reminded me of a college bar or hanging out in somebody’s basement. There was a guy on the guitar and it was annoying, like that fly you can’t catch. Cold would be a good descriptive adjective too. It just seemed to lack something.
As far as the kid factor, this is NOT a kid place! Don’t pretend that you can’t figure that out based on the other reviews.
Of course I still had fun. I had some great company!

I thought D Cork was pretty good overall. The food was nice, but very high priced as compared to the quantity and overall quality of my favorite tapas and small plates places. Still, I’d probably go back.
I enjoyed the «Ridiculous Reds» flight. On Friday night they were doing $ 5 martinis.
The service was good, but there were those little things — the dirty plates sat at our table throughout our meal. And they passed out way too much literature. By the time we got the main menu, with an insert, the martini list, the champagne list, the specials lists… jeez, we had about six different menus on our table. As I look back to the menu on the website, I’m sorry I missed the cheeses, but now I know better. But the waitress and host were both very friendly and gave good suggestions. The live music was ok. Not as bad as lunchtime at Potbelly’s.
Favorite dish — risotto with asparagus and sweet corn, with beef reduction. I thought the mini burgers were pretty good … pizza was ok … scallops were not so great. And I missed my chance at the lamb, but my husband enjoyed it.
Desserts are nothing to write home about, but that didn’t stop me from devouring half a slice of flourless chocolate cake. Because chocolate makes you feel like you’re in love right? That would have been a waste.
Bottom line: visit the website, have an idea of what you want, then go.
3÷18÷08 update: we went back with some friends who were really excited to go… ugh, so mediocre, especially for the money. This time it was about $ 50 pp and no dazzle.

Another fabulous dinner with Ellen M and other Unilocalers was definitely a bonus in my book. However, I have mixed reactions about this place. This really wavers between 3.5 and 3.75 stars.
They had a fabulous wine list and Fridays was $ 5 martinis and they even had a specialty drink that shared the same name as me. I tried the Ridiculous Reds flights — yum! Drinks were definitely a 5 star for me.
However, the atmosphere left something else to be desired. The space was a bit awkward and almost cold. The stage for the live music should be more centered.
Our service was a bit spotty — our waitress even forgot a drink for me and had to be reminded the first time. The second time, I decided not to bother reminding her and didn’t get to try their Naper-​tini. Food took a good 45 minutes to come out.
But food was good but pricey. They’re served in small plates tradition meant to share with a group. Each person ordered one plate to share so we tried the scallops, lamb chops (really tender and well done), asparagus and portabello risotto, twisted sausage pizza (yes, the husband ordered that one), and mini steak sliders. Each plate was delicious however, I didn’t get to try any of the scallops since there were only three of them. I really think that our waitress could have had them cut in half so we could share. We then, filled ourselves with their flourless chocolate cake with fruit on the side — tangerine slices and craisins.