Wildwood Tavern

I am really disappointed when it comes to this Unilocal review. I’ve been waiting forever for Wildwood Tavern to open. They have a promising menu but their chefs are inconsistent. See photo of my sad burger. Why oh why have a beautiful delicious egg on top of a burger if you’re just going to over cook it. Why order a beautiful medium rare burger when you’re going to get one that is well cooked. Not medium rare! Sadly this has not happened to me just one, but 3 times. On the third time I decided to write my review. Please Wildwood Tavern, you have the opportunity for great things, you just need to get a better cook. Don’t over cook your meat and definitely don’t over cook your eggs. Also you need help on your waitstaff in the bar area. I feel that he was way overworked, by himself and trying to help way too many people at the bar to give decent service to the rest of us.

Went back twice in January, once with my daughter for a late lunch and once with my husband for dinner on a Friday night, and both were great. All positive experiences so far. I’m close to changing my rating to five stars — Another good trip or two and I’ll do it.
I had the Reuben when I went for lunch, and it was great — lots of corned beef, moist and flavorful. I brought along my daughter for the first time (a college student, who’s still pretty picky!), and she had the Adult Grilled Cheese. She said it was AWESOME! She’s kind of a grilled cheese connoisseur — She’s ordered them all over the country pretty much all her life — and she said this ranked in her top two best ever! She showed it to me as she was eating it, and it was absolutely loaded and oozing with cheese. She had the mac and cheese as a side, something she’s especially extremely picky about, and she said while it was nothing remarkable, it definitely at least exceeded her basic standards. From her, that’s a great compliment! I thought the best indication was that she told her brother, also a college student, that he would HAVE to go there the next time he’s back in town!
My husband was with me on the other visit, his third trip with me, and we both tried the Wildwood Tavern Ribs this time. (The Myron & Phil’s ribs, a carry-​over from the owner’s previous restaurant, are of the «chew off the bone» variety, which I don’t care for, but I was anxious to try the «fall off the bones» WT version to see if I liked those better.) I always ask for my ribs «dry,» and get the sauce on the side. I like the sauce okay, I just don’t like ribs that are dripping in it. To me, it’s about the meat, not the sauce. Our server cautioned me that they would have a bit of sauce on them, because they slow cook them and don’t have any dry ones, but she promised they would be «almost like dry,» and she was absolutely right. I was very pleased. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is chew off the bone, and 10 is completely fall off, these were about an 8 — still close enough to falling off for me, and very tender. They were very easy to pick up and eat, and because they were «almost like dry,» I didn’t get a mess all over my hands, either. My husband had sauce on his (we both chose the sweeter sauce) because he likes them that way, and he agreed that they were excellent.
My only disappointment was that they were out of the Amarena cherries that are supposed to come in the Rye Guy Manhattan (my favorite of their cocktails that I’ve tried), but they compensated by bringing me four extra Maraschino cherries on a cocktail toothpick when I asked about the Amarenas. I’d call that a fair trade!

Well what can I say but good things! We had such a good time here! The waiter was soooo friendly and spot on! The food was perfect! We had skirt steak sandwiches and fried onions! Wow steak was done perfect and the bread was sooo fresh! Congrats to Mark for opening this new place! We will return for sure and tell friends about this new gem!

First time at Wildwood Tavern, came for dinner on Wednesday night. Amy the waitress was super friendly and made some excellent recommendations. The ribs were fantastic! The house BBQ sauce was also very good. Excellent fries. Kids entrees (slider burgers and Chicken tenders) were tasty. Good selection of beer both on draft and bottles. The owner sent over a delicious bread pudding and I must say it was one of the best I’ve had! All the desserts are made in house and looking forward to try more. The space large and airy and only recommendation I can make is to make it a bit warmer and «woodsy» feeling if they are going for that north woods supper club. It is new, so I’m sure it will get better with time. Will be back!

Our first visit was ok. The environment was pretty much the same as the other incarnations of this location. The service was very prompt and friendly. I had the steak sandwich and the hubby had a burger. I ordered a side of chipped liver to take home. The steak was good, the burger was ok and the liver was decent, but kind of skimpy. We’ll probably give it another try.

My family and I decided to give WT another chance last night after first trying it this summer and being extremely disappointed (service was non-​existent, food was so-​so).
Unfortunately, after last night I dont think our family will be coming back. Service was much improved, but several things bugged us. First, a fire alarm went off just as we got our food. Our kids freaked out. This went on for about 15 minutes blaring in our ears and really not being told anything or what to do (leave? stay?). Our food was so so again. I got the WT «fall off the bone» ribs… they were not fall off the bone. My wife ordered a chop salad with quinoa. There was no quinoa, but rather pasta. The kids had chicken fingers and mac and cheese. Kind of hard to mess that up. Anyways, out comes the bill. No mention of the 15 minutes of blaring alarm going off. No comps, nothing. Very disappointing. We wont be back again.

The service was very good. The servers were attentive, as was the management.
I had their burger with an egg, grilled onions and bacon. My wife had a buffalo chicken sandwich and a chicken noodle soup. My aunt had their ribs. All of it was pretty bland. I like my food HOT. Unfortunately the foos was warm.
I did like their Carolina BBQ sauce that was available on the table.
The décor also seemed very minimal. I did not feel like there was much to create ambiance or make it feel cozy.
All in all I would not choose to come back. The service was good.

Great menu, food, and service. Superb bar (Moscow Mules in a genuine chilled copper cup!). They do have a sound problem (too loud) but supposedly are working on that. Plenty of parking. Looks like that corner location will FINALLY work out for a restaurateur.

First time here and it we had such a great time. The server and I’m guessing the owner and host were so nice. Food was also great! Try the bbq pulled pork pizza! We will be back!

My wife and I came here for dinner on a weekend. We had been anxiously waiting for the to open for months and were very excited when it finally did. We sat at the bar and the bartender was very friendly. It was very nice that when we inquired about a certain beer, he immediately gave us a sample in a very cold small glass. (beer always tastes better in a very cold glass) Unfortunately, once we ordered the beer, the larger glass, was slightly warm, which changed the flavor slightly. One daily special was a half order of the onion strings. This is great because no one should ever eat a full order of those things. They arrived hot and tasty, unfortunately they really needed a dipping sauce, or dipping trio. That would bring definitely improve the overall satisfaction with the item. But, after eating them for awhile, without anything but ketchup, the flavor got old. We also ordered the homemade veggie burger. The fact that it was homemade was appreciated because it’s really easy to screw up something as easy a a veggie burger. Unfortunately, the taste simply wasn’t there. It was very large… but extremely dry. Again, it was in need of a signature sauce to liven it up. It needed avocado and something… to give it some flavor. Seating at the bar was comfortable although usually we dine with our two kids and wish there was booth sitting for families.
The people next to us at the bar ordered the wings and seemed to really enjoy them. People were friendly and service was great. Suggestions: serve the beer in frosted glasses, have more IPAs on draft, create some more signature sauces and vegetarian options.

Décor — blah
Food — blah
Atmosphere– blah and old
Bar — Cold
Menu — is odd and very cheap looking. It’s only been open for a little while and the menus looked old and dirty.
Cheap food with expensive prices
Chicken Cesar salad — chicken was moist but rest of salad — blah
Ruben — corn beef was good but the rest was blah. Menu said thick cut rye, mine was not. Bread was soggy!
Overall view… they need to work on décor, menu and get rid of their weird booths and old tables and chairs. Add some bar height tables in bar.
It feels like a diner! You have a beautiful building and your inside does not match.
The 2 stars is because our waitress was sweet and even the bus man was helpful.
Will wait to watch reviews, hopefully they are just figuring things out and will get better.

I can start this review by saying this is not Myron & Phil’s-by a long shot! I give this faux Myron’s until summer 2016 and it will be gone. Went two weeks ago for a surprise birthday party with a group of 12 for my father in law’s birthday and from the god awful and rude hostess (who we found out was the owner’s wife) to the slow and clueless waitress and to trhe inconsistent bar and kitchen items, it was an experience to forget.
From ordering the same item as my brother-​in-​law and having it look completely different (consistency counts guys in the kitchen and bar!) to getting my rum and coke in a «soda glass» not a typical cocktail glass, to being charged for the formerly (at Myron’s) complimentary liver and pickles plate. It is hard to believe that the owner ran Myron’s for many years because on this day he ran around with his head cut off and just saying «sorry, sorry» for everything and doing nothing about it. Sorry loses its meaning when you hear it 10 times during a meal from the waitress and owner and nothing is done about it.
Not to mention the clueless and «lost» waitress calling my wife «Sir» when asking for her beverage (that she waited 20 minutes to get) to my wife waiting 30 minutes after the rest of us were served dinner it was a disaster. I used to live in the area and how Mark did not comp at least half the tab was a major crime. He took off my wife’s delinquent meal only after heavy prodding and 3 attempts by him and the waitress to take it off the bill.
My rum and coke tasted watered down and the food was mediocre at best. My advice stay away now from Wildwood Tavern. As much experience as the owner has, the complete experience leaves you with indigestion before you even take a bite!

I went to lunch here with my friend today and we had such a great time! The owner was so nice and welcomed us with a smile to our table. We sat by a beautiful fireplace and enjoyed the warmth while we ate. Our waiter was a really smiley and nice guy who gave us the recommendation of eating the BBQ Brisket for lunch. Both of us followed his advice and we are so glad that we did, it was phenomenal. The pretzel bun was cooked to perfection and the brisket was delicious. The right amount of sauce, the perfect texture to the meat, and SO much flavor! It was served with french fries and cole slaw that were really good. The fries are better than Portillos (which are my standard when it comes to fries). I don’t eat coleslaw, but I ate the entire dish on my plate. I usually am offended by the flavor of coleslaw, but this just a really nice addition to the meal.
I can see some people reviewed this with harsh thoughts and I have to say that I didn’t share in their experience. Our food came out quickly, the environment was delightful, and the restaurant was full of people. I want to go back for their pizza sometime with my kids. I would say give it a try and I hope you will have as great of a time as we did.

Solid neighborhood spot. Great bar area with lots of new TV’s. Homemade ribs are hit. Burgers, big salads and good entrees. Locally owned and friendly staffed.

I recently took my family to Wildwood Tavern for the first time. I have been a long time fan of Mark’s family’s prior restaurant Myron and Phils. I was very happy to see a lot of the items from the old restaurant on Wildwood Taverns menu. Some of the items were the Myron and Phils barbecue ribs which my wife ordered and said they were fantastic. The original chop liver, Skirt steak with burnt onions which is one of my favorites. Mark also added a lot of new items onto the menu including their smoked ribs, pizza and a lot of other great items. I had the hamburger with the burnt onions that night and it was absolutely fantastic. I let my daughter try some of the burnt onions and she kept eating them all off my plate. The service was fantastic and I highly recommend that you try this restaurant. If you want to watch a sporting event they have a gigantic bar with multiple TV screens.

Where do I start. We heard that the owner is the Myron & Phil son. Had to try it for that very reason and the fact that it’s close to home. Great location but for some reason restaurants never succeed here. This one will not likely be the exception. You walk in to a huge bar with televisions. Lots of standing area. Is it supposed to be a sports bar? Not tonight. It was empty with only a few people sitting at the bar. Not much decoration. Nothing really on the walls and nothing halloween.
Despite the boring décor and much older crowd, we remained optimistic and started off with the nachos after a long wait for a first greeting from our server.
We should’ve left after eating the bland appetizer, but we carried on. Not the worst nachos ever. At least it had real cheese. But a small portion and we all agreed to cross them off the list.
We love french onion soup so we ordered it. It tasted like they added marsala wine. The taste was so dramatically changed from what we know as french onion soup that we couldn’t eat it. The uneaten soup was picked up later with no mention by anyone there.
Service continued to be very unattentive. My burnt onion steak sandwich wasn’t bad but the fries were a little soggy and again the portion was a little on the small side.
The Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich sure sounded good on the menu but came up as bland as the restaurant décor.
The menu really looks good and it seems like they are maybe trying to be the L Woods of Wildwood. The BBQ selection looked good but with a couple of outstanding BBQ places not all that far away we would for sure eat BBQ elsewhere.
So from our one visit it doesn’t look like the Wildwood crowd approves. And we won’t be back.

I not sure about this one.
If I grade on a curve, the neighborhood really needs a bar like this that serves food.
In reality, I stopped in for lunch and had the brisket. $ 19 for a fairly sparse plate– just meat and fries. The meat was colder than it should have been and the mouthfeel was a little too gummy for me.
I love brisket and frequent Blackwoods downtown and Smoque BBQ in Old Irving Park. Don’t get me wrong, Wildeood is a serious effort and a handsome room, but the food, especially for the price is just not that good.
I’ll visit again, but they are on negative watch.

I worked in the restaurant and bar business for about 15 years, in places ranging from Mother’s to Nick’s Fishmarket, and I like to think that I have developed a discerning eye when it comes to restaurants and bars. I have been to the Wildwood Tavern twice since they opened, and have come away with a smile on my face both times. Despite all the negative reviews that I have seen on Unilocal about long waits, we did not experience this. In fact, the bartenders were extremely attentive and the wait staff gave prompt service with a smile, and the food was awesome.
To me, if I have to wait for a table or for my food, just make sure that I have a drink in my hand and give me a nice place where I can decompress, which is exactly what we and everyone who was there with us got. I was also extremely impressed by how the owners dealt with the inevitable glitches that come with opening a new restaurant amid obvious excitement by the local clientele (as evidenced by the full parking lot both times we were here). These are seasoned restauranteurs and perfectionists who have an obvious love of the business and of taking care of their customers. We will be going back again and again, and recommending it to family and friends.

Well, that was a swing and a miss! Gave newly opened Wildwood a try, despite the mixed reviews because 1) we’re in the neighborhood and like to support local restaurants, and 2) we’ll try anything once and wanted to see for ourselves.
Though the wait on a Friday night was quoted at 20 minutes, we were seated in 15. Our friendly waitress took our drink and food order, and then the waiting game began. The clock ticked… and ticked… after 30 minutes, we noted that we hadn’t spotted our waitress since she took our orders and hypothesized that she was perhaps helping the (clearly behind) kitchen with the food prep. Grand total wait time before our food arrived was a whopping 50 – 55 minutes, and to prevent ourselves from getting hangry, our activities included, but were not limited to: observing that the interior of Wildwood looks like a reformed ski lodge, debating whether to start eating the ketchup on the table, daydreaming about Culver’s, and noting the energetic acoustics/​noise level.
After the painstaking wait for the food, our entrees that arrived did not make it worth it. Brisket was very bland and underseasoned, the baked potato tasted stale, and the side of broccoli was forgotten. Had my husband not just come from a grueling crossfit workout, he would not have had it in him to finish his meal. And that’s saying a lot, for someone I’ve never seen decline any food placed within a 50 foot radius.
People tend to eat with their eyes first, and my 10oz prime rib special was not much to look it. The meat was just as chewy and lumpy as it looked, and something about the mac ‘n cheese was off. Not only did it taste like it was made from a box, but it had a strange banana/​fruity off-​flavor. I packed my leftovers to go, but they ended up in the trash the next day. #justcan’t
Though this restaurant looked like it could be the L. Woods of Niles, I would not recommend it. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so unsatisfied and disappointed in a meal.

Underwhelming.
They spent ages remodeling the facility and frankly, the money was not well spent. What used to be a warm and inviting environment with rich warm colors is now mostly white and clinical looking. The decorative shelving was bare. Don’t think I saw a single plant or fabrics or artwork. Considering the Myron & Phil’s legacy, a picture of the men and maybe a plaque with their story would have been a nice touch.
The menus are flimsy paper and on par with a fast food joint, not a quality restaurant. The menu is rather limited. Don’t bring your vegetarian friends, as their are few options.
We split a Caeser salad, which was generously sized and can easily be shared. It took a long time to arrive, and we were less than halfway through before our entrees arrived. With ribs that were warm, but not hot and french fries that were almost room temperature.
I was debating between ribs and brisket and went with the ribs, since they came with cornbread (mmmmn!). When the meals were delivered, we asked where the cornbread was, and told they were out. The server said he’d ‘make it up to us’. He never did.
What would have reasonable would have been to let us know they were out of cornbread when we were ordering and simply ask if we’d like a different side in its place.
The ribs were adequate, but only average, and for a place that seems to focus on this as their signature dish, it should have been far better. Sauce tasted commercial and prepackaged.
We had to ask for moist towelettes and were told they were out. This is a staple item for a rib place. The waiter creatively wet some paper napkins and brought them on a plate. Seriously guys, Costco is 4 blocks away. You couldn’t have sent someone to make an emergency run?
We had to wait over 15 minutes for the check after we told the server we were finished. When he brought it, he did apologize for the delay and explained he got tied up by the kitchen.
They’ve only been open a few weeks and every place has hiccups, but this is a place run by very experienced restaurateurs. I’ll give it another chance and update this review if things better, but so far, meh.
[ALSO: Not that Unilocal is unreliable and easily abused or anything… Please notice the 5 star reviews from Alaska and California. These «reviewers» have only 1 posted review. Totally not a paid posting or a shill review, right?]

We’ve been waiting for a year to have this venue open. Gave them a couple of weeks to get the bugs out. 6 of us went last evening. Loved Myron and Phil’s and expected similar food… guess not. Bar food is great if done well. Not the case here.
They don’t take reservations. We waited forever for a table the hostess said would clear soon. 20 minutes later, we asked for another table and were seated. We were taken to the back of the restaurant, which was so loud we could hardly hear each other, there was also a large party seated in the room. Oversize, crinkled paper menus were presented, only one had wine and beer list on the back. The server who announced she was under 21 and knew nothing about wine (her statement) finally got us a beer menu. Drink order taken, 10 minutes later drinks arrive. Beer served in a Cognac glass, don’t understand. ** Strike One
Dinner order taken. Another long wait for entrees arrive. Chicken order served cold, Corned Beef sandwiches, very dry, no condiments provided, mostly uneaten. Brisket orders 2 okay, 1 looked like it was shavings from the other two orders… fries were inedible. Coffee ordered, 2 Regular served cold, 2 Decaf were fine… no desserts were ordered. **Strike Two
Ambiance was just okay, (very clinical looking) artwork sitting on floor not hung. Wall cases, meant for collections of books and objects, empty, no draperies to deaden the loud din in the whole restaurant. Service was mediocre at best, server was nice but needs to be trained. The bill was $ 210.00 including an undeserved generous tip. Seems to me the place opened before they were ready. **Strike Three
Sadly, we won’t be back. We had hoped for a great neighborhood spot for drinks and casual dining, this is not that place.

Great customer service, seated in minutes when arrived at 5pm, onion loaf delicious, chicken soup –just like grandma used to make! Brisket really good a lot of meat, great cornbread, Reuben excellent!