Bistro 9101

Came here again, another Saturday evening. The live music was absent but the quality of he food was not. I got the hanger steak stroganoff and OMG. It was so good. The accompanying risotto was creamy and some of the best risotto I’ve ever had. And the roasted root vegetables? I can’t even. Fantastic. I’ll go back just for a plate of hose root vegetables anytime.
So far this place is two for two, and I can’t wait to go back again.

It was Saturday about 7, sparse crowd. Also was steak night and they were already out of strip steak. For the good, We started with decent bread and roasted garlic, which is a nice touch. We both had Caesar salads which had freshly made croutons. Also decent.
Now for the bad. I ordered my filet extra rare (specifically still moo’ing) it was well done but still juicy and tender (surprisingly.) My husband ordered the rib eye, also rare, also came out well. We had the opportunity to send the meat back but chose not to. My roasted root vegetables were also more dehydrated than roasted. Everything was seasoned correctly just way over cooked. I don’t have anything nice to say about the crème brûlée, way over brûléed (needs to be caramel color not black) and zero flavor. Vanilla bean, lavender, Rosemary, infuse it with something! Texturally correct.
Wine list was inexpensive and contained many sweeter wines.
Waitstaff and location (rooftop was excellent) but building (especially roof and handrails in disrepair.)
Staff offered us a nightcap on the house because of the meat temps, but we declined as we did not want another beverage so they took dessert off instead (total was $ 81 after that.). All in, probably won’t be back.

Good food and reasonable prices. I had grilled shrimp which has a great grilled flavor on spinach ravioli. Started out with a wonderful beet salad. My husband has scallops which he said were very good. Of
Course had to have dessert. Crème brûlée and the apple tart was excellent.

I’m not one to be too harsh on a restaurant (just see my other reviews) but there really is quite a list of things about this place that just doesn’t quite add up to an overly good review. I’ve been there several times, but I don’t think I’ll make it back. How many passes can I give? The majority of this review is for my most recent visit.
The atmosphere is pretty good actually: dimly lit, nice furniture, quality physical environment. And the wait staff is friendly enough. But for some reason (upon which I will later theorize) there are rarely many customers in the place, and unfortunately the sparse crowd takes the atmosphere down a notch or two.
We ate at the bar most recently, and although the bartender was courteous, I definitely got the impression that he was trying to project competence more than he was actually competent. As we took our seats, he immediately asked what kind of beer we liked. He said they «have a great selection» and he said that he could steer us in the right direction, spoken as though he had some expertise to offer. But when I said that I liked stouts, he immediately «guided» me to what I fully knew to be a dark colored ale, saying «if you like stouts, then you should love this one. It’s really dark.» So he clearly didn’t have even very basic beer knowledge despite his initial attempt to give that impression. At least he made a decent Manhattan, for which I finally opted. (It turned out there was no stout, nor even a porter on tap — and I don’t call that a «great selection.»)
One more thing: later when he cleared our remaining food plates away, he also took my still half-​full glass of water, even though my companion had just ordered a brand new beer, leaving me to sit with nothing in front of me for the last half hour. I didn’t bother asking for another glass, partly out of feeling awkward and not wanting to make him feel dumb. Didn’t it occur to him that I might like to at least sip on something while we sat there for the next 30 minutes?
On to the food, which I can only describe as tending toward mediocre at best. The guy in the back is allegedly a chef, and the plating is often of the elaborate style of a higher end restaurant. Large white plates, food situated just so in the center. From what I can tell, the appetizers are normally plated as such; although for the main courses, the portions are often bigger. But let’s face it; neither presentation nor portion size matters when the food is bland, undercooked, overly herbed/​spiced, or otherwise poorly or unappealingly prepared. And unfortunately, much of the food I’ve eaten here fits one of those categories.
The french fries are the stringy curly variety — «julienned» — a style which tends towards greasy for fries, but these are also bland. Sure they kind of look unique — gourmet I guess they’re shooting for — but I simply couldn’t get enough salt on them to actually make them tasty. And when I asked for ketchup, the bartender brought a tiny cup of it for our two large plates of fries. Apparently they think those kinds of fries are easy to dip — or they think it is more sophisticated to serve ketchup that way. Neither of those ideas work.
This is getting long, so to briefly cover several visits: The goat cheese appetizer: very good. The French onion soup: very good. The mushroom appetizer: completely undercooked — some mushrooms nearly raw. The fish sandwich: bland (especially the bun) but inexplicably even the siracha sauce couldn’t lend it flavor. The chicken sandwich: ok, but not overly flavorful. A previous visit’s salmon entrée: decent, but extraordinarily small serving for the price. A previous chicken/​pasta entrée: very unappealing — the chicken was bland and actually came with a huge bone in it, sitting in the middle of a pasta dish? Weird.
To summarize: high end prices for average food and okay service that fancies itself classy. No wonder the crowd is normally light.

Right up front I’m going to say I rounded up from a 3.5 to a 4. Why? Because it here in the North Hills, any restaurant that goes to the lengths Bistro 9101 does to do things with the attention to detail that they do, deserves the benefit of the doubt. Besides, the food is solid, it was the bar that was a 3. On to the details.
The atmosphere is quiet on the restaurant side. Dimly lit by candlelight, the tables are spaced for intimate conversation without overhearing your neighbors. I like that!
The service is friendly, unobtrusive and knowledgeable. The staff knows their stuff about food allergy issues and what they don’t know, they talk to the chef to get the right info.
How about the food? That is why we go out to eat, right? First, a small loaf of bread is brought to your table along with a whole head of soft, roasted garlic to squeeze out and spreatd onto slices of that warm, crusty bread. Such a lovely beginning!
My dining companion started with a rich and satisfying bowl of a not too creamy tomato basil soup that she said just hit the spot that cool evening. She followed soup with a crisp salad… sorry I don’t remember which one, but she enjoyed it!
I wasn’t hungry that evening so ordered two small plates instead of a big meal. The pig wings sounded quite interesting. These were small, meaty, very tender individual ribs served with a creamy version of a chimmichuri sauce and small soft corn tortillas. You spread a little sauce on the tortilla, then placed the pig wing on top, then gripped the meat with the tortilla so the meat slid right off the bone leaving the perfect pork and chimmichuri taco. It was almost a magic trick!
When I ordered two appetizers, intending a light meal, I never imagined the long beautiful plate of pig wings! The other small plate was a rich, creamy, delicious mushroom risotto that was prepared just the way risotto should be. I left stuffed, happy, and with leftovers for the next day!
Our return visit was later in the evening after a movie at the new Cinemark theater. This time we enjoyed cocktails and hangar steak quesadillas. The bartender had called in sick, so a server stepped up and filled the role as best he could. I give him credit for trying! He produced one very good Cosmo and one barely acceptable Mrs. McCandless — a specialty gin drink. I’ll give a more accurate review of the bar when a real bartender is behind the stick!
One note, if you expect the same corner bar with the same cheap, so-​so food and drinks that used to come out of this old building, things have changed for the BETTER! Yes, the new restaurant and new chef are cooking up fine cuisine that is pricier than the old shot and a beer place. That’s why they USED to be here. Fine food is a welcome new addition to this old McCandless location. This is my new local go-​to spot!

How do you run out of a crispy fish on a Friday in Lent at 7pm???

There is only one Cabernet on the menu, it tastes like a $ 6 bottle of wine. I sent it back
We loved the roasted bulb of garlic, butter and bread that is supposed to come when you sit down. Except we got ours after our app.
The pork chop was wonderful
The burger was ordered med-​rare, it arrived med-​well.
But We would give it another try

We stopped in here yesterday for St. Patrick’s Day. These people just do not get it. Baldini’s lasted from 1962 — 1985 as a neighborhood bar. Dave and Duffy’s followed and lasted for ten years and was always successful until the owner died and they were forced to sell the place. Since then, the restaurants in this building have progressively gotten more and more stupid. This one sets a new benchmark for stupidity. Who in their right mind would think that a place like this would «make it» in this area? They have literally no bar food (pig wings? honestly what the heck is that?), the beer selection is unreasonably expensive, and the food is really only suitable for a pre-​Oscar party, not a neighborhood restaurant. I give it until April until this place goes under, and joins the likes Magoo’s Natoli’s, Fiddlers, and Ziggy’s. BRING BACK BALDINI’S!!!

Top notch craft beer selection, helpful wait staff, and a very innovative menu unlike anything else in the area. So glad to have found this spot! I’ll return just for the bread and roasted garlic alone… What an interesting alternative to regular old bread and butter. The French onion soup was top notch as well, flavorful and not too salty. I loved the centerpiece on the table too– looked handmade and really added to the cozy atmosphere. Can’t wait to try everything on the menu

Looks the same inside. Burgers were good. The more expensive entrée I had was terrible. Overcooked seafood, pasta was mushy. If we go again, it won’t be for the entrees.