Chessie's/111 Grille rides past into the future

Regulars of Chessie's at Barrington's Ice House Mall got so upset when new owners Steve and Lisa Petersen took over the 30-year-old restaurant and started making changes, says Manager Lisa Lesniak, that the new proprietors backed off on their proposed alterations. The new awning proclaiming "The 111 Grille" was already up, but unchanged menus still read "Chessie's," and the staff answers the phone, "Chessie's/111 Grille."

The old name, Chessie's, short for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, reflects the fact that part of the building, which sits next to the Chicago & North Western tracks, is a vintage 1915 train station that was moved to this site in 1978, and part is a 1927 Pullman car salvaged from the Illinois Central Railroad. The restaurant adjoins the mall, which was built in 1904 as the Bowman Dairy and served as an ice house for 68 years.

So locals take the history seriously.

The train station comprises the comfortable bar, spaciously appointed with train-pattern-upholstered booths and tables set with barrel chairs under a reproduction tin ceiling, while the rail car is fitted up like a period dining car.

New menu items are in the works, Lesniak says. For now, Chef Francisco Trejo has concentrated on improving the dishes on the old menu, upgrading the good (if a bit retro) options favored by longtime customers.

An excellent example is the open-faced, seared ahi tuna sandwich. A generous, inch-thick fillet of intensely flavorful fish, cooked medium-rare, sat atop a thin square of sourdough with some alfalfa sprouts, sliced tomatoes and lemon pepper mayo. It came blanketed with melted cheese - adding nothing to the excellent fish. With it you have your choice of fries or, even better, house-made potato chips.

You can get the ahi tuna over angel-hair pasta with fresh tomatoes and a balsamic-vinegar reduction, too.

Our other choice, the deeply flavorful shrimp Palermo, presented plentiful sauteed medium shrimp in a plate-lickingly delectable sausage-laced cream sauce, ladled over linguine. Other entrees on the present menu include a number of sandwiches and pastas, main-dish salads, choice-grade steaks, charbroiled ribs, pork chops and fried shrimp.

Entrees come with house-made soups or salad. We opted for a cool gazpacho, which came out looking like bottled salsa but tasted deliciously of well-seasoned fresh tomatoes and vegetables.

As for appetizers, we polished off a greasy-good breaded onion loaf with ranch dressing as well as some light fried artichoke hearts, delicately coated in buttermilk batter, dressed with shredded cheese and paired with overly sweet honey-mustard sauce. If the starter choices seem a tad heavy on fried foods, turn to the bar menu, which we noticed too late; it contains some newly introduced options such as ahi tuna and greens, sliders, bacon-wrapped shrimp and sauteed calamari. Bar choices also include a variety of new cocktails.

Along with the reasonably priced regular menu, there are plenty of deals. Tuesday's $5 burger day features half-pound Angus Beef burgers, served with house-made french fries and coleslaw; a Friday-night fish fry offers all-you-can-eat beer-battered Icelandic cod with soup or salad, coleslaw and fries for $13.95.

Desserts, made in house, include a tart and creamy key-lime pie, a somewhat bland tiramisu, carrot cake, cheese cake and the chocolate mousse tower.

According to Lesniak, the goal of Chessie's new management is to resurrect what was a moribund eatery into a neighborhood spot for area families. To do that, they need to update the menu, which - despite initial upgrades - seems mired in the 1980s and '90s with choices such as strawberry salmon salad and Hawaiian chicken. An up-to-date list would offer more global flavors, small plates and lighter dishes.

Yet I can't help wishing they'd go another, more daring route - diving back into the past to offer a menu that befits the vintage surroundings. Hey, they already have a Cobb salad (invented during the 1920s).

<p class="factboxheadblack">Chessie's/111 Grille</p>

<p class="News">Ice House Mall, 200 Applebee St., Barrington, (847) 382-5020</p>

<p class="News"><b>Setting:</b> Historic train station attached to a vintage train car </p>

<p class="News"><b>Cuisine:</b> American</p>

<p class="News"><b>Hours:</b> 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday</p>

<p class="News"><b>Entrees:</b> $8.95-$24.95</p>