Carpentersville restaurant no ordinary Joe
After remaining vacant for nearly three years, the former T.G.I. Friday's location at Spring Hill Mall has a new occupant. Joe's Kitchen & Tavern opened this fall, after a year of renovating the space. Since then, the spot has been bringing in crowds seeking out their menu of big portions of American comfort food like steaks and ribs.
Motif: The dining area features wood tables and dark wood-paneled walls decorated with landscape paintings. Orange lamps hang over the booths and there are two secondary dining areas that can seat big groups. Plants line the division between the dining and bar areas. A neon beer sign gives the bar area a blue hue. A lineup of booze is on display behind the bar along with a pair of flat-screen TVs tuned to sports. The bar area features three more TVs, which are arranged so that they can be viewed from the booths and high-top seating.
Crowd: The spot was so packed at 7 p.m. on Saturday that we couldn't get a table so we came back armed with an 8 p.m. reservation. By then the space was much quieter, mostly occupied by groups of older diners. Dress is on the nicer side of casual with people sporting jeans with a mix of sweatshirts and dress shirts.
Service: Our server was very friendly, happy to make recommendations and checking in regularly to see if we needed drink refills and make sure we were enjoying everything. When our first server was going off duty, she made sure to introduce us to her replacement.
Liquid consumption: Joe's has a small martini menu with all the standards plus a few more unique sippers like a tiramisu martini. Our server recommended the $8 French raspberry martini, a mix of Absolut Raspberri, raspberry liqueur and pineapple juice, which made for a fine fruity sipper. They also offer plenty of other cocktails like rum runners, margaritas and mai tais. If you're drinking on a budget, take advantage of daily deals like $5 martinis Thursdays and $4 house wines Saturdays.
Food: All of the food we tried was solid. We started with the $6.95 cheese quesadillas, which were pleasantly crispy on the outside and loaded with good melted cheese. They're served with plenty of guacamole and homemade salsa. Our dinners came with a basket of warm herbed breadsticks and salad that was served in a large bowl with our dressings on the side. The best part was the particularly good crunchy and lightly spiced croutons. Our server had promised that the $19.95 Black Angus twin fillets could be cut with a fork and she was right. We ordered it medium-rare, though it came out on the rare side, which was fine as the meat was juicy and tender. The barbecued baby back ribs are one of Joe's most popular dishes for good reason. The sauce is pleasantly tangy and the meat falls off the bone. The thick fluffy steak fries made a particularly good side.
Parking: There are plenty of free spots in the mall parking lot.
Overall: Joe's Kitchen & Tavern provides a solid new destination for shoppers and locals.
Joe's Kitchen & Tavern
101 S. Western Ave., Carpentersville, (847) 844-1588
<b>Hours: </b>11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday