Though attempting to go for upscale Vietnamese, David Tamarkin finds the food at Sawtooth “only mildly upscale and rarely contemporary. Sometimes it barely tastes Vietnamese.” Most of the dishes look like the same food you could find up on Argyle street except “there’s less flavor.” [TOC]
Michael Nagrant wades through the “silver foxes” and rich grandmothers at Prairie Fire, which is “like Sunda for older people. But, you know, I kind of dig it.” Though some of the dishes remind him of 80s classics, the “glistening house-made lamb sausage” is “one of the finest encased meats in Chicago not served at Hot Doug’s.” [CS]
Heather Shouse decides to give Balsan another shot after she had panned it earlier this year, because of some buzz and the addition of new pastry chef, Stephanie Prida. “Turns out, this buzz is more than white noise,” she exclaims, finding the “new and improved Balsan” to be “unexpectedly good.” [TOC]
Pat Bruno thinks that Urban Burger Bar may not be the perfect place for the “40-plus set, especially if you are not into a lot of noise, abhor slow service and have a thing about servers who cop an attitude.” But “if you a love a good burger…you might consider giving Urban Burger Bar a shot.” [Sun-Times]
