Eddie Merlots

Unfortunately I was so excited to eat the food I did not get pictures :/…BUT this place was awesome. Came to Chicago for a business trip and this was our dinner choice. For appetizers bbq shrimp, tuna wontons and calamari. All these were so delicious. Especially the BBQ shrimp, so big! My entrée I ordered the trio medallions which was 3−4oz filets all tops with something different. The steak was amazing and aged 21 days. Couldn’t say anything bad about it. I also ordered the Lobster Mac & Cheese for a side which didn’t have too much of a lobster taste but delicious regardless. Lastly I finished this amazing meal with Apple and peach crisp topped with vanilla ice cream. If in Chicago, GO TO THIS Place!

I would like to raise this rating to a 5 but cannot this time. I am lowering this to a 3. Although there are better places, maybe for steak but not anything else, this restaurant is top shelf for sure especially for that romantic or special occasion dinner. We came here for New Years Eve dinner. As always it was great food and service. I will mention a couple of things. I felt we were being a bit hurried by our waiter right from the beginning and it was obvious. I understand that holidays are overbooked and the tables need to be turned. But quite honestly I do not care to be treated this way in an expensive upscale restaurant and do not care what day it is. Especially as we bought into their frequent diners club which is a good program. We took our time as usual anyway no more and no less to enjoy the dining experience you get here. Another minor thing is that I made a comment to my wife that the lobster tail looked a bit smaller than advertised. I did not think the waiter heard this. To my surprise the manager shows up and gives me another lobster. Now I had 2! What service! We will be back again and again but will think twice before coming on any holiday. I am sure next time it will be 5 stars for sure.

I should’ve wrote this a lot sooner, but better late than never!
I went sometime back with a man I dated and he took me here on a third date… Great choice!!!
There’s not one thing bad I can say about this place! The food was marvelous and the service was just as good!
I loved the table service of the bananas foster!
I could say a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for and what was paid was well worth it!!!

Great atmosphere, bar area for 40+. Menu now has something for everyone and every price range. Good solid food. Servers can be a little too over the top, if we have food in our mouth don’t ask us how the food is… maybe I always have food in my mouth? Anyway, we kind of make a joke of it. The servers write us thank you notes. That’s nice, just let us enjoy our meal n conversation. We eat here often– my husband likes the martinis. I am more of a purest so I do not like heavy sauces, add ons,
I get the tuna– all forms, steaks w no extra sauces– wedge, Brussel sprouts, …
My son is all over the desserts… after his steak

I have been here multiple times. Steak is second to none, service is impeccable, and the wine selection is tremendous.
Be sure to leave plenty of room for desert; their bananas foster is incredible.

I’ve been here a few times now and have some mixed feelings about this restaurant. Décor is beautiful, it’s very pricey, the food is high quality & delicious, but the service is only so-so…it really detracts from the experience.
3ish star service.
Totally underwhelmed by the quality of customer service at such an upscale restaurant. Expected friendly, attentive, nearly flawless service start to finish for the prices demanded by this restaurant. Host/​hostesses are not very friendly. Waitstaff/​hosts make errors on some very simple things. Have also had waiters who have condescending attitudes.
4 – 5 star food.
Quality is definitely there! Presentation is beautiful, and serving sizes are large. Most of the entrees do not come with a side, so you have to order them a la carte. The sides that we’ve ordered a la carte have been delicious.

This is my favorite place in the burbs. It is very difficult to find ‘city-​worthy’ spots in the area but this rivals the best steakhouses in the city. I always sit in the bar area and Ashley and Nikki take great care of their customers. They also have a loyalty program, which I highly recommend. They have some really amazing wines by the glass that you don’t see many places. They also have 50% off bottles on Sundays! The chef here was one of the original Alinea guys so he obviously knows his stuff (and is quite friendly as well).
They have amazing salads for lunch that you can add steak (or other proteins) to. They make their own dressings and I absolutely love the lemon basil. The steaks themselves are outstanding. Well seasoned, cooked to a perfect medium rare, and moist every time. The steak tartar is very good as well. I love the ambiance, love the food, and love the staff!

Great service! We didn’t have steaks but their fish. It was good as well. Great selection of wine.

Great service, excellent food and an overall very nice experience. Will definitely come back!

Entering the restaurant I was very excited to try a new steakhouse closer to home than Gibsons. The ambience is beautiful. However, I do not see a time when I will come back. I am hoping that this was just a fluke but we were shocked by the lack of customer appreciation and quality. This was my first visit and we decided to try this location for a celebratory lunch. Our server was very friendly and kind, however, we had to get up and ask the hostess to find him in order to place our order for lunch. My meal was wrong (chicken in place of a steak dish I order). Of course, by the time my lunch was prepared everyone was done and ready to leave and my meal was not worth the wait. A manger did not stop by once to ask how our experience was or apologize.
The best part of our meal was the side dishes (amazing truffle fries), however, I feel for the cost of this restaurant and other dining option in Burr Ridge, I do not see this as a place I would recommend or return to for dinner and drinks with guests.

This review is specifically for the service and food of the lounge area of Eddie Merlots.
For an appetizer my guest and I tried the Calamari. It was great! Not the best I’ve had but still pretty damn good. Super tender and not chewy at all; and it had the most interesting, almost tempura like batter that I have never experienced before with Calamari.
Wow what a Burger! I’ve had about a handful of world class burgers and this now ranks at #1 for me. This is no average burger, it is made with ground filet mignon/​ribeye so as you can see it is made with the absolute best ingredients. I ordered the Prime Burger with Bacon and cheddar cheese, and asked for it cooked medium. It came out just how i wanted it and the bun complimented the burger to perfection. Keep in mind this is a 14 $ burger but you definitely get what you pay for. Normally the Burger comes with a side of house made chips but my guest and I opted to add 2 $ for the Parmesan truffle fries. They were solid but nothing special; will probably just go with the chips next time that don’t cost extra. For something on the healthier side we tried the Asparagus. Honestly just tasted like boiled asparagus and had absolutely no seasoning on it from what i could tell. It wasn’t bad by any means but not worth the hefty price tag for just some veggies. We were absolutely stuffed so we passed on the dessert, but i got to admit the table side bananas foster looked very tempting, next time… next time
Now for the service… Our waiter was very knowledgeable about the restaurant and the food, which was very respectable, professionalism at its finest at this point. But throughout the whole meal he kept checking up on us a ridiculous amount of times and started making small talk/​talking about the food/​trying to get us to sign up for some Platinum Club that costs 25 $? I came here to have a relaxing evening and chat with my company but i’m serious that the waiter literally kept talking to us more than me and my guest got to talk to each other. If he could just take it down a notch it would have been great service but he was sooo over the top it was mind boggling. And he would not stop pestering us about signing up for the platinum club (the workers here must get some benefits if customers sign up for the club). It was like he was a car salesman it was ridiculous. It got to the point where he actually brought the manager over and once again both of them kept bothering us about signing up for this platinum club. I’m already spending alot of dough at your establishment and your going to keep bothering us about spending more money to sign up for some club!
Overall the food here is 5 stars and i will be back here without a doubt for a burger from time to time. But at the same time my evening was hampered by being constantly bothered by the wait staff trying to up-​sell us (making it very hard to talk/​enjoy the time with my company) i had to take the place down by one star. Please guys just tone it down a bit please

This restaurant is close to our house in Burr Ridge and we always come here for big family occasions (Easter, Christmas Eve, etc). When we really feel like having the best food, we will order carry out and enjoy their elegant meals at home. I think this place has outstanding entrees & salads/​soups as well as the banana foster dessert (which they prepare table-​side (see Pictures)). Only thing is, I would never be able to eat there on my own as it is pretty pricey $$. If my parents invite me to come, you know I will always say yes. Highly recommended.

Great place! Even though the prices are insanely high, the food and service are impeccable. I got the short ribs. They were tender and packed with amazing flavor. My boyfriend got the steak so I had to try a little and it was probably the best steak I have ever had in my life. We were there for a birthday and she ordered the bananas foster. The waitress actually cooked the bananas right in front of us. So if you are coming here, make sure to order that because not only is it tasty, but you get a show. In fact, the service at this place is so good, the manager walked around to make sure we were enjoying our visit. That is a mark of excellent service.
The ambiance was also very nice. They have a wine cellar display which gives the dining experience a very upscale and intimate feel. The chairs are extremely comfortable, which always makes dining pleasurable, and they have big enough tables to comfortably eat your food without feeling like you are going to knock something over. Overall, this place is definitely worth going to once, and while I probably won’t become a regular because of the cost, I will definitely pick this place for special occasions. Food being great is necessary, but the service makes you want to come back.

This is an expensive restaurant, so missed things are not appreciated. I was on a Monday (Birthday celebration), so it was very slow. However, since the prices were not less, we should not receive less quality service or food.
We ordered the escargot. It was perfect. The puff pastry on top was incredible, light and airy. It was perfect for sopping up the garlic butter. The gorgonzola in the dish was not heavy. You could taste it, but it melded with the butter and garlic so well. The escargot, was not whole snails. I had one that looked like a ½ inch by 1 inch piece of leather. It tasted perfect. I just never had sliced escargot. I’m guessing that Monday diners do not get the regular meal. Once again, we pay the same price.
I did not know what the difference was between a prime ribeye steak and a prime rib. Neither did our waitress. I ordered the red Simi, and did not know they had a white Simi. The waitress did not mention that and I got the white one.
I was not warned that the Bourbon sauce on the steak would cover the flavor of the steak. It was very think and spicy. I like the sauce, but I wanted to taste the meat. My wife’s steak without any sauce was delicious. The steaks were cooked perfectly. We had to ask for water and bread, and was already served our wine. and placed our appetizer and were eating our appetizers, so there was a lot of time that expired. The busboy (don’t like this word) went in the back to get our bread and came back out. He told us that they just put it in the oven so it would be fresh. Don’t you do that when someone sits down? The bread was also very good. Who ever makes their breads and pastry, really has a lot of passion.
The salted caramel cupcake had no salted caramel. It was a delicious devil’s food cupcake. The carrot cake was incredible. Every flavor shined. It clearly can feed four people.
The manager was very attentive and pleasant. Constantly removing our dirty plates and utensils and giving us fresh ones. Although, he missed the bread and water too.

This is a formula high end chain. The formula fortunately sets s high bar. They strive for excellence and probably make more mistakes than places not as bleeding edge. Rest assured any mistake is promptly corrected with an intent of perfection.
A fine restaurant is Eddie Merlot,
It is a place you must go.
You’ll really enjoy the steak,
And cocktails too for Christ sake.
Relaxed friendly service, not slow.

Came here for a birthday dinner. Everything was pretty great, my husband had the bourbon steak and fries and loved it all. I had the crab stuffed shrimp and it was pretty good along with lobster bisque which was probably the best I’ve had, large chunks of lobster. Filet mignon pot stickers were great and ahi tuna wontons are a must have app wherever we go, weren’t disappointed. Definitely have a lot more on the menu that I’d love to come back and try. As for the desserts, the cookies were hard as a rock. The bananas foster… made at your table and was amazing.

Was good, but for the price, the meal didn’t blow me away. Service was great, so at least 3 stars for that. Honestly I don’t know who they are kidding with some of those prices… this is the suburbs, not the city. I’ve paid less for a better piece of meat at Gibsons.

Great food, excellent service… stuffy without being stuffy… didn’t think it was possible until now. Granted a casual dinner with my family, which included my parents turned more pricey than we were thinking of spending, i am glad we did because the night was perfect. They have a children’s menu, but surprisingly my daughter seemed to be the youngest around. She was treated wonderfully. She was even checked on by other workers possibly the maitre d to make sure she ate her mac and cheese and was told she would get a surprise if she finished it. It was so nice to watch my daughter treated nicely at a pretty expensive restaurant. Meal breakdown:
Bread — great, had a nice almost garlicky seasoning to it
Appetizer
Sesame Calamari — so yummy and the sesame bowl is delightfully edible!
French Onion Soup — the only disappointing part of the night. It sounded so yummy with 5 types of onions, but it was kind of bitter. A little salt fixed it, but I didn’t want to have to add the salt.
Salads
Cesar — same old yummy Cesar that you can get anywhere, the croutons were really great though
Main courses
Double Pork Chop — HUGE! Keep in mind that I am pretty full at this point. I only ate about ¼ of it, but it was cooked to my liking, the BBQ sauce was tasty, not too sweet and the mashed potatoes were great.
Steak Dinners — Can’t really go into detail since I am not a red meat eater and didn’t try it, but my parents raved about it.
Pecan Crusted Trout — My hubby thought it was okay. I tried it and it wasn’t that spectacular. He’s a huge fan of pecans which is probably why he ordered it.
Dessert —
Red Velvet Cupcake — very good, and very homemade tasting which made it even better. Very moist and it came with a cup of milk. cute!
Crème brûlée — I am a sucker for this and will always order it. It was just as good and yummy as I expected it to be.
It was a pricey night, over $ 300 plus several glasses of wine and a few beers, but definitely worth it, especially since service was excellent and they weren’t snobby inside… especially since we weren’t really dressed as well as the other patrons. I didn’t realize how fancy this place was, but nonetheless, we were treated so nicely. Will be back!

After being spoiled at the Elite event I couldn’t wait to come back. We went during the week and kind of late. This is where having a really odd schedule comes in handy. The restaurant was obviously winding down for the night and all I could think about is driving copious amounts of steak and sweet potato casserole into my mouth.
I ordered the Bourbon Ribeye medium rare and my wife ordered a salad with the sweet potato casserole. My steak came out cooked to perfection. The flavor and quality of the steak was impressive. I ordered one additional bacon wrapped BBQ shrimp to accompany my steak. How could you go wrong with such a glorious combination?
I did have a couple of bites of my wife’s salad which was also excellent. The sweet potato casserole was amazing! There is a thin layer of chopped pecans protecting the sweet and savory orange deliciousness hiding just below. This things is basically a dessert that could go with any meal at any time. We struggled to save some to enjoy at home.
Our server was friendly, helpful, and was just the right amount of accessible for us throughout the dinner.
Our experience at Eddie Merlots was extremely good. The food, service, and atmosphere are very unique. I would definitely recommend it and will definitely be thinking of bringing out of town visitors here.

I’ve started this review three times now, and each time I’ve hated what I’ve written because I don’t think it’s lived up to the standard that Eddie Merlot’s provided to me last night. So I’m going to try this once more and hopefully I can convey the love I now feel for this restaurant.
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Once upon a time in the kingdom of Willow Springs, a married couple got hungry. Too lazy to cook their own food, they turned to Unilocal bookmarks to help decide on a place for dinner (because it would seem they couldn’t possibly decide on a place that WASN’T already bookmarked).
«Everything is the city is too far,» one complained.
«I don’t feel like pizza,» the other grouched.
«The place I really want to go closes in ten minutes.»
«I don’t want junk. I might as well just cook something.»
«No, wait,» the husband said, finally coming to a conclusion. «I have it. Let’s go to Eddie Merlot’s.»
«On a week night? I’m going to have to get dressed up.»
«No, the lounge area has a really nice looking menu.» He knew this from looking online. «But you might want to… y’know, put on pants.»
So with pants on, the couple hopped in their chariot (okay, it was an SUV) and headed the few miles down the road to Eddie Merlot’s…yes, on a week night.
When the couple arrived, they noticed a cute outdoor area with umbrella covered tables. Nice ones, not the type that advertise beer. But nobody was sitting there. It had been rather hot, but the sun was setting and the temperature was dropping faster than the wife’s pants had when she arrived home.
So bypassing the entire inside of the restaurant, or lounge area, they were seated in the cozy patio area, comfortably watching the sway of the trees and feeling the late summer breeze as the sun set in the west.
Jim was their server for the evening, and he was training two other future servers. He was kind, attentive and gave helpful suggestions.
The couple ordered the meatloaf sliders, the escargot and the filet mignon potstickers (what?!).
Potstickers: Absolutely stuffed with tender, melt-​in-​your mouth, buttery beef. Cooked medium rare and perfect.
Escargot Bourguignon:
Not overcooked and rubbery at all. Perfect. Loved the flavor and the mushrooms complemented them nicely. Came with little puff pastries atop each one. Delicious.
Meatloaf Sliders:
Lovely beef. Kicky jalapeño pesto, and crispy onion straws.
The husband also ordered a martini, because, well, yum. And it was made with the good stuff. None of that bathtub gasoline swill they serve at lesser establishments (you know who you are).
Fully satisfied with their choices, and full, but not too full, the couple happily perused the dessert menu. Being a steamy summer’s night, everything seemed a bit heavy. And the husband was feeling particularly warm from the top notch alcohol in his martini. (Again, yum!)
When their eyes landed upon «Eddie’s Mixed Berries» the couple was sold. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries on vanilla ice cream? Oh yes. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Jim, the fantastic server, wheeled a black clothed cart out to the couple’s table, and atop it sat a small burner, skillet and several dishes full of all things wonderful. He set to work making magic, melting butter and brown sugar, warming berries and mixing Bacardi Oakheart and raspberry liqueur, setting it aflame before delicately spooning it over two bowls of vanilla ice cream.
Their hearts could have stopped after the first bite, and they would have died happy. This concoction was the most magically delicious combination since (and before) Lucky Charms. Everything worked so well together and the taste was simply incredible. The husband’s mouth waters even now thinking back to the wonderful dessert.
And they lived happily ever after.
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If I had half a complaint, it would be that Jim was a touch slower in returning to our table than I would’ve liked. Perhaps he had many tables to serve inside in addition to ours, but I felt like we waited longer for things than we should have. Maybe it’s because it was a week night and I wasn’t really up for a leisurely dinner. I kind of wanted things faster. I considered giving only 4 stars due to that, but then I tasted the dessert and I wished I could give 6 stars. It was THAT. GOOD.
Prices at Eddie Merlot’s are a bit steep. But we pretty much decided that this will be our special occasion restaurant from now on, and we look forward to returning and having a full meal instead of just the appetizers and desserts.
See you soon, Jim! (and Eddie)