DEKA Restaurant

This establishment has potential but needs lots of improvement at this price point. Server was very courteous but extremely slow and inattentive to detail. Food was not hot, which again suggests a service issue rather than a culinary problem. Portion sizes were disappointing for the price. Was really expecting A LOT more based on other reviews.

Wonderful food here. we love the duck breast! The mixed rice is awesome with cranberry. Very healthy and delicious! Will definitely come back!

I took a first date to DEKA last Saturday night and was blown away!
Not only was the food and service were amazing, but there was also great LIVE jazz!
I will be back very soon!

One word — AMAZING. Went to Deka for a big party over the weekend, and had the best experience. Everything from food to service to décor was top notch. I worked directly with the owner, Alex, to coordinate the evening, and he could not have been more helpful. Walked me through all the details, helped customize the menu, and made recommendations so that my guests would be most comfortable. I pre-​ordered a lot of appetizers which were all delicious. The ones that truly stood out were the tartares — which were so silky and luscious on the palate, and the escargot — stuffed inside a potato, which really elevated their decadence. All entrees were ordered on the spot, and the chef did a phenomenal job ensuring that all 30 different plates came out at the same time and at the right temperature.
Now, about service — I cannot remember the last time in any restaurants, where a waiter and other staff have been as attentive as Brian and his team were that night. As I’ve mentioned, our party of 30 people was pretty demanding, and Brian was so on point. He was fast, courteous, upbeat, and made everyone feel like they were his number one priority.
Last but not least, the décor is so pretty! The ambiance and lighting were just perfect — very warm and inviting, not a hint of pretentious stuffiness that often plagues gourmet restaurants. Highly recommend checking out this place!

Wonderful addition to the area. A french restaurant with excellent service, delicious quality and nice size portions. We started with drinks and the escargot. The only trip up of the meal was my wife’s martini, but they fixed it quickly without a fuss. The escargot was excellent! Next, I had the soup du jour and loved every drop. For the Main courses, we had the beef medallions and the filet on the lava stone. I have had steak on a hot stone many times in Europe, and this steak was just as good. One of the most tender filets I’ve ever had. The only thing I like better in Europe is that they give three options to season the steak instead of two. A minor detail. Finally for desert, we had the recommended chocolate mousse. Three wonderful layers of chocolate and cream… delicious. Also to note, they did a great job of updating the space from the former pizza restaurant. We look forward to returning to try more things on the menu.

Holy mother of restaurants! This brasserie is one of the best restaurants I have gone to in the Chicago and Suburban surroundings. From the moment you walk in you are greeted by their super friendly hostess Julia to the excelent service provided by their bartender Sasha. For such an amazingly high class restaurant you feel at home and well taken care of. A real casual atmosphere. The food is spectacular, I had the lava rock steak, which was delicious and fun! I mean… who on earth serves you a full 10oz steak on a flaming hot piece of iron so you can cook it yourself?! Besides being fun, it was one of the best pieces of meat I have ever tasted. My girlfriend had the Branzino and was speechless as to its presentation and flavor. Both of us chose different sides, the mashed potatoes are a classic done right, and their wild rice is to die for.
Sasha, the head bartender, does a great job of guiding you through their amazing selection of vodka and vodka based drinks. I don’t even remember what I had, each one was delicious and superbly mixed.
An amazing night overall and honestly the prices aren’t that bad for the amazing quality of food and service. They do it right over there for sure. I’ll def be back!

This restaurant is a hidden gem. I vaguely remember this restaurant as an Eduardo’s pizza, and love the transformation. The ambiance is pleasant but not pretentious, and great background music (Smooth Operator, anyone?) The service was excellent — Adam was knowledgeable, courteous, and came by at the right times. Even other staff members came by at times too. The borscht, petite salad, cassoulet, and chicken verde were all delicious. I had the Politician to drink, and it was perfect.

Everything from the ambiance, to the stellar service and each morsel of food was exceptional.
My boyfriend and I had our New Years Eve dinner at DEKA, first time customers. From the vast selection of Vodka, to their other alcohol offerings, choosing was challenging. Our fabulous waiter guided us exceptionally.
We both ordered salads and entrees. The dressings were homemade, and we could literally taste every herb, all blended deliciously.
The Prime Fillet was like butter in my mouth, and my boyfriend’s rack of lamb was a bit of tasteful heaven.
We will definitely be back to celebrate another lovely occasion.

I had to privilege to dine twice at Deka during my business trip last week. If you’re looking for a quick bite the bar area is great for a drink (especially their extended vodka list — must try!) and a bite. Otherwise for a nice dining experience — the actual restaurant serves well — Great ambiance, friendly staff, good music and beautiful art on the walls.
Most importantly the food is delicious and prices are fair to low. The First night I had the sea bass with the seasonal veggies and wine {$ 42) and the second night the cast iron seared prawn (recommend!) with tea and water {$ 35}.
Lastly the owner takes pride in his restaurant by stopping by the tables and ensuring his guests are having a great experience. No matter if you’re looking for a good French/​American dinner, anniversary /​celebration or business dinner this is the place to be.
I will be back in 2016!

Had dinner here. The presentation of the food and service was excellent. However, the taste of the food was just so-​so. It wasn’t the best food I’ve had but also not the worse.
For appetizer ordered the roasted helix escargot. The puff pastry was good and the sauce was nice a light. The escargot were bland. This dish needed a little more salt and sauce. Also the fried noodles on top were a little stale.
Main course, had the bacon wrapped turkey tenderloin and sugarcane scallops. The scallops even though the presentation was so pretty was disappointing. It was not fresh and again like the escargots really bland. It was as if the chef forgot to salt the dish. The taste was not even throughout the dish. Some of the scallops tasted ok while others had this weird not so fresh aftertaste. The turkey tenderloin was definitely more edible. That was the best dish I had all night. It was very flavorful and the bacon was a nice touch.
Dessert was double chocolate gelato. I’m not sure if they make their gelato in house or not. If you really love chocolate and sweetness then this is the dessert for you. However, I found it too overwhelming in sugar.
Overall, this place provided a pleasant dining experience. The presentation of the food was beautiful. The flavor of the food is another story. Decent place but I probably will not return since there are better places to eat with a better flavor profile in the area.

The food there is good. Expect to spend around $ 50 for dinner, more if you are drinking. I don’t see any point in having several dozens of different vodkas, being an experienced vodka drinker and having tried them (almost) all — vodka is vodka, it’s hard to tell the difference unless it’s obviously bad or you are lugging a mass-​spectrometer.
Lamb chops were small and well prepared, mashed potato unexciting. It’s true that snails are different here and I see it as a welcome change from the «standard way» of preparing them. The foie gras was slightly overcooked and overpowered by accompanying sauce, kind of hard to taste if it was a fatty goose or just a chicken liver. Could be pork as well.
Typical French menu was supplemented by chicken Kiev and Tabaka, and also over the top expensive caviar — for that amount of money you can drive to Mississippi river and fish it out yourself. Overall feel is of French brasserie oriented toward the Russian crowd of the neighborhood. You can basically get the same things anywhere in Paris plus the airfare, i.e., it is good but nothing special for the price charged.

I was really excited to check this place out because I am Russian and would love to have a nice walk-​in/​non-​fancy Russian restaurant in the suburbs. Overall my group was left w/​much to be desired
Décor: inside of the restaurant is really nicely done and fancy. The bar has nice blue uplighting. The outside does not match the ‘class’ of the indoors. They used generally cheap tables and chairs that are old fashioned. The awning was so generic — something you use on the side of your house — was striped white and pink. The patio is big and somewhat hidden by some trees. The lights on the awning were so odd and connected by a spiraling cord. The light bulbs used attracted a TON of bugs and mosquitos. As we sat there, we were also visited by a giant frog from the neighboring forest preserve! A totally wild and outdoorsy experience!
Menu: the menu is fancy however half of items featured on their Unilocal profile are NOT available on the menu (probably options for a private event) SAD!!! as we tried to order by showing pictures from Unilocal.I wish there were more Russian food staples featured on the regular menu that are available for private e parties (potatoes and mushrooms)
My girlfriends and i got 3 appetizers and we were disappointed. We started with the steak tartare which was pretty good. A bit too filling on the portion size. However our next 2 appetizers came WITH THE SAME bread that the steak tartare did! We got Bruschetta (same bread) which was stacked with tomatoes, red onion, and not much of anything else. The Charcuteri & Fromage plate that we got (same bread) was just okay too.
We ended up NOT getting any entrees just because we were over it.
Drinks: aside from getting the dirty martini spelled on a purse, the other drinks were actually very tasty. The funny thing is that the drink menu is longer than the entire food menu. Just the Vodka menu is an entire page (the food menu is 1 page long.
The pictures on Unilocal look awesome and i would hope that the entrees themselves are pretty awesome but I am not sure if i would return :(

To be completely honest, I don’t like Vodka. Also, I can’t really say I know what Russian cuisine consists of. But no matter what country of origin, the food here is delicious.
The pâté is extraordinary: smooth like butter but full of flavor. The pâté is also accompanied by so many extra sauces and condiments that compliment the pâté beautifully.
I honestly forget what main dishes I had but they were cooked perfectly and although they may have been slightly over-​salted, I’ll take that over under-​seasoned any day.
The location of the restaurant may make it difficult to find but once you do, you’ll appreciate the gem you’ve found.

We enjoyed the evening of jazz and great food. Everything we tried was delicious. Great atmosphere and very attentive staff.

Wow, what a pleasant experience.
I was in town and hungry so I decided to give Deka a try, im glad I did, the place looks great and it has a very nice bar, and a very cosy dining room but I opted to sit at the bar, Sasha made the best long Island ever for me, menu has a lot of interesting options, they all looked good but I decided to order the filet mignon, it came out perfectly cooked, lot of flavor and the presentation was great. Dessert was amazing I had the napoleon cake with passion fruit cream over all this was a great experience, please give Deka a try you won’t regret it.

My original expectations: «Great another Russian restaurant, all lit up in purple, let me guess Vodka on the table and a dorky band singing Russian songs from the 90’s“Do I have to wear a dress and heals? Does my husband need to wear a suit jacket?
The reality: Yes it is lit up in purple, and yes it is very nice inside. No vodka on the table, there is a full bar with delicious made to order cocktails, no Russian 90’s music, and the dress code is casual (I mean I wouldn’t wear yoga pants or sweats).
The food– pretty gosh darn good. There are some «typical» Russian dishes like pelmeni, borsch, vareniki. But for a Russian like myself, if I want to eat that I can go to my mom’s house. The French style cuisine is what hit the spot here. And we didn’t go light on it either. We got the frog legs (delicious), the escargo (yum), the sea bass, the steak, the veal and the lamb were some of the items our group ordered. I personally had the sea bass and it was delicious. The desserts were also fancy and yummy, especially the crem brule.
The service — amazing. Our server was knowledgable, and he did a fantastic job all around.
Where I took of a star: They ran out of oysters by 8pm (ok its Valentines day, I get it.), they also ran out of borsch, and a few other items on the menu. According to our waiter it was the busiest night they’ve had so far. The private room we were in was FREEZING! like I want to wear gloves and a coat freezing (Ok it was a freezing day, but people get some heat up in there), the main dining area didn’t seem so cold. And we thought it was a bit pricey for the suburbs… I mean I get it, we are eating more exotic foods, but the prices were up there.
We will probably come back for a special occasion, and I heard their lunch menu is pretty good as well, so that would be interesting to try.

Would highly recommend this place. Everything from the appetizers to dessert was excellent!
We started with the bruschetta & poached shrimp. Both dishes had their own distinct favor and wonderful presentation. For entrees my wife had the sea bass & i had the lamb special. The sea bass was cooked with garlic. The combo paired well together. The lamb shank was served with a lingonberry sauce. Both dishes were outstanding! For dessert we had the crème brulee & passionfruit parfait which were wonderful.
Jake was our waiter. He made great recommendations, didn’t rush us, but was still very attentive.
Did I mention? They have the best vodka selection in the NW burbs. The owner was nice enough to give us a crafte of house infuse horseradish vodka. The selection was far ranging & tasteful.
Highly recommend this place.

Omg am i wowed by this place — wait NO this place is horrible — don’t come here — we dont want it to fill up for us.
Every single item we ate was fabulous. The fillet, the salad, the caviar, the vodka.
However, I have to challenge the owner to caviar vodka contest — i saw his profile picture LOl.
Owner– here is my challange… When you get in a pound of that american black caviar lets have a caviar vodka contest between you and I. A
spoonful of caviar and a shot of purity until one of us cries «Uncle» or passes out.

First off, it is not a normal casual restaurant, the place looks like really FINE-​DINING, it is brand new — just a couple of weeks old. I thought the décor and the service is as professional as it gets. The staff is really friendly and were very patient with me and the questions I had. The restaurant here says French/​Russian, so I asked the staff if it was authentic or a modern version, they replied it a modern version of French/​Russian restaurant. The owner had come by later and he told us that it was a modern French restaurant, with a very French take of russian food, which I thought was a good gesture, because he went around and asked each table about the food and service.
This is the first time, I have had russian food, so I was not sure what to expect. So, for appetizers we had the Farmer’s cheese en croute — French pastry with cheese filling and wild-​berries and syrup on top. It was pretty good, lot more of cheese than what I expected (sweet dish). Interestingly, the owner revealed that they might be putting other kinds of cheese in the future. Then we had the classic (hot) borscht which is a soup made out of Beets (beetroot) and cabbage, that was delicious, it was pretty good to share (wasn’t as small as I expected frankly).
We had the classic Chicken Kiev, which had chicken stuffed with herbs and the crunchy potato bits at the bottom were delicious (classic russian dish I was told by staff), one plate is probably good for a person, we ordered two, since there was 3 of us, one with a side of garlic mashed potato and other with fried cauliflower — nothing fancy in the sides, but it completes the wholesome meal. My friend had a Sparkling cocktail, her comments was that it was good too.
We finished off our meal with a tiramisu and crème-​brulee, both were extremely good, the crème-​brulee was not eggy at all, was smooth and had a right amount of crisp top, it was decent quantity for the price and Tiramisu tasted pretty authentic, so that was good. Funny that they don’t have a dessert menu, not sure if that is INTENTIONAL or not. The only thing, the place is a bit PRICY, but I think it is quite acceptable considering the ambience and quality of food they delivered. I can definitely see them expanding and being really successful in the future. :)

Took my parents out here on Sunday night, knew I was going to write a review even before our lavish deserts came. Amazing!
The Soup:
French onion, generous portion of the most orgasmic version of this delicacy. Could have stopped there but had to see what else this chef can do.
The Appetizers:
We had the Farmers Cheese En Croute, The Study of Foie Gras and the Smoked Salmon and Herring. The Farmers Cheese En Croute had this amazing cherry/​berry reduction which went perfectly with the farmers cheese in a flaky pastry, highly recommend it! The Foie Gras was amazing, the figs, the shrooms, really one of the best preparations I have ever had! I almost wanted to drink the fat out out of the individual cast iron skillets, simply fantastic!
The Mains:
The Chilean Sea Bass was super moist and flaky. What ever they bake it in, the sauce I mean, really made it unique. My dad had the Rack Of Lamb, amazing! Poor guy lost a chop to my mom and I :) Same went for my mom’s Poussin Chicken (How they made something as simple as chicken so orgasmic I do not know but the barely left the bones in tact. Perfectly cooked, individual size chicken with the most delicious crispy skin!
The Deserts:
Presentation, taste, stick a fork in me, I am done! Really great classic deserts, not overly sweet, perfect ending to an amazing meal!
The Service:
Top notch! Ben was our waiter, super attentive, my mom dropped her napkin, he rushed across from the kitchen to bring her another one. Not intrusive, new dishes came with every course and glasses were never empty. Knowledgeable, friendly and attentive. Leave him a nice tip people :)
In conclusion, this restaurant belongs on Randolph St. in the city. The atmosphere was great, the food was amazing and the service made the entire experience. Will definitely return!