After spending a long day in a photoshoot in Downer’s Grove, I decided to find a place for a quick dinner before the long drive home. OpenTable has an app for that, and after a quick search, I decided that I would try Talley’s Kitchen and Bar in nearby Clarendon Hills.
Talley’s is the creation of Krista Talley, who wanted to create a neighborhood place for families and friends to meet for a drink or for dinner. If my one experience is typical, she has succeeded. The restaurant was warm and cozy on a cold Wednesday night in January. It was early on a weeknight, but there were already several tables filled when I came in and a steady stream of people would follow. It’s a small place, so getting a reservation on Saturday night might require some planning.
The staff was very pleasant. My waiter took some time to welcome me, point out a few special things on the menu, and take my drink order, which was a Knob Creek Bourbon Old Fashioned.
Good cocktail. Regular reader’s know I have my standards in this area. The bar was not huge, but appeared to be well stocked. Knob Creek Bourbon (or Rye) is a reliable call for a cocktail and it is commonly available. The orange slice was used as a garnish and not muddled to make a mess in the drink. A classic cocktail done well.
I hadn’t had lunch and was really hungry. That makes it easy to order more than you need, which I did. I could easily have split the meal with Valeria and we would both have had plenty to eat, but I was alone so it was all up to me.
I started with an order of Buffalo Shrimp.
If you like spicy food at all, it’s hard not to like Buffalo Wings. Hot sauce, butter, and crispy wings—it may have been created out of necessity but it is a sheer genius recipe.
It didn’t take long for people to realize that buffalo sauce was good used lots of ways. On sandwiches, on “boneless wings” (boneless breast or—even better—boneless thigh pieces), and, of course, crispy fried shrimp. I think these were pretty close to perfect. Maybe the breading could have been a little lighter, but the shrimp were large and fried just right. The sauce was plenty hot, but not the melt-your-tonsils hot that some places go for. There was a nice amount of blue cheese, which is a critical component for me. The sprinkling of chopped herb (basil, I think) topped it off nicely. I enjoyed these thoroughly.
There were several items on the menu that caught my eye for the main course. These included an interesting meatloaf and a pork chop dish that looked like old-fashioned family recipes. Then there was the burger. I asked the waiter for his advice on the things that I was considering and he said simply “the burger is the best in town.” You usually don’t have to twist my arm for a burger, so that’s what I ordered.
Since this is the only burger I’ve ever had in Clarendon Hills, I have no idea if it was “the best in town.” I do know it was a damn good burger. The meat was ground in-house and sized perfectly for the bun. It had a good sear on the outside, but was still a little pink and juicy on the inside. The caramelized onions under the melted white cheddar added a touch of sweetness. The lettuce was crunchy and fresh. Somehow they managed to find a ripe, sweet tomato in the midwest in January. The house made pickles were tart and crunchy. The waiter earned his tip just on this recommendation.
Oh, and the fries were great: crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and salted just right. I’ve eaten in plenty of high-end steak houses that didn’t make fries this good.
If I were a stronger-willed man, I could easily have quit after the shrimp and called it a meal. Certainly after the burger I had more than satisfied my hunger. Then I made the mistake of looking at the dessert menu. I could not say no to Bananas Foster Style Croissant Bread Pudding.
Oh, my. Another easily sharable dish that I did not share. The brown sugar, the cinnamon, the bananas, and the croissants just melted together in my mouth. Clearly I had consumed three days of calories, but they were delicious calories.
I don’t often find myself in the area around Clarendon Hills, but if I ever find myself there again at dinner time, I know where I’m going.
Talley’s Kitchen & Bar
Address: 31 S Prospect Clarendon Hills, IL 60514
Phone: (630) 908-7295
Reservations: opentable.com
Website: https://www.talleyskitchenbar.com
Dress Code: Casual
Price Range: $30 and under
Hours: Dinner: Tuesday-Saturday: 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Sunday: 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Credit Cards: AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Clarendon Hills, IL 60514
The author has no affiliation with any of the businesses or products described in this article.
All images were taken with an Apple iPhoneX using ambient light. Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom® and Adobe Photoshop® with Nik/Google plugins.
