Kelly the Culinarian: Restaurant Reviews: Dillinger's and the Cookie Bar

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Restaurant Reviews: Dillinger's and the Cookie Bar

After the Karhu 5K, Tim and I decided to spend the day downtown. We headed to Lincoln Park, where my sister is moving to shortly.  I love the zoo there and wanted to swing by.

We were unfamiliar with the area, so I brought up Groupon Now and my phone and purchased a $14 voucher for Dillinger's for $9.
Inside Dillinger's

Tim's burger
It's a classically styled neighborhood bar that serves a huge array of theme drinks and pub food. It wasn't that busy, but there was only one guy working the bar and taking orders, so it took a long time. I got a veggie sandwich and Tim ordered the Dillinger burger. He said his burger was awesome, but undercooked. My sandwich was fine, nothing special, but the fries were breathtakingly amazing. The fries are steak cut and must be fried twice, the second time frying longer than normal. The result is thick, yet crispy fries in an intriguingly dark color. I ate all of mine and most of Tim's fries. Yum ...

Veggie sandwich

Cookies FTW!
My only gripe about this place is that they wouldn't accept the Groupon Now, instead giving us a discount on our bill that paled in comparison to the value of the Groupon. I suspect the owner wanted the foot traffic from Groupon Now, but doesn't want to give the actual discount or give Groupon its cut. The waiter didn't tell me he wouldn't take the Groupon until after the meal, after I had showed him and after the bill arrived. I found it shady, so I won't be going back ... unless those fries call my name again.

After walking around in the baking sun for a long time, we went to a place I've been meaning to hit up for months: Cookie Bar. I saw it on Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel and decided I must eat it at some point. We were ready for something decadent, so we opted for the ice cream sandwich made with two cookies and our choice of ice cream. We chose a snickerdoodle cookie and nutella chocolate chip cookie with peanut butter cup ice cream to share.

Verdict: Good, but not mind blowing. I think my chocolate chip cookie recipe is just as good. And Tim makes homemade ice cream that I pair with the cookies for the same effect. I'll save my pennies and make it myself.

4 comments:

Erin said...

That is shady of the restaurant!! Did you contact Groupon to let them know what happened?

KellytheCulinarian said...

I haven't yet, but I'm planning on doing so tomorrow.

Kim said...

LOL, I had the same question as Erin. That is totally lame.

Ughghghgh I love french fries. Those sound amazing!

KellytheCulinarian said...

I talked to Groupon today and got my money back. They also said it sounds super shady, so I don't know if they'll be following up or what.