Restaurants in Goodings Grove

Each meal at Walker's Charhouse is an artistic process. Chefs cut every piece of meat fresh by hand each day before lowering it onto the broiler or the grill. They specialize in fresh USDA-choice angus steaks, but their refrigerators also brim with Lake Superior whitefish and Atlantic salmon, ribs, and pork chops. Near that crowded ice chest, they prepare each sauce, dressing, soup, and dessert with care.

Following the dishes into the small dining room, one stands beneath walls chronicling the charming history of Naperville, including Christmas 1957 when the town got its first puppy. When not preparing burgers, steaks, and seafood, the staff of Walker's Charhouse has found time to support local churches and schools and partnered with other businesses in 2010 to send aid to victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

Owner Dominic Barraco has been flipping pies and crafting Italian cuisine alongside his family for more than 30 years. Today he relies on culinary traditions passed down by his grandparents as well as modern techniques to populate a carry-out and delivery menu with thin-crust, deep-dish, Sicilian-style, and stuffed pizzas as well as more than 15 sandwiches, such as the fillet of fish. His pasta dishes include classics such as lasagna and gnocchi, and ribs, wings, and roasted chicken round out the hearty edibles.

Dance music pulsates through Red Velvet Lounge as party-goers indulge in late-night eats and specialty bar drinks amid a spacious nightclub. Bartenders pours out beverages from a fully stocked bar as guest saunter to the hardwood dance floor illuminated by the sporadic flickers of a colorful lights. Themed parties for Halloween and New Year’s Eve add variety to weekends, and Friday and Saturday nights introduce crowds to special-guest DJs and their finger-puppet entourages. Bites from the Lounge’s Italian-inspired menu fuel evening adventurers, with options including gorgonzola chips, Sicilian tilapia, and lemon-mascarpone torte.

The Chicago Tribune highlighted La Notte Due as one of the top places for takeout in Darien, particularly for its "pillowy and light" gnocchi with spicy arrabbiata sauce and spaghetti Bolognese. The Italian eatery is also a welcoming spot to visit in order to enjoy the homemade pastas and other Italian specialties, such as veal piccata, fresh from the oven. Couples can enjoy a romantic meal paired with a bottle of wine from Tuscany or Chile, and families can dine together at a long row of tables to celebrate the end of their generations-long feud with the McCoys.

The beats of lean cuts of meat sizzling on the grill and ladles clanking against trays of zesty vegetables fill Qdoba Mexican Grill during construction of made-to-order Mexican fare. As healthy-eating devotees, Qdoba's staff stocks its kitchen with nutritious ingredients, seasonal flavors, and 100% cotton candy–free tortillas.

When he lived on the South Side of Chicago, James “Jimbo” Mandra had his pick of pizza joints––until tragedy struck. His family relocated to the burbs, suddenly leaving James deprived of the quality thin-crust slices he’d enjoyed all his life. Never one to turn down a challenge, he rolled up his sleeves and began baking his own pies. From that endeavor came a line of pizzas that fit his passionate standards as well as his original creation, the Lemontster: a 19-inch pizza that claims to be the biggest available in Lemont. Today, Jimbo’s cartoon likeness stands as a proud emblem on the tomato-hued walls of his own pizzeria, which recently added a full dining room. Natural light pours through large front windows as thin- and thick-crust pizzas arrive laden with pepperoni, spinach, and spicy hot giardiniera. After finishing off one of Jimbo’s beef pockets, diners may also surprise a date with a Chicago-style hot dog or impress the kitchen staff by getting the pizza oven to play fetch.