Restaurants in Lombard

Since 1980, Golden Wok Restaurant's chefs have used zero-trans-fat vegetable oils while preparing spice-filled Cantonese and Mandarin cuisine. At dinner, the restaurant's tables fill with dishes of sizzling barbecue pork egg foo young, chow mein and lo mein, and Cantonese–style lobster tails.

In 1976, an empty Elmhurst storefront became the conduit for chef Angelo Battaglia’s culinary dreams when he founded Two Brothers from Italy Ristorante & Pizzeria with his wife, Rosalia. Now grown to four times its original size, the restaurant still serves up Angelo’s original recipes, prepared under the guidance of the Battaglias' daughter, Joanne. The voluminous menu swaps between pizzas peppered with 29 different toppings and pastas served with your choice of 10 noodles and eight sauces. Waiters ferry each plate beneath rounded archways into a dining room whose white tablecloths and floral accents radiate refinement. Private party specials, including a seven-course family-style meal, feed clusters of 25 or more without the need to pry off an asteroid-sized chunk of the moon's cheese.

Mécénat Bistro and Gathering Place's menu is stocked full of seasonal American specialties. Guests can pair truffle fries, marinated skirt steak, or creamy crab and lobster risotto with one of 70 varietals on the bistro’s wine list. Domestic craft beers also span the menu, accentuating flavors in seasonal specialties such as the pan-seared duck breast with braised red cabbage or the sautéed potato gnocchi with organic mushrooms.

Much of the artwork at Zaza's has no color. Black-and-white photographs dapple the walls—everything from Rat Pack portraits to Ansel Adams landscapes, the monochromatic tones offsetting the surrounding gold paint and wood accents. These pictures lend sophistication to the dining room, but they also provide a counterbalance to the vibrancy of the food—a mix of northern Italian recipes that feature pasta, meats, seafood, and thin-crust pizzas.

Like an overambitious werewolf, the menu changes weekly, cycling through dishes such as housemade crab-stuffed gnocchi and signature plates of bone-in rib eye. An appetizer of a whole baked artichoke might lead into succulent bites of veal tenderloin, or perhaps helpings of jumbo shrimp wrapped in the linguine of the scampi broccoli olio. Daily specials add yet another element of unpredictability to the restaurant, though catering and party platters remain planned in advance.

In Chicago’s Home of Chicken & Waffles' Oak Park location, the ambient light from low-hanging chandeliers illuminates a menu of 14 specialty waffles, 22 Cajun- and Southern-inspired entrees, and hearty portions of soul food. Trinidad-born chef Carolyn Johnson has crafted a smorgasbord of time-honored dishes with a modern twist unforeseen by Chubby Checker. Entrees, which can be paired with BYOB sips from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday–Thursday, and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, include traditional chicken and waffles, catfish dinners with collard greens, and fried chicken gizzards. The swanky restaurant hosts jazz bands Thursday–Saturday, and lavishes its customers with-exposed brick walls, high-backed booths, hyperchic décor, and spontaneous baths of sweet tea.

Illuminated by a roaring fireplace or the outdoor patio's twinkling fairy lights, patrons thwart thirst and dig into a full menu crafted from scratch. Though brews flow from 15 taps and over 50 bottles, the bar and restaurant also lavishes focused attention on its cuisine. Chefs toss pizza dough by hand, and personally shake hands with every Irish and American entree they send to tables. Celebrants drawn to the spacious party rooms upstairs wet whistles with special party packages.