Restaurants in Naperville

At Raffi's on 5th, chef Silverio Rodriguez alchemizes the cuisines of France, Italy, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries into a one-of-a-kind menu. A chandelier illuminates the exposed-brick walls and Middle Eastern rugs that feed eyes, while fork tines dive into steak, pasta, and seafood dishes. By marrying the cuisines of different cultures, chef Silverio paves the way for unique food pairings—meals may travel from an appetizer of goat-cheese fondue to an entree of lamb kebabs or a daily rotating pasta entree complemented by a sprawling wine list and periodic passport checks. The restaurant also presents catering options for feeding up to 500 people.

There must have been considerable coordination between the head chef and interior decorator at Montri Thai; the walls vary in color from red and green to lemon yellow––a fitting homage to the kitchen's use of red, green, and yellow curries in its traditional Thai recipes. Artistic plating of braided noodles garnished with wisps of green chives parallels the dining room's floral bouquets, and intricate sauce designs succeed in making the plates hungry for themselves. A full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and blue neon lights illuminate the bright ginger and orange notes in beef, chicken, and tofu dishes. An elephant motif drives the sophisticated Eastern vibe home with bronze statues, framed photographs, and loud stomps resonating from the peanut room.

Offering a menu of inventive American cuisine with seasonal ingredients, SugarToad's kitchen at the Hotel Arista excels at bold flavors. The chef sources the freshest ingredients possible, including produce plucked from his own Chef’s Garden right outside the door. The rotating menu changes to match the calendar, with past entrees including pork tenderloin with dried-apricot chutney, sweet-potato mash, and napa cabbage, and Slagel Family Farm beef burgers with sun-dried-tomato relish. Between bites of tot-sized brunch boxes with fresh fruit and housemade twinkies, children may sip milk flights of chocolate, strawberry, and banana flavors while caregivers sample cucumber-cantaloupe mimosas, french-press coffee, and the sweet, fleeting silence of a tear-free breakfast.

Fresh off a stint within the high-pressure confines of Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen, chef Patrick Cassata came back to his first love: The Bank Restaurant, which he helped found in 2007. Drawing ingredients from local farms including Triple S Farms Illinois Beef and Piper City's T&J Free Range Poultry, he now crafts a new menu filled with specialties ranging from center-cut pork chops to thick burgers bracketed by soft brioche buns. Steaks arrive unadorned or tenderly rubbed with the restaurant's precise blend of spices, and seafood including Hawaiian style arctic char and Dungeness crab fritters play well with their respective glazes and dipping sauces.

While the kitchen fills with culinary innovation that earned the restaurant the 2012 and 2013 Gamon Award for Restaurant of the Year, the dining room and surroundings exude vibes of timeless history. Built in 1875 to house the Gary Wheaton Bank, the building counts among its roster of notable visitors people such as football great Red Grange, journalism tycoon Colonel Robert R. McCormick, and the pink hippo from Hungry, Hungry Hippos.

Veteran chefs prepare Stir Crazy’s Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese dishes on sizzling woks right in the dining room. So while diners-to-be ponder the menu of more than 50 traditional and innovative Asian creations, they'll witness knives quartering veggies and flames lapping at the edges of the wok as the sights, smells and sounds of the kitchen come alive around them. Should your taste buds riot at the sight of all this mouth-watering action, satisfy them with an appetizer like the Ahi tuna and avocado poke ($9), a spicy stack of fresh fish and cool veggies. For main courses, choose from an array of entrees like the sweet and sour chicken, a dish featuring tender pieces of crispy chicken tossed with broccoli, red and green peppers, onions, carrots, and pineapple in a sweet and tangy sauce ($12.75). Or manage your intake with the Crazy Feature menu, which offers smaller-in-portion but towering-in-flavor classics like Mongolian beef or sesame chicken, served with a crispy veggie spring roll (all $8.88).

Odyssey Greek Taverna has two locations, both of which maintain old-world charm with crisp white linens, dramatic pillars, stone-textured cream walls, and interspersed colorful murals. Dinners begin with bites of moussaka, which layers eggplants, zucchini, and potatoes for a multitoned meal that doubles as a cutaway model of the earth's crust. The gyro plate showcases spreads of beef and lamb with pita, tzatziki sauce, tomato, and onions, and warm, flaky phyllo dough wraps around spanakopita —a savory spinach-cheese pie.

An extensive wine list loosens first dates’ tongues so they can give better PowerPoint presentations detailing their romantic qualifications.