Customer Reviews
What You'll Get
When artfully prepared, familiar foods can cause a pleasant surprise, like finding a puppy beneath one's pillow. Throw your day a culinary curveball with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of neighborhood American cuisine at The Chew Chew in historic Riverside, a half block from the Riverside stop on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line.
The Chew Chew serves gourmet American fare for express train-style lunches and drawn-out, diesel-freight dinners. Any-time snacks include applewood-bacon-wrapped dates with Moody Blue cheese ($6.50) and shareable Kobe beef sliders ($9.95). Cider-brined pork chops (with Fuji-apple-cherry chutney and baked mac ‘n’ cheese, $21.95) and lamb porterhouse chops (with dill-mustard vinaigrette, Greek pasta salad, and roasted peppers, $24.95/$32.95) appease carnivorous cravings. Tangy mahi-mahi tacos tickle seameat eaters’ taste buds with avocado mousse, black-bean puree, salsa rojo, and cabbage slaw ($17). Vegetarians can savor a grilled portobello sandwich with queso fresco, avocado, and salsa rojo on a brioche roll ($9.95), which, unlike rock ‘n’ roll, is beloved by 1950s parents.
The Chew Chew, which has multilevel dining and a spacious bar and lounge, was recently renovated. The décor mixes modern design with historical railway accents. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow diners to enjoy the benefits of al fresco dining without worrying about excessive sunlight, drenchy rain, or falling turnip bits. Diners who arrive late may get stuck in the caboose, so reservations are recommended.
This Groupon is not valid for gift-card purchases or on specials.
Reviews
OpenTable diners and Yelpers give The Chew Chew a 4.5-star average, and Metromixers give it a full five stars. Eighty-seven percent of Urbanspooners like it.
- Excellent dining experience. Great food and service in a modern, contemporary setting. A hidden gem in Riverside, IL. Will definitely be back! – OpenTable.com user who dined on 06/12/2010
- I feel so proud to be able to take my family and city-dweller friends (and their children) to a place with such sophisticated food at an affordable price--right in my new home town. – once Chi, Metromix
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Sep 15, 2011. Amount paid never expires. Limit 3 per person. Limit 1 per table and visit, no cash back. Not valid with other offers or toward gift card purchases. Tax and gratuity not included. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About The Chew Chew
The Chew Chew’s chef and owner, Scott Zimmer, may be too young to have experienced the height of America’s railroad boom, but that doesn’t stop him from feeling nostalgic for it. Zimmer has turned that nostalgia into something interesting, outfitting his restaurant with antique rail menus and ancient photos of trains. He invites guests aboard his culinary express, treating them to American-inspired dishes such as Colorado lamb chops, chipotle-barbecue chicken flatbreads, and center-cut filet mignon steaks with lump crab. The space embraces natural light with floor-to-ceiling windows that provide the illusion of an alfresco dining experience and let anxious guests keep a lookout for actual runaway trains.