Parker's Restaurant and Bar

We ate dinner closer to home at Parker's Restaurant & Bar in Downers Grove. 

Bread & Flatbread

It used to be known as Parker's Ocean Grill - but now it has both a steak and seafood focus.  They are also a farm to fork style restaurant - they don't go through a distributor and have relationships with the farmers and growers.

What we ate - soup - maybe it's crazy to order soup on a warm day in June, but they somehow enticed us.
Manila Clam Chowder - white clam chowder like New England style, but lighter (not as heavy on the cream)

Manila Clam Chowder

Lobster Bisque - with a lobster ravioli, it tasted different than most lobster bisque does so not sure we would order it again.  Like the chowder, it was lighter (not as creamy) as most bisque is, which in this case made us not like it as much, as opposed to the chowder.

Lobster Bisque

Cedar Plank Alaskan Halibut with spinach and whipped potatoes - This was Parker's in season fish from Alaska.  The cedar plank gave it a good smoky and peppery quality.  There was a massive amount of spinach on the plate which seemed odd. especially since it was in the center of the plate. so was the focus the fish or the spinach? Good fresh fish.

Cedar Plank Alaskan Halibut

Lobster Mac and cheese with cold water lobster tail, smoked gouda, pancetta and asparagus - Nick is a bit picky about mac n cheese and he loved this combination.  You can't really go wrong with combining mac n cheese with all those awesome other ingredients.  The asparagus gave the dish a crunch which is kind of unique for mac n cheese dishes. The smoked Gouda with the lobster tail gave the entire dish greater dimensions than so-called good mac n cheese dishes at other restaurants.  We could try to make it at home but we probably wouldn't come close.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Final thoughts on Parker's
Food - Nick liked it so much he would like to his parents to come here sometime
Service - good, but our waiter didn't explain as much about all the dishes as other wait staff did.  We tried to listen to a server a few tables over when he was going through the specials. But otherwise service was good - drinks were full all the time.
Atmosphere - very fancy looking, with nautical artwork and decore, there is a bar up front that has live piano music.  Nick said if he were to open a restaurant it would be a lot like this place and its theme.