Vistro

We went to Vistro in Hinsdale for Natalie's mother's birthday.  Vistro is a more casual offshoot restaurant of Vie in Western Springs.  We have been to Vie a few times and love it so we wanted to try this.

Fried Dill Pickles

Tempura Fried Dill Pickles - with garlic and dill mayonnaise, Natalie's mom had never tried fried pickles so we ordered this.  These were good - light and since they were tempura fried and not just regular fried

Toasted Ravioli

Toasted Ravioli - ricotta, marinara, parmesan. Wasn't as good as the fried pickles.

Mac n Cheese

Mac N Cheese - from the wood oven.  Good mac n cheese.  Better than expected.  Nick thinks mac n cheese in restaurants is overrated but he enjoyed this.

Pork Milanese

Skirt Steak

Pork Milanese - polenta, peas.  Nick preferred this dish to the other entree.  The flavors went really well together.

Skirt Steak - fries, roasted carrots, marinated mushrooms.  The steak was a little dry but the accompaniments were tasty.

Cookie Monster - salted chocolate chip cookie, the salt on/in it made it super tasty. Even though it was just a cookie, it was pretty amazing.

Final thoughts on Vistro:
Food - comparable food to Vie, but a lot more accessible and casual

Service - good service; we received some great recommendations from the waitress so that was helpful

Cookie Monster

Atmosphere - Casual atmosphere in downtown Hinsdale. Could go here for either a fancy or very casual experience.

Italian Beef Pizza that Natalie's parents ordered

BLT Pizza that Natalie's parents ordered

Umami Burger

We went to a late lunch at Umami Burger in Wicker Park. This restaurant has locations in other states but this is the only location in Illinois. We tried a couple of the burgers.

Umami Burger

Umami Burger (Original) - with parmesan frico, shittake mushroom, roasted tomato, caramelized onion, Umami ketchup

Throwback Burger - 2 patties, white cheddar cheese, miso mustard, Umami ketchup, pickles, minced onions

Throwback Burger

We also got a serving of Fries - they are thin cut fries which are served with 3 different sauces - umami ketchup, garlic sauce, and jalapeno sauce.  They fries were good not great, but the sauces were really good as a different option to regular ketchup.

Nick liked the Umami burger better but Natalie preferred the Throwback.  They told us the most popular burger is called the Manly burger but that didn't sound very appealing to us.

Final thoughts on Umami Burger:
Food - very tasty burgers, but a little pricey

Service - very good service. The server explained the whole menu and what the sauces were very thoroughly.

Atmosphere - This is a sit down restaurant which is different than some of the other casual burger joints. It is relatively small and they don't take reservations so we were lucky to be there on the late side of the lunch hour so we didn't have to wait.