Location: Wilmette
Top Restaurants in Wilmette
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Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located 14 miles (23 km) north of Chicago's downtown district (4 mi or 6 km from Chicago's northern border) and had a population at the 2010 census of 27,087. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore region. In 2007, Wilmette was ranked as the seventh best place to raise children in the U.S., according to Business Week. In 2015, Wilmette was ranked the best place to live in Illinois based on a variety of factors including its low unemployment rate, median income, low housing vacancy rate, high education expenditures per student, low crime, and short commute times. Wilmette is home to 2 of Illinois' 17 elementary schools (Romona Elementary, St. Joseph School) to be awarded the 2017 National Blue Ribbon award.
Things to do in Wilmette
1. Lucky Platter
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 191 reviews
Reviewed By Mablesmama - Evanston, Illinois
This neighborhood restaurant has a comfortable, friendly, place. It's always filled with locals. The decor is very unexpected and different from the usual. The food is always good and so many varieties. This is the "go to" breakfast place in the neighborhood. We always bring out of town visitors here.
2. Walker Bros Original Pancake House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 247 reviews
Reviewed By Dr T
Arrived at around 4:15pm on Weds......no one person in the restaurant but my wife and I. Promptly seated, with a very happy server. Placed our order....I had a Baby Dutch which takes around 15-20 minutes...so we knew the food would take awhile. The server brought our drinks over and asked if we needed anything else. After 15 minutes, the food started coming out, but by a completely different server. Then the rest of the food came out, and that was the LAST time we saw the NEW server...why, because everybody was gossiping, etc., and not paying attention to our table....which was right in front of the window. Finally, I had to get up and ask for a beverage refill...then when I asked for the check, I finally asked where our original server disappeared to....answer..."she decided to leave". Think you better consider rolling out some new management of this place....if the servers and busboys have nothing to do but gossip our text....find something for them to do.
3. Homer's Ice Cream Company
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 84 reviews
Reviewed By Scarlettdm - Chicago, Illinois
Having seen this place featured on Chicago's Best, we just had to try it. We should have realized it wasn't great when the place was almost empty at 9:00pm on a Sat. night following a 90° day. I ordered a hot fudge sundae; my husband had two scoops in a cup. We paid over $11 for this. These were the smallest scoops we've ever seen!! My sundae had less than a teaspoon of hot fudge. My husband's two scoops in a cup were incredibly small scoops. I actually thought they got his order wrong, but there were two different ice creams in the cup. This place was a huge disappointment. The ice cream was nothing special. The prices are outrageous for the very small servings. Go some place else.
4. Kaufman's Bagel & Delicatessen
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 154 reviews
Reviewed By Allen21096 - Chicago, Illinois
New Years Day seemed a little difficult to find an open restaurant, so we called Kaufman's Bagel & Delicatessen and they were open. You take a number when you arrive and head to the deli counter to place your order from the menu board that takes up the entire wall behind the order counter. We ordered two different sandwiches. The first was a corned beef sandwich, aka Moishe's Pupik, which came on corn rye with spicy mustard. The second was the the Skokie Firehouse Special which is smoked Turkey on chale with spicy mayo, hot giardiniera, lettuce, tomato, red onions and hot sauce. I must admit that I thought that the firehouse special would have been a bit hotter, but it was just perfect - just the right amount of extra heat. The sandwiches were ample portions. The staff is friendly and the prices are what you would expect at a good deli. Kaufman's offers a lot more than just deli sandwiches, including soups, salads and baked goods.
5. Andy's Frozen Custard
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 83 reviews
Andy's Frozen Custard is a quick service frozen dessert business. We are a freestanding restaurant with drive through and walk-up service windows. We sell delicious frozen custard treats. Andy's has a wide variety of treats from simple vanilla or chocolate cones to seasonal favorites like our Pumpkin Pie Concretes and Strawberry Shortcake Sundaes.
Reviewed By Carehb - Evanston, Illinois
A gathering place for young and old alike in Evanston, Andy's is consistently delicious! From simple cones to sundaes and mixed in treats, Andy's never fails to deliver a quality product. We love their turtle sundaes and special mix in's like Girl Scout mints during cookie sale time of the year. Don't be scared off by a line as it moves fast and you are bound to find Evanston neighbors, ETHS and Northwestern students, and families provide great tips on what to try! Outside tables and open til 10 or 11!
6. The Rock House Coffee Bar and Roasting Company
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 19 reviews
Reviewed By tony c - Richmond, Canada
The Rock House is a music school and coffee bar by day and by night, it transforms into an intimate music venue featuring mostly local talent...including staff. The amount of talent that is showcased is quite high and all only for the price of a drink and some cash thrown into a pot. Most of the music is tribute material which covers Motown, 60's all the way to some contemporary rock. You can have wine an ok selection of beers or tea and coffee. These kinds of spots are UBER cool and give great opportunities to sample local music talent.
7. Pita Inn
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 242 reviews
Reviewed By Sheila M - Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Our group of 5 enjoyed our meal at Pita Inn! The food was fresh and the management addressed dietary concerns (allergies). The servings were large and had plenty of condiments. We also enjoyed desserts. Plenty of options for vegetarians!
8. Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 188 reviews
Nestled between the growing downtown Evanston district and illustrious Northwestern University, Lou's in Evanston is a favorite of students and residents alike. This location offers dine in, carryout, and delivery as well as catering services. In the warmer months, outdoor seating is available.
Reviewed By Richard C
Our first visit to Chicago so we asked around for the best deep dish pizza place. Several people recommended this place to us and they were right. The small size pizza is more than enough for two people, we even took some home with us....MoreThank you for your feedback, Richard! We are happy to hear you were able to stop by during your time in Chicago and you enjoyed your deep dish sausage pizza. We look forward to serving you again soon!
9. Depot Nuevo Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 86 reviews
Award winning Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar and Brewpub. Fresh made Mexican cuisine, fantastic margaritas and a 100 bottle craft tequila list featuring only 100% de Agave tequilas. Beginning in 2016 we began brewing our own beer.
Reviewed By Chris S
Excellent central and south American food, excellent tequila and beer choices, including their own "home brew". Best tortilla chips I've ever had--could easily make a meal of Nachos Libre. The appetizers are the best part of the menu. Nice high energy atmosphere, but a little loud for intimate conversation. Our go-to neighborhood restaurant. Almost everything is gluten free.
10. Michael
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 125 reviews
Reviewed By ouilv2travel - Chicago, IL
We were celebrating a birthday and enjoying the special lobster dinner. Will review the lobster dinner first.
It was a five course meal with the complementary Gruyere cheese gougeres first. They are always a hit, crispy outside with a creamy gruyere mousse filling inside.
The first course was a quarter cup of a very rich and dark lobster bisque with lots of sherry flavor that had a lobster ravioli in the bottom of the cup. It had great flavor and texture. My only recommendation is that given the small size of the cup and the serving they should give you a smaller spoon for the soup, what is on the table is enormous and you would could finish the portion in three spoonfuls with that large spoon. It was served with a half dollar size baked coin of puff pastry.
The second course was almost like an iteration of the first course in a different texture. It tasted nearly identical except that it was a lobster custard/crème brûlée and mine was not completely set as it was a little runny around the edges. It was served with a mini fried lobster beignet. It would've been nicer if the first course had been a lighter, less brown note version of soup - say a lobster cappuccino and then the lobster crème brûlée wouldn't have seemed so similar - either that or serve it after a different course was served in between to separate the similarity in flavors.
The third lobster course was the bomb. A nicely sized lobster claw, tempura fried with a very large diver scallop which was perfectly sautéed, both served over a small salad of pea shoots with a lightly flavored orange vanilla vinaigrette. Could've eaten three of those and been very happy!
The last lobster course was a minuscule lobster tail (literally if it was 2 ounces I would've been surprised) that was butter poached and served with a steamed roulade of Dover sole filled with some sort of seafood mousseline. It had slices of extremely chewy and overcooked morel mushrooms and fresh peas. There was a brown demi-glace in the bottom of the bowl-like serving dish and it was a strange combination I have never had before but it did taste very good - however the essence of lobster was lost due to the very brown character of the sauce. A very large purple ringed fried beet chip adorned the plate. If the lobster had been a 3 ounce portion I think I would've been much happier with this dish.
Dessert was supposed to be a chocolate soufflé with a strawberry creme anglaise but when they brought both desserts out the special soufflé turned out to be the regular chocolate soufflé with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. Since a runner brought out the dish I didn't say anything but I should've looked for the waiter to tell him. The soufflé was not fully cooked in the center so it was kind of like a combination of soufflé and lava cake in one. It tasted heavenly, but it wasn't right.
My better half ordered off of the menu and started with the house cured smoked salmon. It was an amazingly large portion of smoked salmon probably almost 6 ounces rolled into a flower and served on top of a potato gallette. The potato needed a little bit of salt.
The second course was a salad Lyonnaise with frisee, lardons, a perfectly poached egg, and crispy croutons. It also needed salt.
The third course was Osso Buco. It was divine. Perfectly meltingly tender with a large bone that still had creamy marrow in it and a delicious creamy polenta underneath. Between this and the lobster claw/scallop dish it was a tie for best of show.
The second dessert was a bombe of pistachio and cassis mousse served over a crispy crust with a salted caramel sauce. It was also delicious.
Service was good, although our server forgot to bring the salt I had asked for right when the bread service came out - I like salted butter with bread and it was an unsalted version served. It is a relaxed and leisurely pace so we were there until approximately 9:15 or so and started at 7 PM.
