Westbarry

OK, maybe I'm not the sharpest pencil in the cup. We had been sitting at Westbarry for about 10 minutes and I'm well into my Makers Mark before I figured out that the restaurant is, indeed, on West Barry. I told this to my wife who confirmed that once again I had a done a fine job of pointing out the obvious.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal. It's also on Rewards Network (iDine), so it wasn't as expensive as it might seem.

We started with cocktails. She had a vodka/rocks. I had the aforementioned bourbon with just a couple of cubes. Mine was a fine pour. Hers was mainly ice and olives with a slight vodka overtone. Her second drink, a glass of very nice Zinfandel, was a decent size, but $9.

We split an apple, blue cheese, and greens salad with a citrus vinagrette. I had the fried chicken with mashed potatoes. It was some of the best fried chicken I've had in a long time. Fried GBD, not greasy, great crust. The potatoes were well flavored with a good, non-pasty texture. She had salmon with a soy glaze. The salmon was good but the glaze made it too salty to be very goodl

We're going back. The next time, we'll split two entrees, the grilled pork chop and the fried chicken. and we'll order the $28 bottle of the Zinfandel.

westbarry
3056 N. Oakley St.
(where Clybourn, Barry, and Oakley meet)
773-477-0505

Mr. Food Nut and I had stopped by Westbarry for our Friday afterschool cocktail a few weeks back, only to find it closed. Even the sign on the door said open with the hours listed, but it was empty. Since it's within walking distance from home, we chose to stop by again this week. They have since changed the hours and are not open for lunch anymore.

It was dead, only one other couple dining. It was 6pm. The space is nice and I like the decor, but could do without the powder blue on some of the walls, kind of like the background here at LTH!

The menu was varied with fish, beef, veggies and chicken. It was a bit pricey for the out-of they way, almost businessless location. They are trying to bring in customers, so they have two-for-one specials, 1/2 price appetizers, 20% off food, etc. I forgot the take-out menu, so I can't say which day has what, except that Tues. is half-price appetizers.

We had the fried zucchini and mini-burgers. The zucchini was flavorless and boring, though I liked the mini burgers fine.

My premium vodka drink was $7, but I also got one on the house. We sat at the bar and the bartender was very friendly. For once, I liked the music: Bob Marley and Moby, though MTV2 was playing on the wall tv with no sound(thank goodness)!

I'd go back to take advantage of the daily specials. Though, I think they are suffering from a lack of business, at least during the weekdays it seems. I was happy to see a group of 4 come in as we were leaving, but apparently they were friends of the owner/partner(as they kissed and hugged).