One can draw a lot of conclusions about Chicagoans from a visit to the Park Grill, the restaurant adjacent to the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park.
1. They are not shy about skating, even if it means clutching the handrails, a friend or, on occasion, the ice itself.
2. Unlike those in more fashion-conscious cities, they will dress for the weather.
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3. They are not averse to standing in long, slow-moving lines to rent ice skates.
4. Those who don’t ice skate, preferring instead the warm, rinkside restaurant seats, can become almost hypnotized by all of the above.
In fact, we even found ourselves transfixed by the work of the Zamboni clearing the ice–and saw at least one waiter staring out the windows at the same thing.
Indeed, as Park Grill co-owner Jim Horan puts it: “I was wondering how the rink would produce clients for the restaurant. But . . . the rink is the entertainment.”
And that’s probably a good thing, because besides offering a better-than-average meal, there’s not much going on inside the restaurant at this point.
The large bar, flanked by two TV screens, is empty but for stacks of glassware waiting to be filled once Park Grill, open since late November, secures its liquor license (which Horan said could be “any day now”).
The rest of the 300-seat place is scaled back as well: The floors are tile, the colors muted, the decorative touches minimal. Even the two bathrooms are lacking gender designations–although they do have those stylish metal bowls for sinks.
Chef Bernard Laskowski’s menu, on the other hand, offers plenty of variety, though it tends to dwell mostly in the comfort food realm: lamb shanks, pasta carbonara, beef tenderloin and pork chops. Daily specials include pot roast on Tuesdays, a fish fry on Fridays and prime rib on Saturdays.
Not having the option of a cocktail or glass of wine when we visited (which felt kind of strange on a cold night in this vast space), we ordered a round of Coke and ginger ale and listened to our server tentatively recite the specials. Though she was perfectly nice and volunteered to find out what side dish accompanied the rotisserie chicken, she ended up providing the wrong answer (onion rings), which led us to order a side of asparagus that we wouldn’t have needed had we known about the good garlicky mashed potatoes that really came with the nicely grilled, smoky-tasting chicken.
The thin and crispy onion rings, in fact, topped one of the specials we tried, a tender veal shank in a cinnamony sauce set on a bed of delicious, corn-studded white cheddar grits. It also came with a dollop of guacamole that should have been plopped on some other dish.
The child in our party, who was fixated mostly on the “giant cookie” she planned to order for dessert and on ice skating after dinner, was happy enough with her hot dog and herb-flecked french fries from the ample kids’ menu, though she kept snatching the onion rings.
She was in good company. There were many families there that evening, as well as a number of what looked to be pre-theater-dining couples seated at impossibly tiny tables.
Horan said Park Grill is attracting a variety of diners, including working folks at lunch and lots of international visitors, but not all that many skaters, most of whom buy food at the concession stand.
Once the rink shuts down in March, he envisions bringing in other entertainment to fill the void: music, puppet shows, maybe a farmers market. There will be outdoor dining as well.
But now it’s winter, and skating time, so the souffle cake, with its steaming chocolate “lava,” seemed like a reasonable way to end our meal; their was no good reason for also ordering the tasty creme brulee, topped by a nice trio of berries, but we did it anyway.
With all that sustenance under our belts, we were ready for the rink. But unlike some Chicagoans, we are averse to waiting in long lines to rent skates. So we went home instead, with a full but very unhappy child in tow.
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Park Grill is at 11 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-521-7275. Open for lunch and dinner Mon.-Sun. Entree prices $11.95-$27.95.