This is a part of our outdoor dining guide for the Chicago suburbs and Northwest Indiana, where we fill you in on where to dine alfresco. So leave the picnic basket at home and check back here to see the full guide, which we will be updating throughout the week.
At Port Edward, you can eat outside on the dock on the Fox River. Or inside in the Salem Lounge, Navigator’s Room, The Regency, Lobster Cove or Top Side. Or you can eat at a table for four on the 25-foot Porpoise sailboat, floating in the indoor harbor, or in the windmill, saved by the owner from a local farm.
You can even hang out in the secret room with bench seating and a table from a hatch of a World War II Liberty ship – only accessible by ladder.
“Lots of kids like to come up here and color,” said Ziya Senturk, vice president of operations.
Port Edward is an eclectic seafood restaurant on the Fox River in Algonquin. You can eat outside and watch the boats go by or step 50 years back in time if you dine inside.
Longtime server Cynthia Stillwell brings out the Hemingway trout dish, complete with the head, and recalls the time the 20-something man ate three platters in one sitting. And that’s just one memorable moment.
Stillwell started at Port Edward as a dishwasher and salad girl 44 years ago. She was promoted when one of the waitresses broke her leg and has been working for owner “Mr. Ed” Wolowiec since.
“I love it, it’s old-fashioned. We chuckle about all the memories. You see a grandpa and a grandma and their kids and grandkids and they’re sitting in the booth where they got engaged,” Stillwell said.
Senturk agreed. “Last night we had a couple celebrate their 38th anniversary in the boat where he proposed. We had four generations of families at one table on Mother’s Day, from the great-grandmother to the great-granddaughter.”
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This season will be the second for the outdoor patio, after flooding cut short last summer. For years, Port Edward offered a dining cruise on a paddle boat, but when the boat’s owner died and his family sold the vessel, no one really went outside. That is, until last year, when Wolowiec retired from the daily operations and brought in Senturk, who wanted to update Port Edward but still retain its ambiance. Outdoor seating was one of those upgrades.
“He told me, ‘I’ve run this place for 52 years and I’ll hire you on one condition, that I want to see a 100-year sign on the building.’ Even if he passes away,” Senturk said. “So I revamped the restaurant,” he said, noting he moved the main bar toward the windows for a better view for everyone.
Wolowiec, who used to live in an apartment above the restaurant, was a painter, musician, music teacher, principal and scuba diver before he became a restaurant owner in 1964. He bought the old Anchor Lounge, built in 1952 and originally just one room. “He used to play music in the bar, then would roller skate over to wait on customers,” Senturk said. Then, boaters could launch from the ramp for 50 cents.
Wolowiec decorated with items acquired on his many travels. “Everything in the restaurant he collected,” Senturk said.
The front windows came from a now-closed Wieboldt’s store. The wooden support beams were salvaged from a cheese factory auctioned in Wisconsin. Stones came from a local sand and gravel supplier whom Wolowiec paid with free meals. The windmill was rescued from a nearby farm and stands inside one of the dining rooms with a secluded table inside. The 1934 sailboat once plied the Great Lakes and Wolowiec took it scuba diving in Costa Rica before relocating to the dining room.
“He drew out the restaurant expansion plans on a napkin and went to the bank,” Senturk said. Port Edward had been open 11 years and needed to grow. “He liked seafood and being on the water, so he created all this and the lake. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, this was the place to go to. You had to wear a jacket and it was a destination restaurant with high expectations.”
Today, the champagne brunch and seafood and sushi buffet draw crowds every weekend. The international buffet features more than 20 seafood and meat dishes from six countries. “The menu choices are very large and it gives us flexibility,” Senturk said. “It’s our uniqueness and variety.”
Senturk is excited for a full summer of outdoor dining. “If you want the river and outside experience, we’ve got that. We lost a lot of regulars when they moved to Florida and Arizona, but we’re getting the new generation as the regulars come back and boat here in the summer.”
About the owner: Ed Wolowiec, who lives in Lake Barrington, is a past chairman of the Illinois Restaurant Association. He and a partner bought the Anchor Lounge waterfront bar in 1960 and Wolowiec bought the place in 1964 and renamed it Port Edward.
On the menu: Seafood, such as crab legs, shrimp, oyster, lobster, mahi mahi, salmon, tilapia, red snapper, grouper, catfish, mussels and octopus.
Specialties: Hemingway Trout, served in a pan with the fish head on, cold or warm lobster tail, king crab legs and other non-seafood items.
Décor: Reclaimed barn wood and windows. Decorated with all sorts of nautical equipment, such as harpoons, diver outfits and helmets, a whale jaw bone and original paintings by Wolowiec. With all its secret rooms and carved out areas, Port Edward seats 420 inside and 140 outside.
Prices: Appetizers from $8 to $15. Oysters and mussels from $12 to $16. Soups and chowders from $5 to $8. Salads from $6 to $13. Vegetarian and pasta dishes from $15 to $34. Fresh fish and seafood from $19 to market price. Steaks, chops and poultry from $18 to $45. Burgers and sandwiches from $10 to $18. Children’s menu from $5.99 to $9.99. International seafood and sushi buffet is $19 for children and $42 for adults. Champagne brunch buffet is $14 for children and $37 for adults. Desserts from $4-$10.
Amenities: Dine inside a windmill, on a sailboat indoors or relax outside on the patio on the Fox River.
Port Edward
Where: 20 W. Algonquin Road, Algonquin
Category: Seafood
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, 4-10 p.m. Saturday. Friday buffet from 5-10 p.m. Sunday brunch 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday dinner 2-8 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Information: 847-658-5441, www.portedward.com