Once inside you are greeted to a very large waiting room and friendly hostesses. Tonight’s dinner includes my wife and I, as well as my in-laws, and my four month baby girl. We open our menus and are a little perplexed. While similar, the menu is not quite the same as the one on the website. Prices are a little higher and a couple of items are missing. We ask our waitress and she informs us that while the name is the same, this “Jameson’s” is by a different owner. He bought the name but wanted to do the restaurant his way. The two by this owner are Bloomingdale and Mount Prospect, while the one with the website is in Arlington Heights.
With that confusion out of the way it was time to order. Appetizer was the “Shrimp Dejan” that our waitress described as “yummy”. Around the table, my mother in-law ordered the ladies filet (butter flied and well done), father in-law went for the veal marsala, my wife decided on the ribs, and I opted for the London broil. All dinners come with both soup and salad which is a refreshing first.
First out was the shrimp, which was four shrimp baked in a garlic butter sauce and topped with bread crumbs. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Quite possibly one of the worst appetizers I have ever had! The bread crumb texture was similar to wet sand and the shrimp had an awful after taste. Soups were next and I had the chicken tortellini and the rest of the group had cream of broccoli. Both soups had very good flavor, and the broccoli had a nice creamy consistency. Salads were very basic, iceberg and tomato, and very forgettable.
Time for our dinners and I’m hoping things pick up from here. Well, sort of. The veal marsala was very tender and had a slightly creamy marsala sauce to it. The ribs were tender but had zero smoke flavor, and were definitely baked in an oven. These were very average ribs. The filet, while well done, was too well done. It was kind of burnt. A well done steak does not have to be dry if done properly! The chef needs to remove the steak from the grill while it’s medium well, and while the steak is resting it will continue to cook internally and then be well done for the guest. Last was my London broil which was tender slices of steak covered in mushroom gravy. Good flavor, but not prepared the way I asked. I asked for medium and received well done.
Let’s hope dessert finishes the night on a high note. Well, sort of. I ordered key lime pie which was nicely tart and only slightly sweet and it had a nice drizzle of raspberry sauce along the plate. My mother in-law ordered tiramisu, which was easily one of the worst tiramisus I’ve ever tried. While the lady fingers are supposed to be drenched in either espresso or coffee liquor, it should not be a soggy mess. There was no coffee flavor and the texture was like eating a cake soaked in water! My father in-law had the pecan-caramel ice cream cake. While the flavor was good, it wasn’t what was expected. It was more of a chocolate ice cream cake because you couldn’t spot a pecan anywhere! Last was my wife’s cookie’s and cream ice cream cake. It was true to its description, Oreo crust topped with creamy cookies and cream ice cream.
Final bill with tip for the four of us was about $135, which wouldn’t have been that bad if the food was better. Overall “Jameson’s” offers a nice atmosphere, good service (my drink was never empty), and below average food. My earlier excitement was seriously deflated with this experience. Overall rating * out of ****
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