The menu is geared toward American comfort food complimented with a craft beer menu. 33 beers are available and I dive straight into a beer with simply the best name ever, A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ by Lagunitas. This bright crisp ale paired wonderfully with all of tonight’s offerings.
Stuffed chili’s start us off with a touch of heat but come alive with a cream cheese center and a crisp bread crumb topping. Two shrimp dishes follow and they couldn’t be more different. The very ordinary, almost bar food like buffalo shrimp are bite size, covered in a mild wing sauce, and accompanied by a mild blue cheese dressing. Next were the blackened jumbo shrimp which were moist and cooked perfectly. The blackening seasoning went wonderful with the apple pomegranate butter sauce and together made these shrimp rock! The last starter was the cheddar beer soup which had some heat from jalapeños, some tang from the beer, and some playful crunch from the pieces of popcorn garnishing the top. The only gripe was that the soup could have been blended more smoothly for a better mouth feel.
Two of my favorite American dishes are next! First up is a large rack of meaty baby back ribs. If the menu didn’t say baby back you would swear that these glistening meat sticks were actually spare ribs! These bite off the bone ribs are oven baked (not boiled) and are slathered with a sweet and tangy barbeque sauce. Nothing says comfort food like fried chicken! This moist buttermilk chicken at first came across as very average. While moist, it was definitely mild in initial flavor. But when dipped in the warm amber honey, the chicken absolutely worked.
At times desserts are after thoughts in some restaurants. Our server informs us that many of the desserts should be ordered during your main course since they are scratch made. Warm apple pie and chocolate chip cookies anyone? This warm pie had loads of tender apples inside its flaky crust and was topped with homemade caramel ice cream. My favorite though was the warm chocolate chip cookies and milk. These soft and cake like cookies bring back memories of cookies my aunt used to make!
Pricing is actually quite reasonable with most items under $20 and nothing topping $30. Overall the Red Canary offers quality American comfort food, great beers, and a nice atmosphere for a fair price. Overall rating *** (good) out of *****.
Location
695 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60642
312-846-1475
theredcanarychicago.com
