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Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen Restaurant Review
If there's one thing that I really appreciate, it has got to be food that is prepared from scratch. And one place that can easily make that claim is the restaurant that Lauren and I tried last Thursday evening.
We settled our bar tab and a hostess escorted us into the dining room where we were seated at a polished and shiny four-top, lighted by a small spotlight from above the table, as were each of the tables in the dining room. As large as the dining room was, the lighting and decor gave a small sense of intimacy; the noise level was subdued by the carpeted floor. Water was brought out immediately, along with a loaf of warm and crusty bread, and our waitress explained the menu, since we informed her that this was our first visit. Upon being told that fresh seafood is flown in daily and trucked to the restaurant by company-owned trucks, and that every ingredient is made from scratch, including the mayonnaise, salad dressings, tartar, cocktail and chili sauces -- as well as many others -- well, let's just say that we were really ready to enjoy dinner. But first, and strictly because of the "made from scratch" claim, we decided we just had to try a "Top Shelf Margarita." Made with 1800 Reposado tequila & Grand Marnier with fresh lemon & lime, it was one of the best I have tasted... and the drink was definitely made from scratch with real lemon and lime -- no bar mix used here -- superb!
I am a salad lover -- especially if the dressing is homemade -- so I also ordered a Crisp Wedge Salad with bleu cheese dressing, bacon, tomatoes, carrots & green onion. It appeared to be an entire quarter of a head of lettuce; the tomatoes were bright red and very ripe, the bacon crispy and the bleu cheese dressing excellent. This salad was plentiful enough for the biggest of appetites and certainly more than ample for Lauren and me to split.
I would hazard a guess that the rest of the menu (check it out here; it's in .pdf format) would provide you with just about any of your favorite dishes and at a cost that would provide you with a pleasant surprise. As usual, we had not saved any room for the dessert menu... I would definitely have ordered a piece of Key Lime Pie in a graham cracker pecan crust. Apparently it must have been an omen that we would need to return on another occasion -- which would be fine with me; it took only forty minutes in heavy traffic/road construction to get to the front door of Pappadeaux from the Fox Valley. As another
"white-table-cloths-aren't-needed-to-have-a-great-dinner" kind of place, I
was impressed by the level of quality and the extreme freshness of the food,
the relaxed and friendly atmosphere and the pricing structure of both food
and drinks (even the wine -- they have over 2,000 bottles -- was reasonably
priced). Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is a great place to go for quality
fare,
whether the occasion is business, pleasure or special event. I give Pappadeaux's Three-and-a-Half Zins, and I recommend that you move it to the
top of your "gotta try" list! Your Table is Waiting...
Photos courtesy Kurman Communications,
Inc |
Interestingly, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is one of
many restaurants in a private, family-owned company based in Houston, Texas
whose history actually dates back to 1897. And with restaurants located in
Georgia, Illinois (Arlington Heights and Westmont), Arizona and Colorado, as
well as Texas, one would have to assume that the family has gotten something
right... That assumption is 100% right on the money, at least in terms
of Pappadeaux's in Westmont. The atmosphere is lively, fun, comfortable -- even
somewhat upscale -- and relaxing. But the key is to be found in the
variety of high-quality, fresh seafood that is flown in daily and used to
create the many fish and seafood creations on the menu. 
I was surprised at the size of the restaurant... it looked
capable of seating 200-250 diners, not counting use of the outdoor patio, a
very inviting area of brick, fountains and plenty of plants. Perhaps
it is because of the constant attention the economy has received of late,
but I was also surprised by the number of people at the restaurant on a
Thursday -- the place was almost full. We were early for our reservation, so we decided to have a
seat at the bar and enjoy a cocktail and a look at the menu; I now had a
pretty good idea why the place was so busy.
For starters, all Grey Goose cocktails were priced at
$5.50. I'm sure you can guess that I acquired an immediate smile.
I then noticed a bar-back busily shucking oysters that looked awfully good
from where I was sitting, so I naturally had to ask the bartender about
them. His reply? "They are very fresh, and tonight the oysters
are on special at $5.95... per dozen" (half of normal price, which is
still a great deal if the oysters are good ones!) Combine those two
notables with a menu loaded with great fish and seafood items -- along with
steaks, chicken and pastas -- all at great prices, and you have the necessary
ingredients for a busy restaurant full of happy diners. Sipping on my
Grey Goose, I was hoping that the rest of the evening would be as good as
what I was anticipating. 
Dinner started with a half dozen Oysters on the Half
Shell accompanied by some spicy and excellent dipping sauces (I was
really tempted to get the full dozen -- at that price, who wouldn't? But as
I have gotten older, the richness of the food is not as easily tolerated as
it once was...), and an order of Crispy Fried Alligator
with fresh cut potato sticks & Creole dipping sauce. The oysters were
as fresh as those I once harvested with my uncle in the panhandle of
Florida; plump, sweet and full of salty liqueur, these were incredibly good.
I once had fresh alligator (both fried and in a stew) -- many years ago --
while visiting Pawleys Island, North Carolina. I thought it to be quite
tasty. But with its light, crispy batter and exquisite Creole sauce, Pappadeaux's
version was clearly better.
Between the Citrus Crusted Halibut (oven baked citrus-crusted
fillet with sautéed zucchini ribbons over 