Petterino’s (American), www.petterinos.com:
150 N. Dearborn St., 312-422-0150
I have visited Petterino’s twice for lunch, specifically choosing it because it showed a gluten free menu on the website. On the first visit, while the food ended up being fine, our server marred the experience. Upon being seated, I requested the gluten free menu, mentioning I had seen it on the website. The server looked slightly confused before he walked away. He proceeded to bring us our drinks and then walk by 2 or 3 more times before finally bringing the menu (I really though he had forgotten about me). The menu itself (which is available here) had a great variety of options – multiple soups and salads, 11 entrees, 10 side dishes and even two desserts. I decided to go with the grilled chicken breast. Before ordering a side, I asked if anything came with the grilled chicken breast (it wasn’t clear). At that point, the server looked very confused and said he didn’t know and that he had never seen the gluten free menu before. he then suggested just placing an order for a grilled chicken sandwich without the bun and offered to substitute broccoli or another vegetable instead of the french fries – for an “upcharge.” Now, chances are if I had ordered the entree on the gluten free menu plus a side, it would’ve cost more anyway. But, the idea of charging extra to substitute something when one is allergic or has a serious intolerance really irks me. Also, as I mentioned in my review of Feast above, I feel strongly that if a restaurant is going to have a gluten free menu available, all servers should be familiar with it!
So I ended up getting a grilled chicken breast – with the fixings for a sandwich on the side (lettuce, tomato, onion and a pickle) and a side of broccoli. The chicken was so-so. I can’t help but think if it had been prepared as if it was intended to be an entree, that it may have been better. The broccoli, on the other hand, was drenched in butter and absolutely delicious. I am not normally a big broccoli fan, but this was superb.
My second trip was much better, with a much more knowledgeable server. I ended up ordering the grilled chicken breast again with a baked sweet potato on the side and both were excellent. Lesson: your experience at Petterino’s may vary depending on your server!
