{Review: Neat Kitchen and Bar}

The Hubs and I had date night quite a few weeks ago...yaaaaaaaaaaaay, queue cheers. Date night doesn't come often around these parts, so when we decided that the kids probably needed a break from us we asked a family member for help with babysitting and dashed out for a bite to eat.  The kids were ecstatic because our helpful family member loves to bake so they were in for a treat, lots of them in fact.


We landed at Neat Kitchen and Bar, Hell Yes! I found out about Neat Kitchen and Bar on our Facebook Page and figured it was the perfect night to give them a try. We walked in at about 8:30pm and were seated immediately, thankfully because I was starving. I asked our server for some recommendations on a good craft cider, and he told us about a few, decided to give Uncle Johns at try. 

OK, so now I'm drinking and looking at the menu, unable to really decide what to get because it all sounded good. We ordered a bunch of stuff but our favorite dish was the friggin' roasted brussels sprouts. Now I'm not currently a vegetarian but the roasted brussels sprouts are like a damn gateway drug, too bad they are seasonal.  I appreciate Neats focus on keeping things fresh, but I'd love it if the brussels sprouts were on the menu year round; selfish of me I know.   Everything we tried was damn good, the NeatBurger is topped with a Duck Egg, Cheddar, and Fried Shallots, how could someone not love it? All in all our experience at Neat was great, I'm so glad we landed there on Date night. We managed to take a few pics, but most of our time was spent munching and laughing.


We've committed to doing #datenight more often, so be sure to follow along on all social media @EatTheBurbs

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There's Beer in them thar 'Burbs...

In the name of all things cool, we were excited to hear about an event coming to Aurora, Il and Wheaton, Il soon that will combine some of our favorite things, BEER!!, Cheese, and Gilberts Sausages.

The Wisconsin Beer and Cheese Tour will be stopping in Aurora on May 31st at the gorgeous outdoor venue River Edge Park in downtown Aurora from 4pm - 7:30pm (3pm for VIPs).  The event will feature Beer, Cheese, and Sausage tastings, along with live entertainment.  If you can't make it on May 31st or if you just can't get enough, the Tour will also be coming to the Dupage County Fair Grounds in Wheaton on June 21st from 5pm - 8:30pm.

It looks like the tickets are selling fast so be sure to grab yours soon and share this with a friend! 

Click on the Wisconsin Beer and Cheese Tour page for info on VIP and general admission ticket prices and to find out more about the bands that will be performing.  We'll try to save a sausage for you.  See you there.

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City Girl from the Burbs in the City - Brunch

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of being invited to a brunch tasting at Public House - Chicago. I'm so glad that I made time in my schedule to go because Executive Chef Jeremy Tannehill and his team did an amazing job!






They provided quite the spread, including everything from housemade sausage to a wonderfully tasty parfait made with greek yogurt. I was

especially impressed with the sausage; the pork was very well seasoned with the right fat ratio so it was perfectly unctuous and not overly greasy. There was also a turkey sausage sandwich on the menu, something that I normally would stay away from because I'm a total texture-phobe and it usually feels like old crumbled leather in your mouth, well this turkey sausage was actually REALLY good, seasoned well and more importantly it felt like I was eating a normal (pork) sausage! Kudos on the beautifully done sausage chef.


My favorite dish of the day was the crab cake benedict, the crab cake was well done, but the stars for me

were the garlic spinach and the hollandaise! No disrespect to the cake, but I am and always will be a hollandaise fan, so when I have a good one I get all excited and this hollandaise my friends was a good one, so velvety on the tongue!! It actually made me crave hollandaise so much so that I had to make one at home the following morning.

So if you thought that Public House - Chicago was only about beer, then you're in for a great surprise when you try out some of their menu items! You won't be disappointed. 



For the inside scoop on the best restaurants in Chicago and the suburbs be sure to follow Eat The Burbs on all social media using @eattheburbs

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1st Annual ISBS, Will you be there?

 The Suburbs are full of amazing restaurants as we all know.  Eat the Burbs was created in response to a need to highlight what's going right in Suburban Food. Thus far, we've done a great job showcasing Suburban restaurants and keeping up with food happenings and trends.  Recently, Eat the Burbs began looking to partner with other Suburban Enthusiasts and boy were we happy to be introduced to the collective 'Ale to the Burbs'.  Ale to the Burbs is a dedicated group of beer lovers that coordinate events to bring people together in celebration of craft beer in the Chicago suburbs!!!  This group is the bacon to my eggs, the salt to my pepper, the bread to my butter; I could go on forever with cheesy pairings but I'm sure you get the picture.  Ale to the Burbs is as committed to mobilizing the Suburban Beer community as Eat the Burbs is about showcasing what’s right in Suburban Food.

Ale to the 'Burbs has been supporting and organizing beer events in the suburbs for some time now and they have worked with some amazing brewers. They are now co-hosting an event with Nevin's Brewing Company on March 8th that is not to be missed!  The 1st Annual Illinois Suburban Brewers Summit will take place at Nevin's Brewing Company(12337 S. Route 59, Plainfield) next Saturday between 6:30pm and 9:30pm. If you're like me you'll want to be there to drink every drop of the 15 4oz pours that are included with the ticket, but if you are of the more cerebral set then you'll be happy to know that there will be an assembly of approximately 30 breweries that will sit on a moderated panel for an open forum.  The forum will be open to all attendees and the brewers will share information about what's going on in the craft beer arena and answer questions from the public.  In addition to the beers and open forum there will also be some light bites and a live performance by a local band.  The tickets are $25 and available at http://isbs.brownpapertickets.com.

Eat the Burbs is pumped to see what the guys of Ale to the Burbs have in store for us next Saturday night! 

You can find more information about the 1st Annual Illinois Suburban Brewers Summit (ISBS) on Facebook in the Ale to the Burbs group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aletotheburbs/

Checkout this list of some of the brewers that will be a part of this epic event:

- Ale Syndicate

- Aleman Brewing

- Church Street Brewing

- Destihl

- Emmett's

- Flesk

- Goose Island

- Hopvine

- Lagunitas

- Nevin's Brewing

- One Trick Pony

- Penrose Brewing (open forum only)

- Pollyanna Brewing (open forum only)

- Revolution

- Slapshot

- Solemn Oath

- Temperance Beer

- Tighthead Brewing

- Two Brothers Brewing

- Urban Legend Brewing

- 350 Brewing

Look forward to future collaborations between Ale to the Burbs and Eat the Burbs.  We live and play in the Burbs! 

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