Cheddar's Casual Cafe, Bolingbrook, Illinois - Restaurant Review

After every bodybuilding show there is a chosen hot spot in town to grab a hearty bite to eat. Often it's the restaurant open the latest because bodybuilding events take quite a while to wind down and to get the remnants of the overall winners out of the building. In my case, after my recent show, my family and friends headed to Cheddar's Casual Cafe in Bolingbrook, Illinois with our minds on good food. I had never been to Cheddar's before and was a bit concerned about the type of food that would be served.

Atmosphere

We arrived at Cheddar's Casual Cafe, better known as Cheddar's, around 11:00pm and were seated immediately in a round corner booth. The bar was lit by hanging lights and every seat was occupied. There were large plasma TVs located in the corners of the restaurant with the sports channel on. Although the bar was full the atmosphere was subdued, casual and inviting; very appropriate for the name of the restaurant.

Customer Service

Our server's name was Leonard and he was very professional and efficient. There were five us in our party and he immediately greeted us and asked to get our drink orders. After taking our drink orders our server brought the drinks to the table, as well as, additional glasses of water with lemon. Since we weren't ready to order Leonard left the table to give us a few minutes, but only after explaining what the specials were. Within the next ten minutes our server returned to take our food order.

Menu

The menu is extensive with what would be considered traditional bar foods such as chicken tenders, ribs, sandwiches, nachos, pastas, soups and salads. Certain items are a la carte but still affordable by any means. My husband ordered the chicken tender platter for his appetizer and the bacon cheeseburger with fries for his entree. I ordered the smokehouse burger, fries and an extra side of coleslaw to eat with my meal.

The Food

When my husbands order of chicken tenders arrived I could not believe the portion he received. The chicken tenders were far from thin slivers of meat and looked more like four large chicken breasts piled on his plate. The tenders were golden, moist and fresh out of the frier. The chicken was accompanied with a huge pile of fries and cole slaw. I shared a piece of the chicken with him and can say it was one of the best orders of chicken fingers I have ever eaten. The price of the platter was $7.99. Within a reasonable amount of time our entree orders were delivered to the table and were delicious. My smokehouse burger was a half pound burger cooked to my liking; which is medium. It was tender and juicy and stacked with onion straws, BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomato and pickles. My side of cole slaw came in a small dish and it was easy to tell that it was freshly made and not store bought. It was a bit sweet and very creamy. My burger was $4.99 with a separate charge of $1.69 for fries and another additional price of $1.69 for the slaw.

　
Would I go back?

I would definitely go back to Cheddars. Although the food is casual cuisine there was nothing lacking in taste or freshness. The atmosphere offered a friendly setting and I would feel comfortable to take my children to Cheddars for lunch or dinner.