- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
A La Carte
Categories: Food Specialty Food Event Planning & Services Caterers Specialty Food, Caterers [Edit]
111 Green Bay RdWilmette, IL 60091
(847) 256-4102
- Hours:
Mon 9 am - 7 pm
Tue-Fri 10 am - 7 pm
Sat 10 am - 5:30 pm
Sun 11 am - 3 pm
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
10 reviews for A La Carte
10 reviews in English
-
Review from Pamela P.
1/30/2012
Thanksgiving catering: highly priced but delicious, quality and raveable food.
Takeout and in-restaurant: again, highly priced but the food is interesting and really well made. The sesame noodles are a must-try. The various bundt cakes will have you salivating for me. Can get crowded and see a long-ish wait on the weekend but so worth it! -
Review from V P.
Chicago, IL
4/18/2012
Food can be great but sometimes really heavy. I am really bothered by the customer service. When I came in, there was one other person in line already being waited on. They take a long time, but when another server comes to help out, some older lady cuts in front of me. THEN the server already waiting on someone takes the person behind me. Can't decide if it is because it is Wilmette and I am a person of color. I am not usually that overlooked in a place. Will NOT be returning.
-
Review from Melanie S.
Chicago, IL
10/18/2010
I've been to A La Carte three times and each time I go, I wonder why I don't go more often.
I was taking my mom to a play on Saturday afternoon at the nearby Wilmette Public Library and some food was in order beforehand. We had originally planned on going to Walker Brothers, but decided we were feeling more lunch-y than breakfast-y.
This place is charming, in a French country kind of way. They sell all of their items for carryout or eat-in and the selection changes daily but there's always a good variety from which to choose.
On this visit, the offerings were so tempting that I had a rather hard time narrowing it down, as did my mom.
Some of the menu items on Saturday:
huevos ranchero
roasted veggie and goat cheese quesadilla
vegetable puree soup
fresh fruit salad
caprese salad
chicken chili
mini tenderloin sandwiches
lemon bars
brownies
mini cheesecake squares
-------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
I ended up ordering a cup of white bean soup and a mini tenderloin sandwich and my mom got the huevos ranchero. We also split a blood orange Lorina French soda and a dried cherry/cranberry shortbread cookie.
Everything was delicious. The soup was hearty and flavorful, and was a bit smoky. They also added in some pastina which made it very satisfying. The tenderloin on the sandwich was a bit overcooked, but otherwise it was fine, and it was served on a mini buttery croissant and was topped with arugula and horseradish cream.
Mom enjoyed her huevos ranchero and she reluctantly gave me a taste and I had a hard time not stealing more bites when she got up to get silverware.
The soda and cookie were a nice finish.
A La Carte also sells packaged high-end foods (think Stonewall Kitchen and Barefoot Contessa) and many of their specialty items are available frozen to take home.
The only blight I experienced was some petty arguing between employees regarding a break. Seriously, don't do that in front of the customers, it isn't professional.
PS - they are now open on Sundays.Listed in: North Shore
-
Review from David R.
10/21/2010
This joint has been in my bookmarks for a long, long while, and for months they were stuck on five reviews. North Shore housewives don't Yelp? Too bad. Their hours don't make it easy for me to stop in, but I've sneaked in a few visits on a Saturday midday or once when I was going to work egregiously late or coming home at a reasonable hour (e.g. before 7pm). It's a nice option for a couple of lunch items or the occasional treat.
They have a frequently rotating selection of what I call container-type foods--i.e., things that I can eat at my desk, such as soups; pasta, bean, and vegetable salads; the occasional stew, etc. I like a small container of the pesto and parmesan chicken salad for a couple of sandwiches. Probably my favorite recently has been sesame noodles. My least favorite, hands-down, was a wretched triple sesame snap peas; they were not quite crunchy and had a terrible charred, carcinogenic flavor.
They have a wide variety of entree-type foods which I have not tried. Sandwiches are not a strong suit: I think that they suffer from sitting in the cooler case rather than being freshly made. Once I had a ham and salami sub with mozzarella, which was tasty but quite soggy on the bottom and overmayoed on top. A few weeks ago I tried a chicken/spinach/mushroom sandwich, which was okay except for too much bleu cheese and stale bread.
But sweet treats? Now here is their strength.
The blondie and the banana/choc chip bar: B+
The snickerdoodle is probably the greatest example of this cookie that I have ever encountered.
The chocolate-chip/walnut/oatmeal cookie is phenomenal--easily in my top ten.
The "black-bottom" cupcake was a bit plain but tastes like something your mother would have made.
The carrot cake is pretty good but the icing is too sweet!
The chocolate crinkle-cookie: B
Service is a mixed bag. Usually they wear a smile but occasionally a look of blank indifference. One time they opened for me at 10:25 after I came up to the door, saw the 11am posted opening time, and started walking away with a sad face. Another time a very pleasant woman named Fran bustled around preparing my items while the other two employees expertly ignored me while executing their closing tasks.Listed in: Dessert!, Lunch in Evanston, Top Ten Chocolate-Chip Cookies…, Soup's On!
-
Review from Dan R.
Chicago, IL
9/28/2011
Came in for a quick bite to grab. Got the roasted chicken Pita and, as a passing thought, the blueberry pie.
Drove to my job and had time to eat so I opened the pita and GROSS OUT! The cheese was discolored and hard on the outside and getting slimy on the inside. Lettuce was also slimy .. was enough to gag me. Luckily the blueberry pie was tasty so I didn't starve. When I called and spoke someone they said the food was made yesterday. The lying made the meal even worse. The only way that pita was made the day before was if she ate it and crapped it back out. -
Review from Ruthie M.
2/5/2009
A La Carte is both upscale and down-to-earth. They serve delicious gourmet creations from deli cases, frozen foods to-go, and fresh baked goods. I found it perfect for a working lunch. They have a small dining room where I could plug-in my laptop and work while enjoying fresh potato leek soup and chicken caesar wraps. EVERYTHING in the cases looked amazing! I had a very hard time choosing my lunch. If you like Barefoot Contessa recipes, you would really like this place. They had herbed chicken burgers with balsamic mayo, ham and cheese quesadillas, flank steak roulades, and TONS of other choices (many of them vegetarian). I ended up bringing home 3 other items to share with my fiance because I just couldn't decide on one thing.
Anyway, A La Carte is perfect for an easy take home dinner, a lunch-out, or a fresh baked breakfast. They also cater and do wedding planning! -
Review from Bradley J.
Chicago, IL
9/18/2009
I can't sum it up better than Serena or Ruthie did.
That being said, this place reminded me of Panera - except smaller, homelier, local-er, pricier, and with much much more variety - the menu changes daily.
I had a half cherry chicken salad sandwich (yum) and broccoli cheddar soup (meh) for $7.50. I succumbed to one of the day-old slices of carrot cake for $1.25, which was good despite the frosting having too much sugar and not enough cream cheese... -
Review from Brenda R.
Winnetka, IL
10/7/2010
I think the place has had great variety, but it's quality has changed, and the prices are ridiculous and enough to drive customers away.
Today: croissant/ham sandwich = the said croissant with a 1/2 slip of ham. No cheese unless some was accidentally dribbled underneath. No spice. No dressing. No veggie; Soup--Minestrone, just o.k. The broth thin, the noodles way al dente, almost like canned. The dessert: blueberry brulee. Looked appetizing, but very loose custard and blueberries atop an untasty, refrigerated-type pastry. COST?? $25.
Pass. -
Review from Serena R.
New York, NY
5/14/2007
This place was clearly created for the North Shore women who want to revel in their domesticity and serve wholesome, freshly cooked meals complete with homemade bread, but haven't the foggiest idea of how to cook anything beyond Lean Cuisine. This is the sort of food that you could easily re-plate and so long as you got rid of the tell tale containers, no one would be the wiser as to the number of hours you didn't spend slaving over a hot stove. I've never actually tried their pre-cooked meals, but their sandwiches are one of my main food groups these days. Every day they put 2 or 3 sandwich creations on special, anything ranging from curried chicken salad rolled in crepes (outstanding) to turkey, cheddar and apple slices with honey mustard on chewy baguettes (ditto). There's also an option of building your own sandwich which tends more towards the basic combos, although with high quality ingredients. The rotating salads are great as well, and if you can manage to walk by their dessert case without adding something to your order - you're a much stronger person than me.
FYI - Although the sandwiches are reasonable - $4 - $7, baked goods and overpriced beverages can make your lunchtime bill a bit steep. -
Review from Blair F.
Lake Forest, IL
4/4/2009
Wow, I never expected this place to be soooo great! The new owners have really improved the place alot. That blueberry french toast desert always has me dreaming for another piece. Great prices for whatever they sell.
