Sugar Toad, Naperville IL 11/28

2139 CityGate Lane, Naperville, 630-778-8623

A brand new place located in the Arista Hotel at 59 and Butterfield. It is a strange layout, with a small bar right in the dining space and a long slender room overlooking the parking lot.

There was only one other table in the place, it was Friday night after Thanksgiving at 8 pm, and it was strange to dine being able to hear the conversation at the table next to us. The service was good, they used 6 waiters to deliver all entrees at the same time, but the wine guy felt compelled to listen/join in on our conversation.

I drank beer and was bit disappointed they didn't have Hacker Pshor, just Blue Moon, while everyone else drank wine. They did provide a complimentary appetizer, their "famous" crab cakes which were good.

Our party included a master chef, and his wife who is also a chef. Her comment was "this guy knows how to cook". The menu was a bit limited, and I had the Kobe flat-iron steak. It was really interesting, I have had Kobe steaks before, but this cut was new to me. I liked it, but it was really different.

It was a long meal which was strange since there was only 1 other table, it was also on the expensive side, total bill with tip came in at $204.03. We had a couple of bottles of wine, several beers, salads, entree and desert.

Everyone else in our party of 6 really enjoyed the meal, while I thought it was better than average. I would return if I had to.

Rating 8+