Preservation

We’ve been to Preservation twice with extended adult family members and everyone raved about the flavorful food, and great atmosphere under the covered patio. Our first time was for an excellent dinner before halloween (all the decorations were outstandingly festive!) and our second time was a lunch date Sunday Oct. 5, 2023. There was live music on the patio from 1:00-4:00 provided by the Jesse Perez Experiment playing classic rock songs on acoustic guitar. Mr. Perez played and sand a wide variety of music- some sweet and mellow, others with gravel in his voice and beat that had my toes tapping. So much fun! Our table ordered the steak skewers, lamb skewers, Korean Pork Belly Tacos, Italian Sausage Flatbread, and Tomato Bacon soup. Everyone sampled a bit of all the dishes and had nothing but praise. Lots of lip smacking! It was a cool day but the outside overhead heaters and windscreens surrounding the patio kept things comfy. Can’t wait to go back for another Sunday lunch with music!

Birthday lunch at Preservation was a wonderful gift from my husband. First time here. My tastebuds were exploding with happiness at each byte of the ASPARAGUS AND LEMON WHIPPED RICOTTA ON APPLE SLICES. Each bite of the WILD MUSHROOM TART was exquisite. SHRIMP & CHEESE GRITS classic Southern and delicious. Preservation has become one of my favorites in the western burbs. Oh, and the old fashion was a good balance between sweetness, bourbon, and bitters, good mixology.

Food was absolutely delicious. There is a wide variety of options and is best shared with friends so that you can enjoy the diversity of flavors. The staff was very friendly and helpful in making our choices. The meal was long but by design. Perfect for a night out with friends to catch up. Live music on the outside patio for those who enjoy eating outside, which I do not but the inside was comfortable.

I used to really like this place and am hoping they just had a really off night. I was surprised the waiters / bussers were dressed as if they were going to the beach. I only saw thin tank tops, jean shorts and cargo pants. I understand it’s a hot day but my goodness this place is really missing the mark by not enforcing a dress code or creating a dressing standard for the staff. Anyways, we started off with the butter lettuce salad, which had a good dressing but really wasn’t anything special. Once we finished the first salad, we got our crispy duck spinach salad which was the MVP of the evening. The salad was very tasty and I loved the crispy duck/ rice and dried cherry combo. We also ordered the beef and prawn skewers which were okay. The beef skewered came with a sauce that was listed as mustard but tasted like a sour horseradish (not pleasant). The prawn skewers had a good chili Mayo. I used to really like coming here when it didn’t resemble some sort of shore house… Not pictured is my “lean mule” which can only really be described as a blueberry lemonade.