Thursday, April 27, 2017
Kings
Kings
Location: 5505 Park Pl, Rosemont
Cost: About $30 per person
My friends Amanda and Sal moved out to Arlington Heights together a few months back. Since many of their friends (myself included) live in the city, Amanda picked a restaurant in Rosemont to celebrate her birthday. She wasnt sure exactly where we should go, as long as it was in MB Financial Park. I got there a bit early and walked around to check the area out. I was nothing short of blown away. Id never seen a group of restaurants pander to poor American taste before in my life. There was a corny themed Greek, Irish, American, BBQ, German, and Mexican restaurant. Like one article in the Tribune put it, its the "Epcot of Eats." Thankfully, instead of choosing My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, Amanda decided on Kings, the bowling alley / sports bar / 60s American soda shop themed spot.
Logistics
Like all of the neighboring restaurants, Kings is huge. We were situated in the bar area at a long table for our party of 12. We had a reservation which wasnt really necessary. If wed gone bowling that mightve been required. As far as parking goes, theres this one gigantic, confusing, communal garage where I got to relive that one Seinfeld episode.
The service was great. The beer list was one of those that looks like its extensive but really just has a variety of InBev products. They do have frosted mugs though. The cost is reasonable with lots of burgers and sandwiches around $12. As expected, the portions are large and befitting of the setting.
The Food
To start we split a few of the Appetizer Samplers which had some spinach and artichoke dip, wings, buffalo chicken wontons, and cheeseburger spring rolls. The best item was the dip but there were only 4 crackers, making for somewhat of an issue. The other items mostly just made me feel bad about myself but tasted alright because they were properly fried.
The entrees I got to try were the Loaded Potato Pizza, the Steakhouse Burger, and the Steak Tip Sandwich. Amanda liked her pizza, but I dont know if mashed potatoes on top of crust will ever taste good to me. It was dry and salty. The burger had mushrooms, onion strings, and a horseradish mayo. If it hadnt been cooked past my liking it wouldve been great. The steak tip sandwich had a sweet glaze with plenty of jack cheese and sauteed onions on a thick ciabatta bun. The bread was somewhat crunchy and the steak was hard to bite off cleanly making the sandwich a mess to eat. The taste, however, was spot on.
Overall
You can tell from my intro that I was biased from the beginning of the meal. Each dish was solid except for one or two significant flaws. Ill go anywhere to celebrate a birthday with Amanda, but if you dont have to, I wouldnt haul out there for the food. Im giving Kings 1.5 out of 5 Pearls.
Cost: About $30 per person
My friends Amanda and Sal moved out to Arlington Heights together a few months back. Since many of their friends (myself included) live in the city, Amanda picked a restaurant in Rosemont to celebrate her birthday. She wasnt sure exactly where we should go, as long as it was in MB Financial Park. I got there a bit early and walked around to check the area out. I was nothing short of blown away. Id never seen a group of restaurants pander to poor American taste before in my life. There was a corny themed Greek, Irish, American, BBQ, German, and Mexican restaurant. Like one article in the Tribune put it, its the "Epcot of Eats." Thankfully, instead of choosing My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, Amanda decided on Kings, the bowling alley / sports bar / 60s American soda shop themed spot.
Logistics
Like all of the neighboring restaurants, Kings is huge. We were situated in the bar area at a long table for our party of 12. We had a reservation which wasnt really necessary. If wed gone bowling that mightve been required. As far as parking goes, theres this one gigantic, confusing, communal garage where I got to relive that one Seinfeld episode.
The service was great. The beer list was one of those that looks like its extensive but really just has a variety of InBev products. They do have frosted mugs though. The cost is reasonable with lots of burgers and sandwiches around $12. As expected, the portions are large and befitting of the setting.
The Food
To start we split a few of the Appetizer Samplers which had some spinach and artichoke dip, wings, buffalo chicken wontons, and cheeseburger spring rolls. The best item was the dip but there were only 4 crackers, making for somewhat of an issue. The other items mostly just made me feel bad about myself but tasted alright because they were properly fried.
The Appetizer Sampler
The entrees I got to try were the Loaded Potato Pizza, the Steakhouse Burger, and the Steak Tip Sandwich. Amanda liked her pizza, but I dont know if mashed potatoes on top of crust will ever taste good to me. It was dry and salty. The burger had mushrooms, onion strings, and a horseradish mayo. If it hadnt been cooked past my liking it wouldve been great. The steak tip sandwich had a sweet glaze with plenty of jack cheese and sauteed onions on a thick ciabatta bun. The bread was somewhat crunchy and the steak was hard to bite off cleanly making the sandwich a mess to eat. The taste, however, was spot on.
The Loaded Potato Pizza
The Steakhouse Burger
The Steak Tip Sandwich
Overall
You can tell from my intro that I was biased from the beginning of the meal. Each dish was solid except for one or two significant flaws. Ill go anywhere to celebrate a birthday with Amanda, but if you dont have to, I wouldnt haul out there for the food. Im giving Kings 1.5 out of 5 Pearls.
Available link for download
