(Outside of Ted's Montana Grill in Downtown Naperville)
I went to the nearest location of Ted's Montana Grill, and since it was in a downtown area, I thought that it would be small. Upon walking in, I thought my hypothesis was correct. When the hostess led my companion and me to a booth, I was proven wrong. The restaurant itself is quite large on the inside, but the walkways are narrowed by tables on the left side and booths on the other, which makes it somewhat awkward whilst walking to or from a table or booth. Each table and booth has four placements ready before customers sit down (hostesses remove or add placement settings when needed), with four silverware sets wrapped in a cloth napkin placed neatly on the table for said four customers. I took note that the hardwood floors that covered all of the dining area were hollow. The noise level was not loud at all, and due to the closeness and privacy the booths offered, it felt as if my companion and I were the only ones there.
The first Ted Montana's Grill opened in Columbus, Ohio in 2002, when environmentalist and business leader, Ted Turner, and restaurateur, George McKerrow Jr., came together. Turner dreamed of sharing his love of the outdoors, Big Sky Country, and the food eaten in that region. Turner also wished to celebrate the iconic bison that once roamed the Great Plains in the United States. Ted's Montana Grill's promotion of bison as an option has made the other red meat a more popular choice in restaurants, which has encouraged ranchers to increase the size of their herds.
Environment: Because of the downtown area location, the Ted's Montana Grill in Naperville is surrounded by various shops, restaurants, and of course, traffic-packed streets and pedestrian-packed sidewalks. We went around dinner time, so it was dark outside, and very cold. Walking up to the restaurant was pleasant due to all of the Christmas lights lining the trees along the sidewalk. Once inside, the lighting was drastically different than that of the other restaurants nearby. It was dim, which gave Ted's Montana Grill a more calming effect.
Service: Our waitress quickly made her way to our booth once we were seated. She was quite friendly, and once I explained that I had never been to Ted's Montana Grill but had been told to try a bison burger, she explained to me the benefits of eating bison over any other red meat. The choice meat, she explained, has lower cholesterol and higher protein than beef. Some people think that bison tastes "gamey," but she reassured me that the taste was sweeter than any other red meat. The waitress even told me that if I did not like the bison burger that she would take it back and give me any other type of burger (either chicken or beef) free of charge.
(Wise words from the coasters used at Ted's Montana Grill)
Throughout our meal, we did not have to ask for anything; the servers were quick with bringing orders out and refilling drinks. The staff seemed to all maintain a friendly, positive, patient, and helpful attitude with all of the customers that night, even with children sitting near us that were beginning to be somewhat disruptive.
It only took a few minutes before our appetizer was brought out, and approximately twenty minutes after we ordered, our entrees were brought to our table. Due to the freshness of the cookies, it took about ten minutes for them to arrive (the wait was worth it though).
Menu: I took my time in deciding on what to try at Ted's Montana Grill. I went through the menu and to my surprise, bison was an option for most of the meals. Although a bit pricey, the food was excellent, better than I had expected.
I noted that the prices were simply numbers preceding the menu item, a factor that I ignored for the sake of thoroughly evaluating Ted's Montana Grill.
Also, I believe that the choices offered on the menu were quite appropriate for a restaurant that focuses on grilling, and adding options for children and customers not in the mood for meat was an excellent choice to include in the menu at Ted's Montana Grill.
SInce both my companion and I are not yet 21, we could not order any specialty drinks (we stuck with plain waters). However, I did look over some of the drinks the bar made at Ted's Montana Grill, and it appeared that they offered a wide variety of alcoholic beverages, a wise decision to include in a downtown area.
(Alcoholic beverages featured at Ted's Montana Grill)
My companion and I chose a crab cake as an appetizer, which our waitress explained how the chefs used 100% crab meat and not so much breading in the crab cakes. The crab cake was delectable, one of the best crab cakes I have ever had the pleasure to consume (and I've had crab cakes with freshly caught crabs).
(St. Phillip's Island Crab Cake, almost cut in half by myself)
I did not have to have our waitress take back the bison bacon cheeseburger I had ordered because it was absolutely delicious. When I had ordered, she informed me that bison cooks like beef does, so I asked for my burger to be well done (I'm not much of a fan of a pinkish color in my meat). The burger was juicy, and it did have a sweeter taste than a beef cheeseburger would have, which John Reh agreed with in his review of the restaurant. I added mustard to it, but the burger would have been just fine without any condiments at all.
(Ted's Bacon Cheeseburger, Bison Meat)
If you wanted something with a bit of a kick to it, I'd suggest the burger my companion got. He prefers spicier foods (I do not), and I have tried the menu choices he makes, and though they are too hot for me, they always seem to still be delicious. I was not able to try his burger, but by the way he basically licked his plate when he finished the burger suggested that it was just as good as mine.
(Red Rock [Burger], Bison Meat)
We ended the night with a simple dessert, freshly baked cookies. I was somewhat wary on trying the cookies because I do not like crunchier cookies, and I figured that a restaurant that was technically a grill would not make soft cookies like I enjoy. Boy, was I wrong. Freshly baked was correct. My snickerdoodle was soft, with crispy edges (the perfect combination for a cookie), and my companion's chocolate chip cookie had literally just came out of the oven. The chocolate melted in your mouth, and the warmth made it even softer.
(Dessert Menu from Ted's Montana Grill)
Bathrooms: Having a small bladder (and downing three glasses of water over the span of an hour), I made my way to the bathroom, which is near the entrance of Ted's Montana Grill. Much like the entire restaurant, the bathrooms also had dim lighting. The bathroom was quite clean, maybe one of the cleanest bathrooms I have ever been in in a busy restaurant. The granite counters and tiny hexagonal tiled floor were well kept, with no paper towels littering either area. There were only a few stalls, but there was a comfortable-looking bench under the diaper changing station where mothers could sit and wait while their young children went to the bathroom (because they "can go potty by [themselves]").The stall doors were wooden, and I think that that added to the classy feel the bathroom gave.
(Bison Trophy, near the entrance and over the walkway into the bathrooms at Ted's Montana Grill)
Ted's Montana Grill must be a "green" restaurant in more ways than just the kale used frequently for dishes because the toilet handles themselves were ones that I had never seen. The handles were also green, and there were instructions that said to pull the toilet handle up to "flush liquid waste" and to push the handle down to "flush solid waste." This was a foreign concept to me, but I followed what the sticker said.
The soap was also powdered (which I found strange), and you had to wet your hands, put the tiny soap beads on your hands, but when I rubbed my hands together to wash them, the beads did not dissolve. Instead, they seemed to slowly fall off, leaving my hands feeling smooth and smelling lovely.
I mentioned these weird features to my companion when I returned to our booth, and he suggested that it was something environment-conscious restaurants incorporate.
Miscellaneous: I paid careful attention to the details in the restaurant (even more so than I usually do), and I made several notes on my phone about some interesting details I found. The table cloths were actually old-fashioned, detailed, and enhanced maps of the Western part of the United States. The cloth napkins were checkered, which added to the Western feeling the "Montana" part of the name of the restaurant gave off. Something my companion laughed at was a comment I made about the forks wrapped inside the cloth napkin. The forks, it seemed, were made for giants (I have small hands), but the steak knife was for normal sized hands. The table also had a mirror on the wall, with a jar of sweetener packets, salt, a pepper grinder, and a can filled with paper straws on a small tray directly in front of it.
(Table setting at Ted's Montana Grill)
I found it strange that a server placed a small bowl of cut up vegetables on the table. I tried one, thinking it was a pickle slice, but I was disgusted to find that the bowl was full of cucumber slices (I hate cucumbers). I'm not entirely sure what the cucumbers are for, perhaps a type of snack while waiting for your meal (like how Mexican restaurants bring you chips and salsa).
(Bowl of cucumber slices, courtesy of Ted's Montana Grill)
Overall, my first time at Ted's Montana Grill proved to be one of the best restaurant experiences I have ever had. The food was great, the service was outstanding, the atmosphere was exceptional, and the location was perfect. Many other customers that have dined at the restaurant would agree, and I recommend everyone looking for an amazing meal at fair prices should eat at Ted's Montana Grill.
*All photographs were taken on my iPhone 5C using my amazing photography skills*
