Found Kitchen & Social House

Like everyone else in town, I was really looking forward to going to Found, especially since it is a bit closer to where I live.

My two friends and I went in about 8 pm on a Saturday night, which is kind of crazy considering how busy the place gets, and that they don't take reservations.

We decided to suck it up and do the 1.5-2 hr wait, we just ate a bunch of popcorn at the movies so we weren't starving. They told us to go to the "parlor" room in the back where we found comfortable seating.

After about 20 minutes back there, someone finally took our drink order, which came about 15-20 minutes after that. The waiter seemed a bit flustered and was running around from table to table. He didn't ask if we wanted to order from the small bar menu or give us any information about specials, drinks, etc. He also slammed down our drink bill, which I found a bit rude, I thought they would transfer it to our dinner bill.

We finally were seated about about 1.5 hours at a cool little table with mis-matched chairs. The waiter was nice, and instructed us to order about 2-3 plates per person because they were "small." We decided quickly on a cheese board, two flat breads, and the lamb meatballs, only to be told that they were out of flat bread dough. Usually I understand these things happen, but COME ON, make enough dough, it's just flour, water and yeast. If they ran out of some weird meat or special vegetable, I'd understand, but pizza dough? Also, why didn't anyone tell us? We were there for two hours at this point, still was news to us.

So that derailed our plans, so we eventually decided on the Chef's board, polenta with blue cheese and duck egg, frites, lamb meatballs, and a pork sandwich.

Everything was good, not mind-blowing. Standouts were the lamb meatballs, and a vegetable terrine that came with the chef's board.

The amount of food we ordered bordered on too much, we probably didn't need the sandwich, although it was tasty. The "small" plates are really not that small and the food is heavy! Don't let them trick you into ordered too much.

On the plus side, the food is pretty reasonable, for a ton of food the bill came to $64, we paid for drinks separately. Expect to pay $30-40 per person with drinks.

Although there were issues, we had a really fun night at Found! I'm sure I'll be back, but there better be flat bread dough.

Found is a great place if you want to try unique dishes in a lively, eclectic atmosphere. We stuck to the "plates" -- portions were ample: try the chicken liver mousse with bacon marmalade & toast, heirloom bean salad, and chef's board of three cheeses.

It's true about Found: expect to wait at least one to two hours for a table, depending on what time you arrive. We got there 6:00 p.m. and were seated at 7:30 p.m. In the meantime, hanging out at the bar was fun and the cocktails were divine (if I could only recreate the Little Drink on the Prairie on a lazy summer evening!).

Although we were pleasantly surprised by getting a great table with cozy high back chairs, we did notice that some of the seating are sofas with a coffee table. I think that seating made it awkward to dine since the table was so low. Maybe the restaurant should reserve those few tables for drinks/apps instead.

Bottom line is that if you have the time, try Found, it's worth it.

What a great, hip addition to the Evanston restaurant scene! If you love good food in a fun atmosphere -- and don't mind long waits -- this is the place to go.