years ago i would go here 3-4 times a week for eggs. Â Back then it was homey and simple and the waitresses were friendly. Â Then they decided to become a "bistro"-its never been the same. Â The "bistro" is absolutely horrible. Â The food is BAD- it seems that they changed every supplier- even the toast tastes horrible. Â The fancy menu now has liquor and crab cakes- excuse me? Â If you can't make an egg properly how can you even consider crab cakes and steak? Â Gone are the friendly waitresses- now they are simply incompetent bodies. Â The owners were never friendly to begin with- even when I was a regular they never said hello and kept giving me a stupid menu even tho I ordered the same thing every time. Â Don't waste your time and money- prices are now "bistro" prices and the food is worse than sub standard-ick.
Review Source:Good service, but less than average food. My husband and I were driving around our neighborhood and decided to stop here for dinner the other night. Â I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich which was awful, who messes up a grilled chicken sandwich?! The chicken was all fat and it had no flavor at all. The sweet potato fries tasted like there were right out of the microwave. The barley soup was okay, but tasted like it was from a can. My husband ordered the monte cristo sandwich, which was basically ham and cheese only and the bread was just covered in egg, not the best. Overall, below average food. Not only was the food bad, the atmosphere is so outdated and odd. I would not recommend this place for dinner.
Review Source:They were very generous and let our group use their private room which provided privacy and ability for good conversation. I ordered the prime rib dinner, which was split between two diners and ordered a separate onion soup. The soup looked delicioous with bubbly cheese on top. Regretably it was filled with a little soup and lots of bread. I was reluctant to complain as I was with a group and did not want to slow down service. The prime rib which they were nice enough to split for us was almost nothing but fat and chewy, chewy meat. I asked the waitress were their prime rib usually this fat and whe said she never ate them. Again had I been  with with one or two people I might have complained but was reluctant with the group. At 18;95 this prime rib was a rip off. People ordering chopped steak or sandwiches seemed to enjly them.Steer clear of the pricier entrees here.
Review Source:I went to this place two years ago for breakfast and found it "fine".  But with breakfast, why go for "fine" when I can go to Walker Bros and spend more and get "good" or spend the same at old IHOP and get "pretty good".  A year ago, I stopped here while on a walk, sat outside, ordered a beer and some aps.  The beer was good, Bells.  The  appetizers were some of the worst.  Wings...ug, we almost sent them back.  Tasted like wings out of the freezer section at Jewel,  No crispyness... really "boingy" and smushy.  We didnt even eat them.  We also made the mistake of ordering the nachos.  Pretty much orange nacho cheese thrown on chips.  THey need to remove both of these items from the menu or drastically improve them.  Which brings me to my last visit, and thankfully the visit that redeemed this whole restaurant in my eyes.  I wanted to grab dinner with my daughter and wanted a place that would have fresh vegetables.  I remember my mother-in-law saying this place had ditched the canned veggies in favor of fresh a few years back.  We sat outside and had an extremely nice, helpful young waiter.  We sat outside and the weather was warm, our water was promptly refilled often.  I ordered the tilapia special with twice baked potato, fresh veggies, and greek salad (14.95) and a cup of chicken soup.  The salad was all green, fresh romaine, with the BEST homemade greek dressing I've ever had.  I was soaking this stuff up with the bread it was so good.  The soup was homemade and not too salty (like most restaurants make it), perfect.  Fish was cooked perfectly, the kid loved the fresh veggies (zucchini, squash, carrots, etc) and the twice baked potato was filled with cheese, chives, and bacon bits.  The meal was a hit all around. Â
I will definitely return and get the greek salad and some of the restaurant specialties. Â
One other improvement this restaurant really needs to make is updating their children's menu.  It was terrible.  "grilled cheese with a side of  M&Ms"..  "fried chicken tenders and fries"  Terrible.  People today are searching for healthy options for their children.  Whole wheat pasta...fresh vegetables... fresh fruit.  Maybe even like a whole wheat quesadilla with side of veggies.
One of the biggest pluses about this place is its location. Â It is right across the street from St. Joe's in Wilmette and right downtown. Â Parking is great as there are plenty of spots on the street and the restaurant has its own small parking lot next to it. Â
The atmosphere of the place is your standard fare for a Greek diner with the standardized booths and metal chairs. Â The service was decent but it took a long time to get our check and the refill on our drinks were slow to come. Â
I had the French Onion soup to begin with. Â I'm pretty sure that it came right out of a can and that they simply put in a little bread and melted some cheese on top; granted I love French Onion Soup so even this was decent. Â It just wasn't anything special. Â For my meal I had the steak sandwich. Â I'm a big fan of the sweet potato fries, they were a great alternative to the normal french fries and were done well. Â They didn't ask me how I wanted the sandwich cooked and it was a little undercooked. Â The inside was red and cold which is fine for certain steaks but not a steak sandwich. Â My friend had the lamb and the amount of meat he got was paltry. Â It was also fairly expensive; splitting the bill was thirty bucks each!
I can't speak to breakfast as I only had dinner there so perhaps they do a better breakfast. Â I'm not sure I'll go back unless someone else wants to go there and I'm just along for the ride.
The WORST breakfast experience I've had in a long time. Â Everything was cold, and the service was inept and abusive (the waitress yelled at us (literally) for switching plates when we were trying to fix her delivery error). Â A strange and sad experience - I used to go here as a kid and enjoyed it thoroughly. Â Head to Walker Brothers instead.
Review Source:I love this place. They have such an extensive menu that every time I go there I get to try something new. It's just simple diner food but it's good.
Also, they serve Intelligentsia coffee, which is WONDERFUL.
The prices are a little high for diner food, but I assume that's just because it's on the North Shore.
I go here when I'm visiting my parents and we are trying to decide on somewhere to eat. It's a place we can all find something we like.
Driving around in Wilmette this morning  in need of some needed food I stumbled upon this place.   Of course the place had a ton of people in it and I needed food fast, and I got seated right away,  thank God.  We ordered our food and got it pretty fast considering the crowd.  The waitress was great and the guy that sat us was super nice.
As for the food, I can't complain, it was really good. Â Big portion size, very tasty and not expensive...What more do you need? Â Â I will be going back there again.
Hard to tell whether Ridgeview is a restaurant or a daycare center for unruly kids. Judging from the screaming kids running up and down the aisles and their parents ignoring them, which I've experienced all three or four times I've been there, I'd say it's a daycare center with good food.
Review Source:I went here partly out of convenience and partly because the menu served both breakfast and lunch (and they have a full bar) and I didn't really know what I'd be in the mood for until I looked over the menu.
Ridgeview is your standard Greek-owned coffee shop/diner/family restaurant, and as such, the menu is huge and the prices are fair. You'd be hard pressed to find a table that didn't contain at least one toddler or senior citizen.
My mom and I got there at about 1:00 on a Saturday and couldn't believe how crowded it was. We were quoted a wait of about ten minutes which was considerably shorter than the three old biddies who insisted on waiting for a table in their favorite server's section and were quoted thirty minutes.
Our wait ended up being closer to twenty minutes and that put us at a bit of a time constraint so we let our waitress know and she told us that we'd be better off ordering off the 'breakfast' side of the menu as opposed to the 'lunch' side because the food would be ready faster. We heeded her advice and ordered omelets.
They arrived lightning fast, which was greatly appreciated. Unfortunately neither of us really liked them. They were overdone to the point of being rubbery and the feta cheese in my mom's caused her to proclaim that "she's had better." My mom is not high maintenance when it comes to food so it must have been pretty bad for her to say that.
The hash browns (shredded) tasted like they were cooked hours before and held on the grill until serving. They were dry, tasteless, and inappropriately crunchy. Note: crunchy, not crispy. You also get a choice of pancakes or toast. I'd skip the pancakes - they were tough and tasted of malt. Ick.
Because neither of us cleaned our plates we were able to get out of there in time to see our scheduled play. The waitress took care of our check very expeditiously and her efforts to get us in and out were very much appreciated. Even though we didn't care for the food, we left her a generous tip as she was the saving grace.
As we left we noticed the three old biddies were still waiting for their table. I think one of them was taking a nap while she waited.
*I can't say with absolute certainty that I'll never be back to Ridgeview again as I just learned that William Petersen has been known to stop by for a weekday breakfast when he's town and just wants to blend in with the other North Shore folks. My William Petersen stalking just might force me to return, but literally, that's about the only reason I'd come back.
A pretty solid family restaurant in the heart of Wilmette. On the Saturday morning my wife and I visited, it was probably 40% full and consisted mostly of retirees and young families with the requisite children screaming, crying or generally running amok as Mom and Dad chugged their Bloody Marys and contemplated their life decisions. Aside from that, the atmosphere was pleasing, well-kept and clean. Our waitress was always on the move and kept us happy with fresh coffee (good strong coffee, by the way) and frequently checked in with us. The Denver omlette I had was as good as I might expect at a diner, but nothing memorable. The hashbrowns were tasty and had the requisite "krisp kote" that should be required everywhere. My wife enjoyed the crabcake eggs benedict, but admitted that it needed something to make it special.
I think we'll definitely return for lunch and try Ridgeview out again. Some interesting options on the lunch/dinner menu and they have drink specials every day so that doesn't hurt one bit.
I've only gone for dinner, so I can't speak for the breakfasts here, but I've been extremely happy with the dinner selections. This is not your trendy, hip, urban dining experience, but it is consistent, a great value, with an expansive menu that has something on it for everyone. Portions are generous and the service friendly and helpful. I love the crab cakes that have been on the specials for the last few weeks - I wish they would add them to the regular menu (I think I like them more than the ones at Davis Street Fish Market). Just an all around, decent, family restaurant that isn't another cookie cutter chain.
Review Source:Not many places in the area so tried this one evening when I wanted to meet up in this particular neighborhood with a friend. The food was okay, but definitely not great. Â The service was completely fine, definitely no complaints there. But I don't plan on going back, it just wasn't a good enough culinary experience to bother with it again.
Review Source:The good folks at Ridgeview are super, super nice when we organize our recurring book discussion series there. The menu is classic enough that everyone finds something they like, although vegetarian options tend to go the salad or pasta route (with a couple of sandwich exceptions). Service is very courteous. The back room is great for groups: spacious and set apart enough from the rest of the restaurant that you feel like you have privacy, but not so much that you feel like you've been banished to some far-off neglected corner.
Review Source:I would say the Ridgeview is between A-OK and Yay! I'm a fan. I say this because Wilmette isn't exactly the culinary capital of Chicagoland, and when I come up north to visit the parentals, Ridgeview is one of those places we know we can come for the basics.
And the basics ain't bad. They certainly have quite the selection: standard brunch options like pancakes, omelets, french toast; salads, soup of the day, and diner fair like hamburgers, club sandwiches, and a tasty french dip sandwich; pasta entrees and fresh fish daily.
Everything I've had there has satisfied me, yet it has never been a wow-in-my-mouth good time. And that's fine. Sometimes, what you eat just needs to do the job.
There isn't really a lot to stay about this local Wilmette establishment. It's a fine place to get basic food in Wilmette, where there aren't a lot of good restaurants. The place is very kid-centric, and to order alcohol you have to walk up to the bar, which is a pain. Still, it's a fine place for lunch, dinner, or a snack. One time I went to a wedding at a church across the street, and I came over here to grab some fries when I was bored between the ceremony and reception. That was pretty chill.
Review Source:I do hate the verbal cop-out of "It is what it is" (and also, the fact that there are now catalogs that sell t-shirts and pillows and signs with this asinine statement as well). Â BUT, with Ridgeview, it apparently is what it is. Â
I have gone there forever, and their food is just plain good. Â The atmosphere is just plain, and the patrons who come from mass at St. Joe's on Saturdays are apparently just good.
Highlights: omelettes, french toast, chicken noodle soup, chicken and vegetable kabobs, fries, and the Ahi tuna on field greens I had last night. Â
I cannot comment on the quality of the calf's liver, but the fact that it's on the menu is somehow comforting - like remembering that Andy Rooney is still alive.
This place experienced a grand makeover a coupla' summers ago. Now the seating is all "open" and "airy" and the interior design is supposed to reflect ... classiness? Expensive taste? Who the hell knows.
As a young tot, I enjoyed the grilled cheese. As a teen, I enjoyed the smoking section. And now, well.... I don't really care for their overpriced North Shore dishes.
It's a lot of hot air. Sorry, John.
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