Though “imperfect,” Jeff Ruby finds that “Most everything that emerges” from the Girl & the Goat “is fresh and fun.” Going for the “wow factor” with every dish “generates seemingly effortless mini masterpieces.” That includes the “wonderful sweet-salty seared flounder” and the “soft-shell crab over an elote.” [Chicago Magazine]
While Sawtooth has “a lot of well-cooked dishes,” Michael Nagrant thinks too many of them “seem to be missing sauce.” The the pho has “a nice beefy tea-like quality,” but it doesn’t have the “interesting textural contrasts of spongy tendon meatballs and the slightly chewy bits of honeycomb tripe,” which he can find up on Argyle Street. In the end it’s a “good starter-level bowl,” but not enough to “satisfy a West Loop gourmand’s gentrification dream.” [Newcity Resto]
