I’ve been lucky enough to be hitting up some of my absolute favorite neighborhood spots over the last few weeks and bringing you all the details. Dusek’s is a restaurant in the Pilsen neighborhood on the south side of Chicago that has been around for about 10 years, and we have been coming here since about 2015 when we moved in to the area. This restaurant has ebbed and flowed as far as quality and service, and I’m here today to tell you that Dusek’s is definitely back on the upswing after a bit of a glow-up and reopening about two months ago.

This restaurant, “back in the day,” had a Michelin star in light of its innovative and delicious, but also approachable and casual food. It was one of the only restaurants on the South Side of Chicago at the time with the distinction and we came here sort of often because the food was amazing and the prices were not that crazy. In around 2018 or 2019, though, I’m not really sure what happened, but the food quality started to suffer, and the service was truly abysmal, and I don’t think we had been back since then. They have new folks running things now, though, and they are definitely going for it.

The concept of this space now is divided in two – you have a slightly more formal “Dining Room” with a flexy four-course prix fixe offering from Thursday-Sunday evenings. This is the menu we tried this weekend. On the other half of the space, open daily, you have the “Tavern,” with a more casual menu, where I am dying to go back and try, like, everything. I am so glad they kept the cast-iron mussels on the tavern side menu “a la Dusek’s 2016,” which are seriously the best mussels I’ve ever had and was always my go-to order for years. The harissa spice can’t be beat. I hope to do an additional review of the Tavern side soon.

The vibe is definitely hip, and they’ve made some improvements with new tiled floors and upholstery, and some of the decor is new. They also made a massive improvement by adding a few bathrooms on the main floor of the restaurant, which is much appreciated and a super awesome upgrade. Our server was sweet and genuine, and they play funky but chill music. Service overall was excellent, and even though there were several different people bringing our food, it wasn’t strange, and everyone was knowledgable and excited about the food. The pacing of our four-course dinner was spot on. Wine pairings were poured and explained before each course.

The flexy four course prix fixe allows you to choose one out of three or four dishes for each course, which is nice when you want to try lots of different things. This time, I went full vegetarian, and Brian got all the meats. We were also served a pre-dinner drink for Mother’s Day, which was Dusek’s Meyer Spritz which was super springy and fresh, and I just loved it!

For the first course, I had the “Endive” and Brian had the “Beef Tartare.” We were encouraged to eat both as finger food, and with the little endive boats full of walnuts, cheese and balsamic, this was easy to do. I absolutely loved this dish and the slightly bitter endive meshed really well with the acidic balsamic and rich cheese and walnuts. The Beef Tartare was in bib lettuce taco form, and a bit tougher to eat as finger food. It had crispy fried onions on top, which added a nice crunch to the otherwise mushy meat, which was far more interesting on the palate than just plain old raw beef.

These were both paired with a California Riesling which was nice and petrol-y and apple-y on the nose, and had great acidity to go with the rich foods. I have to note here, though, that the wine pairings are made, not with each specific dish in mind, but each course, and the wines didn’t always hit with each choice. I would suggest a more custom pairing be done, especially since you can choose between different plates for each course ranging from vegetarian to omnivore, and they don’t always have the same flavor profiles.

For the second course, I tried the “Burrata” and Brian had the “Pork Belly.” This was probably my favorite course of the evening, on both accounts. The burrata was not just some big giant hunk of wet cheese dropped in the middle of the plate with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic. It was an exquisitely prepared smash of cheese, mushrooms, peas, onions, and ground hazelnuts. The texture and flavor combo, along with the delicious rose wine called Babycheeks (!!) that was paired with this course, was a huge hit. Brian’s pork belly was also absolutely ridiculous. It was a solid 3-ish ounce piece served with asparagus and a smoked hollandaise sauce. I am not a fan of hollandaise at all, but whatever they did to it in the smoking process just made it taste incredible. The combo of the acidic hollandaise with the ultra rich, fatty, and flavorful pork belly was a revelation, and I wanted my own after the taste that I had. Your other current choice in this particular course is mussels, so it is the hardest choice to make out of all four courses, I think.

For the third course, I had the “Ricotta Dumplings,” and Brian had the “Slagel Farms Sirloin.” I was slightly disappointed in my choice, but only slightly, because I was envisioning light fluffy gnocchi-like dumplings, but these were much thicker and heavier with a lot more flour. The morel mushrooms included with this dish were also slightly overdone and a bit on the rubbery side. Overall, I think this dish needs a little work, and the sauce had a ton of acid and some bitterness, which I felt needed to be balanced out with something else either fruity or fatty. Additionally, the wine that was paired with this course, a Carignan from California, was also uber acidic and very young, and so the pairing was just a bit too overwhelming and didn’t enhance the course. Brian’s Sirloin was deliciously prepared and was topped with gobs of crispy potatoes. The meat was super tender, and the quality doesn’t get much better than Slagel Farm.

For the fourth course, Brian chose the “Banoffee Pie,” and I had “Smoked Panna Cotta.” Brian’s pie had all of his favorite things – banana, smoked toffee, and chocolate whip, so he really loved it. I am low key obsessed over the Panna Cotta. The cream base itself was really mildly flavored, but that was because the true star of this course was the smoked pistachio dust, which was more like a crumble, and the espresso-yuzu granita on top. You all already know I’m a sucker for pistachio, and I thought that the pistachio cake from San Morello in Detroit (which you can read all about here!) was the best dessert ever; but this Panna Cotta with the pistachio dust is really hanging in my brain as one of the best. We were able to choose from a bunch of different cocktails or dessert wines as our dessert drink pairing and we both went for espresso martinis, which we, and the whole world right now, seem to be obsessed with. Yum!

Afterwards, we went downstairs to the Punch House to have some after-dinner cocktails, and they have got some delicious libations down there. The mood is distinctively retro paired with a speakeasy vibe, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the fluorescent fish tank behind the bar. The beats are even more funky and fun down here, and I wouldn’t skip grabbing a cocktail in this neat spot.

The four course menu at Dusek’s Dining Room is not going to break the bank at $70 per person, and the beverage pairing is $40, which is not bad for four full sized drinks. It was much appreciated that the wine pours were a solid 3-4 ounces rather than usual stingy two ounces. It seems like Dusek’s wants its Michelin star back, and I think with a few tweaks they might be able to do it. If you haven’t been here for a while, don’t hesitate to go back and give this lovely space another shot!