When`s the last time you went out to eat and were taken care of ”in a nice family way, but as professional as any city shaker-upper?”
That promise printed inside the original 1930s menu still holds true today at the Milk Pail in East Dundee, a restaurant that for almost 60 years has managed to offer a combination of fine dining and ambience with down-home comfort in a country setting.
Formerly a part of the adjacent McGraw Wildlife property known as the Fin `N Feather Farm, the place was originally set up as a private hunt club back in the 1920s and early 1930s, according to Bruce Oehlerking, who bought the restaurant and adjoining village of shops and outlet stores in 1987 with partner Dick Burkart.
You`ll still find hunter`s fare like breast of pheasant sauteed with Marsala wine ($17.95), venison steak flanked with bacon and topped with Bordelaise sauce ($16.95), or grilled quails served with mushrooms and bacon rosettes ($10.95), as well as the more domesticated fowl choices, steaks and fish (try the Fin `N Feather Rainbow Trout, ”a famous 60-year tradition,”
topped with two strips of maple-flavored bacon, $11.95).
”We`re serving the same basic menu they did 50 years ago,” Oehlerking said, ”which is good home cooking served pleasantly with a great ambience.” Native gardens, woods and wildlife make up the view while a subtle outdoor theme is continued inside in the form of flora and fauna etched into glass doors separating the three dining rooms. Each room has its own look and feel, from the rustic greens and browns of the hunt room, to the airy garden room or the almost ”pop” porch room with its original 1940s pink table tops and green vinyl dining chairs.
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The Milk Pail, 14 N. 630 Route 25, East Dundee. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant offers a Friday night buffet from 4 to 9 p.m.; a Sunday champagne brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and early bird dinner specials weeknights from 4 to 6 p.m. Parties and banquets are welcome. Reservations are strongly suggested on weekends. Call 708-742-5040.
