I've had better food and service at Bennigan's - appropriate comparison since this is a Bennigan's concept. I was hopeful despite the lineage b/c after all Chrysler makes Mercedes and Ford makes Jaguar. However, the meal peaked with the light, airy & sweet cornbread muffins - served off of the cookie sheet upon which they were baked. This was a weird way to start the meal for a restaurant trying to be upscale, and it was a harbinger of things to come. From the stench of fried fish that slams your olfactories upon entering the too dimly lit dining area to the busboys and waiters dressed in identical kitchen whites, I was expecting the worst - and I got it. The seafood sampler was huge and underwhelming save for the surprisingly good crab cakes (all crab and virtually no filler). The cioppino was not good - overly thick tomato broth (almost like pasta sauce instead of a broth) smothered the fish. The filet was well done but nothing special, and the lobster tail was edible only when immersed in butter. The creme brulee was too sweet and had almost a soup-like consistency with none of the vanilla bean sediment that usually portends a good brulee. The service was earnest but uneven. I wouldn't go back and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I know. In a city where one could eat at a different great restaurant every night of the year (from Alinea to Zapatisita and every hole-in- the-wall in between) and not repeat oneself, Devon has about as much of a chance of survival as we Chicagoans have of seeing a 2006 Sox v. Cubs World Series.
Pros: Location
Cons: Food, Lighting/Ambince, Service
more