Oak Tree - 900 Michigan

Shopping causes hunger and therefore knowing a good place to eat while shopping is key to any Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Personally, I find the options limited on North Michigan Avenue and I'm sure there are some of you who will disagree with me...let me rephrase. I find the options limited when it's freezing cold outside and you want to sit down for lunch and not wait 3 hours (thanks, Cheesecake Factory, but no thanks).

C thought that we should splurge on lunch last weekend since it was Valentine's Day and steered me towards the 6th floor at 900 N Michigan and to Oak Tree. We were hemming and hawing about whether to sit or not to sit and we finally sat in the dining room. The menu is long, lots of sandwiches and salads and brunch items. I finally settled on two salad options and C decided on a sandwich and we would split some fries.

After bringing back our $3.75 iced teas, the waiter answered a few questions for me about the menu - basically confirming that everything I asked him about was not what I thought it was and that I was basically making up my own salad. Great, bring me the Special then, dude. I ended up ordering a side salad with a scoop of tarragon chicken salad with it. C ordered a grilled veggie and goat cheese sandwich, plus a side of fries. At this juncture, the waiter left our table. I want to make this point because he had the opportunity to say something to us and didn't.

When he brought my salad, I was excited, it was delicious and I ate every bite of it. The chicken salad is not loaded with mayo, it's light and herbal and there's lots of chicken. The salad itself it a mix of baby lettuces and crunch romaine, tomatoes, and carrots. I opted for dijon vinaigrette on the side and barely used it with the chicken salad...so good. C's sandwich was huge - thick Texas-style toast with gobs of creamy chevre, thinly sliced veggies and toasted to perfection. Although overwhelmed at first, he was totally into it and polished it off. Also on the plate (and here's the kicker) was a small pile of crispy French fries...what? Where was this comment when we were ordering? Like "do you want an additional side of fries?" Or even "the sandwich comes with fries" because on the menu it doesn't designate that that is the case...either way, it was odd and we sorta just didn't really understand the guy at all ANYWAY, but the whole fry thing was strange.

So, the food was quite decent and the room has recently been redone - it's light and airy and modern in there, but totally comfortable. It seemed like there might've been a lot of Four Seasons guests and locals, but I would definitely go back for a shopping break again. You gotta patronize these places so that hopefully they keep popping up :)