I've always been fascinated by flight. Although I don't like to fly that much due to the pain-in-the-ass procedures it takes just to get on a passenger plane these days, I find myself still looking up at a passing jet and still have the same young boy amazement that a plane like a 747 can even get up - and stay up - in the sky. I've also been fascinated by the weekend pilots who fly small planes from point to point to have a "hundred dollar burger" at a diner near a small municipal airport. They call it a "hundred dollar burger" because it usually costs them that in fuel just to get the burger and to fly back home. One of the more famous places in the Midwest to get a $100 burger - and more - is a restaurant at the Schaumburg Regional Airport, a place called Pilot Pete's.
Pilot Pete's has been on my radar (OK, pun intended) for awhile, ever since it was named one of the Top Ten restaurants by John Purner, the author of The $100 Hamburger annual guide to restaurants at municipal airports around the U.S. (I picked up my copy through iBooks for only $4.99!) Purner's book lists and rates restaurants at airports - from the greasy spoon diners to five-star fine dining establishments - and has been a handy guide for pilots for over 15 years.
First of all, there is no Pilot Pete. According to owner John Minginas, who has owned Pilot Pete's since 2009, Pete is a pilot in the Caribbean, hopping from island to island to enjoy the tropical and laid back way of life. Pilot Pete's has been in business since 1999 when the Village of Schaumburg built a new terminal building for the small airfield that also had space for meeting rooms, small shops and a nice restaurant.
My wife had gone into Chicago to meet a friend of hers to go on a shopping trip late last year. They stayed at a hotel I got for them near Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and she called me one night when they were out to dinner. She said, "Have you ever heard of a place called Pilot Pete's," she asked.
I said, "Oh, yeah! I've got them on my 'restaurants to visit' list!"
She said, "Well, we're here now. The people at the hotel told us this was a great place to go." She said it was lively and looked like it had a pretty good menu. She told me later on that the food they had was excellent. I couldn't wait to give Pilot Pete's a shot. On a trip to Chicago a few weeks ago, I stayed out in the western suburbs and went to Pilot Pete's one evening.
Now, I've been past Pilot Pete's a handful of times, but never paid attention to the location. It's on a stretch on Irving Park Road in Schaumburg that I've traveled on in the past as kind of a short cut to a couple dealers I had in Elgin a few years ago. (see map) There's a large parking lot in front of the terminal building and steps going up to the main entrance of the building.
Walking past a couple rows of old airline seats in the hallway leading back to Pilot Pete's, I was greeted by a young lady at the hostess stand. At first, she tried to seat me at the bar. But after looking at the bar area and seeing only one seat open, I asked if I could sit in the dining room. She said that would be no problem and she took me to a booth near the windows that look out onto the tarmac at Schaumburg Regional Airport. She dropped off a menu and said my server would be by in a moment.
In John Purner's book, he wrote, "You can judge the food you're about to have (at a municipal airport restaurant) by the amount of airplane décor, and they have an inverse relationship." In other words, the more airplanes and aviation memorabilia on the walls and hanging from the ceiling, the worse the food. If you would follow that guideline at Pilot Pete's, you'd think that this would be an all-time horrible restaurant. As you walk past cases of model commercial airplanes, Pilot Pete's opens up into what looks like a large hanger with a curved metal ceiling. A small experimental two-seater plane hangs from the ceiling along with murals of planes and aviation equipment. To add to the flair of the decor, Pilot Pete's has a bit of a Caribbean feel with small tropical trees and plants, a large shark, and colorful table coverings. The bar area had an awning that gave it sort of a tropical cabana look. There is a semi-circular room in the back of the place - the Balloon Room - that is used for parties and private functions.
Looking through the menu, I found a number of items that included seafood appetizers, soups and salads, full entrees, steaks, seafood, a number of sandwiches and a hamburger that was given 5 stars by the $100 Hamburger. Now, I have a rule of thumb that a restaurant that has an extensive menu probably can do all of it well, but not very good. So with the airplane decor guideline from John Purner and my "too much food on the menu" rule, one would think Pilot Pete's would be a total washout.
One of the things they're famous for at Pilot Pete's is their lobster nachos - they take a whole steamed lobster tail, chop it up and mix it with chopped chives, celery, diced tomatoes, white pepper, and a special sauce, and then it's put on top of housemade tortilla chips. Then they top that with colby cheddar cheese, slice jalapenos and served with guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream. Oh my GOD!!! The description alone is making my stomach do jumping jacks right now, but the picture (courtesy Chicago's Best.com) is making my stomach scream.
While I seriously thought about getting one of their burgers, I was looking through the "Specials List" they had for the evening and I saw a pot roast bake that featured slow-roasted black angus beef mixed with mushrooms, green beans and peas, then topped with garlic-horseradish mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese. It had been a long week and I thought I needed a little comfort food, but that sounded somewhat heavy to me.
Looking at the menu, at the top of the "Signature Dishes" list was Pilot Pete's "World Famous Pot Roast". While the title was rather audacious, it got my attention. They slow cook a black angus roast in its own juices, then serve it with garlic-horseradish mashed potatoes and a vegetable of the day. It was similar to the pot roast bake, but was lighter. I decided to go with that for my meal.
The only problem was that no one had come over to greet me and ask for a drink order after the hostess took me to the booth. It was over 10 minutes and I was still sitting there, checking out the menu for a second time to see if there was anything I missed (there wasn't) while I waited for a server to come around. I was "this" close to getting up and leaving when a young lady came over to my table. She asked what I'd like to drink (a Lagunitas IPA they had on tap) and then asked if I knew what I wanted to eat. After I ordered, it took a another five plus minutes for her to bring me the pint of beer.
After getting a salad with fresh greens and French dressing for a starter, another person brought out my dinner. It featured a generous portion of chunks of slow roasted beef with a mound of the garlic-horseradish mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley consisting of green beans, sliced carrots and chopped broccoli. There was a small bit of brown gravy on top of the beef. It looked like the quintessential American comfort food meal.
The beef - at first bite - was a little dried out and a little chewy. But on the bottom of the plate sitting in its juice, the beef placed there was tender, moist and very flavorful. The horseradish-garlic mashed potatoes were more garlic than horseradish, but it wasn't a lot of garlic, either. The garlic-horseradish potatoes that I make at home from time to time have a lot more flavor than the ones at Pilot Pete's. The vegetable medley was sort of a throw away for me as I was concentrating on the beef and having a few bites of the mashed potatoes. Overall, the taste of the meal was very good and very satisfying.
OK, so maybe both John Purner and I are wrong about our preconceived notions on some restaurants. I think we were both wrong on Pilot Pete's. Even with all the aircraft memorabilia throughout the place and an extensive menu I thought my meal was very good. It was the proverbial "spot-hitter" for me. The value was also very good - the meal with a beer before the tip (not a big one because the service was rather choppy) was just under $20 bucks. And it was a lot of food. I want to go back to Pilot Pete's during the daytime when the weather is nicer, sit near the windows to watch the planes fly in and out, and have one of their burgers. The combination of good food, a good selection of beer and watching planes coming and going sounds like a fun and relaxing afternoon to me.
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