1818 Bistro

We enjoyed the beautiful weather and sat on the patio. We wanted the spinach and artichoke dip but they were out of it. Instead we ordered the guacamole bites. They remind me of all won tons filled with guacamole and served with a pepper jelly sauce. The bites were a little light on the guacamole filling. The pepper jelly sauce is delicious and adds more flavors and heat.

Lunch with daughter and son-in-law after baby shower. Wife and I split a chicken breast with seasonal vegetables. It was very good, but portion size was about half of what it should have been for the price. SiL thought he cracked a tooth on his entree, but it was actually a bread bag clip in his food. Server said he would take care of it, but found that nothing came off of bill.

Our server Hannah was Awesome! She recommended things and helped us order as it was our first time being at 1818 Bistro. The food was delicious and very filling. The atmosphere was great. We had a great time, and if we weren't leaving on Sunday, we would definitely go back. We had the Philly Chicken, the Chicken Wrap, and the Avacado bites with a house salad with Vinaigrette dressing and fries. What an awesome lunch!!!

We stopped in for lunch on a Thursday. We were promptly seated and orders taken. I ordered the southwest chicken salad. The menu states that it features "grilled chicken." My plate arrived with no chicken. "Oops" said the waitress and grabbed my plate. She came back with the same plate, which now had a healthy portion of ice cold chunks of cubed chicken. I double checked the menu. Yes, it says "grilled chicken." The waitress says "We don't grill it. It comes pre-grilled." I think it looks like cooked chicken from a frozen bag at Gordon's Food Service. Certainly nothing special. They did let me change my order, which I got after my wife had finished her lunch. A disappointing lunch.

During our girls' getaway to Saint Charles, we were fortunate to be there on a day when an 86 degree day, in February, broke a record! We had been shopping for hours and saw Braddens offered outdoor dining. The three of us stopped by around 2 p.m. We were promptly seated and given menus. The patio was comfortable and still quite busy with diners. We ordered toasted ravioli for an appetizer. It was really tasty, served hot and fresh with marinara sauce. The menu offers a nice variety and there was also a daily special. My mom and our friend ordered the special, a stuffed grilled cheese. They really enjoyed the sandwiches. My friend loved her sweet potato fries. I ordered a French dip sandwich with provolone. It was very good. I did run out of au jus and asked for more, which I didn't receive. Not a huge deal, but I also asked for something earlier and didn't get it either, otherwise the service would have been 5 stars. The homemade chips were tasty and with such a large serving, we finished them later as a snack. We will definitely stop by Braddens on our next visit. We also bought two servings of peach cobbler to go, it was delicious!

A very disappointing experience. I was excited to go somewhere we hadn’t tried yet. It was sunny & a little hot but they had fans and on the patio so we sat outside. I ordered the “8oz sirloin, served on French bread.” You get a side with that. I was too hot to eat fries with a hot sandwich, so I ordered a side salad. I didn’t mind paying the $2 up charge, when I saw that the salad included “Mixed greens, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, egg, shredded cheese and croutons” What I got was super disappointing. It was on some sort of toasted (like toaster toasted not toasted on the griddle) white, thin sliced bread (maybe Italian bread?). I was expecting the salad to come in a bowl on the side. I was expecting and looking forward to cucumbers. It was such a warm day and crisp cucumbers would have been perfect. There were no “mixed greens” it was all iceberg, with a pink tomato wedge, shredded cheese, and a bunch of red onion chunks. There were no cucumber or croutons which I had been looking forward to. It was also served on the same plate as my sandwich and was eaten in a few bites. This was absolutely not worth a $2 up charge. The steak hadn’t been seasoned and the bread was so dry, I had to keep gulping down my iced tea, which was never refilled. I ordered the steak medium and expected there to be at least some pink inside and there was none. That’s fine. It was a thin cut of steak. I gulped down my iced tea because everything was so dry (the steak was juicy just more done than I expected) and the waiter didn’t come back until we had finished eating. I was practically choking trying to finish the dry, unbuttered toast the steak was on, when it was supposed to be served on French bread. I thought they’d have those cute little loaves of French bread, like Magpies does, down the street. My husband got a Ruben and the same disappointing mini, not even side salad. This was not worth the $50 we paid for 2 sandwiches, 2 iced teas, and iceberg lettuce tiny salads without most of what comes on a side salad. We never got checked on, after the food came out. We were not the only people eating on the patio and it wasn’t crowded. There were only two other tables that had people sitting at them, so six people total on the patio. Braddens was better.

Romantic outside sunset dinner with my bride of 40 years. Really tasty food with terrific attentive service. One of historic Main Street's hidden gems.

Food was decent. Had chicken salad sandwich. Seating area in the back was tight and lots of empty boxes and junk sitting around. Place could use a good cleaning. After being seated, I had to request that the table be cleaned again because it was still dirty. Female server seemed annoyed and did a poor job checking on our table. One of our orders was not correct, as we ordered something different than what we received. Portion sizes were good.

We enjoyed the beautiful weather and sat on the patio. We wanted the spinach and artichoke dip but they were out of it. Instead we ordered the guacamole bites. They remind me of all won tons filled with guacamole and served with a pepper jelly sauce. The bites were a little light on the guacamole filling. The pepper jelly sauce is delicious and adds more flavors and heat.

Not bad. Lobster bisque was quite good. So was the house salad. It had a nice mix, including a hard boiled egg. Dressing comes on the side. Bistro burger also good with a half pound patty that was juicy and cooked to my requested well done. Bacon, cheese and bbq sauce come on it. Sweet potato fries were overcooked, but still okay.

What a perfect place to enjoy outdoor dining, while watching people stroll the historic Main Street in Old St. Charles. Outdoor fire pits add to the experience on a crisp fall day/evening. Food is tasty and say. Wait staff is friendly and attentive!

This is the first time I have visited under the new name and takeover from Braddens. They have retained some of the Braddens menu, but unfortunately got rid of the best deserts the upside down Germans chocolate cake and the coconut crème pie. The font size and choice used in the menu made it very hard to read. The food was good but felt pricier than I remember. We ordered drinks as we were waiting on a couple people. Our servers response to can I have a pint for the beer ordered was "I don't know what a pint is"....yikes Its was Xmas traditions and 32 degrees out the night we went but they had the front door propped open making the front dining room and bar area cold. When we inquired about it we were told it was because "one of the bathrooms was broke" again....yikes. Guess I will hold out for the warmer weather and the patio which as Braddens was my favorite place on Main Street.

Put our name down for a party of 8 at 530pm. We knew there would be a wait time but we didn't mind. Got the text around 7. Ordering food and 90% of appetizers are sold out. One of the kids item was sold out also. Feel like if you have that big of a party and sold out of a lot, inform us before ordering. Ordered a wrap with no tomatoes, but it came with it. Ordered cheeseburgers for my kids, no cheese on them. The waitress said I'll just bring you a slice of cheese. And that's exactly what she did! Who does that?! Ordered 5 hot chocolates and she was rude saying you need to tell me ahead of time because I have to go make them. Brought them out and all 5 were watered down. Our bills came and all said exactly what we ordered, no tomatoes and cheeseburgers but didn't get that. Waitress was rude and said we need to order food soon, the kitchen will be closing. Again....why seat us if you're closing the kitchen soon?! Will not be going back to this restaurant.