Global Gourmet

Go here for drinks, skip the food.
They have nightly drink specials and focus pretty heavily on cocktails, which is pretty unusual for Carbondale. The drinks are fine.
My partner and I split three appetizers: the brie, artichoke dip, and a prosciutto small plate. The brie was of low-​to-​medium quality and was dressed up with a kahlua sauce, nuts, a few slices of apples, and – I kid you not – Townhouse crackers. Straight from the supermarket box. Most definitely not gourmet, and they did not work with the brie. We immediately ran out of apple, needed to ask for twice as many crackers for the sizeable wedge of brie served, and the brie definitely could have used more of that kahlua sauce. This dish was $ 10. We had to dig in the artichoke dip to find artichoke, otherwise it was just a rich creamy sauce of cream cheese and sour cream – nothing special, no seasonings or anything, just straight up creaminess. It came with sliced veggies (fine) and storebought pita bread that wasn’t heated up or toasted. I liked the prosciutto plate the most, that came with some I think bleu cheese, balsamic syrup, roasted tomatoes, and fried sage. It wasn’t really an appetizer to share, though, as it was just a pile of prosciutto dusted with cheese/​tomato/​sage. Overall, we found the food very mediocre. Service was nice.

Global Gourmet is one my favorite spots to go to when I’m in the So. IL area. I have moved around the country, and I still say the best mojitos are here! And their food has always been delicious — they tend to have a few items that are regularly on the menu, but then also have some excellent, seasonal specials. Price is good, atmosphere is great for date-​night (they also have a back patio that is great to sit on when the weather is nice and not too hot). It does help to have a reservation, as it does get packed on the weekends!

Fantastic everything. Do the back courtyard in good weather. Menu changes by the month. And, oh yes, great bar drinks!

After I returned to Global, I’m determined not to return. Besides the grocery store smoked salmon (I could have put that plate together for two dollars, and I was charged ten), and the mediocre steak, they over-​charged me. By a lot. I asked the waitress to round up to $ 100 to cover the tip, and the charge on my card ended up being $ 112. That’s just simple theft, and I won’t return. The ambiance is great, if only the food and service weren’t so terrible.

I love this place. .Always good food. .great deserts. Great wine selection.. Dark and comfortable. .maybe not the best name for a back open Area. But whatever. …I love sitting back there. .doesn’t feel like carbondale.

Well, the food is good. That’s about it. Service is shoddy. The staff clearly feels like they are above standard server etiquette. Mostly I think they are all friends and as others have said, they tend to people they know and the regulars first and foremost. I would honestly like this place more if the manager (owner?) Tippy weren’t such a creep. I see him around town a lot and he is always EXTREMELY rude and then all of a sudden when I’m a patron of his restaurant he’s all bending over backwards trying to kiss my ass. I have served him before in another restaurant and judging by how he treated me and my service, I’m very surprised he allows his own staff to be so sub-​par

Global has a nice atmosphere on the days there is open poetry or live music. It’s hard to find a «nice» place in this town so this restaurant is better than most. However, the menu is pricey and quite frankly overpriced, in my opinion, for what they serve. Being vegan there was essentially nothing I could order except an altered salad and they weren’t willing to accommodate my dietary needs, as most «nicer» restaurants are. The drink menu is pretty diverse and their cocktails are pretty good. When coming here be sure you have your entire night open. Service is very very slow from start to finish. They will take over 30 minutes per time to check on you, 30 minutes to take drink orders from when you sit down, 30 minutes to take food orders after getting drinks, and on and on. The waitstaff are overall friendly but serving the customers is clearly not a priority.

Special tonight was the Lamb and Beef Stew. It was really good and way beyond expectations. This is SO MUCH more than a bar and WAY WAY beyond bar food. Highly recommend it. Tell the owner Tip Cook that Scott sent you.

I want to give a four star review, but it is not quit there. I use to come here all the time for drinks when I went to SIU. It was one of the first places that I was introduced to real crafted cocktails. It was kind of my stepping tone to good cocktails, but now I have had much better. I was surprised at how much my tastes have changed…
Anyway, the location is great. An old building on the edge of the tiny town square. An L shaped granite bar, tables scattered, and a great outdoor patio in the back when the weather is nice. There are a few international flourishes like a menorah being lit for the Jewish holiday. I have always loved the eclectic feel here.
The service is welcoming, but can be a bit slow. Especially when there is one bartender taking care of the hole bar. The food is interesting. The menu usually rotates. The cheese plates are always a great stand by. Though they usually have some sort of seafood. I had the Mediterranean Seafood Stew my most recent visit. Which was good, not great.
The two cocktails I had recently were a bit dull. The Old Fashion is pretty flavorless, and the Pimms Cup was not up to snuff. Anyway, all that being said, still an enjoyable place to grab a drink. Especially if you want to get away from the college crowd.

This is one of the best restaurants in town. With an ever changing menu and a dark atmosphere, this restaurant is probably one of the more sophisticated ones around here. You would definitely take someone here on a first date because the prices are high and the mood is mysterious and romantic.
I went here on Bastille day this year and the food was excellent. Everything I tried was great. No real problems with anything. However, the service was probably the crappiest I’ve had in Carbondale. The waitresses took forever to get menus, take orders, and give us water. They forgot drink orders and were hard to flag down. I hate bad service, but I like their food. The wait staff is a bunch of college students so you can image the service you get. They need to take a cue from Hunan.
The one interesting thing about this restaurant is that it is the only one that I have ever been to that gives me a full-​page invoice for my check. Weird.

We had a very pleasant meal at Global Gourmet. Some of their food probably comes from Sysco, but it all seems to be good quality. The spinach salad was very tasty, the pork chop decent, and the raspberry chocolate was very enjoyable. The coffee was very good — plenty of body and flavor. Service was friendly and skillful. My companions enjoyed their soup and quiche.