Telegraph

Was there last year (May 2014)…excellent wine list with wines all over the world and not just California like most places in the U.S. (would give it 5-​stars), but the food was probably only 3-​stars. Cute spot, good service as well.

The place seems a little bit out of place for Logan Square – honestly I’d expect it in the meat packing/​randolph slew of restaurants – but either way, Telegraph is great! The wine selection is very excellent and the cheeses and pates are perfect. The atmosphere is romantic-​ish, but still appropriate for a classy night out with friends, which I would highly recommend. Also a travel destination.
As for food: if you go and just want something light: try a variety of cheeses, spreads, and wine. It’s the perfect light dinner.

$ 1 oysters every Monday, small selection but great choices that are always different. Last week we had a nice sampling of Canadian oysters from the east coast. The «French Kiss» from New Brunswick were great.
They typically run out by 8:00pm, so I try to be nice and order only 12.
Also a great (though confusing) selection of wine. Don’t expect to recognize any wineries.

Holy Awesome Wines. I came on a Monday night at 6:30pm and, as would be expected, was able to sit down easily. There were enough people in there, however, that I suspect this place gets really crowded over the weekend during prime time.
I tried three glasses while I was here. The first two were suggested to me when I asked for a full-​bodied red. The third was a rose that my friend ordered:
2004 château bellevue, lussac st.-emilion, bordeaux, france $ 12
2011 joan d’anguera ‘altaroses’ granatxa, montsant, spain $ 8
2013 ameztoi ‘rubentis’ rosé, getariako txakolina, basque country $ 9
The first was incredibly… different? Intense? I don’t know the word, but I liked it. The second was nice (my memory fails me), and the third was just delicious. I’m not usually a fan of rosés, but when I tried this one, I just had to have it myself. It wasn’t too sweet, which is my usual complaint about rosés.
We also ordered oysters ($ 1 each) and a beet and goat cheese dish. The «salad» was plated beautifully and, even though I wanted a higher beet to cheese ratio, it was delicious.
Overall, great experience. I will definitely be back!

Small bites, attentiveness and ambiance (and yummy wine of course) have rounded the 3.5 rating I would like to give up to a 4. We stopped in on a Saturday night without a reservation and were able to snag a few seats at the bar. The bar seating was very comfortable and was completely accommodating a nice full meal — Not all bar seating is created equal — am I right?! Asked a lot of questions and the bartenders were very knowledgeable about food and drink. We were also very pleased with the wine that was recommended to us.
We ordered a couple cheeses as a starter, very generous cuts for imports ($ 9-​$ 10 per cheese), came with an accompaniment of delish onion jam, fruit, currants, nuts, and house made bread. More bread is available upon request if you run out. Really glad we opted for just 2 cheeses vs. the platter with all cheeses — it would have been huge! That would be great for a party of 4 or more. I got the scallops as an entrée, and was not blown away, but my partner in cheese crime got the farro vegetable bowl and enjoyed it. We will certainly be back for wine and cheese (the other apps we saw coming out all looked very nice as well) and I loved the bar seating so much, I might purposefully go without a reservation!

Stopped through Telegraph for small bites & some wine the other night, and I will now have an alternative spot to Longman & Eagle when visiting Logan Square… Had a few glasses of wine, and snacked on the charcuterie board & blue cheese — the chicken liver mousse was very good. Crusty bread came along with it (and offerings for more, if needed), as well as onion jam & apricots to assist the meat and cheese choices. Reasonably priced for what was provided — will be back for a main entrée.

Telegraph is a wine bar and for that reason they have a wide selection of grape libations for you to suck down. Don’t expect a vast beer selection though as there are just a few.
Housemade charcuterie, rabbit pistachio terrine, chicken liver mousse, accoutrements $ 15 — Meh. The housemade charcuterie was really good. Thinly sliced and mouth watering. All of the other elements I could have done without. It came with a bit of bread but we definitely needed more for everything that came with this and were never offered that.
Mushroom duxelle, ricotta, swiss chard, feuille de brick, black truffle aioli $ 16 — Recommended! I really enjoyed all of the elements of this dish and how well they played together. Everything was visibly and edibley fresh which I greatly appreciated.
Sweet corn cake, brown sugar-​bourbon ice cream, milk jam, smoked almonds $ 8 — This sounded much better on paper than it tasted going in my mouth. Sadly, the corn cake was a bit dry and I didn’t find it had much flavor. Overall just an okay dessert and the crazy part of it all is that between two of us, we didn’t finish this dish.
Service was non intrusive, but perhaps a bit too much so in not asking if we wanted a second drink, no additional bread, not explaining the components on our meat spread. I liked the atmosphere, chill with big windows, interesting farm mural on the back wall. I couldn’t stop staring at the oversized rooster behind my friend’s head. Everything about our meal was A-​OK, nothing spectacular but I wouldn’t scoff at visiting again either.

Telegraph is the location of my first «official» date with my now-​fiancé. So ya, it’s special, and it better be special to you, too.
It’s very romantic and dark-​ish, very pretty, and not always packed. Sometimes you can get right in without a reservation.
I’ve really liked all the food and amazing desserts I’ve tried. Pasta, salad, cheese plates, regular stuff done in non-​regular ways. The portions are the right amount to make you seem classy on your date. That may mean you want to order more stuff, if you have a hungry tendency like me.
It can be a tad pretentious in here, compared to other neighborhood options. But it’s where we go for a more grown-​up dinner.

CHICAGO: I have to agree with Huffington Post that this is the best new restaurant in the city right now. It was outstanding, and Im just talking about the food only!
First, I ordered the foie gras (5 star) with orange cookie and a doughey sweet pumpernickel bread. It was smooth and buttery, and the bittersweet of the pumpernickel and the orange made a flavor blossom that could not be resisted. The presentation was lovely as well.
Next was the beef tartare (5 star) with generous truffle shavings, homemade pickle, and egg yolk — YUM! This gave a complex flavor array that could be enjoyed in multiple different combinations. The homemade designer pickles were the best I’ve ever had.
The truffle dessert (4 star) can be broken into a single truffle for $ 2.50, dark choc truffle with ginger cream. Delicious!
This place is underrated; you need to dine here. Absolutely wonderful; I can’t wait to return.

If you love good, unique wine (I’m not talking about your typical what’s popular now wine), this will be your second home. I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time, and we finally found time to go.
Service: Absolutely amazing. If Dean is around, ask him to help you choose the perfect wine (s) for your taste or to go with your dinner. He is really the best!
Ambience: a bit romantic, but good for meeting up with friends too, especially with their bar.
Food: everything is pretty decent, but the best dish that completely blew me away was the pork collar tagliatelle. It was so savory, and the pork literally melted in my mouth. But what surprised me was the spice that kicked in after the initial chew. What a delightful combination!!! Yum!

What a great place! The space is romantic and intimate, the service is great and the offerings are awesome.
I was unfamiliar with the reds listed by the glass, but our server was able to steer me towards some bolder French selections, both of which were delicious! For snacks we split the cheese plate which was delicious! Generous portions with delicious spreads and the most amazing pickles ever. Plus the pickled kumquats were a delightful surprise. We also split the chicken liver terrine which was absolutely incredible. Loved every bite.
I’m sure if I tried more of the menu this would be a 5 star review, I need to return!

I returned for dinner recently, and I felt compelled to update my review.
The service was sub-​par. I felt like we had to wait a while to place our order. Eventually we did, and the food arrived…
I had a salad and it was awful. Sparse ingredients that did not pair well together.
We also ordered the mussels… have not touched mussels since. They were strongly fishy and tasted like they went bad a week prior to them being served. I thought I might get sick.
Never again.

I went here again to give it another shot for two reasons.
1 I have the ala card deck for $ 10 off here
2 A friend posted about the curry mussels and I wanted to try them.
It is a really nice place for date night. We got drinks and ordered a salad along with the mussels.
The salad was boring. I don’t like salads anyhow so I wasn’t upset because it wasn’t my pick.
I really wanted to like the mussels. Some were really good! They were the biggest mussels I had ever seen. I got a really fishy one and that slowed me down. Then my date got a fishy one as well and we just had to quit.
The service was better than last time but overall no redemption from my previous visit and I will not be back.

When Telegraph first opened, I was disappointed in the pairings of food and wine, and a disconnect in the offerings. I’m pleased to say that the three or four times I’ve been here, they’ve really turned the food around and added more affordable wine choices with which to pair them.
A couple of months ago Telegraph was doing a North Carolina tasting menu, and I opted for the middle dish, shrimp and grits. I’ve been on a big shrimp and grits lately and this was excellent; as good as the version Jared Wentworth does at Longman & Eagle and Dusek’s, and as good as shrimp and grits I’ve had at New Orleans. I don’t know whether this will become a regular menu option, but they did have a Spanish preparation of prawns, which while much different in flavor looked just as delicious when our neighboring diners ordered it.
Other excellent options include octopus salad, and, when they have it, venison. But if you, like me, have stayed away in the past, Telegraph really turned a corner in 2013 and are worth another look.

There are not many places out there that I frequent that get better with age… just like fine wine (no pun intended), Telegraph has been getting better every visit! Our last one this past weekend was a fantastic gastronomic experience ranging from venison tartare to snail pasta — all dishes were equally unique and tasty!
The waiters and bus boys show superb service and very much know their stuff. We got this awesome wine from a region in France (Jura) and the waiter was able to in great detail describe their wine making methods and uniqueness. Made it a great overall experience!
It almost seems like the wine has gone up in price over the time that it has been opened, but there are still some treasures on the menu!
We made reservations for Friday night at 7 pm just a few days before, so a great «last minute» option.

I really like Telegraph for its interesting and sometimes offbeat wines. Most recently, I was here with a group to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They had carafes of a 1991 riesling for $ 20. What a fun way to try an older wine! And at such a great price too. It was delicious. The food is very good in general – it’s well-​done, upscale wine bar food. My one quibble was that on the most recent visit, we ordered $ 1 oysters because that’s their special on Monday. The oysters were very good and fresh, but the shucking job was just ok. They were pretty crowded on the (ice-​less) platter, and so most of them had lost their liquor. Gah! That’s the best part! But hey, they were good and $ 1, so it’s hard to complain too much. We ordered a bunch of dishes and all were good, though desserts were somewhat of a weak point.
All in all, this is an excellent place for a laid-​back date or night out with friends, but prepared to wait if you’re not here at an off time. Wish I lived close by!

I had time to kill before getting seated at Longman & Eagle, so my boyfriend and I decided to kill time by getting a snack and drinks close by at Telegraph.
We got some pomme frites to munch on, and I got a rose wine to sip on while waiting to get seated for a late dinner due to a long queue! The pomme frites are not your normal pomme frites, they vinegar their fries here. Kinda neat and nice to try. Think salt and vinegar chips, except in fries form. The drinks were pretty good. We had our drinks at the bar. I usually don’t sit at the bar, but Telegraph has a nice wine bar set up. A happy hour, lounge, wine bar-​ish setting for those that just want to kick back and chillax. If you want more of a dining experience, they have another section that serves as a restaurant for the full dining experience.
I came here on a Friday night, and I’d be willing to come back on a Friday night, catching up with friends over drinks, etc.

Wow… One of the best meals I’ve had in Chicago. Telegraph is a great food joint… great Svc, great food, great drink. Had the great 5 course meal with wine pairings. Oysters and fish with polenta soup were my faves. Plus, probably had the best roasted chk I’ve ever had… period!

When a friend suggested this for dinner on a recent Wintry night, I jumped at the chance to go as Telegraph has been on my list for awhile now.
He had made reservations but given I was the first to arrive, I took a seat at the bar to wait and to begin to explore their interesting wine list. While I consider myself to be fairly schooled in California wines, Telegraph’s claim to fame is a unique list of European wines produced by small, often family owned vineyards. So there was nothing on the list I knew well which just made the experience so much more interesting for me.
The bartender was great. He offered me up a taste of something pretty close in to what I asked for which was a big Cab, and while the taste of the red blend was good, it was not going to take me on any kind of taste adventure. So when I asked him what he suggested, he pointed me toward the «Foradori». This was a lovely wine, big almost Syrah like. So I was a happy camper while I waited for my friend to arrive.
Once he did– they showed us to our table which was in a room on the other side of the bar. A great choice as it was at least 10 degrees warmer than the bar and while the décor isn’t fancy– it’s a comfortable setting.
We ordered simply– since my friend had been here before, he took hold of knowing just what to order. The mushroom tartine to start was quite good and came with a red egg to break and sop up with the bread. Delicious!
For our entrée, we split the meat plate which had a variety of grilled meats on it as well as quail. Also quite good.
But the real winner for me was the side dish that we ordered. This vegetarian dish could have been an amazing entrée as the smells that wafted up from it had me drooling when it arrived at the table next to us. The base of cannelloni beans in a smoked tomato sauce with fennel and sunchokes was amazing! I seriously wanted to lick the plate, although I am quite sure my dining companion would not have been too pleased to see me do that!
Service was spot on and I filed away this place as that perfect place for great wine, a great dinner and some great conversation given even full it never got too loud to talk.
If you drive– they have valet on the weekends (or so I was told) but if you go through the week you may struggle a bit as most of the parking on the surrounding streets is permit only. If all else fails– know that there is a paid parking lot across the street.
All in all a lovely place that produced a lovely evening out. And isn’t that just what dining out is supposed to do?

Made reservations for six over the phone pretty easily, and the guy who took the res. was supremely apologetic that they were having system failures and had to call me back. Service during dinner was just as good. Overall, the food was good, it’s a cute place that would be good for a date, but the extremely adventurous wine list left something to be desired for our group.
The beef bourgignon was tender and tasty, the broiled whitefish and mussels was so good, we asked for bread to sop up the broth. The bosc pears and greens salad was a big hit, and a lot lighter than the rest of our dishes. The roasted amish chicken was tender, but lackluster.
Our server was really good at trying to find a wine that we liked, I liked my glass of red, but both bottles of white our table ordered did not hit the mark. I could see returning here to share some plates on a date, or for a glass of wine, but there are other places I would probably choose before Telegraph.