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The Purple Pig

3.9 (56 reviews)
Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Updated 3 months ago

The Purple Pig Photos

THE PURPLE PIG ATMOSPHERE

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Happy hour specials
Outdoor seating

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Recommended Reviews - The Purple Pig

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Atmosphere
Alex V.

Finally got around to visiting The Purple Pig in Oak Brook, Illinois -- a relatively new spot. Like many other restaurants in the area, expect to dine among Oak Brook's (unofficial) uniform: quarter-zips, tucked-in polos, and just enough "business casual" to suggest they came straight from the office -- with conversations centered around the latest neighborhood gossip, golf, and backyard renovations. You'll need a third glass of wine to drown out the meaningless (#sorrynotsorry) chatter. But once your attention shifts from the corner booth -- where an age-gap couple has forgotten they're in public -- you'll begin to notice the restaurant's beautifully crafted, upscale interior. TIP: Unless you enjoy hearing others' conversations instead of your own, ask for a booth (instead of one of the tightly-spaced tables). The staff was "friendly," although you can tell it was in a "have to be friendly for a tip" way, rather than a GENUINE way -- at this point, it's easy to spot the difference (no judgement). The service was SLOW, and we could hear our server constantly coughing behind us (we were sat right in front of the service station), which was VERY bothersome (especially as a germaphobe). Not sure why they're accepting of their staff coming into work sick. The FOOD was quite tasty. My favorite dish of the night was the Octopus Ala Plancha, which was tender, packed with rich flavor and an ADDICTIVE chimichurri puree. The Pork Neck Meatball(s) took second place -- juicy, cheesy, and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. We ordered two of their pasta dishes -- the Fusilli and the Rigatoni. The Fusilli was light and cooked to perfection, with a hint of lemon to bring a little "pizzaz" to the dish. The Rigatoni was (somewhat) pleasant, although largely underwhelming. Apart from being too "al dente" for my taste, the sauce lacked flavor. Both were okay, but nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, we left the restaurant with a sour impression because of how the staff handled a birthday dessert. We were celebrating a birthday. However, we were too full by the end of our meal to order a "celebratory dessert" (and we had cake at home). Despite making it CLEAR to our server that we did NOT want to order a dessert, she asked if it would be okay to bring out a little "surprise" regardless. We agreed, assuming it would be a (small) complimentary birthday treat, a gesture that's fairly common at restaurants. A tiny scoop of ice cream with a candle was brought out -- "how sweet," we thought at first. However, when the bill came, to our surprise, we noticed a $6 charge for a "Birthday Scoop" at the bottom. To be clear, it wasn't the $6 itself that bothered us -- we'd happily pay $20 or more for a dessert that we actually wanted and chose to order. It was just disappointing to see a charge for something that had been presented as a "surprise," especially given that many restaurants offer complimentary birthday treats as a gesture of hospitality. The Purple Pig in Oak Brook could benefit from a crash course in hospitality. Dining out (especially for a birthday or other milestone occasion) is about more than just the food -- it's about creating memorable experiences. Unfortunately, this was an opportunity to make a guest feel special that the restaurant missed. The Purple Pig has the foundation of a great restaurant -- the food and the atmosphere are (mostly) there -- but without thoughtfulness and genuine hospitality, it risks becoming "just another restaurant" among Oak Brook's sea of dining options, rather than a destination known for creating memorable experiences worth returning for.

Rigatoni
Christina M.

Absolutely delicious! We visited with a party of seven and ended up ordering what felt like half the menu so we could try a variety of dishes. Every single item was flavorful and well-executed, making it hard to choose favorites. The standout dishes for me were the rigatoni and the octopus. The rigatoni was especially memorable with its rich, perfectly cooked, and the kind of dish that leaves you wishing you had ordered another serving. The octopus was tender, beautifully prepared, and packed with flavor. The service was perfectly fine and attentive, though nothing particularly stood out compared to how impressive the food was. The real star here is the kitchen. I ordered a Hugo spritz as my cocktail and it was tasty! Located just outside Oakbrook Center, this spot is absolutely worth a visit if you're in the area. I'll definitely be back, and that rigatoni alone is reason enough to return.

Whipped ricotta
Denise M.

Disappointing overall. Beautiful new restaurant. Service was very slow however. My friend chewed on a piece of hard plastic that came from the rigatoni. The manager said the chef confirmed it came from the sausage. They apologized, removed the dish and comp'd it. Their response overall was lackluster. Obviously it's a new location so I hope they can learn and improve their service and health and safety practices.

Rigatoni pasta
Aanchal B.

I had never been to the Chicago downtown location so was looking forward to trying in Oak Brook! I have definitely had better rigatoni pasta...it was a little dry and not as flavorful as I expected. The citrus bar dessert was unique with curd, polenta cake, and yuzu whipped ganache and definitely worth a try! My friend and I got the zero proof cocktail - Simply Sgroppino, Zero Proof Limoncello, Strawberry Lemon, Lemon Sorbet | and that was refreshing as well. Good for a summer day! My friend also got the Bucatini Amatriciana pasta which was also okay. The only really dish I liked was the house whipped ricotta. I think since they are new, they might be trying out different recipes but lacking substance or flavor. I would try again once they are more established but decor is really pretty and good service overall.

Burrata stuffed tortellini
Briana L.

The purple pig always offers a culinary adventure, so love that there is a second location in Oak Brook. Loved bringing coworkers to share many dishes. The bone marrow is always my classic go-to. The beet salad is fresh and their housemaid pasta always delivers. The stuffed peppers I could have gone without and they were a bit smaller than I expected. Love the new mocktail options on the menu. Definitely a lot more seating than their downtown location. So it wasn't hard to get a table on a Monday night. Servers are always well-versed and help you know how many dishes to order and recommendations

Kids pasta
Selma L.

So we arrived on a Thursday around 6:00 with no reservation and we were told to come back at 8:30 if we wanted to dine there. After we left, I was easily able to get a reservation for 6:30 so we came back again. To me, that already didn't feel very smooth or efficient. After that, we were seated and the restaurant was very crowded and felt pretty hot and stuffy. Nonetheless all the pasta dishes we tried were amazing and pretty much made the whole experience worth it. The serving sizes were obviously small but worth it for the flavor and preparation of each dish. We ordered 2 pastas and a kids entree. All the entrees came at different times and the kids one last, which if you have kids, you know their food needs to come first. And the wrong entree came out for the child's dish so that was a letdown for our son too. From a service standpoint we were very disappointed at this price point. From a the standpoint of the food itself, it was very good. I hope they can iron out some of the service things, it would be a lot better experience!!!!

Leslie A.

OK, this review is specific to the purple pig marketplace, which is that small section attached to the main restaurant where you can buy slices of pizza delicious baked goods as well as gelato, which is the same gelato menu in the restaurant. They also make coffee drinks as expected and it also has a seating area. So attached to the photos of the three times I've already been here to pick up gelato and numerous baked goods. This is incredible and delicious. It is very impressive and very, very fairly well priced as well for the baked goods. Unfortunately, the rewards program here is quite inconsistent as far as working, so I know that a few of my visits have not been logged, but that's OK. I will still come back. What's also great is that the baked goods thus far do not have any nuts of any kind which is great because there is a family member in my family who would love to eat all this and has a nut allergy however because there are no nuts in the items, including the carrot cake everything is totally on limits and applicable for him to eat, which is fantastic. I love coming here after dinner as well to get a gelato and baked goods to take-home to eat for the rest of the week. Everything is top quality and super delicious. Can't wait for there to be a separate yelp listing for the purple pig marketplace and I'm happy to put another remarkable review there too.

Roasted honey glazed carrots with goat cheese.

City guy in suburbs....go to this place! Amazing food and Will in the bar is spectacular with service. Glad to have a spot in the burbs...finally!

Stuffed peppers. Tuna crudo
Katherine T.

So happy to have this place opened near us after dining at the downtown location frequently!!! Came for lunch and the restaurant was beautiful. Ordered tapas style and everything a phenomenal. Tuna crudo was light with a great citrus taste. Stuffed peppers were rich in flavor with goat cheese and almond breadcrumbs. The pork shoulder was the highlight. No need for a knife as it fell off effortlessly and packed with flavor. Our server Cisco was very attentive and coursed our food out perfectly. Excited to come back!!

An $11 kid's portion of chilly rolly noodles... so i could buy my bed of pasta.

The Bummers: * Tiny, tiny portions. * Astronomical pricing. * Inflexibility - will not even DISCUSS modifying an order ( like fish on a bed of pasta). * The food arrives to the table whenever *they* feel like it, not in the order you'd expect. * Some of the Wait Staff would benefit from some Training. * A possible OSHA Violation at the bar- a drink that requires staff to decant a liquid from 3x overhead jugs with no eye protection. * Excessively frou-frou for my Working Man's taste, * Far above my budget. * App meats are trimmed to a micron thick! YOU CAN READ THROUGH THEM!! The Positives: * The Dining Room is beautiful! * The Staff is- (mostly) friendly... except the untrained ones.) * Very good noise control, and the music was nice. Would I go back? Yeah, if invited or asked. I'd drink a lot more, so as not to inflame their delicate sensibilities with my lustful desires.

Tuna crudo
Francine C.

Delicious food, lives up to the hype. Service was friendly, but quite slow; was there on Sunday for lunch. Restaurant itself was well decorated, but can get a bit loud. Bathrooms were clean.

Will I return? Yes, the food is too good. But I will light my Grinch-fires before entering, and be on-guard against buffoonery.

I detest writing negative reviews. Especially when reviewing a new location (Oakbrook) of an old, established friend (downtown). I will post no names. The Dramatis Personae: * Myself and my Bride * The male bartender, who was very friendly and likable... * A person I think might have been the Manager * The *Excellent* barback, who kept a friendly and helpful eye on us. * The Female bartender. Look, it's okay to have a bad day - that's human nature. From my own managerial experiences, you learn a couple of things pretty damn quick: * The Customer is ALWAYS right. * Except when the Customer is removed in handcuffs, or rolled out on a stretcher. That's about 2%. * Or, if the Customer asks for something that is untenable to your margins. In which case, you smile, accede to the Customer's wishes, and agree on a fair upcharge. * If you're having a bad day, you tell your Customer in a polite, affable manner! 99.98% of them will understand. Most of us are Human. What you *don't* do, is ARGUE with the Customer. Yet, that's what happened at the Purple Pig. I wanted the Branzino, and innocently asked how it was served (because the menu didn't say). The female bartender explained "it's a slab of fried fish, laying in a pool of oil and olives and trimmings, radiating heat into the chilly ceramic dish". Not her words exactly, but essentially as mouth-watering. No sides. A la carte. The menu said "charred", not fried. So, I innocently asked for the Branzino to be served atop a bed of pasta, like I normally do, for the same reason (heat control), at any restaurant anywhere, for all 66 years of my damn life. "No, we don't do that," she said. My BP began to rise. Without being offensive, I tried to Suss-out the reason for this obstinance; I never did. She suggested I order "from the kid's menu" - which curiously-enough, doesn't appear on their menu. Er, it must be in the Cloud somewhere. I ordered the noodles, and one of the Pig's specialty cocktails, (which never arrived.) I thought the episode was finished. But no - more fun lay in store. A few minutes later, a runner appeared with a bowl of noodles - noodles that were supposed to be UNDER the Branzino. After some discussion with the female bartender, we arrived at the knowledge that "they serve their food 'family style'", brought to the table as soon as each dish is completed". That isn't mentioned anywhere on the menu, and at these prices is a wholly unacceptable practice. Along about this time, the Branzino arrived - beautifully-presented, but a sad little chunk of fish, floating in a pool of oil, garnished with herbs and stuff... exactly what I had tried to avoid. At least it was grilled! I was too tired after a day shopping to fire-up Mr. Grinch. I let it go, and in disgust, I poured the sad little cold rolly noodles over the Branzino, and re-arranged things to my expectations. A bed of cold pasta to garnish the hot Branzino. Look, folks - and heed me: The days of restaurant dining are nearing their end. * This episode (dinner for my wife and I) cost $100, with no drinks (the female bartender had never even bothered to enter our Specialty drink into the computer). * That $100 bill included a $4 can of Coke, and a $17 bottle of Ginger Ale. WTF! * NONE of the staff ever uttered their names. Where did this custom come from? * If this is the experience that $100 buys me, I'm staying home. Even though our Puissant Orange Majesty might compliment my focus on affordability, what about all the GOOD PEOPLE that work at Purple Pig? o Like the chefs! That Branzino was exquisite! o And the nice male bartender, who was kind-enough to comp us on the $11 kid's noodles. o Or the restaurant designer - the interior was beautiful, and somebody paid a lot of attention to sound treatment. o Or, even in a moment of grace, how about that female bartender? She's not a bad person, I'm sure - she just needs some training. I wish her well. Also: Coming from previous Life Experience - they have this cocktail (the one the female bartender never entered into the system) that requires the person making the cocktail to decant three various fluids from tubs that sit way up high on the corners of a shelf over the liquor racks. Over their heads, reaching up there with no eye protection. I may be mistaken (there are a lot of things I've forgotten over my 66 miles of Bad Road), but I'm pretty sure this is an OSHA violation. The food was very, very, VERY good (that of it which was served hot or deliberately cold). But, "family style"? No way: the portions were TINY. And the acrid aftertaste of the Service Experience tainted the event. Purple Pig seems to have been conceived as a high-end, quality restaurant. Just look at all those high-falutin' words in the menu! But the quality of training must improve, and soon, as well as the Signage. As a "wine bar", it's pretty fantastic. As a "restaurant", I foresee a bad moon rising.

These are the carrots and were the best thing all night!

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Great food! Great service! Very nice location, and overall loved this restaurant and we've been back 4 times since they opened!!

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Ask the Community - The Purple Pig

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$$

It's a bar in a suburban hotel. That should pretty much tell you everything you need to know about…read more"the Den", the newest addition to the Doubletree Hotel in Oak Brook. Located in what used to be Anthony's, the Italian steakhouse, the ambiance is actually quite nice- but it's the service that needs some work. We stopped in after a meeting in the hotel for a drink with a small group. The space is nice- leather chairs clustered around tables in front of a fake fireplace. Murals on the walls, and a bar that stretches across the one wall. Even though there wasn't a big crowd on the night we were there- service was slow. We finally walked up to the bar to get our drinks. We ordered a snack of some chips and guac but it was disappointing as there wasn't enough guac to go with the quantity of chips provided. If you like a good martini- they've got them here- but no blue cheese olives which is a must in my book! It's a bar in a suburban hotel. I didn't expect much and that's what I got.

My sister and I were looking for a place we could meet for a glass of wine. I had some online gift…read morecertificates to use after Christmas and a quick search of that website lead me to The Den. It looked harmless and we were mainly going for wine and to catch up with each other so I bought the certificate and off we went. The Den is located inside the Oak Brook Doubletree hotel and there is no indication from outside the hotel where the restaurant is so I punted as far as parking was concerned. Luckily, I picked the correct side of the hotel. At first glance, the inside of the restaurant is a little dated, but it was clean, cozy, and quiet. I was directed to pick any seat I wanted. Looking over the menu there were some affordable starters/small plates, and a decent selection of entrees (@ 5 non beef and 5 beef). The wine list was nothing special either in information or choice. I was going to start with a Pinot Noir, and asked about a particular Wine maker as nothing else was listed on the sheet besides the wine maker, appellation, variety and vintage. I knew that wine maker had several labels of Pinot Noir so I asked the server which they were pouring. He came back and said it wasn't listed on the bottle. I guess I could have asked to see the bottle, but it just seemed like too much work for me too. I went with it and it was fine. Started with a Caesar salad with no croutons. Not only were there no croutons, but the listed "crispy prosciutto" and cheese was missing. Whatever. I was STARVING and ate it without complaint. Next on the list was a cheese plate. The cheese plate was listed as having brie, blue and aged white cheddar, along with grapes, crackers and walnuts. What we got was a young yellow cheddar, some smoked gouda, and boursin cheese spread with crackers and dried cranberries. Again, i was using a gift certificate so I didn't want to make a fuss, but my sister and I brought it up to the server that basically nothing that was described on the plate was actually on the plate. Also mentioned the salad mistake too (might as well go for broke). He apologize and went back to the kitchen and see what was up. When he came back he apologize as he noticed the salad was incorrect but didn't do anything about it, and he also said that there were two different menus going on and the chef was working off a different menu. He then brought out a much bigger plate with a little brie, some blue cheese, what I think was a mild mexican cheese, and something that tasted like minibabybel. Still no cheddar. We ordered more wine, and got some olives and I ordered a rib-eye. The server suggested I get the all-you-can-eat NY strip, (thanks for bringing that up) but I still went with the rib-eye. While only 14 oz, it was decent and bone-in (which was a nice surprise) and I would think I great selling feature. For our third round of drinks, the server suggested a meritage they had. My sister stayed with the cab, but I tried it. It wasn't bad, but it was very warm. When we asked for the check, he brought it out and I noticed it was just under $100. I waited for him to come back and explained I had one of those $50 off it you spend $100 certificates and we would probably need to split another glass of wine. He explained that it would be no problem to just use the certificate now as he had not charged for the last round of drinks as a thank-you. That was really nice of him, but it was really something he should have addressed when he first dropped off the check..." hey folks, sorry for the inconveniences you've experienced. I got you a round of drinks. I hope you'll try us again." Overall, our server was nice, but he lacked presence on the floor. And there were only 5 tables at the most going on. Now I get that this is a hotel venue, so perhaps repeat business isn't a priority, but with better service and some quality control, I could see this place really taking off as an after-work location. As it is now, I would go back if someone else wanted to go, or if I had another gift certificate, but it definitely isn't on my list of "must go back" spots.

Josephine's Martini & Wine Bar

Josephine's Martini & Wine Bar

3.1
(55 reviews)
2.6 mi
$

I love this place. Friendly, classic, and all the karaoke you can fit in your repertoire…read more Went dancing with a friend to the school upstairs and I endedgling down to Josephine's for real fun.

Talk about a dive bar, lol. The other reviews definitely don't do this place justice. We snagged a…read moreparking spot right off the street in front of the building. No complaints about parking or the walk. Boom, we were there. Now, where it gets interesting. You walk in the building's front door, and it opens up to a room where you can access several businesses. Josephine's is straight to the back. It's very dark, smelly, and loud. This totally reminded me of a dive bar on a college campus (maybe worse?). There's not much seating, especially when it gets crowded. The bar has limited seating, and the seating on the floor is even more limited. The chairs and couch are stained with who knows what. The song books for karaoke are sticky and nasty. From a great perspective, I was sitting in a chair and went to move and felt something poke me. It was a pair of random scissors! The drinks are 2/5 and prices are extremely expensive. I had a root beer float martini, and it was "meh". From a karaoke standpoint, it was decent. Lots of different people singing. Some good, some bad. It was entertaining, and some people were pretty brave, haha. Try this place if you dare. Get here early to get a seat. I don't think I'd come back. Once is enough.

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Josephine's Martini & Wine Bar
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Josephine's Martini & Wine Bar

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The Purple Pig - coffee - Updated July 2026

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