We moved to Chicago from NY in 2006, and have settled into Cafe Matou as our favorite bistro in the city. It's a 20 minute drive for us from Gold Coast, but worth it. Charlie is fabulous at matching ingredients, creating new combinations, and always has the perfectly complimentary sauces. The menu has enough variety to be interesting, but small enough so that everything is fresh. And James always comes up with a perfect matching, reasonably priced, wine. Service is bistro service - not perfect, but fine and knowledgable. Over 20 visits in last two years, never disappointed.

This romantic French spot has a personalized wine list and friendly knowledgeable staff. My husband and I both have high standards for service, and the staff at Cafe Matou are friendly professionals who accommodated both the wine snob and the novice at my table. It is so nice to go to a restaurant where the staff has tasted all the food and most of the wine! The food is so delicious it actually occurred to me to order another entree for dessert. We have been several times and feel like it is a great date night and wonderful place to take friends. We love the Cellar Raid, which is an awesome deal; it happens the fourth Wednesday of every month, 17-dollar bottles of wine! We love this place and recommend it to anyone, make a reservation for sure.

Yeah, that's really what I have to say about this place...hope it's appropriate. No, really though, this is probably my favorite place to go on a date, the food is usually good to excellent, the prix fixe is a very good deal, and it's a nice atmosphere on a relatively quiet stretch of Milwaukee (not sure what Matou that guy went to, but this is in Bucktown/Wicker Park, it's not exactly a hot corner...) I'm not going to lie, the servers are not the nicest bunch of charmers I've ever met, but they're usually just fine. Also, the service is occasionally slooooow. HOWEVER. I will give Matou the crown for best French bistro style Prix Fixe, a nice crown to have, no? The food really is good, and for what you get, it's a good deal. TIP! Call ahead...sometimes they have these wine-tasting-tour dinner things, and if you're not into spending $50 on your dinner that night, you might get a nasty surprise! I think it's only once a month though, usually when I go I spend about $30 or $35 with wine and I'm well satisfied.

Waited at the bar for 10+ minutes, with only two other people there, for the bartender or wait staff to take my order. Found out after I ate and left that they had a promotion going---was never offered it or made aware. Wait staff was sullen and slow and unhelpful. The food was OK---probably would have better things to say about it if the rest of my dining experience had been better. Frankly stated, there are far better places for French food, far better places for service and even far better places for a wine-bar experience. Never again.

Good, simple, authentic French fare, albeit a little too French almost. Apparently the Lavender porkchop is excellent but I have yet to try it. Good selection on the fish dishes as well, and fairly flavorful. I will have to come back and explore this menu.