Metro Grill & Bar: Upcoming Seasonal Menu Revealed By Chef Amy

JOLIET, IL — One of Joliet's longest-running sit-down restaurants, Metro Grill & Bar, marks its 20th anniversary in March, after opening in 2004. What's the key to Metro Grill's longevity?

"Consistency, good service, people love our servers and bartenders, they have great personalities," explained owner Christina Kollintzas-Pavlis, who also owns George's Restaurant in Lockport as well as Uptown in downtown Plainfield and City Tavern on Joliet's West Jefferson Street.

While many area restaurants including ACE's Drive-In Cemeno's Pizza and Hey! Hot Dog don't tinker with their menu, that is not the case at Metro Grill & Bar, at the corner of Essington and Fiday roads. Metro Grill executive chef Amy Pryzbylo is always trying to be creative. And she has the full support of Metro Grill manager Bobbie Dolgner and the owner.

Metro Grill, located at 2019 Essington, is open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Metro is known for "a mix of American and comfort food."

"Home away from home, good comfort food for any occasion or no occasion. We like to be the place that people can visit multiple times a week," Kollintzas-Pavlis said.

Metro Grill's owner said "that bringing on Amy" has been a major plus for Metro Grill because, in addition to overseeing the regular menu, Pryzbylo has created the seasonal menu, which changes quarterly. Pryzbylo has been with Metro Grill for four years now.

In October, Metro Grill introduced the meatloaf sandwich as part of its seasonal menu.

The meatloaf sandwich includes loaded mashed potatoes and gravy, a slice of meatloaf, mozzarella, two pieces of bacon, onion hay and spicy catsup.

"We had the same menu over a decade, so this is a great way to add new items," Kollintzas-Pavlis remarked.

Pryzbylo said she will be unveiling her new spring seasonal menu for Metro Grill within the next three weeks. Due to overwhelming response, the meatloaf sandwich will be staying.

"It will be back on the regular. We sell a lot of meat loaf and turkey dinners," Metro Grill's executive chef told Joliet Patch during this week's interview.

These days, some of the most popular items on Metro's regular menu include:

• Roast turkey & stuffing
• Reuben sandwich
• Poorboy steak sandwich
• Western bacon cheeseburger
• Broasted chicken

Pryzbylo said her seasonal specials typically include five or six new menu selections for a three-month time frame. Her upcoming spring menu special will include scallops as well as a trout dish, raviolis and short ribs.

One of the challenges of rolling out a seasonal menu, Pryzbylo explained, is the uncertainty surrounding it.

"It's either hit or miss," she said.

"That is what I love. I'm about our seasonal menu. I like doing specials," Pryzbylo explained. "And we're doing a brunch for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday. It's from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., so we're testing that to see how it goes. And we will still serve our regular menu that day."

The Super Bowl Sunday brunch will include avocado toast, French toast, pancake tacos, skirt steak and eggs. A photo of the entire Super Sunday brunch is at the bottom of this article.

If the Super Bowl Sunday brunch is a success, "I think we'll do it again on Easter and on Mother's Day," Pryzbylo said.

Even though Metro Grill —like practically all Will County restaurants —has had to increase its prices in recent years because of inflation and employment costs, "we have not changed our quantity at all. We are still big portions," Pryzbylo remarked. "I think in 2024 we'll do good."

As for their appetizers, the staff at Metro said the saganaki, pictured at the top of this story, remains a top seller. Their menu describes the appetizer as "flavorful flamed Greek cheese."

There is also a saganaki caprese panini on the regular menu and a saganaki Greek burger, an 8-ounce hand-packed burger with saganaki cheese, Swiss cheese, gyro meat, onion hay and spicy feta spread.

"We sell a lot of it," Metro Grill's owner said of saganaki, remarking how it remains a long-time customer favorite at George's Restaurant in Lockport.

One of the nice things about Metro Grill is "you can bring your family. You can bring a date. It's nice for everyone, including business meetings, and you always get great service," Kollintzas-Pavlis said.

Metro Grill has had 1,339 Google Reviews, averaging an impressive 4.5 stars.

Some of their most recent customer reviews included the following comments:

"Without a doubt they have the best soups around chicken noodle, creamy Ruben, or creamy chicken and rice are a few of my favorites. You gotta try the twisted turkey sandwich, it's like Thanksgiving on a bun."

"Great food, the deep-fried Ruben rolls are the best!!! Our waiter Matthew was awesome!!!"

"We started with a cheese curd appetizer. That was awesome. I had a very good cheeseburger. Fresh, tasty, cooks perfectly. My wife had a chicken Pannini. Very tasty. My daughter had the alfredo pasta with chicken. We all decided we would absolutely want to come back."

While most of its regular customers come from Joliet, Plainfield and Shorewood, Metro frequently draws people from Morris and Minooka, the staff said.

"We listen to the customers and these servers are really good at taking customer feedback, and we listen and make changes," the owner said.

For carryout orders, the phone number for Metro Grill is 815-577-8191. The restaurant does not require reservations, except for large parties.

Photos of the regular menu are included below.