With room for 130 people in its main dining room, room for 37 people at the bar, and room for people to enjoy the sunshine as they eat with seating options on its outdoor patio, Kankakee Grille at New Buffalo invites guests to come for a visit, enjoy its welcoming atmosphere, and sample its delicious dishes.
Kankakee Grille is part of Four Winds Casinos and serves as a quality food option whether you and your friends need refreshments after trying your hands at the slot machines or you and your family are looking for a warm and welcoming place to enjoy a good meal.
The grille offers rustic cuisine dishes that will satisfy your cravings whether that be lobster rolls or hearth-baked pizza. Executive Chef Brandon Smithson shared that the grille seeks to prepare classic favorites with a fresh flair.
“We’re looking for your comfort food with a twist,” Smithson said. “We want you to feel comfortable coming in here with something that mom served but give you a little something different in between.”
One crowd-favorite, homestyle dish with a twist is Kankakee Grille’s Mac and Cheese dish. This rich meal includes cavatappi topped with an aged white cheddar sauce and a smoky tasso ham. For an additional cost, guests can add their own touch to the dish with chicken, shrimp, or steak. Each variety of this savory dish is served with a pretzel breadstick.
With an in-house butcher shop, Kankakee Grille offers a variety of meats that they are able to prepare right in the restaurant. For the Ribeye Steak, Kankakee Grille makes its own hand-cut steaks that are then chargrilled and served with fried onions, mashed potatoes, and vegetables selected by the chef.
The BBQ Ribs are another delectable meat option the grille is able to prepare in-house to get just the right tenderness.
“It’s a locally sourced rib that we get out of Indiana,” Smithson said. “We smoke it to a perfect tenderness. It’s still got a little bite to it - we don’t want it to fall completely off the bone. We want you to be able to have that really nice texture to that rib when you’re eating it.”
After being smoked, these ribs are covered in a sweet and tangy barbeque sauce and served with artisan white bread and parmesan truffle fries.
For those looking for a different kind of meat option, Kankakee Grille also has a number of seafood dishes for guests to consider. The staff buys locally sourced Lake Perch, which they bread by hand for the Fried Lake Perch Platter. This platter comes with the grille’s signature sriracha slaw, parmesan truffle fries, and roasted garlic citrus tartar sauce.
Another tasty seafood dish, the Lobster Roll is a lobster salad with a roll and the grille’s signature sriracha slaw on the side.
“The Lobster Roll is New England style, so it’s what you’re going to find when you’re over in Maine; it’s got that East Coast feel. It’s going to bring you right back to that,” Smithson said.
If you are looking for the perfect party food for your table, look no further than these two classics: pizza and nachos. Kankakee Grille has woodfire ovens in the back and prepares the dough in-house for hearth-baked pizzas. The crowd-pleasing KG Nachos feature tortilla chips topped with aged white cheddar sauce, beans, pico de gallo, jalapenos, green onions, sour cream, and guacamole. Meat topping options offered at an additional cost include chicken, pulled pork, and sirloin steak. This filling starter can easily be split amongst guests at a table.
Smithson shared that one of the most well-known and long-standing dishes Kankakee Grille offers is its Chocolate Cake. This chocolate cake is prepared with espresso syrup, chocolate cream, and chocolate glaze.
“This is kind of a classic for Four Winds; we’ve had it ever since we opened,” Smithson said. “It’s a chocolate mousse cake. It’s a fan favorite. You’re going to hear about it whenever you talk to somebody who has visited Four Winds.”
Kankakee Grille also features specials throughout the week like Surf and Turf Thursday and hosts events such as trivia nights and musical performances by local bands. Stop by for the Father’s Day BBQ Feature to celebrate your dad with delicious barbeque classics including ribs, mac and cheese, baked beans, and more.
To learn more about Kankakee Grille at New Buffalo and keep up with its schedule full of specials and events, visit https://www.fourwindscasino.com/newbuffalo/dining/kankakee-grille-nb/.
