Confirmed - Villain's Food is Beyond Legit!

It's not a secret that Villain's was one of our favorite spots in the Sloop before it abruptly had to shut its doors back in October of 2012.  Their dark, hard to find, unassuming spot on South Clark was somehow refreshing in a neighborhood full of new, shinny retail space popping up.  At the time we were sad.

Then word came down that they would re-open, essentially across the street (730 S. Clark).  While we were jazzed, we were also unsure about the move into the aforementioned "shinny retail space". However, knowing these guys, we had a reserved excitement.

As you probably know they opened and have seen some positive press to validate their slight concept shift from dive'ish neighborhood gem to food/beer focused eating/drinking spot.  They've even been featured on Eater Chicago's Hottest Restaurants in Chicago list for July - something that isn't often seen in these parts.  

While that's all great and dandy, sometimes you have to see (and taste) it to believe it and we finally made it over for our first visit to the new spot.

We had little doubt that they would deliver on beer (FYI they have 40 taps and by our estimation the most diverse and interesting beer lineup you're going to find in the Sloop), but the food was a bit of the wild card for us.  However, after experiencing a variety of dishes, with a variety of people (pregnant woman and self-proclaimed "food is just sustenance" person) - we were all left to say, this food is LEGIT!

And now for some of the food porn:

First up was the Grilled, Milk Braised Pork Belly that also had Roasted Summer Squash, Peas, Honeycomb:

Our second app was a surprisingly flavorful explosion of City Farm Baby Carrots and had Mizuna, Creme Fraiche, Pistachios, Sherry Vinaigrette

Only two of us were eating main corses and apparently meat was on the mind.  First up, the infamous Villain's burger with some newer touches - Grilled Cameron Farms Beef Burger - Bacon, Hooks Cheddar, B&B Pickles, Smoked Red Onions

We like to think we've hit up most local restaurants in the Sloop and to be honest, this is probably one of the best entrees we've had in a long long time - Slagel Farms Dry-Aged Top Sirloin (medium rare) - Roasted Cremini Mushrooms, Grilled & Creamed Creens, Breadcrumb Salsa:

To round it out, some Cheesecake was consumed which was topped with Honey Roasted Cherries and Mint - an interesting and delicious combo:

Hopefully the pics do justice, but seriously - legit!