What a tremendous letdown. I am not one to write negative reviews, but I felt compelled to write one here as I have been looking forward to this place for years. First, the service was terrible. It took 20 minutes each time we ordered a class of wine. Second, the main course was brought out too early and when they realized it, all they did was take it back and returned it to us cold (medium rare steak cold is not very good). Finally, the cake that we had for desert was way too dry, and really couldn't eat it (considering we were once again waiting on wine to pair/wash it down with) . Overall, for the high price of this place it was probably the worse dining experience we have had. Your money will be better spent at any other place in Naperville.

I would recommend Sugar Toad. Their website's tag line asks the question: "Why would anyone want to drive from Chicago to Naperville for dinner?!" Well, it was a lovely dining experience, though I think that is going a little overboard. However...you will find that each and every person you encounter goes out of their way to be accomodating and friendly-from the phone conversation to make your reservation to everyone at the hotel & restaurant. Our waiter was great at recommending specific beers to go with our meals. The atmosphere was pretty chic, though the red neon stripes on the ceiling were a bit 1984. I wish they had more of a "wine by the glass" selection. They have a few unique food items on the menu, which I always like to see. They have a beet salad, which sheds a new light onto beets for you "non-beet-lovers." It was pretty good, due to the chef's vinagrette. Two of my favorite items were the Red Pepper soup-it was amazing and the Mustard (something) Noodles, which is merely a side dish, has a subtle, yet absolutely delicious flavor. And then there's the Crab Cakes that we keep hearing about... They are some of the better crab cakes I've had. The Chef uses a light breading and is not afraid of huge chuncks of Crab. They are really great, but I wish they were served with some type of sauce. The idea behind "no sauce" is that the crab cake is so good, it is meant to stand alone. That sounds impressive, and again, the crab cakes are much better than most, but I feel that a sauce would enhance them further. It's not like we're asking to put ketchup on a good steak here. Even the most beautiful women in the world wear make-up. Same case with the blackened Ahi Tuna. It was very good, but could have used some type of wasabi sauce. Americans love their sauces and condiments-what can I say? Overall it was a good experience, an enjoyable dinner and I would recommend it.

I was somewhat disappointed in my visit here. First of all let me say, this restaurant is located on the bottom floor of the new Hotel Arista. A nice looking place for sure: sleek, modern and, being new, ultra-clean. The dining room is flanked on one side by floor to ceiling windows, which are great for natural light and making the place look bigger then it is, but horrible considering the “scenic view” is a vacant lot and two non-descript low-rise office buildings. The food is minimalism. The focus is on the ingredients. Simple preparations that allow the quality of the food to speak for itself. However, minimalism depends on proper, consistent, and flawless execution and on this note Sugartoad fails. I had the Wagyu beef tender. I ordered it medium-rare, but it arrived medium well. Considering the beef is sliced before serving, it must have been obvious the beef was overcooked, but the chef chose to serve it anyway. My dish was served with haricot-verts and a potato gratin. The arrangement on the dish couldn’t have been anymore simplistic: Potato at 10 o’clock, vegetable at 2 o’clock and meat at 6 o’clock. My dining partner had the seared tuna. The tuna was of decent size, but the cut resulted in a piece of fish less than an inch thick. Despite this, the cook was capable of overcooking one side of the tuna while leaving the other side nearly raw. We both had the butternut sqaush soup as an appetizer. I am not joking when I say it tasted exactly like Trader Joe's boxed butternut squash soup. Lucky for me, I happen to quite enjoy TJ's butternut squash soup in a box. As for the service, it was very attentive. If you live in the city there are, literally, dozens of superior restaurants and I cannot see how Sugartoad would warrant the trip. If you live the area, Sugartoad might be worth a try, though, by comparison, Niche in Geneva is the better restaurant.

Restaurant far surpassed my expectations. Excellent food, gorgeous decor, and friendly servers made my experience at Sugartoad unforgettable. Definitely worth the trip into Naperville from Chicago. Would go again in a heartbeat.