Wrigley's Mansion Dinner Club - review by Christopher Gross

      This is a great place just to go for a drink and sit on one of the many balconies and look at the city lights, or you can enjoy the bar, every once in awhile they have live music in there. The Restaurant itself is called Joany's and it's open from 5-9.  Joany's lounge is open at 4 o'clock until late evening. The night I dined there was a Saturday, we (weekenders) went into the lounge and had a glass of champagne and went out to the terrene and watched the sunset. As you enter the dining room you are greeted by elegance, but you don't feel any stuffiness, you feel quite comfortable.  The service is very friendly - not over barring at all.

    Wrigley's sits atop a mountain as a beautiful historic 32 thousand sq ft home that has been converted into a restaurant, lounge, and also a banquet facility located in the heart of the Biltmore fashion square.  It's quite special when you drive up to it you pass through a gated, guarded shack and you go right in, drive right up to the top, and your car is taken via valet. You walk up the stairs to the front door and walk through a beautiful entry with a chandelier, stairs go up to all the private dinning rooms and you're greeted by your host at a desk.

    We were seated where we had an amazing view of the north city lights.  Due to the special occasion, we started with a little caviar and some Champagne; the wine list is also very nice.  To start out, I split one of their main courses, a stir-fry of vegetables and wild mushroom. For my main course, I had a grilled rib eye served.  The rib eye was very tender and it was served with grauton potatoes, asparagus, and grilled tomatoes with a light rosemary juice. After that, they made an individual tiramisu - which was also very good. A few other people at the table had the grilled pork chop and every thing was just wonderful; fresh green salads, a series of deserts that changes nightly.

    Great place again, for special occasion or family. And there diner prices are decent; appetizers from $14 like the Hawaiian ruche', $12 for puréed duck breast, baked oysters for $10.  They have a mango quesadilla for $10, salads range from $8 - $10. Main courses range from $24 to $30 (lobster linguini). Wrigley's isn't just about dinner; they also serve breakfast and brunch. They have a breakfast station where they make omelets the way you like them.  It is fairly reasonable at $35 a person for brunch.

    This is place is really relaxing, like the night I was here the dining room was full, yet it was very quiet even though next door a 6 piece band was playing, people were dancing and there was people out on the patio, drinking, enjoying the view of the city. So there is a lot to do here whether you go for a drink, or go for a drink and stay for dinner, then go back to the lounge.

     Now, this is a membership club, that's why they call it, "Wrigley's Mansion Club". But that's no big deal; the membership is $10 for the year. It's more or less a technicality because their located in the Biltmore area association, so when you drive up you'll see the Biltmore Hotel and you'll be right on the beautiful Biltmore grounds.  If you wanted to walk around the grounds, your perfectly welcome, it is beautiful. So anyway, think about the Wrigley Mansions club for your next special occasion out, I think you'd really, really enjoy it.

 2501 E. Telawa Tr (24th St. and Missouri)  602-955-4079