Reel appeal at Bogart's

The bad news is that you can expect O'Hare-area traffic to get worse, with more hotels and entertainment destinations in the new, $500 million, 60-acre Rosemont Walk development.

The good news is the expansion of restaurant choices in Rosemont, reportedly set to include a second branch of Wheeling's Osteria di Tramonto, a McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant and an as-yet-unamed spot from Phil Stefani Signature Restaurants (the people behind Riva in Naperville and Tuscany in Wheeling and Oak Brook).

The vanguard of these new dining options is Bogart's at The Premier, a full-service, sit-down American eatery from Levy Restaurants, which opened this fall inside the lavish, new, 101,000-square-foot Muvico Theater complex.

If you're in the area, the food is good enough that you might want to stop in for a meal even if you aren't catching a movie. Levy knows what it's doing -- its other venues range from fine-dining restaurants such as Chicago's Spiaggia and Bistro 110 to food service at sports facilities such as Arlington Park, Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field.

The Bogart's part of the restaurant's name is, of course, a nod to film legend Humphrey Bogart, while "The Premier" part of the moniker refers to the megaplex's high-end, adults-only cinemas, constituting six of the 18 screens. For a surcharge, these offer plush, luxury seating, free popcorn, expanded concessions (including beer, wine and cocktails) and other amenities. However, the restaurant's also open to folks in the cheap seats, as well as to diners not seeing a film.

Housed on a balcony overlooking the theater lobby, Bogart's spreads across a 140-seat dining room, a 30-seat bar and an adjoining 46-seat lounge. The design expands on the theater's neoclassic movie-palace decor, with elaborately figured carpets, tapestry-like upholstery, scarlet drapery swags, soaring ceilings, arches, pillars topped with gilt capitals and muraled walls.

The luxurious decor makes the menu of updated, upscale bar-and-grill fare seem almost a letdown. As you might expect, prices run to the upscale, too, though portions tend to be quite large.

While the restaurant, like the Premier theaters, is off-limits to anyone younger than 21, chef Andy Rohrer's menu seems calculated to appeal to the kid in everyone, with loads of miniature food items, arranged for sharing, and new takes on classic movie-theater concessions, often with cutesy movie-themed names. Many of these are also available as concessions that can be carried into the Premier screening rooms.

Take, for example, the starter "'That's a Wrap'ped Franks," a coneful of seven rather adorable mini hot dogs encased in puff pastry. I love that each tiny red hot comes topped, Chicago-style, with a sprinkling of poppy seeds. These come with two kinds of mustard for dipping, but they ought to have added a garnish of sport peppers and neon-green relish.

Other starters include a handful of "sliders," threesomes of tiny sandwiches on mini buns, ranging from filet mignon to ahi tuna. It's a pity these aren't offered in an assortment and you have to choose.

We tried the Wisconsin walleye, and received three deliciously sweet-fleshed little fillets, each in a crispy batter coating on a diminutive sesame-seed bun, and layered with lettuce and onion. Hot jalapeno tartar sauce, a wedge of lemon and a dill pickle spear come alongside.

You can also get appetizers such as a jumbo shrimp cocktail, petite potato skins and quesadillas, plus a daily soup.

Entrees include a daily special, sandwiches with skin-on fries, a couple of chicken dishes, costly steaks, main-course salads including a steak salad and a Cobb, and four types of flatbread pizzas, ranging from a classic Margherita with plum tomatoes and fresh basil to a version topped with Canadian bacon and golden pineapple.

Flatbreads enclose some of the sandwiches, too, but I don't think this succeeds -- at least not on the pulled pork we ordered, and I can't imagine it works much better with the Italian beef. The pork itself was surprisingly good, full of smoky flavor and served with caramelized onions, but the flatbread was too chewy and, well, flat for this type of sandwich. I think I'd ask to substitute a hamburger bun next time, or order the "slider" version.

Burgers include a turkey version, a patty melt and a whopping 4-pound, $50 cheeseburger, meant to be shared (at least, one hopes so). The steaks run to steakhouse prices, $37 for a 16-ounce sirloin, $43 for a 12-ounce filet mignon, by far the most expensive single-serving entrees.

Don't miss the fried chicken. Buttermilk-marinated and fried in a cast-iron pan, the four big, juicy, meaty pieces are everything fried chicken ought to be and so rarely is. They come with ho-hum vinegar-style coleslaw and a very sweet corn muffin. You might want to add the mashed potatoes from the side-dish menu.

Other add-on sides include a stack of thick, beer-battered onion rings, served with mild buttermilk-blue cheese dip; skinny onion strings; and so-called parmesan truffle fries that need a heavier hand with the truffle oil to be worth their name.

The bar offers Goose Island, Sam Adams, Stella Artois and Blue Moon on tap, with a variety of other domestic and imported brews available in bottles. The cocktail menu offers the usual mix of martinis, shaken tableside, and retro drinks including the Sidecar, a Roaring '20s classic made from cognac, and somewhat surprisingly, the hippie-era favorite Harvey Wallbanger. (That Galliano-laced screwdriver was once so popular that thousands of voters reportedly wrote it in as their choice for president over Richard Nixon or George McGovern in the 1972 election.)

Several desserts are designed for toting into the theater with you, such as the "bon bons," a collection of tiny, house-made ice-cream cones, with nuggets of excellent vanilla and strawberry ice cream on bite-sized crepe cornucopias, dipped in high-quality chocolate, and an ice-cream "tree" featuring assorted gelati. Messier, but still totable, the sliced caramel apple is just that -- a classic nut- and caramel-coated Granny Smith cut into wedges, laid on a bed of a lighter caramel sauce and sprinkled with movie candies such as gummy bears.

While the official Web site claims Bogart's is open until 10:30 p.m. daily, our server said that the kitchen typically closes at about 9:45 p.m. during the week and 10:45 p.m. on weekends. The bar stays open later, serving a menu of appetizers and flatbreads until about 15 minutes into the last show.

So far, there don't seem to be any dinner-and-a-movie deals, although a $90-per-person New Year's Eve package includes dinner, Premier movie ticket and amenities and a champagne toast.

Bogart's at The Premier

Muvico Rosemont 18 Theater, 9701 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont, (847) 447-1040, www.levyrestaurants.com

Cuisine: Updated American, upscale bar and grill

Setting: Posh, white-tablecloth dining room inside a movie palace

Price range: Appetizers $5.95 to $14.95; entrees $11.95 to $42.95; desserts $6.95 to $14.95; wine $6 to $11 by the glass, $21 to $71 by the bottle

Hours: Full menu 11:30 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Sunday though Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday; drinks and limited late-night menu served until 15 minutes after the last movie begins

Accepts: Major credit cards; reservations recommended

Also: Full bar; free garage self-parking with validation (valet parking available, too, free to Premier theater ticket holders, $6 otherwise); no one younger than 21 admitted; babysitting available; private party area available; New Year's Eve package; adjoining movie theater; www.muvico.com