Abreo in downtown Rockford celebrates 20 years with a menu that turns back time
Rockford Restaurant Week Spotlight | Abreo
Rockford Restaurant Week runs Jan. 23-Feb. 2, and we’re putting a spotlight on different locally owned establishments to celebrate the occasion. Today we feature Abreo, 515 E. State St., Rockford
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Two decades ago, chef Paul Sletten was leasing half a kitchen at a downtown restaurant when he got the unexpected opportunity to buy the business outright.
Sletten didn’t hesitate. He snapped up the business and reopened three days later under his own brand, initial called Brio at Bacchus. The restaurant at 515 E. State St. has since been renamed to Abreo, and it celebrated 20 years in business on Jan. 17.
“This thing started really fast and without a lot of planning,” Sletten, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Karen, recalled this week. “It was the second week of January, (they) asked me on Friday if I was interested in buying the restaurant and I said yes. We opened Brio at Bacchus on Monday.”
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That quick decision has proven to have staying power as one of downtown’s most popular restaurants.
Sletten said he’s looking back on 20 years with a mix of pride and disbelief.
“Just take chances, you never know,” he said. “You could be looking back 20 years later.”
Abreo’s chef-driven menu is seasonally adjusted and filled with original dishes from Sletten and his culinary team. The restaurant strives to offer creative dishes made with locally sourced ingredients. Its cocktail program, like its dinner menu, is constantly evolving and it continually adds to its wine and whisky list.
For Rockford Restaurant Week, which ends Sunday, Abreo has brought out a throwback menu for the third year in a row. You’ll find dishes such as its Caribbean baby back ribs and chipotle corn cake. The hickory grilled ribs are braised in pineapple-barbecue sauce with andouille sausage. Or there’s the butternut squash ravioli with mozzarella, pine nut, sage, sweet corn butter and topped with marinated radish.
“They’re all dishes from our archives,” Sletten said. “For people who’ve been coming here for 20 years it’s great that they get to have one of their old favorites, and for new people they just get to taste something new to them.”
Its current dinner menu includes acorn squash tortellini, steak romesco and grilled wild salmon, among other offerings.
“Every single dish is made with true heart and soul and it can be tasted in every bite. A true culinary experience,” a reviewer from Capron wrote on Yelp. “A restaurant with values that knows how to impress. You will not be disappointed.”
The restaurant has 4.6-star rating on Yelp with more than 140 5-star reviews.
“Coming from Chicago, finding Abreo was such a wonderful delight,” another reviewer wrote. “Quite a subtle gem in downtown Rockford.”
The special Restaurant Week menu also includes a table side whiskey cart that lets you customize your own cocktail and its signature cream puff filled with vanilla bean custard for dessert.
Additional entrees include a lemon chicken and mushroom crepe and elk tenderloin and blueberries, a farm-raised Colorado elk served with dried blueberry and sherry wine reduction with black pepper polenta.
The menu reflects the changes in food over 20 years, Sletten said.
“If you look at some of these dishes over the years, it time stamps the evolution of not only our food but food culture in general,” he said. “It’s really a fun menu and a fun look back at where we came from.”
Fast Facts |Abreo
What’s the special? Get a throwback three-course meal with menu items from its first 20 years in business for $50.
Restaurant Week menu? See it HERE
Location: 515 E. State St., Rockford
Hours: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday (kitchen closes at 10 p.m.); closed Sunday
Opened: Jan. 17, 2005
On the Web: abreorockford.com
E-gift cards: Go HERE
On Facebook: @AbreoRestaurant
On Instagram: @abreo515
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
