birthday steak with kids in tow

Hello:

It's my seemingly annual post where I ask for suggestions on where to take my husband for his birthday supper. I am rather tardy in my appeal, as his birthday is tomorrow, but what the heck, hopefully I will get a few suggestions. So this year he would like to have steak. The catcher is that I will have the kids in tow and due to a recent job change, I have a somewhat limited budget.

So any thoughts where a gal can take a guy for a decent steak given my constraints? I thought of Le Creperie but I would like to try something new. I am totally open to ethnic spots.

Thanks in advance.

bjt

One of my favorites for meat on a budget is Tango Sur, the Argentinean place. They have a parillada (grilled plate of meat) that is approx $16 or $28 depending on the size you get. The small would feed the both of you, and the large would probably feed the entire family. The meats include short rib steak, flap meat steak, chorizo, sausage and blood sausage. It comes with salad and the restaurant is BYO. I like the experience and value very much.

Tango Sur
3763 N Southport Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 477-5466

Since the Chicago Originals Restaurant Week is going on (as posted here), I'd check out the participating restaurants, since they are all offering special menus of 2-4 courses for $29.11, now through Jan 29. Here are some of the steak entrees offered as part of this promotion:

Le Titi de Paris - Seared Filet of Beef, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Crumbled Bleu Cheese, Scallion Corn Cake, Chinon Sauce

Mexique - Grilled Flank Steak, Spinach, Asparagus, Roasted Red Peppers, Fingerling Potatoes and Goat Cheese Fondue

Cafe Central - Pan Seared Skirt Steak Frite ~ Fries, Sautéed Vegetables & Roasted Garlic Veal Reduction

Cyrano's Bistrot - Grilled Bistrot Steak, Provencal Ratatouille, Herbed & Garlicky Pomme Frites, Roasted Onions Jus

Hemmingway's Bistro - Grilled Steak Frites, Beurre d’maire d’hotel and pomme frites

I'd go Don Juan's (6730 North Northwest Highway, Chicago) or Tanzitaro (6075 N. Milwaukee, Chicago). I know Don Juan's has a website but I can't find it anywhere.

If you don't mind staying in, you could always pick up some a good bottle of wine and some nice prime steaks from Costco on the cheap & do a birthday dinner at home.

I don't know if it's in your price range, but we had a fairly nice evening including Sparky at L. Woods. It's not ethnic, it's very traditional in a northwoods kind of way, and the prices aren't extremely low, but we liked all the cow-related parts of the menu, and found the steaks big enough to split into two portions. NY strip was very good. (I had what was supposed to be much-lauded fried chicken and found it to be inedible. Maybe an off night?)

I'd have suggested Myron & Phil's, but they don't seem to be the same anymore...it's a similar kind of place.

They have extra-cool crayons.

Without a doubt, go to Tango Sur.

Thanks everyone for all of the great tips and suggestions. We actually tried to go to Tango Sur for his birthday three years ago and the wait was quoted at 1 hour and 45 minutes. Having the babysitter on the clock we just couldn't do it, so we headed over to Katsu where where we had a lovely meal. (Maybe Tango Sur takes reservations these days but back then they did not.)

Birthday boy caught wind of me asking about places and said matter-of-factly, "We have two gorgeous steaks in the freezer from Crystal (of C&D Farms, we've done the Meat CSA the last three months) let's just have those." So we are going to enjoy steak and potatoes at home. But I thank you all for the suggestions. Quite a few I'd never heard of and they will be perfect for those other occasions when Grandpa & Grandma take the kids for a sleep-over and we can go wherever we want (no clock ticking with the sitter, hooray!).

I also appreciate the suggestions on the spots where kids have gone and it's all good. Thanks Mhays for the insight on L. Woods. I drive past that place all the time and have never known what to make of it. But it's 10 minutes from where we live so maybe worth checking out!

Thanks again.

bjt

Did ya take some pics of those steaks cooking for your birthday boy?

Looks like they have some fine meats and sell Saturdays near the Beverly.
Thanks for the heads up on C & D farms, have you been with them for awhile?

http://www.cdfamilyfarms.com/Home

Mhays wrote:They have extra-cool crayons.

What makes them so nifty?

They're triangular and stack.

I did not take shots of the steaks (sorry!) but they cooked up gorgeously and we did almost nothing to them other than give them a good crackling of fresh pepper and then put them under the broiler for about 6 minutes on each side. (We salted them when they come out.) It was old school tonight: steaks, baked potatoes with sour cream, chives and butter and lightly steamed asparagus. My husband likes his steak rare, I am more medium rare. He cut up very rare pieces for our Uber-Picky eldest and my eyes grew wide, like, are you crazy wasting that gorgeous meat, he's just going to shove it aside. Well, Sam ate it all and ate two more helpings. That tells me and maybe you about the flavor of the meat.

I have only done the Meat CSA with C & D for three months, but I have been buying her pork and eggs and the beef, chicken and bison that she gets from neighboring farms for almost two years. It's not cheap (the CSA has been $85 per month for a very generous amount) but I like that it causes me to pause on how we eat our meat and how often etc. But I also love that her meats have completely schooled my kids' palates in the very best way. Last summer we ate her Ham Steak pretty much once a week, because that's the easiest thing to throw down on a grill with a few fresh veggies and fruit. One week I got a cheap ham steak from Aldi and well, threw it down and served it forth. My son took one bite and made a squinchy face and said, "Mom, I am so sorry to say this, but I think Crystal has done something different with her ham steaks."

I think her bacon (not her "Better Than Bacon" which I cannot figure out or like at all) is the best bacon I have ever cooked and that is up against Nueske's and other fantastic family farms, which I swoon over as well.

Again, thanks for the ideas, they will not go to waste. We will continue to want affordable steak dinners out and so this is super helpful.

bjt