A definite must to check out is Cafe Spiaggia 980 N. Michigan Ave. 2nd Fl. In my opinion some of the best "non red sauce" Italian in Chicago.

tsaracino wrote:A definite must to check out is Cafe Spiaggia 980 N. Michigan Ave. 2nd Fl. In my opinion some of the best "non red sauce" Italian in Chicago.

Tsaracino,

I know why I like Cafe Spiaggia, casual/less expensive, yet same sensibilities as Spiaggia, but I'm wondering if you would elaborate a bit as to why you feel it's a "must stop." You say in your opinion, but as this is your first post your opinion does not have a track record.

Thanks in advance, and I'm not meaning to bust your chops, Provimi veal or otherwise, just that by your use of "Non red sauce" Italian I have the impression you have more to offer.

Welcome to LTHForum.

Enjoy,
Gary

Well, you all havent let me down yet. Can you recommend a good steakhouse (no ruth chris)?

tomorrow night we are going to Japonais

Marc wrote:Well, you all havent let me down yet. Can you recommend a good steakhouse (no ruth chris)?

tomorrow night we are going to Japonais

These are my recdommendations (in order of preference)

Smith & Wollensky (A New York based mini-chain, but the best meat in town IMO)

Gene & Georgetti's (Chicago Classic)

Mortons (Go to the flagship on State)

Tavern on Rush (Interesting people watching)

Gibson's (Home of the beautiful people)

Do a search to find discussions about all of these places.

stevez wrote:

Marc wrote:Well, you all havent let me down yet. Can you recommend a good steakhouse (no ruth chris)?

tomorrow night we are going to Japonais

These are my recdommendations (in order of preference)

Smith & Wollensky (A New York based mini-chain, but the best meat in town IMO)

Gene & Georgetti's (Chicago Classic)

Mortons (Go to the flagship on State)

Tavern on Rush (Interesting people watching)

Gibson's (Home of the beautiful people)

Do a search to find discussions about all of these places.

Great! Thanks again

To add to Steve's great list, also consider Keefer's and Saloon. The former is fairly different from most of the other steakhouses, but is worth considering.

My first choice would be S&W.

My favorite is Keefer's (Kinzie & Dearborn). They do aged beef as well or better than anyone in Chicago, but I prefer it to other steakhouses because they also have fantastic seafood and other non-steak items which is great if you have any non-steak fans with you. Also, their sides and appetizers are more interesting than the sides/appetizers offered by the other steakhouses.

www.keefersrestaurant.com

A great list, Stevez; I'd recommend Gene & Georgetti's - not the best meat (but still pretty good), but with a classic old-timey atmosphere.

Others to consider might be Chicago Chop House, although I haven't tried it in a long time. And you feel like travelling a little, I'm partial to Evanston's Pete Miller's.

And the worst steak meal I've ever had was at Sullivan's ... horribly overcooked steak (ordered rare, delivered medium-well), and a watery, separated souffle for dessert. To be charitable, it might just have been an off-night.

I dont think I am going to go to S&W. They have one in DC so I would like to try something new. No mortons either, last time I went i was pretty disappointed and i think it is very overpriced

ill look at gene & gorgettis and keefer... maybe tavern on rush? how are these three price wise?

Nine on Randolph served me the best steak I've had in Chicago. A rare bone-in ribeye, perhaps the best piece of meat I've ever eaten. Despite the somewhat cheesy/clubby-glitz, the steak is second-to-none in the city.

440 W Randolph St.

Here are the the links to compare menus/prices:

www.keefersrestaurant.com

www.geneandgeorgetti.com

www.tavernonrush.com

I've been to Gene & Georgetti's and Keefer's multiple times each and find the prices very similar. . . haven't been to Tavern on Rush but their prices look comparable, although I don't know about portion sizes.

thanks BR

There's always Ditka's too, for the real Chicago steakhouse testosterone-overload experience. My husband thinks the food there is pretty good, but he claims that the best steak he has had in town was at Tavern on Rush.

definitely gene & georgettis for steaks. if you want to follow it up with a big fat cigar and glass of scotch, i believe gibson's has a lounge upstairs for just that purpose. double check though cause its been awhile since i've been.

its pricey and the service at japonais is the worst, but the people watching is fun. check out the downstairs bar for drinks or go over to tizi melloul for cocktails (the vibe is sexy and not as pricey as japonais). if you like a good scene, the victor hotel is great for late night drinks.

avec is in my opinion, a better time than blackbird. food and service is more relaxed and the menu is terrific. the small plates format is great for sharing but i'd happily make a meal out of the sweetbreads, pork shoulder and cheese plate (get the cabrales, its insane) and not share a single bite. the people watching is quite beautiful too.

for ethnic food, korean bbq is delicious, relatively cheap and if you add some soju and follow it up with some karaoke, a very, very memorable time. a bunch of places up on lincoln avenue or check out haewondae on california (near devon). its far out there but karaoke is just next door so you can hit both spots without traveling between. this is a great option if you want to go out with a group of co-workers.

Marc wrote:I dont think I am going to go to S&W. They have one in DC so I would like to try something new. No mortons either, last time I went i was pretty disappointed and i think it is very overpriced

ill look at gene & gorgettis and keefer... maybe tavern on rush? how are these three price wise?

The point about Morton's is that this is the flagship and the steaks are generally better than the various outposts around the country. I'd really recommend Gene & Georgetti's if you are not going to S&W's, though. It has the classic Chicago charm that the other's lack (it's an old hangout of Frank Sinatra and his old school buddies as well as every Chicago politician known to man...a real classic). One tip...don't let them seat you on the second floor. Hold out for main floor seating if at all possible.

The Morton's on State does do a great piece of meat. I enjoy the all around experience at Joe's Seafood, Stone Crab, and Prime Steak (or whatever that unwieldy name is) very much here, and the food is excellent. It also is the spawn of the Miami original, though.

stevez wrote:The point about Morton's is that this is the flagship and the steaks are generally better than the various outposts around the country.

I have to agree with Steve about the Chicago Morton's. Although Keefer's is my favorite, I think Morton's is also excellent here . . . although I understand your concern since I have been to a couple of inconsistent Morton's when out-of-town.

Last night we decided to go to the Chicago Chophouse for dinner. We passed on Keefers, Gibsons, and G&G because we are going to Japonais tonight and we wanted to try to save a *little* money.

Overall, I would say the Chophouse is slightly better than Ruth Chris. I would also rank it above Mortons, however I have only been to the Mortons in the DC area so take that with a grain of salt.

For appetizers we had the calamari and the Perch. The calamari was good but nothing great. The marinara sauce that accompanied it was subpar. It tasted like it came out of a can of Ragu. The lemon Perch was great (this was my first experience with Perch)

For dinner I had the Chophouse special bone in Prime Rib. slow cooked for 6 hours and then they char the outside. I thought the steak was outstanding. 24oz (or maybe 26) of scrumptulescence. I'm not the biggest fan of prime rib but the charring on the outside was perfect. The side dishes were average. The mushrooms could have been better and the creamed spinach was fair. The host also sent our table complimentary orders of Russ fries (crunchy potatoes with garlic salt pepper onions and one or two other seasonings) and potatoe pancakes. The fries were great and i didnt try the pancakes.

Overall it was a good experience (as far as the steaks go) but there are certainly areas for improvement .

Oh yeah, we also had two bottles of syrah, but im not a wine buff so i jsut let someone else order them. they were good (sorry for the lacking description)

I will let you all know how Japonais turns out tonight

So we had dinner at Japonais tonight.... Divine

We started out with "The Rock"; thinly sliced NY Strip steak that you self cook on the heated stone. Very fun and very good. After that came the Kumba summer roll... i dont quite remember what was in it but it was wrapped it Kumba and it was also very good. nice and light

After those quick little appetizers came a whole mackrel. it was fileted and was accompanied by an ginger scallion soy sauce. our waiter told us they only get like 3 of these fish in a week and when he saw there was one left he had to bring it out to us. This was one of the most impressive meals of the night. the oil of the mackrel mixed with the ginger soy sauce was to die for. i highly recommend trying to get this if you go there. i dont know the proper name for the dish though

after the mackrel came the octops sashimi. one of the best octopus' ive had. the best ive ever had was at sushi yasuda in NYC but this certainly ranks up there.

following the octopus was Toro sashimi, Sake (atlantic salmon) sashimi, Hirame (North Carolina Fluke, similar to yellowtail) nigiri, and Aka Anago (eel poached in house with soy) nigiri. This was phenomenal, the toro was like butter, the sake also very velvety, the hirame was awesome and the aka anago was also great finishing with a nice salty kick at the end

then came the Spicy Mono roll which consists of spicy octopus on the inside with tuna tartare on top covering each roll. this was seriously one of the top 5 best sushi rolls i have ever had. you must order this if you go there

then we ordered two more maki rolls, the soft shell crab roll and the tuna tuna salmon roll. the soft shell crab roll is what you would expect, nothing more to mention here. the tuna tuna salmon roll is salmon tartare topped with sliced tuna, avocado sauce and wasabi tobiko sauce. this was also a great roll (more of a nigiri actually) and i would recommend ordering this as well

after this we finished off the meal with the duck platter. basically like peking duck except they didnt separate the skin from the meat and they also added a mango chutney in addition to the hoison sauce to add to your pancake. there was some baby bok choy and mandarin oranges flanking the duck. very good

Japonais was a ton of fun and by far the best place I went to all week. Better than NoMi in my opinion. Anyways, thanks again guys for the recommendations, this trip was certainly much more enjoyable because of all your input. I hope to be back again sometime soon

Marc,

I don't quite know where you come from. However if there are good dining options in your neck of the woods, we would appreciate it if you occasionally drop some information in the "Beyond Chicagoland Board."

Sometime ago, we had a poster move to Kentucky I believe. He posted shortly thereafter about the best tacos in a town I had never heard of. In short order sanother poster commented they were destined for this town in the near future. Who knew a somewhat obscure (to me anyway) town would produce such treasure and would be useful information so quickly.

Delighted you enjoyed your trip to Chicago.

Regards,

Marc wrote:After those quick little appetizers came a whole mackrel. it was fileted and was accompanied by an ginger scallion soy sauce. our waiter told us they only get like 3 of these fish in a week and when he saw there was one left he had to bring it out to us. This was one of the most impressive meals of the night. the oil of the mackrel mixed with the ginger soy sauce was to die for. i highly recommend trying to get this if you go there. i dont know the proper name for the dish though

Sounds like Aji? Horse Mackrel?

Marc wrote:For dinner I had the Chophouse special bone in Prime Rib. slow cooked for 6 hours and then they char the outside. I thought the steak was outstanding. 24oz (or maybe 26) of scrumptulescence. I'm not the biggest fan of prime rib but the charring on the outside was perfect.

This is a favorite steak of mine. And it really is a steak -- despite the slow cooking, it has the character of steak, rather than roast prime rib of beef, and you can get it rare.

The Chophouse has its detractors, and it's usually full of tourists and conventioneers (they advertise heavily in airline magazines), but it serves great steaks and has the advantage of being relatively easy to get into at short notice. Unlike the a la carte practice at many local steakhouses, the entrees come with a nice salad and potato. It also has an expansive wine list.

The shrimp de Jonghe there is not the authentic article, however, but merely sautéed garlic shrimp and I agree that the creamed spinach is gloppy. (The best creamed spinach in town comes from Lawry's, with the Berghoff a very close second.)

Another good option for steak and Chicago experience is Carmichael's. The steaks there are high-end choice, rather than prime, but they impressed the heck out of our visitors from Seattle, and the place is comfortable and decorated with all sorts of Chicagoana. (In summer, they have a great courtyard, too.)

Chicago Chop House
312/787-7100
www.chicagochophouse.com
60 W. Ontario St.
Chicago, IL 60610-3823

Lawry's the Prime Rib
312/787-5000
www.lawrysonline.com
100 E. Ontario St.
Chicago, IL 60611

Berghoff
312/427-3170
www.berghoff.com
17 W. Adams St., Chicago IL 60603

Carmichael's Chicago Steak House
312/433-0025
http://www.carmichaelsteakhouse.com
1052 W. Monroe St.
Chicago, IL 60607

Cathy2 wrote:Marc,

I don't quite know where you come from. However if there are good dining options in your neck of the woods, we would appreciate it if you occasionally drop some information in the "Beyond Chicagoland Board."

Cathy2 see the post I just made in the forum regarding crab cakes in the DC area. These are, in my opinion, truly the best crab cakes in the mid atlantic region and I would say rank among the best in the nation. Being from MD, I have had my fair share of crabcakes, and these are by far the best I have ever had

Thanks again for all the help everyone!