The Gage Restaurant and Tavern

Hi,
just a quick posting about our meal here last Friday.

The Gage is definitely a place for people to go directly after work, to have drinks, chat, eat...when we were there last week it was packed with business types as well as groups of women for what looked like a girls night out, to people coming from the Art Institute. Due the place being crammed full and nothing to absorb sound, it's very loud. This isn't really any different than other bars around happy hour, but it does interfere a little with trying to have a conversation over dinner. It's nice inside - lots of dark wood and seems to look like it's been there a long time in a good way.

We sat in the bar area while we waited for a table, looked over the drinks and wine list. Wines by the glass are pretty expensive (9-15 I think) but the pours are quite heavy (they give you a little carafe to keep adding to your glass, so it's probably about a glass and a half - this helps justify how much they are).

We sat down to eat a few steps from where we were drinking, and our waiter was very nice, and kept moving around so he could make himself more well heard, which was a little awkward. Anyway, I had 2 apps for dinner: a watermelon/feta/mint salad and short ribs. The salad was very good, 2 colors of watermelon with high quality feta and fresh shredded mint and balsamic. My only wish was that the balsamic was a little thicker and tangier. The short ribs were good, but strange - they were coated in crushed pretzels, which I wasn't expecting but it's likely I didn't hear that part of the description from the waiter (they were a special). Anyway, they were soft and tender and had a good underlying flavor. Husband had the 'Gage' burger, which was enormous. I had a bite and my first reaction was "this is ridiculous" - by far the richest burger I've ever had. It's topped with sauteed onions and brie cheese, all of which melts into a big gooey mess - it's certainly good, but he said he was still full the next morning

I can't remember the final bill, but I think it was around 100$, because we split a bottle of wine.

This area of Michigan surely needed a spot like this, and I'd go back, just be prepared for the volume level.

24 S Michigan
Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 372-4243

Thanks for the report. Always looking for an after work place to eat (I generally keep office hours after 5 at Petterino's), I was wondering about this place. I'll have to check it out.

FYI they have at least three separate menus: lunch, afternoon, and dinner. We were there during the afternoon--maybe 4:30 or so on a Saturday--and found that the menu was not as extensive as the dinner menu, but not as expensive either. So it seems like a pretty nice arrangement for those who stop in after a 9 to 5 shift.

I recommend the sausage plate, the sausages are house made and were juicy and flavorful. The beers are good and the lines are kept extremely clean, the cocktails are innovative and the two that I had were very good, and the wine pours are indeed quite heavy. A pleasant place all around, especially after an afternoon in Millennium Park.

Frankly, considering their location, I was expecting it to be much more expensive. I can't afford to be a regular there, but I won't be a stranger either. Plus I can't wait to try their Irish Breakfast...

I had the Irish breakfast last Sunday and it was outstanding, if anyone is pining for an authentic fry up this is the place. All the essentials were on the plate - country eggs, Irish bacon, black pudding, white pudding, the grilled tomato and of course the Heinz baked beans.

There's a fried potato and brie side dish on the menu, which is the best breakfast potato dish I've had in ages. Crispy crunchy to match any tater tot, but made from real potatoes.

I'll add to the chorus and say that my meal there yesterday was much better than I expected, indeed quite good. Given the tourist location and the Irish theme, that's something. Sort of like PJ Clarke's but notches more serious about the food. Speck plate was simple (lots of thinly sliced speck, some honey, a salad and terrific grilled bread), burger was as described above, and rare hanger stek with cheese grits was, to my surprise, really a hanger steak (menus often claim this cut but the kitchen delivers something else) and really rare with a good flinty flavor. Grits were pretty solid also. Restaurants in the Loop are getting much better, particularly these types of mid-scale, lunch and after work places. I think this particular place will do well, and is taking the lead of the Park Grill, which is also well-documented as having better food than one might expect.

We ate at the Gage tonight with a group of 7. Based on earlier reviews, I made a reservation and requested that they seat us somewhere where we could talk. They seated us away from the bar area but unfortunately seated a party of 20 right next to us. Conversation was nearly impossible. The waitress was not attentive and only the person who ordered steak thought their meal was worth the money. I found the fish and chips and the accompanying tartar sauce to be very bland. They do have some outdoor tables on Michigan and if it's a nice night and you want to talk, that's a much better option. There's a downstairs seating area but they didn't seem to be using it for dinner.

I'm so surprised to see so many positive reviews of the Gage and especially the Park Grill. I live really close to both, but after trying both once, I won't be going back. They both just seemed very "Michigan Ave" to me (the worst part of Michigan Ave, that is) in that they'll charge you an arm and leg for a mediocre burger. Let the tourists deal with that kind of thing; I'd rather be searching out better places to spend my money.

I'm kind of happy Gage opened up even though I haven't been there, and would be happy even if the place were no better than mediocre. And the reason is: There are so few places to sit down, be waited on, and have a meal around there anymore. (It's verging on none, although it has never quite reached zero.) There used to be no lack of options in that category. But changes in consumer preference in favor of speed and economy--and changes in the office world which inhibit the taking of a full hour for lunch--have led to sit-down restaurants on and off Michigan Avenue getting replaced, one by one, by take-out places, or places where you stand and order at a counter before finding a table (if there is one), or coffee places that sell food (Cosi, Starbucks). Gage is bucking the trend by opening up an actual restaurant on that block, and while I don't dare hope that it's reversing the trend, I like that one new place is helping to stem the tide and/or hold the fort.

peglegged_heart wrote:I'm so surprised to see so many positive reviews of the Gage and especially the Park Grill.

FWIW, i think the park grill is disgusting, highly over-rated, overpriced, and i wouldn't wish it upon my worst co-worker. anyway:o

...back to the gage.

went there friday for a business lunch. reservations were booked already until 1:30 so we were told to just come in and wait... the wait would be 30 mins. they had a bunch of high tables in the bar area, two of which we quickly got. so that was good. but then we ended up waiting another 15 mins or so before anyone even came to say hi, give us a menu, or anything... service was very lacking because they were obviously very very busy .. the menu at first glance seemed somewhat unique but it's def. one of those places that puts 4 adjectives in front of every food item in the menu to make things sound better than they probably are.

a co-worker and i both ordrered their specialty burger--"the Gage"... it sounded interesting... Camembert, grilled onions in a marmalade reduction of sorts... well anyway, it sounded much much more interesting than it tasted. it was almost so sweet i couldn't eat it. i wish it would've had some spice to it, or they should at least put some zippy mustard on it. for $14, i would've rather had the normal $10 cheeseburger.

the atmosphere is very modern decor meets pub, but i don't think it's any more irish feeling than the next place.

...as someone else above already mentioned, even a mediocre place (particularly one that is good for a business lunch) is OK in this area and a welcome addition... i'll go back to give it another whirl and avoid the specialty burger... i only read *after* going there that the "thing to get" here seems to be the scottish eggs... fwiw, it was still 10x better than the burgers at park grill...

Yesterday, after work, I stopped in here for a couple of drinks and a snack. While *I think* this has been dubbed a "gastropub," it bears little resemblance in my mind to the American bastardizations of English and Irish pubs, both in decor and the menu.

The decor, to me, says early 1900s NYC, with subway tiles in abundance. It is a beautiful space, lots of tiling, warm colors, large floor to ceiling windows in the front with a good view of the Arie Crown fountains in Millennium Park. The downstairs has another, smaller bar and seating area that looks like it would be great for private parties.

Not wanting to order a full meal, the only thing I ordered off the menu were curry fries, a junk food weakness of mine. They were an excellent version at that, with a nice subtle curry flavor to the "gravy." But curry fries, scotch eggs and fish and chips are about the only pub staples on this menu, which is extensive, and is more like Avec than your corner pub in creativity. The menu runs the gamut, from the standard prime burger, to a saddle of elk and sea bream. I'd like to go back to try the entrees more extensively.

As a side note, the Gage is the only place in the US, I'm told, which serves Aperol. Aperol is like Campari, but less bitter. I prefer Campari, but it's always fun to try something new.

Overall, I see the Gage as a great place to get cocktail and a meal, especially if you're down in the general Millennium Park area. It is worth echoing that this heavily-touristed area has a dearth of nice sit-down restaurants and could easily become a haven for chain restaurants that are safe for your average tourist on a budget. Between Park Grill, and now the Gage, I think this area is being served well.

aschie30 wrote:As a side note, the Gage is the only place in the US, I'm told, which serves Aperol.

I'm not so sure about that. We were at Bowman's Bar & Grill (4356 N. Leavitt) a few weeks ago and they were doing a Aperol promotion. Our table tried almost all Aperol concoctions (half price, how could we not?) and decided it was borderline cough syrup tasting. I also recall seeing Aperol at Otto's (1 Fifth Ave.) in New York City a few weeks ago.

The GP wrote:

aschie30 wrote:As a side note, the Gage is the only place in the US, I'm told, which serves Aperol.

I'm not so sure about that. We were at Bowman's Bar & Grill (4356 N. Leavitt) a few weeks ago and they were doing a Aperol promotion. Our table tried almost all Aperol concoctions (half price, how could we not?) and decided it was borderline cough syrup tasting. I also recall seeing Aperol at Otto's (1 Fifth Ave.) in New York City a few weeks ago.

I think though, that there's a distinction between a promotion, and actually having it on the menu, available all the time. In any case, that's what I was told at the Gage, maybe it's right, maybe it's not.

I didn't think that it was cough syrup tasting, but a little too sweet upfront. Like I said, I prefer the outright sour/bitterness of Campari.

I too have been excited by the prospect of a new, at least moderately ambitious restaurant in the Loop. I had been by several times prior to yesterday, and observed what looks to be a pretty brisk lunch operation and a several-deep post-work bar and dinner scene.

Since yesterday was, well, pretty effing nice, we opted to sit outside among several other tables of diners that managed to keep pretty cool as a mentally-ill person sat directly out front and loudly bellowed at passersby and Gage patrons (interestingly, about Andre Agassi and Drakkar Noir cologne - the latter of which can make me yell also when applied too generously in public). I mention this because the staff, to its credit, calmly ignored this sideshow and carried on.

Unfortunately, the service, despite showing a good amount of reserve, was not good. In fact, our drinks took 10-15 minutes to arrive and our orders were not taken until 20-odd minutes past arrival, an oversight mitigated by removing the price of the drinks from the bill - a very nice gesture (in this case the issue appeared to be only one server covering the entire sidewalk area). Despite this hitch, the breakfast was very good - I opted for the traditional irish, which included aggressively-seasoned puddings and a good rendition of, if over-griddled, bangers and bacon (and beans and tomato and eggs - all nicely done); my companion the potato omelette with chorizo, which came in a cute cast-iron mini-kettle that kept it piping hot throughout - and service evened out over the course of our meal. Also, the lunch and dinner menus, which were provided, looked pretty fun, with lots of options.

Finally, the bar in particular and the rooms in general at the Gage are very handsome, as are the bathrooms. Moreover, there is a downstairs bar and private dining room that I sneaked a peak at during my bathroom visit, which could come in handy for a work event. I'm not sure the Gage will ever provide excellent, provoking fare, but based on one breakfast, I welcome it to the Loop and sincerely hope that it is at least consistently good. We need the options.

I had a late supper at the Gage last night and I though it was pretty good -- hits and misses.

First, I really liked the fondue appetizer which included a three long thin strips of semi-crunchy garlic toast for dipping into the butter kaase, brie and spinach fondue. Although a few more pieces of toast would have been nice, the flavor was excellent.

I also really enjoyed the fish and chips -- very tender Atlantic Cod in a light Guinness batter, beautifully fried, served with malt vinegar, lemon and a nice and not overpowering malt tartar sauce.

The Gage Burger was cooked a perfect medium rare. However, the beef itself needed seasoning and the onion marmalade was way too sweet and dominated the flavors in the worst of ways.

The chips were pretty decent: crisp, nicely seasoned with salt and parsley, and I dipped many into a very nice curry sauce.

The seared semolina dumplings are a mistake as an entree and should be re-introduced as an appetizer -- it's just way too much polenta. It's essentially grilled polenta which was so thick that any effect of searing was lost. Also, while I thought the mushrooms worked well in the dish, I did not think that the tomatoes added anything.

Overall, there were enough hits that I look forward to returning and I agree that this is a welcome addition to the Millenium area. I arrived at 10pm and the place was very crowded. Also, I loved the decor.

Hey,
I really like this place...for lunch. The dinner menu is too ambitious.
But I've had excellent lunch there (huge too). They make their own bacon, sausage, cured salmon and the like. The fried zucchini and olives is excellent (very ethereal fried food--not greasy--our waitress one time even went so far as to say that anything fried on the menu was especially good). Cocktail menu is fun, if on the sweet side. Good beers (lots of which I haven't seen in many places.) Lots of liqueurs and other drinks that I haven't seen elsewhere in Chicago. Plus they have scotch eggs!

I think they're still getting their stuff together (so to speak) with the service. And the bartenders are a bit dour until you crack a few jokes.

But as some other posters mentioned, to have a "real" restaurant in the loop, especially along the Mich Ave corridor, is a treat. I will surely shell out some extra bucks to patronize this place for lunch or for happy hour and snacks (although it would be nice if they had a separate bar menu that repeated some of the nice lunch snacky-things during the dinner hours).

I returned to The Gage with friends the other night. I had the locally crafted sausages which looked like a skimpy portion -- until of course I realized that I couldn't finish it. It included a very nice Polish-style sausage and an herby Elk sausage (IIRC) and a very nice brown mustard. It was served with very nice potato and brie fondue -- crispy potatoes and melted brie, including rind. Overall, very nice.

One of my friends remarked on how much he liked the chicken noodle soup, although I personally did not try it.

On this visit, the batter for the fish and chips was a little on the bland side (ordered by another friend), but it was still perfectly fried.

For more info, here's their website, which includes their menu.

Ate at The Gage again. Sampled the fish and chips, which I thought were perfectly fried and the coating was nice. I have never had batter that was anything but bland to tell you the truth, I thought the dipping sauce was the most important thing. And I liked the malt vinegar tarter sauce. Also had the curry gravy and fries, which was nice, but kind of thin, and the curry was too subtle for my taste. I had the sea scallops which were perfectly cooked and I thought wasn't going to be enough, but it was plenty for a light lunch.
Finished it off with the vanilla ice cream , carmel, calvados sauce, and cinnamon pastry sticks. Very nice with the tart apples on the bottom.

I previously had the Amish chicken, which I thought was wonderful. I especially liked the green beans and goat cheese after it soaked in the juices of the chicken in the crock. Some people have been complaining about the little crock, and I thought I was going to be one of them since it is awkward to cut into, but after eating the beans and cheese, that had melted, it was a perfect way to get all the flavors.

Three stars in the Trib today by Vettel. I'm not so sure that he is right on by saying he was spotted, as the management has always come over to my table the four times I've been there.

I actually had a very good meal at The Gage earlier this week. The whole gastropub concept is a little bit conceited, as this isn't so much a true gastroput as it is a New American restaurant with a couple Irish-influenced bar items.

Still, I found myself enjoying the food here more than the food at most of the Chicago restaurants I've been to. I also sampled a ton of stuff and wound up spending about $120 on just myself, so this wasn't really a cheap meal.

Started off with a cocktail--Maker's, orange and pineapple juices, brandied cherry-- and also tried my friend's Sacre Bleu--Stoli Blueberry, citrust, ginger. Both were fine, but the cocktail list does skew toward the sweet. The drinks I sampled, however, exhibited pretty good balance, so it seems not all is lost in the cocktail program.

The menu is divided into four sections: snacks, seconds, thirds, and fourths. From the snacks section I tried the Scotch egg and the fondue. Both were very tasty and made for a solid, if very heavy, start to the meal. The Scotch egg was actually quite undercooked such that the ground meat mixture was not fully cooked. This didn't really bother me because the it tasted good, but squeemish diners would have undoubtedly been turned off. The combination of egg, mustard, seasoned ground meat, and crispy breadcrumb coating is too good to resist.

From the seconds category I had the scallops with jalapeno, lemon, carrot, sesame, spinach, and chile sauce.. This was a very ambitious dish that I appreciated. It lacked balance, but was well-suited to my tastes. In a fine-dining restaurant the aggressive components of the dish would've been too assertive, bordering on offensive, but here the dish worked. I also tried my friend's beef tartare. It was fine but nothing special.

My main was black bass with carrots, baby summer squash, and a light cream sauce. This was a simple but satisfying summer dish that I thoroughly enjoyed eating. The skin was not fully crisped across the fillet but not to the point where it detracted significantly from the dish. A light bodied pinot noir went well with this fish dish and my friend's seared tuna.

For dessert I had the very interesting French toast dish. It's like a cross between funnel cake and those French toast sticks you get in the frozen aisle of the grocery store. Beneath the log of pillowy fried goodness were a couple sheets of a caramel-like gelatin. An dish I'd like to try again, just in a smaller portion. A very large glass of dessert wine, and I was done for the night.

Service here was pretty good. Silverware wasn't replaced after the snacks although it should've been, but other than that there were no other notable faux pas. Our server was a cool guy, even if the back wait was kind of clueless.

I should also note that after all the food and drinking I left my credit card at the table. I called the next day and they found it for me without a problem. I appreciated them making getting my card back as painless as possible.

The Gage is the kind of place that Chicago needs more of. I'd hazard to compare it Avec, serving interesting eclectic food that more often that not tastes good. The Gage is more a full-service restaurant, and can be much more expensive, but has a pretty unique appeal. To say it's "Michigan Ave." misses the point of the restaurant I think. Yes, the restaurant serves burgers, salads, and steaks in a trendy, not unattractive atmosphere, but it also seeks to be creative and stand out.

I spent a few hours at the Gage last Friday and had an all-around excellent time. There were 6 of us, and we sat at a table in the bar. We were able to converse easily and service was consistently attentive and friendly. We didn't order too much food, mostly just snacks, and everything was solid. The Scotch eggs, in particular, stood out as especially tasty. I think we ordered 7 of them throughout the course of the night? Was that wrong of us?

But at $7 each, they were not cheap. Pretty filling and really tasty, but not cheap. Same goes for the drinks. I think cocktails hovered at $10, with the cheapest being a (pretty strong) Gage Fizz (Jameson, club soda, lemon and a sugar cube). Even the beers didn't get much cheaper than $5.

The room is gorgeous, though, and it's a nice place to people-watch. The whole restaurant, including the bar area, is non-smoking which was a big plus for me. I'm looking forward to a proper meal there, but I'm sure I'll be back sooner for a post-work beer and Scotch egg.

We went to The Gage on Sunday afternoon for a few snacks and a glass or two of wine. We enjoyed the space and found the staff to be most helpful, however our three starters were most disapointing. Our Scotch egg was an overcooked disaster with the bottom of the egg being burnt black and absolutley no mosture left within the egg itself. Our fried chicken livers were also extremely over cooked and tasted as the frying oil was well past needing to be changed. Our third dish was the fries with curry gravy was decent but the gravy was a little thin for our tastes.
We will be giving The Gage another chance as we really liked the atmosphere of the bar area and wanting to give the entrees a chance, however it will be without high expectations.

bad Scotch eggs?! Oh no! I loved them so much! ^_^

I do recall them being a little on the dry side, but I thought that was fine. I kept thinking back to one night at the Hopleaf when a friend picked up a warm Scotch egg, bit into it, and was squirted in the face with hot, liquid yolk. It was a not a scene I was looking to re-live myself.

I got out of the rain here last night with a party of four (around 6:45 on a Thursday) and managed to get a table in the back in about 25 minutes. As mentioned in every previous post, this place is REALLY loud, a la the O'Hare Mortons or Kuma's inside on a Saturday night. The further back you go, the better for conversation, and I think the seating improves as well; I love the lighting and big dark leather booths across from the kitchen in the deepest recesses of this Michigan block.

After an $8 Gage fizz (excellent bitter lemon flavor with lots of booze) and $7 Chambly Noire, I wasn't going to take on a $38 Elk Saddle, so I went with the sausage plate ($18 ), which was remarkable. Portions were larger and flavors were better than Hopleaf's version, and one of the sausages which I believe was pork and venison had a really nice nutmeg and orange peel tang.

I highly endorse the accompanying starch, since that brie and potato pot au feu is spectacular, although a little goes a very long way. They've essentially taken an entire wedge of rind-on brie, cut it into pieces, mixed with potato chunks, added salt and pepper, and left to roast in a cast iron potlet, which allows for a wide range of potato textures from tender and moist to completely crisp, and renders most of the cheese except for the crisped rind.

Comrades had the fish and chips and Gage burgers and enjoyed them, especially the fries. One of the burgers ordered medium rare was perfect, but the other was served medium well, and our server was too scarce (and the atmosphere too loud) to send it back in a timely fashion. I would have liked to see more of our server to get an explanation of the handcrafted sausages and refills on the excellent stone-ground mustard and curry ketchup.

Please note that prices are $1-2 higher than what's shown on their online menu, and that at least for beers this place offers poor value, if excellent selection. Valet is on Monroe instead of Michigan, and costs $15, which is a better deal than the Monroe Street garage but worse than some of the little Wabash lots if you're up for a short hike.

My assessment may seem mixed, but overall I enjoyed my plates and drinks immensely, and the atmosphere in the back was very close to some of the great London or Dublin pubs where I've whiled away winter nights in good company. I don't think the service will improve or that the place will get quieter, but for what it is, I like it, and can imagine going back during "off-hours," whenever those might be.

We had another fabulous meal at Xni-Pec last night. (I know, that's another thread....) Anyway, based on this thread, I had recommended The Gage to my husband who was looking to meet up with an out-of-town friend of ours post-Lollapalooza. They went and really enjoyed the space, food and service and he's been trying to get me to go ever since. So on the way back north from Xni-Pec, we decided that if the free parking spot gods were with us, we'd stop in for a night-cap or two. Not only were the parking gods with us, but also the empty barstool gods. We bellied up and ordered two glasses of their featured wine, which was a Syrah, and settled in for some quality people-watching. Jazz fest was winding down and there was a steady flow of tourists and locals strolling by. The very personable "actor-server" who was working the outdoor seating area struck up a conversation with us and gave us his recommendations for Gage cocktails, wine and food. In return, we told him all about Xni-Pec and urged him to go soon - before the Check Please! mayhem begins. When our bartender found out the server had made a suggestion for our next glass, he countered it with a suggestion of his own and this brought about several complimentary tasting pours and a lot of friendly banter. Everything about our experience with these two employees led me to believe that management at this place is doing a very good job with hiring and training their people. They both demonstated a depth of knowledge with the wine list and went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. While I don't see us becoming "regulars," as we're not in the habit of spending $50+ on four glasses of wine, I would not hesitate to return, especially when squiring out-of-town family and friends through Millenium Park.

My wife and I visited The Gage on Sunday, Oct 7th. We wanted to take advantage of this crazy warm weather by strolling the lakefront and Millenium Park, and then getting a bite to eat, al fresco. We chose The Gage, and stopped by about 5:30PM.

We approaced the hostess, a nice 21-22 year old blond. We asked for an outdoor table. She said the wait to be about 20 minutes, and to have a seat at the bar. She said she would get us when there was an availablity. I offered to leave our name, but she said she didn't need it, she would come get us. (Wow, she's good, I thought!) 25 minutes go by, and I noticed a new couple being seated outside...hmmmm, I knew it!

So I politely remind her we are waiting for a table. "Where?" she says. "Remember....outside!", I replied. "Oh...I'll check on it...where are you?", she asks. "Um...at the bar!!" I return to our seat, and a few minutes later, a manager type approaches us and apologizes and tells us it will be 15 minutes. I explain that we just waited 30 minutes. He explained she was new and said he would seat us ASAP.

Personally, I think he should have offered a simple comp, like a drink or dessert.

Anyway, we got our table outside, and really enjoyed our meal. I had the Guiness battered fish and chips. They offered up 3 large pieces of a very fresh, crispy white fish and seasoned fries...very good...with a side of tartar sauce. My wife had the Gage Prime burger. The meat was cooked to perfection, medium, and you could taste it was an excellent cut of meat used. The roll itself was unique, and complimented the burger very well.

The service outside was very good. I would return based on the food quality and service. Some of the other dishes are quite expensive. They have an online menu with the prices, which I appreciated. I learned a lesson with the hostess. I should have known she was new and not well trained when she didn't want to take my name. I would have felt a little better waiting for a forgotten table if the manager made up for our inconvenience with a little comp of some sort.

I had lunch there last Friday. The host didnt take our name either, but they found us at the bar. I guess that's the way they do things.

My boyfriend and I had dinner at the Gage on Saturday night after seeing the Hopper show. We were pretty disappointed overall and will likely not go back. In terms of the space, I didn't like the decor or music--from a business standpoint, being located on that block of Michigan Avenue, I guess this would make sense, but I felt like the Gage was trying to be too many things too many people. In particular, I didn't care for what I thought was the excess of flatscreen TVs--I counted four from where I was sitting. I also didn't care for the Top 40 dance music. We were seated at the second table from the front doors, next to a large, outward-facing and very shallow occupied booth. I felt like the party of five in the booth was looming over us.

The service was difficult to judge. It seemed to be our waiter's first day on the job. We had barely sat down--in fact, I was still standing up--when he came to take our drink orders and talk to us about the menu. He had to read off a cheat sheet for everything and never told was what the specials were. (Granted, I forgot to ask.)

We started with a cheese plate. We were both pretty exhausted that day, so it didn't strike me immediately as strange that the cheese plate was listed as a second course. That was strange, and I regretted having it before our main dishes. The cheese plate was pretty forgettable—there was a blue that was extremely salty, what I think was a goat gouda, a hard Spanish cheese and the highlight of the plate, what I’m pretty sure was Pleasant Ridge Reserve. (The waiter had really mumbled through the day’s cheese selections, and I was too irritated by that point to seek clarifications.) The cheese was served with dried cranberries, toasted filberts, quince paste and a shot of a pear soda. I don’t feel like the cheeses were well chosen; the contrasts were awkward. I also could have done without the pear soda, which just seemed like an irritating flourish.

For our mains, my boyfriend had the fish and chips. The fish was quite good—a nicely battered Oregon cod. On the other hand, the fries were terrible. They were similar in shape and width to Weiner and Still Champion’s fries, but they tasted like they had been sitting out and reheated. (Though by the time they were served to us, they were almost room temperature.) The crunch lingered a little too long, and they tasted more of oil than potato. My boyfriend always, always finishes his fries. He had a lot of fries left on his plate by the time it was taken away. For my main dish, I had the scallops with rutabaga puree, spinach and fried sage. The two scallops were cooked to perfection with just the slightest searing, but this dish was otherwise tasteless.

My boyfriend had an Affligem, and I didn’t drink that night. Our bill came to over $60 without tip. I refrained from posting right away on our meal because I thought initially that I might be being too harsh. We had had a somewhat gluttonous weekend with two meals at two GNRs in the 24 hours preceding our dinner at the Gage. Those two GNR meals added together cost less than our meal at the Gage with far superior food and service. Over the course of our short visit to the Gage (we didn’t linger), three management-type people stopped by our table to ask us how everything was. I find it awkward anyway to be truthful in such instances, but it’s also just very difficult to give honest feedback when we’re in the middle of dinner and our mouths are full of food. It felt very disruptive, and I thought back to our lunch at Lao Sze Chuan earlier that day. We were left in peace to eat our chicken crack, with Tony busy in the background, always hands on in trying to improve his operation, only stopping by our table, silently, to fill our tea cups. Admittedly, the Gage isn’t trying to be Lao Sze Chuan, but our GNR meals this past weekend made me realize (yet again) that sometimes it’s just worth it to go a little farther for a meal, that it’s not necessary to settle for mediocrity in food or atmosphere.

The Scotch egg and sausage plate at the Gage sound worth trying, but I may just leave those dishes to my imagination. I don’t foresee myself ever being desperate enough for a sit-down meal or happy hour destination near the Art Institute to merit a return to the Gage. I’ll just walk or hop on the el and head to the nearest GNR. (OK, maybe not Moto or Topolobampo for just an ordinary dinner but anything else that strikes my fancy.)

We had a late dinner at the Gage last night and I was somewhat unimpressed. We started with a cold beet soup topped with pieces of pickled yellow beet and a small piece of fish (the type of fish escapes me, but it may have been a fresh sardine). The soup itself was very nice, velvety, and flavorful. The pieces of yellow beet didn't have much taste. The fish tasted nice, but had a lot of very little bones in it that made it a bit of a pain to eat. (My fiance and I were splitting three courses. The Gage split each course into two dishes. My fiance's piece of fish didn't have bones.)

The second course was mussels in a vindaloo sauce. The sauce was excellent. I had never had mussels in an Indian-type of sauce. A fair number of the mussels were overcooked. Then it happened: I bit into a mussel that was very, well, off tasting. I presume this one had died a premature death and had spoiled, but wasn't caught by the kitchen. It killed the dish for me. I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. My fiance was quite happy, though, to have the rest of the mussels to herself.

Our third course was a slow-cooked veal breast with baby turnips, scallons, and a few other vegetables. This was a really nice dish and I'd be happy to eat it again. The meat was very flavorful and incredibly tender.

Happy_stomach wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:Our bill came to over $60 without tip. I refrained from posting right away on our meal because I thought initially that I might be being too harsh. We had had a somewhat gluttonous weekend with two meals at two GNRs in the 24 hours preceding our dinner at the Gage. Those two GNR meals added together cost less than our meal at the Gage with far superior food and service. Over the course of our short visit to the Gage (we didn’t linger), three management-type people stopped by our table to ask us how everything was. I find it awkward anyway to be truthful in such instances, but it’s also just very difficult to give honest feedback when we’re in the middle of dinner and our mouths are full of food. It felt very disruptive, and I thought back to our lunch at Lao Sze Chuan earlier that day. We were left in peace to eat our chicken crack, with Tony busy in the background, always hands on in trying to improve his operation, only stopping by our table, silently, to fill our tea cups. Admittedly, the Gage isn’t trying to be Lao Sze Chuan, but our GNR meals this past weekend made me realize (yet again) that sometimes it’s just worth it to go a little farther for a meal, that it’s not necessary to settle for mediocrity in food or atmosphere.

This is exactly how we felt. We ate at the Three Brothers in Milwaukee last Friday and at the Glarner Stube in New Glarus last Saturday. (Three Brothers is a old-style Serbian restaurant and the Glarner Stube is a Swiss restaurant; I am confident that both would be GNRs, should neighborhoods in Wisconsin ever be considered for the award.) The Gage was only slightly more expensive than the other two, but was miles ahead in its aim and level of sophistication. But we agreed that The Gage, while a fine restaurant, was easily the third best of the three. (Saying it was the worst of the three just seems too harsh!)

I didn't mention the bad mussel to our waiter. He asked how the dish - I think he had just seen me spit out the bad one. My fiance was enjoying the dish and, as long as it was just the one bad one, I didn't think it was worth the effort to mention it. Shellfish comes with risks.

One last thing: We wanted to check out the Gage because we thought it might be a fun place for an informal afterparty following a wedding in the area. To me, the term "gastropub" implies that the establishment is a bar that serves great food (or a bar/restaurant that is more bar than restaurant, if you will). I thought the Gage was basically just a restaurant. (Nothing wrong with that - I love restaurants.) They have a nice beer selection that is perhaps marginally larger than what you'd find at most restaurants. The bar area at the front is not any larger than the bar at any typical restaurant. This isn't a complaint - I'm just wondering if the term "gastropub" is really appropriate.

Supposedly the Gage is set to expand into the bottom floor of Roosevelt University next door.

Then it happened: I bit into a mussel that was very, well, off tasting. I presume this one had died a premature death and had spoiled, but wasn't caught by the kitchen. It killed the dish for me. I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth.

This happens to me at Hopleaf every time I visit. My biggest love-hate relationship with a restaurant in Chicago: can't get it out of my system, though, since what they do right (beer, frites, sausages) resurrects even the most corrupted ex-shellfish.

But, in better and more relevant news, having been to the Gage several times both right after opening and again on this past Sunday, I can report that things seem to be running much more smoothly, and more dishes were "hits" on this visit than before. Volume level was better (though this was a Sunday), waitstaff were talkative, opinionated, and well-informed, house manager stopped by several times, and even the pastry chef came out to take a bow after two superlative plates - one was a bitter chocolate torte topped with a Guinness caramel (encased in a gel which, when broken, spread in rich rivulets down the sides), Guinness sabayon, and two butter-rich planks of set frosting, and the other was a fresh peach shortbread served right out of the oven with melting peach compote center, accompanied by slices of peach on a sweet-sour cheese and cream bed, topped with wafter and fresh whipped cream. These were delightfully plated and so much fun to 'drag and drop' the various components, something I love about many of the interactive desserts at places like Moto, Copperblue, Hot Chocolate, and Blackbird.

Beforehand, we had the speck (excellent in flavor, but truly more like house-smoked prosciutto than an authentic German/Austrian fatback), Scotch Egg, zucchini and olives (remarkable, as mentioned upthread), and perfect medium-rare burgers with generous toppings. My only beef with the burgers is the brioche buns - too airy for the burgers, and if you're going to do brioche, the only way to serve it is fresh out of the oven, and these had been sitting for a bit. But the meat and accoutrements were unassailable in quality and flavor.

The Gage Fizz remains one of my favorite drinks in the city; I even think it's worth the $10, as the shaved ginger, hard sugar cube, and lemon rind make for several more delicious beverages with a little muddling after the Jameson is drained. They'll even bring you extra club soda for it.

What still downright sucks is the beer pricing. $5 for a Coors Light, $14 for a Chimay Blue. This is an insult to anyone who drinks anywhere else in the city, and, I think, even to the casual Michigan Ave. tourists. Knock things down to a reasonable level, and the crowds will kick back two or three; stock will be fresher and decreased margin will be made up for by volume. There is no excuse or tenable business rationale for the current markups.

Still, a very enjoyable meal. I like the lighting and privacy of the booths in the back, and the generous portions of sandwiches, fries (veritable basins-full), and small plates like the speck. On quieter afternoons and nights, a good choice.

Santander wrote:What still downright sucks is the beer pricing. $5 for a Coors Light, $14 for a Chimay Blue. This is an insult to anyone who drinks anywhere else in the city, and, I think, even to the casual Michigan Ave. tourists. Knock things down to a reasonable level, and the crowds will kick back two or three; stock will be fresher and decreased margin will be made up for by volume. There is no excuse or tenable business rationale for the current markups.

Earlier I mentioned that we were looking at the Gage as possible after-party destination, thinking it was more of a bar than it actually was. The beer prices actually killed this idea first, esp. the prices for the crappy beers that we know a lot of folks in our group will want to drink. (Note: for future reference, the Gage does have a private room downstairs that can be reserved.)