Stetson's Steak & Chop House

Mrs. JiLS and I enjoyed a very pleasing dinner at Stetson's Steak & Chop House Friday evening. Primarily catering to convention business, that's no reason a local shouldn't check out this relatively uncharted spot (noted in passing by LAZ in a few favorable references, but never discussed in any detail on LTH).

The place has been in business since the early 1980s, and basically does not appear to have changed much over the years. Not that this is a bad thing; although somewhat dated in decor, it's all very elegant and well designed, with an emphasis on displaying many bottles from their very decent wine cellar. We enjoyed a 2004 Nalle zin, which is one of my favorite labels and reasonably priced here.

We started with a bowl of breads that included the best raisin bread I've ever had; a dark rye with golden raisins, moist, chewy, sweet and delicious. Nothing else was "best ever," but all was very good. The French onion soup, served in a bread bowl (that must've been cutting edge in 1982) was very cheesy (not overly so), beefy flavored stock, not overly salty, served hot enough, and therefore a good example of the type, from my perspective. The Serrano ham and Manchego on olive-oil soaked toasts was quite delicious, the ham being particularly unctuous (a good kind of unctuousness) and the pimiento dipping sauce a nice complement, they tasted especially good with the well-mixed Manhattan's.

Main courses were a Kansas City strip for me, prime rib for Mrs. JiLS. We were seated right by the open kitchen, and observed several roasts being prepped throughout the evening. The prime rib was cut very thick, well-trimmed but with a bit more gristle than you might want here (it's a $37 entree, I believe, and a la carte). But the flavor was excellent. My KC strip was remarkably good. I rarely finish a steak at one sitting; this was the exception, as a I snarfed it down almost without stopping to breath. Was it worth the $41 charged? Yes, once in a while. It certainly wasn't in the same league as the 40+ day aged steak I had at David Burke's a month back, but it was certainly better than what I've had at Morton's, Gibson's and Smith & Wollensky, at a similar price.

When our waiter learned we were locals (I think local customers are maybe 1% of this convention hotel restaurant's business), he comped us a dessert, a pretty good strawberry shortcake (although my standards here are pretty high, revolve around fresh Indiana berries and heavy cream rather than whipped cream, and so are rarely met). For a free dessert, it was fantastic; I'd probably pay for one, too. And then, we received Stetson's signature "post-dessert" (I think they offer it regardless), four huge chocolate-dipped strawberries, served on a dish pouring out global warming-inducing quantities of dry ice steam. This is the dessert they served at the craft services table for the "Thriller" video shoot. Stupendous!

Much as I and many others love the time-warp sensibilities of Sabatino's (circa 1974), I now can set the way-back machine to 1982 at Stetson's. If the food weren't very good, I'd never fall for that; but the food is very good, and if considerably more expensive than Sabatino's, still not at all out of line for a serious steakhouse, which Stetson's is. Excellent service (our waiter was a career waiter, working here for 26 years), fine decor, excellent music in the form of a jazz trio with singer that started up during our meal; it's a compelling combination. But for the 1,000 point bonus at Opentable, I would not have gone to Stetson's; in fact, was not aware of it at all before last night. We will go back.






Stetson's Steak & Chop House
312/565-1234
http://www.stetsonschophouse.com
Hyatt Regency Chicago
151 E. Wacker Drive Chicago

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Mrs. JiLS and I enjoyed a very pleasing dinner at Stetson's Steak & Chop House Friday evening. Primarily catering to convention business, that's no reason a local shouldn't check out this relatively uncharted spot (noted in passing by LAZ in a few favorable references, but never discussed in any detail on LTH).

I've always enjoyed Stetson's, which is probably the most undersung steakhouse in Chicago. Robert Lang is an Austrian/Swiss chef of the old school. If things haven't changed since I was last there, they serve some dry-aged steaks and offer free valet parking.

While you're in the Hyatt, you might want to stop in at the Big Bar.

LAZ wrote:

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Mrs. JiLS and I enjoyed a very pleasing dinner at Stetson's Steak & Chop House Friday evening. Primarily catering to convention business, that's no reason a local shouldn't check out this relatively uncharted spot (noted in passing by LAZ in a few favorable references, but never discussed in any detail on LTH).

I've always enjoyed Stetson's, which is probably the most undersung steakhouse in Chicago. Robert Lang is an Austrian/Swiss chef of the old school. If things haven't changed since I was last there, they serve some dry-aged steaks and offer free valet parking.

While you're in the Hyatt, you might want to stop in at the Big Bar.

I've always like the food there as well. The sides are particularly good as well. My only issue is that the service there is always average to poor. (which i guess is to be expected since it caters to conventioners.)

Stetsons Modern Steak & Sushi, formerly Stetson's Chop House, is officially open after a soft opening earlier this month.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130131/BLOGS09/130139950/stetsons-chop-house-is-reborn