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Amy Cavanaugh: Welcome to Dish From Chicago Magazine. I’m Amy Cavanaugh, Chicago magazine’s dining editor.

John Kessler: And I’m John Kessler, Chicago magazine’s dining critic.

Amy: And today we’re talking about our best steakhouses feature, which is in the current November issue and went up online today. Plus we’ll share the best things we’ve eaten lately, which include cheesy gougères at a new hotspot. 

Amy: In our current issue, we dig into the steakhouse, which, if you are paying attention at all to Chicago’s dining scene, you can see that we cannot stop opening steakhouses in this town. And we felt like it was time for a new assessment of the best, a look at how the steakhouse has really been evolving. And it feels like it’s been evolving quite a bit. You know, I compared the places we went to the previous steakhouse issue, which was in 2017, and there wasn’t a lot of overlap, because we’ve had so many new steakhouses opening, including internationally influenced steakhouses, steak tasting menus. Lots of things are happening on this front. So John and I spent several months eating at multiple steakhouses every week. It was a lot. It was so much. 

John: It was that thing where it was a lot, but it was also like, you know, my body was starting to go, hey buddy, where’s the steak today? I want my steak. You know, I was just like, Ah, why? Why am I craving steak all the time when I’m eating too much of it?

Amy: Yeah. So we ate tons of steaks and tons of cream spinach, and drank loads of martinis, and we put together a list of the best 12 in town, so we will get to those in a moment, but one to just kind of touch on a few things that are also in this feature, because we tapped some great writers to chime in on different topics. Ari Bendersky, who does a lot of wine coverage for us, talked to five somms about how steakhouse wine lists are going way beyond your cab and chardonnay, and he spoke to some such as Jamie Finnegan from Boeufhaus, who pairs Pinot Grigio, it’s an orange wine, with shrimp cocktail because the notes in the wine pair well with the poaching liquid for the shrimp. And Maple & Ash’s Amy Mundwiler, who pairs Champagne with ribeye, because it’s such a great pairing because it kind of, the crispy acidity of the wine cuts into the ribeye. So there’s a lot of very cool new wine pairings out there. Of course, you can get cab and chardonnay, but, you know, you can also really try something different.

I wrote about my favorite new martini in town, which is tn El Che and it’s called the El Che Martini, which, I love a signature drink on menus. And it’s made with mezcal, Barr Hill gin, which is a honey gin, and then a vermouth from Argentina, which is very citrusy. And then it’s dotted on top with chimichurri oil. So it’s the same chimichurri they’re using in the kitchen, but it’s adding these like bright green herbal flavors to the martini, and it’s fantastic. So the the steakhouse beverage scene has has really changed quite a bit. We also looked at new hot sauces, and Lisa Shames spoke to Andrew Zimmerman of Proxi about all the different cool sauces he’s making for his steaks there. And Chandra Ram put together a list of how to use your leftovers in smart ways, including, if you have leftover steak, making a soba noodle salad. Really fun ideas in here, but the anchor of the piece is our new ranking of the 12 best steakhouses in town. So you can find the whole list at Chicagomag.com, but we want to talk about the top five.

Amy: So at number five, we have El Che, which is headed up by John Manion, who is also our cover model for the current issue. This is one of my go-to favorites. I love sitting at the chef’s counter right in front of the Argentine grill. I love the steaks and the starters. But I really, really love the seafood. And so the dish that I really kind of focused on was the lobster tail, which is served with spicy butter and shallots. And it’s really fantastic. And I just love how John brings in, you know, these South American influences into the steakhouse concept. So I go, you know, multiple times a year, which is not something, you know, I don’t get to frequent a lot of restaurants, and I don’t get to be a regular in many places in the course of this job, El Che is the place that I make sure, you know, I make time to have a few meals a year there, because it’s one of my favorites.

John: Yeah, I had a friend of mine send me a message on social media, you know, who’s not from Chicago, but just as, like, Hey, who’s the hottie on the cover of your magazine? Like, hottie? Oh, John Manion.

Amy: Yeah, everyone is talking to me about that cover. It’s amazing. 

John: Yeah, I guess it’s kind of the way he’s like, you know, just like wielding that tomahawk, just as suggestive of so many things.

Amy: All right, so number four is one that you are a big fan of, Gibson’s Bar & Steakhouse in the Gold Coast.

John: Yes, I am, like, so surprised that I’ve become such a fan of this restaurant. I’d been a couple times like, earlier on and liked it just fine. It has that kind of, you know, old ’80s, kind of very familiar, a little chainy, even though it was the original one. But the more I’ve like gone there, the more I just like, feel the love for the place. And honestly, what I love most about Gibson’s is sitting in the bar, which, to me, just feels like the center of the Chicago universe. I just feel like, you know, you’re at Gibson’s, you’re at the bar, you order a martini, and it’s like, it’s like four martinis in one glass, because it’s huge and it’s icy cold. And then you let it do its work. They give you way too much bread, which is really good bread. You order some things, and it’s just like, the whole like scene there is just so evocative. You just get the sense. There’s so many regulars, they’re so tuned into what their customers want. So I just feel like Gibson’s just gives me that steakhouse vibe. And I think the food is really good. I’ve never had any you know, it’s exactly what it’s supposed to be. I know there’s that classic dish they do there, which is the one that Bill Rice, the old Chicago Tribune food writer told them to make their signature, the Chicago cut, which is the kind of ribeye which is good. But like you, I’m happy to get a steak salad, or just go and eat shrimp cocktail and, you know, a wedge salad. So Gibson’s, number four.

Amy: Nice. Number three: We have Asador Bastian, which is Doug Psaltis’s Basque-inspired steakhouse. So this one’s interesting, because this is the one that we went to together. I think it’s the only one that we went to together. It’s a fascinating restaurant. It’s very luxe. You will drop a fortune, but it’s doing something very original in the steakhouse landscape. It’s really fun. The steaks are brought, brought to the table before you order, so you can see them. and you know, decide which one you want. There’s some beautiful seafood. The prawns were, I think, my favorite dish that we had there. And the desserts were also, like, notably, excellent. I really, really enjoyed those, just that dessert program too. What is, what are your thoughts on Asador?

John: I mean, I think it’s an interesting restaurant. So they’re really trying to recreate the vibe of these, you know, Basque grill houses like Asador Etxebarri and others. And the big cut of steak there is the chuleta, which is spelled C-H-U-L-E-T-A in Spanish. But then in the local Basque area, it’s T-X-U-L-E-T-A. It’s basically like a T-bone steak. It’s on the bone. I remember going, when I was in San Sebastian last year, going to this tapas bar where what they would actually, you would stand at a table and just eat like a whole fat T-bone steak standing up with a glass of wine. That was really incredible, I know, but you know, they have really great, really expensive beef from around the world. But then on top of that, they also do other Basque things. They have a lot of, you know, really interesting pintxos, the have those delicious things. And, you know, really a lovely turbot, I remember. And, yeah, Chen’s desserts are always kind of, you know, they always hit the spot, and they’re nice and not too over, you know, if you don’t want something that’s too over-the-top heavy, she has a great citrus coupe there, which really was so good.

Amy: So good. At number two is Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, which I think is a lot of people’s favorite steakhouse in town. I mean, I love it. I love that it just, you know, it’s the kind of place that reminds you that a steakhouse is so much more than just a steak. It’s what we talked about a lot when we were putting this feature together, looking at all the other elements. Because, yes, you’re going for steak, you don’t have to. I mean, I, you know, I’m just as happy dining at some of these restaurants and not having a steak because they’re doing so much else so well. And Bavette’s nails, it. I feel like Bavette’s is like the most relaxing dining experience I’ve had in this town in a long time, where I just felt so taken care of. I felt like everything was easy, everything was smooth. I placed my order, and then I was able to just sit back and not make another decision. And it’s great. What are some of your highlights at Bavette’s?

John: Yeah, I mean, I went for the first time for this story, and what a treat it is. It’s so much about the, you know, that Hogsalt restaurant kind of vibe, that the lighting, the kind of like faux-distressed fixtures, the kind of service and all of that. It all comes together in just such a, you know, it’s impressive. It’s all of a piece of a very nice aesthetic idea. But it also really works, like the service is so good, the lighting is so easy on the eyes. You see these, these old mirrors with writing on them, with stencil suggestions of things to try on the mirrors. And it just all is really great. I loved pretty much everything we had. I liked the way that the dry-aged beef there really does have that kind of, you know, that blue cheese, funky, funky going on. And it’s really, you order something dry-aged and you’re going to taste it, which I really like. I thought that the dessert, their chocolate cream pie, I keep thinking about that. It wasn’t like one of these, like, mile-high, you know, oh my god, 10,000 calories, slabs of pure sugar. It was just like a perfect piece of pie with a perfect amount of softly whipped cream. Yeah, I loved everything. The martini was great. Glass of wine was great. Service was just invisibly perfect. So, yay Bavette’s.

Amy: Nice. Yeah. And at number one, we have Tre Dita. We went around and around on how to rank this, but I think we both, you know, at one point, just kind of looked at each other and was like, it’s Tre Dita. That’s number one, isn’t it? Yep, and they are they, you know, we’re in this real era of glitzy steakhouses, but I feel like Charita does it better than anyone else. So this is the steakhouse that is from. Let us entertain you, and Chef Evan Funke, who’s from Los Angeles, and it has a Tuscan focus. And so Evan’s really known for his pasta program. So there’s a great pasta program. I love the pici cacio e pepe. There are absolutely wonderful steaks, and they come served sliced and drizzled with olive oil, and they’re beautiful. The beverage program really wowed both of us for different reasons, for different reasons. Yeah, I was really taken with the cocktail list. I mean, so much so I put the bar on the best new bars list last year. Cocktail program is great. I love just sitting at that bar. I’ve had dinner at the bar, and then the wine list is also, you know, it’s all Italian, and I know that that really struck you as well.

John: Yeah, and it’s all Italian. It’s, you know, it leans expensive, but there is some range in it. They have a really beautiful by-the-glass program, which matters a lot to me. Because, you know, the older I get, the less I feel like I can — it depends on the size of the party, but if it’s just two of us, you know, I’m not sure I want to commit to a half a bottle of one wine at a meal. I’d rather, you know, start with a cocktail or a glass of white or something. So that really mattered a lot to me. And you know, my feeling about steakhouses is that the really good ones just kind of lock in a moment. I mean, they’re about the steak, but they’re also — and they’re about the other stuff — they also are about the moment. And I think if you look at all of the steakhouses on our list, each one of them just says something about where Chicago was when they came to be. And there is something I think you and I both felt about Tre Dita with its, this beautiful, soaring windows and the luxury, but also the comfort and the kind of glamor of it just really feels right for this moment, and particularly being in the St. Regis. So it just really says something about Chicago today. So I mean, that really influenced me.

Amy: Absolutely. Yes, I think they, you know, really the perfect number one choice for the 2025 list.

Amy: John, what’s the best thing you ate lately?

John: I know I touched on this briefly when we did our sort of ping-pong back and forth, where we’ve been eating lately, but I’m going to go into a little more detail: This charred green bean salad at John’s. I, like, I kind of want to go back and just get that. It’s just the beans are kind of smoky. They’re crisp, but not like, like, squeaky, and there is just this eggplant, miso, mushy business on the bottom that is just, like, hauntingly delicious. So yes, that is far and away the best thing I’ve eaten in quite a while.

Amy: Well, I recently dined at Creepies, and I had a dish that I know you also love, the brie gougères. Non negotiable. You must start with these. They’re served warm. They are filled with gooey brie. They’re drizzled with honey and Parmesan. A basket will disappear in seconds. They’re just absolutely delicious, and just the perfect way to kick off a dinner there. I loved them. I could have taken down a whole basket myself. 

John: Yeah, really good. I remember when we went, there was like an odd number, and there’s one left over, and everyone was doing that, you know, I kind of want it, but I want to be nice.