Bloody Mike A thick and spicy drink with a skewer of so much manly stuff it requires a knife and fork (no utensils necessary for the beer chaser) Mike Ditka’s Photos: Anna Knott Blueberi Lemon Drop Icy sheen on top, muddled blueberries at the bottom, so very smooth in between Fleming’s The Dutch Lady An … Read more
Chocolate Cream Pie Decadent and thick, with a cookie crust: half velvet, half Oreo Bavette’s Photos: Anna Knott Key Lime Pie Fresh whipped cream, a pucker-inducing filling, and a spicy graham-cracker crust Mastro’s Red Velvet Cake in a Can Warm and sweet and light and moist, and that’s just the batter that comes on the … Read more
Caesar Salad Crisp romaine, shaved Parmesan, and a hint of anchovy—prepped before your very eyes David Burke’s Photos: Anna Knott Double-Smoked Maple-Glazed Bacon Nearly too meaty to be bacon and almost sweet enough to be dessert Michael Jordan’s Jumbo Lump Crab Cocktail So fresh that adding anything more than a spritz of lemon would b … Read more
Visit the city’s finest palaces for prime beef in 2013.
The ground floor of the James smells so strongly of steak—glorious prime dry-aged steak—that you half expect to see the bellboy schlepping porterhouses and T-bones instead of Samsonites. What you sniff more than beef is the aroma of confidence. David Burke’s (which abuts the hotel’s lobby lounge) doesn’t emanate the studied indifference that competitors like … Read more
Where is it written that steak houses must cater mainly to business people? That old tradition often delivers an impersonal experience, favoring efficiency over warmth. Bavette’s, Brendan Sodikoff’s headfirst dive into red meat, turns that convention on its ear in a dark, speakeasy-like space where the Jazz Age details are far too flickery and romantic … Read more
Morton’s the Steakhouse 1050 N. State St. 312-266-4820 Website When Landry’s, the Houston- based colossus that owns Rainforest Cafe and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., purchased the entire Morton’s empire in 2012, alarm bells went off. Hands were wrung. Arnie Morton would roll over in his meat-lined coffin if the subterranean flagship of his beloved … Read more
The Capital Grille 633 N. St. Clair St. 312-337-9400 Website Also part of a huge restaurant group (Darden, which own Red Lobser, Olive Garden, and others), CG manages to feel incredibly personal as well as appropriately masculine—gleaming wood, plush leather booths—without coming off as the least bit cookie-cutter. More like subtle and stylish, as … Read more
Gene & Georgetti 500 N. Franklin St. 312-527-3718 Website To doubters, this place is a dinosaur that has been living off its rep for years. To believers, some of whom have been customers since FDR’s third term, it’s the steak house against which all others in Chicago must be judged. The truth lies somewhere … Read more
Chicago Chop House 60 W. Ontario St. 312-787-7100 Website Odds are good you’ve never heard of Japanese Mishima beef. Odds are better that once you’ve tasted the American version at this white-tablecloth tri-level meatery, your taste buds will demand an encore. Think of Mishima as Kobe’s more exotic cousin: The meat is richer and … Read more
