Between entrepreneur Quay Tao’s restaurant savvy (Portage) and Joey Beato’s kitchen smarts, this neighborhood boutique steak house scores as a blast from the past with a modern edge. With birdcage chandeliers over its cozy 35-seat bar, the deep room evokes a bygone era—except for the communal table up front, of course.

For your inner caveman, start with the two ginormous bones overflowing with marrow, although there’s nothing wrong with the far more elegant superfresh tuna crudo, especially when the fermented pepper kicks in. Decisions, decisions: Decadent terrine of short rib and oxtail topped with an egg or a trendy kale and apple salad? A 16-ounce dry-aged rib eye or a delicate Skuna Bay salmon fillet? Invite the right friends along, pull up a casual retro-chic chair, and you can have it all.

Order this: 37th Chamber cocktail ($12), tuna crudo ($9), rib-eye
steak ($35), brownie sundae ($8)