Lawry's

We went to Lawry's for dinner during Restaurant Week and man did it deliver.

Spinning Salad

Natalie had been to the Lawry's location in Las Vegas for lunch and it didn't even come close to comparing to the food, service and ambiance here.

Lawry's is located in the River North area of Chicago about 1 block away from Michigan Avenue. It is housed in an old mansion that has fantastic decor inside.

The wait staff is all dressed up for a different era and the prime rib is cut to order by a carving cart that is brought to your table.

Prime Rib dinner with potatoes, yorkshire pudding & lobster tail

The restaurant week deal was fantastic - salad, prime rib, lobster tail, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and dessert for $44 per person

Salad - they call it a spinning bowl salad because of the way it is presented and served to you. The salad consists of Romaine and Iceberg lettuce, baby spinach, hard boiled eggs, beets and croutons. It has a house made dressing that kind of tastes like Thousand island and they put it together table side by spinning the salad in a bowl while the dressing is drizzled on top of it to coat everything. It wasn't the best salad ever but they do try to ratchet up the flair.

Prime Rib - nice cut of meat, not the most tender we've every had but certainly quite flavorful. Once again the presentation wins out on this because a carver comes to your table with a massive cart where he cuts the piece to order and he doles out the mashed potatoes as well. The Restaurant Week menu included the smaller cut of meat which was quite a big size to begin with but Nick opted for the Lawry cut - a little larger and probably the traditional size cut of prime rib served there.

Carving Cart

Yorkshire Pudding - popover type of bread that is used to mop of the juices and gravy. It is served at your table in a skillet.

Lobster tail - so this is the something extra that puts this deal over the top. It was not a super large lobster tail but it tasted great. With this being put onto the restaurant week menu it went from being a small deal to quite a nice dinner deal.

Dessert - choice of sticky toffee pudding or bundt cake.  We probably should have both ordered the toffee pudding but we wanted to try one of each. They were both quite sweet and we barely had enough room to eat them at all.

Final thoughts on Lawry's.
Food - we loved the food and definitely want to return.  This is a special occasion type of place.

Service - the service is amazing. They definitely have all the bases covered here with the presentation both of the salad and the prime rib.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Atmosphere - The setting is very neat being in an old mansion. It is quite fancy and different than most other restaurants we had been to.  We would consider this a special occasion restaurant but there seemed to be a lot of business diners there as well.

Bundt Cake

Wildfire

 We went dinner at Wildfire in Oakbrook.  This was our first Restaurant week dinner for the year.  We had been to this restaurant before but it had been a few years. For their restaurant week option Wildfire offered both a $33 and a $44 dollar dinner option and we chose one of each.

House Salad

$33
House Salad - slightly fancier than the typical house salad as it had hard boiled eggs and artichokes, it was presented kind of like a cobb salad with all of the ingredients in their own sections
Bourbon Tenderloin tips with broccoli - this was a much larger dish than we were anticipating so we were so full that we had to take 2/3 of this home with us

Shrimp and Crab Bisque

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie - because we were on the full side we took a lot of this home as well, This was really good with chocolate and peanut butter combined in a graham cracker crust.

$44
Shrimp and Crab Bisque - good soup

Petite Filet

Petit Filet Mignon with Mushroom Crust and Au Gratin Potatoes - the steak was great and the mushrooms on top made it even better
Chocolate Cream Pie - we might not have chosen this selection given the other options but this seemed to be their main dessert.  As expected it was a rich pie - super cholateley.  We finished this at the restaurant because it was way to delicate to be transporting home.

Final thoughts on Wildfire:

Tenderloin

Food - overall there was a lot more food than we would expect from a fixed course/price meal. Probably the cuts of meat offered were not as high quality as from a regular meal served there, but we liked the options we had.  We really loved the chocolate peanut butter pie and wish it had been an option for both meals.

Service - good service; even though it was quite a busy weekend evening.

Atmosphere - nice steak house feel. Good thing we had a reservation because it was very busy and there was a large private party.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Chocolate Creme Pie

Gibson's

We went to a rare lunch out together at Gibson's in Oak Brook.  Since we have eaten at a lot of steak houses, we just wanted to try a simpler lunch meal. We have been to Hugo's Frog Bar before and they are part of the Gibson's restaurant group and they use Gibson's steaks.

Steak Salad

Steak Tenderloin salad - we ordered a small salad to share but it would have been large enough to be an entree on its own.  There were 2 steak medallions cooked to order with greens, red onions, tomatoes, cucumber and blue cheese.  It was a nice salad and good value (but we are still in search of a steak salad that can rival Weber Grill's old steak salad).

Gibson's Prime Angus Sliced skirt steak with mashed potatoes and corn - nice and tender.  Nick's definition of Medium is a little different than their definition. The corn had some peppers in it to make it spicy and more exciting.

Skirt Steak

Crab mac n cheese with andouille sausage and bacon.  This was a nice creamy dish.  It had good noodles to hold the sauce and the andouille provided good flavor.  There could have been a bit more crab, but maybe the price would have been a lot higher.

Final thoughts on Gibson's:
Food - good steak.  Lots of options, large and small for lunch.
Service - quick lunch service, the food came out right away.  If you worked nearby you could get in and out within the lunch hour
Atmosphere - lots of business people there on lunch.  There seemed to only be valet parking nearby so we parked across the street at the Oak Brook mall for free.

Crab Mac N Cheese

Weber Grill Restaurant

The giant grill is really cool!

We went to dinner at the Weber Grill Restaurant in Lombard.  There are 4 locations - here, Chicago, Schaumburg, IL and Indianapolis. We haven't been here to eat in over 4 years - it was one of the first restaurants we went to when we moved here.

Pretzel rolls (probably from Labriola across the street)

What we ate:
Bruschetta - Nick felt like having bruschetta; the bread was grilled so that is why it was on the menu. The bread wasn't as crispy as typical bruschetta - but it was novel that it was grilled.

Bruschetta

Korean BBQ steak salad - so the last time we were here (4 years ago) we ordered a steak salad and it was amazing.  But since it has been so long since we have been to this restaurant of course the menu has changed and it is now a Korean BBQ steak salad.  The flavors were good but not as great as the salad from 4 years ago.  It was a little weird but the steak came out sizzling on a griddle (like fajitas would be served).  So it was odd to be putting really hot steak on colder salad greens. The steak had a kimchi flavor to it (hence Korean steak). Korean flavors are "in" right now, but we missed the old, more traditional (but gourmet) steak salad.

BBQ combo

Salad with sizzling steak behind it

BBQ combo with pulled pork, brisket, mac n cheese and sweet potatoes.  The meats were great, especially the brisket - it was so tender you could cut it just with a fork.  But this is a "grill" restaurant so we would expect the meat to be great.  The mac n cheese was good, not great and the sweet potatoes were a bit disappointing.

Final thoughts on Weber Grill Restaurant:
Food - the food was good but we would probably return and get more traditional steak fare than bbq as we have some other bbq joints we prefer.
Service - good service; our waiter was friendly.  The location of our table seemed to be near where a lot of waiters were milling about so it was a little distracting.
Atmosphere - when we drove up to the parking lot we were worried because it was quite full looking.  But there didn't seem to be that many people in the restaurant itself.  Maybe they were in a back private room or in the large bar area where we couldn't see them. It was a little busier when we left. They do carry out and one odd thing we saw in the parking lot when we left was people "tailgating" - literally they had the tailgate of their SUV open and they had put up a card table with chairs.  It looked like they had gotten food from a couple of different nearby restaurants as PF Changs, Uncle Julios, Champs and DMK Burger are right there (we've never seen that before - maybe it was an unique date night).

Capital Grille



Caesar Salad

Clam Chowder

We have driven past the Capital Grille in Lombard a lot and have wanted to try it for a while.  When we saw it was participating in Restaurant Week we figured that would be a great opportunity to try it. Chicago started participating in Restaurant Week several years ago and every year more and more restaurants are a part of it.  Three course fixed price meals are available costing $22 at lunch and $33 or $44 for dinner. We figured since the Capital Grille is known for steak, the fixed price meal would cost $44 but we were pleasantly suprised at the $33 price tab.  The three course meal includes your choice of soup or salad, an entree with sides and dessert.

 For appetizers we ordered clam chowder soup and ceasar salad. The Caesar salad came with some croutons that were exceptional. The salad was a balance of sweet and tanginess; but not too sharp to overpower your taste buds.The clam chowder as warm and creamy as it should be with large pieces of clam meat with most of the bites.

Kona Crusted Sirloin wtih Shallot Butter Sauce

Filet Mignon

For main entrees we chose the 8 oz filet mignon and the 14 oz bone in Kona crusted dry aged sirloin.  These came with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach as sides.  We were a little worried about how the Kona crusted steak would taste but it was very subtle and provided a nice flavor. Both of the steaks were very tender and jucy.  The sirloin came with a shallot butter sauce which had a great flavor as well. We didn't expect any less since this place is known for being a steak house. The potatoes were creamy; a perfect starch to go with all the juicy protien that we were enjoying. And the spinach was a good way to pretend to eat our greens

Creamed Spinach and Mashed Potatoes



For dessert we had guava ice cream with biscotti and creme brulee. We chose the guava ice cream because it wasn't a typical ice cream flavor we've had and it was really good.  It makes us want to try making exotic ice creams at home. 

Desserts

Final thoughts on Capital Grille:

Food - good food at a great price, we want to come back next year for Restaurant Week for sure!

Service - good service, they were up front about participating in restaurant week and answered our questions

Atmosphere - high end atmosphere and decore. Definitely a great night out in Lombard.

Mastro's Steakhouse

We went to dinner for our wedding anniversary at Mastro's Steakhouse in Chicago.  We had heard about this restaurant from Check Please and we know someone who has eaten there. 

Lobster Bisque

Appetizers:

Lobster Bisque - it was warm and creamy (but not too creamy) a perfect way to start the meal.  Better lobster bisque than we have had in a while.

Tuna Tartare 

Ahi Tuna Tartare - with layers of avocado and wontons and alioli sauce - this general dish is becoming one of Natalie's favorites.  The wontons brought a nice crunchy texture to the dish as everything else is soft. The alioli gave the dish a bit of a kick without overpowering it.

Bone in Filet with gnocchi and sugar snap peas

Main course

Bone in Filet (12 oz) - this was one of the steaks the waiter recommended and it was worth it.  We were considering the Filet without the bone but the bone in Filet tasted really great. It was very tender and buttery. Another great steak to add to our list of favorites. The bone it filet also comes in a 18 oz size.

NY Strip with gnocchi and sugar snap peas

New York Strip (16 oz) - not quite as tender as the filet, but that is the difference in the cuts of meat.The tips were a little more done than we enjoy but the center was nice and tender (we ordered both steaks medium).

Butter Cake

The steaks and sides are all ordered a la carte (and you can order half sizes) so we ordered half sides of sugar snap peas and king crab truffle gnocchi which were more than enough for the two of us.  The gnocchi was truly amazing.  Obviously how can you go wrong with King Crab and truffles. The sauce was super creamy.  If you weren't into steaks, you really could just order this for your meal. For all the other food we ate a half size order was a good size for us. If we hadn't had appetizers maybe we would have gone with a full order.  We ordered the sugar snap peas as kind of the antithesis of the super rich gnocchi. Also pretending that we were eating healthy by having something green (although choosing to ignore the face that they were sauteed in a lot of butter).

For dessert we had of butter cake with whipped cream, which was comped for our anniversary.  We had heard that we definitely had to order this dessert here, so we couldn't leave without trying it.  Before eating it we could smell the wonderful aroma of the cake. They customized the plate for our anniversary dinner (not quite as personalized as last year at North Pond but a great touch). The cake was served with a heaping bowl of homemade whipped cream. It was so good we wanted to eat it all but since we had such a large meal it was very difficult. We thought it would be a slice of cake but it was served as an entire cake with hints of lemon.  Overall it was outstanding and we knew it might not keep well be as awesome cold the next day so we powered though and ate most of it.

Cross section of the butter cake

Final thoughts on Mastro's Steakhouse:
Food - expensive but awesome.  Something we didn't order but we saw at other tables was a seafood tower served over smoking dry ice.  It would have been way too much food for just the two of use but would be fun with a group of 4-6 people.  Also they offer sushi designed for Mastro's from the chefs at a restaurant called Nick-San; a restaurant in Cabo San Lucas that we remember walking by on our trip there a few years ago. Also even though it is a Steakhouse, they do also serve a lot of seafood options as entrees.
Service - impeccable. our main waiter took his time in explaining the menu to us.  When the steaks and sides came out, a team of waiters helped dish out the sides onto our steak plates.  The personalization of the dessert was a great touch.
Atmosphere - The interior is dark but it was fine for us"young lovers" celebrating an anniversary.  The whole space is huge.  We were seated in the dining area on the first floor.  There is also a large bar area on the first floor.  Then up the stairs are several smaller and larger dining spaces. It is quite luxurious looking inside.  As a side note we have seen the outside of the Mastro's Ocean Club in Las Vegas at the City Center complex.  It is extraordinary looking for the outside and maybe we will venture in sometime when we visit our relatives in Vegas.

Butter cake before digging in

Golden Steer

French Onion Soup

We went to dinner at Golden Steer, a steakhouse in Forest Park.  We have seen it featured on both Check Please and Chicago's Best, where it was described as being a great deal and it definitely was.  Unlike your traditional steakhouses, you get a full meal with both a French onion soup and a salad, instead of everything being a la carte.

The interior decore is very "dated", it looks like you are in the 1970's. But we expected that from having seen the interior on TV. This is probably why they can keep their prices lower.

Salad

We went on a Friday night so that we could order the prime rib (it is only offered on Fridays and Saturdays). It was just as good as prime rib we have ordered at other places.  It also came with a choice of potato and we got a baked potato.

Prime Rib

The other entree we ordered was the Beef Stroganoff.  It came with mushrooms and onions and was served over pasta.  This dish wasn't as good - there wasn't much sauce and the steak pieces weren't tender.  Most Stroganoffs we have had are more creamy.  The last beef Stroganoff we ate was on an out of town trip a few months ago and was much preffered to this.  Nick liked the meat in this dish but Natalie really didn't

Beef Stroganoff

Both of our dishes came with French onion soup which was very good.  There was so much cheese that was baked all over the top of the crock - the cheese overflowed so there was melted cheese down the sides of the crock.  The dishwasher must be powerful to clean these things.

The salads were pretty standard, with lettuce and tomato.  The dressings were good and they came with a house made crouton which tasted great.

Final thoughts on Golden Steer:

Food - really good deals for the prices. We enjoyed what we got but wouldn't get the Stroganoff again.  But soup was good enough to go back for in and of itself.  There was more than enough food so we had some to take home.

Add caption

Service - good service. the waitress warned us not to eat much bread so we would save room for everything  but that still didn't work

Atmosphere - nice neighborhood feel; we were pretty much the youngest ones there - maybe the decore has something to do with this.  There might have been another table with a couple of young people at it but they were they with a larger group that included much older diners.