Gene & Georgetti's v. Chi Chop House for Business Dinner

[El Chevere]

Greetings:

Entertaining a group of 12-18 next week and looking for a sure bet within relatively close proximity (short cab ride) to Hyatt Regency where we are all staying. Looking at above two solid choices that also offer something to those who do not eat meat.....if you had to pick between these 2, does one stand heads and shoulders above the other and I assume both meet my short distance criteria. It won't be a stuffy business dinner either.

Thanks

[El Chevere]

Just back from Chicago Cut--pretty damn amazing....had the yellow fin tuna appetizer--very good--along with the combo shrimp/lobster/crab leg cocktail--amazing...along with the porterhouse--outstanding. Very good service, food, and ambience..4 stars....this place blows aways Gibsons--not even close.

[Saguaro]

I thought your only criteria was the taste of the steak, but you mention service and ambience. I hope that means you agree with me in principle that it is the totality of the experience by which one should judge a restaurant, even if you don't agree with me about G&G. I think that G&G is an experience that is best appreciated by Chicagoans, the same way New Yorkers can best appreciate their brand of restaurant.

[chicgail]

Glad you like G&G, Saguro, but as a Chicagoan, I certainly do not appreciate the experience of G&G. With limited time and money to spend on food and "eating experiences," I will not go back there. To each his own.

[El Chevere]

If the steak is not good, I could care less about service and ambience. Can't put lipstick on a pig. Fortunately, Chicago Cut had inner beauty (steak) to go with outer beauty.

[Siun]

Skip Chi Chop House - I recently took a visiting business guest there at his request and was so disappointed by how far it had fallen into tourist trap and mediocre food.

Chicago Cut would be my first choice if going for steak.

[Saguaro]

I thought the OP asked about Chicago. The discussion of Luger's is just typically narcissistic NYC. G&G is the choice because it IS Chicago. I have been eating there since 1970, and the comments about attitude are correct, but irrelevant. Its the attitude that makes it Chicago. If you are somebody you get attention, if not, well, wait your turn. That's the way Chicago operates. The steaks are tremendous and you can have a truly memorable dining experience, as long as you realize there are a lot of factors that make for a truly memorable meal. There are some restaurants that define their city and visa-versa. Like "21" when I was in college. But in any event you are not going to get a table for 12-18, you aren't even going to get a table on the first floor, you aren't even going to get a table.

[El Chevere]

I am the OP and did ask about Chicago...I referenced Luger because it is the standard by which I judge all steakhouses (from a steak flavor perspective) and I'm generally not a fan of chains (that would include Mortons). The general comments in this thread (and others) were that G&G and Chicago Chop House were tourist traps and overrated...I could care less whether the waiters get down on their knees on a pillow when addressing me, I'm going there for the food first and ambience second. So let me try and be more specific...which has the BEST steak in town? Is it the newcomers (Chicago Cut and David Burke or the old reliables)....As mentioned earlier, Gibsons did not cut it for me from a pure steak standpoint. Great place to socialize but I am searching for another place to try and to take advantage of my expense account. Maybe it would be great if I get input from a former NY'er who lives in Chicago now or travels there frequently as we might have similar perspectives.

Thanks

[aburkavage]

The BEST steak in town is at Primehouse. Few will disagree.

[Combination]

Saguaro, if G&G has such wonderful steaks, why do they bring steak sauce to the table? I knew it wasn't going to work out too well when they put it on my table at the same time as the steak!

Keeping it strictly to food, I really wasn't impressed at all. It was the one disappointing meal I had in Chicago.

[Db Cooper]

A lot of high end steak houses bring sauce or already have it on the table, including Peter Luger. They don't force you to use it. If that's your barometer, you must have a lot of disappointing steak dinners.

I've been to G&G twice in last two years and had a nice bone in ribeye both times. It was cooked to my specs, seasoned well, and tasty. Can you get a better steak? Sure, no doubt. But you are going to pay a lot more for it. For a trip to old style Chicago, G&G is hard to beat.

[Saguaro]

Geesh, I have a bottle of HP at home and I use it sometimes. I didn't know I was doing anything wrong.

[Db Cooper]

You were. If you're going to use sauce, have the decency to use A1.
I'm still unsure how one can know a steak is going to be bad when they come with sauce. My impression is you talked and thought yourself into a bad meal with that choice.

[Db Cooper]

I don't mean you Saguaro, was referencing original poster here, Combination.

[Saguaro]

Understood. Salt, pepper, and olive oil is all you need to cook a steak. But sometimes the steak isn't as good as it might be and I resort to HP (sorry), but I would not use it on a good steak well cooked

[camusman]

In my recent experience, many of the big name steak places downtown have slipped a notch or two, whereas Capital Grille at 633 N. St. Clair has remained consistently good.

[Chicago Wine Geek]

David Burke's and Cut - highly recommended.

[HoosierFoodie]

Another D. Burke's fan here.

[grimaldi]

People who think Luger's has the best steak rank right up there with those who believe In 'n Out has the best burger. Some people really need to travel and dine before they make such an embarrassing comment. David Burke's is a "ladies" steakhouse, along the lines of N9NE. If you're serious about beef in Chicago, it's Gibson's, and to be honest Mastro's (despite it being an outside chain) is pretty good as well.

[El Chevere]

To point out the obvious, In n Out is a hamburger/hamburger chain, Luger is neither. In n Out doesn't rate anywhere close to my top of the list when I am in the mood for a hamburger (in fact, I would argue they need to add many ingredients to what they call a burger to add flavor to an otherwise hamburger patty you can find at thousands of other places) so I am not sure why or where that analogy came from.

Luger is amazing-- unless you happen to be from Califonia and base a restaurant on calories over flavor. Luger dry-ages (yes, I realize they are not alone) their hand picked choice beef (only 5% of the beef produced in this country falls into this category) for up to 8 weeks (not 30 or 45 days). In addition their choice of seasoning and age old ovens impart a rather unique flavor to their meats.

In all fairness, one does not need to schlep to Brooklyn or Great Neck to get a great steak at Luger in NY (Wolfgangs--a Luger spinoff and now a small chain-- does a good job) but Luger remains the standard by which others should be judged. If you want to argue about service or their wine list, that is definitely up for discussion, BTW, I also happen to be a fan of Metropolitan Grill in Seattle and La Cabrera in Buenos Aires...tried Mastro's once (in Beverly Hills) and thought it was good, though it did have an interesting aftertaste (little like microwaved butter popcorn).

[chicgail]

It sounds like you want a steakhouse. I wouldn't recommend G&G to anyone. It's old school with scruffy, irritable waiters who only treat their "regulars" well - and the food's not so good. Did you consider David Burke Primehouse or Chicago Cut Steakhouse? And I wouldn't normally suggest this, but your comment about it not being a "stuffy business dinner" prompts me to suggest Gibson's in the heart of the Viagra Triangle where the scene is as good as the food.

[ferret]

Gibson's offers private dining for groups. As for non-meat eaters, there's not a steakhouse around that won't accommodate them.

[El Chevere]

Thanks for the other tips...ate at Gibson's once and as a Luger snob thought the steak there was OK but nothing spectacular.

[ferret]

So you'd prefer the decidedly inferior Gene & Georgetti's?

[El Chevere]

Never eaten at G & G, but I have at Gibson's and it's not in the same class as a Peter Luger or Wolfgang's in my opinion....sounds like Chicago Cut and David Burke are the way to go and will give those a shot instead.