Benny's Chop House - Miss Chicago Steakhouse for August

Oh look.  It's a steakhouse.  In Chicago.  Guess I'll try it.

This is hard. 

I mean it.  I've written pretty extensively lately - I have a review of Wrigley Field that I've recently written (but I am holding off on publishing until a week after this runs), and I just puked out a semi angry tirade.  As much as I'd like to say that words rarely elude me; time to sit, think, and write has been troublesome to....motivate.  Wah wah.  Poor me. 

This month Amy and I visited Benny's Chop House.  This was our ninth stop on our thirteen steakhouse tour in 2011.  Previously, I've written about visits to Joe's, Keefer's, Gibsons, Morton's, David Burke's Primehouse, Rosebud Steakhouse, N9NE Steakhouse and Fogo de Chao.   This was one of the places I was most looking forward to, based on the photos I'd seen.  So.  Why was I not excited?

I must confess that I wasn't really looking forward to our night out.  Not that I don't enjoy time alone with my wife, or steak, or seeing Chicago; but what pained me was the idea of sitting down afterwards and writing about it.  There.  I said it.  This is taking a toll on me.  Again, wah wah, poor me. 

I hold myself to a standard, and a lot of what I want to say seems to be getting repeated.  Plus.  The jokes.  They're hard.  As Edwin Booth said on his deathbed, "Dying is easy, comedy is hard."  I don't want to sit here and be the boring guy who talks about his dinner.  I'm not that fucking sophisticated.  I want to entertain myself telling you about our dinner, and perhaps entertain you as well.  That's a lot of pressure.  I let it get to me at the beginning of August. 

So.  We had 6 p.m. reservations at Benny's Chop House on Saturday night, and for the life of me, until we were in the car and on the way there....I wasn't sure I wanted to go.

Glad there was steak at the end of the rainbow. 


Fuck the leprechauns.  I'll take this at the end of the rainbow any day.
Wait.  This is Amy's steak.  I'll still take it.

 Click the links.  They're the jokes.  Mostly.  I've been told if you read first then click, it goes faster and the jokes are funnier.  I don't believe that, but I do believe it reads faster.

Located in what must be steakhouse central in downtown Chicago, Benny's is on Wabash, in the shadow of the new NON compensatory Trump Tower.  I mean it. It is obvious that Mr. Trump is NOT, I repeat, NOT compensating for any shortcomings with the second tallest building in Chicago.  And I won't hear otherwise.  Anyway, Benny's is about two blocks away from Joe's, four blocks from Primehouse, six blocks from Keefer's, down the street from Morton's and Smith and Wollensky (boo....).  Seriously.  They are all right there.  You can't throw a rock without hitting a good steakhouse. 

Driving up to the restaurant, it is hard to miss it.  There is a large lit sign, and several burgundy banners letting you know you are in the right place.  Apparently the place was supposed to be a different restaurant that never opened.  Seizing upon an opportunity, Chicago restauranteur Benny Siddu snatched up a bargain priced, ready-to-move-in little piece of heaven. 

Walking in the doors, one walks upstairs to a very smart, very elegant host station.  To the right is the bar, with trees used as decoration and masking, separating the stairs from the bar.  The bar looked very nice, nice stools, nice cherry wood.  Cherry wood.  Steakhouse central casting.  There were some low slung chairs/couches in the bar, which appeared to be a purpley velvety thing.  The principle color of the place was burgundy.    (that link is to a different review - they got some great photos of the interior though)

I love these lights.  Might be a little much in our house.  Shit. They
might cost more than our house.

Met at the host station by a woman that my wife described as "stunning," (true story, I'm asking her about the furniture and she says - "I don't know, I was staring at the woman.")  we were immediately shown to our table, a small table for two, dimly lit and on the side of the restaurant, next to the back wall of the bar.  Cherry trim and paneling adorned all the walls, along with mirrors, mosaic tiles and art work.  The light fixtures were enormous rosetta alabaster bowls, and each table had a small battery operated candle.  White linens adorned each table, and when we were seated we were offered black napkins in lieu of white.  "For the lint."  Well.  I'd always figured that the reason the women got black ones at Morton's was for the lipstick.  Maybe that was for the lint as well.

The crowd was sparse at 6 o'clock on a Saturday night, and I was a little leery about that.  I know that we eat at a time about two hours before most people go out for fine dining, but we usually see a 40-50% capacity.  Benny's was sporting about 15%.  Uh oh.  What were we in for? 

Sitting down, a bus boy came over and asked for our water selection.  Tap is fine for us.  I'm not a big fan of bottled water.  I think it is too precious a resource to keep....inventoried.  That's me.  I'm paranoid.  I just think there will be a time when we're fighting wars not for oil....but for water.  I digress.  A small basket of small breads was placed at our table, and we were given our menus.  They were the large, inflexible one page cards.  Not a big fan.  My sense of dread over our night out is growing.  I like the atmosphere, but there are a lot of things I don't like adding up here.  I'm a big fan of counting red flags.  They're cropping up. 

Soon after sitting down, we met our server for the evening, Kevin.  Kevin was a delightful gentleman with a hint of a British accent, and a friendly, professional demeanor.  He asked us for our drink orders (Not drinking my man, sorry...), and said he'd be back to discuss the menu.  Kevin's attention, along with his helpful manner, took one of those red flags and sent it flying.  Things were looking up.

Perusing the menu, it was noticed that the steaks at Benny's come in three varieties.  Wet aged, dry aged and "all natural."  The dry aged steaks are aged off premises (at Allen Brothers) for forty-five days.  All the steaks were rated USDA Prime.  The all natural ones are apparently hormone free, silicone free and bleach free.  I kid.  They have silicone.  Bah-zing!!!   See what I did there?  That's comedy kiddies.

I looked over the appetizers, as did Amy, and we talked about the decor, the lack of attendance, and the fact that we were out alone again.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio.  That's American Kobe.  No, not Bryant....



After a short while, Kevin returned to take our appetizer/etc. order.  After having the Beef Sashimi at Primehouse, I had itched to try it again.  Looking over the menu, I found not one, but two options for raw beef.  Steak Tartare was on the menu, as was Wagyu Beef Carpaccio.  Discussing each option with Kevin, he advised that if I was going to order steak as my entree (duh), that the Carpaccio was the better choice.  Good enough.  I ordered that.  Amy asked for a bowl of Mushroom Bisque.  I also ordered a House Salad.  I can always do with some vegetables.   

We also ordered our entrees.  Amy went for the dry aged Bone In Ribeye, Medium Rare.  I was a little....concerned about the size of the steaks.  I like to eat about 20+ oz. or I'm not really happy.  Amy's steak was advertised as 16 oz.  I've had some ribeyes that were just too thin at that weight.  Looking at the menu, there was really only one choice for what I thought would be a thick enough steak.  The 22 oz. dry aged T-Bone.  Like a Porterhouse, but with less filet.  I ordered it.  It had been a while since I'd had a strip steak per se, and the filet was tempting.  I pulled the trigger and ordered the T-Bone, Medium Rare.

A couple of minutes later, I realized that I needed a starch.  Catching Kevin's attention, I added a Baked Potato to my entree order.  He was accomodating, and took care of it right away.  I'll review the potato now.  It was a potato.  It tasted like a potato.  That's a good thing.

The first items to arrive were our appetizers.  Covered in a mixture of large shards of Parmesan Cheese, Capers, and some Greens, my beef was paper thin slices of ultra tender raw meat.  I'm not the biggest fan of parmesan cheese, and capers....well.....we haven't really crossed paths.  Digging into the meat, it was a combination of olive oil-y flavor with some vinegar-y after thoughts.  The meat was melt in your mouth tasty.  I ate my appetizer very quickly.  I also had my House Salad, which was covered in a Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.  The two dishes were very complementary to each other, mostly because they pretty much tasted the same.  The lettuce was super light on the salad though.  Things were picking up for me on the night.  Good food does that.

Amy's mushroom soup was mushroom-y.  For me, that's not good.  She enjoyed the hell out of it though.  It was very thick, almost an applesauce consistency, and a lovely shade of....brown.  It was mushroom soup.  I ain't gonna gush about it.  If Amy wants to, she can hack into this and edit this part herself.


I add this photo because I need a photo around here.
This is a spiderweb.  In sepia tones.  Artistic, ain't it?
This was right outside the door.



I had been taking photos of things for y'all, when a hostess (not the stunning one) came over and asked if we wanted her to take our photo.  She had obviously worked with an SLR before, and I was pleased when she said, "Don't worry, I got this."  At the bottom of this blogpost is the photo she took.   As we chatted some more working on our appetizers, things began filling up in the restaurant.  Things were definitely looking up.  I was actually getting excited for my steak.  About damned time.

Turns out I had reason to get excited.  Kevin had informed us that the steaks were cooked in an 1800 degree broiler.  One of the things I have read about Chicago steaks and why they're wet aged is because it takes a char better, and Chicago restaurant goers prefer the char.  I am one of those people.  So.  Being told that my dry aged steak was going to be charred at that temperature scared me a little.  I had nothing to fear.

Arriving shortly at our table were the steaks.  Wait - did Yoda write that last sentence?  I'm calling bad writing on the header to this paragraph.  That is a shitty, shitty sentence.  I'm not changing it.  Now you know that what you're reading is not that polished.  (Duh - like I have to tell YOU that)  Presented with a small piece of Yorkshire Pudding on the side, each steak was a charred masterpiece on a plate. 

Amy's ribeye was delicious.  Flavorful, full of fat, full of char, her steak was what makes Chicago a great steak town.  Every place that is worth trying has one on their menu, and most every place cooks them well.  The dry aging had added no gamey quality, in fact, the different taste was a welcome change.  Trying her steak, I wished I had ordered it.  Kinda.  I've eaten a bunch of them this year.  I was looking forward to the change of pace that the T-Bone offered.  

My brothers.

I've eaten a lot of great steak on this journey.  My favorite thus far has been the Bone in Ribeye at Gibsons, with N9NE's version in second place.  The T-Bone at Benny's kicked the N9NE steak to the side, and is now running a damned close second.  That's high praise.  I'm not a fan of the strip steak generally, and for me to rank this steak that high means it must have been pretty special.  It was. 


My T-Bone.  Mouth watering?  It should be.



Charred to a crisp on the outside, my steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare.  The strip side of the steak was grainy, firm and delicious.  I was actually enjoying it, something I haven't done for a while with strip steak.  The meat closest to the bone was exceptionally flavorful.  As I always do with any Porterhouse, I saved ALL the filet side for last, as a meat dessert.  Good choice.  The slight compromise I made in flavor between the ribeye and the strip side of my steak was more than worth it when I tried the filet.  Soft as butter, the filet was ultra flavorful, silky and DELICIOUS.  Did I use that word already?  Screw it, I'm not getting out the thesaurus.  It was delicious.  Unfortunately, a little of the reduction sauce that was on the Yorkshire pudding got on the filet side, so I had two pieces that were flavored by something other than MEAT.  It's OK, because the rest made up for it.  Oh MY GOD it was good.  There.  The evening has now gone from a chore to a pleasure.  Hooray!!   And hooray for good steak.... 

I may get through this marathon.  Maybe.  Ask me in November.

We savored our steaks for as long as we could, commenting on how good they were, etc.  Amy left about a third of her steak uneaten.  I left none of mine.  In another universe, I might have eaten hers, but she was guarding it pretty closely.  I think I would have gotten a hand bitten off if I had tried to take it.

Kevin checked on us several times.  We were very happy.  Steakhouses are all about the service.  Benny's is no exception.  The service was impeccable.  As a testament to that, after we were through with our entrees, a tray with two hot towels was brought to the table.  Hooray hot towels!  I need to invest in a hot towel machine, because they are one of my favorite luxury things. 

After the remnants of our steaks were cleared, we looked at the dessert menu.  With Amy's leftover steak, and my relatively small portion (small compared to what I'm used to), we had plenty of room.  Kevin told us that the S'mores Cheesecake was the best dessert he'd ever had.  OK.  Every recommendation he had made had been spot on thus far, so we took that one too.  Amy ordered an Absinthe to go with it, and I ordered a cup of decaf.  Amy rarely drinks, and I never do, so this was quite an adventure for her.  

S'Mores Cheesecake.  Worth the trip all by itself. 



 Shortly afterward, our dessert arrived.  It was a small circle of chocolate cheesecake, topped with a massive homemade marshmallow that had been toasted to perfection, along with graham cracker crumbs.  It was a S'more.  A damned tasty S'more.  I can't recommend the dessert enough.  My God it's good. 

Amy's absinthe made her eyes bulge out on the first taste.  I did not try it, obviously, but she described it as a combination of cough medicine and goodness.  She really enjoyed it.  I suspect she will try it again. 

Finally, it was time for our meal to come to a close.  The restaurant had filled up while we were there.  It was bustling with activity.  Good on them.  The place deserves a nice following.  Being relatively new, that will come.  As long as they continue to serve food like we ate, they should have no trouble building a reputation.

Amy's Absinthe

Nuts and bolts:



This was among the more pricey meals we've eaten.  It was $225 by the time we left.  We had an extra side and appetizer than we normally eat, along with Amy's drink, so that accounted for the difference I guess. 

Classy interior.  Classy wait staff.  Warm, yet elegant. 

Bathrooms are gorgeous, and the hallway leading to them has several quality photos of Chicago landmarks.  Nice touch. 

All in all Benny's is just what you'd expect from a fine steakhouse.  Go there and decide for yourself if that's cliche, or if you agree with me - that things like super fine dining in a classy place will never be cliche. 

Next Month:  Another relatively new place, Chicago Cut Steakhouse. 

Taken by the hostess.  Pretty nice shot.  Good Lord I'm bald.