Gene and Georgetti: Miss Chicago Steakhouse for December

I believe this completes the set. 

Well.  We did it.  Amy and I made it to all 13 steakhouses last year.  I started this project as....well....I don't know.  I'm a critic at heart, so I started it to allow me to write critiques.  I started it because I'm not a "foodie" and Yelp!, etc. just are too short on their reviews, or tell me about things I don't want to know.  I wanted to write stories about our experiences with fine dining here in Chicago.  I started it so I could go out with my wife once a month.  I started it to get to all the steakhouses I hadn't been to...yet.  Which is where we start this review.

For our final month we went to the granddaddy of all Chicago steakhouses, Gene and Georgetti.  We'll get there.  Let's handle the preliminaries.

Previous months' reviews are:  Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab; Keefer's Restaurant; Gibsons Bar and Steakhouse; Morton's: The Steakhouse; David Burke's Primehouse; Rosebud Steakhouse; N9NE Steakhouse; Fogo de Chao; Benny's Chop House; Chicago Cut Steakhouse; Chicago Chop House and Wildfire.  Please feel free to click on the links.  This blog seems to be gaining readership (it could be some spammy thing - who knows?).  Anyway, those are cheap page views for me, so feel free to visit.

Speaking of cheap page views....after the Gibsons review got so much attention with the use of an adult film star....well....I'm a whore.  I'll do that again.  So.  Here's a Safe For Work photo of someone I understand is in adult films, or so I'm told. 

And, as per usual...if you click on these blue underlined words, you'll get taken away magically over the interwebs to something that I think is a funny way to illustrate my point.  I'm probably wrong, but it's my blog, so tough shit.

Looks like a pancake house menu you'd find on vacation.

One more thought.  Sometime in March I'm going to write some sort of summary of this adventure, comparing the different places and rank some of the things we liked.  I also have a couple of amusing stories that don't really fit in any one review.  So.  Look forward to that.

On with it.

When I thought of this, there were several places I had wanted to go to for years, but never took the time, or whatever, to get my ass in the door.  These were Gibsons, Fogo de Chao, Chicago Chop House and Gene and Georgetti.  The reasons behind each "wish list" place were different.  In the case of Gene and Georgetti, it was for one main reason....history.  Opening its doors in 1941, Gene and Georgetti was founded by two Italian immigrants, Gene Michelotti and Alfredo "Georgetti" Federighi.   Located right under the El tracks at Franklin and Illinois, the place has hosted more celebrities than Heidi Fleiss.  Unlike Ms. Fleiss, the celebrities are happy to have their pictures on the walls at Gene and Georgetti. 

The night we dined was December 10.  The weather was coolish, but not cold.  Winter has not taken hold in Chicago yet (IN FEBRUARY), and we have had a ridiculously warm stretch, including a green Christmas.  Yeah.  Global warming is a myth.  That's a blog for another day.  Anyway, the day was jam-packed with activity for me.  I had a workshop with my sons at the local Lowe's, a meeting with a fellow thespian, then dinner reservations, followed by tickets to the theatre at 10 p.m.  In between dinner and the show, we planned to hit State Street and look at the Macy's windows (It ain't Marshall Field's anymore people...and for that matter it's not the Sears Tower either.  Get over it.) and the gigantic tree in the Walnut Room.  We then were going to head out for a carriage ride...which happened to be departing at Daley Plaza during Christkrindlmarket or however the fuck you spell it.  It's the big German Christmas fest in Daley Plaza.  My point is there was a lot of living going on in my life that day. 

One last steak for the road....

Arriving at G&G (I ain't typing Gene and Georgetti anymore) about 10 minutes LATE (AHHH!) for our reservations, we found STREET PARKING less than 50 feet from the door!  Yeehaw!  Granted, given the meter system in Chi town, it still cost us $6 to park, but it was better than the $12-$18 (with tip) to use a valet.  I'm liking this place already, and I haven't even gotten to the door yet.  The door is right on the corner, with a neon/plastic lit up sign above it.  Nothing fancy.  No airs.  In fact, I think I had a hard time actually spotting the valet, if memory serves. 

Walking through the door, the first thing you get to is the bar on your right, with some coat hangers next to it.  There are a few tables in the room.  What you don't see is a host station.  It's there.  But, you don't see it.  So, here's a tip.  It's at the end of the bar, farthest point from the door.  We walked right past it and into another dining room looking for our check-in spot.  I know we were not the only ones, but had it been a midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" - well, we woulda had a crowd of people scream "VIRGINS!" as we paused with a befuddled look on our faces.  Also in the room is a gigantic poster of Lucille Ball, which is signed, and a whole bunch of other celebrity photos.  The bar is a bar.  Like, it could be a bar anywhere else in the city.  Nothing fancy, just a bar.  Above the bar is a saying which I'm going to put here.  I like it.  I don't drink, but it's good advice for those that do. 

Good advice. 

After locating the host station, we were greeted by the owner, who passed us off to a guy with a walkie talkie who led us upstairs to the second floor dining room, and passed us off to the guy he had been chatting with on the walkie talkie.  Our reservations were for 6 p.m.  That time has spelled lots of empty tables for a lot of the places we have been, but G&G was pretty damned crowded.  There were a few tables empty here and there, but not many.  The place was positively bustling.  We were seated in a corner table overlooking the dining room.  I'm gonna get this out of the way now.  There is a video segment on G&G on the Travel Channel's "Steak Paradise 2:  Second Helping."  Here is the link to it.  We were seated in the room that has the painting that the owner talks about.  That was kinda cool.  Behind us was another room with a fireplace.  The place seemed to go on forever.  I'm not sure how many floors there were, but we were in what looked to be a third to a quarter of the second floor. 

The decor in our room was decidedly Italian, with columns adorning the walls, the large mural painting, and a white hue to the room.  I was glad we were in that room. 

We were given our menus.  Old timey.  They don't appear to have changed them since 1941.  We also met our server for the evening.  Never got his name.  He was Italian.  He had the accent.  It was like being at Peter Luger's, where all the waiters are German.  He was attentive.  He was professional.  He was not gruff, but I don't think I'd use the word "friendly."  The guy was a pro, and made us feel welcome without making us feel like we were guests in his home.  We were guests at his employment.  Does that make sense?  It does to me.  A basket of (room temperature) bread and breadsticks was placed on the table, and we put in our drink orders.  Again, no booze, but no attitude from the waiter.  Nice.  I'm liking this place.  Except the bread.  Warm it up.  Please.  You took the time to chill the butter.  Warm the bread. 



Sausage and peppers.  Oh my.



As our drinks were coming to the table, we took some time to peruse the appetizer selection, and to peruse the clientele.  G&G is an old time place with loyal customers.  A lot of the customers know the waiters and a lot of the waiters know the customers.  It was populated with an older crowd and more families than any place else we had been on the journey.  Glancing around the room, a lot of people were not eating steak.  They were dining on seafood, or Italian dishes, etc.  There were a lot of clods of cow in front of people, don't get me wrong, but we were not in a STEAK environment. 

Perusing the appetizers, I had asked Amy about the possibilty of ordering seafood, or something similar.  She was not interested in that.  What did interest her was the Sausage and Peppers.  Italian joint, nice atmosphere, red meat on its way....what the fuck.  Let's have sausage and peppers.  We ordered the appetizer.  Let's go ahead and talk about it now.  GOOD CHOICE.  The sausage was very tasty, perfectly spicy Italian sausage.  A delicate casing held a mouthful of juicy, meaty goodness.  Yeah, baby.  Sounds sexy, right?  Anyway...now that I've toweled off...the peppers were a mix of red, yellow and green.  Lightly sauteed with the sausage, there was hint of oil on them, but they were most assuredly not drowned.  The yellow pepper was especially subtle in its flavor, delicate in texture, and just damned good eating.  I was a long time "no pepper" guy.  I like my Italian beef plain, my pizza with only toppings that have originated in some animal, and no vegetables on my hamburgers...unless ketchup and mustard are considered vegetables.  I digress.  I have acquired a taste for peppers in the last 15 or so years, and the ones served in the sausage and peppers appetizer at G&G are among the best I've ever eaten.  Period. 

This is Amy's steak.  Crusty.  Tender.  Mouthwatering.  I need a smoke.

Before the sausage and peppers had arrived at our table, we had put in our entree orders.  Know what's great about G&G?  You don't have to order salads and potatoes a la carte.  MONEY SAVED!  I got the Cottage Fries and a Salad with Thousand Island Dressing.  I also ordered my steak.  I went for what I read was the best wet-aged steak in Chicago, the T-Bone, Medium Rare.  Amy orered the Bone In Ribeye. Medium Rare, along with her potatoes and salad.  Know what's not great about G&G (at least the night we were there)?  They were out of ribeye.  Ugh.  In retrospect, it was Christmas, the place was open all day, and there were a lot of people downtown.  I guess it's understandable.  You know, in retrospect, it's kind of amazing that we didn't have to wait on our reservations given the date, the crowd, etc.  In retrospect, Moises Alou was never gonna catch that ball anyway.  Retrospect is fun.  Amy ordered the Bone In Strip, Medium Rare, as a substitute; but she was disappointed that the steak she wanted was not available. 

We were just about finished with the sausage and peppers when the steaks, potatoes and salads arrived.  It was bordering on eerie timing.  The cottage fries were outstanding.  The potatoes were cooked to tender perfection.  They were crispy.  They were potatoes.  A starch.  I'm glad I don't have to review potatoes anymore.  The salads were just standard Iceberg Lettuce greens.  The dressing was very good.  Obviously homemade, it was really tangy and really tasty.  Good dressing, G&G!  All this is a warm up to the entrees:  the steaks.

Yup.  That's fork tender steak.  I was pulling chunks off of each other
with my fork.  Drool.  You're allowed.

OK.  My T-bone steak is not the best wet-aged steak in Chicago.  Not by my taste, anyway.  That does not mean that what I ate wasn't FREAKING DELICIOUS, but it means I've had better - not many though.  USDA Prime, wet-aged steak that had been expertly charred on the outside, yet perfectly pink on the inside, my steak was very, very, very good.  The filet portion of my T-bone was exceptionally big for a T-bone.  Hell, it was big for a Porterhouse.  Tearing into the strip portion of my steak as a "filler" before the meat dessert that is the filet portion, I was amazed at how tender it was.  I've gotten into slow-cooking and smoking meat this last year.  One of the things about slow cooking is the tenderness that is achieved, allowing you to pull the meat apart.  Pulled pork.  It's not just a clever name.  Ready for this?  My strip side was bordering on fork tender.  Like, I could almost pull chunks of it away.  That was but a warmup for the filet.  The filet WAS fork tender.  FORK TENDER STEAK.  Over there on the side is photographic evidence.  I don't know how they did that, but that was amazing.  It was almost Prime Rib tender.  For the uninitiated, Prime Rib is a ribeye steak that has been slow cooked rather than quick seared.  (Don't worry - I didn't know that until like 3 months ago)  Overall, I'd give my steak an OH MY GOD! THAT WAS GOOD! rating. 

Amy's steak was similarly cooked, similarly tender, and also delicious.  While it wasn't her ribeye, it was a fine substitute.  She wound up taking half of it home, and it was just as good as leftovers. 

This place has been in business a LONG time.  It was obvious as to why.  The steaks were reasonably priced (unless you don't go to steakhouses once a month to compare...I mean, who would be stupid enough to do that?...Oh....wait....), and they were cooked with care.  There's a reason why places are still full after 60+ years in business, and there's a reason why places that you know are great struggle.  Care.  Take the time with the details.  That's what the people want, and that's what will keep them coming in your door.

The final food.

Finally, it was dessert time.  Amy and I really had no struggle with this.  We were offered, among many other choices, something called Chocolate Tuxedo Mousse Cheesecake.  That's four really good words in one dessert.  No brainer.  If it had missed the "Mousse" or the "Tuxedo," we might have passed.  That combination of four words sealed the deal.  The dessert was exquisite.  Among the best desserts we ate this year, it was precisely what you'd expect of all those words.  Light with the mousse, a little heavy with the cheesecake, and FUCKING CHOCOLATE.  I'm a chick in regards to a lot of things.  Chocolate is one of them.  The dessert was a lovely wrap up to a lovely dinner. 

As a matter of fact, it was a lovely wrap up to a lovely year.  It was the last bite of food we ate on this journey.  We savored them, reflecting on all the great food we had enjoyed the last year.  I even felt a little maudlin when I realized it was over.  We did it, though.  13 steakhouses in 13 months.  Each one reviewed for your (my) reading pleasure right here.  What a great trip.  Thank you for being part of it.

Guess our year of steakhouses is over.

It's February.  I know.  I've taken a long time finishing this.  In March, I PROMISE, I will post a wrap up talking about all the places we went, and ranking them, etc.  In the meantime, let's leave this review on its own.

NUTS and BOLTS:

We got out with our shirts on.  The whole meal was just over $170, including tip.  G&G is reasonably priced for the quantity and quality of food that you get.  It's not reasonbly priced if you go to Outback.  Know what?  If you go to Outback, why are you reading this?

Decor is decidedly Italian, and very 40's.  That's fun. 

Family-ish atmosphere.  There seemed to be a lot of kids there (which means there were a few...). 

Waitstaff has a reputation for turning tables in rude fashion.  We didn't find that to be true, but it wasn't "friendly."  I'd call it professional.  Nothing wrong with that. 

I don't have any comments on the bathrooms.  Except that I have no comment. 

Ain't she pretty?  A smiling wife is never a bad thing.

So.  There it is.  I've been to Gene and Georgetti.  I recommend you do the same.  It's an old time place with an old time feel, where you get a tremendous meal.  I loved it, and can't wait to go back.  Someday.  After we recover from this year. 

Thank you sincerely for your continued interest in this silly project.  I apologize that I didn't get to this sooner.  It's done, though, and there's something to be said for finally following through on this.

Thank you. 

yours in meat,

Randy

NEXT MONTH:  We wrap the year up.  I'll probably get sentimental.  Don't miss that.

This is in the carriage after dinner.  Thanks for being part of this project.