8 Responses to “Casino? Check! Limo? Check! Great Times? Check! Great Steaks and Big Bucks?”

1. Kid Ray, on July 17th, 2012 at 9:47 am Said:

   Steak night, limo, casino, no work the following day….Giggity. Needless to say Kid Ray was quite excited for the 2012 edition of Steak Night. Mr. Glick’s assistant came through in fine fashion with the limo. A few soaks at the Bull and Bear and a stop at Binny’s to procure road sodas…we were off.

   There were high expectations on my end for Jack Binyons. This is because Jevon Wood Thoresen was quoted (multiple times mind you) as saying it was one of the best steaks he had ever had. Wow – aggressive statement and high likelihood of an oversell job. We arrived for our 8pm reservation and yours truly had $200 in comps to allocate to the group. The wait staff was playing for the JV team – unaware of what single malt or blend scotch was and total lack of knowledge of drinks available. I think we settled with a Macallan 18 – fine choice for Mr. Crenshaw and me.

   Most members of the group ordered one of the wagyu rib-eyes which was a cute little petite cut of steak (maybe why Jevon liked it so much) that didn’t really deliver on the flavor. I recall the Wagyu at the Saloon being a large cut of meat that melted like butter in your mouth…Jack Binyon’s did not deliver. We did order up some good wines, skipped the dessert and birthday because the tables were waiting….

   As always the place was a shitshow with some of the best people watching around. You can lose a ton of money at that place and always leave feeling good about yourself. I bellied up to the craps table they opened for us and began rolling rocks. It was ups and downs most of the night. That is until Crenshaw went to the bathroom and I proceeded to bet all our money away on 3 consecutive 7-outs. Eh, so the story goes.

   Back into the limo and the entire group in for post dinner drinks. Surely we could have done better than Cans?! – but that is where we ended. Come 2am Kid Ray had to retire. All in all an awesome evening with a steak to forget.

2. zee german, on July 18th, 2012 at 8:34 am Said:

   I will pose a survey to the group. Who did more overselling to the fine gents of Steak Night?

   1) the sommelier that took holinger and thus all of us down the river and Smith & Wollenskys?

   or

   2) A certain Mr. Thorezine who proclaimed the Binions steak to be one of the best around?

   I could possibly believe the best in Gary, IN but outside of the midwest’s armpit, this wagyu filet stacks up against possibly Petterinos. Perhaps that is a but harsh, but you get the point.

   Nonetheless, I must first start off with a note to both Kid Ray and his better half. Rule #1 of Steak Night is you dont wear shorts to Steak Night. I dont care if it is 100 degrees and we are going to IN where tattoos and jorts flow like the salmon of Capistrano, you dress the part of class and sophistication that we have all come to expect of Steak Night.

   Bull & Bear proved a fine place to meet and leave as quickly as possible. The limo arrived in a timely fashion and was spacious enough for the group. Binion’s had exactly 2 bourbons on the menu and the waiter wasnt sure if either was actually available. Piss poor. The meal itself was much like the steak and barely worth mentioning. The time came to give the casino even more of our money and we descended upon the gaming floor like a pack of ravenous wolves. Craps, forever the entertaining game, was the siren of the evening. It is much like the elevator business with alot of ups and downs. Somehow I managed to lose my chip stack despite a couple good runs. Oh well. I spent a solid 30 minutes after seeing how many tracheotomy’s I could spy among the Indianians.

   Driving back tot he city in the comfort of a limo and a good beer in hand made it easy to forget the losses on the tables and chalk it up as a victorious evening.

3. Rick aka TDI, on July 18th, 2012 at 3:54 pm Said:

   It was the four years ago that I got locked in a parking garage in what was an epic steak night. What kind of nonsense would the July 2012 edition of steak night have in store?

   The evening started at Bull & Bear and the beers flowed freely as we waited for the limo for our road trip to the Hoosier state. There was concern among the group that Glick would be late as usual, an interesting conundrum since he booked the limo and we really couldn’t leave with out him. However Glick was actually on time, perhaps his birthday present to America. A quick stop at Binny’s to load up on road sodas and we were off to trash town USA.

   Brad Ray showed up wearing shorts and flip-flops and then blamed it on the mother of his child. We definitely did not give him nearly enough shit for his attire, perhaps because we were jealous. It was so hot I could have sworn I saw the devil drinking a slurpee on Wells street. I am not in favor of any type of dress code but you should not wear shorts and flip flops to steak night.

   My expectations for Binions were pretty low and they were met, nothing good about it at all. Clearly a notch below almost any steak house in Chicago we have been. However this evening was less about the food and the dining experience and more about the trip as a whole, the meal just a small component of the overall experience. With visions of long rolls and hitting 21 in our heads there was a level of excitement throughout dinner.

   On to the casino floor and honestly I find this place depressing, Gary’s finest gambling away their paychecks. Nonetheless I saddled up with some of the sketch balls at a black jack table and a couple of hours later I walked away up $325, I think the only one from the group to win.

   We hit Bucktown for after dinner drinks. The night ended for me around 3:00 at Estelle’s when Holinger made a booty call and I went home. A couple of us had lunch the following day and Holinger showed up with the same jeans and a borrowed shirt, nice work. An epic all day wii bowling session followed at casa Fedderke.

   Once again a great evening

4. J Cizz, on July 18th, 2012 at 7:27 pm Said:

   In Hammond, everybody’s gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The box men are watching the dealers. The floor men are watching the box men. The pit bosses are watching the floor men. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I’m watching the casino manager. And the eye-in-the-sky is watching us all.

   Wait, who’s watching my chips? Oh right, Brad. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

   Win or lose, a night at the casino is always a good time. And for Steak Night’s “On the Road” edition, this couldn’t have been more true.

   After meeting at Bull and Bear for a few pops, we started to make our way down to the place where dreams are made. The place where one day, we all hope to be escorted to the cage from the table with a cart carrying all of our chips. On this absolute scorcher of a day, we were hoping the tables were as hot as the weather.

   After a short ride filled with laughs and a few bottles of champagne (of beers) we arrived right on time for our reservation at Jack Binion’s Steakhouse.

   The wait staff was undertrained to put it lightly. I have a soft spot in my heart for them though. It’s a thankless job for the most part so as long as the attitude is good, I can grade lightly on knowledge.

   Expectations were sky high as reviews were almost too good to be true. Unfortunately the reviews were. I really don’t remember much about the app and sides. Nothing really jumped out at me as spectacular. And maybe I don’t remember because I was too focused on where the rest of my steak went. Seriously, I think a McDonalds Quarter Pounder is a larger cut of meat. It was good, not great in terms of flavor. But seriously $50 for that thing was a travesty.

   But that was only half of what was enticing about the night. On to the tables! Most of us eventually found our way to a craps table they opened up for us. The “icks” (Glick and Rick) played it steady on Blackjack for most of the night. I played my usual smorgasbord of Come bets, while Brad stuck to the 4-10 double down plan. Holinger and Hans mixed in some other table bets and we were off. I haven’t had a decent roll in craps in god knows how long. After most of us being down to the felt, in stepped Old Man River. This guy brought us way back and then some. What a run. Nothing like a hot roller. But alas, my bladder got the best of me. I had to leave to take care of business and left Kid Ray with explicit instructions on how to bet for me while I was gone. When I came back, things were looking bleak. The chips were low and it would be convenient to blame it on Brad but that’s just gambling. You win some, you lose some. And I’d do it again damn it.

   And I say we all do it again damn it. Viva La Horseshoe!

5. ScottyMarkets, on July 21st, 2012 at 4:36 pm Said:

   With the drought fully in place across the Midwest I was looking for a quenching break in the most herelded steak night holidays – the July 4th event. My expectations for the evening in all were extremely high and to ensure a good time, my arrive at Bull and Bear was punctual and the drinking was on. After quick stop at Binny’s in order to stock the limo, we were off to Atlantis – er, the Horseshoe in Hammond. As we walked into the smoke filled and disabled- a-plenty casino, we headed up to the 3rd floor penthouse of the place to find Binion’s. A rather odd placement for the restaurant in my opinion since it is very out of the way and later we would find out why.

   Upon seating, we found ourselves in a rather sparsely populated dining room with beautiful views of the garbage that floats down the lake from Chicago. The waitstaff greeted us with a fine selection of steaks and a wine list with no vintages on it – puzzling. Immediately my eyes were drawn to the Wagyu cut and some of the apps – including the bisque, both of which I ordered with a smile.

   The bisque arrived and it might have well been Lake Michigan water since it was about as tasty. The Wagyu was definitely not wagyu and I’d be surprised if it fools anyone into thinking that it is. Tables awaited so we skipped desert since it might have made somebody at the table puke – no reason to roll the dice on that.

   Onto the tables, KidRay was the main dice roller and brought most of the bad luck with him from when we last rolled together as the first bite on the craps table was from our side. However, the table bit back even harder and most of us lost our roll by the end of the night. I managed to get a little back in the “high roller” 50 dollar BJ tables but since people wanted to leave right at 12am, my roll ended there too.

   All in all Binions was a weak recommendation that I would soon cut out next time and find a spot to hit on the way down to lovely Indiana. Maybe a run out to Rosemont casinos via the steakhouses there for the next time?

6. Holingwa, on July 22nd, 2012 at 5:15 pm Said:

   Expectations can be a curse. In this case, they were exacerbated due to the historic significance of July steak nights of yore, Mr. Thoresen and prospects of winning at the craps tables. While the evening certainly delivered, the steaks did not and the Horseshoe was not nearly as giving as all of us would have preferred.

   Being picked up in a limo at Bull & Bear was a treat and then hauling down to Indiana with such tremendous company, divine.

   Sub-par is the only way I can describe Binion’s. Calamari appetizer topped the list to start but nothing else impressed. Happy I went with the bone in ribeye; see the other reviews for the rest.

   The craps table was great once we got rolling with a gentleman of around 100 years. We could see felt before he came to the rescue. None of us had lady luck going that evening.

   While incredibly entertaining and I look forward to the next road trip, expectations we’re set far too high for the 2012 edition of Independence Day steak night.

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