Shula’s – Still Undefeated?
October’s Steak Night brought us to Shula’s Chicago location. The group was primed to kick off the fall season with a place not yet graced by the presence of the fine gentlemen of Steak and Cigars.
The Group:
We were down a few this time but the clan of Crenshaw, Cole, Thoresen, Ray (Rick), Glick, and Fedderke brought plenty of thunder.
The Scene:
Situated off of the lobby in the Sheraton Hotel Streeterville, it had a classic steakhouse feel once inside, but instead of classic Chicago figures, the walls were adorned with classic Dolphins of old. Cocktail hour was fairly tame. When Kid Ray isn’t there the bill magically shrinks to a reasonable amount. Hans spent some time in the depths of the Chicago underworld trying to find parking. He made it out. Everyone in the group was on time and we promptly sat down a nice round table, amidst just a few other patrons.
The Apps:
We started off with some bbq bacon wrapped shrimp, calamari “fries,” and a crab cake. All were well done. Good not great. Standard Oregon Pino selection by J Cizzle on the wine. Always good in my opinion.
The Steaks:
Instead of the standard platter of meat, Shula’s brings you a football, signed by the man himself, with all of their steak options listed on the side. I offered $50 to someone if they would kick a field goal in the restaurant. No takers though. I had the bone-in NY strip. I was a respectable piece of meat. Again, nothing jaw dropping here, but totally serviceable.
The Sides:
Potato gratin, roasted corn, creamed spinach, and mashed potatoes. I found them all pretty decent. The creamed spinach was a little too cheesy for me but Thoresen threw an “outstanding” label on it.
The Desserts:
While everyone made fun of my Creme Brûlée selection, I don’t remember anyone turning it away either. We also had the standard key lime and carrot cake. Who puts carrots in a cake?
Conclusion:
In closing, Thoresen won the lotto which was nice since they chose to add the tip in to the bill already. I guess you can expect that in a touristy, hotel housed place like this.
I think Shula’s is probably forgotten about b/c of the location and lack of all around atmosphere, but I think it can hold a candle to many of the average / above average places we’ve been. I think there’s a compliment in there somewhere. While not undefeated, I think on a given night it could look like a borderline wild card team.
6.5 / 10.
Filed under: General
Given we’ve been doing this for over 5 years (or at least I have anyway) finding a new spot is hard to do. Even harder is to find one under our noses that’s been here all along. Before this night I never knew a coach outside of ditka had a steak restaurant in Chicago, now I do.
Apps: Didn’t remember what we ordered until I looked above. So certainly not memorable
Salad – unfortunately memorable but for the wrong reason. Certainly the worst tomato mozzarella salad Ive had in a long time. The mozzarella tasted like it was out of a string cheese package.
Steak – Better than expected given the salad (which made me fear we were on the stetson’s train). Saved the night from a food perspective.
Dessert- Who orders creme brulee at a group dinner? Weirdos, that’s who.
Service – Waiter started off great, when we asked for the cc roulette and he lied in telling us there were no women left in the restaurant, it left an awful taste.
Overall – Shula’s is firmly in the 6 camp in my book. Happy to have given it a go, no need to return. Still want to wash my hands from touching the football. Weird touch.
It is a crying shame that in 6 years of dining in the Chicago steakhouse community we have not eaten here. I was convinced that this choice would come from our resident Phins fan, Ole Gimms, but instead, it was a sleeper pick from Mr. Crenshaw. Well played sir.
How can you not like a place that gives you your steak choices on a football? All I wanted to do was run a fly route. Loved our table, a round 6 top, loved our chairs, each of which had arm rests, loved the rounded corner of the place that looked over Columbus Drive – loved all of the early pre-game pomp and circumstance. The fans were a lot of out of town, convention and business types, which was to be expected in the Sheraton, so you had to take it with a grain of salt.
Once into the game of dining, it was a bit start and stop.
1st Down – Our Server – Phil. He was an interesting gent. Told me that all of the Shula’s across the country are the same – can’t say I love that – think you need to own it and make it your own
2nd Down – Apps – Calamari Fries – great idea, ok execution
3rd Down – Steak – I am not sure what was wrong with my Filet, but it was slightly off. The creamed spinach with parm on top – pretty lovely – but certainly not healthy
4th Down – deserts and Credit card winning – I love winning, so that is good, but what was more entertaining was Cole’s interview of Phil on what he constitutes as a woman. Priceless.
One of the more fun steak nights in recent memory based on some solid banter, good energy and a new place. We missed ole gimms and lamb boat, but all in all very good fun. 6.5
We have been doing this for a long time yet have never been to Shula’s. Why? Were we missing a hidden gem or did we not go for a reason? Perhaps we were subconsciously boycotting Shula’s because the Dolphins ruined the Bears undefeated season in 1985. There’s only one way to find out what we were missing.
The bar area was fairly empty; I suspect the other patrons were staying at the Sheraton. Aesthetically the dining room was nice with a huge window along the back wall adding to the ambience. However the dining room itself had only a few tables occupied. Leaving plenty of space to have a quick game of 3 vs. 3 with that football listing all of the steaks. The football listing the steaks was weird, especially since all of the steaks are also listed on the menu. The whole thing felt very schticky. I am a little disappointed we didn’t have anyone go out for a pass, a back shoulder fade past the dessert cart would have been classic.
The BBQ wrapped shrimp and crab cakes were serviceable. The calamari fries an interesting idea that didn’t quite work. The sides were ok but didn’t stand out. I went with a porterhouse medium rare, not a great steak. I fully support the Crenshaw crème brulee selection. I’m not sure how carrot cake and key lime pie became the go to steak night desserts but both are highly overrated desserts.
The service was ok but not top notch. What was up with shining the flashlights over the steaks to make sure they were prepared properly? The room wasn’t dark and they shined them for an inordinately long time, felt strange.
Glad we tried Shula’s but unless you are a Dolphins fan that wants to see old photos and footballs there is no reason to go back. Shula’s felt very “chainy”. There is nothing wrong with a chain, Capital Grille and Sullivan’s are chains and are both excellent but Shula’s felt “chainy” in a bad way. In fact it’s not even the best steakhouse in the city named after a Super Bowl winning coach. When dialing up the dinner playbook I would pass on Shula’s or you will probably be like his Colts in Super Bowl III….upset.
Much like the IPhone map that led a bunch of Australians to their death in the middle of the desert, I was directed to the bowels of Chicago in pursuit of a parking spot. In retrospect, I should have looked up and would have easily recognized my folly. Once I managed to find the hotel entrance, a jovial valet was quick to tell me I could leave my car in the middle of the turnaround and give him the $15 it would cost to put it in the parking garage. I like his moves on this one, screw the employer take the quick cash. Entering the lobby of the hotel to then enter the steakhouse is one of the big detractors from any restaurant to me. A separate entrance, is that too much to ask? Upon entering I was happy to see cocktail hour under way. In need of a quick restroom break prior to my bourbon I headed off into the dark hallway. Checking my phone while walking Glick style turned into a second bad phone related incident of the day when I looked up to realize the bathroom did not have any urinals, was incredibly large with two sitting areas, and incredibly clean. Yep, I was in the ladies room.
So back to dinner. Table was dead center in a large and empty room sporting a couple tables of conventioneers. The football menu was an interesting idea, surprising it hasnt caused more damage around the room. I liked the cozy round 6 man table with the aforementioned arm chairs. One of the better arrangements in my opinion. The calamari fries were downright weird. I personally found the bbq shrimp to be fantastic, some claimed they were overly saucy, mine was spot on. Crab cake is becoming one of those staples for me that always hits the spot. Following my new steak night mantra of topping free meat I went with the KC. It had a perfect seared crust on the outside a warm red center. I would give it top of the top marks however it was a tad salty. Still a solid piece of meat. Sides were good, agreed with cizzle on the creamed spinach wandering too far into Wisconsin, but the corn was great.
Anyone who doesn’t like carrot cake is a descendant of the devil. This would have been an extremely good example of carrot cake had it not been doused in rum. A very odd choice. Key lime wasn’t disappointing, a tangy treat if i do say so myself.
Post dinner we headed out into the night to my awaiting chariot. Don decided to mount the trailer hitch and see the scene from a foot higher prior to knowing it was indeed my car. My adoring valet was quick to shoo DC away until I let him know the good sir was with me. Escorting all the finest of Chicago home was a good close to a all around great night.
Shula’s could have been a very good spot, but they made some very bizarre decisions as did I in this particular evening.
Well, to say that the place is mildly-priced and worth the wait is a tad bit of an exaggeration, but was it good, amazing, or alike? The answer to that question is that it depends on what you’re going for. If you only care about the steaks and everything else, i.e., appetizers, deserts, service, is an afterthought, then sure, it was amazing.
The KC* (fn1) was cooked perfectly but before I could even get to that I had to deal with a bland bisque and a weird-tasting bbq shrimp dish, which I swear I’ve had before at one the Zee German’s summer bashes.
Even after balancing out the starters* (fn2) with the wonderfully cooked steak, we had to endure so-so deserts and a waiter who blatantly lied to us about the remaining staff. Now, you’re probably asking, what does he mean he “lied”? Well, when asked if he could procure a second hand to help ensure the end of the night’s festivities he said that everyone else was gone* (fn3), yet as we were leaving the full staff was politely saying, “goodnight” to us.
It was a weird thing to do, but I guess the waiter figured what the hell, my tip is already included in the bill* (fn4)
In the end, I’m comfortable with saying that we may have hit the mother-load of the awful chain steakhouses…the laces were definitely “in” on this establishment.
fn1 – Which I almost never order.
fn2 – By starters, they must be referring to 2007 Dolphins starters for how awful they were.
fn3 – This was somewhat believable considering how empty the joint was sans the retreat group near the bar.
fn4 – Never a good sign.