III Forks – Where Exactly is Lakeshore East?
After a 3 month hiatus on new fatherhood duty, I was eager to return to Chicago’s finest gentlemen. On 4th of July eve, you never know what you will get. Would there be garage entrapment, bar gymnastics, or perhaps some good old fashion barking?
In a move not often seen, Mr. Glick proposed an early start to the evening, so as to attend a rooftop party – more on this later. Summer in Chicago – hard to beat. This evening was no exception. Having missed the group’s first trip to III Forks in October of 2011, I was eager to try out the fare. On a picture perfect evening, the boys found levity and lively banter atop the III Forks rooftop bar. This gem of a spot overlooks a lovely park, nestled in the area defined as Lakeshore East. Though Mr. Conway claimed technical difficulties in posting on the site; he owned up to the drinks he needed to buy the group and we took the stairs down to our waiting table.
A diamond shaped configuration of seating fit our group of 8 perfectly; missing only Mr. Martin who was off in the hinterland of WI, we settled in for a session of tasty delights.
Our server Anton, who may be a top 10 candidate for all time server in the group’s history, did an excellent job of pacing the night and providing insight and intrigue without being overbearing and annoying.
A hungry group, we dug into individualized crab cakes, beef caroustes, tomato and burata and a main course, turned appetizer of pork belly with octopus. I think it is safe to say, we were all a bit let down by the aps – the tomato and burrata was the clear winner.
Steaks across the board faired well to reviews. The exception being the “house favorite” of the tomahawk ribeye split by Glick and Kid Ray. My NY Strip stood up well and enjoyed the compliments of a “King’s Butter” – a decadent topping that the group shared.
Sides were a chance for more adventure from the group on this trip. A sweet potato hash and 6 cheese potato were changes from our regular fare; coupled with spinach (not creamed) and mushrooms – they rounded us out well.
Desserts were complimentary from Anton and a nice touch on Donald’s real birthday celebration. A chocolate cake, cheesecake and bourbon bread pudding were all good; however, the bread pudding stole the show.
The evening’s conversation covered a wide range of topics including: Iraq, Addiction, Head Injuries, NFL, Hans’ wedding, ankle injuries, the new SportsCenter set – but the focus was on the beautiful game – with the World Cup in the quarterfinal stage, everyone shared steady views of who will prevail and the future of US soccer. Kid Ray walked free after a lively game of credit card roulette.
All in all – III Forks leads first with terrific ambiance, great service and food that is above most. Their location may ultimately be their undoing, or perhaps their greatest asset. Anton affirmed they are not open for lunch and a light dinner group for a holiday evening, might spell trouble, but for the sake of steak night and for the city’s diners, we hope it makes it a long while. As for the evening after, I headed home, but I imagine there was some good old fashion fun had by all…..
Score 7.5
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8 Responses to “III Forks – Where Exactly is Lakeshore East?”
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Looks like a fine time and I too still wonder where the hell Lakeshore East is. Although the sounds of this writeup and the credit card roulette winner likely screaming loud enough for the rest of Chicago to hear him might have just put this place on the map.
A little disappointed that nobody came back with more information on the name itself — III Forks? Certainly not for breakfast lunch and dinner but maybe appetizer, salad and dinner? What about dessert? How many forks did you guys use? More information needed.
In honor of steak night I did have a ny strip from the local grocer up here which could have been killed the night prior or years ago. Anyone’s guess. I’m certain it didn’t deliver near the pleasure as any of the III Forks steaks, well maybe the Tomahawk from the sounds of it.
Til August…
The July steak night always has its fair share of adventure. This year, we were all looking forward to the epic rooftop party advertised by Mr. Jon Glick – a party so anticipated, dinner required to be moved forward 30 min. No one really posed objection, and there was no reason to – it was a great Chicago summer day and we were going to take advantage of III Forks’ rooftop bar, which is nothing short of excellent.
A few of us arrived early, me first, followed by Cizz and Rick Ray who were held up by traffic. The three of us settled into Conway’s tab and started drinking away. The balance of the group followed; with Hans 2 hours later than his self-declared arrival time (citing an accidental nap as cause), we were ready for our 7:30 dinner reservation. It must be noted Mr. Bill Conway admitted no guilt in missing the posting deadline – maintaining he was foiled by technical errors. Nevertheless, he bought drinks for everyone on the grounds of “celebrating with good friends”. However you chose to define the reason for his lack of post, Mr. Conway’s class was on display and we appreciated the drinks.
The restaurant was pretty empty, but we were shown to a prime table and began digging in. Our waiter was excellent and had a great cadence to his service. The apps fell a bit short for me as the beef croustades were dry, the octopus and pork belly was just average and the crab cakes were not bad but just kind of…meh. The tomato and boratta salad was delicious and I think the winner here.
Onto the steak….Glick and I chose to split the Tomahawk rib eye cut at a medium rare. While plenty of food for us both and cooked to perfection, the meat lacked seasoning and came off pretty bland – disappointing. There was an ongoing debate about the 6 cheese potatoes. I enjoyed them; however comparisons to Stouffer’s brand were heard around the table.
Despite the food being what I would call simply average, I enjoyed the meal, service and company immensely. The cherry on top of a great dinner is I didn’t pay; walking free for what I believe is only the second time in Steak Night history.
After dinner we hit up what can be described as a regular bar on top of a roof….I was not sure if Glick had something remarkable in line for the “non-parent” portion of the group beginning at 2am. Alas…I left at 1:30 before I could find out.nn1
I can’t think of a better way to kick off the long holiday weekend than steak night with Chicago’s finest gentlemen. III Forks had the pleasure or hosting our distinguished group. I arrived with Cizzle just after 5:00 to take advantage of the beautiful weather and perfect outdoor setting. Brad was already bellied up to the bar when we arrived and drinking vodka/lemonade, not sure if the drink choice was because it was refreshing and appropriate for the outdoor setting or because an early start and scotch had potential disaster written all over it. The rest of the crew trickled in and everyone else on the deck took notice of this posse that pissed excellence. I must say with the outdoor deck, fantastic weather, the fact that we were staring a 3 day weekend in the face and the free drinks compliments of Conway it was certainly one of the better happy hours of recent memory.
Conway may be a finance guy now but there is still plenty of lawyer left in him. His initial “if technology prevents you from posting to the website, paying the tab is not right” defense fell on deaf ears. However that didn’t stop him from ending up with the equivalent of a settlement. Paying the bill yet admitting no guilt, well played sir.
Overall the apps were just ok. I had high hopes for the pork belly with Octopus. This is generally an entrée and I loved the call to get it as an appetizer but unfortunately it fell short. The tomato and burrata was the only true standout among the first course, it was delicious. I went with the bone in ribeye medium rare and it was tremendous. A great piece of meat, perfectly cooked, the right amount of marble and the perfect amount of seasoning. Exactly what I want in a steak and excellent in every way. The six cheese potatoes were a top tier side in my book, if you didn’t like them you don’t like fun.
The service was some of the best we have had; friendly, attentive but not over bearing and really added to the experience. The one negative of the night was that the restaurant was empty. I don’t know if that’s because of the holiday weekend or because the place is harder to find than a good Nickelback song. After two plus years of business even the cab drivers are still not really sure exactly where it is located.
The curiosity of where Glick’s secret rooftop party was located was overwhelming and the majority of the group headed out for post dinner drinks. Turns out the secret rooftop location was Citizen Bar. Secret rooftop party of course was code for the bar Liz will be at and I’m going to go there anyway so why don’t you all just join me. None the less good times were had by all post dinner. An all around great evening.
Lakeshore East. ‘We could raise a family here!” “We could retire here!” Where exactly is “here” you ask? We’re not quite sure. I gave the cabbie an address and after picking up Rick Ray, we were transported to a part of the city only heard about in fairytales. We found ourselves in a beautiful rooftop setting, overlooking a lush and large park, surrounded by shiny condo buildings, drinking merrily on a most glorious summer’s eve. Brad, Rick and I arrived early to enjoy the beautiful weather and really kick off a great holiday weekend. Also, tab was being paid for by Mother Morgan so what the hell right?! Soon after everyone else filed in and we were off.
III Forks was the site of my inauguration to steak night and also the site of the farewell to Brian Cartwright who amusingly in his last post waxed poetic about keeping in touch.
Our waiter Anton arrived and really took charge of the evening. After being told at Ruth’s Chris that we just couldn’t add one more shrimp to make an appetizer even, Anton showed us what real customer service is and made sure all of the apps were customized for our group size. We had en entree – turned app of grilled octopus and pork belly. It was an interesting attempt, but fell a little short of being overly remarkable. The tomato and burrata salad was outstanding and stood out among all the apps.
The tomahawk ribeye, or whatever signature dish these places have, always look enticing, but never measure up in my opinion. As usual, I ordered the standard medium rare bone in ribeye and mine was excellent. It’s always a solid choice that you’ll regret straying too far from.
Sides consisted of a baked and creamy six cheese potato dish and a sweet potato hash that I thought were excellent, but others maybe not so much. I was indifferent to the steamed spinach as any real man should be.
July’s steak night came with the siren Jon Glick singing his sweet songs, calling us to suckle sweet teats of rooftop virgins. Moving the normal dining time up 30 minutes went without question. Alas, were were led to crash on the rocky shores of Citizen. Actually it was okay, a night bookended with beautiful weather and rooftops wasn’t half bad. But it’s always more fun to give Glick a good ribbing for his agenda setting. Until next month steak aficionados.
8/10 for the restaurant
9/10 for a fantastic experience from start to finish
1/10 for Glick delivering on getting us in somewhere cool
after steak night.
Night started off great, nice (free) cocktails on the deck, Richard got hit on by cougars and got better from there. Rick’s captain’s jacket may have been the hook bur he reeled them in with his purple ascot.
Although service was slow at dinner, we had one of the better group discussions in recent memory. Several heartfelt topics were discussed and it brought back the essence of steak night. Much enjoyed.
As for the steak, it’s not often that a bone-in waygu was ehh…but III Forks can do better than what BRay and I were served. Apps before were right on point and sides were ok to make sure we weren’t hungry, but two slices in for both of us was plenty.
III Forks went down a notch on this performance. 7.5 for food, 9.5 for the experience.
Latenight, well, the thing is…at least we got to to drink outside. I still had a good time.
A wonderful time was enjoyed at III Forks.
The drinks upstairs were great – mostly vodka lemonades on a warm summer evening. They were refreshing after what turned into a long walk to find the gated community where III Forks resides. I still plead “nolo contendre” on the documented website issues, but was happy to pick up the check for my good friends who were modest in their ordering.
Indeed, the service was the best thing about the meal. Anton did a great job with service, explanation and ordering.
The appetizers themselves were a bit pedestrian, although the octopus dish was quite good.
The BR Cohn wine proved an excellent pairing at a tasty price for our steaks.
I was determined to get something bone-in and was dismayed to find they were all out of the bone-in NY strip. I ended up choosing the bone-in ribeye, which was just the wrong choice for me personally, so hard for me to criticize.
As far as the after party, yes we didn’t get to enjoy the hedonistic revelry that JG promised. However, a good time was had at a bar I hadn’t been to in a long time.
Service: 9/10
Food: 6/10
Ambiance: 8/10 (upstairs 10/10)
Company: 10/10
Suns out, guns out was my plan. Head for the bar early, meet the finest, throw back a few cocktails, and kick the holiday weekend into gear. The devil is in the details and the main detail was getting my car home after working longer than expected. I made it home after battling Chicago’s clusterfuck of a holiday weekend traffic nightmare led by distracted middle aged women in white Range Rovers with one hand on the wheel, one hand on a cell phone, and a botched boob job in between. I found myself in need of a shoe change like Mr. Rogers but without the cardigan. Apparently in the 2 minutes of time I sat down on my couch to change my shoes I fell asleep. Still not sure how that happened except for narcolepsy and a stupid schedule of late. Upon waking, I anxiously checked Uber, Hailo, Yellow Cab, and came to the conclusion this was going to require a more pedestrian approach. A quick jaunt to the blue line, a short blue line ride to the loop surrounded by Chicago’s dredges, and finally a wind sprint to the destination I arrived 2 hours after my best laid plans.
Mother Morgan was kind to purchase a refreshing pair of cocktails to wash away the dust and grime of my travels. Payment for cocktails is acceptance of guilt in my book, but writing it off as a business expense is brilliant. The rooftop was sunny and the ambiance was ripe with women of many years past. The bar on the top of 3 Forks is a quality destination that should be more frequented but as well discussed it is basically in the bermuda triangle of Chicago that few can find.
I am glad we had a reservation otherwise the 4 other diners in the restaurant may have protested 3 Forks giving us the best table in the joint. It far exceeded the hot box they gave us last go around. Service was indeed top notch, conversation was even better. It is interesting to think what is going to happen as the two topics we discussed collide. NFL head injuries pushing more kids to other sports as soccer is rising in popularity on its own merits and where the two sports will be in our kids generation.
The tomato and burrata is worth a trip to 3 Forks, nothing else of our selection reached its level. The bone in ribeye was cooked to a solid medium rare with good seasoning and a nice seared crust. Ahead of some, lacking against other. Indeed, the wine paired well and was poured with grace by Anton.
The sides were best taken away and fed to a homeless man or stray dog.
Personally, the high point of the night was the desserts. I am not a sweets guy by any means and in fact rarely get involved in the sugary end of the culinary world, but these were some above par selections. I would fill a bathtub of the bourbon bread pudding and submerge myself until I either died or ate my way out.
I am not even going to get into the JG “gotta get to a rooftop party that cant be missed” debacle. We all eagerly wanted to start early and end late anywhere there was group of gentlemen this good and a summer night.
All I can say is that I loved the company and the food was alright. In fact, without the company, this place is just another overdone location offering “steaks” which is a sad thing. No one cares about the private rooms when the service in general is subpar (not the main server but the support staff sucked). Perhaps the forks needs to step up its game in employee compensation and benefits, resulting in a much more attentive and happier serving staff.
The forks should have a fork put into it. 2 out of 5 stars.