Tavern On Rush-The Treacherous Three
Tavern on Rush was the first steak house in Chicago I ever went to and it has always been one of my favorites. I hadn’t been in three years and was excited to return and see if it still has kick ass food and all the qualities of a great dining experience.
The NHL has its Original Six and we originally had 6 of our own scheduled to attend the March 2015 edition of steak night. Brad and Cole were taking care of business and canceled early in the week. Thus the Original Six became the Fantastic Four with myself, Glick, Conway and special guest Holinger scheduled to attend. However Holinger canceled at 7:15pm the day of the dinner because he was no longer in town. Per the rules he will be doing a shot of the groups choosing the next time he is at a steak night for canceling less than 24 hours in advance. So the Fantastic Four became the Treacherous Three. Obviously at this point there was some anxiety that Conway would cancel and I’d be on a date with just Glick and his phone.
The downstairs bar was jumping as always. There was a mix of business folk, social drinkers, cougars, tourists and some might say working girls all enjoying a Thursday on the town. I saddled up to the far end of the bar and ordered a Tito’s and soda, much like Greg Focker’s portfolio the pour was strong to quite strong. Conway and Glick arrived before I was attacked by any cougars and the night was under way.
Appetizers included blackened Cajun shrimp and pork pot stickers, both were great but the shrimp were the stand out. The shrimp were huge and had a nice seasoning, not overwhelming with just enough Cajun zip. I went with a porter house medium rare, this is my favorite cut and I’m always amazed how few places have a porter house suitable for one person. The steak was top notch, perfect sear, just enough salt and pepper and cooked perfectly. A salad is included with the steak which is a nice touch. The sides were chipotle mac and cheese and white cheddar au gratin potatoes. The mac and cheese is one of the best sides at any steakhouse: unique, gooey, cheesy, spicy and with a little kick. The au gratin potatoes were also a top side, as good as any au gratins out there. Mr. Thoresen wouldn’t like the flimsy menus but the food that comes off of those menus is delicious.
Dinner conversation included the joys of planning not one but two weddings, which as the math suggests sounds twice as terrible as planning just one wedding. March Madness, ad technology, the bachelor party, St. Paddy’s Day, and Conway’s return to being single were also touched upon. The service was not bad but not superior. The pacing of the meal felt a tad uneven. One thing I like is that they bring out the tray of all the cuts of meat and walk you thru them prior to ordering. We passed on dessert to have another drink and catch the end of the Bulls game which the staff put on for us on the corner TV.
Post dinner we headed to the bar downstairs and then to Gibson’s to play the adult version of Where’s Waldo. This of course is “Where’s the Working Girl”, while we couldn’t agree on the number of working girls we did agree there were some milling among the gathered crowd. This would be the start of what would turn out to be a fairly aggressive after dinner tour which also included stops at Nico’s before closing down Sienna Tavern. I was plenty inebriated by the end of the night and paid the price the next day with both a hangover and the hiccups.
While it was disappointing that only 3 were in attendance since we expect more from Chicago’s finest. However those in attendance had a great time. Tavern remains a favorite, it has excellent food and we shouldn’t wait three years to return. On to April.
Cheers,
TDI
Filed under: General
3 Responses to “Tavern On Rush-The Treacherous Three”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Sorry to have missed this one. Sorry to have missed the cougars. I think my last miss was also Tavern. Bummer. Looking forward to some warm weather steak nights!
A joyful and intimate gathering ensued for steak night this month. Holinger’s perfunctory bail-text at 7:23 PM turned the evening into a group of 3. In the middle school French that I almost failed, I remember the verb to eat was “manger,” so I think meal for 3 is a “menage a trois”?
Dread struck me as I received Holinger’s text, I was already late and Mr. Jonathan is not known for his punctuality. I could envision Rick sitting there drinking alone in the Tavern on Rush Cougar Coven without some quick assistance. I left work and got a cab driver that drove like Gene Hackman in the French Connection and I was there by 7:30.
Rick and I had stimulating conversation about our recent FitBit totals. Essentially I talked smack to him all week while he walked 3,000 more steps than me on a daily basis. We also talked about the steak night membership process as he caught me up on the minutes from last month’s meeting. Mr. Jonathan arrived at 7:45 and we were able to procure a nice table that was intimate but also regaled us in our nice gold coast surroundings.
During dinner, we had enjoyable conversation about the Brandon Marshall trade, advertising software and the Bulls. In fact Mr. Jonathan was all over a potential (and ultimately successful) Bulls comeback that he sweet talked the staff into turning the game on for us on the wall so we could watch it happen. We were the toast of the room as a result.
The service was solid, I do agree with Rick though that it took a while for salads to come, but then entrees were right on top of them which contributed to pacing problems. But my glass was always full and the waiter was there when we needed him.
The apps were amazing. I actually thought the dumplings were the best, while the shrimp was second. Both spectacular.
The wine was also tasty, although Mr. Jonathan put me in charge of it and I totally screwed it up. I started us off with a full-bodied Caymus, which was too much pre steak and then followed it up with a light Estancia, which was overpowered having just finished the Caymus and steak. Bush league on my part, next time Thunderbird all around. It goes with everything, and you can’t beat the price at a dollar thrice.
The bone-in filet was good, but it could have used more salt and seasoning. I like a healthy helping of salt and/or seasoning on the steak and this did not have it. That is perhaps more personal preference than anything. Maybe it illustrates my pedestrian tastes, although those are best indicated by my love of Keystone Light.
Dessert – what happened? I thought we were gearing up for an actual Glick birthday and next thing I know we’re paying the bill.
As we had a good group, that has zero heirs between them, we were keen to hit the town after, and hit the town we did. We enjoyed the bar at Tavern again after the meal and then the bar at Gibson’s and then went over to Nico. Interestingly at Nico, the song playing when we walked in was “Love for Sale” by the Talking Heads. The message of that song would probably have been more fitting at our previous destinations if that could be measured in terms of “commerce.” We brought in Mr. Jonathan’s birthday at Sienna Tavern. It seemed fitting as I see him about every weekend and it is seemingly always to meet him at Sienna. He brings Frasier Crane’s intellect, Norm Peterson’s charm and personality and Cliff Claven’s mind for numbers to Sienna and I’m sure they appreciate it.
I always enjoy a good menage a trois and Tavern was no exception.
Service: 7/10
Apps: 11/10
Wine: 7/10
Steak: 7/10
Sides: 7/10
Wow – where to begin? If you looked up irony in the dictionary it would be this night? After a night filled of debating whether to expand – and it being delayed because of concerns we may have too many – we had an all time low of 3. Even Holinger, who was to be the special guest, skipped out of town to avoid this. But as a Sox fan, I’ve learned long ago not to complain about attendance issues in this town.
That said, Rick made a strong effort in picking Tavern and even stronger effort with his wardrobe. Rocking a nice purple sports jacket pink shirt and the right amount of chains, pimp daddy Rick was in the house!
Dinner was solid, steak was pretty good, BBQ Shrimp app rocked the joint. Highlight was getting to watch the Bulls on the wall, comeback against the Thunder was an amazing game. Without Rose, Etwan Moore hid a fallaway 3 for the win. (I give the synopsis so when Rick Ray’s kids (the legitimate ones) read this, they can appreciate how big this win was).
Great night never the less, we went cougar hunting after dinner, and though we didn’t bag any the hunt was worth the efforts.
Overall – 8.