STK — Stop and Start
I learned Steak Night will turn 10, yes 10 years old this April. After a decade of decadence, we don’t come across a place we have not dined too often. STK was the opportunity to do just that. Proudly brandished as “Not your Daddy’s Steak House” it sure isn’t. With a DJ in the bar area and not many suited up old white men, it is surely a different take on steak.
I arrived at 6:45. With others paying for drinks I was purposeful in making back the $493 tab I was stuck with at Maple and Ash. Mason made it clear he took exception with my behavior. At the bar and to my absolute horror, STK does not serve Oban? The nerve. Strike 1. Instead I settled in with four Highland Park 12’s at $20 bucks a pop. The pours were weak and I found a hair in one of them. Strike 2.
Around 7:45 I alerted the hostess we were going to be closer to 8:15 instead of 8; asking if this was OK I was provided reassurances. ‘No problem at all Sir, just come back when you are ready to be seated’. Following instructions I approached the (different) hostess when we were ready to be seated and they lost our reservation! Instead of leading all 7 of us to our table, they lead all 7 of us to a different table – already full. After an awkward moment and return to the hostess stand STK scrambled to cram us into a booth which was super tight. At this point someone from management noticed we were sitting on each others laps and asked if we wanted to move. Yes we do….but Strike 3 nonetheless. Dinner had not even started and this place was whiffing like rick ray out of the bunker. Finally, we got to our seats and started to order.
Apps included the rock shrimp, grilled octopus and pork chop, special cut up for the table. All were good choices. Hard to go wrong with rock shrimp despite it’s simplicity. The pork chop share was a good call, I believe made by Ol’ Thorzeen it was cooked to a perfect medium rare and tender. Great conversation throughout the night. Discussions ranged from upcoming Vegas trip and my inability to think in numbers and probability to Conway teaching “advanced” real estate finance and Mason’s new family addition, Miller, eating a lot sleeping well and taking long shits….a true man in the making.
For steak I went with the wet aged rib-eye. Actually quite good. It would have been nice if they gave you a decent steak knife to cut it….having my own this evening would have proved useful, but I digress. I think I am back on the wet aged train. Crenshaw went for the dry aged and it was really bad. I think the 45 day or however many days dry aging is a gimmick. Others also had a not so great experience. Glick and Hans sent back their porterhouse that was to be split, with the old “used gym sock” claim. This sparked a new rule that was verified. Next time someone is going to send back their steak, it has to be tasted/verified by two others at the table.
Sides were OK, but nothing to speak of. The group went to, where else, Sienna tavern after for a few post dinner drinks. Good times by all even if I shant be dining at STK again. Off to Vegas and a real steak house in Delmonico’s!
Filed under: General
STK is actually quite hard to find, the dim storefront that slinks below a heavy facade makes it even less likely I will find my way back. I did however find myself promptly on time, I am german, only to find I had been beaten to the bar by none other than ole daddy gimms. The bourbon selection left me wondering if this was a steakhouse in Chicago or an Applebees in the suburbs. The bar tender had a weak wrist and barely wet the cubes. The rest of the group trickled in, including the proud new poppa, Mason. The penalty from a missing January post ended up being tolerable as it was split by three of us, despite Brad doing his best to run it up. The trainwreck of table seating has been discussed previously so I wont go back into it.
Once seated at the new table that was indeed much more spacious, we continued the banter of our POTUS shenanigans, the pending superbowl / vegas trip and the DJ that was pumping out some of the best his ipod could hold. I was coerced into splitting the T-hawk with Glick. This is going to be my new diet plan. First you split a steak then you send it back thus limiting your intake of the aforementioned gym sock. The couple pieces I had were okay, not horrid. I am going back to the traditional cuts and keeping it all to myself. Overall the other parts of the meal were fine but not exceptional. The sliced up porkchop app may have been the star of the evening. If you feed a hog nothing but beer and wild prairie grass it would appear it fattens up nicely. The nightcap at Siena was welcomed for a change of venue that included alot of River North socialites, who were coincidentally not present among the diners of STK.
In my post Vegas haze, it’s taking a lot of motivation for me to come up with anything to say about STK. It’s always a little exciting to try out a new spot, but the delivery was terrible. Rick and I cabbed down a tad early to try and reign in ‘Ole Gimms before he shuttered the scotch selection. I do love his motivation into making someone pay dearly for his never to be forgotten Maple and Ash bill. But Brad’s a successful guy with tremendous income so we don’t feel that bad for him.
We arrived to find Brad and Hans, and were soon followed by Mason, and Glick. Congrats to Mason on his man of a baby and his enormous shits. Jevon followed a little later after manning his own house of shits. Love the commitment by the way.
I won’t address the lack of Oban, or reservation, or table as they’ve been spoken about already. We did end up with a good enough seat; although it was a bit of a bar area table. I agree with everyone else with the top ratings on the pork chop. It was really good. The other apps were all pretty decent as well.
My steak sucked. A very tough 45-day dry age that was largely devoid of any seasoning. It was so bad that I won’t be returning to STK unless under duress. Partly b/c it’s not worth it, and partly b/c it probably won’t be around much longer.
Sides were whatever.
The company however was tremendous. I have many friends, and trust me, they all tell me how great the steak night group is. You know it, I know it. Everyone knows it.
As an aside, being that this post is after our Vegas super bowl extravaganza, I’ll mention our trip to Delmonico’s on Saturday night. It is hands down my favorite steak house. All the sides, apps (and gumbo) are unmatched anywhere I’ve been. Bavette’s is the only one close in my opinion and I still think it gets clipped. The weekend was out of site and sorry you all missed. The two places that need a traveling steak night more than anywhere are Delmonico’s and Peter Lugar’s.
Talk about a 10th anniversary? We should do a same day / overnight trip to New York and go to Lugar’s. Last flight out of LaGuardia is 9:59PM. Dinner at 7, in a cab to the airport by 8:30? Lets. Make. It. Happen.
March on to March….
This was a maiden voyage to STK for me, as it was for the majority of the group. My perception had always been this is a steak house that caters to somewhat clueless chicks. Targeting those that prioritize fun music over the actual food and dining experience. I was a little nervous because I don’t own a little black dress which I thought may be required attire. Regardless of perception this is one of the few steak places we have not been and I was looking forward to the evening.
Crenshaw and I arrived and there is indeed a DJ booth in the dining room which is odd, for the diners and I imagine the DJ too. I’m pretty sure Grand Master Flash wasn’t DJing steak houses when he was getting started. We joined Gimms and Zee German at the bar, they may not have had Oban but they did have Tito’s and it was flowing. The rest of the crew soon arrived, drinks were complements of Mason, Glick and Hans for posting violations, if you are not going to post you might as well do it when others forget to lessen the blow.
The hostess was clueless, first bringing 7 guys to a single seat at an occupied table. Then seating 7 guys at a table better suited for 5, eventually we got a decent table but rough start. Our waitress was ok from what I remember.
Apps were just average. Rock shrimp are good but they are basic. The pork chop was the highlight but this was the appetizer equivalent of a girl being office hot. I went with the wet aged bone in ribeye which was actually very good. Apparently I made the right choice because I tried Crenshaw’s steak and it was one of the worst I have had, just awful. Sides were not memorable, very average.
Stat of the Night: Who sings “Here Comes The Hotstepper”? I didn’t know and I’m sure you didn’t either but you know who did, Jon Glick who dropped the Ini Kamoze gem. Jon Glick, he’s the lyrical gangster, murderer.
I walked free although the after dinner drinks bill was almost as much as the dinner bill, none the less it is still fun to win credit card roulette.
I could deal with the club music during dinner and the party like vibe of this place if the food was great, it’s not. I don’t anticipate a return trip to STK anytime in the near future or ever for that matter. Great night as always.
I walked into Sweet Home Alabama being transitioned to Kris Kross on the turntables – so that is a feat. I then got a shoulder rub from the hostess and saw 6 of Chicago’s finest gents, so it was a promising start. Unfortunately, the smell of sulfur from the sparklers they put on drinks and the not very good food put a damper on things. Still, there is something to be said about the moxie of STK owning a different lane in the steak pool. They lean into fun, welcome a different crowd and would have encouraged a plunge from the bannister on one of their welcoming booths. I wish I could remember more of the food; I think the pork main course that we got as an app was the highlight, and the bite of John’s 45 day aged steak was the low light (tasted awful) – everything in between was merriment. We congratulated our boy Mason another addition looked with hopeful eyes towards spring.
Given the group’s recent string of not enjoying the newest places in Chicago, my expectations for the group’s acceptance of STK were low. But given that STK bills itself as a steakhouse for women….much lower than usual.
Rick was excited to celebrate his birthday month and given the recent run by his beloved ( national championship runner-up) Crimson Tide – he brought out his best Hugh Hefner red (crimson) velvet smoking jacket to mark the occasion. As he always does with the ladies, he was slaying. Rick celebrated his early 45th by walking free.
I won’t belabor the steak point. Aged steaks can smell – porterhouses shouldn’t. Our steak smelled like blue cheese – which they first claimed was on the dish – but then realized it wasn’t – it was the steaks smell. They couldn’t have been nicer about handling it – really a class act.
Dinner conversation was great as the offspring continue to multiply. Congrats to Mason this time. Great news all around.
Overall: 7.5 – Food -6 – Service 9.
I have to ding for the steak but enjoyed the night nevertheless.
STK. Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.
I’m a progressive fellow, but Chicago restaurants just can’t really be pounded into that LA-Vegas-Miami, mold. Especially not in January.
As a general rule, I have very little interest in spending money in a steak house where someone is wearing a baseball hat. Said hat should most especially not be on the head of DJ.
And I still had a terrific time. Sparkling conversation, earnest service, and a very enjoyable spread of sides, apps, and mains. Particularly enjoyed the addition of the pork chop to share. But the only way I can see myself back there is with my 22 year-old cousin and Groupon.